After finishing lunch, Kuchiba Hiro packed up his lunch box and was about to return to the classroom when he was stopped by Hiratsuka Shizuka in the hallway of the teaching building.
"Kuchiba, wait a moment." Hiratsuka Shizuka held that familiar, small, exquisitely packaged gift box, a somewhat helpless smile on her face. "Yukinoshita asked me to hand this to you. She said... you rejected her in the cafeteria just now."
She handed the gift box over, her tone carrying a hint of persuasion. "It's just a small gift to express her gratitude, nothing more. You should accept it. That girl, Yukinoshita, truly wants to thank you."
Kuchiba Hiro looked at the gift box, his eyes showing no emotion as he still firmly shook his head. "Teacher Hiratsuka, thank you for your kindness, but I cannot accept it. I don't want to have any connection with the Yukinoshita family."
Hiratsuka Shizuka sighed and complained with some confusion, "Aren't you overthinking it? This is just a simple thank-you gift, representing a girl's feelings, that's all."
"It's not that I'm thinking too much, Teacher Hiratsuka." Kuchiba Hiro's tone was calm, yet carried an unquestionable seriousness. "It's that I have to think much."
His gaze swept the surroundings, and after confirming no one else was paying attention, he took a step closer and lowered his voice.
"I naturally believe that Yukinoshita sincerely wants to express her thanks. But the problem is, if I accept this gratitude, does it imply by default that we've 'established a connection'? Once this connection is made, no matter how I draw the boundaries in my own heart, in the eyes of outsiders—especially those watching the Yukinoshita family or those who have grievances with them—the signal sent out is: 'The Yukinoshita family is related to me, Kuchiba Hiro.'"
He paused, and to make it easier for Hiratsuka Shizuka to understand, he told a simple historical anecdote. "It's like in ancient times when two armies faced off. A general from one side sent a jar of fine wine to the general of the other side. Even if the recipient just accepted it without drinking, if it reached the ears of his own soldiers, they would wonder if their general had a change of heart. The item itself isn't valuable, but the relationship and stance it represents behind the scenes are the key."
He looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka's thoughtful expression and continued to voice more realistic concerns.
"To tell you the truth, I met a stranger yesterday whose family was silenced because they learned the truth about the 'Doomsday.' He wanted to cooperate with me for revenge."
Kuchiba Hiro's voice grew even lower. "Think about it, what if... I mean what if, in the future, there are more victims like this, or other enemies who come to seek revenge against the Yukinoshita family? If I've accepted this gift, what would I be in their eyes? Would they think I'm an accomplice and turn their resentment toward me? I'd be inviting trouble for no reason."
He finally looked at Hiratsuka Shizuka, his eyes filled with a rare gravity, even bordering on a warning.
"Teacher Hiratsuka, I also advise you to try not to get too deeply involved with the Yukinoshita family. You've seen the content in the light screen. Sometimes, excessive kindness and forcibly intervening in the fates of others might eventually lead you to shoulder the same misfortune. You're a good teacher, but there's no need to drag yourself down for the sake of one student."
These words, especially the final reminder about the light screen, caused Hiratsuka Shizuka to fall completely silent. If it were before, she might have blurted out something like, "She's my student, I can't just ignore her." But the bloody end she saw for herself in the light screen had indeed brought a massive shock to her. She began to understand that some karmic causes, if forcibly twisted or intervened in, might truly bring disaster upon oneself.
She looked into Kuchiba Hiro's eyes, which were calm to the point of being cold, and for the first time, she didn't try to use her status as a teacher to persuade or refute him. She nodded sullenly and took the gift box back.
"Fine... you have a point." Her tone was complex, carrying a trace of helplessness and the relief of recognizing reality. "Then I'll return this gift for you."
"Sorry for the trouble." Kuchiba Hiro nodded slightly, said no more, and turned to walk toward the classroom... Not long after, the light screen reappeared, and new images unfolded like a cruel epic.
(Since the bloody night of his family's massacre, Kuchiba Hiro's path of revenge had not stopped. Obsession became the sole fuel driving him, and he turned his gaze toward even larger shadows—the elites and conglomerates who might have participated in the "Ark Project" and stolen humanity's last hope.
The images shifted rapidly, like clips from a fast-paced crime film:
A luxurious banquet hall: Kuchiba Hiro, in black armor that was completely out of place with his surroundings, ignored the stunned guests and the charging bodyguards, walking straight toward an overweight target. In the background were the screams of socialites and shattering champagne glasses.
On a highway: A limited-edition sports car fled frantically, but Kuchiba Hiro pursued at an even more terrifying speed, eventually intercepting it by instantly using Hardening in front of the car. After a piercing screech of twisting metal, the sports car was forced to a stop, smoking, and the tycoon inside was pale with terror.
