"All right."
Mugino Shizuri opened her smartphone and looked at the data packet Yuuya had just sent to her device. The intel on MAR and Therestina Kihara Lifeline was incredibly detailed—much clearer and more comprehensive than anything the General Board of Directors usually provided them.
"Oh! Wait a minute, I have something else for you," Yuuya said.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of metallic coins, and tossed them across the table toward the seven girls.
They hurriedly caught them. Everyone looked puzzled as they stared at the strange, heavy coins in their palms.
"Is this arcade currency? Are we going to use it to play games?" Yakumaru Itsuki blinked, looking at Yuuya with genuine confusion.
"These are Resurrection Coins." Yuuya said mysteriously, a slight smile on his lips. "It allows you to revive from death exactly once. If you feel like you're about to die, just make sure the coin gets covered in your blood. It will revive you on the spot and heal your fatal injuries."
Since Yuuya already had his own survival mechanisms, the Resurrection Coins he pulled from the System Chests were somewhat redundant for him. But if his highly trained, uniquely powered subordinates accidentally died on a mission, it would be a huge loss to his overall combat strength.
"Is the Captain super kidding right now? This super resurrects people?" Kinuhata Saiai muttered under her breath, tossing the coin up and catching it. Even if he wanted to tease them, making up fantasy jokes that treated them like gullible idiots seemed beneath a Level 5.
"You don't believe me? Then shall we give it a practical test?"
Click-clack.
Without warning, a heavy, silver Desert Eagle materialized in Yuuya's hand. He pulled the slide back, loaded a round into the chamber, and pointed the massive muzzle directly at Frenda's forehead.
Frenda froze. Her face instantly turned ghostly pale with absolute terror.
"KYAAA!" Frenda shrieked. She scrambled out of her chair and frantically dove behind Takitsubo, using her sleepy teammate as a human shield. "Help me, Takitsubo!"
The entire patio fell dead silent. Everyone was bewildered and terrified by Yuuya's sudden, violent shift in personality, especially since they were sitting in public on a busy street.
"Well, just kidding," Yuuya laughed, the Desert Eagle dissolving back into his inventory. "You'll understand its value when the time comes. It's best to carry it with you at all times. Understand?"
"Phew..." Frenda exhaled, her legs turning to jelly.
"Let's go, Kinuhata," Mugino stood up impatiently. She strode away from the table, not wanting to stay in the unpredictable presence of this monster for even a minute longer.
"Well then, we'll be going now too... Captain!" Iisu Rita gave an awkward, rigid bow, eager to follow ITEM's lead and escape.
"Go ahead, go ahead. And remember, if you feel like you're going to die, just text me. Your deaths would be a huge loss for my investments, you know?" Yuuya said, stroking his chin, his tone shifting back to slightly gentler.
"Understood, Captain!" Itsuki said sweetly, waving goodbye.
As Scavenger walked away, Itsuki complained internally, 'His personality is so capricious! It's so hard to guess what he's thinking! I'm going to die of stress, boohoo~'
Yuuya watched their departing figures, his lips curving slightly upwards. His Dark Side division was now fully formed. But it wasn't enough yet. Not nearly enough. He needed this unit to reach a level of absolute power that could independently intimidate all the Directors of Academy City.
"Can you take me to see Dolly now?" Kozaku Mitori asked, breaking his train of thought. She looked at Yuuya with an impatient pout.
She hadn't expected to be rotting in that juvenile detention center for over half a year. She was sick with worry about how Dolly had been doing during those agonizing months. She couldn't feel at ease until she saw her friend with her own eyes.
"Call me Captain. By the way, why aren't you afraid of me like the others?" Yuuya asked, propping his cheek on his hand and looking at Mitori. She showed no fear or respect whatsoever. "I'm a Level 5. And the strongest one at that."
"So what if you're a Level 5?" Mitori curled her lips with an indifferent look. "I'm not even afraid of death anymore, so why would I be afraid of you? Don't underestimate me. I'm the girl who dared to try and blow up the Windowless Building."
After experiencing the darkest depths of the city, Mitori had become highly resistant to fear. Besides, she had deduced that this guy wouldn't really kill her—he needed her. So why should she cower?
