"You're smart. Too bad all of that is just your own speculation."
Ryoko Tamiya stood up, ready to leave.
"Your child isn't even born yet. If it does come into this world… are you sure the parasites will accept it?"
Ivan spoke again just as she was about to walk out.
"This is a deal. Benefits both of us. Think about it."
Ryoko said nothing. She walked straight out of the café.
Ivan didn't react. He kept sipping his coffee, calm as ever, phone placed in front of him like he was waiting for something.
Ten minutes later.
A message popped up on the screen.
"You're despicable. But congratulations. You convinced me."
Right after that, another message came in.
An address.
A ramen shop, located in Adachi.
Ivan chuckled under his breath. "Being a bastard gets things done. Being noble just gets you a nice gravestone."
He finished the last sip of coffee, stood up, and hailed a taxi toward Adachi, Tokyo.
Compared to the more glamorous parts of the city, this place felt dead.
Low-income residents made up most of the population, and the area's security was trash.
From the back seat, Ivan could feel the difference immediately. This place and somewhere like Ginza might as well be two different worlds.
Punks loitered on every corner. Trash piled up on the streets with no one bothering to clean it. Even the number of homeless people was ridiculous.
For a second, Ivan thought he'd wandered into some third-rate slum.
No wonder the parasites picked this place to open restaurants.
Nice little feeding ground. Raising humans like livestock.
Ivan figured the ramen shop Ryoko sent him to definitely had more than one parasite inside.
That woman was dangerous. Calculating, ruthless.
He'd need to be careful.
Soon, he told the driver to stop. Judging by the street signs, the place should be deeper inside one of the alleys.
"Parasites usually hunt at night."
Ivan checked the time on his phone. Two hours until dark.
Plenty of time to get ready.
First stop, an agricultural supply shop. Pesticides, seeds, even farming equipment. He spotted a short-handled chainsaw on the shelf. Effective, sure, but walking around with that would draw way too much attention.
"Excuse me, which pesticide here is the most toxic? My grandfather's melon field is getting eaten alive."
The shop owner, a middle-aged man, lowered his newspaper and looked Ivan up and down.
Seeing how young he was, he frowned.
"The kind you're asking for is restricted. We don't sell it to individuals."
"Ten thousand."
Ivan didn't argue. He pulled out ten thousand yen and placed it on the counter.
The cash made the owner hesitate, but he still glanced back at his newspaper. "We only sell to agricultural cooperatives. If you want it, go ask them."
Seriously? That strict?
Even ten thousand wasn't enough.
Ivan paused, then took out another ten thousand and placed it down.
"Maybe you've got the wrong idea. I'm not trying to drink it and off myself. And if I were, I wouldn't pick something that painful, asshole."
That got the man's attention.
"You're sure you're not using it for suicide… or murder?"
"I swear to God."
"…Fine. Wait here."
The owner stood up, muttering under his breath. Obviously not because of the money. No, no. Purely out of concern for Ivan's poor, defenseless melon field.
"This is an organophosphate pesticide. Concentrated. Be careful with it. Once it gets into the human body, it kills fast."
The owner handed over a bottle covered in English labels, then casually pocketed the twenty thousand yen on the counter.
Ivan was satisfied.
Exactly what he needed.
Next, he stopped by a small clinic nearby and bought a few syringes.
By the time everything was ready, the sky had already darkened.
Walking along the street, Ivan kept seeing drunks staggering past, completely wasted. But what caught his attention wasn't the drunks.
It was the people beside them.
Every single one had someone supporting them, guiding them into alleyways.
If most of them hadn't been men, Ivan would've thought it was some shady prostitution deal going down.
"…Parasites?"
He narrowed his eyes, staring at one of them.
The man seemed to notice. He turned his head and looked straight at Ivan.
Blank face. Empty eyes.
No emotion at all.
"Yeah. That look… only parasites have it."
Ivan didn't hold the gaze for long. He turned and walked away.
"This whole place… probably one of their feeding grounds. Of course she'd send me here. That woman really is a bitch."
At his current level, taking on one parasite was already risky.
There were at least four in sight.
Picking a fight now would be suicide.
Ivan moved to a nearby park, sat down on a bench, and closed his eyes, waiting.
Until the time was right. Only then did Ivan open his eyes and head toward the alley.
On the way, he grabbed a bottle of cheap liquor, twisted it open, took a sip, then poured the rest over himself, soaking his clothes to sell the act.
Sure enough, it didn't take long.
A skinny man hurried over, acting like they were old friends, and grabbed Ivan to support him.
"Hey, Oda, I saw you from a distance. Why'd you drink so much?"
The tone was stiff, unnatural, but convincing enough. Passersby didn't give them a second look.
"…Who the hell are you?" Ivan slurred, eyes half-open.
"It's me, Tanaka. Your neighbor. Don't you remember?"
Ivan was putting everything into the performance. This was peak acting.
"…Yeah, kinda. Come on, let's drink. Not stopping till we're dead drunk."
He grabbed the man and started dragging him toward the nearby park.
At this hour, the place was empty.
The man hesitated for a moment, then followed.
Not his usual hunting spot, but at this time of night, no one would see. Cleaning up the body might be a bit annoying, but nothing he couldn't handle.
"Tanaka… help me over there."
Ivan pointed at a bench.
Under the streetlight, Tanaka's shadow stretched across the ground in front of Ivan.
And the head of that shadow… Split open like a blooming flower.
Rows of sharp teeth unfolded in every direction.
___
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69