"Now, now, common courtesy almost went extinct during these times."
Eishi's voice froze everyone in place.
They are a group of espers—from the official shelter atop that—yet they were disarmed in a blink of an eye.
Whoever is dumb enough to attack is either stupid or suicidal… and everyone is none of those.
"From what I can see, though, you are not soldiers. Tokyo recruited people like you?"
Although it was humiliating to hear his denouncements, nobody dared to speak up.
"You. Yes, you. The one with a bald head."
The thin bald man jolted in fear.
"Was it common protocol to stop outsiders?"
"Y-yes. Espers are required to undergo a strict interrogation. Survivors must be examined thoroughly. Their weapons must be surrendered too…"
The interrogation part caught Eishi's attention.
"The interrogation part. Is it done by an esper?"
"Y-yes!"
These men had no sense of loyalty whatsoever. They are a group of ordinary men from various walks of life—neets, businessmen, and stall owners. Their weak will collapsed under Eishi's strong temperament.
'Espers everywhere… There are all kinds of strange powers.'
He was a bit surprised to see the 'espers' integrated into Tokyo's new framework. There are ones who could see through thoughts and tendencies, ones who could enhance others' strengths, ones who could amplify the growth rate of crops, and so on.
Eishi is more convinced that Tokyo has a certain degree of preparation against this sudden zombie outbreak.
"Alright. Next question. Do you know Sugou Nobuyuki?"
"Y-yes! H-he is the appointed inspector general responsible for screening newcomers."
"His abilities?"
"It was said to be mind reading…"
Eishi was rather speechless; he received the information he wanted with ease. Then again, this is reality. Anyone who values their lives has to follow his orders. The scenes of someone stupidly attacking him won't work unless they haven't known his strength yet.
"Off you go."
Click.
The world stopped once again. He only incapacitated them by striking at their necks… or so he had seen from novels.
When time resumed once again, Eishi found out he accidentally sent two of them in a near-death state.
Facing this honest mistake, he fed them [Stamina Restoration Pills]. Only when their states grew better did he leave.
Saeko left the land rover while staring at him in admiration. She already had guesses of his superpower. She could not see herself winning against him. Withholding his [Time Dominator], his physical attributes are insanely high. He is no longer a monstrous esper, but a force of nature who will defeat anyone in his way.
For a young woman, the double allure of coolness and strength is enough to win her over.
Not to mention Eishi's "other" strength…
'She's thinking something bad again. Did I lead her astray..?'
Eishi is sensitive to Saeko's lustful looks. He gained a deep understanding of women in bed. Seven out of ten times, they are hornier than him. It was a massive contrast compared to their usual attitudes.
"Ahem. We'll be heading inside."
He explained the new information he found from the "soldiers". She already knew of Shino's story during their drive.
"What do you want to do first?" She asked.
"Asada-san does not need saving, at least not now. Let's deal with the annoying bastard first."
*****
A week before the apocalypse, major governments around the world discovered the unique trait of the white snow. The mutation of plants and evolution fruits reached the top brass. Japan was no exception.
After a day of experimentation, they discovered these fruits are capable of awakening 'superpowers'. This led to a widescale and frenzied collection of evolution fruits from farmlands and the countryside. It triggered a series of chain events, leading to a top-secret mandate regarding the mobilization of the country's military forces.
The mobilization of self-defense forces had just been enacted on Tokyo when the zombie apocalypse broke out. Had their preparations been completed, they would have been able to control the zombies. Unfortunately, it was not.
Only Tokyo and Kyoto, the places where almost all of the espers since the pre-apocalypse gathered, remained the safest.
It took them fifteen days to re-establish order over half of the former city. Espers are now mobilized with sky-high efficiency, placing them wherever the city needs it.
Farming talents? To the farms.
Fighting talents? To the guard force.
Building talents? To the construction team.
