Chen Yu's silver needles

"Did this guy... pass out?" Kohaku asked, looking at Gen sprawled unconscious on the ground.

"Yeah, he passed out. Honestly..." Chen Yu sat on the ground, gazing up at the sky with a sigh.

"He's one of Tsukasa's people. What should we do with him?" Kohaku asked Senku.

"If you want my opinion of Gen, you might as well ask Chen Yu. He's had the most contact with him out of everyone here," Senku said, looking at Chen Yu beside him.

"Me?" Chen Yu asked, pointing at himself.

"Yeah. What do you think of Gen?" Senku asked again.

"Gen? He probably needs to give it some serious thought. After all, life on either side is completely different," Chen Yu said.

"On one side, there's the primitive Tsukasa Empire. To keep most of the men under control, he'll revive some women to keep them company. They might not cross the line now, but time can destroy anything. On this side, we have Senku, so we won't have to worry about having nothing. All that scientific knowledge is in his head. Things are tough now, but the future is another story. Eventually, we could have anything." After comparing the two worlds, Chen Yu added, "Wouldn't you agree, Gen?"

"Yeah. You really do understand me, huh?" Gen said, lying on the ground and looking up at the sky.

"A fence-sitter like you should be dealt with sooner rather than later!" Kohaku said, approaching with her sword.

Gen was too frightened to move.

"We'd better let him go. If Chen Yu goes back alone, Tsukasa will wonder why someone's missing. If he comes here, we're done for," Senku said.

The four of them looked at Senku, waiting for him to finish.

Seeing this, Senku removed the shield that protected him from splashes of molten iron, then said, "Once you see my scientific creation-iron-you'll join the Kingdom of Science, ten billion percent."

"What are you going to make? A sword?" Gen asked curiously.

"Hmph." Chen Yu gave a cold chuckle.

Gen looked a little confused.

"What I'm going to build is a power plant," Senku told Gen.

Gen: (・・)

"A power plant? Are you serious? No, no, no, that's way too far-fetched!" Gen asked in astonishment.

Meanwhile, Senku also discovered the copper Chrome had left behind.

"Gen, when we head back, I'll take you somewhere. I don't know whether you've been there before, but that place will mean a lot to you." As Chen Yu finished speaking, thunder rumbled overhead. A thunderstorm was approaching.

"Rain? Looks like we'll need to take shelter out here," Chen Yu said, looking at the sky.

"Is it really going to rain?" Suika asked.

"This is the rainy season, after all," Kohaku explained.

"Talk about lucky!" Chrome said excitedly, completely ignoring Senku, who was trembling in fear beside him.

"No, you idiot! This is the worst-case scenario! We haven't prepared anything yet!" Chrome was driving Senku up the wall, but since Chrome didn't understand the details, Senku let it go.

"Are you planning to generate electricity with lightning?" Gen asked Senku.

Meanwhile, Chen Yu took the ginger out of his bag, ran beneath the shelter he had built the previous night, and started boiling it.

Luckily, he'd built it yesterday when he had nothing else to do. Now it was coming in handy.

Chen Yu boiled the ginger while watching Senku and the others make a magnet.

But when he saw three people approaching across the bridge, he knew there were still plenty of problems to deal with in these early stages.

"Oh no, it's Magma," Chrome said, noticing the newcomers too.

"He's not someone you can reason with. We may have to fight," Kohaku said, explaining the danger.

Senku saw the three approaching men and heard Kohaku's explanation. He felt utterly miserable.

"Senku, keep going. I'll handle this," Chen Yu said, stepping forward.

Seven people turned toward Chen Yu when they heard him.

"Gen, watch my ginger soup for me. It should be almost ready," Chen Yu instructed.

"All right." Gen reluctantly accepted the job.

"Those little tricks of yours will come in handy someday," Chen Yu said as he walked to the bridge.

"Try not to get into a fight," Senku told him.

"Of course. I don't like fighting," Chen Yu replied.

When Magma saw that Chen Yu was approaching, he knew this would be tricky.

After all, Chen Yu could beat Kohaku, while Magma couldn't. That meant Magma couldn't beat him either, so a fight wouldn't do him any favors.

"Stop there," Chen Yu said, opening his wooden fan.

"You pretentious little..." One of the men beside Magma had barely opened his mouth when he felt something fly past his neck.

"Wh-what?" the man stammered in panic.

"Take another step, and there's no telling what might happen," Chen Yu said, lowering the wooden fan he had held horizontally.

What had flown past was a little trick he'd rigged up with his wooden fan. Using the fan as cover, he had propelled a pebble with a burst of internal energy. Unfortunately, he'd been short on time. Otherwise, he really could have made a folding fan with hidden weapons like the ones in TV dramas.

After all, I'm a martial artist, aren't I? When you're out in the world, you need a few tricks up your sleeve.

"You..." Realizing he wouldn't get anywhere, Magma could only leave.

The short man on Magma's right saw him leave, then turned toward Chen Yu with a sly grin.

Chen Yu directed the full force of his presence at the short man.

The short man broke out in a cold sweat and ran after Magma without looking back.

"That's settled, but they really are irritating. Senku, if you can make silver needles, make some for me. I really need them," Chen Yu said, looking at Senku.

"How am I supposed to make silver needles?" Senku snapped.

After all, medical silver needles were difficult to make. They required far too much precision.

"No, not silver. I mean-needles," Chen Yu emphasized.

"Needles?" The seven people were baffled by his emphasis.

"That kind?" Senku asked, suddenly realizing something.

"Yes, the kind I used back then. Very thin, but not as thin or flexible as silver needles," Chen Yu confirmed.

"Those things are a real pain to make," Senku complained, scratching his head.

After all, he'd seen the silver needles Chen Yu had used back then. Although thin, they were completely different from medical silver needles. Those needles were short, better suited to killing people than saving them.

"What are you talking about? Suika doesn't understand. Our village has needles too," Suika said, raising her hand.

"Children are better off not hearing about this," Chen Yu said with a smile.

"All right, all right, the ginger soup's ready! Come have a cup before you catch a cold!" Gen called from a distance.

"Let's go," Chen Yu said.

Then he took Suika by the hand and led her over.

"Senku, what kind of needles was Chen Yu talking about? Why did that sound so wrong?" Chrome asked.

(Thanks to Liu Lianqing for the inspiration capsule, Magical Boy Merlin for the update-request charm, and Super Archmage for the continued support.)