Delving Underground

Dealing with Shido Masayoshi was no trouble for Duanmu Ai. It only took one swing of her hammer. Speaking of which, she had originally thought this guy was the final boss behind everything, but it turned out he was merely a minor villain who had accidentally learned of Warp Space and tried to exploit it...

Duanmu Ai naturally interrogated Shido Masayoshi's Soul Projection as well. The information she obtained was much the same as from Akechi Goro. In the end, he was just a small-time villain of this caliber, so after getting the information, Duanmu Ai smashed Shido Masayoshi's Soul Projection to pieces without hesitation, then turned and left.

Her next target was the Collective Unconscious beneath the subway station, the place Akechi Goro had mentioned.

However...

"This thing really does look bizarre."

Standing in the subway station, Duanmu Ai looked around. The entire station was just as dilapidated as the world above, with blood everywhere. But that wasn't important. What mattered were the people standing on the platform.

Duanmu Ai had been curious before. Where had the Soul Projections of the hundreds of thousands of people in this city gone?

Well, she had her answer now.

They were all huddled in this subway station.

Only, the Soul Projections here didn't look as energetic as the ones Duanmu Ai had seen in the Palace. On the contrary, every one of them looked dejected, as if they had worked overtime until early morning and were dragging their exhausted bodies home. They all kept their heads down and said nothing. Even when Duanmu Ai tried speaking to them, they only replied with a few feeble words.

The mental state of the people in this city looked terrible...

After several attempts to strike up a conversation ended in failure, Duanmu Ai gave up