Lappland stared up into the night sky, plagued by city lights that covered the stars above. Normally, a gigantic multi-skyscraper spanning bird that looks like a chimeric abomination would be easily spotted from a high vantage point such as Lappland's.
But she couldn't spot it, even with her sense honed to the extreme from constant experiences of combat and bouts with danger. 'Really? Did he use his shadow abilities to hide himself?' Lappland stared at the sky one last time, before looking back at the main city of Lungmen.
The sprawling neon lights of the city flashed onto her body, motes of green, blue, and various other colors mixed on her form and bled into sections of the slums.
'With how big that summoned monster was, the entirety of Lungmen woulda seen it, huh?' An amusing thought. If that black haired man was as reclusive as Texas was, then it'd be an absolute mess for him to deal with the stunt he had just pulled.
''Now that I think about it, seeing the entire city freaking out about that bird would be entertaining,' truly, watching the city spiral down into a conspiral delusion would be a sight to see.
'That guy though...' Her thoughts came back to him,the way he held himself was, of course, like Lappland. But the way he fought... 'Just like the old Texas, too, huh? Wow, going to Lungmen was totally worth it!'
The crazed and wild look on his face, the one that fought with no restraint nor care in the world...
Change of plans then, she was going to beat up the Blood Hounds, get info on Penguin Logistics' location in Lungmen, and then find that shadow boy. 'Oh speaking of shadow boy, he has that black and white wolf of his...' It gave off... A weird feeling.
How could she explain it? That it was divine? Something primordial and ancient, she also wanted to see that werewolf again. No, she didn't just want to see it, she was itching to see it.
It interested her far more than even the enormous bird that could probably rain down lightning and vaporize a city block, due to the fact that Lappland herself felt an intrinsic connection to that wolf.
Shaking her head and clearing herself of those thoughts, she grinned and made up her mind, 'alright then, let's go!'
With a leap, Lappland spread her arms and leapt off the building, the wind blowing against her face and making her hair fly about wildly.
***
A cafe that opened during the night provided coffee to those who were planning to stay up late. In particular, many University students and late night wage workers attended to this system.
WIth the events of the slums last night, video recordings of Nue Totality were being spread like wildfire, into Lungmen's personal intranet.
Terra does not possess an internet, due to the problems of CAtastrophes and ambient Originium in the air disrupting such technology from being developed. That was where the need for messengers came into play.
Currently, the residents of this cafe are all on their phones, or looking at the TV displaying the late night news.
"Holy shit man," a man, wearing a hoodie covering his black hair gaped at his phone. "Yo, take a look at this!"
"Wha?" His friends turned to him, a bored look crossing their features. 'Look bro, we gotta get this project done, so maybe if you got off your phone-" One of his other friends attempted to speak, a Kuranta.
"Just look dude, holy shit!" THe hooded man pointed to his phone, displaying a bizarre video.
"...What?" The other man actually complied, widening his eyes slightly at the sight, "that has to be fake, there's no way..."
The hooded student sighed, before pulling back and typing something into his phone, "dude, look, it's all on the news." After he finished typing, he showed an article to them.
"Huh?" A blank look crossed their features, seeing all of Lungmen's headlines being a mix of the LGD activity spiking in an abandoned district in the slums... And the event right after, the appearance of the gigantic bird.
The cafe they were at was far away from the slums, so they didn't feel the effects of Nue Totality's thunder and flapping of wings.
"Oh my god, you're right," one of the other friends spoke up, checking the news on his phone too. "Look, there's even a video-"
Before he could speak further, the displayed subject on the TV, shifting to a 'BREAKING NEWS' title.
"Hello? Hello! THis is Xiao reporting on the latest news of Lungmen! Recently, those who were near the slums of Lungmen heard the thunderous cracking sounds of unnatural purple lightning in the distance. Those who viewed the scene from the skyscrapers and tall buildings of Lungmen saw an unbelievable sight, never seen before..."
Heads turned to the TV, turning away from their phones and stopping all activities. The hastiness and jitteriness that the news provider spoke was unnerving, seeing how composed he was when delivering them years before.
"...After news of the LGD raiding the area, it was assumed by many that there was a criminal acting with arts ability, assumed to be an infected terrorist...But not too long after, a bird, bearing orange red fur and a humanoid bone mask flew up into the sky; its size spanning what witnesses could only describe as 'skyscraper spanning!'"