Consequently, Tokyo's power structure was touched upon. The officials and heads of zaibatsu who sat at the highest remained at their positions due to their pre-apocalypse advantages. Nevertheless, the ones below them experienced a massive reshuffle.
Sugou Nobuyuki, formerly a head researcher for RECT, was one of them. His position was high, but it is not the highest.
The one who held that CEO position was none other than Yuuki Shouzou, Yuuki Asuna's father.
As the company that took over Argus' assets and servers, it boasts a global influence. RECT is listed at the Fortune 500.
Such a high and mighty position was beyond Nobuyuki's reach, but that changed when the apocalypse came.
Through a series of schemes and jealousy-driven actions, he killed Yuuki Shouzou. He inherited the network of connections and the "preparations" done by the CEO. Nobuyuki's influence rose sharply, especially when Tokyo was in a state of rebuilding.
The worst thing that occurred was his wife escaping. She ended up seeking Yuuki Asuna's help, which led to the entire Sword Art Online survivor group clashing head-on against Nobuyuki's borrowed government forces.
Thinking of everything that had transpired, an electrifying arc out of satisfaction crept to his crown.
"Hehe…"
The dignified mask he had maintained fell in private. Nobuyuki is surprisingly clean in his private life.
If there was someone whom he desired, however, it would be his CEO's beautiful daughter. She is younger, beautiful, holds an air of natural elegance, and possesses kindness. She is precisely Nobuyuki's type.
Everything he has done is to get his hands over an eighteen-year-old girl!
"Soon, soon… I wonder what kind of look you will give me…"
Rumble-!
The brief earthquake broke his immersion. His smirk turned into a frown as he called the security on the lower floor.
Beep-!
Beep-!
…
"...mber is out of reach. Please try again…"
Nobuyuki's face froze.
Their office is located near Tokyo's center. It is only a couple of blocks away from the city hall. Such a huge disturbance is impossible to happen…
"Oh? Not all officials are lustfully depraved."
…or not.
The appearance of a random, unknown man in his office made him step back. As soon as the man stood up, Nobuyuki stepped back a couple more steps. His tall height was one thing. The imposing temperament, emitted by his pitch-black pupils, broke his composure.
"W-who are you?"
"Think carefully. Who did you offend recently? Go on. I am giving you time to think."
His playful and unserious tone unsettled Nobuyuki further. His slicked back hair remained in place despite sweat appearing on his forehead.
He habitually used his [Mental Telepathy] innate talent on him.
The next second, it felt like he struck a wall. Blood came out of his eyes as a shrill scream came out of his mouth.
Eishi's 2,000-point spirit attribute struck back with ten times the intensity his probing attempt emitted!
"Bad move. I suppose a punishment fits in this context."
Click.
Nobuyuki swore it all happened in an instant.
Crack-!
"Eek..!"
He looked at his bent right arm in shock and disbelief. He had just blinked when it was bent off. Pain assaulted his nerves as his knees dropped down to the floor. Yellow liquid came out from his gray slacks.
The word 'pathetic' describes Nobuyuki's appearance.
'It is working…'
Ever since he received the 1,000% boost to his temperament, Eishi put up a plan when confronting his enemies. He would intimidate them by acting frivolous and unserious. It also lowers their guard into thinking they could sneak up on him, when in actuality, Eishi is in his full guard.
As of now, it maintains a terrifying 100% win-rate when it comes to terrifying his opponents.
Seeing Nobuyuki rendered powerless, he wasted no time. He grabbed the back of his collar and lifted him up high.
"W-w–wait!"
His screams held no meaning. Eishi looked at the glass wall.
The next second…
Shatter-!
"Eek!!!"
…his body was thrown off like a ragdoll.
"My strength attribute needs some work."
Eishi looked at Nobuyuki's corpse lying on the ground. The fall of ten floors could not be withstood by first-order espers. He was unsure whether his muscle and bone toughness, which reached the 900-point mark, could withstand it.
