Now under the rule of the Celestial World Government, this place is also known as "Academy City".
The tram speeds through the tunnel.
There was a whistling wind roar in my ears.
In the slightly crowded carriage of the Hanzomon Line train, the bodies of the passengers holding on to the handrails were gently swaying. A high school-age boy was staring at his mobile phone like other "head-downers" around him, and occasionally
He raised his head and looked around, and his eyes inadvertently swept across the car window in front of him.
In the dark tunnel, the bright interior lights of the car made the reflection of the car window glass particularly obvious, reflecting the appearance of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy. The figure under the black hoodie looked a bit thin and thin, and his face was pale as if he had been malnourished for a long time. However,
The facial features under the slightly long oblique bangs on the forehead are really eye-catching. No matter where he is placed, he can be called a handsome Tokyo guy.
Higashinohara glanced at the reflection on the car window, and his eyes drifted to the side, passing by a "couple" reflected on the car window glass.
The man was probably in his forties, and judging by his attire, he was probably at the level of a section leader or above in the company. Although he was bald on the forehead, he had the air of an elite in the workplace.
The girl next to her is much younger, in her twenties, with a simple appearance like a fledgling who has just entered the workplace. She is indeed very clinging to the middle-aged man in the crowded carriage.
This age gap...
Either a sugar daddy or an extramarital affair.
Love?
Sorry, New Tokyo doesn't believe in "tears".
...
The mobile phone camera is slightly raised,
Aim at the car window.
Focus...
Higashinohara taps the shooting virtual button on the screen.
The next second, without the usual flashes and clicking sounds, the picture was frozen on his screen.
It has to be said that the high-definition image of the custom-made mobile phone equipped in the detective agency is very clear even when taking pictures of the image reflected on the tram glass, and there is no flash or sound that cannot be turned off.
Higashinohara took several photos in a row, then calmly lowered his head and continued to be his tram "head-downer".
However, he sighed softly in his heart and looked helpless.
There's no way, it's not that Higashino has this hobby of secretly taking photos. In fact, everything is for life.
Living in Tokyo is not easy.
Even New Tokyo is the same.
Higashinohara's mind was somewhat helplessly reminded of the phone call he received half an hour ago when he was on duty as a part-time disciplinary committee member in this area after high school.
On the phone, the unscrupulous uncle who provided accommodation for him to study in New Tokyo shattered Higashinohara's "reservation" with just half a month's rent reduction, forcing him to accept this so-called "big deal."
And the detective agency that the unscrupulous uncle is currently running, which Higashinohara thinks may go bankrupt at any time, is currently receiving the biggest order, which is probably the investigation of extramarital affairs.
That's right, the middle-aged man who was secretly photographed on Higashinohara's cell phone just now is the hero of this extramarital affair investigation - his wife suspected that he was having an affair and entrusted the Aragaki Detective Agency to collect evidence that would be beneficial to the court divorce.
Coincidentally, the book is...
A week ago, this man also commissioned the Aragaki Detective Agency to investigate his wife. After getting the evidence, he looked at the different men cheating on his wife in the photos... as well as various interesting props that he had never seen before.
..
Crying is heartbreaking.
Unexpectedly, a week later, the protagonist became himself.
Higashinohara clicks to shoot again.
...
The speeding tram stopped at one stop after another, the doors opened and closed, people got on and others got off, and then roared into the seemingly endless dark tunnel.
Suddenly, the LCD screen that was playing an advertisement on the wall of the tram turned, and an image of a girl with messy hair appeared. Her clothes looked a little shabby and dirty, but the most eye-catching thing was her short silver-white hair and the sides of her head.
The pair of milky-white cat ears on the side look a bit like the short cat ears in the previous life.
If Higashinohara had just come to this world half a year ago, he might have doubted whether the two ears in front of him were fake ears, in order to cater to some LSP's strange cat-eared girl's xp system.
Now, he no longer has such doubts.
After spending half a year learning about the history of this world, Higashinohara guessed that this must be the cat-eared girl in front of him... Oh no, Catwoman, the Catwoman of the "Celestial Tribe". Judging from the pupils and appearance, she might be of bloodline.
