Fishing

Adachi Ward.

Daishimaecho, 4-chome.

Knock, knock, knock, knock-knock.

Following the three long and two short knocks, the apartment door opened without a sound.

The person who knocked slipped into the room quickly, and the door closed immediately after, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Hase, did you manage to contact anyone else?"

The apartment was thick with smoke, and the pungent stench of tobacco and alcohol made the newcomer frown involuntarily.

"Don't even mention it."

"Kazehara, smoke a little less."

Scanning the overflowing ashtray on the table, Hase, who had just returned from outside, frowned in dissatisfaction as he took off his hat and mask.

"Are you trying to trigger the fire alarm?"

"What does it matter? We're finished, we're all finished."

Collapsing back onto the sofa, the scruffy-faced Kazehara had bloodshot eyes, as if he hadn't rested in ages.

In truth, ever since the organization had suddenly collapsed, none of them, the remaining members of the Broken Tooth Gang, had been able to sleep soundly. During this time, they had tried contacting their superiors, attempted to flee Adachi Ward, and even tried to call the police, only to hit a wall at every turn.

That's right—they had even tried to turn themselves in, only to be kicked out of the police station!

"This isn't normal. This is absolutely not normal."

Having smoked all day, Kazehara trembled, muttering to himself incessantly. Curled up on the sofa, the two-hundred-pound man looked as fragile as a young girl.

"Sigh, regardless, we have to find a way to survive."

Hase, who had gone out to buy food, let out a sigh.

He still couldn't make sense of the situation: he had woken up one morning to hear that the organization's headquarters had been surrounded by a massive police presence. Soon after, other members outside lost contact, and when they tried to reach out to their superiors for help, the other party hung up the moment they heard their voices.

It was as if the entire world had rejected them; the moment they tried to leave this street, heavily armed police would appear to block their path.

Driven to desperation, the two had even tried to surrender, but a bizarre scene had unfolded.

The police had told them to get lost.

They threatened that if they dared to "file a false report" again, they would be shot on the spot!

And they weren't just saying it—those officers had actually drawn their weapons.

In this island nation, where one had to write a lengthy application just to fire a single shot, they had drawn their guns so openly!

Unwilling to be killed on the spot, the two had no choice but to hide back in this rented apartment, blankly awaiting an unknown fate.

"Bastard!"

"What the hell is going on?"

Kazehara, on the sofa, clutched his head, feeling as though the entire world was filled with malice toward them.

"We're just small-time thugs who watch over hostess clubs and sell a bit of drugs on the side. Even if we went to jail, it wouldn't be for more than ten years. What is going on right now?!"

"How should I know?"

Hase sighed and slumped onto the sofa as well.

Those police were too strange; it seemed they only wanted to "trap" them in this area, as if they were waiting for something to happen.

"Hey, Kazehara. Do you think—"

Snap.

?!

A crisp sound rang out nearby, causing Hase to spin around violently.

Thud.

Kazehara, his neck twisted like a pretzel and his face turned toward his back, fell heavily onto the floor.

Behind the sofa where Kazehara had been sitting, a tall figure stood, appearing from nowhere.

The stranger wore a hoodie, and a thick, bushy beard covered his face, extending up to his cheeks. Combined with his hulking frame, he looked like some kind of unevolved beast.

A monster!

Wait, could it be...

Is this the reason the police have surrounded us here?

The stranger glanced over with eyes devoid of any emotion, and a thought flashed through the mind of Hase, who had jumped to his feet.

I am going to die.

"...Sir, could I make one phone call?"

?

Facing the request from this member of the Broken Tooth Gang, Tanimura Wataru showed no reaction. Even if the man called the police, what of it?

With his current strength, it was effortless to find a sewer and slip inside before the police arrived.

Tokyo, a massive metropolis supporting over thirty million people.

Beneath this city lay a network of underground pipes so vast it was unimaginable to the average person: perhaps the pitch-black sewers were dangerous to ordinary folk, but to Tanimura Wataru, who was now a "Half-Demon," they were a hunting ground where he could come and go as he pleased.

"Hey, is that Kohei?"

"Dad has something to tell you--"

Under Tanimura Wataru's cold gaze, the thug opposite him pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Take care of Mom, and whatever you do, don't follow in my footsteps."

Squelch.

Sharp claws slashed through the air.

A head soared into the sky.

The headless corpse toppled backward onto the floor.

From the phone that had been dropped, a frantic voice called out, "Old man, what's wrong with you?"

"Two."

That was enough.

He turned and leaped lightly, crouching on the open windowsill of the apartment, his gaze sweeping over the city in the night: he hadn't been noticed by the police. Good.

The next second, in a display that would make Newton "rise from his coffin," he strolled down the side of the apartment building.

As long as he concentrated his "Demon Power" beneath his feet, he could walk anywhere with ease.

Killing was as simple as eating or drinking to him now.

He hadn't walked far when Tanimura Wataru's eyes sharpened beneath his hood.

"Electrical maintenance ahead."

