Natsume's consciousness turned toward the Chat Group interface, toward the section called the "Mall."
It was filled with dazzling goods, each bearing descriptions beyond imagination.
"Devil Fruits" that could bestow the ability to manipulate natural elements and command all kinds of powers; inheritances from ancient bloodlines that could grant people inhuman strength;
"Magic" tomes recording profound knowledge, capable of commanding elements and rules; and those incredible things called "Authorities," like fragments of a Deity's divine power.
Every item's description depicted powers far beyond Natsume's understanding.
They were more majestic than any great yokai he had ever seen, more mysterious than any legendary divine artifact.
Moving mountains and filling seas, manipulating space and time, bringing about Destruction.
Just a few words from their descriptions had already painted a picture capable of fulfilling every Mortal's wildest fantasies and overturning the common sense of the world.
He had even seen technology related to the "Life-Extending Potion" in the Group Owner's and the other members' earlier chats. It seemed to have been specially developed by one of the Chat Group's seniors so other members would not have to worry about the lifespans of their family and friends.
A way to extend human life?
The thought pricked him gently, like a faint electric current.
Not for himself.
Natsume had no obsession with Longevity.
What he thought of was the disparity in lifespan between humans and yokai.
In the long river of time, yokai were like reefs settled at the riverbed, silently enduring the current's erosion. A hundred years, a thousand years—their appearances remained unchanged, though their memories might be worn faint or stubborn by time.
Humans, meanwhile, were merely fleeting glimmers crossing the river's surface, brilliant but brief.
Once a bond was formed, parting became an inevitable ending.
For humans, that attachment and bond became