Heads turned to each other in the cafe, a look of disbelief and whispers rang out, before they were silenced at the next words.
"This, viewers, is the clearest view a recorder was able to get of it, from their office building that resides near the slums... Play it."
Xiao waved his hands, the footage shifting from the headlines to a video.
It showed the first person view of a man holding a camera, professionally and surprisingly, quite high quality.
They seemed to be recording a meeting of sorts, if the formally dressed men were anything to go by. However, it wouldn't last for too long.
From their office building, it shook, as a purple light showed from their right, before the cameraman turned to take a look at it.
"Hey, hey-!" A man yelled out, "the meeting is still-"
But they were cut off when the man holding the camera immediately ran to the window, showing a full and clear view of the sight in front of them.
Then, a humongous beast bursted forward, great wings producing a devastating and howling gale that blew across the landscape of the slums.
Its large distance away from where it was being viewed did not disgrace its majesty or presence in the slightest, due to its sheer size.
A sphere of crackling electricity surrounded it, a purple firmament that seemed to protect it from the mortal plane of Terra.
A great billowing dust cloud loaded beneath it, but was immediately pushed away when it flapped its swings.
The air pressure was visible, a low bass boosted screech of air created an unnatural sound that was uncanny.
Then, a great slash of red colored the horizon, breaching the electric barrier and severing off the snake-like tail of Nue Totality.
The video playing stopped, reverting back to Xiao and the headlines, the man continued rambling on about the occurrence..
The residents in the cafe were silent, even the workers paused their actions to register what the hell they had just seen.
***
On Lungmen's intranet forum...
[LordDragon551: did u guys see the new footage?]
[Moneybeater: insane as hell, lol, think its fake?]
[LordDragon551: ofc, who would believe that]
[Moneybeater: wdym? It's on the news everywhere.]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: what are you guys talking about?]
[LordDragon551: the big bird that was like, skyscrapers big??? Didn't you see it?]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: wtf bro? I DO NOT believe that]
[Moneybeater: look at the video and see yourself]
[Moneybeater: BiggestBird.MOV]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: okay, nah that has to be fake dude.]
[Moneybeater: ??? It's on the news???]
[LordDragon551: I mean, until its proven otherwise, im not believing it.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: wdym?? I also saw it myself, bruh.]
[LordDragon551: bro, WTF is that username LOL]
[Moneybeater: oh hell no, that name is gonna get you put in jail, wtf?]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: okay dude, @LGDgirlsarehot you gotta get outside some more.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: bro, Why does that matter??]
[Moneybeater: okay, but if its real its pretty fkin crazy how big it is.]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: true, look at the buildings around it, they're like ants.]
[Moneybeater: i think i read some mythology from Yan, it looks like a bird from there, but i cant recall.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: yeah, i think so too]
[LordDragon551: @Moneybeater so what mythology do you think its from?]
[Moneybeater: the, uhh, 'Thousand Clouds of Heaven,' looks like the birds from there, but different.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: oh hey! I read that, but the birds look nothing similar!]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: so what are their features or smth?]
[Moneybeater: well, they shoot out lightning and have orange fur, there's some illustrations.]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: i searched it up, they dont look similar at all, plus that bird used purple lightning.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: didnt i say they didnt look similar??]
[DragonLord551: @CantSpeakLungmenese yeah, just looked at it myself, not too much in common.]
[Moneybeater: well, thats besides the point, but it looks like some crazy ass arts]
[DragonLord551: imagine if it shot at the city, we'd be fcked]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: oh hey, more info came out, take a look]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: LungmenDaily.org/Gigantic-Bird-Spotted-In-District-9/]
[DragonLord551: holy... i just read it, it's actually fckin real? LGD confirmed lolll???]
[Moneybeater: lol, this city might be cooked.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: i think Ch'en can beat it in a fight!]
[Moneybeater:@DragonLord551 well, pray it doesn't blast our city.]
[Dragonlord551: i guess so, didnt you say you thought it was arts before?]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: i can see why, it looks like it came out of the ground.]
[Moneybeater: exactly, if it walked or flew there it wouldve been seen WAY earlier, but the footage shows that it just popped up from the ground.]
[DragonLord551: so... it was a summoner type???]
