Chapter 63
Upon hearing Fyodor speak, Ye Yihe readily surrendered his body.
Subduing the two men in front of him by force might not be difficult, but he knew he wasn't good at negotiating with these political experts.
No underhanded tactics allowed.
Upon returning to the Palace of Consciousness, Yehe warned Fyodor that it was best if this scene was not something he had intentionally created.
Fyodor's expression was not visible, but Yeyhe seemed to faintly hear a laugh.
It was a soft laugh, produced only by the slight vibration of his vocal cords, like a butterfly fluttering its wings as it landed on his fingertips.
Ye Yihe: …………
If the timing weren't so inappropriate, he would have continued to press Fyodor about the meaning behind that laugh.
But to the other two people in the private room, the aura of the thin young man in front of them had changed immediately—even his wine-red eyes, which were looking down at him, had become cold and sharp, like layers of ice and snow buried deep in the cold winter.
Despite being a pale-faced and frail young man, he exuded an unparalleled sense of oppression.
If it weren't for the polite smile still playing on the other person's lips, Deputy Director Sakashita, feeling a chill run down his spine, truly believed that he would turn into a corpse at any moment.
A vampire or demon who can see through people's hearts, in short, a creature that has no humanity at all... This adjective unconsciously popped into his mind.
Furthermore, he felt that this description was quite persuasive.
Only such ruthless, inhuman beings could so easily bring about the downfall of the Port Mafia organization.
Hello.
The demon spoke, his grammar and pronunciation precise, which only made Deputy Director Sakashita even more nervous: "It is my honor to meet you here."
As they said "It's an honor," the other person walked towards them, each step light and elegant, yet seemingly treading on their every heartbeat, forcing them to synchronize their breathing, becoming prey waiting for the butcher's knife to fall.
Is this some kind of psychological tactic that subtly instills fear and pressure in the other party? Deputy Director Sakashita couldn't suppress the thought popping into his mind.
He had come into contact with some Level 3 dangerous ability users who were under house arrest, including those who could hear other people's thoughts and those who could cut people like tofu with just their thoughts—but without a doubt, none of them gave him the sense of crisis that the raven-haired youth in front of him was as great as the one that was almost a matter of life and death.
Deputy Director Sakashita even began to regret why he had insisted on joining in on this meeting.
He didn't know what the guy from the farming family was thinking, but he just felt terrible, and his shirt was soaked with cold sweat.
Fortunately, his superior officer, Taneda Yamatoka, was still able to speak normally. "I am Taneda from the Special Ability Department. I hope you will forgive my intrusion in accepting your invitation."
He coughed lightly, as if organizing his words, "It's not that I intend to hold you accountable for the destruction of the port mafia."
Fyodor, who sat opposite them, did not respond, but simply listened attentively, gesturing for the other to continue.
"Perhaps you are unaware that the Port Mafia was originally a piece of the puzzle in the [Three-Dimensional Concept]..."
Before the anger over Taneda Yamato had even subsided, Deputy Chief Sakashita interrupted, "A stupid piece of the puzzle." He said with disgust, "Can you imagine what it would be like to hand over part of the city's jurisdiction to a criminal organization?"
"This is simply a provocation against the authority of the judiciary!"
To suppress his fear of Fyodor, he slammed his hand on the table, appearing indignant.
"Not only are those superhumans who should have faced legal trial long ago being secretly harbored and protected by the Superhuman Special Agents Division, but they are also turning a blind eye to the criminals who commit crimes outside! They are even being given the right to manage public order! This is simply unbearable for me—thankfully, your intervention has prevented the government from losing face completely."
Then, he changed the subject and began to compliment Fyodor, his face beaming with a friendly smile.
Along the way, Taneda Santouka wanted to speak several times, but held back until he heard the other person's syllables fall completely.
"You should know the destructive power of dangerous superhumans, Deputy Chief Sakashita." Finally, he retorted, unable to contain himself any longer. "Using ordinary police and firepower, it's simply impossible to arrest them, let alone bring them to trial..."
"Then, we haven't seen your Special Abilities Division make a move."
Seeing that he had the upper hand in this debate, Deputy Director Sakashita seemed to relax completely.
