A Million Sacrifices / Isaka, Leader of the Villains

"I've also heard about how he was called the 'Merchant of Death' because he invented dynamite. But were the journalists of that era so incompetent as to speak ill of a dead old man?... But, he wasn't dead yet back then?"

"Then, a few years later, Nobel mentioned the Nobel Prize in his will."

Is that so?

"He was probably furious about being called the 'Merchant of Death,' so he was determined to change people's perception of him. And that's how the Nobel Prize, which has influenced the world, was established!"

"At its root, it was a misreport by journalists. It's fair to say that without that misreport, the Nobel Prize would never have been established."

"Perhaps it will still be established."

Isaka glanced at the troublemaking girl with displeasure, then turned to Shirou and said:

"Shirou-kun, you understand what I mean, right?"

"..."

Ignoring Shirou's reaction, Isaka raised his fist and shouted loudly:

"The idea that history is made by mistakes. For example, do you know how First World War started? It was because the Austria Crown Prince was assassinated."

In fact, five assassination attempts had already failed before that, but the Crown Prince insisted on returning immediately by the same route, and no escorts were allowed to come. As a result, he ran into the sixth assassin, who had already given up on the assassination attempt, and was killed.

Then the whole world got involved.

"Uncle Isaka, you've gone off on a tangent," Yuli said, dissatisfied.

"Ahem, in short, what I want to say is that human society is formed through a series of mistakes," Isaka coughed as he spoke.

"Teacher Isaka, I understand what you're saying. It's true, as you said, humans are creatures that inevitably repeat the same mistakes and make errors. So..."

Shirou said gratefully. Although what he said wasn't entirely perfect, it was still a comfort to him. Then, Shirou composed himself and looked at Isaka with an unprecedentedly serious gaze, saying:

"That's why... we came here to find you."

"Yes, that's right!" Yuli stared at Isaka's face and nodded heavily.

"Huh? What does that mean?"

If we consider that some countries benefited from First World War —some made a fortune from the war, while others took advantage of the impoverishment of other major powers to rise to power—then...

In the future that Shirou envisions, many years later, there will be no winners in the world.

The heroes lost, and the villains failed to achieve their ambitions.

When the Enemy Alliance was destroyed, the remnants, seeking revenge on the world, released a superbug that spread extremely quickly, was impossible to isolate or eradicate, and was ineffective against all current medicines. It was indifferent to temperature, and whether one hid in the mountains of tropical regions or went to the white areas of icy mountains and snowfields, there was no way to stop the spread of the virus.

This superbug has surpassed all previous plagues and infectious viruses in history, including the Black Death, smallpox, SARS, Ebola, and various other epidemics and infectious viruses.

No matter how powerful a superhuman is, they are helpless against this pathogen. Even superhuman physical abilities like regeneration are useless, because the pathogen was originally developed to target superhumans.

Those with abilities are not immune.

According to research institutions, if the spread of superbugs is allowed to continue, humanity could face extinction in just three years.

Unless one escapes to outer space, it is simply impossible to avoid.

The only solution they could come up with was to go back in time and reverse history. Fortunately, Shirou's side also had highly skilled researchers in this field. After calculations by a supercomputer, they identified the key figure in the incident as Isaka.

The last leader of the Enemy Alliance: Psychomanipulator Isaka!

"Wait! How is that possible?" Isaka exclaimed, his eyes wide. He considered himself to be flawed, but not some heinous villain.

Now he's even collaborated with heroes, solving numerous nasty incidents together and benefiting the world!

How could he possibly be the kind of villain who would cause the destruction of the world!

"Uncle, your previous fervent speech had the kind of flair you'd show when you inherit the position and make a criminal declaration to the world," Yuli said, giving a thumbs up.

"There must be some mistake! I've been chased by thugs before!"

"That's just a simple case of underdogs overthrowing their superiors. A group of guys thought that as long as they replaced you, they could change history and lead the Enemy Alliance to rule the world, but those small fry are completely useless," Yuli said coldly.

"None of the remnants of the Enemy Alliance can travel through time; they can only send emails to villains in the past through a time capsule-like inverted version," Shirou continued.

