Chapter 333: Hoshi Hits a Wall
After Vita spilled all the intel about "Sa," the expressions on Elysia and the others turned a bit strange.
Holy crap... according to you, you're 'Sa's' agent, but you just sold 'Sa' out completely?
You've really mastered the art of being a turncoat.
If that "Sa" knew what their agent was really like, they'd probably be filled with regret.
"I, Vita, have decided to join this united and loving family called Earth!" Vita said seriously, her face practically screaming the word "Loyalty."
"Elysia, she's all yours. When you're done 'playing' with her, I'll send her back," Kenji said, exasperated.
"Hey! This comes with a '7-Day No-Questions-Asked Return Policy'?" Vita couldn't help but complain.
"Of course it does." Kenji sealed Vita's powers. From now on, she was just a normal person.
"Don't worry, I'll have a good, long chat with this 'Female Su'♪," Elysia said, rubbing her hands together, slightly excited.
"Ahem... Elysia, it's better if you don't call Ms. Vita that," Su said helplessly.
It just... felt weird. So what if they looked a little alike? It had nothing to do with him.
"Ah, this... 'chat' you're talking about... is it a 'proper' one?" Vita asked, forcing a smile as she raised her hand.
"Very proper! Just a secret 'boudoir chat' between beautiful girls♪," Elysia said with a grin.
"Mother... is a beautiful girl," Little Shi pondered.
"Hmm-hmm♪? Does Little Shi have a different opinion?" Elysia smiled "gently."
If you don't answer correctly, I don't mind making your childhood a 'little more complete.' A 'parents' mixed doubles' beatdown... we can have that in this family.
Besides, the little guy is tough. He can handle a 'bamboo-strip stir-fry' (a beating).
"No..."
Little Shi shrank back, playing ostrich. I'm just a kid. I don't know anything. What opinion could I have?
"Let's go! Into the house with me♪!"
Elysia swept Vita up in a "princess carry" and carried her into the villa, ignoring how she squirmed.
Vita... Rita... Anyone with 'ta' in their name seems to have a 'fail' attribute.
Amen~
...
RUMBLE—
A heavy, massive body of water (a waterfall) smashed down, kicking up a mushroom cloud of mist. The "Death Falls" was known as one of Earth's three great waterfalls.
"Godfather, are there fish to eat here?"
Hoshi asked, puzzled. A waterfall this big... was really rare. If you got hit by that, wouldn't you be black and blue?
"There are. And they're very beautiful fish."
"The 'Shining Gourami'. They live in there. I've never had them," Kenji said with a smile. This was a "training ingredient" habitat Toriko had visited before entering the Gourmet World. He'd just brought the group here for fun.
"That waterfall in Fontaine is big, but it doesn't seem to have this kind of impact," Furina said.
This looked like... a "Little Boy" (atomic bomb) detonating.
Kenji held back a laugh. Japan really is still obsessed with 'Little Boy' and 'Fat Man'.
"So... we just charge right in?" Hoshi asked.
This bit of water... was nothing to a "pro" like her, who was blessed by multiple Paths. It couldn't stop her.
"Mhm," Kenji nodded.
"Here I f***ing come!"
Hoshi turned into a meteor and shot toward the Death Falls, with the unstoppable momentum of someone who wouldn't turn back until they hit a wall.
THUD!
Hoshi did, in fact, punch through the waterfall. But... she didn't enter the cave. She slammed directly into the hard cliff face.
This time, she really did become a "wall mural."
Hoshi was also baffled. Isn't it... supposed to be behind the waterfall? Why is it solid rock? She'd even miscalculated the force.
She had assumed the entire area behind the Death Falls was a cave.
Everyone: "..."
Looking at Hoshi, who was now embedded in the cliff, everyone was speechless. As expected of you. That was... truly a 'face-palm' move.
"I don't understand," Erii said, shaking her head, her long red hair swaying. She didn't quite get this "abstract human behavior."
"What is Hoshi doing? I feel like I'm growing a brain just trying to figure it out♪," Elysia said, covering her face. If she didn't grow a brain, she'd never understand.
"Elysia... it's better if you don't grow a brain," Kenji said earnestly.
"What do you mean♪?" Elysia frowned, sensing something was wrong.
"Because... if you grow a brain... it means your weight will increase," Kenji said with a serious, matter-of-fact expression.
Elysia: "♪♪♪♪♪♪"
"Pfft..."
Everyone else got it. Kenji, you really know how to talk. What a "sharp" angle. Aren't you afraid you won't be allowed in bed tonight?
Elysia opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.
In a way... Kenji was right. This was a "path she had never considered." Growing a brain... meant her weight would increase.
He wasn't wrong. Brains do have weight.
In the end, Elysia could only put her hands on her hips, glaring at him, puffed up like an angry pink pufferfish.
...
"You guys! Isn't anyone going to get me down?!" Hoshi had set off, all clean, and was coming back a "drowned chicken."
"Godfather! Didn't you say the...'Jade-Foot' (玉足) Fish was back there?!"
It's all rock! Am I supposed to chew on rocks?!
Kenji, stunned, retorted: "It's the 'Shining Gourami' (絲足)! Not 'Jade-Foot'!"
You've got 'Jade-Feet' on the brain!
"Same difference. 'Shining Jade-Foot Fish'. Got it," Hoshi said dismissively.
Kenji couldn't be bothered to correct her. He shook his head and smiled. "It is back there. But... there's only one entrance, a tunnel just a few meters wide."
Hoshi: "..."
Hoshi felt like she was shattering.
You didn't say so earlier! You just wanted to watch me make a fool of myself, didn't you?!
"Why didn't you say so!?"
"You didn't ask."
...Okay, true, she hadn't asked. But... was she just going to let it go?
"Forget it. Let's just go in."
"Open!"
Hoshi swung her baseball bat. The power of the Destruction Path surged, and she blasted the Death Falls apart with one hit.
"The hole is that small?"
Without the waterfall covering it, Hoshi saw the entrance... and the Hoshi-shaped crater right next to it.
No wonder I missed! The entrance was too small! It's not my fault!
After comforting herself with this, her heart felt... "balanced."
"This hole... looks man-made. It's too coincidental♪," Elysia said, using her "newly-grown" brain to analyze.
It was the only hole in the entire cliff face. It just felt... weird. The chances of it being natural were too small.
"Who knows? Maybe an ancient Nitro got bored and dug it," Kenji shrugged. Funny, I was thinking the same thing. It didn't look natural.
It was highly likely that in the distant past, a Nitro had dug this tunnel to allow the nutrients from the Morse Mountains to gather in the cave.
After confirming the location, no one else hit the wall.
Hoshi: ...Am I the only clown here?
Hoshi silently put on her Elation mask.
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