The Containment Bureau's Top Picks

The young man's ordeal left Ethan dumbfounded. Was this the modern era—no, the old era's bar scam?

The times might have been backward, but the technology was leagues ahead. It had skipped the tedious drinking-and-flirting routine and got the customer to pay one Gold Lion after just three lines!

Ethan mingled with the crowd a little longer, watching the spectacle. He saw the young man get taken to a loan shark by the burly men led by the bar scammer. He took out a quick loan for one Gold Lion, and after the scammer pocketed the money, he sank into despair. With a vacant stare, he let his mouth stretch into a grin like a puppet on strings.

He'd given up on everything.

Ethan was beginning to understand just how terrifying Fireplace Bay was. It put him in a foul mood—not only on behalf of the nameless young man before him, but also because of his plan to freeload on a skill book. He'd wanted to find a bookstore where he could read without buying, but given how dangerous Fireplace Bay's merchants were, he'd probably be forced to buy a book just for touching its cover.

Forget it.

Ethan wandered around the merchant ship with the crowd. After looking around, he got a rough sense of its layout. The deck was for casual vendors, all of them temporary. They sold a bit of everything, from food and drink to foreign trinkets. The ship's management charged each vendor a daily fee of ten Gold Lions for their pitch.

The permanent shops were all below deck. Compared to the chaotic vendors' area, the proper shops were much more orderly.

A scroll shop, a potion shop, a tavern where customers could buy information.

And, if they wanted, customers could also "unwind" there. While sightseeing, Ethan had been stopped by a young woman wearing a veil and a dancer's gown.

One Gold Lion to see her face, with plenty of extra services available inside.

He immediately declared himself Zero Krypton, then walked away under the dancer's disdainful gaze.

Ethan stuck to one principle: he was just browsing. There was no way he'd spend money. Even so, when he passed an occult bookstore and saw the sign outside announcing "Reading Day: Half Price on Everything," he couldn't help feeling tempted.

It was a good thing he hadn't brought his debit card.

Mugram's equipment shop wasn't hard to find. It occupied the most prominent spot in the cabin of the second ship.

Old Mu's Spiritual Shop. When Ethan saw the words "Containment Bureau's Top Picks" after the shop's name, he knew he'd come to the right place.

Anyone without connections wouldn't dare put "Containment Bureau" on their sign.

The first thing Ethan saw when he walked in was the dazzling array of goods on the shelves. Potion bottles, sprays, tool kits—items that seemed to have nothing in common were piled together on the same shelf, making for a startling sight. The shop was laid out like a library, with row after row of shelves and barely enough space between them for two people to pass. Once inside, he was surrounded by merchandise on every side.

"Did the Bureau hire someone new?"

A weathered voice came from behind the counter by the entrance.

"Hello, I'm—Treant!?"

Ethan exclaimed and pointed at the Treant standing behind the counter like a mascot. He hadn't greeted him when he first came in because the Treant looked nothing like a living being.

Ivy hadn't mentioned what species Mugram was.

With his dry bark and nearly brown skin, anyone would have taken him for a piece of witchcraft left in the shop.

Two years after crossing over, Ethan was seeing a Treant—a rare species—for the first time.

"You're not a Treant. I am."

It clearly wasn't the first time someone had called him that. "I'm Mugram, the shopkeeper. You can call me Old Mu."

Realizing how rude he'd been, Ethan quickly made his political stance clear. "Sorry, this is my first time meeting someone from another race. But don't worry—I support harmonious relations between the races."

"Don't be so nervous. I used to work for the Containment Bureau, just like you."

The Treant's face could no longer move, but Ethan heard the nostalgia in his voice. "That was more than ten years ago. I was young once, just like you."

"Good to meet you, senior."

Ethan tried to strike up a rapport. A Treant investigator felt strangely out of place, but he still explained why he'd come. "I'm here to buy some basic equipment."

