Nezu quietly observed Novabel from behind his teacup as the masked revolutionary sat across from him.
Despite the calm atmosphere, both of them knew this meeting was anything but ordinary.
One was the principal of the most prestigious hero academy in Japan and arguably one of the smartest beings in the world.
The other was the leader of the most influential revolutionary organization on the planet.
Arata leaned back slightly in his chair before speaking. "You know, Nezu, sometimes I wonder how you managed to tolerate this society for so long. Out of everyone currently alive, you should understand better than most people just how rotten the world can be."
"Corruption isn't something rare. It isn't some isolated incident. It's everywhere. It spreads through society like a disease. People with power abuse it. People without power suffer because of it. Then those victims either break, become criminals, or spend the rest of their lives suffering."
Nezu's expression remained calm, but his eyes sharpened slightly. "And where exactly are you going with this?"
Arata chuckled. "Straight to the point. I expected nothing less from the famous Principal Nezu."
Nezu calmly placed his teacup down on the table. "You came all the way into U.A. High School without being detected. You bypassed every security measure I have. You disabled the alarm beneath my desk before I could even use it. You're clearly not here for a casual conversation."
For a moment, Nezu remained silent before speaking again.
"You know about the scientists."
The moment those words left his mouth, Arata froze. It lasted only a fraction of a second, so short that most people would have missed it completely. But these two were not most people.
A dangerous glint appeared within Nezu's eyes. "You know where they are."
Arata smiled beneath his mask. "There it is."
Nezu stared at him. "You hadn't even mentioned them."
"I didn't have to." A small laugh escaped Arata's mouth. "Honestly, you're terrifyingly smart. I hadn't even started my main speech and you already figured out what I came here for."
Nezu's paw tightened around his teacup. The memories he normally kept buried began surfacing.
Cold laboratories. Bright lights. Pain. Screams. Needles. Scientists recording notes while treating him like some strange specimen instead of a living being.
Years ago, after gaining influence and power, Nezu had searched relentlessly for the people responsible for those experiments.
He had used every connection available to him. He had investigated governments, corporations, underground groups and criminal organizations.
He found nothing. Every lead disappeared. Every clue ended abruptly. Eventually he discovered the truth.
The scientists had been hidden by governments themselves. Only the highest-ranking officials knew where they were.
And if Nezu openly attacked those officials, they would retaliate with everything they had.
He wasn't weak, far from it. But even he couldn't wage war against entire governments alone.
"What do you want from me?" Nezu finally asked.
Arata leaned forward as a smile appeared beneath his mask. Then he began explaining his plan.
As the plan unfolded piece by piece, Nezu's expression slowly changed. At first he looked interested. Then surprised. Then shocked. Then genuinely speechless.
Several times he interrupted to ask questions. Several times he stared at Arata as if wondering whether he had gone insane.
When Arata finally finished, silence filled the office.
Nezu slowly put down his cup and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"You know..." he began before letting out a long sigh. "I've met countless criminals. I've met heroes. Politicians. Villains. Scientists. World leaders." His eyes landed on Novabel. "But you are without a doubt the most insane hairless ape I have ever met."
Arata burst into laughter. "That's not a no."
"No, it isn't." Nezu leaned back in his chair. "The fact that you're even considering this plan proves you're either a genius or completely insane."
"Why not both?"
"That possibility concerns me."
Arata chuckled again before extending his hand. "So? Do we have a deal?"
Nezu stared at the offered hand. This wasn't a simple agreement. If this plan succeeded, countless powerful people would fall.
If it failed, both of them could end up dead. For several moments he remained silent. Then he raised his paw and shook Arata's hand.
"You better be prepared, Novabel." His voice became serious. "One mistake. One single mistake. That's all it will take. If something goes wrong, this plan may very well kill you."
Arata released the handshake and gave a playful salute. "I've already accepted that possibility."
His tone remained casual, but Nezu could hear the sincerity hidden underneath. "If my death helps remove corruption from this world, then that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."
Nezu stared at him for several seconds as Arata reached into his coat and put several thick stacks of papers on the desk.
Nezu glanced down, and his eyes widened.
Addresses. Laboratory locations. Financial records. Government connections. Hidden facilities. Security details. Names. Hundreds and hundreds of names.