Pure Catwoman - Most of her ancestors are the mixed-race offspring born from the intermarriage between "celestial beings" and humans when the Celestial World Government abolished apartheid policy more than 500 years ago to maintain its rule.
"Wow! Eighty million yen worth of jewelry stolen?"
"Catwoman is a Lynx, right?"
"Oh, I told you before, those heavenly beings don't have many good things."
"Hush! Keep your voice down! Be careful not to be overheard by the eyes and ears of the Judgment Department of the Heavenly Government."
"..."
Listening to the whispers of the passengers around the train, Higashinohara narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at the bulletin issued by the New Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
theft?
Wanted?
The narrator on the TV said that a private club jewelry and jade shop in Setagaya District, the 13th ward of New Tokyo, commonly known as the "rich area", was robbed.
He consciously led the Catwoman thief into the jewelry store on the fourth floor of his villa.
When he woke up, he discovered that he had lost jewelry worth at least 80 million yen.
The Metropolitan Police Department’s wanted notice also specifically reminds: Catwoman’s thief is likely to be a person with psychic abilities. Enthusiastic citizens who hope to cooperate in the arrest must be careful.
Ability person?
Higashinohara was not surprised when he heard this.
New Tokyo in this world is also known as "Academy City" in the country of Wano. It has four famous esper academies in the country, as well as a scientific research institute on the fruits of abilities. The city's ratio of escapists is second to none in the country.
It's embarrassing to say that the high school student named Higashinohara in this world is one of the "power users". He is a miserable second-level and first-level low-level ability user. His ability is called "Shadow Instant" speed ability.
, and currently he can only create one phantom out of thin air when using it with all his strength. It is said that when the ability is raised to the extreme, four super-speed real shadows can appear in formation during battle.
It's for the Instant Prison Shadow Killing Formation!
Well, although this sounds middle-class and domineering.
In fact, in the talent ability sequence of this world, [Shadow Instant] is a gray ordinary ability ranked 98th in the talent sequence number, which is still far behind the green excellent abilities ranked 72-36 in the world.
Even in actual battles, through acquired efforts to improve the strength level, you may be able to make up for some gaps in the ability sequence, but the gap with those blue high-risk abilities in the top 36-20 of the talent sequence numbers is difficult to make up.
And compared to the world's top purple epic ability owners and big pirates who are on one side of the continent or dominate the four seas, and whose talent serial numbers are among the top 20-10, Yunni is even more so.
The huge gap between them cannot be bridged by hard work and improvement.
As for the orange world-destroying abilities in the top ten talent sequences, they have never appeared in the historical text for more than a thousand years.
Higashinohara is currently in Stage 2 and Stage 1. There are nine levels and five stages of ability users. Those who reach the fourth level can be called superpowers, and those above the sixth level are one of the few absolute ability users in the world.
However, the serial number of an ability determines the initial value and upper limit of growth of the ability, that is, the highest level of ability that can be reached. For ability users with gray serial numbers like Higashinohara to improve their level, it is like climbing a steep mountain, one step at a time.
I don’t know how many ability users with lower talent serial numbers can only stay in the lower third level throughout their lives.
According to rumors, ability users with lower serial numbers want to counterattack. Unless the abilities they possess are growth-promoting abilities, they can achieve the extremely rare second awakening advancement by tapping the limits of their own abilities and break the shackles of the ability sequence.
Shackles - that is, promotion from a lower level ability of the same type to a higher level ability of the same type.
It is a pity that... examples of ability serial number advancement can be said to be very few in the thousands of years under the rule of the heavenly government. For most ordinary superpowers, it can basically be regarded as a "miracle".
Impossible event.
When Higashinohara came to this world half a year ago, he was in Stage 2 and Stage 1. After more than half a year, he was still in Stage 1 and Stage 2. If he fails to meet the academic test standards next year, he will not be able to repeat the grade for the third time and will most likely be expelled from the school.
Just thinking about it makes me dizzy.
It's completely inconsistent with the law of time travellers...
