Fu Hua opened her eyes and immediately checked whether the contingency she had left on Amber, specifically for Black Amber, had been triggered. Only after confirming that nothing major had happened did she speak.
Amber directly explained Black Amber's thoughts.
Although Amber could simply equip the Core of the Herrscher of Reason again, she had just interrupted the Herrscher of Reason's sales pitch and made her a little unhappy. She was too embarrassed to pull the same thing again, so Fu Hua had to act as the intermediary between them.
"Wait a moment."
Hearing Black Amber's guess, Fu Hua frowned as well. She then closed her eyes. After a while, she opened them again. "Your classmates are in danger."
"Huh?"
Amber froze.
They're plotting against me, so why are my classmates in danger?
No, does that mean the Jujutsu World really is plotting something?
Time flowed differently within Feathered Dust than it did outside, giving Fu Hua time to explain. "According to the Herrscher of Reason's deduction, you and Gojo Satoru were brought here by Liao Chan. Amber, do you still remember the Binding Vow Sukuna made with Yuji in the original story?"
"The one at the Juvenile Detention Center, where Yuji died and Sukuna promised to revive him?"
Amber naturally remembered that incident. All the tragedies that followed had been foreshadowed from there.
"The Juvenile Detention Center incident was designed by Liao Ta. This time, having you transferred away was also Liao Ta's design."
Fu Hua nodded.
"That doesn't make sense, though? The Juvenile Detention Center incident shouldn't have happened this early!"
Amber frowned.
"The Special Grade Cursed Spirit at the Juvenile Detention Center appeared only after swallowing one of Ryomen Sukuna's fingers."
Fu Hua explained the Herrscher of Reason's view. "The higher-ups of the Jujutsu World are Liao Ta. The fingers are Liao Ta. Sending you away was also Liao Ta. The whole thing was orchestrated by Liao Ta alone. Under these circumstances, maintaining your sense of the timeline is meaningless, because your arrival changed Liao Ta's mindset and made him impatient."
There was something else the Herrscher of Reason had not said: this was not entirely Amber's fault... The trouble she had caused was probably what had truly made Liao Ta anxious.
But since Liao Ta had already done it, the great Herrscher of Reason decided not to mention such a trivial matter.
Hearing this, Amber's scalp went numb. A day had already passed since she and Gojo Satoru came here, and getting back would take time too. Was she going to miss it again? Then what was the point of her coming here?
(Navigator: It's recognition.)
"Gojo-sensei! We have to get back quickly!"
As her consciousness returned to reality, Amber's expression became anxious.
Draw Cards!
Gojo Satoru was no fool. He might have been bad at the humanities and lacking in political maneuvering, but he was excellent at science, and his mind worked quickly.
"You mean the higher-ups are targeting Yuji?"
He immediately understood Amber's meaning, but found it impossible. "Those Rotten Oranges often have problems with their brains. They can't see the situation clearly, don't want to see change, and fear its arrival at the same time. But they aren't stupid enough to provoke me this way."
After all, everyone knew he truly could purge the Jujutsu World. If they did something that angered him, he could completely disregard his reputation and wipe out the higher-ups.
He simply had not rushed to do it because it would only replace one batch of Rotten Oranges with another, changing nothing while also damaging his reputation.
Don't think reputation meant nothing to the strongest. Perhaps it did for others, but Gojo Satoru wanted to change the Jujutsu World. If he massacred the higher-ups for his own desires and replaced them with his own people, then how would he be any different from them? No one would sincerely follow someone like that.
Besides, he had no one he could replace them with. His people were not the Gojo Clan; they were his students. Even if he had a reason, massacring the higher-ups would still make people uneasy. Put simply, if you wanted to be a good person, if you wanted good people to trust and follow you, then you had to hold yourself at gunpoint. Break the rules once, and there would be a second time. No matter how convincing the reason was, it wouldn't matter. The same applied to Dumbledore.
That was why he had chosen the path of education. He would wait for the blood capable of changing the Jujutsu World to grow up, then serve as the one who cleared the obstacles from their path.
(In the original story, Gojo Satoru believed he might die, so he killed all the higher-ups regardless of the consequences.)
Amber also knew that Gojo Satoru was confident those Rotten Oranges would not dare take the risk. But what Gojo Satoru did not know was that among those higher-ups, there was one who was not afraid of being killed at all. He only needed to change bodies.
Unfortunately, she could not say any of this directly. She could only say, "The other me's concerns are still possible. Shier also wants to hurry back and take a look."
Although he felt Amber's worries were unlikely to come true, his most obedient student had said so. Gojo Satoru nodded decisively. "All right~ Since little Shier says so, let's hurry back."
"Sensei, do you know Yuji-senpai's location?"
Amber asked.
