Surprised? Didn't See That Coming, Did You?

"Reincarnators?"

Xu Yue looked at the Hunting Party blocking their path. The slightly unusual equipment on those people made a strange glint flash through his eyes.

Given the difficulty of the current mission progress, the strongest people who should have entered ought to be only formal Reincarnators. Were these people them?

Because of the different power tiers, the place they entered was different from his group's. Had they "spawned" with the Hunting Party...

"Kurusu, don't attack. We need to give Awen Station some face."

With the calm expression of a superior, Xu Yue signaled for Kurusu, who stood guard in front of him with his hand on his sword, to step back. Then he looked down imperiously at the Reincarnators who had suddenly appeared and blocked his way.

"Who are you?"

That oppressive, condescending gaze instead earned the respect of the Reincarnators. The masked man dressed like a ninja, who seemed to be their leader, spoke up.

"My lord, I am merely an ordinary member of the Hunting Party. I have presumptuously offended you this time only because I wished to ask about my younger sister."

His humble posture and sincere tone made the other Samurai following Xu Yue relax. Sion, who had been about to rebuke them, merely snorted coldly.

In this world, the stations exchanged goods through armored Hayajiro. If family members were separated, it was very difficult to learn anything about one another.

"Hmph. For the sake of your sibling bond, ask."

Xu Yue practically snorted through his nose, his lofty demeanor utterly undiminished.

Yet the more he acted this way, the more convinced they became that Xu Yue was an important plot character with high status.

What? A Reincarnator pretending to be one?

What a joke. In nearly every mission world, Reincarnators had to go with the flow. There would always be stronger plot characters suppressing them. That was common knowledge in Reincarnation Space, didn't they know?

You were saying that a big shot who owned a Hayajiro and had come as the representative of another station was a Reincarnator? Wasn't that ridiculous?

Other than exceptional cases like that demoness, who had been weakened, the strongest entrants here could only be formal Reincarnators!

Even that demoness could only display the strength of a top-tier formal Reincarnator!

"This is a portrait of my younger sister. Please take a look."

As he spoke, he drew a portrait from his robes.

The woman in the portrait possessed a unique air that blended seductiveness with innocence. She could appear delighted or angry, yet even in the painting, she seemed like a fairy descended to earth.

Although Jiong Jiong had been suspected by Xu Yue of having undergone plastic surgery, and her appearance was fairly good, she was nowhere near the same level as the woman in the portrait. Well, she had indeed had work done—apparently in the other direction.

Now that he had his suspicions, he could still make out traces of Jiong Jiong in the portrait's facial contours.

"If I had seen such a beauty, I could not possibly have forgotten her. I have not seen her."

Xu Yue revealed a slightly entranced expression, performing it flawlessly. Mumei rolled her eyes beside him. This guy really was a pervert.

"No, no. Because of my sister's appearance, she may have disguised herself. Any of these might be what she looks like."

As he spoke, the masked man took out several more portraits. Every portrait depicted a different person, but the outlines of their features still held faint traces of familiarity.

And Jiong Jiong's face was clearly among them.

It seemed that mysterious woman had almost completely had her cards exposed and had been hunted all the way here.

Xu Yue had no interest in involving himself in the grudges between the two sides. However, the people before him were members of the Hunting Party. Without question, they were naturally opposed to him.

Having made up his mind, Xu Yue smiled in sudden realization.

"Oh, I see. I have seen this person. Right, you there, come over. Isn't she your companion? How is she doing now?"

Xu Yue waved toward the outside. The three Railway Guerrillas, whom he had forcibly brought along because he was worried they would ruin things, approached with anxious expressions.

No matter how slow-witted they were, they had realized that the people blocking the road were Reincarnators. They had not expected those people to be looking for Jiong Jiong, but Jiong Jiong had mysteriously vanished earlier!

Even though Xu Yue had forcibly turned them into Kabaneri, they were still weaklings compared with these formal Reincarnators.

As newbies who had only completed one mission, the standard "newbie set" they wore—the kind they had been tricked into buying by shady merchants—also revealed their identities to the Hunting Party Reincarnators. Excitement and coldness appeared on their faces.

Excellent. So there were other Reincarnators here, and they even seemed to be newcomers. Once this was over, they could find a way to seize them and interrogate them thoroughly.

They would be cautious when dealing with plot characters, since who knew what connections those characters might have? They were all experienced formal Reincarnators.

They had heard plenty of horror stories about someone casually killing a random passerby, only to be hunted down by a hidden peerless expert.

But they felt no pressure whatsoever dealing with newbie Reincarnators who had no roots in the plot!

Judging from their gear, they were already washed-up rookies without newbie bonuses—the easiest kind to handle. They could not possibly have earned much favorability either. As long as they abducted them while no one was looking, they could deal with them properly.

