Shin was genuinely surprised to receive a single assessment income of 1000 points. He stared incredulously at the corpse on the ground, wondering who this person was that was so "valuable."
However, his joy was short-lived as the ever-present system in his mind chimed in, "Congratulations on achieving a great accomplishment! We are also pleased to inform you that your debt has now been cleared."
A light screen popped up in front of Shin, showing his assessment points rapidly dropping from 1050 to 150.
"The rental fee for the Lord of Dawn's fantasy suit, collected every twenty days, has been received. Congratulations, Mr. Shin, you have paid off all your loans. You can rest easy for a long time now," the system said cheerfully.
Shin's eye twitched. The large sum of assessment points he had just gained was gone in an instant, and his heart ached. Still, he felt a sense of relief—debt-free and without the pressure of repayment for the next twenty days. The upcoming "assessment" in the One Piece world was unavoidable in a few days, but at least he wasn't burdened by debt.
Thinking this, he turned his head. Saki also turned her head, and their eyes met. Both showed strange expressions.
Yes, Saki had become Shin's "Praying Hand." While the monster and the hallucination-inducing entity hidden in the carriage were absent, Shin seized the opportunity to implant the seed of the Mental Subordination Machine into Saki's brain, transforming her into his Praying Hand.
Originally intended as a safety net for the worst-case scenario, he hadn't expected it to enable their successful counterattack. By implanting his mental seed, the system had recognized Saki as part of himself.
Currently, he wasn't "controlling" her entirely. To use the Praying Hand's body effectively, he needed to be inside the Mental Subordination Machine to establish a wide-ranging "mental network." However, the train carriage was too small for the machine. He could only attempt a "local network"
connection through sheer willpower when close enough, and he was surprised that it worked.
This feeling of dual control over a body was unpleasant. No wonder the system had warned him that excessive use of the Mental Subordination Machine could lead to brain damage for someone who tended to overthink.
Shin withdrew his mental intrusion from Saki's mind. Her expression instantly turned terrified, and she backed away several steps.
"Relax, I have zero interest in possessing a body like yours," Shin said calmly while putting on the full Lord of Dawn equipment.
The situation here was complicated, and the train was completely out of control. While he might have had a slight chance to stop the train if he stayed and studied how to operate it, he decided to flee.
There was too much trouble. A train explosion, two bodies inside, and, most importantly, the "Executive Bureau" mentioned by the enemies was likely on its way.
If he didn't leave, the trouble would be massive. Thankfully, the enemies had controlled the area with a hallucination ability. Since he hadn't bought a ticket for this "illegal train," the police's chances of tracking him down were slim. Even if they caught him, he didn't care; given the Japanese police's low efficiency, he'd likely already be in the One Piece world.
The runaway train carriage was still speeding forward. Shin stretched. The Far Caress he lost would take three days to regenerate, but he still had one shot in his right hand.
The train's speed was estimated to be at its maximum of 140 km/h. Jumping at that speed would be disastrous, so he needed some finesse.
"Come here and hold me, or do you want to be buried with this train?" Shin extended his hand toward Saki and said flatly.
Saki looked down at the headless corpse, then at the rapidly passing scenery outside the wrecked train. Her throat moved with difficulty, and she tremblingly extended her hand.
"You... you'll protect me, won't you?"
"Maybe. I can't give you a definitive guarantee." Shin grabbed Saki, embraced her waist tightly, and leaped.
The air rushing past their ears was like a sharp blade. The scenery in front of them was quickly reversing. Under the effects of inertia, it felt like they were flying. However, upon landing, he would have to endure the impact and friction of moving at 140 km/h.
"Far Caress"
A dark, viscous net grabbed the utility poles along the tracks. The inertia tore at the black net, like Spider-Man shooting webs at buildings while racing toward a destination.
Shin landed slowly and safely, holding onto the black net. He released Saki, whose cheeks were flushed, perhaps from shyness or the adrenaline rush.
"Is it okay to just leave the train like that?"
Saki fanned her hot cheeks and asked, looking at the half-car train speeding away in the distance.
"The railway management will find the issue. If you're worried, call someone... Where are we?" Shin removed the Lord of Dawn equipment, his expression twisted in pain.
"Still in Chiyoda Ward... We're near Hibiya,"
Saki quickly said, checking her phone's location. Shin nodded slightly. The fight hadn't taken long; life and death were decided in an instant.
He stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. Saki immediately helped him up. Shin was gasping for breath, his face pale as paper.
"Take me home, please," Shin said with difficulty.
Saki then noticed blood seeping from Shin's shoulder blades, quickly soaking his white undershirt.
"Shin-sama, what is this? I'll call 120 right away!"
A flustered Saki's first instinct was to open her phone, but Shin snatched it away, grinding his teeth and growling, "I said, take me home, now!!!"
"Eek, yes!!!"
Late at night, on the destroyed tracks, a cold, pale man in black clothes and wire-rimmed glasses, named Crow, squatted in front of the severely damaged half-car train carriage. He smacked his lips and spoke to a burly man in black nearby, named Yasha.