Alas, let’s settle half a month’s rent first...
...
After the train arrived at Jimbocho Station and got off, the middle-aged man sent the innocent-looking female subordinate home as expected. When they got downstairs, the two of them warmly invited her. They accepted her invitation half-heartedly, and then they went upstairs together in a tacit understanding.
Next to the vending machine downstairs, Higashinohara, who was looking up at this scene, was leaning there, holding a can of hot coffee in his hand and taking a sip, thinking in his mind when would be the appropriate time to go up and collect evidence according to the progress of a middle-aged man.
..
Unexpectedly, it didn't take long.
Under the dim yellow light in the corridor, there was a wave of shadows moving.
Huh? Coming out so soon?
Higashinohara had a strange expression on his face, and the next second he couldn't help but open his mouth slightly.
The cold wind of late autumn blows back and forth.
A figure of a middle-aged man with a bruised nose and swollen face, wearing only pink boxers, and a look of despair gradually emerged in the dim corridor, holding a baggy empty wallet in his hand.
On the stairs behind me, I could still vaguely hear the young man yelling and cursing, "You dare to molest my girlfriend," and "I'll let you go this time for the sake of compensation, so be careful!"
Ah this?
Good guy...what's going on?
Is it a fairy dance?
...
I am so silly!
real!
When Akiyoshi Takuto walked down the corridor and stepped on the ground for the last time, his mind went into a trance, and his body almost fell down, and he staggered towards the bus stop on the street.
I thought I would regain my youthful heartbeat, but I never expected that I would almost suffer a myocardial infarction.
The scene just upstairs comes to mind...
The innocent girl who was originally soft and weak suddenly seemed to change when a young man with yellow hair broke into the door to catch the rapist. The corners of her mouth rose up and she smiled sneer. From the corner of her eyes, she glanced at her embarrassed appearance squatting on the ground with her head in her hands...
In an instant, Akiyoshi Takuto's still-heated heart completely lost its final warmth.
What a sin!!!
...
After the bus stop sign.
Higashinohara stared at Akiyoshi Takuto, who had silently put on his clothes and buried his head between his knees, holding his head in his hands, with his sparse hair passing through the gaps - you can imagine what kind of "pain mask" that face would be.
What happened tonight may be the last straw and has completely crushed the middle-aged man. He must not be able to go home and continue to face his wife hypocritically to maintain a marriage that is already full of cracks.
After working hard and reaching middle age, one night I found myself with nowhere to go and no one to rely on...
It’s not easy being a man in New Tokyo!
Higashinohara had never been married in his previous life, and was still a high school student in this life. He only felt that it was a bit pitiful for middle-aged people to be played like this, but it was difficult to have any other empathy.
After all, they had been following him all night, and Higashinohara was weighing his wallet, considering whether to treat this miserable middle-aged man living on the street to a hot drink from the vending machine.
At this time, at the corner not far away, a bus drove past the corner with its yellow headlights on.
Bang Dang—!
A bottle of hot drink fell from the vending machine.
Well, the cheapest kind.
Higashinohara bent down to pick it up and was about to turn around.
He suddenly noticed a petite figure jumping out of the front door of the bus in front of the bus stop. The upper body was wearing a black hoodie similar to his own, and the lower body was short skirt, pantyhose and boots. It was a very ordinary Wano country.
Street girl dress up.
However, at this time,
Higashinohara's eyes suddenly condensed.
If he saw it correctly, in the night, he clearly saw a fleeting glimpse of short silver-white hair and a pair of short cat ears on the girl's head.
The next moment, the girl pulled up the big hood of her black hoodie.
At this time, under the bus stop sign with dull yellow street lights, there were only a middle-aged man sitting with his head in his hands and a petite girl who had just gotten off the bus - what Higashinohara saw just seemed to be just an illusion.
What situation is this?
He was having some doubts when he saw the petite girl under the stop sign suddenly leaning towards Akiyoshi Takuto.
Is it a special repertoire of street performances in Wano?
Higashinohara, who was holding coffee and hot drinks in his hands, was stunned for two seconds, and calmly took two steps back into the darkness behind him, preparing to wait and see what would happen.
