Anime Crossover: Post-Apocalyptic Survival, My Stand is the World

Page 125

"'Loser eats the dust'?"

Shi Yu was stunned for a moment, but instead of being scared off, she became even more excited.

"What is that? Your new move? What is its ability? How does it work? What is its effective range...?"

"Shut up."

……

For the time being, they brushed aside this cunning strategist whose curiosity was so intense it was almost frightening.

He glanced down at the Time Witch in his arms, who had been sleeping peacefully the whole time, and began to silently make plans in his mind.

· ········Requesting flowers··· ··

'After we get back...'

Where should we lock this guy up?

'Lock her up in the empty throne room and let her and the Blank siblings play video games all day? No way. Those two shut-ins will probably be completely fooled by her within three days and end up helping her against me.'

'Or... should I lock her in Erina's kitchen and let her taste divine cuisine every day? No, that won't work either. What if she blows up Erina's kitchen? That would be a huge loss.'

'This is really a headache...'

Just as Su Chen was having a headache over how to deal with his dangerous yet tempting new collectible.

... ... 0

Suddenly, a voice filled with doubt and uncertainty came through his communicator.

"That... Su Chen?"

“Our Skynet detected two…” He seemed to be searching for a suitable word, “well, how should I put it, very tenacious life signals in the ruins of Shuchiin Academy, not far from you.”

"tenacious?"

“Yes, tenacious,” Kong replied, his voice filled with incomprehensible confusion. “Because according to Bai’s calculations, those two people have been in that ruin without any food or water for at least five days.”

"Five days?" Su Chen's brows furrowed slightly.

“That’s right. We also retrieved atmospheric composition analysis data for that area. In that environment, an ordinary person would only last three days before going into shock due to dehydration.”

"But these two signals, though very weak, have remained very stable."

“Furthermore,” Kong’s voice became even more peculiar, “based on the ‘thermal reaction’ in the area we just repaired…”

"them……"

"It seems they're trying to use a bunch of things that look like documents and books..."

"Start a fire?"

Chapter 173 The Witch Awakens

A cold sensation came from my wrist.

As the body moved, a slight metallic clanging sound came from one side.

Kurumi Tokisaki slowly opened her eyes.

Consciousness seemed to be struggling to rise from a bottomless quagmire.

What comes into view is an unfamiliar white ceiling made of cold alloy, and a shadowless lamp that emits a soft light, yet is full of surveillance implications.

A faint, cold smell, a mixture of disinfectant and some unknown metal, filled the air.

"……here it is?"

She struggled to sit up.

But he found that his body was still sore and weak, and a sharp, stabbing pain, like a hangover, came from the depths of his mind.

That was a consequence of severely depleted mental energy left after "future vision" was forcibly interrupted by the Crimson King "330".

Worse……

"Click."

The cold, metallic clanging sound rang out again from her wrist.

She looked down.

A pair of futuristic energy handcuffs, made of some unknown alloy and emitting a faint blue glow, were securely fastened to her snow-white wrists.

She could clearly sense a faint yet extremely precise energy fluctuation emanating from the handcuffs, like a leech clinging to a bone.

That fluctuation was like an invisible, intricate shackle made up of countless tiny energy nodes, which tightly suppressed the power of time within her body, which should have been flowing endlessly like the river of time, to a minimum.

She couldn't even activate the most basic "First Bullet," which was used for acceleration.

"Energy-suppressing handcuffs?"

She looked at the creation on her wrist, brimming with scientific and intellectual aura, and gave a self-deprecating, bitter smile.

'Really... they didn't leave me even the slightest chance.'

'That mad scientist named Alice... and that monster named Su Chen.'

squeak-

Just then, the heavy metal door of the solitary confinement cell was slowly pushed open from the outside.

A tall, slender figure—one she would never forget in her life—walked in.

It's Su Chen.

He was also holding a silver tray in his hands.

On the tray was a cup of Earl Grey tea, still steaming and exuding the aroma of bergamot, and a plate of French madeleines, made by Erina Nakiri herself, as exquisite as works of art.

"woke up?"

He placed the tray on the bedside table next to Kurumi, then casually pulled over a chair and sat down beside her bed.

That posture didn't look like he was interrogating a dangerous prisoner of war.

It was more like visiting an old friend you hadn't seen in a long time who was sick and hospitalized.

"..."

Kurumi remained silent.

She simply looked at the man in front of her, who had given her a taste of utter defeat, with an extremely complicated expression.

There was resentment.

There is anger.

There is fear.

But more than anything, it was a kind of curiosity that she herself couldn't quite explain.

……

"Drink some."

Su Chen handed over the still steaming cup of black tea.

"Erina brewed this especially for you, saying it can replenish your over-exhausted mental energy."

Kurumi stared at the cup of black tea, which emitted an enticing aroma, and remained silent for a moment.

In the end, I accepted it.

She was indeed very weak and thirsty.

A peculiar dialogue between a victor and a prisoner thus began in a peaceful manner, reminiscent of afternoon tea.

Su Chen did not mock or humiliate her like a victor.

He simply watched her quietly finish half a cup of black tea, and only after her complexion regained a slight rosy hue did he calmly ask his first and most crucial question.

Why do you choose to coexist with that nest?

What is your ultimate goal?

"..."

Kurumi paused slightly in the hand holding the teacup.

She raised her head, and a self-deprecating, melancholic glint flashed in her beautiful, wine-red right eye.

"Purpose?"

"Haven't I already told you my purpose?"

"Go back in time and kill the original spirit."

"Correct this flawed world."

"This is the whole meaning of my life."

"is it?"

Su Chen looked at her and slowly shook his head.