Chapter 128 Consensus.
The mechanism for placing the key to open the door wasn't that hard to find... at least not for Ouma Kokichi.
The future that Tsukino and Chiya learned from Hyuga Hajime is clearly also something that Ohma Kokichi knows very well.
So, before Tsukino and Chiya could even finish speaking, the purple-haired boy demonstrated his extraordinary speed and agility. By the time Tsukino and Chiya finished speaking, Ohma Kokichi had already successfully located the mechanism on the wall.
It was a recessed area. Tsukino and Chiya glanced at it and realized that it was the kind of mechanism that would activate when the corresponding key was inserted.
In other words, this is not quite the same as a regular door lock; it's a bit beyond Tsukino and Chiya's capabilities... Realizing this, the black-haired boy naturally turned his gaze to Ohma Kokichi, who was poking at the dent. Higashigo Miya also looked over.
"...Huh? Why is everyone suddenly looking at me?"
A few seconds later, Wang Ma Xiaoji slowly turned his head, looking as if he really didn't understand, and said something that everyone present already knew.
"Ah. Could it be... that you want me to unlock it?"
After saying this, the purple-haired boy didn't wait for the other two present to reply before his eyes crinkled into a smile, looking extremely smug. However, this smug demeanor didn't irritate anyone; instead, it made him seem quite adorable.
"Hehe, as expected, you still have to rely on me at crucial moments! Here's the deal: if each of you does one thing for me, as the leader of evil, I'll reluctantly lend a hand. Don't worry, don't worry, considering everyone's been working so hard for the supernatural, I won't make you do anything too difficult. After all, I love you all the most!"
He lightly tapped his chin with one finger, tilted his head slightly, and feigned deep thought with an innocent expression.
"Hmm... Robbing a bank is too difficult for everyone who isn't a member of an evil organization, so I'll ask you all to wear maid outfits and serve me tea and water all day at school tomorrow morning!"
This isn't difficult, but isn't it a bit too embarrassing?
"Well... that doesn't seem very realistic. Professor Higashigo and I simply can't operate openly within the undergraduate program," Tsukino and Chiya reminded him earnestly, as if he were seriously considering Ohma Kokichi's request.
Wang Ma Xiaoji sighed with regret: "Eh...right. That's a real pity."
"So, what Wangma-kun means is, can you unlock the mechanism here?" Higashigo Miya asked directly.
Wang Ma Xiaoji beamed, "No way!"
Togo Miya: "..."
Tsukino and Qianye: "..."
After a moment or two of silence, Higashigoro Miya, who also had purple hair that looked even more mysterious in the darkness, smiled and said, "I understand. In that case, then..."
"Let's break down the wall by force." After learning that no one could open the door with a less violent method, Miya Higashigo decided.
"Okay, I support it!" Wang Ma Xiaoji decisively raised both hands in agreement.
"..." Tsukino and Chiya remained silent, but shifted their gaze from Ohma Kokichi to Togo Miya.
This mechanism is indeed different from the easier locks they've encountered before, so it's beyond Ouma Kokichi's capabilities. It's also reasonable to assume that Ouma doesn't have the right tools at the moment.
However, Tsukino and Chiya still had some doubts—
Is Wang Ma truly helpless in this matter? Or is he simply using this opportunity...?
The mechanisms here aren't sophisticated enough to immediately sound an alarm or automatically block the road if forcibly damaged. In other words, Higashigo Miya's solution is theoretically feasible; it just requires tools to demolish the wall and the potential for a huge commotion that might attract the guards.
The truly foolproof approach would be to seek help from Hajime Hinata. Having lived for a time in the space behind that wall in that future, Hinata might be able to get them the key they need. And with his Ultimate Ability, his efficiency in obtaining the key should be no less than high.
However, there is no longer any need to do so.
During this operation, Higashigo Mimi was completely relaxed, carrying only her phone and wallet. As for Ohma Kokichi... although he seemed to be the same, Tsukino and Chiya felt that he probably still had some amazing gadgets that ordinary people wouldn't think of.
For example, the classic Wangma Xiaoji lock uses a small wire for unlocking.
"Tsukino and Chiya, do you have anything we might need?" Miya Togo extended her hand to Tsukino and Chiya without any hesitation. "Then let me borrow it for a bit."
Unlike Miya Higashigo and Kokichi Ohma, Tsukino and Chiya were still carrying his bag. This was a habit he had developed after working with Kazuo Yashiki and the others, and this habit had proven to be quite necessary in the previous series of events.
Tsukino and Chiya probably knew what Higashigo Miya was planning to do. He reached out and took off the bag he was carrying on his back, then handed it to Higashigo Miya, who was still holding out her hand.
Wangma Xiaoji changed his position from being close to the wall to standing next to Dong Hu Miya, Tsukino, and Chiya, making no attempt to hide his curiosity about what would happen next.
"What? What?" His purple eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement. "Is Kozuki really Doraemon? He even prepared the wall-smashing tools in advance? This bag isn't some kind of special gadget either, is it? It looks ordinary, but it's actually connected to a black hole, so it can hold anything!"
