Chapter 85: Yotsuya Miko's New Ability, The Police Encirclement
Even without Hyakume's reminder, Miko knew.
Even through such a thick metal door, she could still feel the powerful spiritual aura emanating from within.
Even the air was filled with thick golden particles, making Miko's vision a bit blurry.
This was the first time she had seen such a high density of spiritual power.
Even the pressure emitted by that Goat-Headed God in the shrine, which was aloof and hard to look at directly, paled in comparison to the scene before her.
However...
Looking at the two keyholes on the metal door, Miko frowned tightly.
"Is this... a mechanical lock?"
Yoru nodded lightly, took two steps forward, squatted down to observe the keyholes carefully, and said calmly.
"Mmhmm, it's a security lock that must be opened with two keys simultaneously. No electronic structure, purely mechanical."
Between electronic locks and mechanical locks, each had its own merits, and it was hard to say which was safer.
Using a mechanical lock was probably because the person in charge of the museum felt that a place storing ancient treasures should be tainted by modern technology as little as possible.
Quite particular.
"Can you open it? Don't you know how to pick locks?"
Hearing this, Yoru turned his head to look at Miko, shook his head with a dumbfounded smile.
"How is that possible? I know how to pick locks, but that's limited to residential security doors and the like. For a mechanical lock of this level, I might be able to try, but it would take at least four or five hours."
Hearing this, worry appeared in Miko's golden eyes.
"We don't have that much time. How about... come back next time?"
"There won't be a next time."
Yoru's tone was very calm, without any panic or anxiety.
"We triggered the alarm this time. Onimaru Kunitsuna will definitely be transferred immediately. After all, this is a handed-down famous sword of Sakura Prefecture. If it's lost, even the Mayor of Kyoto can't bear the responsibility."
"Then what should we do?"
Although silent, Miko knew time was passing second by second.
Time left for her and Yoru wasn't much.
"Hmm..."
Yoru pondered for a few seconds before speaking.
"Let your Hyakume concentrate and see if her vision can penetrate the metal outer layer directly to see the structure of the keyhole, then tell me."
"This...?"
Hearing this, Miko was a bit at a loss.
Could my Hyakume do such a thing?
She instinctively wanted to turn her head to ask Hyakume, but suddenly remembered Yoru saying she was Hyakume, and Hyakume was her.
After growing to thirteen eyes, Hyakume possessed enough power.
But power alone was useless.
The key was how to convert the "Power" inside Hyakume into "Ability" that could be displayed?
Miko recalled an analysis Rio made after becoming a spirit medium.
Soul Manifestation was the manifestation of the user's own soul and heart.
Whether it was her Hyakume or Rio's Hone-Onna, their appearance and abilities were somewhat related to the thoughts they had upon awakening.
Moreover, Rio had a speculation.
Not just at the time of initial birth.
Even if the Soul Manifestation was already formed, it would still be influenced by the spirit medium's own heart to a certain extent.
In other words.
As long as the Soul Manifestation devoured enough evil spirits and possessed enough power, coupled with the spirit medium's own thoughts, new abilities could be unlocked.
Now was the time to verify Rio's speculation.
"Phew..."
Miko exhaled a long breath, concentrating all her spirit on the two keyholes in front of her.
At this moment, she felt the world quiet down.
The flow of time seemed to stop at this moment.
The dark golden particles in the air slowly disappeared.
What entered her eyes and occupied Miko's entire field of vision were only the two keyholes on the metal door.
And Hyakume standing behind her slowly closed her left eye, hiding the Slaughtering Ghost's eyeball.
In the right eye socket, which was originally a pitch-black void, an eyeball shining with pale golden light, identical to Miko's eyes, gradually appeared.
"Open your eyes..."
Miko bit her silver teeth lightly and shouted in a low voice.
"Hyakume!"
Accompanying her low shout, Hyakume's golden yellow right eye formed completely, bursting with dazzling light.
"I see it."
Hyakume's voice was still as cool and soft, but in her eyes, the outer shell of the metal keyhole had disappeared. What her eyes could see was the precise and complex internal structure.
Hearing her answer, Miko finally breathed a sigh of relief. But immediately after, she noticed a new problem.
Hyakume could see and describe the internal structure of the mechanical lock with words, yes.
But verbal communication had limitations after all.
Miko herself didn't know how to pick locks, nor had she studied professional knowledge in this area. Hyakume, as her Soul Manifestation, naturally knew nothing about it either.
Within these few short minutes, could Yoru really open such a complex mechanical lock just by verbal communication?
Miko frowned tightly, a wondrous idea suddenly surfacing in her mind.
She turned to look at Hyakume: "The vision of all eyes on your body is interconnected, right?"
"Correct."
"Then can you dig out one eye and install it on Yoru so he can also see the internal structure of the keyhole?"
"No."
Hyakume shook her head, looking at Miko like she was looking at a fool.
