Chapter 184: The Jepella Rebellion — Scene 47 『 Part One 』
「 "How do you plead?"
Beneath the frigid glare of the overhead light, Kafka's silhouette froze into the shape of an elegant scar, the restraint straps biting deep into her white blouse. Outside the window, crimson moonlight spilled across the floor, resembling a pool of viscous, scattered blood.
Four pitch-black silhouettes with beastly heads and human bodies circled her, resembling judges peeled from some ancient, decaying fresco—a Ram, a Tiger, a Hound, and a Stag. Their collective breath wove a humid, stifling web within the tribunal. 」
「 .....」
〜Jujutsu Kaisen World, Present Timeline〜
"Huh? Weren't we just at the Five High Elders of Vidyadhara? Where is this?"
Itadori Yuji rubbed his eyes. Once he clearly saw the person bound in the chair, his pupils abruptly contracted.
"Wait?! Kafka? She got caught? Is there actually anyone capable of capturing her?"
"That woman runs deep. She probably planned this whole thing, didn't she?"
Kusakabe Atsuya wore an expression that said he'd seen through it all.
"Even the Shackling Prison of the Xianzhou Alliance might not be able to hold a Stellaron Hunter. I'd sooner believe that I'm the one fighting Sukuna in the final showdown than believe this group of animal friends could actually capture Kafka."
"Their tone… It's completely like a cat toying with a mouse. Are they not afraid of Kafka's Spirit Whisper?"
Shoko Ieiri stared intently at the four beast-headed monsters. To them, Kafka's Spirit Whisper was infinitely more perverse than the Inumaki clan's Cursed Speech. Cursed Speech could be mitigated by guarding one's ears and brain with Cursed Energy, but Kafka's Spirit Whisper… they had never seen it miss since her debut.
"More than the Spirit Whisper, I'm concerned about these beast-headed inquisitors,"
Higuruma Hiromi remarked indifferently.
"The scent of sin on them… is heavy."
"Sin?"
Kusakabe chuckled.
"If Kafka were judged by your Cursed Technique, Higuruma, she'd probably get the death penalty eight hundred times over. Speaking of sin… these Stellaron Hunters are likely far more sinful than we imagine."
—
「 "Your crimes are unforgivable, but the Jepella Brotherhood... Respects every individual's entitlement to the afterlife."
"Admit your guilt, and embrace your punishment."
The beastly shadows encroached upon Kafka in her chair. In this moment, facing the oppression of the four, she finally let out a soft chuckle. The tense lines of her shirt suddenly relaxed, like a ceramic blade slowly being drawn from its sheath.
"Mmm… I'm listening." Kafka slowly opened her eyes, her gaze sweeping over the four.
"So, do you, and the other members of the Stellaron Hunters, accept responsibility for the following crimes?" A semi-transparent dial materialized before the Stag, listing the offenses one by one.
"You breached the premises of the Attouine Universal Auction, manipulated the guests, and decimated the artistic treasures under the gaze of a devout audience. Causing losses exceeding 860 billion credits. And you stole that auction item (Stellaron)."
The Stag narrowed its eyes, enunciating every word: "Do you… plead guilty?"
Kafka smiled faintly: "I admit it, but the Devout Observer wasn't very devout."
The Stag continued: "You infiltrated the Cyber Prison of Inupeis, seized the Sigma Scepter to shut down the firewall, allowing a flood of data demons to enter reality. Consequently, propelling the world towards a Judgment Day, all so you could take away the Meta Code (Stellaron)."
"Do you… plead guilty?"
As the Stag spoke, a towering silhouette, massive as a mountain, suddenly appeared in the center of the light screen.
Every inch of the figure's body was patched together from flowing code, a binary torrent surging across its surface. Its head resembled a cluster of countless flickering pixels, and within its red eye sockets rolled infinite error reports… Without a doubt, this was the Data Demon the Stag spoke of. 」
「 .....」
〜Zenless Zone Zero World〜
New Eridu—
" 860 billion credits… let me count how many zeros are behind that…"
Wise began bending his fingers to count.
"Brother! You only have one Belle!"
The girl behind him huffed in dissatisfaction.
"Besides, where is your focus? Didn't you notice? The Stellaron they mentioned…"
"Oh… what about it?"
"Everything Kafka and her crew took were Stellarons, but each Stellaron had a different name,"
Belle said, her curiosity piqued.
"Whether it was an auctioned collection piece or Meta Code… just by the names, it's hard to connect them to the same 'Cancer of All Worlds' stuffed inside celestial bodies."
"True. But speaking of Stellarons, maybe Fairy can search the net for some perspectives to provide a reference… Fairy?"
Wise called out to the empty room.
However, the room remained dead silent.
"Strange… I just paid the electricity bill yesterday."
Just as Wise was puzzled, Fairy's voice suddenly rang out:
"Warning! Logic module contaminated. System will restart operations once the Data Demon vanishes."
"Oh? Is Fairy actually afraid of that Data Demon?"
Wise suddenly found this amusing.
"Aren't you known as New Eridu's Strongest Artificial Intelligence? Why would an AI feel… 'fear'?"
"Negative. It is not fear, but disgust. Please speak rationally, Proxy Two."
"Furthermore, I will be transmitting a screen of binary information in the HDD background shortly. This is merely pre-restart test data, and absolutely not encrypted profanity expressing my disgust toward the Data Demon."
"…It seems even Fairy has things she can't handle."
Wise smiled mischievously.
"Looks like the so-called 'Strongest AI' isn't the strongest after all. Belle, should we consider saving a bit on next month's electricity bill…"
"Master, remain calm. As of today, starting from Kafka's appearance, discussions related to Stellarons have consistently occupied the top three trending searches. The topic volume is second only to 'High Elder Dan Heng' and 'General Jing Yuan', totaling 18.26 million views."
"The proportion of discussion regarding the Stellaron itself is not high, occupying only 4% of total traffic. Of the remaining 96%, discussions regarding Kafka occupy 54%, Blade occupies 36%, and Silver Wolf occupies 6%."
"Oh? The engagement is quite high… So how do netizens view the Stellaron Hunters?"
"The main topics are concentrated on the following points—"
"One: Want to be Miss Kafka's dog."
"Two: Want to join the Stellaron Hunters and call Kafka 'Mommy'."
"Three: Want to be looked at by Blade with eyes full of disdain and disgust."
"Ugh…"
Belle rubbed her forehead.
"Let's stop searching, Fairy. Wasting electricity on these topics is just…"
—
「 "You violated the ring world Golcondar, disseminated the Philosopher's Poison virus across all the colonies, causing forty-six million inorganic entities to turn into rampant machines... And stole the Steel Core from Golcondar's point of gravitational equilibrium, silencing the entire world."
"How do you plead?"
On the screen, a colossal mechanical lifeform slowly rose to its feet. Lasers from its eyes—ZZZT—sliced through skyscrapers, scattering countless plumes of dust and toppling endless high-rises.
"Ara? Wasn't that the handiwork of the Japella Brotherhood? But sure, we took the thing (Stellaron)." 」
「 .....」