Listen

"The autopsy results are in. The cause of death was the autopsy."

Coming from a tough guy like Noguchi Yuji, such a joke carried an indescribable sense of dissonance.

Kuroki Niizumi looked at Noguchi Yuji with an expression of concern, as if to say, Are you alright? Has the exhaustion fried your brain?

"This is what Nakajima from the forensics department said. She was furious and demanded I relay the message to you word for word," Noguchi Yuji explained with a deadpan expression, clarifying that he wasn't joking, but rather delivering someone else's angry outburst.

He then handed the detailed report to Kuroki Niizumi.

Kuroki Niizumi paused as she took it. She opened the report to find that, unexpectedly, it hadn't been printed by a computer but was handwritten. The penmanship was neat, yet one could seemingly discern the writer's simmering rage between the lines.

Ignoring those emotions, she carefully read through the contents one by one. Only after reviewing it several times did she place the report on the desk to ponder it alone.

Noguchi Yuji sat down, pulled the report over to read it himself, and began discussing the relevant matters as he scanned the pages.

"It's normal for accidents to happen during vivisections, especially with Holy Infant Society members who possess [High-Density Skin]. However, I've had quite a bit of contact with Nakajima; if there's a similar need in the future, let's find someone else. I recall that some people in the labs are quite skilled at this." Noguchi Yuji used his own way to help shoulder Kuroki Niizumi's burden.

Kuroki Niizumi smiled, though it was a bit forced. "No need to comfort me. I was mentally prepared for this. What disappointed me was the autopsy result itself."

Due to the nature of his work, Noguchi Yuji often had to search for clues within massive volumes of files. Over time, he had become adept at capturing keywords in documents, reading through materials at a glance, and he quickly reached the summary.

"After opening the abdominal cavity, the skin strength gradually decreased. The superpower was completely lost within ten seconds, rendering the subject no different from an ordinary person. Various physiological functions rapidly declined, ultimately resulting in death from heart failure. During the subsequent dissection of other parts, no abnormalities compared to a normal human were found."

Such a result was deeply disappointing.

It indicated that the primary hypothesis previously pushed by the investigation team was incorrect.

The Holy Son Pill was not a tangible energy source; rather, it leaned more toward the mystical. Otherwise, there would be no way to explain the powers that seemed to appear out of thin air within the bodies of superpowered individuals.

Routine investigations into blood, urine, and other samples conducted long ago had failed to detect any mysterious or unknown energy, and various scans had also shown that there was nothing extra inside their bodies.

In the end, it was Kuroki Niizumi who had fully supported this vivisection. The subject was a housewife, one of only two people captured who had consumed the Holy Son Pill. But now, with these results, there was certainly no way to satisfy the higher-ups.

One had to realize that there were quite a few "pro-cooperation" voices among the current upper echelons. Dissecting a member who had received a blessing from the Holy Infant Society was undoubtedly a move that showed no respect to the Society, effectively burying obstacles for future cooperation.

Kuroki Niizumi scoffed at this. As a representative of the hardliners, she had reviewed every single casualty report since the investigation team was formed. If dissecting one member was considered sabotaging cooperation, then the long lists of casualties proved that the Holy Infant Society had never intended to cooperate in the first place.

Rather than clinging to such an illusory and ethereal dream, it was better to actively prepare for battle. The axiom she believed in was that dignity was always won through fighting; begging would only leave one with nothing.

"The conglomerates are making many small moves, and we have many of their people on our side, so our surveillance manpower is limited. However, as it stands, the probability of them making contact with Nakai Hayato is very low." Regarding the conglomerates, their attitude was to remain vigilant even while cooperating. At the very least, the three people who held actual control over the investigation team all thought this way.

"Surveillance must be maintained. You know as well as I do that those people have never had any principles. They stand on whichever side the profits flow toward."

Kuroki Niizumi pulled herself together and looked at Noguchi Yuji, who showed no signs of leaving. Her interactions with this "hero of crime-solving" over this period had deepened her understanding of him; she knew that a man who disliked wasting time wouldn't have come in person just to deliver a document.

"Speak. I hope it's good news."

"It does count as good news," Noguchi Yuji nodded. "The teenager with persecutory delusions has been found."

"Oh, that certainly counts as good news. How do you plan to train him to fight for us?" Kuroki Niizumi perked up; this was one of the few pieces of good news she had heard in days.

"He awakened an ability that allows his body to perhaps become gaseous. He tried to save his mother, but because of a slip-up on her part, he was discovered by William, who happened to be there. After some communication, he is temporarily willing to cooperate with us."

Although Noguchi Yuji's tone didn't fluctuate much, Kuroki could still detect the surprise in it.

If the previous physical and strength enhancements could barely be explained by science, then this was something that completely transcended the science they understood.

At the very least, it exceeded the current limits of scientific knowledge.

Kuroki didn't know whether to show a happy or a bitter expression.

A bumper harvest!

Sitting at home, and superpowers just fall from the sky.

He had thought it was lucky enough that the wild cat that escaped the city last time had mutated a new ability, but he hadn't expected that in less than a day, the son of that core member, the housewife, would also mutate a new ability.

Shiraishi Wataru called that wild cat One-Eye; it was the great contributor to his success today.

The mutated ability was called [Listen]. Its function was to listen to the sounds made by various creatures within a ten-kilometer radius and to understand the general intent behind the communication of other creatures.

This ability was excellent; from now on, it would be exclusive to him and One-Eye.

Moreover, the range he could listen to included not only his own ten-kilometer radius but also the ten-kilometer radius of those with whom he shared a symbiotic relationship.

When using it, he only needed to concentrate to hear all sorts of complex sounds.

"Oh God! I shall overcome the trials of this world and wait quietly for your return."

"So hungry, what should I eat later?"

"It seems the first version of the plan is better. Sigh, let the other side revise it ten more times, I'll just work hard and review it again."

"Brother, you smell so good."

"Hey, what are you doing~"

When he first started using it, it felt like hundreds of megaphones were blasting his eardrums. After adapting for a while, he finally found the trick to lowering the volume, finding directions, filtering species, and filtering content.

He directly listed "Holy Infant" and his own name as keywords. As long as someone said these words within his listening range, he could begin monitoring them and guess their identity based on their location.

If he ever ran into someone badmouthing him in the future, he could secretly make a note of them.

Then there was the other ability, the second of the two four-character abilities currently possessed by Shiraishi Wataru.

[Void Walk]