Chapter 685: The Great General Sealed in Kyoto
Rescue operation, and another rescue operation…
Kazumi murmured to herself, her tone laced with a trace of confusion and cold realization.
She had already returned to her not-so-spacious bedroom and sat before the familiar old wooden table.
On the table lay the black-covered document, which had been spread open.
The special spectral light that had covered it had already dissipated, and now it looked like an ordinary document, which meant it could be brought to its destination through projection or transmission.
What was now displayed before the girl was a meticulously marked map of Kyoto, precisely the one shown in the projection in the conference room earlier.
And the location on the map that was highlighted, seeming to emit an ominous aura, was a place that Kazumi was all too familiar with— The Tōkoku Academy!
The meeting’s agenda seemed to have concluded after the leader, Kuromon, issued the final, irrefutable executive assessment mission.
Or perhaps, it was just that the “quasi-executives” still needed to qualify to hear higher secrets. In any case, the moment she received the mission document, Kazumi felt the power maintaining the projection instantly disappear, and her consciousness was violently yanked back to reality.
The scene before her changed, from the oppressive conference hall back to the dim, damp, and faintly bloody secret room of the underground base.
The cold stone walls stood silently around her, but the girl still sat on that ancient, cold stone chair. Only the black obsidian pillar, no longer emitting light, and the document in her hand proved that Kazumi’s previous journey was not a hallucination.
Muramasa Hyōshō had also appeared.
It turned out that the person who had specifically come to the base to lead her was merely a clone of Muramasa Hyōshō.
Once the task was completed, the clone naturally dissipated, leaving Kazumi alone, standing dumbfounded in the Kyoto branch base beneath the organization.
And with the task completed and only herself remaining, Kazumi had no desire to linger in the dark, damp underground base. After tidying up the things in her hand, she used the power of the [Black Coffin] to return from underground to her bedroom once more.
Her knuckles gently tapped on the academy map on the tabletop, emitting a dull thud.
At this moment, the girl had a general understanding of why the organization had gone to such lengths to build such a hidden and heavily guarded secret room for the branch base.
If it were merely for a highly confidential mental projection meeting, many modern technological means could barely achieve a similar effect—it would just be a difference in encryption levels and anti-interference capabilities.
However, a device that could traverse spatial distances and transmit physical objects in real-time… the technical or power level involved would be far from ordinary.
It must have touched upon the advanced applications of spatial conversion or essential projection.
No wonder the organization needed to go to such lengths to protect it.
However, these things had little relevance to Kazumi at the moment. What Kazumi was truly concerned about was the executive assessment mission issued by the organization’s leader, Kuromon, in the conference room earlier, and… the word “rescue” in the mission.
“Since it’s a rescue mission, why not choose the previous collective rescue operation? Instead, why cause such a huge commotion and then head towards Kyoto?”
Honestly, Kazumi was a bit puzzled.
Although, according to Kurokawa Iori, under the cause and effect now dictated by the leader, Kuromon, [Thundery] and [Hamano Tsukasa] would rather abandon everything else in the organization to settle accounts with this former number one hero.
But judging from the content of the meeting, whether it was the arrangement of the mission or the leader Kuromon’s words and actions, there were no signs of excessive abnormality or loss of reason. Instead, it seemed more like a choice made after careful consideration and planning.
But the problem was, this rescue plan, or even if this was a full-scale war with the Association, or a lunatic plan to occupy Kyoto, Kazumi would have found it more reasonable.
Since the leader Kuromon was now… thinking with his brain, why not…
During the previous rescue of the Great General, while the Association’s heroes were being rescued by other organization members, why not launch this rescue mission to Kyoto then?
After all, that was an open move by the Association. The Association’s manpower was always limited, and it was impossible to defend so well against such a city-wide shocking offensive.
Moreover, even if Kyoto was more important, wouldn’t it be possible to spread out the Association’s hero defense forces to make other rescue missions easier to complete, to rescue more sealed and imprisoned Great Generals and thus improve the organization’s overall strength?
“Could it be… a matter of strength?”
Touching her chin, Kazumi could only think of this possibility now.
After all, before the organization had rescued these [Great Generals], their top-tier combat strength was severely lacking. As Kurokawa Iori had explained to her, apart from [Spike] Andre, whom the girl had had some contact with, who possessed strength comparable to a Great General due to certain personal reasons but remained in the [Executive] position, the other [Executives] were generally lacking in direct combat capabilities.
And Kyoto, as the capital of Neon, had the Association’s current second-ranked hero, [Great Scholar], stationed there long-term. In addition, there was the former number one hero, [Thundery] Hamano Tsukasa, who had nominally retired but had not faded from heroic activities. Furthermore, it was the headquarters of both the Association and the police force. Kyoto’s defense strength was indeed exaggerated.
Perhaps the leader Kuromon was also concerned about these matters. With his capabilities, he might not be able to achieve his goals by directly facing so many powerful psychics alone.
However, Kazumi was still a little curious. Like these few sickly [Great Generals] that she saw now, not to mention whether their abilities had fully recovered, these ghouls were originally defeated by Hamano Tsukasa. It felt like if they were to face him again, aren’t they just some high-level cannon fodder?
“Could it be that Hamano Tsukasa’s injuries no longer allow him to engage in high-intensity combat, or is it to make Hamano Tsukasa display his strength and weaken his personal combat power?”
The only possibility Kazumi could think of at this moment was this. After all, given Hamano Tsukasa’s personality that he had always displayed, if he hadn’t suffered irreversible injuries in the previous battle, this number one hero would absolutely not have so easily retreated into the background.
“However… the truly important thing, or what leader Kuromon considers the turning point, should be this…”
With this thought, Kazumi’s gaze lowered, focusing on the highlighted map of Kyoto. Her slender fingers gently brushed over the marked location, and she sighed to herself.
“This one… Great General sealed in Kyoto!”