[IWantLightningArts: it looks sick as hell though.]
[Moneybeater: dude, it can kill us in a second.]
[IWantLightningArts: A second? Probably 1/1000 of a second, since lightning travels at like 270,000 mph.]
[CantSpeakLungmnese: holy nerd, LOL]
[LGDgirlsarehot: i think thats pretty cool to know??]
[IWantLightningArts: Ok, bro, wtf is that name?]
[DragonLord551: @IWantLightningArts just ignore him.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: hey!]
[Moneybeater: @DragonLord551 you said you think its a summoner, who tf can summon that?]
[ICantSpeakLungmenese, idfk, Sui himself, lol?]
[IWantLightningArts: I mean, not too much of a stretch?]
[DragonLord551: i dont think SUI actually exists, tho?]
[IWantLightningArts: come on, we already have insane arts users in history, it has to have some merit, right?]
[Moneybeater: I mean, that's fair.]
[DragonLord551: its whatever then, you guys believe what you want.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: i mean, thats a valid opinion.]
[Moneybeater: @DragonLord551 so what do you think will happen now?]
[DragonLord551: the streets are going pretty wild now, saying some pretty conspiral shit, looking out my window rn too.]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: man, it might be a shitshow from now on.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: hello??? guys??]
[Moneybeater: @ICantSpeakLungmenese yeah, that'd be pretty bad.]
[IWantLightningArts: well, what can we expect, 180 meter large bird appears and destroys a large portion of District 9?]
[Moneybeater: true, true.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: @IWantLightningArts @Moneybeater @CantSpeakLungmenese @DragonLord551]
[Dragonlord551: @Moneybeater well gotta hope for the best then, im heading off.]
[CantSpeakLungmenese: true, it's pretty late.]
[IWantLightningArts: do you think if i got infected ill get arts like that bird??]
[Moneybeater: no, and if you do you'd be fucked dude, are you stupid?]
[IWantLightningArts: idk?]
[Moneybeater: yeah no, i'm heading off.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: are you guys ignoring me???]
[IWantLightningArts: @Moneybeater, yeah, okay, im going to sleep before this forum gets flooded.]
[Moneybeater: gn then.]
[IWantLightningArts: gn.]
[LGDgirlsarehot: guys??]
***
"Lord Wei!" A Shadow Guard walked into their master's office, kneeling before a dragon furred man.
Wei Yenwu, the man who held the highest position of power in Lungmen, exuded an air of authority wherever he went.
"I told you not to call me that," Wei Yenwu held a pipe to his mouth, breathing it in and puffing a ball of smoke. "What is it?"
"You must see this," The Shadow Guard stood up, pulling a tablet form under their black poncho and offering it to Wei. "It cannot be described with mere words..."
Raising an eyebrow, Wei took the tablet, seeing a paused video, "hm, alright, then." With pressing his finger on the tablet the video played.
He saw it, a colossal winged animal bursting through what he knew as District 9. It was an abandoned portion of the Slums that have been left to rot because of the high concentrations of originium in its air. Nobody would risk living in it for more than a day.
What made the scene even more intriguing was the red flash that appeared, slicing through the bird's electric barrier and slicing its tail off. There was no doubt about it, that was Chi Xiao.
But that still didn't explain what the monster that looked like it came out of mythological texts was. One thing was for certain, 'it is worthy enough to draw the dragon-slaying blade against...'
"...What is that?" Wei narrowed his eyes, perplexed at the lightning wielding bird, "how did it come to be?"
"...There was a conflict occurring in district 9 that involved the LGD, sightings of purple lightning and loud shockwaves that alerted them..." The Shadow Guard spoke out, perfectly recalling what had happened.
Wei listened intently.
"...It was recognized as the man Ch'en Hui-chieh had been chasing, resulting in a battle, but when she drew Chi Xiao at him..." They continued on.
Wei Yenwu was a little surprised, 'so she didn't draw it against that feathered beast... But instead at that man? Quite the discovery...'
"...The man then placed his hand together, forming a Higashin bird seal, and called upon a 'Nue: Totality,' from his own mouth. We believe the beast is that 'Nue.'" The Shadow Guard concluded his report.
"A monster of that size..." Wei drew out, calculating it from the footage and comparison between the buildings.
"Is about 180 meters," The Shadow Guard finished for him.
