Their schedule was accelerated. After picking up Riko from her music class, the motley group wasted no time transferring to another flight.
Their destination had changed to Okinawa.
The following afternoon.
The tropical seaside sunlight was blindingly white, and the sea breeze swept across the open beach, laden with salty moisture.
Satoru Gojo had changed into an outrageously flashy floral shirt and was playing a splashing game in the shallows with Shoko Ieiri, who had rushed over to join them. They were as childish as two elementary schoolers.
Beneath a large beach umbrella nearby, Yang Jian reclined in a canvas beach chair. Suguru Geto sat beside him, while Kuroi deftly sorted towels and dry clothes. Riko Amanai crouched on the sand several dozen meters away, absorbed in digging up shells.
Yang Jian had no interest whatsoever in the scenery. His unfocused gaze rested on the edge of the umbrella as his awareness sank inward to inspect the system panel in his mind.
A line of clear text floated into view.
[God-tier Experience Card received: supernatural item "Deceiving Ghost Necklace" (one use).]
"It's time, Satoru."
Suguru Geto's voice pulled Yang Jian back to reality. Geto stood and waved toward the cocky figure in the shallows, whose back was turned to him.
At that announcement, Riko froze with a conch shell cupped in her hands.
The light visibly faded from the girl's bright eyes. Like a metal toy whose spring had been removed, she lowered her head and slowly shuffled toward shore on legs that felt heavy as lead.
The final stop on this journey was also the end of her right to exercise her own will as a "person." She would become a cold, lifeless brick used to patch an old line of defense.
Satoru Gojo waded ashore through knee-high waves, snatched the towel Kuroi offered, and gave his short hair a couple of careless rubs.
He did not look at Suguru Geto. His gaze passed over the dunes and settled directly on the dejected Riko.
"Geto. Change of plans. Let's go back tomorrow."
Riko's chin shot up. Glittering hope rekindled in her eyes as she stared fixedly at Satoru Gojo.
Suguru Geto stood stunned, then took a few steps toward Satoru Gojo, lowering his voice in reproach:
"You've kept Limitless active ever since we took over the mission yesterday. You haven't slept for twenty-four hours, and that's on top of the strain from the Six Eyes. You're not planning to sleep tonight either?"
Suguru Geto was always on high alert when his best friend acted this recklessly. "Accumulated fatigue will seriously slow your neural responses. Are you sure you'll be all right if we don't return to Jujutsu High's protective barrier immediately?"
Satoru Gojo grinned, showing two rows of white teeth, looking utterly carefree:
"Relax. This level of strain is nothing. Back when I stayed up all night playing through a full ninety-nine years in Momotaro Dentetsu, now that was a test of willpower." He slapped Suguru Geto hard on the back several times, then tipped his chin toward Yang Jian, who was resting with his eyes closed in the lounge chair.
"Besides, I've got you guys here, don't I? Throw in that powerhouse over there who doesn't exactly fight fair, and we're all set."
Suguru Geto looked in the direction he indicated. Yang Jian still lay with his eyes closed, not even sparing them a glance.
Suguru Geto gave up trying to persuade him. The two bumped fists in silent understanding and exchanged smiles.
On that sunny Okinawa afternoon, a gear in the machinery of fate that led toward death was forcibly jammed by a few arrogant boys and pushed back one notch.
Meanwhile.
Inside the arrivals hall at Naha Airport, Okinawa.
Enormous floor-to-ceiling windows shut out the roar of passenger jet engines taking off and landing outside.
Kento Nanami carried a standard-issue briefcase. Beside him stood his exuberant junior, Yu Haibara, who was looking eagerly around. Sent by Jujutsu High as additional second-year combat support, they had landed less than ten minutes earlier.
The flip phone inside his suit vibrated sharply twice.
Nanami took out his phone. A message from the Assistant Manager appeared on the screen: [Temporary change to the escort plan. Mission duration extended by twenty-four hours. Team to remain on standby at your current location.]
The hall bustled with tourists from out of town enjoying their vacations.
Kento Nanami's stern face visibly fell, and a deep furrow formed between his brows.
The sky over Okinawa shone a brilliant white.
