Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes

Through clandestine channels, five men identified as Scorpios and five as Taureans, all of whom were either implicated in murders or at least had been assigned to commit murders, were swiftly gathered from various shadowy areas within the state like livestock awaiting slaughter.

They were tightly bound, gagged, and stuffed into a specially modified van.

Late at night, it was still that ghostly lake surrounded by cypress trees and shrouded in mist.

Tom remotely controlled the modified truck to its limit, and the heavy truck plunged headlong into the dark, icy lake, sinking rapidly and leaving only bubbling bubbles and spreading ripples.

Ethan's figure quietly appeared on the branch of a huge cypress tree not far away. As he went underwater, the desperate lives struggling inside the carriage suffocated and drowned.

He silently felt the little bit of growth he was gaining.

As the last trace of growth returned to his body, his brow furrowed slightly.

The experimental results were not ideal.

The growth feedback from ordering Tom to sacrifice these ten lives was negligible, less than the improvement he gained two days ago when he personally drained those three guys dry.

"Wasn't the method cruel enough?" Ethan muttered to himself. "Just drowning and suffocation, that's still not cruel enough."

But this raises another question: is the so-called cruelty the perpetrator's feeling, or the degree of despair experienced by the victim?

Or does it require some kind of approval?

For example, it may satisfy a certain threshold of bystanders, thereby achieving social and moral condemnation.

However, these are minor matters that can be verified and adjusted little by little. At least for now, his Immortality Foundation has taken the first step.

That's his greed.

They used the lure of immortality to form secret societies, weaving a vast network that covered the entire American money and power pyramid.

He believes, and must believe, that he absolutely can do it; this is narcissism.

He could fulfill all three requirements for growth through his vampire identity, which propelled him step by step to become the uncrowned king of America.

On the shore, Tom's kneeling prayers continued, and the surface of Ghost Lake gradually returned to its deathly stillness, as if the swallowing had never happened.

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045: Passionate as Fire

04.5: Passionate as Fire

(This chapter is free, please vote!)

"Welcome to America! Trust me, you'll love this warm and welcoming country!"

At Andrews Air Force Base, the President addressed Hirosue Eri, who had traveled from afar.

He was followed by a large group of high-ranking officials and tycoons, all with bright smiles on their faces.

It proves the saying: once you have power, everyone around you will be a good person.

Hirosue Eri was still not quite used to such a large crowd, with her as the center of attention. She gave a few slightly awkward greetings and then got into the car that was picking her up.

Those important figures clearly did their homework beforehand and knew Eri's general personality, so they certainly weren't angry.

As long as there is profit to be made, they can easily put their arms around their father's killer and chat happily. Besides, their purpose in coming here today is nothing more than to make an acquaintance.

And it was precisely because they knew Eri's personality in advance that they did not allow the younger generation to accompany them to pick her up at the airport, but instead spent a considerable sum to arrange it at Blair Palace, with thirty-six ages and seventy-two genders, just to see which one Eri preferred.

I heard that a tycoon thought that Hirosue Eri had awakened a plant-type ability and might be a plant-sexual, so he made his son learn how to be a Japanese ivy, and put him there under the sun every day to play the role of a climbing vine. He even changed his gender to that of a vine, and as a result, he almost died of heatstroke.

Luckily, a rainstorm saved them.

Although the president disliked so many different genders, he turned a blind eye to it.

Any strategy that can get Eri to stay in America willingly is a good one.

Although he knew that the chances of such success were extremely slim.

After watching Eri get into her car, the President didn't immediately get into his own. Instead, he gave Leon a big, exaggerated hug and then patted him hard on the shoulder.

"You've worked hard, welcome back, Leon, my great hero!"

The president laughed heartily.

“I only did my little bit of work. The real hero is you behind the scenes, guiding our work in the right direction like a ‘father’.”

Leon looked terrified, his eyes glazed over as if the sun had blinded him.

Many people inwardly gasped for breath.

You've improved your skills a lot in just two or three months since you left Amei.

No wonder you can't open your eyes; you really can't say those words once you open them.

The Grand Commander was very satisfied with Leon's attitude and did not develop any inappropriate thoughts after coming into contact with the extraordinary.

He truly deserves the title of a great general he has chosen!

The location wasn't right, so the president only exchanged a few pleasantries with him before getting into the car.

Leon will definitely have to give a briefing to the President on the matter.

"I won't attend any cocktail parties or social events."

Seeing Leon get into the car, Eri suddenly said something.

“Of course, that’s your right. My job is to do my best to meet your needs,” Leon said casually.

After leaving Japan, he felt much better, finally free from those heavy official duties.

He has now outsourced most of the work to two workaholics, Tatsumi Taira and Himeko Minamoto. He only needs to be in charge of the most critical authority. The Japanese Prime Minister is currently overwhelmed and in a precarious situation, and has no time to think about seizing power from the Extraordinary Measures Department.

Instead, he hoped that the president would lend a helping hand, at least giving him more time to deal with the domestic crisis.

Although his departure from office was inevitable, leaving behind such a mess would have a significant impact on the entire party.

Hearing Leon's affirmative answer, Eri nodded and said nothing more, gazing absently at the scene flashing past the window.

Perhaps because she was a bit far from the divine flower, she felt that her abilities were slightly unstable and that connecting with it was quite difficult.

But this is America, not Japan, which is plagued by supernatural events, so there shouldn't be any events that require her intervention, right?

Some time ago, she walked around the surviving forests around Mount Fuji. Unfortunately, although she had a general idea of ​​the location, once she got there, she couldn't aim accurately at all, and it made her feel even worse.

