Under Makoto's orders, not just the Nishikawa Nation, but practically the entire world entered a state of lockdown.
No one was allowed to go out unless absolutely necessary. The Hero Association would specially deliver meals to people's homes.
The streets were empty. Shop shutters were pulled down. Awnings were folded away on both sides. Only occasional supply trucks drove past in the middle of the road.
Of course, this kind of treatment was only available in the Nishikawa Nation and China.
Although the China branch of the Hero Association also had many employees, such as Makoto's brother-in-law Shirogane Miyuki, they still didn't have enough manpower.
To that end, Makoto had specifically transferred some Heroes over to help.
This made the citizens of other countries envious.
But there was nothing they could do about it. After all, that was Makoto's homeland.
The Shuchi'in Superpower Academy also announced a temporary suspension. No one needed to come to school until the matter was resolved.
However, before the final dismissal, Kaguya, as the principal, announced to the entire student body that if any Anomalies came to them trying to recruit them to the Anomaly Association, they should think twice. There were no shortcuts to gaining power.
With that, Kaguya showed photos of the Anomalized Takashi and Soshi to everyone and said coldly, "You don't want to end up like this, do you?"
The photos had been taken by surveillance Den-Den Mushi installed at Impel Down. The quality wasn't high-definition, but the dense eyeballs on Takashi's face and the wrinkle-covered face of Soshi were still clear enough to make one's scalp tingle.
A huge discussion erupted among the students.
Many recognized Soshi, the one who had once been as famous as Shinichi, the 'Savior of the Japanese Police'.
They exclaimed in surprise: How did he end up like this?
And remembering what Kaguya had just said, another question occurred to them... did that mean the Anomaly Association had the ability to turn humans into Anomalies?
Wow, that's pretty powerful.
For a moment, the students left school and went home with different thoughts.
"Miss, the words 'no shortcuts' coming from your mouth don't carry much weight."
After Kaguya returned to the principal's office, her assistant Ai commented.
Kaguya was only this strong because Makoto had given her Sasuke's Rinnegan. Otherwise, she would only be as strong as an Elite Jonin.
When it came to taking shortcuts, Kaguya and the other members of Makoto's harem were the worst offenders.
No wonder Soshi, when attacking Impel Down, had complained to Saeko, "How come you get power from a man, but I can't get it from Anomalies?"
Kaguya rolled her eyes and didn't bother arguing with her best friend.
But the question was, why wouldn't she take what her own man gave her?
In the Nohara Family's single-family home, which still had twenty-nine years of mortgage payments left, Shin-chan yelled 'I'm off' and kicked off his shoes at the entrance before running inside.
Nohara Misae was busy in the kitchen. Hearing Shin-chan's greeting, she said crossly, "You're supposed to say 'I'm home'."
Shin-chan was about to fight Himawari for the TV, but when he saw that the TV was playing photos of the heavy criminals who had escaped from Impel Down, he didn't grab the remote. Instead, he stood in front of the TV, seriously watching those photos.
Ryomen Sukuna, Otsutsuki Momoshiki, Kibutsuji Muzan, Mahito...
All were heavy criminals at least qualified to be held in Level 5.
Misae brought dishes to the table one by one and said to Shin-chan, "Shin-chan, your school sent a message. You don't have to go to classes for the time being."
"I know, but I'm a Hero. I'm in charge of delivering supplies to everyone!"
Shin-chan patted his chest.
As soon as he said this, the other three in the family showed worried expressions.
Watching TV earlier, they had also seen how terrifying the escaped death row prisoners from Impel Down were.
For their own son, a C-Class Hero, even near the bottom of C-Class, if he encountered these Anomalies, even setting aside whether he could beat them, just whether he could get away was also a problem.
Hiroshi put down his chopsticks and said worriedly, "Shin-chan, can you ask the Association to let you off this assignment?"
Misae also nodded. "You're only eight years old. You don't need to do such dangerous work."
