About twenty minutes later, this deep sleep abruptly ended.
Ryosuke woke up.
A feeling of being ntally refreshed made him feel better than ever before.
Then, a more direct sensation appeared.
The once well-fitted shirt beca taut.
Whoosh!
Ryosuke inhaled deeply, his muscles tensing up.
Rip!
The shirt was instantly torn apart by his bulging muscles.
And this wasn’t all. Ryosuke turned around and braced his hands against the edge of his office desk, and with just a slight exertion of force, the whole desk was lifted.
This was a solid wood desk with drawers and cabinets full of docunts which, all together, weighed over 100kg.
Ryosuke had tried to move it before.
But it took a great deal of effort.
Compared with now, the ease of it was night and day.
Afterward, Ryosuke tested himself in multiple ways.
Speed, reaction, resistance to striking force, and so on.
Even though there were many restrictions due to being in the office, the results still left Ryosuke extrely satisfied.
In terms of speed, he could sprint from the desk to the door in an instant.
In terms of reaction, he flicked a pencil back and forth between his fingers at a speed that was too fast for the average person to follow with their eyes.
As for resistance to striking force, a careless mont left a pencil stabbing into the back of his hand, but he only felt a slight pain, the pencil tip broke, and the back of his hand was not hard at all.
Ryosuke could say with confidence that he could easily defeat the previous him who had a gun, with bare hands.
Even if there were two or three more gunn, it would be effortless.
"Is this what strength feels like?"
Ryosuke muttered to himself.
Then, he looked at the second injection.
While taking deep breaths, he watched the ti.
After an hour had passed, Ryosuke waited another ten minutes before starting the second injection.
The reason he waited ten more minutes was to remind himself not to be dazzled by the current power he possessed.
He must remain ’sober’.
The injection of the second potion was also quite successful.
After coming to, Ryosuke stood up from his chair. Without bending his knees, he simply pushed down with his toes and his palm easily touched the ceiling.
"Stronger than before!"
"The exact extent needs further testing!"
"Hm?"
Ryosuke was pondering when his gaze swept over the clock on the desk and he was taken aback.
He rembered that it had been 9:30. According to Sato, if he had been unconscious for half an hour, it should now be 10 o’clock, yet it was already 11 o’clock.
He had been unconscious for one hour longer than expected.
Cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
A bad premonition surged in Ryosuke’s heart.
The next mont—
Thump, thump thump!
The hurried knocking on the door sounded.
Following that was Urashima’s slightly rushed and panicked voice.
"Officer Ryosuke? Officer Ryosuke?"
Ryosuke quickly opened the door.
Seeing Ryosuke who appeared behind the door, the young Urashima finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness! Senior Ryosuke, I thought..."
"What happened in this last hour?"
Looking at Ryosuke, Urashima’s emotions were so agitated that he changed his form of address, but Ryosuke interrupted his speech, imdiately inquiring.
Urashima began to compose himself right away.
"There was a call transferred over earlier for assistance in an investigation. Sothing like ’Inside World’ has occurred at the ’Uesugi’ family’s place, and we are needed."
Urashima spoke truthfully.
"When did this happen?"
Ryosuke asked.
"About 20 minutes ago."
Urashima replied.
"Damn it!"
Ryosuke cursed under his breath.
By now, Ryosuke was certain that he had been duped.
Sato, the guide and hidden partner, played him.
He could now be sure that sothing else had been mixed into the second potion.
Otherwise, there was no way he could have been unconscious this long.
And it was unlikely that extending the unconsciousness after consecutive injections was a coincidence.
But it wasn’t a common occurrence either.
This must have been Sato’s inevitable excuse.
So far, Ryosuke couldn’t be sure what Sato intended to do, but he knew he had to get to the ’Uesugi’ family’s place now.
"Urashima, let’s go!"
Ryosuke said, and without even taking the ti to change his torn shirt, he grabbed his jacket and ran outside.
Hope it’s not too late!
Ryosuke prayed in his heart.
He floored the accelerator all the way.
Until he saw Jason.
A frantic Ryosuke completely relaxed.
He knew that with Jason here, even if things turned out bad, they wouldn’t be too bad.
