Chapter 56: The Monster at the Crossroads

"A newly emerging ghost story about a crossroads?"

Ango Sakaguchi nodded. He had come specifically to deliver the permit, as the sooner they wanted to seek cooperation, the better.

By the way, share with him the strange information I've recently received.

“We haven’t received any reports about the bracelet yet, however… there are more and more reports of people seeing strange things at intersections.”

The bespectacled field operative/intelligence officer took out several photos from his bag and showed them to X, saying:

"These are photos sent back by our investigators."

A creature with three heads, or rather, three spheres with eyes and mouths, was being held in the hands of a hunched body. In the quickly taken photo, you can clearly see that the monster's mouth is opening and closing as if it is saying something.

"We haven't detected any aggressiveness from him yet, but the questions he asks are getting increasingly strange."

"You're still asking questions? And you can still understand them?"

This thing was not the anomaly he remembered; it didn't match up at all. Instead, it was more like a distortion.

Could it be that after Wild Abnormalities, Wild Twisted Ones will appear? Where did these come from?

Or is it... that this was actually done by a superhuman in this world? It's not some kind of supernatural being or anything like that.

"According to two of my colleagues, they couldn't understand what the head was saying, but the corresponding meaning would appear directly in their minds."

"The monster's middle head kept saying, 'Do you know where my son is?'"

"I understand. I'll go check that place out. Thank you for the information, Mr. Sakaguchi."

Since he claimed to be an organization that contains derivatives of supernatural abilities, he had to go to the site to see for himself. The location was Yokohama.

What a coincidence, it's that place again.

"Thank you for your hard work. Recently, more and more people have been watching, but so far no one has tried to answer the questions. Commander Taneda's idea is that it would be best to deal with the monster before it causes real casualties."

"Furthermore, Mr. X, that location is controlled by the Takase Association. Be careful not to get into a conflict with their people."

Ango Sakaguchi was fully aware of the capabilities of X's employees, but he pretended not to know and reminded him anyway.

Unbeknownst to him, while he was sitting there meeting with X, the members of the Takase-kai had already come into contact with "monsters" that spawned irregularly on the roadside.

They had also heard of the new ghost stories appearing in the old town, and that nothing would happen if they did nothing and ignored the ghosts.

Many residents screamed and ran away after seeing it, but the monster was neither provoked nor reacted. It just stood there blankly at the intersection, waiting for the next person.

The problem is that having this thing here is seriously affecting the business of their shops, both legal and illegal, and their income has been almost zero in the last few days.

The chairman of the Takase-kai frowned. This couldn't go on any longer. They had to kill this damned thing, or at least get rid of it.

Therefore, the young leader of the Takase-kai, along with his trusted confidants, was dispatched at the request of the chairman. Faced with this situation, he felt obligated to act as both the young leader and the chairman's son-in-law.

After their informant from the Takase Association reported that the monster had reappeared at the intersection, they set off.

Sure enough, the monster stood blankly at the crossroads, its three heads constantly scanning the surroundings with its eyes, waiting for the destined person to answer its questions.

The squad leader, who was quite savvy, stepped forward on his own. He had heard that this monster wouldn't hurt anyone, and that taking the initiative himself was more likely to earn him favor than being ordered around by the squad leader.

Sure enough, he saw a hint of appreciation in Ruotou's eyes. He had made the right bet!

Everything went smoothly, just like in the legends. The monster didn't attack him; it just mumbled something he couldn't understand, but he unexpectedly understood what it meant.

Where is my son?

How would I know where your son is? Besides, how could a monster like you have a son? Anyway, let's get rid of him first.

"Your son is here..."

"Don't answer it!!"

The boy's voice came from across the street, his voice urgent.

But it was too late.

The monster's six eyes, which had been looking around, suddenly stared straight at the squad leader, who was still a short distance away. The head in the middle suddenly grinned savagely.

You're lying!!!

The monster screamed in the squad leader's mind. The squad leader realized something was wrong and was about to draw his gun to attack in advance.

The clearly enraged monster's head on the right side had its mouth wide open.

Almost instantly, the middle-aged man behind the boy gripped his knife and rushed forward, intending to save the person who had given the wrong answer.

But... it was too fast. Before he even arrived, the squad leader's head had already been bitten off by the monster. Blood gushed out from his headless neck, turning the man's silver hair a deep crimson.

As they drew closer, the silver-haired swordsman, his hair soaked in blood, heard the monster's voice. After biting off the squad leader's head, it returned to calm, still asking—"Where is my son?"

The members of the Takase-kai were also splattered with blood, which was different from what they knew! They were promised not to hurt anyone!

The squad leader's body was still lying at the monster's feet!

Ruotou forced himself to calm down and comforted himself, thinking that the monster had returned to its original form and was just standing there in a daze. As long as he didn't provoke it, nothing would happen.

Little did anyone know that his underlings were all blinded by greed. Although the squad leader was single-mindedly focused on climbing the ranks, he was genuinely kind to his subordinates in order to win them over.