"I am your Soul Manifestation. Even if I merge with a human, the object can only be you. Besides, he doesn't have extra holes on his body, right? Or do you want to put my eyeball in his nose?"
Miko couldn't refute.
How to refute?
Hyakume was her Soul Manifestation. Being able to say such words meant she also felt her own proposal was outrageous.
This was equivalent to dissing herself.
"However..."
Hyakume suddenly changed the subject.
"If my eyeball is installed on something that also belongs to 'Spirits', sharing vision is indeed possible."
Hearing this, Miko said thoughtfully.
"In other words..."
She and Hyakume looked at Yoru standing aside and spoke in unison.
"Ghost Hand."
"Oh, understood."
Hearing the words of one person and one spirit, Yoru wasn't surprised at all.
"Come out."
With his command, the Pale Ghost Hand, which had grown into an arm, appeared in mid-air.
"Become smaller."
Hearing Yoru's instruction, the Pale Ghost Hand raised its middle finger.
Of course, this wasn't expressing contempt.
It used the middle finger as a head, bent it slightly a few times as a nod, and quickly shrank to the size of a normal human arm.
"You have this ability too?"
Listening to Miko's slightly surprised tone, Yoru replied nonchalantly.
"Of course. Actually, it was originally this normal size. I just chose the volume most suitable for dealing with evil spirits without affecting agility."
Seeing Yoru's expression and demeanor, Miko couldn't help but sigh slightly.
Just as she thought.
Yoru probably guessed long ago that with Hyakume's current power, more abilities could be developed.
Including seeing through objects and sharing her eyeball with other spirit bodies to achieve the effect of shared vision.
Miko could roughly understand why Yoru didn't say it directly.
What was that saying again?
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
Yoru wouldn't teach her how to exorcise directly but would teach her how to comprehend it herself, thereby developing more abilities and becoming a qualified exorcist.
"Alright, let's start."
Hyakume dug out an eyeball from her wrist and installed it on the back of the Pale Ghost Hand.
Gaining an eye for the first time, the Pale Ghost Hand even seemed a bit jubilant, dancing twice in the air.
"That's enough, hurry up."
Hearing Yoru's scolding, the Pale Ghost Hand lowered its five fingers like an aggrieved puppy, nodded with its middle finger to show obedience, and slowly moved its palm forward, sticking it to the metal door.
Two streams of viscous black aura, almost substantial, extended from the fingertips of the Pale Ghost Hand and probed into the left and right keyholes respectively.
Miko was dumbfounded.
Condensation of evil spirit power can be used like this?
She originally thought Yoru would summon both Black and White Ghost Hands and use lock picks condensed from evil spirit power to open the two keyholes separately.
It seemed now.
Her imagination was too limited.
However...
Miko finally seemed to understand why, as a fellow spirit medium and exorcist, Yoru's adaptability and strength were so much higher than hers.
Soul Manifestation, in Rio's analysis, was an ability leaning more towards idealism than materialism.
She hadn't developed more abilities before purely because she was limited by her own imagination.
But normal people couldn't compare with Yoru.
This guy was a weirdo who tried to devour evil spirits the first time he awakened the "Sight."
And he actually ate them!
How could a normal person do such a thing?
....
Meanwhile, on a police vehicle.
"Drive faster!"
Soichiro Yagami, sitting in the passenger seat, urged the police officer driving. His square face was full of anxiety, and his heart was heavy.
Unexpectedly, something happened after all.
The Kyoto City Museum, storing the famous sword Onimaru Kunitsuna, was actually invaded openly by two mysterious people.
Even Soichiro Yagami, with decades of criminal investigation experience, had never seen such arrogant criminals.
Daring to target a famous sword of Onimaru Kunitsuna's level was secondary.
The key point was, hadn't they considered how to escape even if they stole Onimaru Kunitsuna?
At this moment, the police force had been fully mobilized. Not only the Kyoto City Museum, but even the surrounding streets were completely sealed off.
This was what was called "unable to fly even with wings."
Even so, Soichiro Yagami still had an ominous premonition.
From the surveillance footage sent back from the Kyoto City Museum, one of the intruders was dressed exactly like the mysterious person he saw inside the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten last time.
Whether it was the same person, it was hard to conclude now.
But if it was indeed the same person as the criminal code-named "Mask," and this time he had an extra companion....
Recalling the tall woman in white he saw that day, emitting a terrifying aura that made one shudder, Soichiro Yagami felt very heavy-hearted.
His thick eyebrows were locked tight. In his eyes behind the rectangular glasses, a very complicated look with hesitation appeared.
Finally, Soichiro Yagami made up his mind. He picked up the walkie-talkie, pressed the talk button, and spoke in a deep voice.
"Police Heavy Weapons Unit, all move out."
"Led by... Akoya Seishu."
A response came from the walkie-talkie.
"Understood, Commander Yagami."
Soichiro Yagami sighed heavily, watching the streets flashing by outside the window, not knowing if the decision he just made was right or wrong.
