Volu 4, Chapter 7: Girl & Ghoul
Stepping off the van, Kuzuhara looked down on the frenzy in the engine room and began with an angry sigh.
“…It’s just one after another…”
He muttered, looking at the nostalgic dogs just below.
“After another… after another…”
He muttered, looking at the Western District mbers ard with guns below that.
“After another after another… after another after another… after another… after another…!”
And by the ti his gaze fell to the Guard Team and two of the Ei siblings further below, his sigh had given way to a determined gaze.
He turned to Yili and quietly, but firmly, spoke.
“Miss Yili. This is Western District jurisdiction, correct?”
“Yes. It is.”
“I see… Then this is the Western District, and I am here as the captain of the volunteer police force. I would appreciate it if you would put away your guns.”
One of the n in black snorted and raised his voice.
“Ha! Who do you think you—”
Kuzuhara shot a glance at the source of the voice. That was enough.
“—are…”
The lights on the ceiling functioned as a backlight, highlighting Kuzuhara’s glare and driving the private soldier to silence. The other executives exchanged glances, but did not interfere and chose to leave things to Yili.
“Mr. Kuzuhara!”
Jun yelled without thinking as she looked up at the ceiling. She was calling to him out of worry for his earlier injuries, but Lihuang saw his chance and closed the distance between them in a flash.
“Ugh!”
Jun swung and quickly parried the broadsword. Sparks flew everywhere and even from the top of the room, Kuzuhara could see—
Kuzuhara flew.
“What?!”
“No way!”
With no regard for the screams of shock, Kuzuhara first descended to the floor directly below—where Kugi and Inui were—then ran through the path and jumped another 5 ters down to Jun’s level.
As he fell from one level to the next, he put the tips of his feet on the railings to absorb the impact and change directions. All he had to do now was fall straight down between Lihuang and Jun.
“?!”
“Aaack!”
A split second before Jun and Lihuang’s inevitable clash, the massive figure descended between them. Lihuang swung anyway, and Jun tried to stop before her chainsaw hit Kuzuhara—but she had made a half-turn before the swing, and could not halt the montum so easily.
Standing between two deadly blades, Kuzuhara was at their rcy—
But with no screams, no screeching of tal, and no blood, Lihuang and Jun were stopped.
The mont the blades drew near, Kuzuhara had grabbed the guard of the broadsword with his right hand, and the blade of the chainsaw with his left.
Though his gloves were customized to be bulletproof, the chainsaw blade slowly ate away at the fabric.
But before Jun could even cut the power, Kuzuhara grasped the blade and forcibly stopped the chain.
“Huh…?”
“Damn you…!”
In contrast with Jun, who went quiet when her engine died, Lihuang angrily tried to haul his broadsword back.
But it was like trying to pull a tal rod out of hardened concrete. The blade did not even budge. And a second later—
“…Impossible…!”
Lihuang realized that he was floating.
The mont his arm tightened completely, Kuzuhara had lifted up the broadsword with one hand. Coupled with leverage, Kuzuhara was lifting more than just Lihuang’s body weight. But for him it was a simple task indeed.
By the ti Lihuang realized he simply had to relax his arm, it was too late—he was already tumbling through the air, gaining montum.
‘Impossible! He’s like a completely different person—’
Until not long ago, the air had been to his advantage. But when that atmosphere was taken away, Lihuang was left clearly exposed, unable to even break his fall properly.
He was sent flying—broadsword and all—and landed hard on his back.
“I’ve paid back my debt, sir.” Kuzuhara said, making a point of being deferent, and turned to Jun. “I want you to sheathe your weapons for now, too. …It’s pretty clear who the bad guy is, but it’s not our job to judge who’s right and wrong. Please.”
“Oh… umm… oh! Right!”
Jun had already shut off the other chainsaw as well. She bowed politely, now back to her usual self.
“Sorry.” Kuzuhara said softly, and picked up the fallen broadsword. And with unbelievable ease he snapped the blade with his bare hands.
The Guard Team mbers reacted in different ways when they saw Kuzuhara break the sword as though it were a chopstick. So whistled, and one quickly hid his tal bat.
Zhang alone seed unfazed. He smirked.
“I expected no less from you. But how’d you find us? You couldn’t have got here this fast if it’s the explosion that tipped you off.”
“…So little birds sent text ssages.”