Excellent!

"Mm, they should know. For the sake of your leader, go ask them. I have matters to attend to, so I will take my leave."

"You three, cooperate."

Putting on a show of giving Biba face, Xu Yue waved his hand and handed the three Railway Guerrillas over to them. Ignoring their bitter expressions, he led the others toward the main residence.

"Thank you ever so much!"

The masked man from the Hunting Party bowed his head deeply and watched Xu Yue's group leave. Only after they had vanished from sight and entered the residence did he raise his head.

Then he turned to the Railway Guerrillas, cruelty appearing in his eyes.

"Even if you have only just entered Reincarnation Space, you should know what formal Reincarnators are, shouldn't you?"

His lofty tone was exactly the same as the one Xu Yue had used on them earlier.

"Y-Yes."

Among the Three Guerrillas, the one whose gun had been taken and whose still-unhealed nose was wrapped in bandages answered tremblingly.

Even the Kabaneri enhancement could not change their cowardly hearts.

"Good. Now come with us. Let's have a proper 'talk.'"

As he spoke, the others silently surrounded the three terrified newbies, who were nearly wetting themselves, then forced them into a nearby abandoned building with no one inside...

Bang! Bang!

Driven into a corner, the newbies finally resisted. Unfortunately, the Kabaneri strength they possessed was worlds apart from Mumei's.

Aside from drawing excited cries from their opponents, it accomplished absolutely nothing.

"Kabaneri? This is incredible!"

"Tell us! How did you do it? Why can all three of you do it?!"

"Hmph, useless newbies. You may not know the elimination rate for Promotion Missions. You think obtaining Kabaneri power means you can fight us? Dream on!"

"Against newcomers entering Reincarnation Space for only the second time, I can take on ten by myself."

"Stop trying to keep secrets. Hand over the secret."

Even the masked leader felt a surge of excitement.

The mission's primary target was indeed that demoness, but he certainly would not refuse such an additional benefit.

Xu Yue's original condition for the three Railway Guerrillas had been for them to spread this information everywhere.

Now, they truly spilled everything like beans, making the others itch to find someone to test it on immediately.

However, the masked man remained rational and continued asking about the demoness...

"R-Really, there's nothing else! Sir, she truly disappeared completely without leaving a trace."

"Yes, we really haven't hidden anything."

"We've already told you everything we know about her..."

The three Guerrillas huddled miserably in a corner, trembling. They had been questioned back and forth dozens of times using interrogation methods, and the occasional repeated question had nearly driven them to collapse.

Yet even after they had spilled everything, their interrogators still showed no intention of letting them go.

"Tch. Three pieces of trash. How should we deal with them?"

The one-eyed man handling the interrogation, who seemed to possess related skills, spat and asked the others.

"To keep things secret, we should kill them."

"Yeah. We'll only lose a few points, and their secret can more than make that back."

"They're just a few newbie Reincarnators with no connection to the plot characters. Even if they vanish, it won't cause any trouble."

The three Guerrillas' faces changed drastically at the words the group spoke without any concern for their presence.

They had not expected that, despite being so cooperative, the others still intended to silence them at the cost of penalty points.

There was no justice in this!

"D-Don't kill us! There's someone who definitely knows the situation even better."

"Yeah, yeah! Killing us won't help. He knows too."

The three pleaded over one another.

"There's someone else? Who? Another Reincarnator? Where is he?"

Their eyes lit up. Their initial interrogation had focused entirely on information about the demoness. They had no interest in any other details. What was there to investigate about three loser newbies?

"Haven't you seen him already? The leader is one."

The Guerrilla with the flat nose and bandages answered weakly, selling Xu Yue out without hesitation. They were newcomers with weak resolve, so naturally they had no loyalty to speak of. All they wanted was to survive. Besides, the big boss had never said they were forbidden from selling him out.

"The leader? That Samurai?"

"No, that's not right. I remember we gathered information about him. His name is Kurusu, and he is a very powerful Samurai, perhaps no weaker than us."

"You dare deceive us?"

The group flew into a rage, seemingly believing the newbie was maliciously trying to make them provoke an important plot character.

"No, no, not him! The chief, the chief! The one who spoke with you, the one who called us over!"

The three hurriedly explained in terror, as though they would be killed if they spoke too slowly.

"Him? He's a Reincarnator?! Impossible!"

They were horrified and instinctively rejected the notion.

"No. Nothing is impossible."

At that moment, a gentle voice came from outside the door behind them.

The door was kicked open, and the earthen walls around them were shoved down. A group of Samurai surrounded the building with rifles aimed inside. Xu Yue stood among them, and beside him was a handsome pink-haired man—their superior, the villainous final boss, Biba...