Himawari also said, half sarcastically, "Brother, you're too weak. Don't overestimate yourself, okay?"
Although it was awkward, this was also Himawari's way of caring about her brother.
Shin-chan and his group were only responsible for delivering supplies to citizens under lockdown. They wouldn't go to the front lines to fight escaped criminals of Sukuna and Momoshiki's level.
But what if they ran into them by accident, or what if they came looking for them?
However, Shin-chan, who was usually so unserious, patted his chest again. "No way. A Hero can't back down."
Aiming to be like Action Mask, he would never choose to run away when facing a powerful enemy.
Hearing Shin-chan's assurance, the other three didn't say anything more.
Misae hugged Shin-chan, her voice a bit muffled. "You have to come home safe every day."
Shin-chan started being inappropriate again, pinching his mom's belly. "Misae, your four-layered belly is crushing me."
Hearing Shin-chan's annoying words, Misae got angry and used her signature move... the Double Poison Dragon Drill, twisting her fists into Shin-chan's temples, making him beg for mercy.
Whether it was due to bloodline suppression or not, even though he already had superhuman physical abilities, he was still afraid of his mom's move.
Hiroshi didn't laugh.
He reached out his hand to Shin-chan, his fist clenched between them. "A real man keeps his word."
Shin-chan also clenched his fist and lightly bumped it against his. "Mm-hmm, a real man keeps his word!"
In a small single-family home on the outskirts of the royal capital, with the nameplate 'Bakugo' by the door, the atmosphere was completely different from the Nohara Family's.
The living room was a complete mess.
"Why didn't they mention my name? They don't think I'm worthy?!"
Bakugo looked at the TV news and shouted angrily.
Having escaped all the way from Impel Down, he was actually a bit smug, feeling that those people weren't all that.
But the truth was, Saeko and the others hadn't even paid him any attention. They couldn't be bothered to chase him.
The news showed wanted photos of the Otsutsuki Family, Sukuna, Mahito, Muzan, and other heavy criminals from various anime worlds, scrolling one after another.
But not him.
Bakugo's eyes widened like saucers. He felt insulted. He wasn't even worthy of being wanted?
Masaru and Mitsuki sat on the other side of the table. Their expressions were the complete opposite of their son's. They secretly breathed sighs of relief.
Their son not being on TV meant the situation hadn't reached an irreversible state yet.
Mitsuki quickly urged her son to turn himself in.
During the day, Makoto had said on TV that as long as they obediently went back, the original sentence would stand.
That meant that if her son turned himself in, he would still only be in for six months.
But if he remained stubborn and was later caught by Makoto or his men, the treatment wouldn't be so good.
Bakugo didn't listen at all.
His gaze was locked on the TV, his pupils reflecting the woman being interviewed on screen.
Rena sat behind the anchor desk in the studio, across from Saeko.
Saeko had changed into a new military uniform. As the warden of Impel Down, when he had been locked up there, Bakugo had seen this woman plenty of times.
"The organization responsible for this incident is called the Anomaly Association. It is a large Anomaly organization composed of multiple Dragon-level Anomalies. Their goal is likely to overthrow human society."
Saeko paused, then continued, "At the same time, they have developed a special drug called 'monster cells' that can instantly turn an ordinary human into an Anomaly."
Rena pressed further, "If one becomes an Anomaly, can one instantly gain superpowers without having to learn them slowly at the Superpower Academy?"
Saeko didn't hide anything. "That is indeed the case. But in doing so, you lose your humanity."
With that, she looked directly at the camera. "I urge everyone not to get such ideas. People who lose their humanity will not meet good ends."
Bakugo's eyes lit up.
On the TV screen, Saeko was still saying something, but he couldn't hear it anymore.
Only those words echoed in his mind... 'instantly gain superpowers'.
Masaru took a bite of food and muttered as he ate, "So there's already a drug that can turn ordinary people into Anomalies? How terrifying."
