They've already fought their way through the Holy Grail War, and you still call them dragons?

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind instantly, and for a moment he even thought of another reassuring figure - Emiya, who had repeatedly provided valuable clues and turned the tide. Perhaps, would it be more reliable to ask the other party for help?

"Chisheng, you've seen how dangerous the Heroic Spirit's technology is. We must not allow the dangerous demons to develop... This isn't a question of 'can we do it?', but a question of 'must we do it!'"

Tachibana Masamune's attitude was firm. He clenched his fists and slammed them on the desk with a thud.

"The fierce ghosts are evil ghosts that we, the Eight Snake Qi families, have personally nurtured and raised. They live in the shadows. Now the evil ghosts are about to turn against their masters and even stir up trouble. How can we allow them to act recklessly? The grave sins that we, the Eight Snake Qi families, have committed by tolerating evil must be eradicated by our own hands!"

Minamoto no Chisei's thoughts were interrupted by Tachibana Masamune's firm words.

He thought of his unshirkable mission as the contemporary emperor of the Eight Snake Families, and then he thought of the ideal of "partner of justice" that he secretly set when he first joined the Executive Bureau a few years ago.

The myriad thoughts that had been swirling in my heart were finally swallowed back into my stomach, transforming into a silent sigh.

"Okay, since Dad has said this, I'll help you."

----

An underground research institute deep in the mountains.

"Damn it! Damn it! Bastard Bondarev, is it so great to be a hero? Is it so great to show off your power?"

Herzog angrily threw a bottle of pure Russian Beluga from his cellar to the ground. The exquisite bottle shell of Beluga, which is regarded as a symbol of luxury vodka, shattered instantly, and the transparent liquor with a rich aroma splashed and spread, gurgling into the gaps between the floor.

Herzog knew that there was absolutely no possibility for the ghosts to control the "heroic spirit".

His first identity is Masamune Tachibana, the patriarch of the Snake Eight Clans, and his second is "Oujiang," the masked leader of the demonic groups. The only reason Wangjiang escaped death at Kazama Ruri's hands was thanks to the clones produced in this research facility.

He played two roles, manipulating the mixed-race society of almost the entire country, and making the two largest mixed-race forces on this island nation provide resources and help for his pursuit of "the path to becoming a god."

Therefore, Herzog also clearly understood that the Demon Clan had not gone to the place where the "God" was hiding! Now, even if he successfully launched a war between the Eight Snake Clan and the Demon Clan in the identity of Tachibana Masamune, it would only be a show to make the Demon Clan's power activities go from open to covert.

And this heroic spirit must come from a third party other than the two parties!

But who better understood the secrets of God than him, and who could have exploited the power of God to such an extent? Only Bondarev!

It was Bondarev who had told him the secret of the dragon race, and it was this KGB officer who had guided him to this island nation to research the path to godhood. However, he was "counter-killed" by Herzog and buried at sea...

But now it seems that Bondarev deliberately sank the "Lenin" he was on into the sea in order to search for and monitor the Takama-ga-hara ruins deep in the sea and the burial place where the remains of the gods were buried.

Many years later, he successfully unlocked the seal of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi in the Takama-ga-hara ruins, dug out the remains of the gods from the burial place of the gods, and used the methods he had researched over many years to use the remains of the gods to rule over the dead and create "heroic spirits."

The imminent attack by the Heroic Spirits now seemed to Herzog like a high-profile light show, with Bondarev's two best works dancing a performative waltz or ländler on a grand stage that attracted the attention of all of Tokyo.

Herzog seemed to see the fox-like man smiling at him elegantly, yet with a hint of sarcasm, saying:

Look, Herzog, my old friend, I don't have to constantly intervene and control the situation like you do, racking my brains to manage such a huge and bloated organization of two mixed-race people, playing the role of rivals and fighting each other. I have laid all my actions on the stage, but you can only watch my plans unfold step by step, feeling powerless, furious, and helpless.

Because absolute power determines everything.

After venting his anger, Herzog suddenly shuddered, and fear gradually emerged from his heart and covered his face.

Heroic Spirit...transformed into spirit form...

Herzog swallowed subconsciously and looked around at the somewhat empty research facility.

He felt as if there was a heroic spirit that could not be seen with the naked eye, staring at him silently in a dark corner. If he relaxed, the spirit would come out and assassinate him the next moment.

This feeling of fear may not completely disappear until you fall asleep.

