Chapter 89&90

Chapter 89: A Virtually Dissolved Team

One… two… three…

The clones emerged from the shadows of the young girl's bedroom. Their chilling smiles and bell-like laughter wove through the air, beating in sync with Louisa's heart, creating a nightmarish symphony. Overwhelming terror filled Louisa, paralyzing her as if she had no control over her own body.

Behind her, the warmth of a clone's presence pressed through her thin clothing, leaving her feeling even colder. One clone lightly placed a hand on Louisa's arm, guiding her as if taking a dangerous toy from a child. Slowly, it directed her gun-wielding arm downward, relieving her of the firearm without any resistance.

Louisa didn't put up any fight. She understood it was futile. Resistance could only work if there was a slim chance of survival; here, defiance would be nothing but reckless and meaningless.

"It seems you've accepted your defeat."

Tokisaki Kurumi took the gun from the clone, played with it for a moment, and then threw it into the shadows. "Miss Louisa, there's no need to be ashamed of surrendering without resistance. That's the smart choice."

"…"

"However, don't worry. I won't kill without reason. If you obey me, I promise you'll return home unharmed."

"…"

"Miss Louisa?"

"…"

"Alright, let go of Miss Louisa now. Can't you see she's terrified?"

Hearing this, the clone backed away with an innocent shrug. Without support, Louisa's knees buckled, and she collapsed to the floor. When the clone had clung to her, she'd been overwhelmed, as though coiled in a snake's embrace, unable to move. Any struggle would only tighten the hold.

Afterward, Kurumi waited several minutes for Louisa to regain her senses.

"Y-you're not going to kill me?" Louisa's voice trembled.

"As I said, as long as you're willing to cooperate, I won't kill you," Kurumi answered with a smile. "Unless forced, I prefer peaceful negotiation."

"Peaceful negotiation?" Louisa forced herself to suppress her terror. "Do you mean by hunting down our members and dismantling the team?"

"Oh, dear. It seems you're still a bit confused," Kurumi replied, bending down to lift Louisa's chin, locking eyes with her. "Have you forgotten? It was your team's assassins who first disrupted the peace, wasn't it?"

"…"

"Hehe, anything else to say?"

"N-no, nothing."

"Good. So, Miss Louisa, are you willing to work with me?"

"I don't really have a choice, do I?" Louisa took a deep breath. "What do you want to know?"

"The locations of Lucy Maud Montgomery, John Steinbeck, and H.P. Lovecraft."

Up to this point, Kurumi had already dealt with most of the eleven Ability-Users in the team. The first was James, who had foolishly sacrificed a "year of life." Then Edward, known as the "Black Cat of Rue Morgue." Following them were Nathaniel, the "Scarlet Letter," and Margaret, "Gone with the Wind," who'd taken more effort to subdue. Then there were Mark, the gunner, and Herman, the manager of the White Whale. Lastly, there was Louisa, known as "Little Women."

To summarize: four members sent against the Port Mafia and three who guarded the White Whale had already been taken down. Only three members, assigned to fight the Armed Detective Agency, and the team leader remained. Initially, Kurumi could have dealt with the trio targeting the Armed Detective Agency as well, but Louisa acted quickly, issuing an order to retreat after Edward was eliminated, which meant that when Kurumi arrived, they had already vanished.

However, Nathaniel and Margaret were engaged in combat with Ryunosuke Akutagawa at the time, and when Kurumi's clones arrived in overwhelming numbers, the duo, despite their deadly skills, were swiftly defeated.

As for Akutagawa, he had received news of Kurumi's betrayal of the Port Mafia, so when her clones appeared, he didn't continue to attack her; instead, he fought alongside the two team Ability-Users. It was futile, though. Between them, they managed to eliminate about thirty clones before ultimately being overpowered.

The enormous Ability creation, the White Whale, couldn't be concealed, and Louisa hadn't anticipated that Kurumi would infiltrate it so easily, resulting in the three Ability-Users on board being defeated as well.

However, none of those subdued were killed, apart from the unlucky James, who'd faced Koyo Ozaki. All those Kurumi defeated were simply knocked unconscious and thrown into the shadow realm, losing their mobility but not their lives.

After all, Kurumi wasn't naturally bloodthirsty, and few in the team were inherently evil enough to justify being killed. Keeping them alive could be useful later.

