Chapter 48

After a large group of UN personnel who were fighting abandoned the scene of the brawl and fled, police (actually Self-Defense Forces) who were professionally clearing debris also arrived at the scene.

Now, the Self-Defense Forces are surrounding this vast "war ruin" (a scene that could be described as a small-scale war), which seems incomprehensible.

One of them looked at the vast urban ruins with an expression that was somewhere between subtle and distorted.

"So this huge area... was created by their own civil war?"

Beside him, another person had the same strange expression. "Judging from the marks, that's certainly the case."

The man turned his head expressionlessly: "So, all that fuss they made, clearing the area with guns for so long, was just to start a civil war?"

The man next to him was practically drenched in cold sweat: "If you only look at the surface, that's true, but I feel there's definitely a deeper meaning behind it..."

Otherwise, apart from the fact that all UN members were mentally unstable, there is really no other way to explain this large number of strange and bizarre signs of destruction.

Unfortunately, the person here wasn't listening to his "nonsense" and was muttering to himself: "You could say they're crazy, but why did they have to pick a fight in the city center... I heard they even had one person killed in their own fight, what are they doing?"

The person on the other side, who was already sweating profusely, didn't reply, probably because they were busy wiping the floor and didn't have time.

It's obvious that the two of them have killed the conversation, and neither of them has a way to salvage it.

Just then, a communications soldier suddenly appeared from the side: "Report!"

The two men, who had been staring at each other in bewilderment, turned to the communications soldier with lightning speed: "Speak!"

"We have just received news that the UN has attacked a substation on the outskirts of Yokohama and, for some unknown reason, caused a complete power outage there."

The already bewildered crowd began to suspect that the UN members might have mental problems.

A surprise attack on a substation? What are they planning this time?

Let's turn back time a little bit—

Standing inside the substation, with a worker lying unconscious at his feet, Louis idly fiddled with his knife: "It's been so long, this concentration of 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' should have dissipated by now, do we really need to be so cautious?"

Beside him, Vladimir, wearing a gas mask, let out an annoyed snort from beneath the mask: "Enough nonsense. Whether your mental state is stable right now is unknown, and I don't want to gamble on that probability!"

After all, Shelley was just killed by them, and it's really hard to say what Stevenson's mental state is right now, given that he has always been seen as Shelley's father and mother (no doubt).

Louis glanced at Vladimir beside him: "You're here to vent your anger after your allowance was cut, aren't you?"

Previously, this guy relied on his in-game purchases to rush in and just recklessly charged in, but it was all for nothing. He wasted a lot of his resources and sent all his items to nothing.

Vladimir's pointless waste infuriated Verne, and this time, Vladimir's two months' worth of purchasing funds (pocket money) were completely deducted.

Vladimir is simply taking his anger out on others.

Although Louis was a little annoyed that Vladimir was being targeted, he refrained from doing so, considering that Vladimir was always in this annoying state—mainly because, based on past experience, arguing with him at this point would only make Vladimir throw an even bigger tantrum.

However, given Louis's temperament... it's good enough if he can tolerate it for a while; we can't ask for too much.

It's now quite clear that Vladimir, whose sore spot had been touched by Louis, is starting to lash out.

"Louis, you're warning me, don't get too cocky! Or else..."

Louis dismissed Vladimir's threat with disdain, even interrupting him, "What else?"

"Or I could turn you into a little girl too! Then you can figure out how to play house with Shelley!"

Louis: "...When did your threatening skills get so advanced?! Also, Shelley doesn't usually play house! Only a pretentious fool like you would do this!"

Vladimir was even angrier: "The one who's pretending to be young is that guy Barry, not me!"

Cervantes, who was passing by, stared blankly at the scene, completely unaware of what was happening.

Louis and Vladimir saw Cervantes almost simultaneously, clicked their tongues in unison, and then stopped arguing.

Louis waved to Cervantes: "Keep up, ignore this freak."

After speaking, Louis strode directly into the substation.

Before Cervantes could react, Vladimir had already chimed in, shouting, "Let me tell you, your behavior is definitely workplace bullying..."

Before Cervantes could say anything, the two had already turned the corner not far away and disappeared from his sight.

Staring blankly at this scene, Cervantes shook his head speechlessly: "What on earth are they playing?"

Louis and Vladimir walked into the substation while arguing. The first thing they saw when they looked up was Exupéry, who was carrying several large cables and walking around with sparks flying everywhere.

Barry was hovering above Exupé's head, holding a blueprint and talking to Exupé.

Vladimir was stunned by the scene of work at Exupé: "I think this thing absolutely violates any safety regulations."

Vladimir's words were overheard by Romain Rolland, who rolled his eyes and said, "What safety regulations are you talking about with Exupéry?"

Further afield, Verne and Defoe are bringing in the fragmented body structure of Shelley.

How is the power supply?

Barry grinned broadly: "All set!"

Below Barry, Exupé held up two cables and the massive alloy connectors attached to them.

At that moment, as Exupé habitually waved his hands, a blinding flash of electricity emanated from between the cables.

Verne exhaled, and together with Defoe, placed Shelley in the middle of the open space, then stepped back.

Romain Rolland, Vladimir, and others who had been observing also began to back away, while Louis stood there somewhat dazed. It wasn't until Cervantes patted him that he snapped out of it and started backing away as well.

However, for some reason, Louis deliberately moved closer to Vladimir as he retreated.

"Exupéry, connect the power."

Exupé's expression was ordinary, and his gesture was a simple nod.

Then, he stepped forward, holding the huge interface in his hand, and came to Shelley's remains.

Shelley's eyes were closed at that moment, and his mutilated body resembled a wax artwork reflecting the cruelty of war, rather than a cold corpse.

Even after death, Shelley's body still possessed a certain "vitality" rather than being filled with "death."

Without hesitation, Exupé raised the structure in his hand and slammed it down on Shelley's head with both hands.

There seemed to be a thud as the steel nail in Shelley's temple and the interface in Exupéry's hand connected Shelley to the circuitry.

But no one noticed whether the collision produced any sound.

A tremendous explosion occurred the instant the interface and steel nail made contact, and the entire substation was filled with the intense sounds of current overload and the explosive sounds of metal being overloaded.

Once Shelley's body was connected to the circuit, it greedily drew all the electricity from the circuit towards itself at an almost siphoning speed, and the interface on her head quickly turned bright red. Yet, strangely, it maintained its shape, and every now and then it would briefly revert to its original color.

The scene resembled a monstrous beast devouring its prey.

In mid-air, Barry raised his hand toward Shelley, painstakingly maneuvering Neverland.

"Going straight back will break the circuit, and going back too slowly will damage the interface. It's so troublesome..."

Exupé, who had just returned, heard Barry's voice: "Barry, are you alright?"

"Huh?" Barry's smile was as bright as ever. "Exupéry, what nonsense are you talking about? Of course I have no problem!"

Amidst the flashing lightning, Shelley's shattered body began to regenerate and reassemble once again, from bones to internal organs, from internal organs to muscles, and finally to the outer skin. Shelley, who originally only had a small part of the upper part of her torso left, regenerated her entire body in just half a minute, and continued to absorb the surrounding electrical energy.

Amid the massive explosion, Romain Rolland determined that at least half of the cables had been burned through.

In the open space, the figure seemed insatiable, absorbing a large amount of electrical energy. Some of the leaked electricity swirled around her, turning into a cage of continuous electric light.

Amidst the flashing lightning, the figure opened its eyes once more.

This is a life miracle unique to her.