Akoya Seishu was the person with the strongest combat power in the Kyoto police, and even the entire Sakura Prefecture police force.
Height 191cm, weight 114kg.
Such a powerful physique could simply be called a human tank.
Coupled with the unrestricted combat style created after years of research based on police arrest techniques.
Akoya Seishu was undisputedly the strongest person in the police force.
But Soichiro Yagami didn't like him.
Rumors said Akoya Seishu often found criminals alone in his spare time and used lynching to beat them severely, or even to death.
However, because there was no clear evidence to prove this, and the high-level police officials had intentionally protected this strongest person in the force, even Soichiro Yagami as the Bureau Chief of Criminal Investigation couldn't restrain him.
In that meeting, he mentioned procedural justice and consequential justice.
In Soichiro Yagami's view, Akoya Seishu's actions were even more serious than that of "Mask."
At least, the kidnappers "Mask" killed back then were thugs holding guns with unstable mental states. For the safety of hostages, it was inevitable.
But Akoya Seishu disregarded the severity of the crime; as long as they were criminals, they were all the same in his eyes.
This guy was an extremely dangerous character.
If this incident didn't involve the famous sword Onimaru Kunitsuna, Soichiro Yagami really wouldn't want to dispatch a monster like Akoya Seishu.
....
On the other side, inside the Kyoto City Museum.
"Time's up."
The seven-minute limit calculated by Rio had reached zero.
Miko knew that in any second from now, the police force might adopt a frontal assault method and rush directly into the museum.
Her fair palms were sweating from nervousness.
"Just stay here."
Yoru gently held Miko's hand, then patted her head, acting like he was teasing a small animal.
Although her pretty face blushed, she didn't dodge, just muttered and complained.
"Really, coaxing me like a child."
Immediately after, Miko added softly.
"Be safe."
"Don't worry."
Yoru smiled and walked towards the outside of the long corridor. He waved his hand and said a very arrogant sentence in an extremely calm tone.
"Mere ordinary people from the police force are existences on a completely different level from me."
"This guy..."
Watching Yoru's back gradually moving away, Miko shook her head helplessly and murmured.
"He really is conceited about his strength."
...
When Yoru walked out of the corridor and returned to the main exhibition hall, he heard hurried footsteps from the corridor outside.
And the sound of gun bolts being pulled.
"Heavy Weapons Unit, huh..."
Yoru wasn't surprised by this.
His outfit this time was exactly the same as last time.
If Soichiro Yagami still sent those ordinary police members holding ordinary pistols and wearing only upper-body bulletproof vests, that would be extremely stupid.
A few seconds later.
Police SWAT teams wearing heavy full-body bulletproof armor, along with riot helmets, riot shields, armed to the teeth with a series of professional equipment, rushed in from several entrances of the main exhibition hall simultaneously.
Dark muzzles pointed at Yoru standing there.
"Freeze! Hands up!"
Facing the encirclement of more than ten SWAT members, Yoru just glanced around and spoke softly.
"Your Criminal Investigation Bureau Chief Soichiro Yagami didn't come this time?"
"I am here."
Accompanying this deep voice, Soichiro Yagami wearing a bulletproof vest appeared behind one of the SWAT teams.
Logically speaking, a high-level official like him didn't need to risk entering the scene directly.
But Soichiro Yagami had an ominous premonition in his heart.
Even if the entire police force was mobilized this time...
Could they really stop "Mask"?
Was the tall woman in white he saw last time a hallucination caused by the opponent's hypnosis technique...
Or did bizarre things unknown to ordinary people really exist in this world?
Soichiro Yagami's gaze first swept over the display case of the replica Onimaru Kunitsuna in the center of the exhibition hall.
Seeing the replica still lying quietly under the protection of bulletproof glass, he obviously breathed a sigh of relief.
Yoru noticed this subtle change in expression and thought this is an interesting detail.
Could it be...
Soichiro Yagami doesn't know that the Onimaru Kunitsuna placed in the display case is just a replica?
If it was deliberately feigned acting, it would be a bit too seamless.
Besides, what necessity did the other party have to do this?
"It really is you."
While Yoru was pondering, Soichiro Yagami looked straight into his eyes and spoke in a deep voice.
"Meeting for the second time. The commotion you caused this time is really no less than the last time."
Soichiro Yagami could confirm now.
The "Mask" in front of him was the one he saw in the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten last time.
That gaze, still waveless even facing gun muzzles, simply couldn't be possessed by an ordinary person.
"Bureau Chief Yagami, we meet again."
Yoru's voice, like his eyes, had no emotional fluctuation. He looked straight into Soichiro Yagami's eyes and spoke slowly.
"I told you back then, even if I stand still, I can kill all your subordinates. This time..."
Just as Soichiro Yagami thought that those arriving at the scene this time were fully armed SWAT members.
Even "Mask" couldn't be so calm and relaxed anymore.
He heard Yoru continue softly.
"I only need five seconds to kill everyone present."