"...Indeed, it is dangerous..." Wei narrowed his eyes, wondering who that black haired man was... Especially since his niece was chasing after him. "That lightning was used defensively, but if it were directed at Lungmen's city..." Then it would vaporize multiple city blocks, comparing it to its wing pressure, which blew away multiple buildings.
The Shadow Guard didn't need to complete it for his master, as they both knew what it implied.
Although Chi Xiao was able to slice through it and pierce its barrier, the destructive capacity it posed was still nothing to scoff at. 'It is most likely that it is not too durable, but has the power to compensate for it,' but that was merely a theory formed by Wei.
Nothing could ever go the way you first expect, so Wei took another huff, creasing his brows as he thought of his next plan.
"...Investigate that man, search the Slums and the city, we need as much information on him as possible," Wei had made up his choice.
"Yes, and what if we find him?" The Shadow Guard spoke.
"...Either bring him in alive for questioning, or, if he poses too much of a threat," a shadow seemed to cast over Wei's eyes, "...You already know." The implications were obvious enough.
"Understood," with a nod of their head, the Shadow Guard vanished into a black blur, leaving Wei Yenwu to be the only occupant of the room.
The man sighed, 'ah, with its size, the entire city must have seen it... Even then, it would spread like wildfire on the news and intranet...' Truly, it was going to be a pain to deal with. 'The amount of conspiracy theories will skyrocket... But it seems there's nothing we can do about it. There isn't a possibility of erasing such a large-scale event.'
WIth those thoughts, the dragon man pinched the bridge of his nose, 'what have you gotten into this time? Ch'en Hui-chieh...'
***
"Hey Texas!" Exusiai yelled out from the top of a white van, "you wanna grab something to eat?"
"...Hold on, I'm watching the news..." Texas spoke out, giving her a side glance upwards, before turning back to her phone.
"Oh~? What's going on with the LGD Daily, then?" Exusiai jumped off the van with a pep, walking by Texas' side to look at her phone.
A head popped out of the white van in the passenger seat, a yellow-haired woman with Lupo ears, "what's so good it got you guys occupied?" A joyful voice came out of her mouth.
"Ah, Sora! Why don'tcha come see it for yourself?" Exusiai winked at her.
"If it's got Texas so interested, then I wanna see it too!" Sora leapt through the window, doing an acrobatic flip and landing on her feet. She hardly bent her knee when landing. "Wait up for me!"
Texas bit on a pocky stick, while her right hand held the phone, shifting and making room for the both of them to view it. "It's still on pause," she reassured them.
"Oh~, thank you!" Sora gave her a thumbs up as she made it to where Exusiai and Texas were, finding a spot to look at it.
Once Texas could tell the two had a good view of it, she pressed the play button and watched...
"Oh... Wow, that bird is big," Exusiai whistled out, eyes widening at it.
"E-uhh.. It kinda looks..." Sora felt intimidated by its looks, the perpetual scowling face of Nue and the serpent tail that hung behind it. "How did...?"
Texas stayed silent, narrowing her eyes, 'how did we miss this?' It was most likely because we were busy dealing with the Blood Hounds who decided to provoke them, but that bird was definitely nothing they could've missed.
"Holy! It's obliterating all the buildings around it!" Exusiai placed a hand over her forehead as she watched with vested interest. "What did it eat to grow that large?"
"Ah... The real question is, how did something like that get into Lungmen?" Sora found many questions forming in her head, a bird of that size would cause widespread panic... It probably already was.
"...It looks like it was summoned," Texas noted out, "it appeared too abruptly to be naturally occurring, and it can fire off lightning." Her eyes scanned it, like a scalpel dissecting something precisely.
"Oh really? What kinda guy... Or gal can summon something that looks like it came from a Yanese legend?" Exusiai exasperatedly spoke out.
"Mhm~, pretty worrying for Lungmen," Sora placed a finger on her lower lip, looking upwards.
"It really is, huh? You still gonna do your performance?" Exusiai crossed her arms, wondering if the lightning spewing bird would make the idol reconsider.
"No way! An idol needs to inspire their fans!" Sora immediately snapped out of her contemplative look, placing her index and middle finger in the air and snapping a pose. "I'll bring them hope in this terrifying situation, just you watch!"
