In a remote part of the country, space parted, and Luke walked out, carrying two bodies, Nyx flying ahead of him.
The moment his feet landed on the rocky ground, he dropped the bodies and set up a ritual, Nyx keeping an eye on the surroundings with Miss Justice's help.
Taking a deep breath, Luke repeated everything that had happened tonight to Mr. Fool.
From the matter of the Vessel of the evil God turning out to be a small child to the sudden appearance of a Beyonder from the Abyss Pathway — a Monocle — Sequence 8 Unwinged Angel!
From the matter of the boy not being a Sequence 9, but a Sequence 8 of the evil God's Pathway to the even more surprising matter of another Monocle's appearance — a Sequence 5 of the Chained Pathway — Wraith!
Things had happened too fast even for Gehrman Sparrow.
Preparations were all well and good to an extent. Without proper information, and with unknown variables like the evil God's vessel and High-Sequence Beyonders in play, even being a Faceless backed by an AI seemed to fall short.
If it hadn't been for Gehrman's luck and his trick of threatening the newly advanced Wraith with the Judge Button working out, then too many things could have gone wrong.
This was especially true regarding Trick*Step and Iron Mentor's presence there.
If it hadn't been for them wearing the high-tech masks and Shield's constant screaming in their ears from the HQ, then they might not have woken up in time to steal a sample from the crates before running away.
Gehrman had already planned to destroy all of the drugs, regardless of the outcome of their mission.
It had less to do with preventing the Compound Monocle from entering the market and more to do with the Shie Hassaikai having a monopoly over the three drugs, effectively making them the overlords of Japan's underworld.
If that had happened, then nobody could have stopped Overhaul from going on a conquering drive, attacking the only other known group of Villains with some reputation in the same field — the Claws of Conformity.
Then, unlike his previous life, the probability of Overhaul deciding to kill Shigaraki and the others outright would have been much higher.
That seemed a good outcome at a glance, but only Dr. Blessed knew just how much worse a turn that situation could take with the Claws of Conformity in the mix.
So, it was better to delay the confrontation as much as possible, until he sorted out this matter of the evil God's vessel.
However, what Gehrman hadn't planned on was stealing the Monocle's dead body.
Nor had he planned to kidnap the evil God's vessel… and bring him along.
Gehrman had committed the former act to make sure that the red-haired woman wouldn't chase after Trick*Step and Iron Mentor.
There was no doubt that she had been lingering around the battlefield, hoping to strike with a killing move.
But, from the way she had outright fled at the mere possibility of a nuisance, Gehrman had been sure that she lacked fighting experience.
Which further meant that the reason she had been hiding within the lower-Sequence Monocle's body was not merely to hide herself, but also because she lacked seniority.
So, if Gehrman were to take away the Unwinged Angel's body, then she would act in the same way as she had before — panic!
Then there was the matter of kidnapping the Sequence 8 Reporter.
Gehrman had only wanted to confirm if the Yakuza possessed a Quirk or not. Using the Erasure Glove, he could easily do so without using Spirit Vision. Any change in Spirituality, at such proximity, would have instantly let him confirm his doubts.
However, just as he had been about to leave, fooling Chronostasis by wearing the other Yakuza's appearance, Gehrman had learned that the vessel of the evil God wasn't just a short man, but… a boy.
A child.
And that made things even more complex.
It meant Dr. Blessed would need to ask for Mr. Fool's direction regarding this entire matter.
After reporting all this in one breath, Luke was about to let out a sigh when the flame in front of him burgeoned.
Not only Luke's, but even Nyx's eyes widened, Miss Justice, letting out a gasp in their minds.
Mr. Fool directly contacting Luke was one of the rare moments.
First, He rarely replied. Second, when He did reply, He preferred to send His words through the System, as the mere act of Him talking to Luke would mean thinning The Boundary even more, and not by an inconsequential amount.
So, for Him to actually…
Luke knew that even Mr. Fool was taking this matter of the evil God… seriously.
And that wasn't good for him. Hell, that wasn't good for anyone. Not even for the entire world!
Gray fog danced in Luke's vision, the shadow of a titan seated on a high-backed chair manifesting in the background.
[You did a good job by not killing the boy,] Mr. Fool said, sounding calm; very calm. [My Blesseds have foiled many evil Gods' descents. This… is something different. Killing the boy would only make the evil God choose another puppet. At least, now, you can keep an eye on the boy and figure out the situation. Keep your interactions with the boy limited, though. His condition seems… erratic.]
Erratic?!
And, Luke suddenly realized why Mr. Fool had decided to reply Himself.
He had wanted to take a look at the vessel of the evil God… closely.
The flame flickered and went out.
Licking his lips, Luke confirmed that Trick*Step and Iron Mentor had managed to reach their rendezvous, securing at least the drug part of the mission.
However, this mission had brought even higher threats.
Beyonders of other Pathways that shouldn't even exist in this world!
A Sequence 5 Wraith running amok, having no idea how dangerous she could be!
Mr. Fool hadn't even touched on these two matters.
Luke hadn't expected Him to, either. In His eyes, only the matter of the evil God was something that needed to be discussed with urgency. Which meant he would need to deal with the other two situations by himself… with no leads whatsoever…
"Ugh…"
A groan escaped the boy's throat as he squirmed in pain.
Sighing and shaking his head, Luke pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.
Then, as the boy's eyes opened into a blurry squint, he put on his clownish mask, throwing his hand into his white greatcoat's pocket.
"So…" Dr. Blessed asked amusedly, taking out the Mecha toy Totem. "… aren't you a little too old to play with toys… Kannagi?"
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