This is a network that only high-level officials within the Japanese government can use. At this moment in the meeting, almost no scheduled meeting members were absent, and there were even some who were temporarily added to the list by paying money.

But when it was time for the meeting, the members who had entered the channel remained silent at the same time. Or rather, it was not silence, but the last calm before the storm. All the quietness was breeding a monster called desire.

This is a meeting with an extremely high level of confidentiality. Logically, such strict protection measures may not be appropriate for such matters, but perhaps for some people, their face and privacy require everything to be sacrificed.

If this were a normal, non-anonymous meeting, there would probably be a lot of familiar faces.

This disturbing and exciting silence lasted for a long time before it was finally broken by a somewhat impatient voice.

The use of voice changers seemed to be a tacit agreement among all participants in the meeting. The speaker's tone was somewhat distorted due to the influence of electronic products, and his gender could not be distinguished.

"It's time."

Just this short sentence instantly ignited the atmosphere of the meeting.

In this absolutely secretive and anonymous meeting, there is no leader and no rules. No one knows the spokesperson's identity, family background, or anything else.

This is a primitive game of every man for himself.

Immortality, just hearing this is enough to make them throw away their gentle and civilized cloak, and become cruel carnivores who only follow the laws of the jungle, biting each other without any warmth.

The vast majority of participants had no right to speak from the beginning, and their mission was to listen to the rules of the meat eaters, but that alone was enough to drive people crazy.

After having achieved immortality and tasted the power, how many people are willing to lose what they have because of the passing of time?

Natsume Soseki sat at the desk with a gloomy expression. He knew without thinking who the participants of this meeting were. With his status, he did not need to review such meetings, but he still turned on the computer with an unspeakable mentality and participated in it silently.

Such a scene does not seem incomprehensible, but even Natsume Soseki was somewhat surprised by such madness.

He had a bad feeling.

The report from the Special Ability Division showed an alarming increase in the number of new polluters. The surging number of agents affected by ghosts and gods seemed to hint at something invisibly.

"There's not much time left..." Natsume Soseki murmured to himself, and a kind of worry that almost never appeared on the old man's face vaguely occupied his eyes.

I don't know what he remembered, but a glimmer of tenderness appeared in his eyes, as if he was worried about something. However, this little bit of tenderness was quickly replaced by rationality.

A struggling look flashed in his eyes, as if he was making some difficult decision at this moment.

After a while, the old man's eyes became firm, and that kind of calmness and composure that seemed unable to be defeated appeared in him again, as if it had never disappeared.

“Sacrifice is necessary.”

He said this abruptly, as if trying to convince himself.

**************

Perhaps his plan really worked, or perhaps those "relevant people" in Tokyo knew how to put on a layer of civilized cloak, and life in Kaionji Temple has returned to normal.

Even though more ghosts and gods were seen, by comparison, the Haiyin Temple tour was more willing to endure some of the fear that I had long been accustomed to. After all, it was much better than seeing those people in suits.

Haiyin Temple Suyou originally wanted to spend his study life in an ordinary way. The control vest made the other parts of his life colorful enough, and he did not want to create any unnecessary trouble in this place.

But trouble always seems to find him. Although he tries not to communicate with Kudo Shinichi, who almost drags his consciousness into danger as soon as they meet, the famous detective seems to be extremely interested in him and always lingers around.

Trying to explore something.

What's more troublesome is that Kudo Shinichi even tried to become friends with him, which is really troubling. Kaionji Suyou has no intention of making friends. Even Tanizaki Naomi is just a classmate with whom he has a nodding acquaintance.

Making friends has become a burden for him who has too many secrets. If someone really becomes his friend, it will probably lead to some bad consequences because of being too close to ghosts and gods for a long time.

Fortunately, these high school students with an overly strong thirst for knowledge are generally purer in mind than adults, and are much easier to deal with. The detective's current indirect behavior is still within his tolerance.

But after Kudo Shinichi somehow found out that their home was on the way, he encountered new troubles and entanglements.

[It turns out that he is on the same path as the god of death. Poor Brother Hai]

[If you still live near Kudo Shin's family, it's not a tragedy. You have to pray every day that no one will die in the family (bushi)]

[It’s really fun to maximize the inspiration perspective]

[Wow, isn’t that scary? I never dared to turn it up to full throttle]

[Hahahahahahahahaha, everyone, drive to maximum speed, look at the telephone pole behind Brother Hai]

[Hahahahahahahahahahaha, I am dying of laughter, the black energy around Shinichi is too noticeable]

[Kudo Shinichi (NO) Black broccoli (YES)]

[What kind of metaphor is black cauliflower, hahahahahahahaha]

[Yeah, it really looks like that]

When he saw the bullet screen mentioning Kudo Shinichi for the third time behind him, Kaionji Suyu finally stopped walking and called out the detective's name.

Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, Kudo Shinichi's hiding skills can be considered excellent, but for the audience who are traveling along the Kaiin Temple and in the live broadcast room to maximize their spiritual perspective, Kudo Shinichi, who is covered in black mist, is as obvious as a black cauliflower stretching in all directions behind the thin telephone poles.

"Kudo-san, what can I do for you?"

"Ah, well, I just happened to be going home too. What a coincidence that we live so close to each other."

The young and promising detective felt no guilt when his tracking was discovered by the person involved. He touched the back of his head and spoke naturally. If Kaiinji Suyou had not already known Kudo Shinichi's temperament, he would probably have believed his words.

"Kudo-san, although our homes may be on the same route, you are following us too closely. Besides, how do you know that we live so close to each other?"

Haiyin Temple looked back into the dark mist, trying to find the real reason from the shame of having his trace exposed.

"Of course it was because I saw Haiyinsi classmate when I went out yesterday. But Haiyinsi classmate walked so fast that I didn't even have time to say hello to you before you rode away on your bicycle."

"Is that so?" Kaiinji Suyou didn't particularly care about Kudo Shinichi's answer. He just answered absent-mindedly, and the atmosphere became deadlocked just as he needed.

Kudo Shinichi felt embarrassed for the first time in a long time. The stagnant look of Kaionji was not something he was good at, but the detective would not give up.

He noticed the boy when he transferred from Haiyinsi Suyou. At first he was curious about why the new classmate disliked him so much, but later he was attracted by the secret of Haiyinsi Suyou.

The high school detective had to admit that Haiyinsi Suyou's acting was very good. Other students might not be able to see it, but he could feel the unnaturalness of Haiyinsi Suyou in some subtle details.

This seemingly ordinary classmate suddenly became an interesting mystery in his eyes, and the detective who was pursuing the truth took it as a new challenge and enjoyed it. Even the fact that Haiyin Temple Suyou was talking to him but staring at his chin against common sense made him full of desire to explore.

"That..."

Kudo Shinichi wanted to say something, but he found that his classmate seemed to be in a daze. However, from the strength of Kaionji Suyou's fingers tightly grasping a red-covered book,

However, it can be seen that the boy is not in a relaxed state of daze.

It seemed as if his thoughts were paused at this moment. The sound of the "black cauliflower" coming from the side was like a stuck audio frequency. It took an unknown amount of time before it was fully transmitted to Haiyin Temple Suyou's ears.

What was that? Haiyin Temple could not find the answer. Something invisible and cold entangled his limbs, forcing him to stand still, like a skinned lamb being scrutinized. However, he was terrifyingly calm, as if he had faced such a situation countless times before.

Standing there calmly and coldly, like a tower.

The skinny boy wearing red glasses seemed to be lost in thought, completely ignoring the words of his classmates. However, he seemed to have lost all his color from just now, and his face became so pale that it was horrifying. There were even white pressure marks on his fingers that were holding the red notebook.

Kaionji Suyu slowly thought about what he should answer at this moment to dispel the doubts of Kudo Shinichi, but he had no time to speak.

In the red notebook, reddish-brown characters representing the system's words poured out like crazy.

There was an unforgettable burning sensation at the point where his palm touched the notebook, but Haiyinsi Suyou felt that this pain was like a stimulant injected into his body, and the muscles at the corners of his mouth seemed to be pulled to both sides uncontrollably.

At the moment when the red book almost touched the existence in front of him, someone put his arm around his shoulder. It was the boy named Kudo Shinichi.

The next second, a crazy vibration from the unknown that could only be felt by the Haiyin Temple tour group and the audience in the live broadcast room swept through the air and penetrated the gaps between everyone's soul and flesh. It was like a death adventure with no return and no signs.

The shapeless twisted thing was violently deformed in the dark spiral vortex, as if it had encountered an impact that was enough to destroy its existence and shake the root of its existence.

In the midst of this chaos, a hollow straw-like tentacle barely split out and slowly stretched out towards Kaionji Suyou and Kudo Shinichi.