"Those intelligence officers, agents, investigators, call them whatever you want... Did they stop the supernatural crimes happening in Yokohama? It seems not much. They even allowed them to form gangs using this powerful violence, which then evolved into group behavior that endangers society."
From any perspective, Deputy Director Sakashita's righteous and stern words are impeccable.
"Excuse my bluntness, Deputy Director Sakashita. The reason why those on the list of dangerous ability users haven't caused trouble is because the Special Ability Affairs Division is managing them,"
Taneda Yamatoka could no longer swallow his anger. "You are the deputy director of the Judicial Bureau under the Ministry of Justice. You may have some experience in how to use the law to judge ordinary people, but that is absolutely not applicable to people with superpowers."
"Not to mention that in special circumstances, the reserves of superhumans are equivalent to a weapons contest between nations."
No matter how many ordinary soldiers' lives are sacrificed, it cannot bridge the power gap between powerful superhumans and non-superhumans.
"According to Commander Tanada, aren't those powerful and dangerous superhumans no different from unstable nuclear bombs?"
Deputy Director Sakashita always wore a polite, politician's smile, appearing much more composed than Santaka Taneda, whose brow was furrowed.
"But let's not forget that what we need to focus on now is the personal safety threats that ordinary people are facing from illegal organizations, rather than discussing how many nuclear weapons we need to deter other countries, even if it is a threat to our own societies as well."
"Not to mention, sitting right in front of us is Mr. Fyodor, who can easily wipe out those criminal organizations, just like my long-held hope for social stability."
“Mr. Fyodor.” — He turned his gaze eagerly to Fyodor, speaking before Taneda Santoka could extend an invitation.
"Judging from your swift action against the port mafia, I have no doubt about your sense of justice, and I urge you to do your part for the safety of this city."
"How about joining the Public Security Investigation Department, Mr. Fyodor?"
The Public Security Investigation Agency under the Ministry of Justice is a special intelligence agency independent of the police system, similar to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States.
Their power of internal searches and convictions is immense, often surpassing that of ordinary police officers; it wouldn't be wrong to call them another privileged institution.
Fyodor, who had been listening quietly to their argument, rested his chin on his interlaced fingers, his dark red eyes slightly narrowed, a half-smile on his face.
It's quite amusing that while they claim to treat all illegal superpowered individuals equally, they themselves grant them special privileges for the sake of votes.
Yokohama, being a public settlement, is an extremely chaotic city. Any official who claims to have a way to govern it is guaranteed a promotion—and it's not impossible that he could even use this to severely damage the Special Abilities Division and completely annex it.
This Deputy Director Sakashita wasn't truly acting to "punish evil," but rather because such a high-sounding slogan was beneficial for maintaining his power and satisfying his greedy ambitions and desires.
Even engaging in ideological debates with the supernatural special agent officer Taneda was merely an attempt to preemptively place himself on the moral high ground.
Denying those with superpowers is a stance; utilizing them is a means.
Humans are indeed both deeply sinful and utterly foolish.
"Deputy Director Sakashita,"
Fyodor spoke at a measured pace, reminding him of a fact.
"I am also a superhuman."
"..." As he expected, after a pause, the other party quickly and smoothly continued, "I believe you are different from other superhumans, acting to save the ordinary people of this city..."
"Sure, I promise you."
With just one sentence, Fyodor exposed the other party's seemingly righteous facade.
Behind his smiling face, there seemed to be dark shadows stirring in every corner where the light couldn't reach, slowly expanding and covering every tatami mat, wall, and ceiling in the private room—until, as the other person's eyes widened in fear, it seemed that even every breath was filled with a viscous despair that would swallow up the beating heart.
"However, I believe that you, who made such a decision, must also be prepared to fight against evil even at the cost of your life."
Fyodor's tone was gentle, but his words sent a chill down the spine of Deputy Director Sakashita.
"How about I kill you right here first? As payment for my willingness to do things for you."
"Wait, you can't do this..."
No, he can.
—In Fyodor's cold smile, Deputy Director Sakashita understood the unspoken message all too clearly.
"…………"
As he watched the other person's hasty retreat disappear behind the door, Fyodor's eyes shifted and landed on the only remaining person.