When the underlings saw their leader killed by the monster, their blood rushed to their heads, and they had only one thought in their minds: kill it and avenge their squad leader!

Gunshots rang out suddenly. Ruotou turned around with a look of disbelief. His underling had fired his own gun without orders!

There's no turning back!

Ruotou also drew his pistol, but before he could fire, he was surprised to find that the monster seemed completely oblivious to the dense hail of bullets.

He only saw the silver-haired middle-aged swordsman retreating somewhat disheveled amidst the hail of bullets.

Could it be... that this monster isn't afraid of guns?!

The hot-blooded underlings also realized this terrifying fact: they were doing completely useless work.

Are they really powerless against it?

Gradually, the gunfire stopped. This time, at the cost of losing a mid-level officer, Takase discovered that this monster was beyond their control.

"withdraw!"

Before the scattered footsteps had completely disappeared, the fog, which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, gradually thickened.

The faint sounds that had been there before had completely disappeared.

The members of the Takase Society disappeared, along with the boy who hadn't been able to stop them in time, and—that monster.

Only the silver-haired swordsman remained, standing alone in the mist.

Not only them, but everyone on the street, in the shops, and in the houses had disappeared; it was a ghost town.

Fukuzawa Yukichi wiped his face with a scarf stained red with blood, just like his hair, and walked forward along the street. He had to find Ranpo, who had disappeared.

In this suffocating silence, even the faintest footsteps sound as clearly as a radio broadcast.

The man's eyes sharpened, and he quickly moved towards the direction from which the sound came.

Unexpectedly, it was an acquaintance, who also looked at him with some surprise.

"Oh my, Lord Silver Wolf, it's been a long time!"

Mori Ogai, who had been expelled from Yokohama by the Port Mafia, appeared here for some unknown reason. He even took off his ever-present white coat and wore a pink trench coat with dark green thorns wrapped around it.

Has he finally gone mad? The silver-haired man stared at Mori Ougai, whose pink hair was outrageously bright.

Noticing the silver-haired man's somewhat disheveled state, the strangely dressed doctor was somewhat surprised; he looked as if he had just been drenched in blood from head to toe.

“Dr. Mori,” Fukuzawa Yukichi said, his face still bearing traces of blood that had not been wiped away.

“Do you see a kid with black hair and green eyes?” he gestured, “this tall.”

Seeing the emotions in the eyes of this usually expressionless old acquaintance, Mori Ōgai kindly explained the current situation to him:

“That child doesn’t have any special abilities, does he?” the doctor said, walking towards the direction the swordsman had come from. “If he disappeared suddenly, then you don’t need to worry. It’s the effect of a special ability. In this fog, only those with special abilities remain.”

The doctor continued in the direction the swordsman had come from until he stopped in front of a large pool of blood at a crossroads. There was nothing there; no monsters were to be seen.

"As expected, this thing wasn't created using supernatural abilities." Rather, it's something similar to the monsters within the company.

"You know that monster."

The swordsman who had followed the doctor caught the doctor's understanding of the monster that had just killed someone in front of him.

"You should worry about yourself more than me, Lord Silver Wolf."

Unlike himself, who was informed of his superpowers beforehand, this superpowered individual who stumbled into the fog was completely unaware of it—he would be attacked by his own superpowers in this fog.

His Alice had already been killed by Barbaresco, no, Yoshihide, who appeared in the fog at the same time, but he was different...

The two looked together toward the depths of the street, where a figure that looked exactly like the silver-haired swordsman slowly emerged.

The moment he saw Fukuzawa Yukichi, he attacked with incredible speed.

"Oh my," Mori Ougai exclaimed, watching the two Fukuzawa Yukichis clapping and banging. "This is... completely unbreakable."

Two equally skilled swordsmen, neither able to break the other's moves, this is truly...

"Let me help you."

The doctor spoke softly.

A young girl in a red dress suddenly appeared behind the real Fukuzawa Yukichi, holding a gun in her hand.

This is a small handgun that is required for clerical staff at Lobotomy Corporation. Although he is not a formal clerical staff member, his supervisor still gave him a replacement the next day.

With Alice's sneak attack, the crystal on Fukuzawa Yukichi's forehead was shattered, and the supernatural power obediently returned to its holder.

"What's going on?"

"I think it's probably because Lord Silver Wolf and we ran into the same thing."

"You came here for that monster too."

The pink-haired doctor nodded to him: "Let's go, Lord Silver Wolf. It's time to report to my superiors—about the fact that this monster doesn't have superpowers."

Following the doctor, turning left and right, we saw two other people: a woman leaning against the wall, smoking, and a white-haired man sitting dejectedly on a park bench.

Of the three who had appeared together in the fog, only this woman remained; the other two never showed up.

How could they not be people with superpowers!

That beautiful light! Damn it! The light he thought he could see again!

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Author's note: It should be the next day [pigeon]