Chapter 270: The die is cast, It’s them or us.

--Saturday, July 4, 2172

“Are you sure this is where you were talking to your colleague from the previous shift?”

In an office smaller and simpler than the presidential suite, Kai asked while sitting behind a desk, pointing at the image on the monitor to the man in front of him, one of the guards. A bit frightened, the man looked at the security footage where he could be seen talking to himself, trying to recall any detail, before responding with a confused and uncertain expression.

“Y-yes, I remember it clearly. At that hour, the only person I spoke to was him. He said he’d forgotten something and would head to the locker, so I opened the door for him. I didn’t speak to anyone else until several hours later…”

“I see… Did you notice anything strange about him? His clothes, accent, gestures? Anything that seemed out of place?” Kai asked in a calm voice, staring intently at the man, who once again glanced at the security footage with a hint of fear before replying.

“N-no, everything was normal. Even him coming back suddenly because he forgot something is very typical of him. He’s got a bad memory, so it’s common for him to leave his keys, phone, or similar things behind… I don’t understand why he doesn’t show up in the footage… His quirk is just moving his hair a bit, nothing like this…” The man, now realizing something serious was happening, looked at Kai and asked nervously.

“Is he okay? His daughter is in the same class as my eldest son, so we’re relatively close…”

“Try calling him.”

Kai instructed in a calm tone, sliding a phone across the desk with one finger. The man quickly took out his own phone to look up the number, then made the call using the phone Kai had offered.

[Hey, it’s Ito. Yeah, no, nothing’s wrong, just calling to check if you’re okay…]

Soon, the call connected, and the guard had a quick conversation before hanging up and placing the phone back on the desk with a relieved expression that quickly turned to apprehension. Though his colleague was fine, he had also mentioned being at his youngest son’s parents's day event, something that started in the morning—before the time they supposedly ‘spoke.’

“He told you he hadn’t come to the company today, didn’t he?”

Kai asked as the man looked around, visibly nervous. The man shook his head and explained what he’d been told, to which Kai nodded before commenting in a serious tone while pulling a business card from his jacket, something Keiko had made for him.

“As you might be imagining, it’s highly likely we’re being targeted by corporate espionage. So, if you know anything or remember anything, contact me. We’re currently offering a 10-million-yen reward for any information leading to the capture of the person who infiltrated our facilities.

“Furthermore, to avoid a scandal, it’s strictly forbidden to speak about this incident. If you do, not only will you lose your job and any chance of claiming the reward, but you’ll also face severe legal consequences. I hope you understand.”

“I-I understand. I’ll keep my lips sealed and call if I learn anything.” The guard replied nervously before standing, bowing, and leaving the office.

[That was the last one, and we don’t have a single concrete lead to follow…]

Slumping back into his chair, Kai let out a deep sigh, then stared at the ceiling while communicating with his trusted assistant. The beautiful fairy flew into her master’s field of vision and replied with a serious expression.

[It’s not entirely like that, Master. We’ve managed to gather some important clues… Primarily, we can divide the testimonies of those who encountered ‘the ghost’ into two groups: those who don’t remember anything and those who thought they were speaking to someone familiar without suspecting a thing. Based on preliminary observations, it’s possible to determine that this difference is tied to the level of attention the person paid during the interaction.

[If it was something quick and unimportant, they forget it completely, as if it never happened. But if it was something they paid attention to, usually when they were asked to do something, they remembered speaking to exactly the person who could ask them without it seeming odd or suspicious. A truly troublesome ability.]

Kai nodded slightly and added while sitting up straighter in his chair with a more serious and focused expression.

[It’s most likely memory manipulation. That’s why my Will Keeper activated the moment 'he' disappeared and not before, and why Keiko’s or Yumiko’s didn’t activate either. It’s probable that when he disappeared, his memory manipulation quirk kicked in and tried to erase any trace of his presence here, affecting everyone who came into direct or indirect contact with ‘him.’]

Kai extended his Haki to its maximum and closed his eyes, adding as he felt every single ‘voice’ around him in detail.

[In my case, thanks to my Haki, I was aware of his existence the entire time, and his quirk tried to make me forget he existed, but the Will Keeper prevented it. Meanwhile, Keiko and Yumiko never came into contact with ‘him.’ That only tells us this guy never directly approached us and deliberately kept his distance in a subtle way, enough that I didn’t notice anything strange…]

[But then, what was his goal? From the testimonies, he only asked basic things about the company. He never inquired about you, Keiko, or Yumiko…] Sage asked as she landed on Kai’s shoulder. Kai replied while resting his elbows on the desk.

[We can’t trust that. After all, their memories might be manipulated, and they may not remember what 'he' actually asked or requested. But one thing is certain: he’s cautious, extremely cautious. He barely used his quirk and never approached us or key company personnel. So, it’s likely he was just observing, analyzing us, maybe even testing the effectiveness of his quirk against us.]

[Is that why you conducted the ‘interrogations’ so openly, Master? To confirm to him that his quirk doesn’t work on us?] Sage asked while looking at Kai, who nodded seriously.

[Yes. Although pretending not to notice might have worked to lure him in, when he disappeared the first time, it caught me completely off guard, and I acted a bit recklessly. So, the other party can at least suspect I noticed. Therefore, I decided to adopt another strategy: gather information openly and ‘scare him off’ to keep him away from our home and businesses.

[That quirk is truly dangerous. Even though the Will Keeper prevents him from manipulating us, it’s practically a divine quirk for setting traps. He could easily sneak into a place when we’re not around and fill it with bombs—something that, while it wouldn’t work on me, would be very dangerous for others. Especially for Keiko or Yumiko, since the Accomplice’s automatic protection might not be fast enough.