"Now,"
The immense and chilling killing intent receded like a tide, and he spoke politely to Taneda Yamato again.
"You can now carefully propose the details of the transaction."
"…………"
Compared to his initial idea of recruiting the other party, Taneda Santouka now suspects more that he has provoked a fierce god.
"I have no intention of making any excuses for wanting to join the [Three-Dimensional Concept] project."
Taneda Yamatoka took a deep breath. "It is extremely difficult for ordinary military and police personnel to punish illegal organizations that have criminals with superpowers. The Superpower Special Agents Division, which has only been established for a few years, has limited manpower. It already takes a lot of energy to supervise dangerous superpowered individuals, so we have to rely on illegal forces to barely maintain the balance."
Compared to Deputy Director Sakashita, who used grand pronouncements to mask his ambitions, Santoka Taneda appeared much more candid.
“I don’t know the purpose of your operation in Yokohama,” he continued, “but I can assure you that as long as you’re targeting criminal organizations, you’ll never have to worry about the aftermath.”
"Furthermore, if there is a need for manpower in the future, the Special Abilities Division will provide maximum assistance."
It was indeed a very lenient transaction, and the intention was quite clear.
Since the "Three-Tier Plan" to balance the forces in Yokohama is unlikely to be realized, and the Special Ability Division is not capable of completely restraining the crimes committed by ability users outside, then we might as well use the power of the person in front of us to take the opportunity to wipe out the criminal organizations in Yokohama, which can be considered a way to stabilize order.
Judging from the fact that he immediately called the police after the other party wiped out the port mafia, this Mr. Fyodor did not have any intention of ruling the Yokohama underworld.
His attitude just now indicated that he did not intend to join the official system, so the only thing left is to establish a cooperative relationship.
This is tantamount to another version of conspiring with a tiger, and he has no choice but to take a gamble.
After all, the fact that the other party can precisely target only members of the Port Mafia organization means that he can control the attack range at will—what if the next target is the Special Abilities Division?
Taneda Santouka has not forgotten that many supernatural criminals also died in that extermination operation, almost all of whom were wiped out.
For a long time after he finished speaking, the air remained silent.
Taneda Yamatoka looked nervously at Fyodor, only to find those indifferent, dark red eyes slowly closing—
When he opened his eyes again, the feeling he got from the other person was completely overturned.
It's like a drowning person suddenly being rescued; even breathing becomes so much easier.
“Manpower aside,” he heard the other person say, his pauses and rhythm of pronunciation slightly different from before, but no longer giving off a sense of nonchalant pressure.
"Since we want to eradicate illegal organizations, I hope the intelligence department of the Special Abilities Division can open its doors to me."
Ye Yihe, who had been brought back, explained the main reason for his visit.
Even if there were plenty of snacks, he couldn't keep bothering Ranpo to help him gather intelligence every time—especially since the officer in front of him happened to have a huge and detailed database.
It was quite unexpected that he wasn't invited to join the Special Abilities Department. He had originally thought that this was Fyodor's goal and was even racking his brains about how to avoid contact with Shibusawa Tatsuhiko after joining... How come it turned out that Fyodor scared the other party so much that he didn't dare to bring up the suggestion?
On the other hand, this was also the first time he had truly witnessed Fyodor's attitude when negotiating with others... He could easily grasp the other party's psychology, firmly control the situation throughout, and didn't say a single unnecessary word.
This is completely different from the way he tricked him into doing free work for him.
Seeing that the farming officer had agreed to the request, Ye Yihe breathed a sigh of relief.
Whether he can earn resurrection points largely depends on the other party's intelligence.
After the heated verbal exchange had completely subsided, Taneda Santouka rang the service bell before someone gently knocked on the door and quietly asked if they needed any food.
Next came some time to chat and eat to build rapport, and fortunately, Ye Yihe wasn't averse to it.
I reckon the other person was extremely careful with their words throughout, probably afraid they might switch to terrifying Fyodor mode at any moment...
Ye Yihe was quite surprised. Fyodor seemed to have virtually no fighting ability and wasn't carrying any guns or other weapons, yet he managed to frighten these two government officials quite a bit.
"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you something."
Before the meeting was completely over, Taneda Santouka remembered something he needed to tell Ye Yihe.