When he thought about it, after tonight's stimulation, the middle-aged man probably wouldn't have much interest in women as creatures in the short term, right?
...
Under the bus stop sign.
Akiyoshi Takuto noticed the approaching footsteps, and just raised his head with a dejected look on his face, but his whole body was suddenly shaken, and he raised his head blankly, unable to look away again.
Ah this?!
Higashinohara was dumbfounded.
Are women really that fragrant?
But the next second, he noticed something was wrong.
Under the hood of the black hoodie, the girl's face could not be seen clearly, and a strange red glimmer could be seen vaguely flashing through - the middle-aged man who was sitting slumped in the chair immediately stood up like a puppet on strings.
Immediately afterwards, the girl turned around and walked towards the subway station.
The middle-aged man didn't say a word, and followed each other step by step like a man possessed, like acquaintances who knew each other - if it weren't for someone like Higashinohara who kept staring, it would be difficult for even a passerby to spot the two of them.
Human anomalies.
Staring at the backs of the two people,
Higashinohara frowned slightly.
Suddenly, for no apparent reason, he thought back to the wanted police officer he had just seen on the tram, and then thought about whether he had just been dazzled by the short silver-white hair and pointed ears...
And this somewhat strange scene before my eyes.
Could this be the Catwoman who committed the theft?
At this moment, the first thing that came to Higashinohara's mind was the amount of the wanted reward he saw on the train.
Informant:
After verification and arrest, the reward will be 400,000 yen.
You know, the monthly salary of office workers in New Tokyo is just over 300,000 yen.
The local rent ranges from 50,000 yen to 100,000 yen per month. The place where Higashinohara lives is cheaper, only 48,000 yen, and including living expenses, it is less than 150,000 yen per month.
It means that if he can help the people from the Metropolitan Police Department catch this catwoman, he can solve the problem of food, clothing, housing and transportation for more than two months, and occasionally he can go to a restaurant to have a toothpaste to improve his food.
Now the middle-aged man in front of me is miserable enough tonight, so even if Higashinohara is not interested in the bounty (well, this is indeed very exciting), he still has to act as an enthusiastic citizen.
He immediately and calmly took out his cell phone and dialed the police station's police number.
After hearing his description, the Metropolitan Police Department immediately paid attention to it and asked Dongye to keep the phone on and not turn it off to locate him. People from the local police station and the Third Investigation Team of the Metropolitan Police Department would arrive at the scene soon.
Finally, the other party reminded him in a more serious tone not to act rashly. The other party's mental ability was not yet clear, so as not to alert the enemy or cause unnecessary danger.
In fact, if the other party didn't say this, Higashinohara wouldn't go up and act like a hero on his own.
Being a hero also requires corresponding strength.
Even though he is now a so-called [Shadow Instant] ability user, his level 2 and 1 abilities are really not impressive enough.
As for Higashinohara's part-time street discipline committee, that is just an extracurricular task assigned to students by Takehara Minami Super High School, and counts as the final grade point assessment of the semester... Well, maybe there are also schools for able people who provide services to the city government and ordinary people.
The good intentions of the people are in it.
If I have to compare, they are similar to community security guards. They all look tall and energetic, but they belong to the "image post". If you really want to fight crime like a policeman, then forget it...
...
The evening wind blew up the withered yellow leaves, and on the dark street, Higashinohara hung far behind the two people in front of him. He made a few tram stops, and then left the station and entered the long-distance bus station in Shibuya District.
Along the way, the suspect girl did not do anything out of the ordinary. Higashinohara even vaguely felt that the girl seemed a little nervous and was in a state of mental stress.
Well, you should be nervous if you are afraid of being caught after committing a crime - this also strengthens Higashinohara's conclusion that the girl under the hoodie is most likely the Catwoman thief.
...
Even though it was after nine o'clock in the evening, the brightly lit Shibuya Long-distance Station was still bustling with people. After all, this was New Tokyo, a prosperous city known as "Academy City" in Wano.
