Volume Six: Her Loss, My Gain - A Fair Contest of Success and Failure

"You're awake. Your name is... Fisher, right? To ease your anxiety... or rather, to make you even more anxious, I'll show you something."

I snapped my fingers, and a smooth, mirror-like blood crystal appeared, reflecting Fisher's current appearance.

(--!!??)

He is now inside a jar.

The head was relatively intact, but the rest of the body had completely disappeared... or rather, it had all melted into blood.

"It's pretty fun, isn't it?"

"You... don't think..."

"By the way, damage sharing no longer works for you."

"...?"

Fisher immediately tried to use his powers to capture everyone in the city—but he failed. No matter how hard he tried, the damage from the melting flesh simply couldn't be distributed!

"Failed, huh? I'm not as clueless as Xiao Wu (Xiao Wu: Huh?). Your ability is 'damage sharing,' which means you can only share damage. What if what you received wasn't damage?"

"What do you mean... this is clearly!"

"But you're still alive and well. While you were asleep, your body was indeed transformed into a blood-like state, but does that count as an injury? It's just a change of form to continue living. You might even be healthier than before."

I snapped my fingers again, and Fisher, along with the blood that had originally been his body, rose into the air from the jar, instantly reforming into a human shape, only to transform into a female body, and then into all sorts of strange shapes. Fisher was powerless and could only watch helplessly as his reflection in the mirror changed shape and shape.

"So you see? The moment I captured you, I injected my own blood into your body. You should be completely assimilated by now, right?"

So now that my strength has finally returned to its peak, your body is completely under my control.

"You can't turn things around now, Vic Fisher, but at least you can still create a slightly better future through your own choices..."

I released the restraints on his body, and he immediately fell to the floor with a thud, blood everywhere. I lowered my head, trying to make my voice sound as terrifying as possible.

"... You're Yu He's right-hand man, aren't you? Can you tell us about him, his secrets, everything about him?"

"..."

Fisher's head rolled to the corner of the wall before stopping. He glared at me angrily, but quickly looked away as if giving up.

"I can't do it."

"Even at this point, you still want to protect your master? Yu He's got a knack for managing people, huh? Well then—"

"Wait a minute! I said 'I can't do it,' not 'I don't want to do it'!"

Fisher yelled impatiently, and Haoyue Sakura Dance and I exchanged bewildered glances.

"I'm not some idiot who doesn't know when to stop. In the end, Mr. Yu and I are just bound by a chain of interests. If I betray him, he will be the only one who suffers. But if I remain blindly loyal, we will both suffer in the end. I can't possibly not understand such a simple choice!"

I was slightly taken aback. This guy was quite sensible, which actually made me feel a bit bored.

"So what do you mean by 'can't do it'?"

"If it can't be done, it can't be done. Yu He's abilities... I'm sure you all know about them, right? By paying money, he skips the process and gets an irresistible result. He gave me 'hush money,' paying 'a lot of money,' so that I 'absolutely cannot say anything he doesn't want me to say'! Not just me, everyone around him has been silenced by him!"

Is he really capable of doing something like that?

But,

"There is a way."

"... ah?"

We have considered this situation, or rather, we interrogate him precisely because we believe we can solve it.

"As for the amount, it's just a number after all, right? As long as it's a number, there's always a way to deal with it."

"Last night, the Extra Weapon launched a large-scale attack, and then... everyone was defeated!"

Ankri said these words with a heavy heart.

She was already extremely panicked.

The Extra Weapon, a fighting force specially assembled by President Yu, consisted of specially organized personnel who used unique supernatural abilities to take unconventional approaches to deal with powerful enemies. Yet, they were all wiped out just like that.

Although she knew they couldn't be entirely blamed, Ankri couldn't help but curse the Extra Weapon for its incompetence. As subordinates and combatants, they should have been helping the President overcome all difficulties on the battlefield, but instead, they suffered a setback and ruined the President plan!

Ankri couldn't even imagine how angry Yu He would be.

"Huh? I lost? Overnight!?"

Yu He exclaimed in surprise. "As expected," Ankri thought. "Even the President would be furious to hear such news."

"Yes, according to the follow-up investigation report... apart from Vic Fisher, Trister, Julia Fiaz who are missing, the bodies of everyone else have been found!"

"Eight dead, three missing... sigh."

He sighed, shook his head, and then—

"Instead of that, could you please bring me breakfast?"

"Yes, sir. Please calm down—ah? Breakfast?"

"Just like usual, a fried egg with sweet chili sauce and potato salad. As for bread... I don't have much of an appetite this morning, so I'll just have a small piece."

