Predator

Zenitsu looked at Tanjiro, who had woken up, in surprise.

"Tanjiro, you haven't fallen asleep yet?"

Tanjiro shook his head and smiled. "Zenitsu, you knew all along, but you still protected her. You're a really good person. Thank you."

At Tanjiro's praise, Zenitsu suddenly grew embarrassed and rolled around on the floor, hugging his pillow.

"Y-you! Flattering me won't get you anywhere! Hmph, hmph, hmph!"

Tanjiro pointed at his nose. "I have a very keen sense of smell. I knew from the start that you were both kind and strong."

The moment he heard the word "strong," Zenitsu's expression turned cold.

"No! I'm not strong at all! Don't joke around! I still haven't forgiven you for stopping me from taking Shoichi with me!"

Tanjiro stumbled over his words, unsure what to say.

Just then, Tanjiro's Wooden Box rocked a few times.

With his exceptionally sharp hearing, Zenitsu heard the sounds coming from the Wooden Box and instantly tensed up.

"Whoa! Huh?! She's coming out? She's coming out!"

"It's all right!" Tanjiro reassured him.

"What do you mean, it's all right?! Aah!" Zenitsu was too panicked to listen to anything Tanjiro said.

"Shh! It's the middle of the night, Zenitsu!"

Tanjiro tried everything he could to calm Zenitsu down.

Suddenly, the door of the Wooden Box opened.

Seeing this, Zenitsu grew even more panicked.

"Whoa! You didn't even lock it?! P-p-protect me, Lin Guang!"

Zenitsu burrowed straight under Lin Guang's covers.

That finally infuriated Lin Guang, who kicked Zenitsu flying.

"Get away from me!"

Lin Guang's kick sent Zenitsu straight into Inosuke, who followed up with another kick.

"Stay away!"

Zenitsu landed right in front of the Wooden Box.

Then the door of the Wooden Box slowly opened, revealing a small hand with pointed nails.

"She's coming out!"

Zenitsu scrambled over to the Cabinet on all fours, flung it open, and hid inside.

Nezuko crawled out and returned to her normal size.

Seeing that Nezuko was awake, Tanjiro called with a smile, "Nezuko."

Zenitsu's antics had driven away Lin Guang's sleepiness too. When he saw Nezuko wake up, he walked over and stroked her head.

"Did you get enough rest, Nezuko?"

Unable to speak, Nezuko simply took Lin Guang's hand and placed it on her head, her large eyes narrowing into two curved crescents.

Hiding in the Cabinet, Zenitsu heard that it had gone quiet outside and poked his head out.

When he saw Lin Guang stroking Nezuko's head, he was utterly stunned.

"Zenitsu, Nezuko is my..."

Tanjiro was just about to introduce Nezuko when Zenitsu cut him off.

"Tanjiro!"

"Huh? Z-Zenitsu?"

Zenitsu stood there with his head lowered, yellow electricity crackling all around him.

"You... you've really got some nerve! You've been carrying around such a cute girl all this time?! Traveling happily every day with a girl this cute!"

Realizing something was wrong with Zenitsu, Tanjiro hurried to explain. "Zenitsu, that's not it!"

"Give me back the blood I shed! I! I didn't work so hard just so you could flirt and play around with a girl every day! Is that why I got punched and kicked by that weird boar?!"

"Zenitsu! Calm down! Why are you suddenly..." Tanjiro still tried to explain, but Zenitsu wouldn't listen.

"The Demon Slayer Corps isn't something you can join just to fool around! People like you need to be purged! Purged immediately!"

Not wanting to lose his chance to rest that night, Lin Guang stepped forward. "Nezuko is Tanjiro's younger sister. Stop making a scene!"

At Lin Guang's words, Zenitsu, who had been about to draw his sword, instantly calmed down.

"R-really?"

Seeing Zenitsu calm down, Tanjiro finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes. Nezuko may have become a demon, but she's still my sister. I'll turn her back into a human!"

Hearing Tanjiro's words, Zenitsu understood why he always carried the Wooden Box on his back. He immediately stopped making a fuss and instead sidled up to Nezuko.

"Nezuko-chan~"

Seeing Zenitsu's lecherous expression, Nezuko took off running, but there was no way he would let her get away.

"Nezuko-chan~ Nezuko-chan~"

Seeing him act like this, Lin Guang delivered a knife-hand strike to Zenitsu's neck.

Zenitsu collapsed onto the floor, drool trailing from the corner of his mouth as he kept chuckling.

Lin Guang and Tanjiro exchanged glances, and Lin Guang gave a wry smile. "Looks like we won't get much peace over the next few days."

"Yeah."

Early the next morning, before dawn.

Lin Guang woke up, intending to see what he could get from the Treasure Chest Kyogai had dropped. Instead, he discovered that someone had slipped into his arms at some point.

Looking at the small figure in his arms and her distinctive bamboo muzzle, Lin Guang froze.

"Nezuko!"

As though sensing that Lin Guang was awake, Nezuko woke up too. She looked at him, nuzzled against his chest, then returned to her box.

Looking at the now-motionless Wooden Box, with her fragrance still lingering in his arms, Lin Guang sat stunned for a moment.

"Ever since Nezuko woke up, she's been growing closer and closer to me. She's even as close to me as she is to Tanjiro. What's going on?"

"I remember that back on Mount Sagiri, before Nezuko woke up, I wanted to see whether my blood could change her after I'd used the Devil Fruit, so I secretly fed her a few drops. Could that be why?"

"But nothing happened back then! Why did she suddenly... No! I need to find time to ask Tamayo what's different about my blood."

Lin Guang collected himself and sent his consciousness into the system.

"System! Open the Bronze Treasure Chest."

[Ding! The host currently possesses 1 Bronze Treasure Chest. Confirm opening?]

"Confirm!"

At Lin Guang's command, a dark yellow Bronze Treasure Chest appeared in Wen Yang's mind.

Then the Bronze Treasure Chest slowly opened. A mass of black-purple energy swirled within before plunging straight into Lin Guang's body.

[Ding! Opened 1 Bronze Treasure Chest. Congratulations, host, on obtaining the unique skill: Predator.]

[Ding! Unique skills cannot be given to others. The skill has fused with the host.]

[Unique skill: Predator: Originates from the world of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Can devour anything and analyze what it devours, with a chance of acquiring the devoured object's abilities.]

After staring blankly for a few seconds, Lin Guang pointed his hand at a nearby vase and said softly, "Predation!"

A surge of black-purple energy shot out of Lin Guang's palm, enveloped the entire vase, then abruptly returned to his hand.

[Ding! Predator has devoured 1 vase. Analyzing... A decorative vase from the Taisho Era. Composition...]

Only upon hearing the system's voice did Lin Guang confirm that he had truly obtained the outrageously powerful skill, Predator.

Lin Guang looked at his hand and spoke softly.

"Too bad it came a little late. If I'd devoured Kyogai with Predator, I might have obtained his ability to control space."