Before long, Masaru sensed something was off because he noticed his wife and son had stopped talking.
He turned to look at his wife and saw her staring fixedly at his son. He turned to look at his son and saw the kid's eyes shining, full of greed as he stared at the TV.
Instantly, a foreboding feeling welled up in Masaru's heart.
Mitsuki slammed her chopsticks down on the table. "Don't you dare get any funny ideas! I didn't raise you to turn into something like that!"
The Anomalies featured on the news so far had all looked more and more abstract.
Mitsuki didn't want her son to turn into something like that.
More importantly, once he became an Anomaly, he was guaranteed to become a target of the Hero Association and Makoto.
She absolutely wouldn't allow her son to go down that road.
Bakugo curled his lip. "It's a world ruled by power now. What does appearance matter?"
Remembering his three consecutive failed entrance exams to the Superpower Academy, and the humiliation of being mocked by brats like Shin-chan,
Bakugo felt that if he could gain power, what did it matter if he looked a bit uglier?
Mitsuki was furious. "Go to your room and stay there! Don't come out!"
Bakugo snorted, stood up from his chair, and walked toward the stairs.
Saeko's interview had ended. The screen cut back to wanted posters of Sukuna and the others.
Then, from upstairs, came the 'bang' of a door slamming shut.
The living room fell silent, just the two of them.
Mitsuki rubbed her forehead wearily, wondering where she had gone wrong in her parenting.
Masaru also put down his chopsticks and lit a cigarette.
"Board up the windows."
Mitsuki took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, "He absolutely must not be allowed to escape."
Masaru nodded, stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray.
Soon, under his wife's orders, Masaru nailed steel plates over the windows of his son's room.
The sound of hammers hitting metal echoed through the house.
Bakugo sat on his bed, watching the sunlight, blocked by the steel plates outside the window, disappear bit by bit. His face showed no emotion.
Over the next few days, Mitsuki didn't even allow Bakugo to come out to eat.
Each time, she slid the tray through the crack in the door, then locked the door from the outside.
A few days passed. Every time Mitsuki opened the door to retrieve the tray, she found that the food she had brought to the kid hadn't been touched at all.
He had lost a lot of weight, lying on the bed like a withering tree.
"I absolutely will not agree to you becoming some monster!"
Mitsuki was trembling with anger, but she still didn't budge. "You'll starve to death for all I care!"
Bakugo turned over, turning his face to the other side. He didn't answer.
Mother and son were locked in a standoff.
Mitsuki brought the untouched plate back to the living room, set it on the table, her shoulders trembling slightly.
She knew her son's personality was like a rock in a latrine... hard and foul-smelling.
But if this continued, that kid really might starve to death.
Masaru stood up from the sofa, walked to his wife, hesitated for a while, then cautiously spoke up. "Maybe... we should contact the Hero Association and have them come take him away."
Mitsuki thought for a long time, her brow furrowed.
She had thought of this before, but she was a bit worried about whether such an action would count as turning himself in.
But seeing her son getting thinner and thinner, she felt this was already the best option.
Seeing his wife agree, Masaru took out his phone. His thumb hovered above the screen for a few seconds, just as he was about to dial, Mitsuki grabbed his hand.
"Wait."
Mitsuki's fingers gripped her husband's wrist. Anxious, she said, "If we let the Hero Association people come, they probably won't count this kid's situation as turning himself in. They might even add a few more years to his sentence."
With that, Mitsuki bit her lip. "I'll go find Nishikawa Makoto and ask for his help."
Masaru's eyes widened, nearly dropping his phone.
He never imagined his wife could have connections with someone of that caliber.
Mitsuki didn't explain.
She turned and walked into the bedroom, changed her clothes, and tidied her hair in front of the mirror.
To be precise, she wasn't going to find Makoto directly. She was going to find Tsuki.
She wanted to use Tsuki's connection to talk to Makoto.
As for how to persuade Tsuki, she certainly had a way.