"Good luck," Texas nodded, the recipient bubbling greater with excitement.
"Ah, if you're wishing me luck, then I'll do my best!" Sora was practically bubbling with excitement.
"Heh~, well, you gotta do what you gotta do huh?" Exusiai patted her on the back.
As the two began their banter, Texas turned back to her phone, taking one more good look at the bird. 'Strange...' The black haired Lupo woman narrowed her eyes, seeing barely noticeable black pixels on the back of the beast.
'Is it just a camera problem?' Texas tilted her head, before reversing the scene again...
But her eyes didn't turn to the black pixels. Instead, Texas turned her head to another section, and saw a white blur, somewhere on the edges of the buildings, one that can only be seen by those with some of the greatest Lupo senses.
Texas' ears twitched, and her pupils slightly dilated. She shook her head, and then played that specific portion again.
It was the same result... The white blur, 'it can't be... Right?' A worrying thought came to her.
"Hey Texas, you coming?" Exusiai spoke out, waving at her friend.
Texas looked at her phone one more time, before pocketing it and turning to them, "coming."
Hopefully, her instincts were wrong.
***
Megumi laid down in an abandoned warehouse, far away from District 9, since he needed to keep himself away from its vicinity.
When he landed down from Nue Totality, he had to dispel and use Max Elephant to break his fall.
At the current moment...
He was trying to get a feel of Reverse Cursed Technique. Currently, the positive energy was circulating specifically to his chest, where the gaping wound was.
'How did... Higuruma heal... from a near death experience... so easily?' The black haired man grunted, wincing at the pain. His loss of adrenaline did nothing but make the feeling worse.
The lawyer as Megumi recalled was able to recover himself when Sukuna cleaved his body parts off of him, the near death experience letting him unlock a great level of RCT. 'It's insane... Really, healing entire limbs nearly instantly.'
'...Am I just not talented enough? Or is RCT not my thing, like barrier techniques?' At least I've been able to heal myself,' indeed it has been improving somewhat.
Onto more pressing matters though, 'should I just leave Lungmen entirely?' Megumi pondered. No... that would be a terrible idea,' seeing how he had no method of transportation or clues of where anything is.
'Agh, what do I do now?' The LGD knew who he was, would his face be sent out as the perpetrator of summoning the gigantic bird?
Megumi pulled himself up to a sitting position rather than a laying one, the slash on his chest already healing to a thin cut. 'Hide my face? Do I get a mask, change outfits, and slick my hair back?'
Or maybe, just buying a hoodie was enough, 'okay... I need new clothes. Maybe I can sneak through the shadows to find a hoodie store? Maybe there could be some in the other districts of the Slums...'
Standing up with visible effort, Megumi heaved a sigh, 'my reserves can't take using RCT constantly, but I'll still do it until I'm completely tired.'
It would be good training, getting a better feel for it and finding an efficient usage of it, which was also why he hadn't used Round Deer to instantly get rid of the wound.
'I need to be careful though... Can't be exhausted when spotted by somebody who recognizes me.'
Walking forward and steadying himself, Megumi hid once more in the shadows to make his way to find a better disguise.
***
Ch'en leaned back on a chair, rubbing her head due to migraine developing. They were now back in the LGD headquarters.
Specifically, Ch'en's own personal office.
Hoshiguma stood beside her, sighing and grabbing a chair to sit next to her, "rough day, huh?"
"Understatement of the damn century," the blue haired Lung let out a grumble. 'Of course he can just summon a skyscraper sized bird...'
A click of the door resounded, Swire stepping through, an expression that looked like it demanded answers.
"You guys, what the hell happened in the slums?" The woman pulled out her phone, swiping through it frantically before showing it to them, "look at this! A gigantic monster bird flying up from where you guys were!"
Ch'en and Hoshiguma turned to look at the phone, watching the scene...
"Wow, it's already on the news, huh?" Hoshiguma shook her head, leaning back on her chair, "of course, all of Lungmen probably saw it."
"Yeah, and people are panicking right now," Swire pointed out, "tell me, what did you guys encounter in District 9?"
"The black haired man we were attempting to find," Ch'en said, "thing went to shit."
"Of course it did," Swire shook a disappointed head at the dragon lady, "tell me in more detail."
