The Flower of Evil

In the end, the group was unable to stop the principal's decision, and the next morning Jilan and Aoi Hana took the early bus down the mountain.

"Speaking of which, Miss Aoi, you're from Oumagadoki City, right? Is it alright for you to live in the zoo every day?" As they arrived at an intersection in the city, Jilan suddenly asked.

"Ah, isn't this all because of the principal?" Aoi Hana suddenly turned around with a regretful smile. "When I was just a high school student, he came to my house as a guest without asking, saying he needed me and that he couldn't do without me, and he even showed my mother that Pro Hero certificate he somehow got his hands on."

"In this situation, everyone would think I was chosen by a Pro Hero to be his assistant, and my mother wholeheartedly supported me living outside." At this point, Aoi Hana suddenly squatted down on the street, clutching her head, and shouted in a fit of rage, "Who would know that I'm actually a zookeeper at a deserted zoo!"

"Um," Jilan squatted down beside her, forcing a wry smile, "Then why don't you choose to leave here and find work somewhere else?"

"Because I like animals," Aoi Hana said softly, looking at the row of ants at her feet, her hands clasped together, her face resting on her knees.

Liking animals is indeed an irrefutable reason. Jilan Jiyu stood up, took a deep breath, and stared at the cat standing on the wall.

The black cat stopped moving, staring intently at Jilan Jiyu until a cat behind it patted its back. Only then did it reluctantly turn its head away and continue walking along the wall in a line.

"Miss Aoi, let's go."

"Good."

"Hey!? Your park's rental department can't even make rental decisions? What kind of rental department is that?!" A shout suddenly came from a building in a corner of Oumagadoki Park.

"Miss, I'm sorry, even if you say so, I can't make a decision." The middle-aged man in a suit wiped his sweat. "You came to me without any identification, business license, or land lease certificate from the land services department, and you just came here saying you wanted to rent several hundred meters of land."

Jilan sighed and stepped forward to take Aoi Hana's arm, "Let's go first. Without any identification, this uncle can't make any decisions."

"Yes, yes, that's it," the uncle nodded repeatedly.

As she left the service center, Aoi Hana looked at the lush trees and the vast open space covering hundreds of meters, but there wasn't a single person in sight at Oumagadoki Park, and she stomped her feet in frustration.

"This park is practically deserted, but this old fogey still won't budge. It's not like we're not going to pay them the rental fee!"

"No, a woman who looks like a high school student, without producing any proof, is making outrageous demands to rent hundreds of square meters of land. Anyone would be shocked."

Aoi Hana was a little frustrated. As a girl who went straight to work at the zoo after graduating from high school, she didn't understand the procedures at all. She looked at Jilan Jiyu, who seemed calm and had expected to be turned away this time. "So what do we do now?"

"Let's eat first." Jilan was quite familiar with this area; he had come all the way from the station in Oumagadoki City along this road. "I know a decent restaurant nearby; let's go eat together."

It's already noon. If what the park manager said earlier is true, they still need to go to the land services department to get a temporary concession certificate and register the members of the activity. In short, there are many troublesome things that the two of them need to do. They really can't go on without eating something now.

"I'm a local, yet I don't expect I need a stranger like you to tell me where to eat," Aoi Hana complained as she obediently followed Jilan.

The restaurant that Jilan was referring to was, of course, the Fujiwara Restaurant, which was said to be owned by a seasoned driver. Jilan was deeply impressed by its "Phantom Shrimp," and he still vividly remembered its taste.

"Boss, I'm here again." Jilan pulled back the curtain and stepped into the small shop.

"Yo, Jilan- kun, I didn't expect to see you again." There weren't many people in Fujiwara's shop. He greeted Jilan warmly as he walked in, then bent down to the right and saw Aoi Hana walking behind Jilan. He said in surprise, "Isn't this Xiao Hua? Weren't you going to be an assistant to a Pro Hero?"

As soon as Fujiwara finished speaking, he understood and smiled at Jilan, "So you were doing Work-Study Program at Xiao Hua's agency, little brother. That's why the name 'Mad Rabbit' sounded so familiar. I heard it from Aoi."

Clearly, Fujiwara knows Aoi Hana and is quite familiar with her.

Aoi Hana was simply following Jilan unconsciously. When she saw Jilan stop ahead, she looked up and said with some surprise, "Uncle Fujiwara, has Jilan been to your shop before? I remember your shop's location isn't very good; you probably don't have any customers other than your regulars."

"Well, there are many reasons," Fujiwara said with a wry smile, gesturing for the two to sit down. "Would you two like something to eat?"

"Sashimi lobster." "Seafood rice bowl."

As Fujiwara turned to prepare lunch for them, Aoi Hana said to Yoshiran, "I just called the director, and he said that Gao Xun will bring us the relevant documents; he's equipped with communication devices."

"Are you talking about that eagle named Takahiro? Does he know the way?" Takahiro is the bird-man after his transformation. The park director seems to trust him and doesn't persecute him much.

"The dean usually uses Takahiro as his mode of transportation. He has come to Oumagadoki City many times with the principal. As long as we go to a conspicuous place, he will be able to see us."

Jilan and Aoi hadn't been chatting for long when Uncle Fujiwara, all smiles, brought over a tray with food. "Gentlemen, have you been waiting long?"

While Jilan and his group were having dinner, in a bar in Tokyo...

"Hey, you really went too far, didn't you? We don't have any healing abilities here. My injuries were almost healed." Tomura Shigaraki shakily stood up from the ground, blood dripping from his right hand.

Opposite him was a man dressed in tattered clothes, most notably a scarf around his neck that appeared to be soaked in countless drops of blood, and several sharp knives on his body.

This person is the criminal that the Pro Hero are hunting down with all their might— the Hero Killer.

He stared intently at the powder that was slowly draining from Tomura Shigaraki's hand along with his blood; just moments ago, that was his most beloved knife.

"What exactly is your purpose? And what do you want from me joining you?"

"I told you, I don't have your high-sounding principles. I just want to throw this society All Might built into chaos." Tomura Shigaraki rubbed his face. "I originally thought you, this great villain, would be a great ally to us, but it seems we're not on the same page at all."

As the Hero Killer Stain saw Shigaraki slightly hunched over, preparing to launch a surprise attack, he sheathed his dagger. "Wait," he said, "Although your ultimate goals are opposite to mine, we are aligned on the point of 'destroying the present.' Although you lack conviction, a twisted ideology is indeed taking root in your heart. It's not too late to kill you after I've seen what it looks like when it's fully grown."

"Hmph, so you're going to kill me in the end?" Tomura Shigaraki snapped out of his fighting stance; he didn't want to confront this infamous villain right now.

Tomura Shigaraki looked at Kurogiri and said in a sarcastic voice, "Now hurry up and send my senior away. Doesn't he have a very important goal to accomplish?"

"Does this mean the deal is done? Then hurry up and send me back to Hosu City."

The Hero Killer paid no heed to Tomura Shigaraki's sarcasm, for he had something more important on his mind.

As Stain and Tomura Shigaraki entered the Warp Gate to the Kurogiri, just as the Kurogiri was about to leave the bar, the television suddenly turned on.

"Kurogiri, there's something I need you to do."