Higashinohara stared at the door of the station ticket hall and noticed that the petite girl under the black hoodie did not go in. Akiyoshi Takuto in front of him turned around and entered the ticket hall alone.
Um?
Do you want help buying tickets?
Are you getting ready to leave Tokyo?
Higashinohara's face showed a thoughtful look.
After a while, the middle-aged man bought the ticket and walked out. He handed the ticket and the remaining change to the girl in front of him with a distracted look.
The girl under the black hoodie took the money and the ticket, lowered her head and looked at the destination on the ticket seriously, her body trembled slightly unconsciously, and she seemed very happy, and then she carefully put the ticket into her arms.
Then, she stuffed the remaining change from the ticket purchase into the middle-aged man's wallet. She paused while raising her hand, then took out a few large-denomination bills from her wallet and stuffed them into the middle-aged man's wallet.
wallet, and then put his hands together and bowed slightly to express his gratitude to the middle-aged man who was still looking blank.
"Well... I'm quite particular about doing things."
Higashinohara made a mental evaluation. The middle-aged man's wallet was emptied out by the female subordinate's immortal dance tonight. I'm afraid he never dreamed that he would make up for part of the loss from the wanted female thief.
However, at this moment, without any warning, a siren sounded in my ears.
Immediately afterwards, the red and blue flashing lights of the police car completely illuminated the darkness around the station.
One police car after another quickly and orderly parked in the open space at the entrance of the long-distance station, and the whistling sound of helicopter propellers could even be heard overhead. This arresting formation seemed to be unusually large.
Higashinohara felt a little confused. Even if the amount of money involved in a simple theft case was relatively large, the Metropolitan Police Department would not take it so seriously.
Is it because Catwoman has celestial blood?
The gods established the world government more than a thousand years ago and became the rulers of more than 300 countries in the world. They have privileges that ordinary people cannot imagine, and they can be called the real-life version of "world aristocrats."
Even if Catwoman is a hybrid and is not an orthodox Celestial being, she will probably have to apply for arbitration from the World Government after she commits a crime. This explains why the New Tokyo Metropolitan Police takes it so seriously.
As soon as the police car stopped, a large number of people wearing the uniforms of the Third Investigation Team jumped out of the car, and like two black snakes in the dark, they quickly circled around the long-distance station.
Passengers in the station were surprised for a moment, and then looked around blankly.
What happened?
...
At the entrance of the ticket hall.
The girl under the hoodie was like a cat with fried hair. Her body suddenly became tense. Her eyes glanced around in panic. She ignored the middle-aged man beside her and chose a certain direction, lowering her head and walking quickly.
Walked forward.
It took a while after the girl left, but Takuto Akiyoshi's eyes gradually returned to clarity. He was startled by the noise around him and looked around blankly.
Why am I at the long-distance station?
His mind was a little dizzy and painful, and there seemed to be a gap in his memory just now. He only vaguely remembered that he seemed to have seen a girl with very unique pupils.
That's right...girl!
Akiyoshi Takuto seemed to have thought of something, but also seemed to have thought of nothing. When he was at a loss, he realized that he was still holding the wallet in his hand. When he lowered his head, he was shocked to find that the originally empty wallet had a few large-denomination bills.
.
what's the situation???
...
"Is the suspect definitely at the station?"
"Yes, it was a report from an enthusiastic citizen. He said he would follow him all the time. We have located his mobile phone and it is now at the station."
After a brief conversation, a tall man wearing a navy blue windbreaker and silver-framed glasses pushed down the glasses on the bridge of his nose, put his right hand on the sword at his waist, and said in a slightly low voice:
"Then surround the whole place. The first team will cooperate with the people from the Metropolitan Police Department to stand by and pay close attention to any suspicious people. The second team will take over the control room of the station. The third team will go in to search for people. Keep your spirits up! Don't let it go.
Any corner, remember! The other party is likely to be a person with spiritual abilities! Be careful."
"yes!"
With a crisp response, the people of the third investigation team merged into the crowd in front of the long-distance station like countless trickles pouring into a river.
...
"Just a moment, a moment, my husband has a heart attack. We are traveling to Tokyo. Where is the nearest hospital here?"