Uneven white waves churned across the lake. Satoru Gojo squeezed into the driver's seat of a duck-shaped pedal boat, using his long legs to churn the pedals into a blur. Riko shouted excitedly beside him as the boat traced a brazen S-shaped course across the buoy-dotted lake.
Behind them, a white swan boat glided steadily forward.
Yang Jian rested one hand on the edge of the boat and cracked open a can of ice-cold cola. He tipped his head back and took a gulp, the dark brown fizz bursting in his throat.
Their itinerary was forcibly stretched into the evening.
The Kuroshio Sea, the aquarium's main exhibition hall.
A twenty-two-meter-long acrylic wall stood before them, sealing the deep blue seawater behind it. All the indoor lights were off. The only illumination was the deep blue glow shining from within the tank.
A Whale Shark more than eight meters long swam slowly past, its enormous body tearing through the undercurrents at the bottom of the tank.
Riko pressed her face against the cool protective glass, all ten fingers spread and held firmly against its transparent surface.
Her dark brown pupils widened as refracted ripples of light shifted through her eyes.
No struggling, no words. The creatures confined within that enormous container swam the same routes year after year. Just like her, once tomorrow was over.
Suguru Geto stopped five paces away. Three days of close contact had left something tearing at the moral boundaries he had always upheld.
Yang Jian leaned against a load-bearing pillar by the entrance, his entire figure concealed deep in shadow.
Beneath his flesh, a crimson glimmer flickered restlessly for an instant before being forcibly suppressed.
At the far end of the distant corridor, a green emergency exit sign hung high on the wall. A faulty connection in its aging wiring made the green running figure dim, flicker, shine steadily, then dim again.
The wires made an almost inaudible noise inside the plastic casing.
Day three of the escort mission. 15:00.
Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical School. The foot of Mount En.
Moss-covered stone steps stretched upward, and ancient trees that blotted out the sky cut off the heat outside. Crossing the weathered stone torii at the bottom meant officially entering Jujutsu High's innermost defensive barrier.
After climbing to the top, Riko braced both hands against her knees, her lungs drawing air like leaking bellows.
Kuroi doubled back and offered her a checkered handkerchief.
Sweat soaked through the cotton fabric. Riko straightened her aching back, took a deep breath, and looked back down the path they had climbed. Layer upon layer of foliage completely shut out the city's bustle.
"Now we can relax." Riko looked at the barrier's hub ahead.
Suguru Geto walked at the front. Cursed energy circulated within him as he carefully checked the changes in the surrounding wavelengths.
The security system lay quietly in wait, and the barrier operated flawlessly. Every bounty hunter, every covetous gaze, had been forcibly cut off by that invisible wall.
"Thanks for all your hard work, Satoru." Suguru Geto's nerves finally relaxed after three days of tension. Satoru Gojo had bought this rare sense of safety by exhausting himself to the point of shortening his life.
Behind them.
Satoru Gojo stopped walking and pulled both hands from his pockets.
He wore his signature black sunglasses, but the lenses could not hide the leaden gray exhaustion in his eyes. From Okinawa to Tokyo, he had kept it active for seventy-two uninterrupted hours.
A film of Limitless had covered his entire body.
The Six Eyes had processed vast quantities of information around the clock.
His brain was already nearing the breaking point.
Satoru Gojo released a stale breath from deep in his chest, kneaded his stiff nape with his knuckles, and lowered his head. In the three seconds his eyes were closed, the Limitless technique that coated his body and repelled all things silently shattered like a punctured bubble.
The furiously thrumming cursed energy circuit stopped completely.
"Whoever wants to babysit this brat can have the job. I'm never doing this again." Satoru Gojo rubbed his neck and grumbled sleepily.
Shunk.
The dull sound of a blade tearing through flesh and forcibly severing bone erupted across the deathly silent stone steps.
Without warning, the tip of an exceptionally narrow blade, devoid of any metallic gleam, burst out through the front of Satoru Gojo's right chest!!
A slender blood groove ran down the center of the blade.
Warm, viscous, dark red liquid trickled down the cold metal and fell drop by drop.
Plip.
A bead of blood shattered against the moss-covered stone step, spreading into a small dark stain.
There was no killing intent.
Not the slightest ripple of cursed energy.
Suguru Geto spun around ahead of him, his pupils instantly contracting to pinpoints.
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