"After we counted the bodies and survivors and compared them with the list we had, we found that some people had managed to escape this operation."
“That’s normal,” Ye Yihe nodded.
After all, Ranpo obtained the information by piecing it together, so it's not surprising that he missed one or two pieces.
"The key point is that this also includes individuals with extremely dangerous supernatural abilities."
After a moment of silence, Taneda Santouka confessed, "I even suspected he was a spy sent by another country, but I never found any evidence."
Ye Yihe hummed in agreement. "Why do you say that?"
“If his abilities were any more powerful, he would be no different from that transcendent being I’ve heard about,” Taneda Yamatoka pondered. “But I’ve only heard about it secondhand; I don’t even know the transcendent being’s name, let alone the veracity of the information…”
Ye Yihe muttered to himself, "...A transcendent?"
How can there be new superpowered beings with even greater abilities than the original superpowered beings?
[Those who surpass others are individuals with the highest level of superpowers; there are only a few dozen such individuals worldwide.]
Fyodor explained to him in the Palace of Consciousness, "[In previous world wars, it was European countries that first deployed transcendent figures such as Hugo, Shakespeare, and Goethe to the battlefield, causing unprecedented destructive power.]"
These are all familiar names of literary giants, each one a household name...
Ye Yihe was silent for a moment, then pretended to be uncomfortable and covered her mouth with her hand, asking him in a whisper that was barely audible, "Then you must be a transcendent as well, right?"
Why would you say that?
After a moment of silence, Fyodor's voice revealed a hint of keen interest.
Ye Yihe: "..."
Although I haven't witnessed Fyodor's abilities yet, I sincerely believe that he is powerful enough with his intellect alone...
That's just how I feel.
Ye Yihe would never reveal his true thoughts to this cunning little mouse.
Even if he's laughing infuriatingly in his mind, he'll never admit it.
"So, you suspect that the dangerous superhuman who successfully escaped will retaliate against me?" — Ye Yihe refocused his attention on his conversation with Taneda Santoka.
"We cannot rule out that possibility."
Taneda Yamatoka nodded, "You need to be careful. The name of that superhuman is Lantang. His superhuman abilities are very similar to those of the French transcendent. I suspect they belong to the same type."
"I see……"
Ye Yihe accepted the reminder, then suddenly paused.
France? Isn't that the country where Verlaine lived?
And the name Lantang is too similar to the pronunciation of Lanbo that he heard in the voice recording.
Rimbaud was mentioned by Sartre Bernhardt, a former friend and relative of Verlaine, and Verlaine did not deny it.
At the time, it was only said that Rimbaud had been missing for several years, and given the similarity in the manifestation of his supernatural abilities... Could this Rimbaud be Verlaine's friend, Rimbaud?
hiss……
But he has no way of confirming it right now; he doesn't even know where the person is.
If it really was that Rimbaud, Ye Yihe could only be thankful that the other party managed to escape in the end... almost killing his own troops, that's something else.
His main concern was that he lacked confidence in defeating Verlaine. What if Verlaine found out and became so angry that he released the personality control command to hunt him down?
In conclusion, the deal was reached relatively smoothly. On his way back, Ye Yihe still asked Fyodor directly why he hadn't been allowed to join the Special Abilities Department.
With Fyodor's intelligence, Ye Yihe had no doubt that if the other party was willing, he could even directly obtain the result of his successful contact with Shibusawa Tatsuhiko; instead of remaining silent throughout the entire process and only reaching an agreement with that Taneda officer on the sharing of intelligence and manpower.
[You don't seem to want me to see Tatsuhiko Shibusawa.]
Fedor did not shy away from this issue.
Even though he has long since passed puberty, his voice still retains the clarity of a young boy, with only a touch of elegant, cello-like low murmur when he turns a note.
[So, in order not to annoy you,]
—In these unhurried words, he revealed just the right amount of obedience and docility, like a beast hiding its claws, only using the tip of its tail to wrap around Ye Yihe's wrist.
It's fluffy and warm, just like the frayed edges of the collar of this cape.
I have no choice but to comply with your wishes.
"…………"
Ye Yihe's suspicions were immediately choked up.
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