"Well, the bastard was spotted over collapsed buildings, like a fight just happened," Ch'en recalled, "so we got into a scuffle, with me chasing him down and Hoshiguma..?"
"I was attacked by a white haired Lupo woman," Hoshiguma spoke out, "she said she was sent to kill the man, I believe she belongs to the Blood Hounds."
Hoshiguma reminisced on the scene, "but I still have no idea why she attacked me instead of taking advantage of the chaos."
"Huh? That's strange?" Swire turned to the Oni, the latter just shrugging.
"I believe that Lupo is a hunting maniac, it only makes sense, seeing how she said that the man was her's," Hoshiguma continued.
"Sheesh, that sounds incredibly wrong when taken out of context," Swire found the statement incredibly... salacious in what it could mean.
"Continuing on..." Ch'en interrupted the two, "I chased after that guy, but he summoned a stupidly gigantic monster when I drew out Chi Xiao." It was the best feat she had seen from the man so far.
"...Really? It was that guy?" Swire gaped, "and we have a criminal we have to catch that can level entire city blocks?"
"You're stating the obvious, dumbass tiger," Ch'en squinted her eyes in annoyance.
"Oh really? Who was the one who couldn't aim straight with Chi Xiao?" Swire placed her hands on her lips, glaring at Ch'en.
"Like you could do any better," with a huff, Ch'en crossed her arms, meeting Swire's glare with the same intensity.
"Calm down you two, we need a way to stabilize Lungmen with how much they're going ballistic over the event," Hoshiguma cut through the two's antics, "resolve this argument some other time."
"Ugh, fine," Swire broke off first, changing the topic as she did so, "think the dirty rat knows something? She said she'd talk with him after all."
Ch'en blinked, remembering how Lin said she would meet him personally, "did she... Get attacked?" A strangely worried tone came out of her mouth.
"No, she didn't," Swire stated when confidence, "that rat actually called me and said that he wasn't a threat, and to let her handle him."
"...What? Not a threat my ass!" Ch'en yelled out, jolting up from her seat and knocking the chair back. "Call her again, I'll verbally beat some sense into her!"
Hoshiguma had to place a hand on her shoulder, shaking her head, "calm down, we need to think about this with a clear head."
Swire in particular had to take a step back from the raging dragon lady, "yeah, yeah, what Hoshi said." She did not want to deal with a raving Ch'en.
"Okay..." Ch'en breathed in and out, easing her nerves.
"Well, the guy had to say something that made that rat of all people not view him as a threat," Swire tilted her phone while speaking. "She's not the type to be easily fooled, as much as I hate to admit it."
"...I'll play Devil's advocate, does the black haired man really want to cause problems for Lungmen?" Hoshiguma raised a hand.
"Huh?" Both Swire and Ch'en looked at her with a confused expression.
"Well, he ran away from Ch'en when she wanted to take him in for questioning because he add suspicious and had Chi Xiao drawn on him..." Hoshiguma turned to Ch'en
"...Chi Xiao always has a reason to be drawn, Hoshi, and it was practically begging for the first time since I've received it," Ch'en said, remembering the vicious bloodshed that his body seemed to scream.
"Aside from that... He killed Hanshi, which was most likely a commission from 'that' place, right?" Hoshiguma deduced.
"Oh..? Oh damn, you're right!" Swire pressed a fist against her open palm, realizing something. "But how did he get in there, our officers haven't cracked the code to enter that place yet."
They were referring to the Mercenary's Tavern.
"And that's how Lin found him before us, right?" Ch'en concluded.
"Exactly so, and also how she was able to meet with him," Hoshiguma snapped her fingers. "Then, he was able to convince her that he wasn't a threat, making Lin call Swire back... To tell you to lay off, correct?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Swire confirmed, holding a thoughtful look before she narrowed her eyes, "...Do you think... He seduced her?" A low voice left her.
"That's stupid as all hell and you know it," Ch'en deadpanned at the woman.
"Hey! It could be valid, how can that rat say he's not dangerous when he can summon, and let's be honest, a bird that looks like it belongs to a Yanese mythology tale that spans 180 meters?!" The tiger lady waved her arms frantically. The measurements she recalled from an article on the bird.
"...Because Lin didn't know he was capable of it?" Hoshiguma rhetorically inquired.
"Exactly so, Hoshi," Ch'en closed her eyes, not needing to say anything else.
