Kazama, Shin-chan, and Masao sat down on the public chairs in the corner, familiar with the place.
"I heard from Itsuki-sensei that the durian-head we caught was taken away by the Anomaly Association."
Kazama spoke first.
Itsuki, as a teacher at the Superpower Academy, had a group chat with her students. After learning about the raging monkey from Makoto yesterday, she had messaged everyone, warning them to be careful of the Anomaly Association's recruitment.
She just didn't mention that the raging monkey had killed his father. That was too dark for kids.
Shin-chan tilted his head and looked at Masao. "Masao-kun, you could try turning into Anomaly. Maybe you could become better than you are now."
"I don't want to!" Masao turned his face away in a huff.
Kazama sighed. "If only we had that person's fingernail. Then we could have Mr. Vegapunk make his Vivre Card and locate his position."
Masao also nodded in agreement. "Even without a fingernail, hair or a tooth would work. What a shame."
As soon as Masao said this, he noticed Shin-chan and Kazama staring at him in shock, which made him feel uneasy.
"D-did I say something wrong?"
The next second, Shin-chan and Kazama both jumped off their chairs at the same time. Without even replying, they ran out of the lab like the wind.
The automatic door closed behind them. Masao sat alone on the chair, blinking, his face full of confusion.
Ten minutes later, at a public park not far from the Hero Association Headquarters.
Shin-chan and Kazama were on the ground, frantically searching through the grass, between rocks, and in the sandbox for something.
Their faces were covered in dirt, their hair had grass blades sticking out, and their fingernails were packed with grime.
Kazama pulled something out of a patch of grass. He held it up high, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"I found it!"
It was a tooth. The one the raging monkey had lost when Shin-chan had hit him with his Butt Attack back when he tried to punch Kazama.
'So Shin-chan's butt was pretty useful after all.'
"We can use this to make a Vivre Card and find the durian-head's location!" Kazama was thrilled. He clutched the tooth tightly.
Shin-chan leaned in, trying to take it. "Alright, let's take it to Uncle Vegapunk right away—"
Kazama stuffed the tooth into his own pocket, distrustful. "I can't give this to you. What if you lose it?"
Shin-chan buried his face in Kazama's chest and started acting cute. "Aww, Kazama-kun, don't you trust me?"
Kazama was so disgusted he broke out in goosebumps. He turned and ran toward the Hero Association.
When it came to big matters, Shin-chan often managed to turn danger into safety. But when it came to details, that kid caused enough trouble as it was.
Hero Association Headquarters, Inner Lab.
Vegapunk, who had been lured over from the One Piece World by Makoto, took the tooth, placed it under a microscope, and examined it for a while.
A few hours later, an unremarkable piece of paper slid out of the machine's outlet.
Kazama took the Vivre Card and looked down at it. Without any external force, the Vivre Card slowly moved in one direction. That was the power of a Vivre Card.
"We did it!"
Half an hour later.
Nishikawa Palace, Main Hall.
Makoto sat on the throne, holding the Vivre Card in his hand.
He looked down at it for a few seconds, then looked up at Shin-chan, Kazama, and Masao standing before him. The corner of his mouth curved slightly.
"Shin-chan, your luck is still as good as ever."
Even Makoto couldn't help sighing.
"Aww, it's not that good," Shin-chan scratched his potato head and smiled sheepishly. His thick eyebrows curved into two arches.
Makoto smiled and praised them. "Good work. As for your reward, you can ask Ayano."
Yu couldn't wait any longer. He stepped forward, a murderous gleam in his eyes. "Senpai, let's go over there right now and wipe out all those trashes."
"I think so too." Saeko agreed.
Reze, Rei, Shinobu, Kanae, Demiurge, and the others who worked at Impel Down responded in kind.
Having had this incident happen to them, the ones who had lost the most dignity were them.
Every day for the past few days, they had had a fire burning in their hearts, waiting to unleash it.
Makoto shook his head. "Not yet. We don't know how much combat power the Anomaly Association has. Reconnaissance first is not a bad idea."
"Reconnaissance?"
Megumi stepped out from the crowd. "Makoto, shall I go?"
Makoto shook his head.
Megumi was very good at infiltration work, but the Anomaly Association was too dangerous.
He needed someone who was both good at infiltration and had some combat ability.
His gaze swept around the hall. Finally, it landed on Pandora's Actor, standing in the corner, his bowling ball face showing no expression.
Their eyes met.
Pandora's Actor looked at his grandfather's expectant gaze. His feelings were complicated.
'Hey, aren't you afraid I'll run into danger?'
…
One day later, Japan.
Five years after experiencing the devastating nuclear bombing, it had become a wasteland.
The once towering skyscrapers were now ruins. What had been a bustling thoroughfare was now just the sound of wind passing through broken steel bars, making a whimpering noise.
The ground was covered with huge craters. The bottoms of the craters were filled with black-green sewage, emitting a pungent odor.
Occasionally, a few mutated crows flew across the sky, letting out hoarse cries that echoed through the empty ruins.
Pandora's Actor crouched behind a collapsed concrete wall, looking up at the gray sky in the distance.
The Vivre Card pointed deep into these ruins. That had once been Japan's capital... Tokyo.
"So it's here..."
He sighed. He had learned most of this world's history.
He never expected the Anomaly Association's hideout to be hidden here.
Then, Pandora's Actor's body began to transform. The body wrapped in an orange-yellow military uniform rapidly shrunk. In less than a second, he had turned into an orange cat, crouching on the ruins, his tail gently swaying behind him.
For Pandora's Actor, this was familiar territory. Back when he was under Ainz's command, he had transformed into a cat too.
Pandora's Actor, now a cat, walked through the weed-covered streets toward the direction the Vivre Card pointed.
Finally, he waited quietly outside the Anomaly Association's hideout, looking for an opportunity to infiltrate.