The other end of the tubes was connected to a furnace in the center of the workshop, where a large amount of black, unknown liquid swirled and continuously flowed into sword-shaped molds.
"Lord Akutagawa, the latest batch of 'Kaminari Ōkami' is currently 75% complete." The Kurokawa family patriarch lifted a half-finished product from the cooling table as if it were a treasure and brought it to Arata.
"We only need to absorb thirty more units of vital energy…"
Arata suddenly pressed down on his shoulder. As the man stared in shock, he slowly drew his sword from his belt. "Did that idiot Kumoi not tell you that drawing life from a living being requires a special reinforced Hadō technique?"
A flash of sword light, and all the tubes burst, with a massive amount of blood spilling across the floor.
"L-Lord?"
"Trash." Arata shook the blood off his sword and imitated the arrogant tone typical of nobles.
"Forty percent of the energy is lost in the redirection process. No wonder the test subjects from the Hatake family couldn't last even a single match."
His foot struck an unconscious test subject lying at his feet. "Dispose of this waste and replace them tomorrow with quality 'containers' sent by the Tsunayashiro family."
"Understood?!"
"Yes, yes! Lord Akutagawa, I understand!" The Kurokawa family patriarch nodded and bowed as if he had just been granted forgiveness, not noticing the spiritual particle recording device that slipped from Arata's sleeve.
It was a secret surveillance device from the Technology Development Bureau. It could record all nearby conversations and perform 360° panoramic video recording when necessary. An essential artifact for business trips and outings.
As the micro-device adhered to the bottom of the furnace, the system window silently appeared.
[Mission progress: 45%]
"Speaking of which…" Arata suddenly lifted the Kurokawa patriarch's chin with the tip of his sword. "I heard you've been working with the Kuchiki house recently?"
The chubby face of the patriarch instantly froze. "Lord Akutagawa, that is absolutely false! I swear on my life that the Kurokawa family will always be loyal to the Tsunayashiro family. "
"Hurry, hurry, bring the documents over here!"
"Lord Akutagawa, the loyalty of the Kurokawa family to the Tsunayashiro house is truly obvious to all. Just take a look at this ledger and everything will be clear."
The Kurokawa family patriarch immediately ordered his most trusted servant to bring the core family ledger and carefully handed it to Arata.
Arata flipped through it carelessly and saw that it clearly recorded data regarding the Bakkōtō weapon production line over the past few months – from master inspections to worker slacking, everything was documented in detail.
On January 2nd, Lord Tsunayashiro Akutagawa convened a secret meeting to convey work instructions from superiors, emphasizing that the Kasumiōji family must firmly hold primary responsibility for the research and production of Bakkōtō swords, while the Kurokawa family must actively cooperate in establishing an appropriate production line…
On February 7th, Kasumiōji Kumoi personally oversaw the inspection and ordered that Kurokawa family workshop No. 1 continue enhanced production oversight to ensure that the first batch of Bakkōtō prototypes reached a 10% success rate and 3% quality level…
On February 25th, workshop No. 1 successfully produced the first series of Bakkōtō swords, codenamed "Kaminari Ōkami." In accordance with Lord Kumoi's orders, they were secretly transferred to the lower noble Hatake family…
Continuing on, Arata once again saw two familiar words – Kaminari Ōkami and the Hatake family. It seemed that the sword Hatake Hayata possessed had indeed come from here.
On March 13th, Hatake Nanao secretly stole a Kaminari Ōkami Type 1 and went to the 80th district of Rukongai. Due to insufficient spiritual energy, the Bakkōtō backfired and lost control, causing a massive explosion…
The incident that occurred in the 80th district of Rukongai a week ago was also the work of this group.
As the fragments of information unraveled before his eyes, Arata gained a very complete picture of the causes and consequences of the entire case, and the overall situation differed in some areas from the original plot.
In the original, Kasumiōji Kumoi, who led the development of the Bakkōtō swords, was merely a middleman and courier, while here the true mastermind in the shadows had become the Tsunayashiro family.
And it seemed that, due to Arata's appearance, Amagai Shusuke and his father had not been dragged into this vortex, having perfectly avoided internal conflict within the Soul Society.
Therefore, the core of the whole matter was the Tsunayashiro family or rather, someone within the Tsunayashiro family who harbored a rebellious heart and was planning to create a powerful unit capable of overthrowing the Soul Society by developing a biological weapon known as "Bakkōtō."