Seeing the girl so unusually anxious, Gojo Satoru called his Assistant Supervisor, Ijichi. Since the three students had just enrolled at Jujutsu High and had not yet been assigned Assistant Supervisors, Ijichi was temporarily looking after them.
Ijichi naturally did not hide anything when Gojo Satoru asked.
Today, under orders from the higher-ups, he had taken the three of them to Yingji Juvenile Detention Center in West Tokyo to handle an incident caused by a newly appeared Special Grade Imaginary Cursed Spirit. Although they were said to be handling it, they were not meant to exorcise it. Their task was to bring back the victims trapped inside the detention center.
The reason three Jujutsu Sorcerers who had not even reached Grade 1 were assigned to rescue people despite the target being Special Grade was because the Special Grade was still in its cursed womb state. It was still powerful, but not capable of moving around freely. As long as they escaped in time, their lives would not be in danger.
Cases of handling incidents far beyond one's grade were uncommon, but not exactly rare. Often, they were caused by the cursed spirits' observer, the Window, making a mistake. This time, they clearly knew the target was Special Grade, which was already fairly good.
After all, observation errors sometimes even led to Jujutsu Sorcerers' deaths.
Gojo Satoru's furrowed brows relaxed slightly, but Amber's did not.
Limited by his information, Gojo Satoru did not know that the cursed womb had already become a Special Grade Cursed Spirit. But Amber knew. "Have Yuji-senpai and the others already gone inside?"
"Ah... yes, they've been inside for nearly half an hour. They'll probably come out soon."
Since the call was on speaker, Ijichi could naturally hear Amber. But he had not yet realized how serious the situation was. To keep Amber from worrying so much that it affected her assessment, he even smiled and reassured her, "Don't worry. If it's only a cursed womb, then even if it is Special Grade, nothing will happen as long as they don't fight it head-on. Shier, you should focus on the assessment coming up."
That was indeed reassurance. Nothing happening did not mean they would not be injured, and the possibility of serious injuries was not low.
But he could not show that he was worried too. After all, he was dealing with children.
"Shier should go take a look too...!"
But after hearing that, Amber could no longer wait. She directly Quantized herself and appeared beside Ijichi through his observation.
Ijichi was dumbfounded. "...Shi... Shier, how did you get here? What about the assessment...?"
"The assessment is already finished~ I was lightning-fast."
Gojo Satoru sounded relaxed on the other end of the phone, but his heart sank slightly. It was strange. Little Shier looked as though she were certain something would happen... Had the other Shier told her something?
Because he trusted Amber, Gojo Satoru temporarily set aside his suspicion that Black Amber was trying to pull something and considered other possibilities instead.
But no matter what, he was deep in the mountains and could not act immediately. He could only say, "In any case, little Shier is a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer now. There's no problem with her participating in this mission."
"I understand..."
Ijichi also realized that something might have gone wrong with this mission. He solemnly nodded at Amber. "Shier, I'll leave the rest to you."
"Mm!"
Amber nodded as well. Just as she was about to enter, she heard a wolf-like howl. Then she saw Fushiguro Megumi run out with Nobara, whose forehead was wrapped in bandages, on his back. Both of them had injuries, and their eyes lit up when they saw Amber.
"Yuji is still inside!"
Fushiguro Megumi no longer cared how Amber had appeared here. He hurriedly explained the situation. "The cursed womb inside has fully formed! Yuji is fighting the Special Grade Cursed Spirit. If nothing unexpected happens, he'll release Ryomen Sukuna!"
Amber realized that she had arrived too late. Since things had already reached this point, panicking was useless.
Yuji had surely already had his body taken over by Sukuna. At the same time, to prevent Yuji's consciousness from taking back control, Sukuna would destroy his heart.
If she wanted to prevent them from making a Binding Vow in this situation, the only way was for her to heal Itadori Yuji's body herself. In other words... the Core of the Herrscher of Death and Life.
Compared to the core, directly drawing the Herrscher of Death and Life's Character Card would actually be more convenient. After all, not only would a Character Card free up a Weapon Slot, it would also come with a weapon, like the Herrscher of Reason's had.
But upon thinking it over, there was also a drawback. She had to transform before she could use the Herrscher of Death and Life's abilities with the Character Card, whereas the core could be equipped at any time and was more flexible.
Shaking those thoughts from her mind, Amber entered the detention center's dormitory building while opening the Gacha Interface.
I can't worry about that now! Mr. Navigator, all in!
Fukuma Mizushi.
Confirm draw.
Confirm!
The recognition in the top-right corner, which had silently climbed to 32,000, rapidly decreased. Amber felt a sharp ache just watching it. This was the first time she had spent such a huge amount.
But the rewards made her breathing stop.