A private manor: One target actually had a superhuman bodyguard with blazing flames swirling around his body. The two clashed, but the fire impact could not damage Kuchiba Hiro's hardened body in the slightest. After a few rounds, Kuchiba Hiro crushed the bodyguard's wrist, tossed him aside like a rag, and walked toward the ashen-faced master.
A dim underground club: From among a group of scantily clad women with glazed eyes, he dragged out a certain family heir who looked like a drug addict. No matter how the other party cried and begged for mercy, there was only one question.
"Where is the ark?"
However, the result was stifling. Whether through intimidation, bribery, or brutal interrogation, the answers he got from these people were shockingly consistent—they only knew they had invested astronomical sums of money, but they knew nothing about the ark's specific location, construction progress, or even its final form. They were seemingly just a group of captive "suckers" responsible for providing funds but not allowed to know the core secrets.
This obvious anomaly loomed like a dark cloud. But Kuchiba Hiro could no longer turn back. Hatred and obsession had long since eroded his sanity; he was like a runaway train, racing madly along the tracks of revenge until destruction. And his madness caused the bounty on his head to snowball to a staggering, astronomical figure.
The massive bounty attracted hyenas sniffing for blood—all sorts of bounty hunters from all over the world.)
The light screen's image suddenly changed, the scene moving to an abandoned industrial area. A fierce battle had already begun!
(A group of oddly dressed bounty hunters surrounded Kuchiba Hiro. Their abilities were varied and strange, like an exhibition of supernatural creatures:
A burly man let out a wolf howl, his body swelling and his hair growing wildly as he transformed into a half-man, half-wolf monster. His claws tore through the air, pouncing with a stench of blood.
A young girl's hands danced, and the residual water on the ground and the liquid from her canteen turned into sharp water blades, silently slicing toward Kuchiba Hiro's joints.
Several people wearing streamlined, metallic-sheen combat suits, though seemingly without superpowers, had speed and strength far exceeding ordinary humans. They held high-tech weapons and fired continuously, with energy beams crisscrossing.
There were also cold men and women holding strangely shaped weapons that seemed to be a combination of biological tissue and metal, their movements agile and their attacks cunning and ruthless.
Most heart-stopping were several humanoid monsters with blood-red eyes and hideous organs like tentacles or scales extending from their backs, shoulders, or waists—Ghouls! They roared, driven by a hunger for "food," and launched the most lethal attacks.
Facing this surging tide of attacks from all directions, Kuchiba Hiro's figure moved through them, appearing exceptionally calm.
His "danger perception" was like the most precise radar, always allowing him to avoid the werewolf's pounce, the water blades' slicing, the energy beams' sniping, and the lethal tearing of the Ghouls' Kagune at the critical moment.
His physical fitness, which had long since surpassed human limits, gave him explosive speed and strength. With a single punch, he could send a hunter in an advanced combat suit flying, armor and all, crashing into the concrete pillars behind them.
And what made the bounty hunters most desperate was his unsolvable "Hardening" ability!
The werewolf's claws scraped against his arm, throwing off sparks but failing to leave even a mark.
The water blades sliced at his neck, but upon hitting it as if striking diamond, they instantly shattered.
Energy beams shot at his instantly hardened chest, like a drop of water in the ocean, only stirring up a faint glow.
A Ghoul's Kagune stabbed toward his heart from behind with the sound of breaking wind, but it produced a sharp "ding," as if it had struck the hardest alloy in the world, unable to advance an inch!
He was like a walking weapon of destruction, strolling leisurely through the hail of bullets and supernatural attacks.
Kuchiba Hiro strode forward expressionlessly, raising his Hardening-covered arm to block the continuous stream of lasers. Amidst the person's terrified screams, his fingers clamped onto their face and exerted force, crushing the skull. Simultaneously, he delivered a side kick, caving in the chest of a Ghoul pouncing from the side, sending it flying into a pile of abandoned shipping containers, its fate unknown.
These bounty hunters, who were famous in the dark world, began to doubt their existence. The temptation of the massive bounty, when faced with this incomprehensible absolute defense and terrifying combat power, turned into the deepest fear.
The battle continued, but the scales of victory had never tilted from the very beginning.
Kuchiba Hiro's fist pierced through the chest of the woman holding a katana, his cold gaze scanning the remaining, already terrified hunters around him. At his feet were the various enemies lying scattered about, having lost their ability to fight.
The ghost of revenge still walks the earth. And the mystery of the "ark" remains hidden deep behind the mist.)
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