"—Or perhaps, is the teacher about to perform a magic trick?"
It's clear that Wang Ma Xiaoji would be happy with any development, whether it's a completely different story or something even more unexpected.
"Hmm... what exactly is going on?"
After receiving the backpack, Miyako Togo first weighed it briefly in her hand, feeling its obviously heavy weight, and then gave it a simple compliment.
"Tsukino and his classmates are really well-prepared. They're so reliable."
She seemed happy to play along with Wang Ma Xiaoji's performance, a mysterious smile playing on her lips, as she reached out and unzipped her backpack: "Will anything we need be in here?"
"Let me look...where is it?"
Miya Higashigo held the bag with one hand and reached inside with the other, groping around. She didn't peek inside to search, but simply relied on her right hand to feel around blindly.
"Ah, found it."
Then, accompanied by this calm sound, Higashigo Miya reached out and took something out of Tsukino and Chiya's bags.
But her actions did not end there. After casually placing the item on the ground, Higashigo Miya continued to rummage through Chiya's backpack.
A moment later, Miya Higashigo finally returned the backpack. Tsukino and Chiya silently reached out and took it, while Ohma Kokichi squatted down and made a heartfelt exclamation at the crowbar, sledgehammer, chainsaw, claw hammer, and other items on the ground.
"Wow!"
Wangma Xiaoji, who was squatting on the ground, looked up with amazement at Tsukino and Chiya, who remained calm no matter what the situation was, and then looked at Higashigomi Miya, who had taken out so many props that obviously couldn't have been real and were in the bag, but had a "this is reasonable" look on her face.
This made him seem a bit overreacting, but Ouma Kokichi never cared about such things. Rather, reacting differently from others was his daily routine.
The purple-haired boy made a quick selection and finally picked up a crowbar from the ground, which was much lighter than most of the other props.
Wang Ma Xiaoji stood up and casually waved the crowbar in his hand: "Xiaoyue Yehe, I didn't expect you to have so much stuff in your bag! You must have worked hard!"
No… let’s not even talk about that crowbar you’re holding. That chainsaw on the ground alone probably can’t fit in a backpack.
After a brief silence, Tsukino and Chiya accepted the compliment: "Um... yes. Carrying so much stuff must be very heavy."
This can be considered the power of calamity, but it is not a special calamity unique to Higashigo Miya. If you insist on saying it, then it is the power of "consensus".
During a previous strange incident, Tsukino and Chiya explained a part of the concept of calamity to Ohma Kokichi. At the time, he used a flashlight as an example.
Calamities are forces that arise from consensus.
A flashlight may just be an ordinary flashlight, but when everyone thinks that the flashlight they'll be holding in a terrifying situation is a "nuclear-powered" flashlight with super-long battery life, then perhaps it really does have unexpected endurance.
Or perhaps it's the kind of person whose mere presence causes rain. In reality, there's no scientific basis for this, and that person doesn't actually cause rain wherever they go. However, within that person's group, there's a tendency to reach a consensus that "that person seems to have the ability to bring rain during their activities," thus creating a calamity.
When that person leaves their original group for reasons such as further education, the ability disappears along with the consensus. However, those who remained will still believe that person truly possessed the ability to summon rain. (*)
Religions are groups where consensus is easily reached. For example, a cult might claim that the leader's power can cure all diseases and amass wealth, but when the police raid the place, they find the diseases uncured and a pile of corpses. However, if the police hadn't intervened, perhaps everyone would have remained happy. Perhaps even the corpses would have blended in with other believers, happily practicing their faith. (*)
Once a consensus is reached on a certain rule, then that rule becomes an undeniable fact. And such a consensus can be exerted to an incredible degree by someone with demonic powers like Miya Higashigomi.
...In short, that's the kind of power it is.
So whether it's the belief that "Tsukino and Chiya's bags can definitely hold so many amazing items," or "Togo Mimi is such a mysterious esper that she can definitely do it just by using props," or something else... In short, with all three of them agreeing that "the bag must be able to hold the necessary props," Togo Mimi did indeed successfully take out the items that everyone needed from her bag.
Tsukino and Chiya remembered that this should be a technique called "dream realization".
Whether Wangma Xiaoji is truly powerless against the mechanisms on the wall, or simply wants to witness the power of calamity after finally encountering a living calamity messenger... in any case, the problem that has been troubling them has now been solved.
“Well then, shall we continue now?” Higashigo Mimi gestured for him to proceed, clearly not intending to do it herself.
Higashigo Miya is not a Calamity User with outstanding strength, and Ohma Kokichi's strength is only at an average level. However, it's not a big problem.
Tsukino and Chiya started swinging hammers at the wall.
Generally speaking, following the normal demolition or renovation process, demolishing a wall requires a certain degree of consideration. However, at this point, there's no time to worry about that now.
The damage only needs to be enough to allow entry to the other side.
The black-haired boy slammed his hammer down, making quite a noise. But it didn't disturb anyone.
No one present was worried because the damaged wall could not be restored in a short time, which would expose their infiltration operation the next day.
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Author's note: (*) are examples from DMLC.
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