Those remnants of the Enemy Alliance can simply be left to our comrades who remain in the future.

"We are a very well-rounded team, with scientists and specialists in reconnaissance, capable of predicting the actions of the villains in the Enemy Alliance and providing necessary protection," Shirou continued.

"In other words, the events seen in the hallucinations actually did occur. Then, by investigating those events, I finally concluded that the numbers in the hallucinations matched the number of victims."

Isaka didn't know what to say to him, he just kept opening his mouth and then closing it, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. Indeed, that was the case.

"When exactly did that disaster happen?" Isaka asked.

"The full outbreak happened more than ten years later. I don't know when the germs first started spreading, but by the time it broke out, it had already spread all over the world, and everything was out of control. Teacher Isaka, that's all you need to know right now. Our goal is to prevent these things from happening," Shirou said.

"More than ten years from now, that number is too ambiguous, it's a long way off..."

Chapter 1185 The Sacrifice of a Million

"Yes, but if no action is taken, then it will happen. The evil visions I see contain information about the perpetrators, and generally, they occur when I pass by the crime scene. They mostly show things that will happen in the near future, like a week later, or at most a month later. They rarely show things that will happen in half a year."

Such a long-term event, spanning several years, is unprecedented and is probably the most terrible disaster in recent decades.

From the information I obtained here, I learned the villain's name, appearance, clothing, address, main area of activity, and finally, a number. Please look!

Shirou grasped Isaka's hand.

Isaka's ability immediately activated, and he saw a huge number—ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, millions... millions? Moreover, there were several blank spaces before this number, as if it was reserved for growth by a hundred or a thousand times.

"This is your number, Teacher Isaka."

What is the significance of this number?

"Usually it's one or two, at most five."

"Then why do I have so many?"

One million, fifty-nine thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.

"Yeah, it's several digits off." Isaka had a bad feeling and asked, "Does this number mean anything?"

Isaka said, "For example, could it be the number of days until the event?" Indeed, if it's a prediction ten years in the future, it would explain why the number is so large.

"That's not it. This... is the number of victims."

"What!" Isaka exclaimed in shock, abruptly releasing his grip.

"It's a million now, but it could evolve into tens of millions, hundreds of millions, billions, or even the extinction of humanity." Shirou didn't look at Isaka, but instead looked into the distance.

Five years ago, Isaka's potential was stimulated, and he awakened his ability. Isaka worked hard to learn how to use this ability, collaborating with scholars and research institutions, and finally completed the development of his ability.

Isaka's telepathic abilities are achieved by shaking hands with people. Superpowers can be developed and strengthened, and Isaka's abilities can be made even stronger.

During a handshake, Isaka could even see what the other person was thinking, though Isaka didn't tell anyone.

Shirou pulled a stack of newspaper clippings from his briefcase, but this time it was a little different from five years ago.

Sometimes I'll read the text printed on it when it comes into view.

Then he froze, becoming completely dazed. It was in this state that he unconsciously finished reading the report, because the name of the perpetrator who caused the incident struck him.

Isaka discovers that the name in the news report is exactly the same as his own. Was this a clipping Shirou collected in the future?

"The victims mean... will they die?" Isaka was a writer, and it wasn't that he couldn't understand the literal meaning, but the seriousness of the situation forced him to pay attention to the details.

"That's roughly it, but it might also include those who were seriously injured and subsequently died," Shirou said.

"Wait... are you saying I'm the one who killed so many people?"

"Hmm." Shirou nodded calmly.

Isaka rubbed his neck, straining so hard that his eyes turned red and he started coughing.

If someone predicts to you that ten years from now you will commit murder...

It's really hard to just say something like, "Oh, I see."

"A million victims—that's the scale of a war," Isaka said. "I don't think I have the capacity to start one."

"It's not impossible. After all, you'll inherit the position of the No-Face who defeated All Might," Yuli said.

"Huh?" Isaka's face froze.

He held his breath, shocked as if he had just been punched in the side.

Don't give me so much approval on something like this! I really wanted to complain like that, but I'm not in the mood to get angry right now.

Isaka suddenly stood up.

Yuli instantly fixed her sharp gaze on Isaka with suspicion, as if she would take immediate action should Isaka do anything unusual.