After all, it was different from the fields affected by Agility and Constitution. The former gave him bodily coordination. It made him capable of temporarily shifting his organs from their past positions. The latter increased his blood flow and hormonal production, in turn increasing all sorts of bodily functions such as self-recovery.
Click.
The door to the office was opened. He greeted the somewhat bloodied Saeko. She wielded the third rank katana he produced after a round of rebate farming and weapon synthesizing.
"All dead?"
"No. There are people without orange light."
"That's fine."
Eishi recalled Saeko's 'violent' tendencies. She was the second one to follow him in the footsteps of killing fellow humans. The others showed varying reactions when they did it. Only she did not.
Just then, a 'prickly' sensation appeared on his body. He instinctively looked at its direction—an abandoned fifteen-storey tall office building.
Eishi's eyesight worked wonders. Like a biological scope, his vision went farther until he met a familiar face on the twelfth-floor.
He casually waved with his right hand. He took out his phone with the other hand before the call connected.
"How was it?"
*****
Shino was so stunned she could not muster the strength to speak.
As early as five minutes ago, she noticed the commotion at Nobuyuki's office. It was the same office used by the 'Inspector General' of the city. All the duties to screen and allocate newcomers are done by them. They held great power due to their connections and duty, leading some of the civilian-turned-soldiers to become morally corrupt.
Out of every ten officers under the Inspector General, around six or seven engaged in corruption.
No words could explain her surprise when she saw Eishi and an unknown woman brazenly enter the building. Shino's God's Perspective saw the one-sided slaughter take place inside. The beautiful woman who wore a pair of white t-shirt and blue jeans conjured blood out of others' corpses, which she used as weapons to kill even more people.
As for Eishi…
Shino had just blinked when she lost sight of him. When she saw him again, he had already thrown Nobuyuki off the office building.
Most shockingly, he noticed her God's Perspective!
All sorts of complex thoughts flooded her mind.
"Hello? Still there?"
"Y-yes."
"That's good. We can meet up later." He paused for a while before asking, "Do you have any other enemies?"
"No…"
This question was akin to a stone falling into a calm lake.
'He really did it for me…'
Shino could not describe what she was feeling. He had granted her the grace of survival. She had long been determined to repay Eishi with her life when her grandmother died.
Seeing her debt grow larger, she did not know how to feel.
"Then that's good. How about we meet up at the villa?"
"Okay…"
Soon, he hung up the call. Shino decided to share this news to the Sword Art Online group still on the run.
"Shino-san? Do you need help?!"
"No. Nobuyuki… he is dead."
"Ah..?"
A deep, discernable breath came from the other side.
"My f-friend… He took care of him."
"...Bring your friend along. We need to escape from Tokyo today."
When the woman's voice resounded, Shino was stunned. She had been so shocked she forgot a crucial point:
Nobuyuki is the Inspector General appointed by the official shelter.
By killing him, they went against the official shelter's order. It would no longer be a simple wanted poster, but a city-wide manhunt!
"Mhm…"
She hastily redialed Eishi's number. Fortunately, she caught up to them right as they were about to leave.
'This is bad..!'
Shino saw a group of encirclement appear outside the building. The number of guns and firepower alone could kill a dozen first-order espers into nothingness.
When the call connected, she immediately went straight to the point.
"H-hiraoka-san! Don't leave!"
"Hm? If you are talking about the people outside, you don't have to worry about it."
His calm voice felt strangely reassuring in her eyes.
"It will be over in a blink."
Shino's God's Perspective did not require her eyes. It is called such as it allows her to see through everything despite its limitations.
Under her shocked sight, all of the guns pointed at the building entrance disappeared. The espers on the encirclement collectively got thrown to the air by an unknown impact. A huge crack appeared on the armed men's feet, throwing them all to the ground. The firearm and esper encirclement Shino dared not think of collapsed in an instant. The hundred or so personnel all got incapacitated.
"See? I am not lying. So please rest assured, Asada-san."
It was as he had said.
It is over in a blink.