Whether they would actually be able to overthrow it was another matter.
To preserve the reputation and noble status of one of the Five Great Noble Houses, Tsunayashiro had delegated the development, production, and testing of the Bakkōtō swords to the Kasumiōji family, a higher noble house under their control.
More precisely, to Kasumiōji Kumoi, a vassal with rebellious intentions.
The current head of the Kasumiōji family, Kasumiōji Rurichiyo, knew nothing about any of this. After all, she was just a powerless little girl.
Tsunayashiro bore only the responsibility of funding and authorization. If anything went wrong, they could simply say it was "a regular business relationship" and that they knew nothing more.
No matter how big or serious the problem was, no one could force the Tsunayashiro family, one of the Five Great Nobles, to pay a heavy price. A perfunctory procedure was enough for everyone to "know" that something had happened.
As for the many small and medium nobles involved afterward, such as the Kurokawa and Hatake families, they were just workers to whom the Kasumiōji family had "outsourced" the work.
The swordsmanship tournament organized by the Maou Spiritual Arts Academy was nothing more than a cover to deceive the public.
The real intention was to have the guards equipped with Bakkōtō appear on stage and fight under real conditions, and then use the collected data from the Bakkōtō weapons for further refinement.
Arata closed the ledger, and the metal edge of the cover echoed with a clear sound in the silent workshop.
The fat body of the Kurokawa family patriarch trembled, and sweat the size of peas poured down his forehead.
"L-Lord Akutagawa, this…"
"Well done." Arata suddenly showed a sinister smile and tapped his fat cheek with the fan's bone ribs. "Although all of this is petty play unworthy of a grand stage, at least your records are neat."
He casually tossed the ledger back at the Kurokawa family patriarch, and as he turned, the hem of his haori brushed the edge of the furnace, stirring up a wave of foul-smelling air. The micro-device stuck to the bottom of the furnace recorded all the sins of this workshop.
[Mission progress: 68%]
"Remember, I want to see the first batch of 'Kaminari Ōkami' products in three days." Arata stepped over the unconscious test subjects on the ground, the soles of his boots passing through a pool of blood that hadn't yet coagulated. "If more trash like the Hatake family shows up again…"
"I wouldn't dare! I would never dare!" The Kurokawa family patriarch collapsed to his knees and kept banging his forehead on the floor, his forehead cracking and spreading fractures across the tiles like a spiderweb. "I will personally oversee every step of the process!"
Arata merely snorted coldly, turned, and walked toward the exit.
As he passed by Kurokawa Zhenki, the spoiled young noble trembled while being held up by a servant. Arata deliberately stopped and suddenly grabbed his dislocated jaw with slender fingers.
"Bang, bang——"
With a sinister crunching of bones snapping back into place, Kurokawa Zhenki let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered.
Arata leaned in and whispered in his ear, just loud enough for everyone in the workshop to hear: "If you dare to wave those fakes around again, I'll throw you into the furnace as fuel."
When Arata's figure disappeared at the end of the secret corridor, everyone in the Kurokawa family still knelt on the floor, not daring to raise their heads.
Only when the buzzing sound of the barrier resealing was heard did the fat Kurokawa patriarch collapse to the ground, gasping for air.
…
The moonlight over the Noble Alley was covered by thick clouds. After undoing his transformation, Arata stood on the rooftop, observing the entire Kurokawa family estate.
The Void Mask in his palm turned into a stream of light and dispersed, and the system window appeared at just the right moment.
[Key evidence obtained: Live video of the Bakkōtō sword production line, scan of the Kurokawa family's secret ledger]
[Mission progress: 85%]
"Next, it's time to visit the Kasumiōji house." Arata took out the map given to him by old man Yamamoto, with the Kasumiōji estate marked in a red circle.
His fingers paused on the name "Kumoi," and at that moment he suddenly felt a strange fluctuation in spiritual pressure.
"Whoosh——"
The moment the sound of air being pierced came from behind him, Arata turned and waved his sleeve, stopping three metal balls three fingers away from his nose with a barrier of spiritual energy.
The fuses wrapped around the tails of the balls were already burning and about to explode.
"Bakudō #39: Enkōsen!"
At the moment the golden round shield spread out, the metal balls exploded into sparks that scattered across the sky.