[Announcement Regarding Public Safety Incidents in Ikebukuro and Surrounding Areas]
Following an urgent investigation by a joint expert team from Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the cause of the large-scale collective violence and abnormal physiological reaction incidents that occurred in Ikebukuro Sunshine City and its surrounding areas (affecting parts of Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Itabashi) has now been identified.
These incidents were caused by a new type of toxin, intentionally and premeditatedly released by the extremist organization [Japari Park], which possesses strong hallucinogenic and neuro-catalytic effects.
This toxin can cause victims to experience severe sensory and cognitive confusion, leading to targeted aggressive behavior. Investigations reveal that some victims experience hallucinations of "body transforming into animals" and adopt corresponding animal behavior patterns.
These incidents have resulted in significant casualties and property damage. As of the release of this announcement, the confirmed number of dead and missing, including initial military and police personnel on duty, exceeds one hundred.
Over a thousand people have suffered varying degrees of mental and physical trauma due to deep exposure to the toxin. Preliminary estimates indicate that property damage in the core affected area amounts to tens of billions of Japanese Yen.
Currently, professional teams are working tirelessly to clear residual toxins and disinfect the environment. The police are making every effort to apprehend members of the [Japari Park] organization, and related investigations are still underway.
Citizens are urged to remain vigilant, follow official updates, and refrain from believing or spreading rumors… Uika's lips curved into a nearly mocking arc, the screen's light flickering in her eyes like a silent sneer.
Nerve gas? Extremist organization?
Such misleading rhetoric could only deceive those who were only just learning of the incident. After all, the disaster didn't occur in some remote village, but in Ikebukuro! A bustling commercial district!
Before the spokesperson on the live news broadcast finished speaking, the tone of the screen suddenly shifted, melancholy abruptly replaced by abrupt passion.
"…However! In times of crisis, the light of humanity has never been extinguished! A civilian volunteer organization, upholding noble ideals, has stepped forward!"
"They are the Happiness and Relief Committee!"
The scene suddenly switched: on a chaotic street, a group of figures in uniform work clothes, white helmets, and red armbands were bravely clearing the disaster site. Among them, two energetic young people were assisting a citizen who was clearly only mildly beast-transformed, still lucid (and carefully selected by the camera).
Their movements were deliberately synchronized, and their faces were filled with standardized, almost uniformly trained, resolute and "warm" smiles.
"Disregarding their personal safety, they ventured into the core disaster area, guided panicked crowds, rescued trapped citizens, and made indelible and outstanding contributions to maintaining social order and protecting the lives and property of the public!"
"The members of the Happiness and Relief Committee have demonstrated the dedication and responsibility of modern society members through their actions!"
Stirring background music began, and the camera focused on a solemn and dignified middle-aged man in a pure white uniform.
He stood before a symbolic, newly cleared pile of rubble, his voice loud and highly infectious:
"Happiness is not charity; it is the duty of all members to strive for it together! For the stability of society, for everyone's happiness, we, the Happiness and Relief Committee, will fight to the very end!"
He raised his arm and shouted, his eyes filled with firm conviction and fanaticism.
"Happiness is duty! Happiness is duty!"
The slogans echoed through the camera into countless homes, carrying an imperceptible power of indoctrination.
The "hero's" anthem concluded, and the screen turned to the future. A massive 3D rendering unfolded—a more "glamorous," more "modern" Ikebukuro street rising from the ground than before.
"Post-disaster reconstruction is urgent! Under government leadership, led by the Teiai Group, and in conjunction with the Tsurumaki, Togawa, and Saotome conglomerates, the [Ikebukuro Rebirth Special Fund] has been jointly established!"
"The post-disaster reconstruction project will commence immediately! We hereby call on all citizens to actively participate in volunteer activities and work together to build a new home! The Happiness and Relief Committee will participate fully and provide its utmost support!"
Finally, the spokesperson's tone shifted to one of serious concern:
"Here, the police remind all citizens that remnants of the extremist organization [Japari Park] are still at large, and the dangerous neurotoxin they possess may still endanger public safety through contaminated water sources, food, and other means! Residents of Ikebukuro and surrounding areas must remain vigilant and refrain from drinking water or consuming food from unknown sources!"
The screen timely cut to the Teiai Group's logo and a prominent order hotline.
"To ensure the safety of citizens' drinking water, the Teiai Group is now providing 24-hour purified water delivery service! We are also launching 'Happiness Meal' special takeout, with fully traceable and guaranteed safe ingredients!"
"Furthermore, to comprehensively screen for potential health risks, Happiness and Relief Committee volunteers will soon conduct door-to-door visits to assess residents' health. Please remain calm, cooperate actively, and together safeguard the hard-won 'peace of mind' and 'happiness'!"
The news ended, and the screen plunged into brief darkness. Only the low hum of machinery and Takagi Naoko's cautious breathing remained in the apartment.
At this moment, she stood stiffly like a scolded elementary school student, one step diagonally behind Uika's chair, hands pressed against the seams of her pants, eyes fixed on her toes, not daring to breathe loudly.
In the entryway, the two searchers she had "bravely" dragged in still lay on the floor like broken sacks, unconscious.
Uika leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, her dog ears drooping weakly. Fatigue washed over her like a tide, almost drowning her.
The sheer volume of information, woven into an intricate web. The swift reaction and alliance of various conglomerates, and the suspicious organization named Happiness and Relief Committee making its debut.
A strong ominous feeling made her long for the figure who had once guided her spirit.
Just then—
Beep.
It was an extremely faint prompt, as if it sounded directly on her exhausted nerve endings.