"Please detour, we are very sorry--"

A manhole cover had been removed and road barriers were set up around it. A worker holding a glowing baton stepped forward, signaling that Tanimura Wataru could not continue forward.

This?

This had been his route "home," but now it was a construction site. Tanimura Wataru glanced over; two workers were busy inside the sewer, clearly already at capacity.

No choice, he would have to go elsewhere.

"Hmm."

He gave a slight nod to the worker before him.

Wearing a hoodie, the burly Tanimura Wataru walked away without a word, leaving the electrical worker unable to stop himself from wiping away a bead of sweat.

What a terrifying man.

Just standing in front of that man, his breathing had felt like it stopped instinctively.

So tall and burly, he must be a fitness fanatic, right?

Maybe a boxer or something?

Shaking his head, the electrical worker continued to stand guard to prevent any construction accidents.

However:

"Hey, Headquarters."

"There's nothing wrong with the lines."

"What? We have to stay here even if there's nothing wrong?!"

From beneath the open manhole, the confused voices of the two electrical workers drifted up.

The order to "stop the chatter and keep checking" came through the walkie-talkie from their supervisor. The two workers looked at each other, forced to remain in the foul-smelling sewer.

How bizarre!

Damn it.

He hadn't gone far before two police officers appeared directly ahead.

Tanimura Wataru maintained his "semi-transformed" state; his tall, burly frame and the mutton chops formed by dog fur on his face made him look like a middle-aged man in his forties rather than a youth in his twenties. Yet, upon seeing the police, he still felt an instinctive urge to avoid them.

It wasn't that these two officers were enough to make him afraid, but rather what they represented.

The State!

Killing two policemen would be easy for him.

But if that brought the military down on him, Tanimura Wataru would have no choice but to flee in a sorry state: if his luck was bad, he might not even be able to escape at all.

The demonic power had indeed greatly strengthened his body, but it had not yet reached the level of being "invulnerable."

Thinking of this, Tanimura Wataru immediately turned around.

"Hey, big guy over there,"

"Wait--"

Perhaps it was his towering stature, or perhaps the way his hood obscured his face looked too suspicious, but he had inadvertently drawn the attention of two police officers.

With no time to overthink, Tanimura Wataru immediately quickened his pace.

"Stop!"

Seeing this, the two patrol officers instinctively shouted while giving chase.

For a moment, pedestrians on the street watched the pursuit with curiosity.

On one side was a tall, hooded figure who looked like a bad guy at first glance; on the other were police officers in peaked caps. Such a scene was actually quite common in Adachi Ward.

Thus, the passersby stopped in their tracks and calmly pulled out their phones.

Trouble.

With Tanimura Wataru's physique, shaking off these two patrol officers would be easy.

But with so many cameras pointed at him, let alone transforming on the spot to scale walls, even moving too fast would likely land him on the front page and bring the military down on him.

He needed to find a back alley.

Scanning the area ahead, he maintained the speed of an "ordinary person" and suddenly ducked into a side alley.

"Target has entered the alley, requesting backup!"

"After him!"

The two police officers followed closely behind, simultaneously calling for backup over their radios, which made Tanimura Wataru, who had immediately increased his speed upon entering the alley, frown.

Since when were there so many patrol officers in Adachi Ward?

Right, it was all because of him.

Realizing that he was the culprit behind the surge of "patrol officers" on the streets, Tanimura Wataru sighed helplessly.

He did not want to die.

After obtaining "demonic power," he had become addicted to the feeling of scaling walls and coming and going as he pleased.

If possible, he only wanted to quietly eliminate the scum of society to extend his own life.

However, that was impossible. The government would never allow a "murderer" like him to roam the city: especially since he had killed so many soldiers from America!

".Received, we are on our way."

"Senior, is it this way?"

?!

Just as Tanimura Wataru was about to pass through the alley, two young voices suddenly came from the opposite end.

It was the police!

The sound of rapid footsteps, combined with the scent that reached him first, caused Tanimura Wataru's pupils to constrict.

Shing.

Sharp claws suddenly extended from his five fingers.

"Huh?"

"Ahhh~~"

With muffled thuds, four police officers collided in a heap within the alley.

"So painful, what are you guys doing?"

"That's what we should be asking! Didn't you see a tall man?"

The four patrol officers, who had tripped over each other while sprinting, rubbed their noses and chests as they stood up. One of the officers who had arrived from the other side angrily picked up his cap.

"What tall man? Weren't you the ones calling for backup on the radio just now?!"

"Bastards, are you seeing things? There's no one here at all. Do you want me to show you my bodycam footage?"

"Impossible!"

"Could it be that we were mistaken, Tanida?"

"Ah, actually, I've been wanting to say that maybe that person didn't run into the alley after all."

A living, breathing person couldn't just vanish into thin air. Yet, the fact remained that their two colleagues arriving from the other side hadn't seen a soul. The two pursuing officers became uncertain, and as orders from their superiors came through the radio, they left the alley in confusion.

Above the alley, in an open third-floor window, the curtains swayed slightly.