"It's been years since I've seen such a brazen and audacious person. Using high explosives to attack a train near Chiyoda Ward. Compared to this, Shoko Asahara was a saint."
"It wasn't a bomb, Crow. It was destruction caused by a energy" Yasha said, examining the wall of the destroyed carriage and shrugging. "It was a dust explosion, but it must have been combined with a powerful.
The two together completely tore off an entire carriage."
"Was it 'Emperor's Fire'?" Crow guessed.
"Who knows. If Young Master wanted to, he could tear a train to pieces without dust."
"This was an organized and disciplined assassination," a cold woman in a black suit with a high ponytail said softly from the other end of the train. "Only the target was killed. The one who was assassinated escaped. All surveillance cameras near Chiyoda Ward were destroyed. And more importantly, their cleanup was faster than ours."
"Who is important enough in Tokyo to warrant such an assassination?" Crow supported his chin, completely bewildered.
"If it were the Patriarchs, they wouldn't take a train. If it was an assassination of the Prime Minister, they wouldn't ride a train at 10 p.m. for a PR stunt."
"Don't overthink it. Just have people come clean up," Crow sighed. "The one who ran away, Young Master will deal with them.
Whether it was the target of the assassination or the extra person, Young Master will get an answer. Having to stop a runaway train in the middle of the night and deal with all this trouble... I haven't finished my fixed team's Zero-style run..."
In a dark room, all the curtains were drawn, and only the faintest, dimmest light remained. The living room was empty except for a sofa placed in all visual blind spots and a TV set at an angle skewed from the sofa. A pungent medicinal odor mixed with the metallic smell of blood permeated the sealed, dark room.
Shin was lying face down on the sofa. A gauze pad coated with ointment was placed on his back, from which the pungent, bloody medicinal smell emanated.
Saki, looking expressionless, walked over like a doll and gently lifted the gauze, revealing terrifying, deep wounds that reached the bone. The horrifying wounds were jagged, with internal injuries caused by barbs. To describe it crudely, it looked like sliced raw fish.
Saki sat down woodenly, took out a sharp scalpel, and began to treat the wound, slowly, as if performing torture. She cut away the necrotic dead flesh, applied ointment, and squeezed out pus, her movements gentle but slow. For a patient, this was nothing short of torment.
The wound treatment took nearly half an hour. The cut-off dead flesh was piled in a glass container, and blood flowed down his back. Throughout the process, Shin lay on the sofa without making a sound.
After applying the ointment, Saki awkwardly and slowly took a needle and thread. She pricked her fingers several times but continued stitching the two wounds with torturous slowness.
Until the final stitch was complete, the two ugly sewn wounds on his back looked like a pair of tightly closed eyes. Only then did Shin slowly open his eyes and let out a soft breath.
Treating his own wounds was difficult, especially having to control someone else's body to do it.
His most challenging injuries were not the suspected concussion or the minor internal organ displacement, but the wounds on his back caused by the Thousand-Man Wedges.
The Wedges implanted in his body granted him superhuman strength, but this power couldn't be stored long-term. Shin had exchanged for the Lord of Dawn's suit, not the Immovable Lord's. Not everyone could survive inserting these relics into their bodies.
Excessive power without solid bone and flesh support could easily become a fatal burden that would drag him down. The Thousand-Man Wedges did exactly that, granting him great power and an illusion of omnipotence, only for his body to collapse when he used that power excessively.
With just two Thousand-Man Wedges, Shin felt his body severely overloaded after the fight; his bones and muscles were screaming. He had to remove the two Wedges.
Even after removal, the Thousand-Man Wedges, shaped like torture devices, caused irreparable damage to his shoulder blades. Crucially, Shin couldn't go to a hospital right now.
He would not step out of this room until he was absolutely safe. In just over three days, he would be heading to the One Piece world. It might not be safe, but it was better than his current situation.
He exhaled softly and slowly snapped his fingers.
With the mental intrusion withdrawn, Saki's eyes regained clarity. She immediately shrank into the corner of the sofa, trembling.
"Let me go home, my mom will worry!" Saki cried.
"No, not for at least these three days," Shin said weakly. "You're involved in this. Even if you don't consider me, you're in danger. I don't want you to implicate me, Yoshida-san. You should listen to me."
"Then, then please don't control my mind, okay?" Saki looked at Shin tearfully, but a strange hint of excitement she didn't realize was in her eyes.
"I'll help you treat your wounds, and I'll listen to you. Please, don't control me anymore."
"I trust your loyalty, but I don't trust your brain," Shin said, speaking very harshly in a weak voice. "You don't know how to stitch wounds, and you don't know how to apply ointment. To put it bluntly, if I sent you out to buy medicine, you wouldn't know what to buy besides alcohol."
"That's so mean..." Saki pouted, her eyes watery and pitiful.
"In short, stay here for these three days. If you run out, even if you die at the door, I won't go out to save you."
Leaving his final words, Shin slowly closed his eyes.
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