"Sorry... I just needed to use the restroom?" Isaka said, with a wry smile.

"Please..." Yuli stepped aside to let Isaka pass.

'That expression just now, he definitely wanted to subdue me, right?' Isaka entered the bathroom, turned on the tap, and the water gushed out. He rubbed his face vigorously until his skin stung, trying to calm himself down.

After Isaka returned from the bathroom, he sat down on the sofa, sighed, and said, "Actually, I'm still very confused."

"Well, there's still plenty of time, Teacher Isaka, you can Matsushita a bit," Shirou said.

"Um, were you sure those illusions you saw earlier were real? I mean, even if they were real, is it possible that there was a connection to a parallel world?" Isaka asked, still unwilling to give up.

"No, we have a way to confirm it. According to the information and situation I've received, other worlds don't meet the standards," Shirou said with certainty.

"If you believe what happens in this illusion..."

Yes, if Isaka admits what Shirou said, if... it's true, then his future self can't be described simply as an evil villain.

"It's okay if you don't believe me, just treat him as a different person," Shirou suggested.

"Huh?" Isaka was taken aback. Could it be that one could view their future self as another person?

Indeed, if there were a way to undo past mistakes, most people would choose to take it, and they would become different from who they are now. For example, they might have more savings, a better partner, make up for a regret, or avoid something heartbreaking.

"Let's suppose that ten years from now, someone does something terrible that could kill a million people. Let's explore solutions based on that scenario," Shirou said.

"Something that could lead to the deaths of a million people?" Isaka couldn't think of any concrete possibilities. "How could it possibly happen?"

One million people—just how big is that number?

A school typically has one or two thousand students.

A large concert held in a local stadium can typically accommodate between five and ten thousand people.

One million people? Does that mean five hundred schools and over two hundred concerts were attacked simultaneously?

No, at the same time, there aren't that many celebrities and idols. Places like Tokyo Dome and Budokan don't have that many.

"Yes, what should we do if we encounter this situation?" Shirou countered, "Teacher Isaka, what do you think I should do?"

Chapter 1186 Villain Leader Isaka

"How do you mean?"

Isaka voice was devoid of emotion, and his face turned deathly pale.

"I have to do something about this," Shirou said calmly.

Before Shirou returned to the future, the great battle between heroes and villains had just ended, and the desperate villains had not yet sent out their messages. Shirou received this evil prophecy in advance, but by then it was too late. The experiments with the germs had already begun, and there was no time to stop it.

The germs that the villains researched weren't actually that scary at first, because their goal was to rule the world and achieve their own ambitions, not to have all of humanity perish with them.

However, the spread of pathogens is uncontrollable. After entering the human body and being stimulated, no one can explain what kind of mutations will occur.

Isaka could sense that Shirou was deliberately avoiding using disturbing or frightening words, as if he were thinking of himself.

But this only made Isaka more uneasy. Five years ago, Shirou really intended to kill him that night? Was he only interrupted by the villains and the White-haired Killing God? Did he ultimately give up because he missed his chance?

Are they going to kill me this time? Kill me when there won't be any disagreement?

Isaka, without realizing it, remembered that story about sacrificing one person to save the world?

Shirou broke the silence first, saying, "It doesn't matter how many incorrigible villains die, but if that person is still willing to change, I don't want to give up on any of them."

"I see... Phew... You scared me to death." Isaka's tense body suddenly collapsed onto the sofa.

He completely agreed with Shirou's words; he was the one who wanted to correct his mistake! Even though he hadn't made any mistakes yet.

Yuli waved her hand, laughing heartily, and said, "No need to panic, uncle. In the end, simply killing you won't solve the problem. That future is indeed troublesome, but it's still more than ten years away from now."

"But a million people, and it's going to keep spreading... Shouldn't we be panicking..." Isaka said, slumping onto the sofa.

Lily crossed her arms and said:

"In ten years, things will change. People's hearts and political trends will shift from left to right. The president who said he wanted to implement healthcare the day before yesterday might be the guy who goes around clamoring for Mexico to pay for the wall and Iraqis to pay for the troops stationed there, but has no money to build dikes for his own country."