Chapter 157: The monster will one day be killed by the hero of justice

After a while, Herzog finally forced himself to suppress the cold chill that made his teeth chatter subconsciously. He kept trying to remind himself that the place in front of him - his lair had not been exposed, otherwise Bondarev would have ordered the heroes to kill him long ago.

What made Herzog feel even more frightened was that there was a huge gap between the information the other party had and what he had.

Before, when Emiya approached Genjiro to plan an investigation against Aoiya, Herzog arranged for people to secretly replace the head of Aoiya, cut off business ties with South America, and modified some information in the database.

Because Aoiya Daihou is a trading agent of "Masamune Tachibana", she is responsible for trading people on behalf of Masamune Tachibana and the South American gang "Neo the Boar" to supplement the experimental subjects for Deadpool's training experiment, so according to the records, Neo the Boar's client must be Masamune Tachibana.

When Yuan Zhisheng really finds out this, how can he keep his position as the head of the family?

Therefore, the words "Tachibana Masamune" in the transaction records must not be left at all and must be changed completely.

So, while the investigation team led by Emiya, Minamoto no Chisei and others had not yet arrived, Herzog had already arranged for people to change the information to "Bondarev". In this way, not only did he get himself out of the way, but Minamoto no Chisei would also definitely focus on investigating the Bondarev with a very eye-catching name.

However, all these plans were ruined by the "Heroic Spirit Attack" incident.

The database, painstakingly constructed through the secret manipulation of information, was annihilated by the Heroic Spirit's attack. The operation against Bondarev was aborted before it even began.

"..."

Faced with the powerful weapon of the Heroic Spirit, Herzog fell into a state of confusion for the first time in a long time.

It is not afraid of physical attacks, appears and disappears without a trace, and its combat power is so strong that it surpasses the emperor. It is simply an intelligence reconnaissance + assassination artifact.

Even if Bondarev had mastered the Divine Corpse and used the White King's authority to develop Heroic Spirit technology to this point...how had Bondarev done it? Could he be a Dragon King with superb alchemical skills?

Even if Bondarev really was the Dragon King, wouldn't it be better to just devour the divine remains after digging them out? The Dragon King wasn't human, so he didn't need to explore the illusory path to godhood that only humans took.

Herzog wore a scowl and a mask of pain, but he was puzzled.

In fact, when it comes to a heroic spirit that has the dual identities of a skilled warrior and a deceased person, plus his identity as the Dragon King, it stands to reason that the first person that comes to mind is "Odin".

But the question arises again. Odin was killed on the spot by Emiya on the Shenzhou battlefield, and many people witnessed it... And even if the intelligence was wrong and Odin was not dead, would the Dragon King be willing to lose face and not only play against Emiya in person, but also run to Black Swan Port and spend time to play a double act with him, a human scientist?

In addition, Bondarev possessed the Heroic Spirit technology but chose not to hide it, but instead displayed it in a high-profile manner, just like a certain regime deliberately announced to the world that it possessed nuclear weapons through a successful nuclear test.

As we all know, the deterrent value of nuclear weapons themselves is greater than their actual use value.

In other words, Bondarev's goal is not to possess the Heroic Spirit technology, but to demonstrate what is hidden behind this "Heroic Spirit deterrence"?

Of course, Herzog still remembers Bondarev, who once promised him an ambitious blueprint of "walking the path to godhood" and "sharing the world", but since the other party tried every means to use him as a pawn in his plan, these original promises may just be misleading rhetoric to cover up his true goals.

Herzog seemed to see the layers of fog that were originally wrapped around Bondarev. Not only did it not fade with the development of recent events, but it gradually deepened as more and more information was revealed, making it increasingly unpredictable.

----

Eri was watching TV obediently in Emiya's residence.

Speaking of which, she finally got to watch something other than cartoons this time. This wasn't boring at all for Eri, it was even something she could celebrate.

At Sheqi Eight, most of the works she watched had been deliberately screened by the "monitoring team." Otherwise, she would have switched channels to watch some NHK documentaries to learn about the outside world.

What is being replayed on the big TV screen in the Emiya family's living room is the famous special effects film "Ultraman Tiga", which is not only an original special effects film but also one of the concentrations of famous Ultraman memes.

There are a lot of memes in it, such as the human form of Daigo and Tiga being called the "Crash & Broken Horns Duo"; Tiga's powerful red form is also called Daigo's Happy Type, and there is no monster that the Happy Type can't kill; "That year, we all became light", etc...