"Huh? You two can't be teaming up on me like this!" Swire was practically fuming, Ch'en tried her best not to laugh at the woman's reaction.
"Alright you two, but aside from that, has he actually done anything severe?" Hoshiguma shrugged.
"...He's still a criminal, Hoshi," Ch'en replied.
"I'm not saying we shouldn't arrest him, but are we approaching the situation in the wrong way?" Hoshiguma elaborated.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Swire was still confused on what the Oni was trying to say.
"The black haired guy hasn't caused much problems aside from not complying with the authorities. He killed Hanshi, who may have a lot of dirt on him, but I can't really defend that," Hoshiguma explained further, "the damage caused in District 9 isn't too bad, since it was scheduled for demolition anyways. But because of the high dangers of the originium concentration in the air, it was canceled."
Ch'en and Swire continued to listen to her words.
"Besides, him killing Hanshi got the Blood Hounds on him, if that white Lupo is anything to go by, because she was sent to kill him and all. That resulted in the first view damage we had of District 9," Hoshiguma tilted her head as she spoke. "So when the LGD arrived with what was practically an entire battalion, he'd panic, especially after fighting that freakishly strong Lupo."
Taking a moment to breathe, Hoshiguma concluded her point, "aside from complying with orders and killing Hanshi, I believe we're approaching him in the wrong way, instead of drawing Chi Xiao, the dragon-slaying blade or attacking him at first sight..." The Oni glanced at Ch'en.
The recipient let out a hoarse sigh, Swire in particular finding it amusing.
"...We should ask him to explain his actions, there must a reason for Lin to not view him as a threat, after all."
Ch'en closed her eyes and ceased her brows in a contemplative look. She didn't know what to say, considering the immense and terrifying nature of the man's presence in general, and how Chi Xiao wanted to lay claim to his blood... It had to mean something.
"Why don't we call miss rat and ask her to explain to us, hm?" Swire suggested.
"Good idea, you agree, Ch'en?" Hoshiguma turned to the dragon lady.
"..." Ch'en mulled it over, but relented, they lost nothing from this after all; "go ahead.
Swire smiled, pulling out her phone one more time and dialing a number,
Hopefully it goes better than last time.
***
Megumi stepped out of the store, wearing a black jacket and pants that were the most similar to the ones he could find back home.
It had a hood that could cover over his head, letting the shadows cast cover and obscure his face.
'It's perfect,' Megumi couldn't help but speak in his mind, staring at a mirror.
His face was completely blocked out by a shadow thanks to the outfit, only a few tussles of hair sticking out.
The other outfit he wore was neatly folded in the clothes bag that Megumi was holding, provided by the store.
'With this, I may look suspicious, but nobody would know that it's actually me, a far better trade-off,' with a satisfied nod to himself, Megumi came up with his next course of action. 'Time to start training again...'
With his wounds healed, he needed to reassess his capabilities and abilities, and grow stronger from honing them.
'Maybe... I can discover something new. But as it stands, I need to master Falling Blossom Emotion after almost failing it against that white haired wolf girl.'
He also needed to check on his newly developed Cursed Technique of... Shrine...
Something he honestly did not want to do, as it only brought up bad memories.
'I can't even recall the feeling anyways... Do I need to land a Black Flash before gaining access to it?' Megumi planned to find out later.
***
In District 9, LGD officers and the like were moving about and analyzing the destroyed scene.
What was most noticeable in particular were people walking around in white hazmat suits, as the area reportedly had the most originium particles in the air compared to all other places in Lungmen.
The people who wore the suits were scratching their heads, staring at the object in their hands.
"Hey, take a look at this," one of the hazmat bearers tapped their friends on the back.
"Huh? What is it?" The voice asked, turning to their partner.
"This device... It detects originium concentration in the air... But isn't this too low?" He showed the device to his friend.
"Really?" He took a glance at it, the numbers showing that there is indeed originium in the air but... "Holy shit! That is incredibly low!"
Indeed, District 9 which was supposed to be the most originium infested part of the slums had been reduced to the least infested with the numbers their devices were showing.
Or rather, the specific area in which they stood in, the one where a certain bird was emitting its Cursed Energy lightning barrier.
Other hazmat wearers holding their own device started noticing, and uproar forming that would once again, be heard all across Lungmen.