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Earth, Tokyo, K District, Mars Barbecue Restaurant.
The second floor of the barbecue restaurant was divided into separate sections by rows of heavy, solid-wood high-backed benches. Years of wiping had worn the red paint on their surfaces patchy, exposing the dark wood grain beneath.
A broad stainless-steel tabletop was set between the high-backed seats, with a round grill opening in the center. The staff had just replaced the charcoal with fresh smokeless coals glowing red-hot. A thin layer of gray ash covered the dark-red embers, and the heat mingled with the lingering scent of grease and slightly salty bone-powder seasoning in the air, making everyone seated before the grill feel a scorching warmth.
There were so many people on Qianyi's side—Stelle, Fujimaru Ritsuka, Furina, as well as Herta, Mobius, Ling, Nian, Xi, and the others who had come along to explore and visit another world—that they filled several tables on the second floor, practically reserving this entire side of the area.
However, this group looked wildly out of place in such an ordinary, down-to-earth barbecue restaurant. The Sui Family sisters in particular—Ling, Jun, Shu, Nian, Xi, and the others—all had unmistakably nonhuman traits such as dragon horns, pointed ears, or tails. Not to mention the three humanoid Dark Giants in the group, tightly bound hand and foot with ropes of light, radiating a dangerous aura that warned strangers to stay away, dressed in heavily dark-themed outfits with Visual Kei-style markings painted on their faces.
Camearra, Hudra, and Darramb had been forced into the innermost side of the bench, unable to move like three rice dumplings awaiting judgment. They stared in humiliation at the lettuce and dipping-sauce dishes laid out before them. No matter how one looked at it, the scene resembled an illegal detention site run by some underground