"Husband, husband, please say something..."
At an emergency exit that the third investigation team of the station had not had time to take over, a family of three appeared in front of the station security personnel who had been notified and were on standby.
The middle-aged woman in a red woolen coat struggled to support her pale husband on her shoulders. Her face was anxious and she was about to burst into tears. There was also a daughter pulling a suitcase beside her to help support her.
"Ah this?"
The security personnel at several stations were stunned for a moment.
They had just been informed to stand by at the exit, paying close attention to any suspicious single girls, waiting for people from the Metropolitan Police Department to take over, but they did not expect to encounter such a thing at such a critical moment.
"Squad leader, what should I do?"
"How about we let them...wait?"
While they were discussing, the crying voice of the woman next to them sounded again, "Why are you stopping me? My husband is already unconscious. If something happens, which one of you will be responsible! Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
Perhaps because he was anxious and accidentally failed to hold him, the middle-aged man who was being supported stumbled to the ground unexpectedly, and there was a sudden trembling around him.
Seeing the middle-aged man's face pale and lying motionless on the ground, the woman's sharp voice impacted the eardrums, and several security personnel were also stunned.
Illness comes like a mountain.
Heart disease is no joke.
"Monitor...this..."
"Let them go out. Anyway, the one we are paying attention to above is a single girl, a family of three..." After saying this, he suddenly became afraid of being held accountable by the above, so he hurriedly added, "Send someone to follow...
Well, follow me and help me."
Upon hearing this, the woman quickly thanked her, and a tall security guard quickly squatted down and stood up with the middle-aged man on his back, and the station exit gate popped open.
Many stranded passengers in the back looked at this scene and understood that special treatment was required under special circumstances. No one said anything.
Just as the family of three was about to leave the station, unexpectedly, an unexpected young man's voice suddenly sounded from behind.
"Why! I have something urgent to do and am rushing home. Why can they go out first?"
As soon as the words fell, everyone's eyes suddenly gathered here.
...
At the station exit, Charlie was about to follow the couple she controlled through the gate. A sudden sound behind her made her body stiffen, and her pointed ears almost popped out from under her hoodie!
Hard, hard!
My ears are hard!
Who is so hateful!
When Charlie turned around, she saw a young man who looked like a high school student had walked out of the crowd, standing in front of several security personnel, pointing at them and shouting dissatisfiedly. For a moment, the security personnel carrying people at the gate stopped involuntarily.
Slowed down the pace.
Da da da-!
Suddenly, Charlie's pointed ears under her hoodie moved slightly, and the sound of rapid footsteps not far away entered her eardrums. For a moment, her face suddenly became anxious.
Oops!
You have to escape from here quickly.
The anxious Xia Li turned around decisively and walked quickly towards the young man who came up to make trouble. When he got closer, he suddenly took a step forward and looked into the other man's eyes, and said in a low voice:
"Charlie V. Prudence hereby orders you!
Back off!"
.....
Higashinohara had actually noticed a group of people from the Metropolitan Police Department who came to take over not far away, but he was weak at the moment, and the girl he was staring at was more likely to be a person with abilities, so he wanted to use this unreasonable method.
"Smart" in a reasonable way.
What I didn't expect was...
The girl in front of him was decisive and unexpected, and walked straight up to him. A pair of big silver eyes as bright as Kazilan jumped into his eyes, and the strange red pupils in the middle swallowed him up instantly like an endless black hole.
There was a "buzzing" sound in Higashinohara's head, and his consciousness suddenly seemed as if he had fallen into an abyss that he couldn't even see. He kept sinking...sinking...his body had already lost control.
Oops!
I was accidentally tricked!
Unexpectedly, at this moment,
There was a loud "boom" deep in Higashinohara's soul!
There was a clear sound of flipping pages like a book, and a manual with a dark cover suddenly appeared in the center of my mind. I quickly turned through countless blank pages from back to front, and finally stopped at the title page.
At the same time, a mechanical and ethereal voice sounded in the depths of my mind.
[The Manual of Sin has detected the existence of the host in this world]