Louisa, however, was unaware of this and assumed everyone Kurumi captured had been killed. Fearful that Kurumi, in her killing frenzy, would continue to consume the team's remaining strength, Louisa ordered a retreat. But now, the White Whale's command center had been wiped out.

"What do you want me to do?"

"First, tell me the hiding places of the remaining three team members."

"You want me to betray my teammates? Impossible!"

"Of course, if you don't intend to talk, I can always use the Tenth Bullet to read your memory," Kurumi said with a wry smile. "You must know something about my Ability, right? I don't want to waste my time, so would you kindly cooperate?"

Louisa, initially agitated, immediately quieted down. Yes, she'd received information about Kurumi's abilities from the Rats in the House of the Dead, including the Tenth Bullet's capability.

Kurumi wasn't lying. Even if Louisa tried, she couldn't deceive Kurumi. Once she used the Tenth Bullet, all Louisa's memories and thoughts would be laid bare. Any attempt to deceive Kurumi would result in punishment.

As much as she wished to keep her teammates' secrets, Louisa had no choice in this scenario. The immense pressure and fear finally broke her.

"They're hiding in a warehouse at the Yokohama harbor," Louisa muttered, pursing her lips. "The exact address is on the third page of my dossier."

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Kurumi walked to the desk, picked up the stack of new operation plans, and flipped to the third page, where an address had been circled in red.

"Number Three, they're all yours."

"My turn at last?"

Clone Number Three accepted the dossier, mimicking an absent-minded push of imaginary glasses. "I'll bring them back. Expect good news from me."

"Don't get too comfortable; Lovecraft among them is particularly tricky."

"Of course. I'll be careful."

"Currently, around a hundred and fifty clones have completed their tasks and returned to the shadow space… Command a hundred to go out, keep fifty here."

"Understood."

Clone Number Three gave a slight bow and, holding the dossier, vanished into the shadows.

Louisa felt even more guilt-ridden. Even though Kurumi would've discovered her teammates' location regardless, she still felt she had betrayed them.

They'd arrived in Yokohama confidently to capture others, yet now she was the one caught.

"Well, that should take care of the team's members."

Kurumi righted a fallen chair, took a seat, and smiled at the dazed Louisa.

"Now, it's just the team leader left."

Chapter 90: Stand Down, Fitzgerald

Meanwhile, members of the Port Mafia and Armed Detective Agency encircled a man in a torn white suit Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, leader of The Guild. His suit was shredded and filled with scratches, yet his body remained unscathed, thanks to his supernatural resilience.

Learning that Tokisaki Kurumi's clones were ruthlessly hunting Guild members across Yokohama, Fitzgerald, unable to stand idle, left his ship The Moby Dick to join the hunt, targeting Kurumi's clones himself. Under the power of his ability, "The Great Fitzgerald," the spirit bullets of her clones couldn't penetrate his enhanced flesh. Encountering him meant they could only flee. In this short time, Fitzgerald alone had eliminated nearly fifty clones more than all other ability users in Yokohama combined.

However, his true objective was to find and eliminate Kurumi's original body, thus neutralizing the unpredictable variable she posed to his plans. But as all her clones looked identical, he ended up attacking any one he encountered. Though foreign, Fitzgerald ignored Japan's restrictions on combat, and the government had yet to respond giving both him and Kurumi free rein. As a result, the destruction he caused only added to the chaos in Yokohama.

As he hunted, he found himself cornered by the combined forces of the Port Mafia and Armed Detective Agency. In Fitzgerald's eyes, their goal was clear: to defend Yokohama by capturing him, the Guild leader. Inevitably, the battle erupted.

On the Mafia's side were Chuuya Nakahara, Koyo Ozaki, and Ogai Mori. From the Agency, Dazai Osamu, Miyazawa Kenji, and Yosano Akiko. Despite Fitzgerald's intact state after the intense skirmish, fatigue had begun to gnaw at him, whereas the others, though injured, fought cohesively and benefited from Yosano's healing ability, along with the tireless efforts of Elise and Golden Demon.

This was a battle of attrition a war Fitzgerald was destined to lose. His ability depended on consuming his wealth, and having spent much already hunting Kurumi, facing six ability users accelerated his expenses. If he were to go bankrupt, his ability would become useless, and he would be reduced to an ordinary man.

Realizing his predicament, Fitzgerald became defensive, his aggressive attacks dwindling as he sought ways to escape. Sensing an opportunity, Dazai called out, "Guild Leader, the situation is against you. Continuing this fight will only end in defeat."