[So, the best thing is to play it safe, scare him, make him try other methods to buy time while I finally get the damn [Inner Palace] working, or at the very least, update the Accomplices. After that, I’ll feel much more at ease playing bait and luring them in little by little…]

[Do you regret setting yourself up as bait on the Spider Island trip, Master…?] Seeing her master’s seriousness, Sage couldn’t help but ask with visible concern. Kai let out a heavy sigh before responding.

[It’s complicated… At that time, I still didn’t know exactly what Spider Island was and assumed it had to do with an extremely secretive organization. So, I wanted to draw them out, learn more about them, because only someone like that could erase the traces of the others involved in the attack on my parents so perfectly. That’s why I played that little smoke-and-mirrors trick with the suit and Salem to see what I could ‘catch,’ but things took a turn I didn’t expect.

[On the island, there was no trace of a secret organization beyond that lab, and everything disappeared before I could investigate further. But I did end up attracting the attention of someone dangerous. Not only does he have resources, but he’s intelligent and a true hunter. He managed to navigate through the sea of false leads I left online and find me. He’s testing me bit by bit, analyzing me, looking for a weakness.

[I don’t know what he wants, but it’s almost certainly tied to that island, to that lab. But based on the timing and how things unfolded, I’d bet he didn’t know about Spider Island before the other heroes’ report came out. Otherwise, he would’ve almost certainly put his people in the exploration or tried to gain access to the island, but he never did.

[So, I can infer that his goal is to capture me to find out what really happened after the other heroes left. That’s why there was never any mention of the island or the attack on the scientists in the media. That’s why he left everyone else alone and focused on me—because I was the last one in contact with the island and created a bunch of fake records that he somehow managed to identify as false. And given the caution with which he operates, it’s almost certain he won’t leave ‘loose ends.’

[If he manages to capture me, once he gets what he wants, he’ll erase any trace of himself. And I highly doubt that won’t include killing me and possibly my entire family in the process… My desire for revenge ended up dragging us all into a ‘silent war’ with someone extremely dangerous. So, yes, I partly regret it, but at the same time, I feel this is an opportunity…

[Those methods, that caution, the resources he’s shown so far… Someone like that could easily have found a way to bypass my mother’s ‘Haki,’ set the trap we fell into that day, and then erase all traces of their involvement. Plus, you know this, Sage—the spot where the sniper was positioned that day was just outside the maximum range of my mother’s perception, almost a kilometer beyond what was in the public records…]

[Are they really the ones, Master?]

Sage asked almost rhetorically, her gaze cold and brimming with murderous intent, her dress of light fluctuating softly and briefly turning a darker shade. Kai’s eyes gleamed with a chilling coldness as he replied, struggling to keep his Conqueror’s Haki under control, which threatened to unleash, creating dark electric sparks around him.

[I don’t know, but one thing is certain: they’re the clearest path we’ve had so far to uncovering the truth behind everything. So, the die is cast. It’s them or us, and I assure you I’ll use everything at my disposal to put a collar around their necks and drag out every bit of information they have, piece by piece…]

[We’ll do everything possible, Master… Alcatraz is ready to chain them for the rest of their miserable lives, and I have petabytes of ideas for experiments that will make them wish they’d never been born…]

Sage responded, laden with murderous intent, as her dress transformed into a black wedding gown and her lips turned a dark, poisonous violet. With eyes shining with a coldness capable of freezing bones, Kai looked at his trusted assistant and smiled calmly as he replied.

[You’re the best assistant anyone could ever have.]

[And you’re the best master in all of existence.] Sage replied with a smile mirroring her master’s before both closed their eyes, falling into complete silence.

After a few minutes, Sage’s dress returned to normal, and Kai’s Conqueror’s Haki calmed completely. At that moment, the assistant and master opened their eyes simultaneously, looked at each other, and smiled warmly. But Kai’s smile soon twisted subtly as he commented through their mental connection with a complex tone.

[And here comes my other problem…]

Sage could only sigh as she flew to hug her master’s head, her gaze fixed on the door, which soon opened to reveal the smiling faces of Keiko and Yumiko.

“Did you find anything about that ‘ghost,’ darling?” Upon entering, Keiko quickly walked to Kai and hugged him from behind, asking in a soft, sweet voice. Kai shook his head and responded in a serious tone, showing not a hint of discomfort.

“Not much. Some don’t remember speaking to anyone, even when I show them the surveillance footage, and others recall talking to an acquaintance, but everyone names a different person.”

“What a dangerous quirk…” Yumiko sat on the armrest of Kai’s chair and commented with a worried voice. Keiko nodded with a serious expression and added.

“Indeed. I’ll start working on a recognition and alert system for our entire unified surveillance network. Additionally, we need to conduct a thorough review of this building and install a state-of-the-art surveillance and response system, though I imagine we’ll have to wait until after the launch of the next collection.”

Hearing Keiko, Yumiko quickly shook her head and looked at her while speaking with a serious expression.

“No, let’s not wait. Let’s do it now. Hire personnel to enhance security and start with the administrative floors, garages, and so on. Leave the production area for last. The collection and everything else matter little compared to the safety of my family and employees. Besides, if everyone’s going to have offices here as we discussed, this place needs to be secure, or I won’t be able to rest easy.”

“That sounds like a good idea. I’ve already done a cursory check, and there’s nothing unusual, but let’s still hire specialized agencies for a general inspection during non-working hours. With quirks and robots, they can do it pretty quickly. Meanwhile, tonight, let’s replace the central server and have them start installing the new security system bit by bit.” Kai replied calmly, to which the two mothers nodded in agreement. Keiko then commented with a smile.

“Let’s do it that way. But for now, let’s head home. It’s getting late.”

***

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