In fact, the situation turned out much better than he had anticipated.
"Sword Eater Group?"
"Does Sato have a connection with the ’Sword Eater Group’?"
"Did he intentionally prolong my unconsciousness to cooperate with the ’Sword Eater Group’?"
Ryosuke muttered to himself in a low voice.
Jason looked at Ryosuke with a gaze that seed to regard him as a fool.
When Ryosuke looked up, he t that gaze.
Imdiately, Ryosuke’s face turned red with embarrassnt.
He knew he had just been a bit narcissistic.
In front of him, neither the ’Sword Eater Group’ nor the ’Uesugi Family’ was sothing he could control on his own.
The strength demonstrated by both parties was such that even if he arrived in ti, he wouldn’t cause the slightest ripple.
"Then why would he do that?"
"Couldn’t it be to use this incident to have dismissed from my duties?"
"That’s way too, too..."
Ryosuke said in a joking tone.
But Jason’s expression beca serious.
"Maybe that’s exactly what it is?"
"For an organization as well-inford as ’Blossom Cherry’, it should be impossible to conceal the movents of ’Sword Eater Groupeven if ’Sword Eater Group’ hides very well, these thugs can’t stay hidden."
"They must be under the watch of ’Blossom Cherry’."
Jason stated with certainty.
In the city, large-scale gatherings and movents cannot go unnoticed without a trace.
It’s not just in modern tis, but even a hundred or two hundred years ago, it would have been impossible.
Unless...
It’s done under so sort of pretext.
If there are no covers, everything is crystal clear.
"Could there really be infighting?"
Ryosuke’s voice was even lower, but the excitent was impossible to hide.
He had joined ’Blossom Cherry’ to overthrow ’Blossom Cherry’.
If there was infighting within ’Blossom Cherry’, it would definitely make his plan go more smoothly.
"I don’t know."
"Maybe we could ask soone."
Jason looked at Ryosuke, and after they exchanged a smile, they thought of the sa person at the sa ti.
Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!
Sitting at a streetside diner, Onodera sneezed three tis in a row.
Quite loudly, imdiately attracting the gaze of the people around him.
Onodera quickly made an apologetic gesture.
Once the attention of those around him had diverted away, Onodera sighed weakly.
Wondering who was cursing him again.
He was clearly doing this to repay a favor.
Why did he get entangled in what seed to be a big troubleso incident?
Is it true that no good deed goes unpunished?
Or is it just...
My sheer bad luck?
Facing his favorite pork cutlet rice bowl, Onodera felt no appetite because of the troubles weighing on his mind.
He twirled the vegetable strips next to the cutlet with his fork, which quickly coiled around it, but he had no intention of putting it in his mouth.
What should I do?
Should I make the phone call?
If I do, I will be thoroughly wrapped up in it.
If I don’t, this current unease is also unbearable.
While Onodera was conflicted, a figure walked in.
The person was in plain clothes, wearing a cap that shadowed most of their face.
However, even with that, Onodera recognized the person at a glance.
Hanakaiin Itsuki!
The most dangerous individual among the younger generation of the Hanakaiin Family.
What was he doing here?
Onodera thought to himself, quickly diverting his gaze.
But his ears perked up, purely a professional reflex.
He heard clearly—
"A milk tea with double sugar, double red beans, and double coconut jelly."
Hanakaiin Itsuki ordered.
When the server brought over the milk tea, he took it and walked to a corner of the diner.
Did he co here just to drink milk tea?
Onodera was taken aback.
A ruthless person wouldn’t co to a place for no reason just to drink milk tea.
Onodera didn’t believe it.
There must be so unspeakable secret.
But, it’s none of my business.
I’d better leave quickly.
With that thought, Onodera discreetly made his way to the restroom.
Exiting through the front door would be too conspicuous.
The back door was the best choice.
Passing through the cramped and narrow corridor, Onodera pushed open the back door.
Soone was standing behind the door.
The person was about to pull the door open when they were startled by the door suddenly being pushed from the other side.
The person took a step back, and when Onodera could completely see the person’s face, he couldn’t help but exclaim—
"Sato?!"
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