"Alright. As expected of the woman who dared to declare war on Aleister. Your defiance makes me suddenly want to make you an adult," Yuuya teased with a wicked smirk.
Mitori's eyes widened. She instantly shifted tactics.
"What?! Are you really that depraved?!" Mitori suddenly raised her voice to a theatrical wail, covering her face with her hands. "Trying to lay a hand on a poor, defenseless girl like me?! Even if you want to do something horrible to me, I can't fight back! Sob sob!"
Pedestrians walking past the ice cream parlor immediately stopped and turned to look at Yuuya with intense disgust.
"Suddenly I don't find you cute anymore," Yuuya said speechlessly, realizing she was weaponizing public opinion against him.
He snapped his fingers.
The patio blurred, and the bright afternoon sunlight vanished instantly.
"Ouch!"
Mitori, who had been sitting comfortably in a patio chair, suddenly found the chair missing. Gravity took over, and she plopped hard onto a polished linoleum floor.
"Ouch, that hurts! You have no gentlemanly manners at all!" Mitori complained, kneeling on the floor and rubbing her bruised backside.
She looked up and froze.
She saw nurses walking past in the hallway. The air was filled with the sterile, stinging smell of medical disinfectant. They were in a hospital.
"Follow me," Yuuya said, shoving his hands into his white coat and walking deeper into the secure wing of the hospital.
Mitori scrambled to her feet and quickly followed him.
"Is this the hospital where Dolly is receiving treatment?" she asked nervously.
"Yes. Dolly's cellular health was rapidly deteriorating, but the doctor here—the one with the frog-like face—has the absolute best medical skills in the world. Heaven Canceller can revive anyone who isn't already dead. Thanks to his treatments, Dolly will be able to come out of the incubation chamber in a few days," Yuuya explained.
He thought of Shokuhou Misaki, who secretly visited Dolly every two or three days to keep her company, and a warm smile appeared on his lips.
Mitori glanced at Yuuya out of the corner of her eye and saw his genuine smile. 'This guy can actually smile so gently?' she thought to herself. 'I thought he was just a domineering tyrant.'
"Did you save Dolly? I read the stolen lab reports... Dolly's body was failing. She was about to give up," Mitori said softly.
"It would be arrogant to say that I saved Dolly. I deserve half the credit for securing this facility, but the main credit goes to Shokuhou Misaki," Yuuya said, lacing his hands behind his head.
"Shokuhou Misaki? The Number Five?" Mitori looked surprised, somewhat incredulous. That elite Level 5 who controlled people's minds had saved Dolly?
"While you were locked up in the black site, Shokuhou hadn't officially been ranked as a Level 5 yet, but she was close," Yuuya explained. "After you disappeared, Dolly became severely depressed. Her vitals plummeted. The researchers panicked and forced Shokuhou to use her Mental Out ability to impersonate you, implanting false memories to keep Dolly stable so they could extract more data."
Yuuya paused at a heavy electronic door.
"But Shokuhou eventually realized the truth. She rebelled against the researchers and used her power to keep Dolly's mind intact while I secured her physical extraction. That's how Shokuhou saved her."
"I see..." Mitori lowered her head. "I really have to thank her."
So many things had happened while she was rotting in the dark.
Yuuya used his Electromagnetism to seamlessly bypass the electronic lock on the door. It slid open with a quiet hiss.
The intensive care room was spacious, filled with life-support machinery and thick electronic cables. The cables all converged on a large, cylindrical incubation chamber in the corner of the room. Floating inside the oxygenated fluid was a young girl with brown hair, wearing a green surgical gown, fast asleep with her eyes closed.
Mitori stared at the girl in the chamber.
Her pupils trembled violently. Her vision blurred as hot tears welled up and spilled over the corners of her eyes. She quickly ran across the room, placing her trembling hands flat against the thick glass of the incubation tube.
"Dolly... it really is Dolly..." Mitori choked on a sob, her voice cracking. "She's really alive... Dolly, that's wonderful..."
Tears streamed freely down her face. And in that instant, the crushing, suffocating shackles of hatred she had carried for months finally vanished with every tear that fell.
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