"Hmm, let me see... Brookwood Town Intelligence Station. One Basic Gift Package reserved. It's ready."

The Treant flipped through the list with his stiff fingers. "Right, you also reserved the accompanying instruction session. Have you used any of this equipment before?"

He bent down and hauled out a box filled with the sprays and potions from the shelves.

First was the spray. He unscrewed the cap and poked a hole in the seal with his sharp index finger. "Dark Creature Repellent 3.0. Compared to version 2.0, it now repels two more Dark Creatures: ghost toads and goblins. A major technological breakthrough. It also has some effect on humans."

"It works on humans too?"

"It won't cause any actual harm, but it does contain a pungent odor. The formula includes the mucus of SI-0733, which is a bodily waste product. It smells ten times worse than human feces. Get even a tiny bit on you, and everyone will think you fell into a cesspit."

"Don't point the nozzle at me!"

Ethan reacted quickly, darting behind a shelf. He'd never expected the very first item to be practically a biological weapon.

"Hmm? That won't do. Sooner or later, you'll have to get used to the smell."

"...Why would I have to get used to this smell?"

A foreboding sense of dread surfaced in Ethan's heart.

The Treant wasn't fazed. He smiled. "Do you know how to use the spray?"

"When a Dark Creature charges at me, I spray it right in the face!"

Ethan was firm. He was convinced that was the spray's only proper use.

"What a rookie. You'd be dead already if you did that. The right answer is to spray it on yourself when they notice you, or when you realize there are Dark Creatures nearby.

"Don't underestimate the Research Department's ingenuity. The data shows that most known Dark Creatures are repelled by bodily waste. So, if you make yourself smell like it, they'll lose interest in you immediately. In that respect, they're actually a bit like humans. After all, no normal person would attack a pile of crap."

Ethan suspected Old Mu was insulting him, but he had no proof.

And after mulling over the advice, he wondered how this was any different from becoming a walking bomb.

So he made a decision.

He would never use Dark Creature Repellent 3.0. At least, not on himself.

"Teach me something else." Ethan poked his head out. His gaze passed over the potions, whose black, viscous contents also seemed ominous. He decided to skip the mysterious liquids for now and pointed to an object beside the box that looked like an old-fashioned pager. He changed the subject. "What's this for?"

"Where Are the Dark Creatures? 2.1. It fixes the flaw that caused version 2.0 to fail when disrupted by Evil God rituals. Simply put, it's a detector. You'll be dealing with it every day from now on."

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief. At least that sounded more normal. "This detector can sense Dark Creatures?"

"More precisely, it detects the fluctuations in their presence when they appear. Version 2.0 also added a rating system. Blue means everything's normal. Yellow means there are signs of weak fluctuations nearby. Red—"

The Treant's explanation came to an abrupt halt.

This was supposed to be a routine demonstration, but the detector's needle jumped to the very edge of the red zone as soon as he switched it on. It even seemed on the verge of bursting.

But this was a merchant ship belonging to the Lofick Family. How could an out-of-control Dark Creature be nearby?

"What does red mean?"

Ethan swallowed. He'd more or less guessed the answer already; he just didn't want to believe it.

He was facing the entrance to Old Mu's Spiritual Shop and could see a figure approaching with heavy steps. Each step made the floor tremble. The mask was a pair of bloodshot eyes, now fixed on him.

For a moment, Ethan thought this miserable world was about to meet its end.

The figure's clothes were soaked and clung tightly to her body, outlining her graceful curves. But Ethan had no time to appreciate the sight. When she stood in front of him, he managed to stammer, "Huh, why are your clothes soaked?"

The laughter beneath the mask sounded like a devil from hell. She raised her hand and gently cupped Ethan's face with a waterlogged leather glove. "That's right. Why are my clothes soaked?"

Ethan smelled the sea.

He felt a little dazed, with only one thought left in his mind.

This uncontrollable rage and hatred...

It was clearly Uchiha Obito coming for revenge!