After doing this for a while, she took the opportunity to accelerate the growth of some forests that were still salvageable.

It was this action that surprised her to discover that the traces of her being eroded by the power of the divine flower had actually faded a little.

Even though it was just a tiny bit, it was enough to surprise her.

But just as she put in extra effort to revive a forest, the erosion marks actually returned because she used the power of the divine flower, making all her efforts futile.

However, she did manage to grasp a little bit of the logic.

That is, under the influence of the divine flower's power, she actually has her own "blue bar".

However, this blue bar isn't very useful; it's extremely limited and looks like a small water ladle. The advantage is that using the energy from this small water ladle produces almost no corrosion.

The power of the divine flower is like a large lake. Its advantage is that it can be used to its fullest extent. Even if it is used to the point of exhaustion and mental exhaustion, the water in the lake will not dry up.

However, its drawback is also obvious: it can be eroded and assimilated by the power of the divine flower.

So she began to speculate that the erosion would only be slightly alleviated when she slowly nourished the forest with her own blue energy, relieving its suffering and fulfilling its needs.

She thought it, she did it, and then she found that it was indeed true.

Overjoyed, she almost canceled her trip to Ame (America) and decided to focus on planting trees, celebrating Arbor Day every day.

In less than a week, the extent of the erosion was already visible to the naked eye.

However, perhaps because the forest was relieved and the culprit Ashiya Dōman was eliminated, although the forest was still resonating with pain, no matter how many trees she planted, she could not stop the erosion.

So they decided to come to Ami to see if they could find a way to alleviate the erosion here.

The motorcade arrived at the White House first. After some conversations with the President and his side to build rapport, Yingli received gifts from the President, such as honorary citizenship, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a large number of properties donated by conglomerates.

Eri wasn't particularly interested in this, but she still managed to give it a perfunctory response before having lunch.

After the meal, the president warmly invited Yingli to stay in a White House guest room, but Yingli refused without hesitation, saying that she would feel uncomfortable staying there.

The Grand President did not insist, and had Leon escort her to Blair Palace, which was diagonally across the street.

"When do we leave?" Eri felt much more at ease now that she was out of that hypocritical situation.

"Huh, let's set off?" Leon was a little confused.

They hadn't even entered the hotel yet.

“Yes, I’ve already decided where to go first.” Yingli opened a message that showed a massive wildfire in California, with large areas of forest destroyed and fires encroaching on residential areas.

"right here."

Leon twitched the corner of his mouth, feeling that going back home wouldn't be much better.

He had just gotten off the plane.

His eyes began scanning his surroundings, hoping to find a black guy to pull off a big heist. He'd fire a few shots randomly to see if he could get an administrative leave.

Unfortunately, no Black man dared to risk his life at the White House, which was under full martial law.

Even taking out a tissue would probably result in being shot eighteen times.

"How about we take a break first?"

"I am not tired."

"How about the 5 o'clock flight?"

"can."

Thank goodness, at least he has three hours to spare so he can take a nice bath. No, wait! With so little time, he still has to give an in-depth report to the President. There's absolutely no time left.

Chapter 262: Tokyo is Slightly Cool

"Today, the eruption of Mount Fuji is showing signs of slowing down. Joint analysis predicts a significant decrease in eruption activity within 72 hours. All citizens are advised to take precautions."

Intermittent broadcasts drifted through the closed doors and windows into every household.

It makes one briefly recall that more than half a month has passed since that world-shaking event.

Volcanic ash continues to erupt from the ruins of Mount Fuji, but there are signs that it is gradually subsiding.

The sky was pencil-colored, and someone was handing out origami cranes outside the window.

Those were folded by some children themselves, praying that this disaster would pass quickly.

When Uesugi Hitomi occasionally opens the door to retrieve supplies, she finds one or two animals quietly placed at her own doorstep, wondering which household has such leisure time.

"Ah!"

"I told you to wear more clothes, but you wouldn't listen."

The streets were sparsely populated. Apart from the official mandatory shifts for shoveling ash and collecting rations, most people wisely chose to stay indoors.

July should be the height of summer, with scorching sun, but now the sunlight is blocked by volcanic ash, and the temperature has plummeted to only ten degrees Celsius, mixed with an indescribable chill that seeps into the bones.

If this disaster had occurred in spring or autumn, Tokyo would probably have already been covered in black snow.

Currently, most official institutions in Tokyo have been temporarily relocated to Osaka.

Don't ask why we didn't go to Kyoto. The reason is that the damage caused by the Kyoto Titan is still being repaired. Even the main body of that skeleton is still there exposed to the elements. Only a part of it has been dismantled and transferred for research.

"Attention all citizens, satellite communications have been partially restored. You can use your own devices to contact others, or go to the distribution point to queue up and use a satellite phone."

"Power and internet access are expected to be restored in shifts the day after tomorrow. Damaged mobile phones can be purchased at the supplies distribution point."

Officials walked along the street broadcasting announcements over a loudspeaker, and the few people on the road began to discuss it, or even stopped the officials to ask them questions.

Upon hearing the news, many tightly closed windows were suddenly pushed open. After hearing it clearly and confirming its authenticity, long-lost joy, filled with anticipation, finally appeared on tired faces.

They were finally able to contact their relatives whom they had lost contact with for many days.

Of course, some people indifferently close their windows; they have no distant places to worry about.

Uesugi Hitomi also closed the window. In the instant she moved, a dark shadow, almost blending into the shadows, flashed into the room through the window crack.