Character Card: Shier (Otherworldly Twin) x1, Herrscher of Death Core x1, Shier Herrscher of Death and Life (M) x1, Shier Herrscher of Death and Life (B) x1, Character Card: Vita (Masked Fool Period) x1.
Wait, why did I draw Vita too?
The card pool can draw anything. The card pool's cover is the rate-up anchor for the current pool. Around the rate-up anchor, the chance of drawing any related item is significantly increased.
So if I'm lucky, I can even draw Bronya?
Amber felt tempted, but in a sense, drawing Bronya from Shier's pool would count as losing the rate-up, wouldn't it? No, no. Vita was still very strong. She should be a little stronger than the Herrscher of Sentience, but it was unclear what level she was at at full strength.
She was probably weaker than Collapse Immortal and Tengen Mad-Goose, right? Or were they on the same level?
Right, I have so many Character Cards now, and a lot of them are useless. What can I do with these extra Character Cards?
Character Cards can be exchanged two-for-one for other Character Cards through the System Shop.
She had nearly forgotten about the shop. Come to think of it, Mr. Navigator had previously said that Star Stones and miscellaneous materials could all be spent through the System Shop...
If only she had saved 3,500 recognition and awakened the Main Control Consciousness...
Reminder, host: 3,500 recognition is insufficient to open the System Shop.
Huh? Didn't Mr. Navigator say that 3,500 recognition could awaken the Main Control Consciousness?
That is correct. However, after awakening, it would only be enough to maintain the Main Control Consciousness for a short period. Naturally, while the Main Control Consciousness is active, the System Shop can be opened for a limited time.
...No wonder neither Navigator nor she had wanted to awaken her back then. So that was the reason? Thinking about it carefully, she had only drawn cards for the second time and had no resources at all. Even if she awakened the Main Control Consciousness, aside from chatting briefly, she could not do anything else...
Then how much recognition would it take to restore the Main Control Consciousness?
The recognition energy level is insufficient to support the complete operation of the system.
Method one for restoring the Main Control Consciousness: reconnect to the Main System. The Main System will restore power supply to System A0522 and sustain system operation.
Method two: continuously consume recognition to sustain system operation.
Continuously... How much?
After energy conversion, every 2,000 recognition can sustain system operation for half an hour.
...That's practically a bottomless pit... Is there really any way for this expenditure to balance out with income?
The numbered system is a branch of the Main System. Recommendation rating for plan two: 0.023%.
Then what about plan one...?
0.000020042%.
That was even more hopeless...
Amber could not imagine how she could continuously earn more than 2,000 recognition every half hour.
To manage that, she would have to become some sort of global idol... and one everyone liked? More importantly, this recognition could only be provided by plot-critical characters... Otherwise, it might have been possible.
Temporarily abandoning those unrealistic thoughts, Amber changed her Character Card to Otherworldly Twin and equipped the scythe Door of the Other Shore that she had drawn earlier.
After updating her Character Card, Amber felt completely different. It was not only because she could feel the greater power within her, but because her connection to the Stigmata on her chest—Black Amber—had become much closer.
Power also poured continuously from the Stigmata.
Unfortunately, because Amber had already experienced the strength of the Crimson Kite Immortal, even though Otherworldly Twin was far stronger than Illusory Sea Dream Butterfly... there was still far too great a gap compared to the Immortal's power.
But Amber was not in a hurry. With the Herrscher of Death Core in hand, she could transform into the Herrscher of Death and Life at any time. She was only afraid she would misjudge her strength and kill Sukuna and Yuji together, which was why she was using Door of the Other Shore for now.
The surroundings were cold and dark. Since she was inside the cursed spirit's domain, the place was filled with the cursed spirit's presence. Regaining her focus, Amber barely identified Itadori Yuji's Cursed Energy and raced in its direction as fast as she could.
In other words, she demolished the building in a straight line.
But before Amber could tear down more than a few walls, the domain—which had no imbued technique and was worthless except for being huge—shook and gradually collapsed, revealing the building's original appearance.
That made things easier. With the interference gone, Amber directly phase-traveled to where she sensed Itadori Yuji's Cursed Energy.
The moment she appeared, she saw Sukuna leisurely pull his hand out of his chest. Fragments of shattered organs slid from his fingertips along with blood.
The sight made Amber intensely uncomfortable. Her delicate brows drew together, and anger rose across her face.
"Appearing right before me so suddenly—is that a teleportation technique?"
Sukuna had naturally noticed the fluctuations of Cursed Energy beside him. Looking at the girl who had landed next to him, a teasing expression appeared on his face. "Unfortunately, you're one step too late. This brat can no longer come out."
As he spoke, he stretched out his right hand as if showing it off, revealing the bits of flesh still clinging to it.
Before you continue