In fact, the filming technology of this film itself is limited due to the limitations of the times and its expressiveness is limited. Looking back at it from today's perspective, without the filter of "childhood memories", most of the time we can only see the clumsy fighting scenes between Tiga and the monsters.

This is also what Eri saw.

She blinked her eyes, but her gaze was fixed on the TV screen, as if she could see something from the movie.

Because what Eri is concerned about is not Tiga, who is on the side of the righteous hero, but the monster that is destined to be killed.

Eri stared at the monster, and the memory of herself out of control like a monster in the past gradually overflowed from the bottom of her heart and appeared before her eyes.

Her ability is the extremely dangerous Word Spirit Sequence No. 111: Judgment... Well, Eri actually doesn't understand Word Spirit Studies or the Word Spirit Sequence Table, but she has always had a clear understanding of the danger she is in.

Once this ability is activated, all life within the area will perish completely in various ways. Whether killed by pieces of paper or ice, it will not change the outcome of death.

She couldn't even control this extremely dangerous word spirit. Once Eri tried to speak, she would emit dragon words that would cause death. In the end, Eri chose to keep silent and replaced her daily conversations with writing in her notebook.

What's even more frightening is that her condition is not stable.

Eri remembered that every time she used her ability, after a while, those dark veins would spread along her white limbs under the skin, and fine white scales would grow on her wrists and ankles.

The next symptom was that she began to gradually become drowsy, as if she was hallucinating and was about to be taken over by the poisonous blackness and fall into the abyss of loss of control... When she could no longer control herself, Eri gritted her teeth and scratched herself all over, using the terrible pain to keep herself awake.

It wasn't until her family injected her with some medicine that she finally returned to normal.

Eri's eyes dimmed slightly. One day, she would slowly turn into the monster on TV.

[Yes, you are a monster, and monsters will be killed by heroes of justice one day.]

A creepy voice with an unfamiliar tone quietly rang in her ears, and Eri stood up nimbly from the small soft chair. She suddenly changed from the state of a sad and sorrowful child back to the cold and murderous contemporary Tsukuyomi of the Snake Eight Clan.

Eri raised her arm and cast her gaze towards the shadows gathered in the corner not far from the room. The wriggling darkness curled up in the tiny space, but it seemed as if there was an unfathomable existence staring straight at her.

It’s this thing again... Can this thing actually talk?

Eiry was confused for a second or two, but the next moment she took two steps closer, picked up a hairpin and reached out to the corner. She decided to destroy it without thinking.

"Are you still planning to abuse your abilities? Look at what you look like, monster."

Eri's eyes suddenly widened. On her slender arms, a few sparse black veins had appeared at some point. Normally, they were hard to notice, but when she opened her eyes and took a closer look, these black veins were as conspicuous as linear flaws on a white jade.

Memories of the moment when control was lost came flooding back.

Eri instantly felt uneasy. The lofty ambition she had felt when she ran away from home vanished completely at that moment. She was afraid—afraid that she would become an uncontrollable monster again, afraid that she would accidentally hurt Emiya and his friends, who she had been spending the past few days enjoying each other...

Otherwise, let’s go home, back to that cage-like home.

[Little monster... do you want to be free? ]

The black shadow whispered as it moved. The next second, it took advantage of Eri's distraction to suddenly invade the daylight and expand in the room, turning the entire scene into darkness!

[How pitiful! Let me help you.]

But before Eiry could react, the darkness in front of her eyes disappeared in an instant, and the room became bright. The gentle light from the outside world still seeped in invisibly through the window. Everything that just happened seemed like an illusion.

Confused, Eri subconsciously raised her arm, only to find that the skin on it was still as smooth as jade, and there was no trace of the black blemishes at all.

Chapter 158: Stand still and make money!

A waiter at the high-end private club, Tamamonomae, opened a bottle of Hennessy Richard Brandy for Emiya and poured him a glass with expert, steady movements. Several empty glasses sat across from him, seemingly silently awaiting guests. The soft cushions of the sofa Emiya sat on, illuminated by the crystal chandelier, gave the decor a palatial, golden sheen.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Tamamonomae's top-floor box is so quiet. That's because the waiter knows that Emiya doesn't like dazzling and noisy scenes. Otherwise, the VIP in front of him could have waved and called in seventeen or eighteen beautiful girls in loose kimonos that were half-covered and half-exposed, to come in and massage his shoulders and legs and serve him tea and water.

Emiya's eyes ignored the extravagance and luxury that was within his reach. He turned his head to look at the dark and gloomy sky outside the window. It was just approaching dusk, but the sky outside was no different from night.