As he spoke, Yu He picked up the packaging bag on the table, skillfully made himself a cup of instant coffee, squeezed in some condensed milk, and then enjoyed it while reading the newly delivered newspaper.

Ankri was completely bewildered.

"Um... President?"

"What's wrong? Are you going to say something like 'You should eat food more befitting your status' again? Don't even think about it. Caviar, truffles, Wagyu beef—I can't stand any of them."

"That's not the problem, but--"

"Oh, right, if it's toast, remember to remove the crusts. I've never liked them since I was little."

"But--"

"Please bring the new documents that need to be approved today after I finish eating. I'm too lazy to make another trip, please."

"--No! I was referring to the Extra Weapon story!"

"Hmm, the Extra Weapon, what's wrong with it?"

"They've all lost!"

"Hmm, all lost, so?"

So, so...

So... what can be done?

A defeat is a defeat.

There is no "therefore" or "if".

"A decimal point error in stock trading can lead to a major mistake, and a small oversight in planning can cause a chain reaction. These things happen all the time, nothing to be surprised about, I've seen it all."

(+1s)

"But... weren't they a crucial fighting force against Ye's gang? They've already been defeated, and... for some reason, all the money in each of their accounts is gone, and it's all in Ye's gang's name!"

"... Oh? They're all under Ye's control? Does that mean they've almost returned to their peak strength? How come I didn't know that?"

Yu He couldn't possibly have missed such a large-scale transfer of funds, but it all happened without anyone noticing.

"The people below are investigating this matter with all their might, but they have no clue! Any form of fund transfer must pass through our hands, but they haven't left any trace!"

"..."

Yu He frowned, put down his coffee, and squinted as he thought.

Ankri waited quietly to the side, not daring to make a sound to disturb them.

"Regarding this matter, you..."

"Um!"

Ankri held her breath, preparing to listen to the President's brilliant decision.

"The investigation into this matter is temporarily suspended."

"Stop the investigation?"

Ankri almost tripped and fell.

"That's right. You don't need to investigate further about how Ye and his gang bypassed various procedures to obtain the assets of the Extra Weapon. This is an order, no further explanation needed."

"... Yes, President. But what should we do with Ye next? The defeat of the Extra Weapon is ultimately very disadvantageous for us, and Ye and his group have already recovered their strength. Now..."

Ankri stopped mid-sentence.

Ye had defeated the Madam. Although the specific details were unclear, this record meant that she had to be regarded as "a supreme powerhouse on par with the higher-ups."

Haoyue Tartaglia and Urahara Sakura Dance's most dazzling achievement was defeating a "god-like monster" with pure combat power comparable to a high-level player on the Gloria battlefield. Therefore, they should be considered as a high-level combat force together.

In that case, the other party consists of two high-ranking officials.

On the Grey Starling side, there was only Yu He.

Two against one, against equally skilled opponents... can they win?

Ankri certainly hoped Yu He would win, and firmly believed Yu He could. In her mind, the President was the strongest in the world. However, her wishful thinking meant nothing in the face of cold reality. In any case, Yu He would have to fight against the combined strength of two high-ranking officials on his own, and that fact would not change.

Are you worried I'll lose?

"Of course not! President are the strongest. I've believed that ever since you brought me out of my drought-stricken hometown! But... but... I..."

"Well, it's normal to worry, because I'm worried too."

Yu He ruffled Ankri's hair and said with a wry smile,

"Everyone worries, everyone has fears. I used to think that the stronger a person is, the less fear they feel, but the truth is quite the opposite..."

He removed his hand from Ankri's head, folded the newspaper, and put down the empty coffee cup.

"No matter how meticulously planned, no one can fully predict the future. Therefore, life, whether it's a battle or a gamble, is a series of gambles. Success or failure is determined by the accumulation of chance encounters. Everyone is a greedy gambler; once they succeed or win, they can't help but gamble again, even though the pressure and fear increase with each victory. I gamble, I fear, and so do they. We will both exhaust all means and wisdom to achieve the future we desire. But no matter how powerful an individual is, the probability of failure can never be reduced to zero. Nothing in this world is truly 'guaranteed to win.'"

So--

"There is no unfairness in this world. The possibility of success, the possibility of failure—'possibility' is fair to everyone, regardless of the difference in strength between the two sides or anything else. After doing our best, all we can do is leave the rest to fate. So pray, Ankri, pray that we will win, pray that the enemy will be defeated, pray... that the tomorrow we long for will finally come."

Tomorrow...

Yes, tomorrow.

Is it a sin to gamble everything for one's own desires, or to sacrifice oneself and others for unrealistic fantasies?

"... Who cares if it's true or not, that's how I've always gotten by."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suddenly I find President Yu so adorable

Is there anyone here who likes Mr. Yu?