Everything. Every single thing he had spent years searching for.
"They're all there," Arata said while standing up. "The scientists. Their homes. Their laboratories. The politicians protecting them. The people funding them. The people helping hide them. Every piece of information I could gather."
Nezu slowly flipped through the documents.
The more he read, the wider his smile became. "This is..."
"A gift." A blue portal appeared beside Arata. "What you do with it is your choice."
With those final words, he stepped through the portal as the portal vanished.
Nezu remained seated. For several seconds he simply stared at the pile of documents.
Then he started laughing.
The laughter grew louder.
And louder.
And louder.
His shoulders shook. His tail swayed behind him. The normally composed principal looked almost unhinged.
"Time to start hunting." His paw slammed against several hidden buttons.
One of the monitors inside his office immediately activated. Rows upon rows of Zero-Pointer robots appeared on the screen.
Each machine had been heavily modified. Military-grade weapons. Advanced missile systems. Heavy artillery.
And mounted on the back of every single robot was a massive railgun.
Nezu's smile widened. "Oh, this is going to be fun."
Meanwhile, inside Nova Genesis headquarters, a blue portal opened inside the laboratory and Arata stepped through it.
The moment he arrived, he deactivated the invisible Space Aura surrounding his body. The transparent layer of warped space vanished as he looked down at his hand.
A small strand of white fur rested on his palm. Nezu's fur.
"So in the end he didn't attach the tracker." Arata smirked before placing the hair into a testing tube connected to one of the laboratory machines.
The computer immediately began analyzing the sample. Streams of data rapidly filled the monitor as Nezu's quirk information started appearing on the screen.
Arata watched quietly. "Only a few more."
His eyes moved toward another monitor. Countless strands of quirk data filled the screen.
Some stabilized. Some shattered apart. Some merged with others. At the top of the file were two words.
Mind Stone.
And beneath them was another word.
Incomplete.
The Time Stone project would have to wait. Right now, the Infinity Gauntlet itself remained the bigger problem.
He, Melissa and David had already designed a gauntlet capable of handling three Infinity Stones, but beyond that point they kept running into limitations.
If he wanted a truly complete Infinity Gauntlet, he needed an even bigger genius mind than all three of them combined.
His thoughts were interrupted when the laboratory doors opened.
Melissa walked inside and practically collapsed into a chair. "I'm exhausted."
Arata turned around and smiled. "Mission successful?"
"The invitations were delivered." Melissa stretched her arms above her head. "Toga received hers. Twice received his. And the heroes from the D-rank corruption list have already been taken in."
"Good work." Melissa looked genuinely pleased by the praise.
Before she could say anything else, Arata walked behind her and began massaging her shoulders.
A relieved sigh escaped her lips almost instantly. "Oh wow..."
"I told you that you worked hard." Melissa relaxed into the chair as the tension in her shoulders disappeared.
"If you really want to thank me, then you better stay free during the festival day."
Arata smiled. "I already promised you I'd go on a date with you."
Melissa nodded before freezing. A second later her eyes widened.
Arata was grinning as the realization hit her. "You..."
Arata laughed. "You know, for someone who's supposedly helping run a revolutionary organization as the second in command, you're surprisingly bad at hiding your crush."
Melissa's face immediately turned red. "W-What are you talking about?!"
"Melissa."
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Melissa."
Her face became even redder. "Maybe I just want to go to the festival with a friend!"
"Sure."
Melissa puffed her cheeks out and looked away.
Arata laughed again before patting her head. "Don't worry. We'll have a nice date."
The word date immediately caused steam to practically rise from Melissa's head. "A-Arata!"
"What?"
"You can't just say it like that!"
Arata simply continued smiling. Melissa pouted for several seconds before finally giving up.
"Fine."
Then a small smile appeared on her face. "But you better wear a nice yukata."
"I'll consider it."
"You better do more than consider it."
The two continued talking and teasing each other, completely unaware that David had been standing near the laboratory entrance the entire time.
The older man quietly smiled to himself. Young love really was something.
Deciding not to interrupt them, David simply turned around and walked away, leaving the revolutionary leader and the blushing second in command alone to enjoy their conversation.