"Oh? Don't tell me you expect me to surrender," Fitzgerald scoffed. "You may have me outnumbered, but capturing me won't be easy. Once I gather the rest of the Guild, you will undoubtedly fall."

"Do you understand the Guild's current state?" Dazai pressed. "With Tokisaki Kurumi hunting your members, half of your ability users are already gone. We should cease hostilities and face our mutual enemy together."

"Mutual enemy?" Fitzgerald frowned.

"I'm talking about that nightmare, Tokisaki Kurumi."

Fitzgerald looked at the Mafia members in surprise. "I thought she was allied with you, hunting Guild members on your orders."

"She's not," Chuuya clarified. "We're acting in self-defense. That nightmare isn't with us anymore; she has her own plans."

"What plans? And what does that have to do with us?"

"It's no secret. She intends to use her domain, City of Devouring Time, to drain the lifespan of Yokohama's citizens," Dazai explained.

Fitzgerald chuckled. "An ambitious plot, yet as far as I know, she has no reason to do this."

"You may not have the full picture," Dazai replied. He pulled a folded document from his coat and tossed it to Fitzgerald. "This is the most comprehensive information on Kurumi her abilities, her motives, and her goal of luring the Guild to Yokohama."

As he read the report, Fitzgerald's amusement shifted to shock. It detailed Kurumi's abilities, her goal of joining the Mafia, and her purpose for drawing the Guild into Yokohama. The meticulous report, along with the sincerity of the Mafia and Agency's cooperation, made Fitzgerald believe them.

While he didn't care for Yokohama's citizens, he had only one desire to protect his wife and daughter. Yet to fulfill his plan and obtain the Book from Atsushi Nakajima, Kurumi first had to be dealt with. With her removed, he could focus on his true objectives.

"Fine. A truce works in my favor," Fitzgerald agreed. "Until we eliminate Kurumi, we'll join forces."

"Thank you for cooperating, Mr. Fitzgerald," Dazai replied, a collective sigh of relief filling the air. Fitzgerald's pride had made Dazai doubtful he'd accept, but the businessman's pragmatism prevailed.

Now was their best chance to defeat Fitzgerald, but to stop Kurumi, they needed the strength of all four organizations working together.

"What do you need me to do?" Fitzgerald asked.

"We need information on every Guild member," Dazai requested.

"Even if it's a temporary alliance, I'm not sharing that without reason."

"Our theory is that Kurumi's targeting your Guild because one of your members can amplify abilities," Dazai replied. "With that power, she could extend the reach of City of Devouring Time across Yokohama."

"Impossible. We don't…" Fitzgerald started to deny, then paused, as if a thought struck him. "Perhaps you're right. We do have a member capable of enhancing abilities John Steinbeck."

He pulled out his damaged phone and called Louisa, hoping she could confirm Steinbeck's location. However, the voice that answered wasn't Louisa's.

"Hello, Fitzgerald," the slow, unsettling voice of Tokisaki Kurumi filled the line, chilling everyone's hearts.

The Moby Dick had fallen.

Fitzgerald's usually calm demeanor darkened. He'd considered the Moby Dick the safest place in Yokohama, impervious to any assault. Yet somehow, Kurumi had breached it.

"What did you do to Louisa?" he demanded coldly.

"Oh, don't worry. She's fine…for now."

"Boss, hurry—!" Louisa's voice came through, panicked and cut short, smothered by something.

Everyone knew what that meant: Kurumi had taken Louisa hostage.

Fitzgerald's mind raced. He didn't have many valuable Guild members, but Louisa was special both as a tactician and on a personal level. He couldn't abandon her.

"What do you want from me?" he asked, voice low.

"I'll find Steinbeck myself. What I need is for you to stall the Mafia and Detective Agency here," Kurumi answered.

"That's impossible," he replied. "I can't handle them all alone."

"Oh, with numbers, I've never lost," Kurumi purred.

Suddenly, fifty of her clones emerged from the shadows, encircling the Mafia and Agency members. Dazai's suspicions were realized: if Kurumi was no longer obstructing Fitzgerald, he had no reason to ally with them.

"Mr. Fitzgerald, if you help me stall the Detective Agency and Port Mafia while I capture Steinbeck, I guarantee Louisa's safety."

Fitzgerald's resolve wavered, his business instincts whispering that this was the more profitable choice.

"As a businessman, I trust you'll make the right decision," Kurumi's voice tempted, inching him toward a deadly choice.