"You want to put Miss Makima to sleep forever?"
"Arata, you'd better be rational about this."
Himeno hadn't expected Arata to suddenly say something like that.
After all, both of them were very important people to her.
Himeno respected Miss Makima, and the two had known each other for a long time as superior and subordinate.
Although she had known Arata for a shorter time, she had developed a deep reliance on him.
If friction were to occur between the two of them, Himeno would absolutely fall into a dilemma.
"I advise you and Denji to listen to Miss Makima, otherwise one corpse will turn into three," Aki Hayakawa said, standing up and confronting the two of them.
"Aki, not planning to protect your comrade this time?" Arata asked.
"Comrades are nothing more than the result of weighing pros and cons. Once they lose their strategic value, there's no need to protect them."
"Aki, you... Even though Power is a bit terrible, you don't have to be this heartless, right?" Denji clenched his fists and yelled at Aki.
"I told you, you guys are just an experimental squad. Once you become useless, it's necessary to wipe you out completely. If what happened to Power happened to you, I would do the exact same thing."
Aki spoke completely without emotion.
At the same time, his words pierced Denji's heart.
In Denji's eyes, since they had become comrades, everyone should fight with everything they had to protect each other no matter what.
"Aki..." Himeno froze, not expecting the current Aki to be even colder than herself.
"You bastard, I'm gonna teach you a lesson for Power."
Just as Denji was about to charge forward, Arata grabbed him and said, "Calm down, Denji. It hasn't come to that yet."
Although Denji was held back and couldn't vent physically, his mouth was still unforgiving. "Aki Hayakawa, a guy like you who treats comrades as tools is worse than a devil."
Denji's words also pierced Aki's heart. He paused for a moment before saying, "You guys keep thinking of a solution. The time left for Power is running out."
Saying that, he lit a cigarette and strode out of the office.
"Aki-kun might just be in a bad mood lately, don't take it to heart. In my eyes, Aki-kun is a man who is very devoted to his comrades," Himeno tried to reassure them.
"Himeno-senpai, you misjudged him. I misjudged him too." Denji tugged at his collar, his face full of resentment toward Aki.
Not helping to think of a solution was one thing, but actually adding fuel to the fire? This made Denji incredibly pissed off.
If Arata hadn't stopped him, Denji absolutely would have made Aki experience the pain of a crushed nut.
Meanwhile, Aki Hayakawa stood in the hallway.
His gaze was unfocused as he watched the drifting clouds outside the window, smoking his cigarette. He seemed to be pondering something, struggling to make a decision.
"Aki, why are you standing outside my office smoking?"
Makima's gentle voice suddenly rang in his ears.
"Miss Makima." Aki quickly snuffed out his cigarette, turned around, and greeted her.
"For you to suddenly appear here, you must have something to ask me, right?"
"Uh..." Aki struggled internally for a moment before saying, "Yes, Miss Makima. I do have something to ask you."
"It's about Power, isn't it?" Makima hit the nail on the head.
"I was hoping Miss Makima could help Power." Aki kept his head intentionally lowered as he spoke.
Makima didn't answer immediately; instead, she observed Aki for a moment.
She felt that Aki's personality had changed. It was the first time she had heard him stick his neck out for a Fiend.
After all, since his family was killed by devils, Aki held a deep hatred for them in his heart. He even felt that humans could never form emotional bonds with devils. Pleading for a Fiend now was a clear slap in the face to his own beliefs.
"I didn't expect you to actively ask for my help for the sake of a Fiend, Aki."
"I don't have any feelings for her. I just... feel she still has some use."
"I will take your words into consideration, Aki. If there's nothing else, you can go back for now."
"Thank you, Miss Makima."
Aki let out a sigh of relief internally and quickly left the hallway.
....
Meanwhile, night had fallen.
There was less than one night left until Power's execution.
In the office, Himeno constantly made phone calls, but her progress was practically non-existent.
Denji couldn't sit still in the office and went out for a walk by himself, hoping he'd get lucky and bump into the Poppy Devil while wandering around.
"Arata, where are you going?" Seeing Arata suddenly stand up and head out, Himeno asked.
"I'm going to take care of something. If Denji comes back, don't let him run around again, so I don't have to go looking for him when I get back."
"Take care of what?"
"You'll know when I get back."
With that, he closed the office door.
Inside the office, Himeno had already guessed that Arata had definitely found a solution.
In her heart, Himeno believed Arata was a man who constantly created miracles.
Shortly after, Arata drove out of the Public Safety Headquarters.
On the road, he dialed Noriyuki Natsume's number.
Noriyuki had been waiting for the call on his end, even checking his phone every five minutes.
When he saw Arata calling, the corners of Noriyuki's mouth curled up. He quickly answered, his first words being, "Well? Have you made up your mind?"
"Tell me the location. Also, get the 10 million and the two devil corpses ready."
"I had those ready for you a long time ago, because I knew you would definitely accept. Come to the pier from yesterday, I've been waiting for you here."
A while after ending the call, Arata drove to the pier.
From a distance, he could see Noriyuki's cargo truck parked quietly in the same spot as yesterday.
Honk honk!!
He honked the horn a few times.
The truck nearby suddenly flashed its headlights.
Arata drove his Mercedes up parallel to the truck.
"You got here pretty fast!!"
"I ran three red lights, naturally I'm fast."
"Follow me. I'll take you to the Poppy Devil."
The truck went first, with the Mercedes following behind.
Half an hour later.
The two entered the downtown area. They parked their cars in a deserted blind alley and got out.
"Where is the Poppy Devil?"
"It's already very close to us." Noriyuki got out and tossed something in his hand over to Arata.
"What's this? A wristband?"
"It's not just a wristband, it's an admission ticket. You need this to get into the nightclub and see the Poppy Devil."
"A nightclub? The Poppy Devil is in a nightclub?"
"That's right. The owner of the nightclub works with the Poppy Devil. He can provide the Poppy Devil with anything it wants, and in return, the Poppy Devil supplies him with an endless amount of forbidden powder."
"Did they make a contract?"
"No contract. The current Poppy Devil is a Fiend."
"Noriyuki Natsume, how do you know so much? Himeno looked for three days and couldn't find a single trace of news about the Poppy Devil," Arata asked curiously.
Usually, Noriyuki was the type of guy who claimed ignorance when asked about anything.
"Don't ask too many questions. Asking too much will only bring trouble to both you and me. But trust me, I would absolutely never sell out a friend."
Seeing that Noriyuki was keeping his lips sealed, Arata didn't press further about the source of his intel. He turned to look at the cargo hold and asked, "What devil corpses did you bring this time?"
"Two corpses that suit you perfectly. As long as you bring back the Poppy Devil's corpse, you'll naturally find out who the two dead devils in the truck are." Noriyuki kept him in suspense, refusing to reveal any information before the mission was complete.
"Then let's head into the nightclub. At this hour, the place is probably already popping off."