He always felt that something bad was happening.

Emiya quickly glanced at his cell phone and told his family that he was meeting guests outside and might be back late. It turned out that Gen Chisei invited him to stay for dinner as a thank you.

Eri replied to the message almost immediately, saying that she had finished watching several episodes of "Ultraman Tiga" and Hayao Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle", and then waited for her sister Xia Mi to come home and was busy cooking in the kitchen.

Emiya typed a few more lines of text suspiciously to ask Xia Mi, wondering if this little assistant's cooking skills were good enough.

Xia Mi quickly replied with an unhappy emoji, saying that her cooking skills were no match for Chef Emiya's! She could only buy two groceries outside of her part-time job and make a few home-cooked meals to make ends meet, ensuring that she and Eri would not starve.

Emiya felt like Xia Mi was being sarcastic with her tone. After a moment's thought, he typed out a line of words: "If the food is good, I'll give you a certain amount of room and board to offset it. The more satisfied Eri is, the higher the discount will be!"

Xia Mi, who had originally had a bit of a temper, immediately cowered in obedience, as if bent by the torture of life. Her words and attitude changed in an instant, and she obediently replied in a courteous tone: "Yes, sir!"

Then Emiya took another look at Nono's "daily report"... It was more like a bunch of diaries and miscellaneous mumblings than a report.

Nono first talked about how Miss Eri's daily life was like a fairy tale, with everything provided for her. Apart from the lack of freedom, all she had to do every day was watch TV and play games. It was like the young lady was being treated like a nerd!

And it seemed like every once in a while, she could even go to various Michelin three-star restaurants for a quick meal. According to the little notebook Eri left behind, she called those restaurants canteens.

After reading it, Emiya leaned back on the sofa and took a deep breath. Only a young lady like Eri, who lacks common sense, would think and view things this way, considering a Michelin three-star hotel as a canteen.

I hope that Master Xia Mi's craftsmanship can smoothly get Eri a high score.

Nono added, "Eri is under strict surveillance. She's basically forbidden from going anywhere, even within the family. But it doesn't matter. I can have Melyuchina search floor by floor. I believe it won't be long before we uncover their carefully hidden secrets."

Emiya didn't have much advice to offer, except to give a daily reminder: "Be careful and don't get caught."

Then he quickly put away his phone. The door of the box opened gently, and the scent of sandalwood lingering between the gilded and silver-inlaid screens was dispelled. A beautiful woman in a kimono with double cherry blossom patterns and the phoenix family crest on her clothes came in slowly.

"Sorry, Mr. Emiya, I kept you waiting."

"What do you call it?"

"The head of the Sakurai family, Nanami Sakurai, just call me by my last name." Nanami Sakurai did not sit in the seat opposite far away from Emiya, but sat next to Emiya. It seemed that the seats opposite were reserved for other guests.

"Sakurai family, Minamoto family? What's your relationship?"

Sakurai Nanami raised her brandy and clinked glasses with Emiya. "You can think of it as us being the lower family, and the young master's Minamoto family being the upper family. Although the Sakurai family is active in the business world and adept at manipulating and profiteering, the Minamoto family holds a higher status than the rest of us. It's like the relationship between retainers and lords in feudal times."

Emiya nodded. He automatically understood the relationship between the Tono family and several branch families of the Kugamine. This family business model similar to the branch family of the main family is quite common.

"It seems that Yuan Zhisheng doesn't have time to come over for a drink today?"

"Well, the young master is overwhelmed by today's affairs, and most of the people in the family are busy dealing with the aftermath and cleaning up the mess," Sakurai Nanami picked up the bottle and refilled Emiya's glass personally.

"So, Mr. Emiya, please forgive me for not being able to attend the meeting in person to express my gratitude... In any case, Emiya Dai helped repel the attack from our nemesis, the Oni Clan, which was equivalent to saving your life. Please accept this small gift."

Sakurai Nanami pulled a document from the crocodile leather bag tucked under her arm. Emiya glanced at it and was surprised to find the "Shinjuku Ward xx Land Registration Book Transcript." This thing was equivalent to a "property certificate," and the land area marked included several streets...

What the hell? It was just a fight, and you just gave away the deeds to several streets?

"Mr. Emiya, you misunderstood. These plots of land are actually located where today's battle took place. As you know, since the buildings were almost completely destroyed, they were essentially empty land, and their commercial value had severely declined. Therefore, the family purchased this land from the original owner at a low price."