“Figures. But for your information… you’re an uninvited guest.”
“Uninvited, huh. …You’re right.”
They had loudly butted heads when he first ca to the island. Kuzuhara replied gravely, though it wasn’t clear if he was joking or being serious.
“But the volunteer police force prides itself on arriving before the invitation.”
Yili sighed loudly when she saw her brother being taken down. Another executive noticed and grinned.
“Is this all right?”
“Yes. And now our hands are tied further. After all, now we can be certain that our actions are being broadcast live to the rest of the island.”
She glanced overhead at the blue van. Kelly’s radio station was bulletproof. A rocket launcher might do the trick, but grenades probably couldn’t stop her broadcasts.
Naturally, she was probably giving live coverage of the situation from inside her fortress. Even if she wasn’t, one wrong move and she would probably start a broadcast. Then it would beco even more difficult to oversee the already-frustrated islanders.
And while the organization floundered, Kuzuhara could continue to carry out his mission. That would send his popularity through the roof.
Yili smiled faintly and whispered, almost sounding jealous.
“In a way, Kelly and Kuzuhara might be an unbeatable combination.”
? ??
What is that man.
Incredible. There’s no other word for it.
Blocking that Jun girl’s chainsaw with one hand… that’s not normal.
So that’s the infamous Kuzuhara of the Western District. The rumors make him out to be so sort of a monster, but… he is. Frankly, I never want to end up fighting him.
…Wait. Not another tangent.
Anyway, damn that Joplin. The second I step out of the hotel, he sends another cat… I rushed here because he said sothing about a clue to finding Miss Nazuna, but… this isn’t the best ti or place to be clue-searching.
Having made up my mind to find clues about Miss Nazuna, I focused first on a man on the bottom level.
He has a beauty on each arm; he’s the boss of the Eastern District. I rember clearly because after I went to the Western District boss’s bedside, he was next.
Careful not to get caught up in the ss, I quietly took a back door and headed for the entrance next to the engine at the bottom of the room.
I saw so n in black lying on the floor along the way—probably Western District cronies. Soone must have knocked them out before they went inside. I’m grateful. I’ll thank them properly if I ever find out who it was.
Once I was at the lowest level of the engine room, I saw the Eastern boss’s back.
I’ll approach him slowly… and then what?
…If I tap him on the shoulder suddenly, I might get turned into swiss cheese. And what about those two won? They look like they’re just hanging off his arms, but they’re completely guarded about their surroundings.
For now, I should take it slow. Be cautious. …Huh? Part of the engine’s on fire… was it the explosion I heard earlier?
I don’t know too much about this, but the engine should be an important part of the island.
When my thoughts reached that point, I felt sothing eerie on my back.
If… if this island sinks, I’ll be forced back to the outside world.
And if that happens… what happens to the mask of Yakumo Amagiri?
The thought scared . I… I want to tell soone how I feel. I want to confide in soone. And I think it would be nice if Miss Nazuna happened to be that soone. Although I can’t spontaneously tell her—I know I’m nothing but trouble for her.
…But before all that… I hope she’s all right.
With so many thoughts on my mind, I inched closer to the Eastern boss. Now, how should I begin? Or maybe I should just kidnap him—that might be easier.
At that mont.
An ear-splitting noise shrieked from above.
? ??
The noise ca from the speakers on Kelly’s van.
After a burst of what sounded like feedback ca an incongruently lazy voice and the sound of soone chewing on sothing.
At the sa ti, a female voice squawked from the wagon—”Whoa, what the?! The hell’s wrong with the gear?!”—but few ears were on her.
“Taifei?!”
The voice was a familiar one from the round table. Yili and the Western District executives were floored.
The first to react to Taifei’s vaguely oblivious tone was Lihuang, who had just gotten to his feet in spite of his aching body.
“Excellent, Taifei! Now negate this radio broadcast completely! Then we can destroy this rabble instantly with the Western District’s combined forces!”
‘I’ll be joining the purge, I suppose. But so long as my countryn erge victorious… And I know Lilei will manage to make it out sohow.’
With a masochistic laugh, Lihuang sensed his atmosphere return.
But Taifei too easily cut that flow.
“…What? What are you talking about?” Lihuang roared. The voice from the speaker continued.
It disclosed one simply ominous fact.
Yet again, silence enveloped the engine room.
“…What is the aning of this, Taifei?” Asked Yili.
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