Uika's eyes snapped open. On the screen, a pure black encrypted communication window silently popped up. There were no identifiers, only a line of cold white characters that she couldn't tear her eyes away from:
[All good here. How are things on your end?]
An indescribable warmth instantly dispelled all fatigue and gloom. Uika practically lunged at the keyboard, her fingers trembling slightly from excitement and weakness, but typing with astonishing speed.
She compressed and simplified all the organized information in the most efficient way, sending it through this re-established connection.
A brief silence, only the cursor blinking steadily on the other end of the screen, like Fuuki's bottomless black eyes.
A few seconds later, new characters appeared:
[Understood. The Stand User behind the beast transformation origin has been dealt with. However, there seems to be a more complex organization behind him, as well as a certain insect-shaped Stand that parasitizes the mind…]
"Organization… parasitism…"
Uika subconsciously repeated these two words, her gaze suddenly turning to the two unconscious searchers on the floor.
A terrifying thought flashed through her mind.
'If these two are responsible for searching for people affected by "beast transformation," how do their instruments precisely locate targets?'
'Is there some connection between the organization behind the "beast transformation" incident and the Happiness and Relief Committee they belong to? Or rather, are they one and the same!'
'If so, then these two people are very likely to be parasitized by the same existence!'
"Takagi!"
"Present! Uika… Spider-sama!" Takagi Naoko jolted, reflexively straightening her back, nervously looking at this senior member of the organization whose face was almost identical to that of the rising idol.
"Disrupt those two's bodies! Use your Stand!" Uika pointed to the entryway, speaking rapidly.
"And don't let them make any sudden moves! Including unconscious twitches while comatose!"
"Understood!"
Although she didn't understand why at all, the gravity and commanding tone in Uika's voice left Takagi Naoko no room for hesitation. Her eyes narrowed, and she let out a low cry: "Maximum The Hormone!"
Buzz! The air seemed to vibrate. The bright blue, headless steam robot instantly materialized behind her, bringing with it a hot and violent aura.
It shook its arms, and two condensed, intensely suppressive vibration waves passed through the floor, instantly permeating the limbs of the two individuals on the ground, completely disrupting their hormone secretion.
Immediately after, Maximum The Hormone stepped forward and firmly clasped their necks with its mechanical arms, "pinning" them to the floor, while increasing the efficiency of Stand ability transmission.
Uika took a deep breath, forcing down the weakness surging from the depths of her spirit.
She stood up and walked to the two restrained searchers, looking down at them, silently reciting the name Fuuki had given her ability.
'Tokyo Teddybear.'
There were no magnificent lights and shadows, no shocking forms. Only countless extremely subtle, almost imperceptible scarlet threads, composed of pure spiritual energy, slowly seeped from her drooping fingertips as if alive.
These threads, finer than hair, shimmered with an ominous glow. They intertwined in mid-air, forming a mass of twisted red characters, creeping towards the two on the ground.
They were like the most agile probes, yet also like the most greedy roots, ignoring physical barriers, silently piercing the skin of the two individuals' back necks, spreading along the crevices of the spine, drilling towards the back of their consciousness!
"Uh… Ah…"
The two unconscious individuals suddenly trembled violently! Even under the firm suppression of Maximum The Hormone, expressions of extreme pain and fear instantly contorted their faces, their eyeballs rolling wildly beneath their closed eyelids, as if they were experiencing a terrifying nightmare from which they couldn't wake.
At this moment, Uika could clearly "see" that at the deepest level of their consciousness, at the connection between spirit and flesh, a dark red, metallic foreign object was tightly adhered, like two malicious insect eggs.
"Come out!" Uika gritted her teeth, squeezing the command through them.
The scarlet blood-characters transformed into mental scalpels, frantically cutting the adhesion between the foreign object and the host's spirit, while tightly wrapping around the dark red metallic insect body, fiercely dragging it outwards!
Hiss—tear—
A strange sound, as if tearing the soul, perceivable only by Stand Users, exploded!
Two thumb-sized, grotesque dark red metallic insects were forcibly dragged out from beneath the skin of the two searchers' back necks by the ropes made of blood-characters.
Their bodies gleamed with a cold metallic luster, their segmented limbs curled, their mouthparts were complex miniature interfaces, and their backs were covered with intricate patterns resembling circuit boards.
Now, unexpectedly detached from their hosts and enveloped by the blood-characters, isolated from external connection, the strange red glow circulating around the metallic insects rapidly dimmed, entering a complete "dormant" state, like two pieces of evil, high-tech artwork.
============
Sendai City, a certain obscure and peculiar town.
The members of [Wayward] had just finished a live performance on tour, swaggering off stage to the cheers of the audience in the Livehouse.
Although the main purpose of this tour was to avoid the fanatical animal lover who had defected from the organization, everyone still enjoyed the refreshing feeling of playing to their heart's content.
Kato, the only smoker in the band and the drummer, left through the back door and slipped into the alley behind the Livehouse, preparing to have a quick smoke.
Just as he was about to light a cigarette, a strange, cool sensation came from the back of his neck.
"Hmm~ losing two, huh…"
"Heh heh… So that's it. It seems someone has encountered a troublesome character."
Kato showed a subtle smile; things seemed to be developing in an even more perplexing direction.
"Although the so-called predetermined future is already set, it's still not right… I can't accept it at all!"
"This boring development—"
Buzz—
A flapping sound came from above the young man's head. A dark red metallic flying insect approached from afar, trailing a strange streak of color, and arrived before him.
Kato spat out the unlit cigarette from his mouth and took the dazzling object from between the flying insect's slender limbs.
It was none other than the meteor core, seized from Fudou Hayabusa, capable of shaking the predetermined future!
"Let me, let us, borrow it for a bit~"
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