— — — — — —
"Chairman… is something going on outside?"
Up on the rooftop.
The cheerful vibe from the barbecue party an hour ago had long faded. Honoka hesitated for a moment, then finally asked Veyron the question that had been on every other girl's mind.
If the mercenary sniper's shot at exactly eleven o'clock had gone unnoticed, there was no missing Saeko Busujima leaping off the rooftop moments later.
Especially not when, once she landed, she casually sliced an armored vehicle in half with one strike—and now, make that two vehicles.
Thinking back on it...
The ever-elusive Chairman suddenly showing up on campus these past few days, throwing a surprise rooftop BBQ with the students—yeah, in hindsight, that was weird as hell.
"As you've all seen for yourselves," Veyron said calmly.
He gestured toward the scattered mercenary forces—some sneaking in with their specialties, others charging in loud and proud behind the Russians and their war horns.
But whether they were picked off one by one by Rika, calmly sniping from above, or cut down at the gate by Saeko, not a single one had made it through.
"After all that prep, it seems they finally couldn't wait anymore. This is them testing the waters… tossing out a pawn to see how I'd react."
"…!" Several sharper girls in the group tensed up, faces slightly pale.
"Relax, seriously," Saya Takagi cut in, noticing their change in expression.
Thanks to the massive doses of high-grade elixirs Veyron had been feeding them, combined with fully unlocked Tier 4 gene locks and the awakening of Devil Fruits, both Saeko and Rika were already monsters by early 21st-century standards. Even so-called "superheros" in some world wouldn't intimidate them—let alone the cannon-fodder mercs outside.
That's why Saya hadn't stepped in to fight herself. Between the two of them, the entire mercenary force could be wiped out with ease.
"Like we talked about in the Chat group earlier… Did any of you really think you could spread knowledge about the supernatural—or techniques—without the Chairman's approval?"
Sweeping her gaze across the students, Saya reassured them, "Even if all of you followed every confidentiality rule to the letter, the moment the supernatural curriculum was activated, this was bound to happen. At best, we might've delayed it a little."
While Saya was giving her talk to the students, Veyron wasn't exactly idle either.
In a dimensional group chat interface, only he could see, messages were flying across the screen from all directions:
『Catwoman』: Something's off. Way off.
『Earth's Cancer』: Huh, so I'm not the only one getting that vibe?
『Ghost Spider』: Huh…?
Sitting on a plane from Sokovia to Rio de Janeiro, Gwen watched the live feed with a puzzled look. The intelligence network under "The Web" had just flagged something that might qualify as an "event."
But… really? Was there?
『Snake Empress』: Selena and Chika probably noticed how insane Saeko and Rika were during that fight, right?
『Snake Empress』: Even though neither of them went all out, the subtle signs were there—they're way beyond what someone with just a Tier 4 gene lock and an awakened Devil Fruit should be capable of. And even factoring in Veyron's nonstop supply of sea king meat over the past few months… it still feels too much.
『Hellish Blizzard』: No wonder something felt… off to me too. That explains it.
『Ordinary Human』: Impressive. I thought none of you would be able to notice anything through a screen—especially in a one-sided stomp like this.
『Ordinary Human』: Glad to see you've all been working hard lately~
『Ordinary Human』: (Satisfied.jpg)
『Lady Avalon』: Sooo… Veyron-kun, did you or that mysterious Dr. Eirin Yagokoro lady cook up something crazy again?
『Ordinary Human』: You could add Larentia to that list, too…
『Ordinary Human』: You do remember who Larentia is, right?
『Lady Avalon』: The goddess from that corrupted world, right? The one who got saved and then became the world will of a new realm born from a World Tree sapling?
『Lady Avalon』: Oh, right—and you can travel freely between worlds without needing any of the chat group's usual hacks, including to that world. So… did you bring something back from over there?
『Ordinary Human』: More or less. After a few years of growth, the Treeborn World started forming a spring up in its branches. Inside the spring, there's this stuff called "Almighty Serum."
Veyron casually dropped a regular red packet into the group chat.
『Earth's Cancer』: Whoa, that much?
Everyone clicked it. Each person who opened it received the same thing.
Inside were three clear glass bottles, each about a liter in volume. At first glance, the contents looked like water—but when tilted, faint golden light shimmered and swirled within.
Chika Fujiwara blinked in awe. With a name like Almighty Serum, she'd honestly thought it'd be some kind of miracle drug that came by the drop, not by the liter.
Unlike luck-based red packets where people get random amounts. Which meant Veyron had just handed out mayb eighteen liters of Almighty Serum in one go.
『Ordinary Human』: Theoretically, this stuff's infinite. As long as the source keeps growing, its quality keeps going up too…
『Ordinary Human』: But fair warning—it's kinda… specialized. Probably due to some weird past events, the Almighty Serum is only effective on pure-hearted girls, at least the first time it's used. You have to meet that condition for it to work properly.
『Lady Avalon』: Side effects from the old lust evil god?
『Earth's Cancer』: Or maybe it's an elf thing? In a lot of Western fantasy, elves only bless pure maidens, that kind of vibe.
『Ghost Spider』: That sounds more like Japanese fantasy. Over here, it's usually unicorns that like pure-hearted people. And even then, they're after spiritual purity, not... whatever else.
『Earth's Cancer』: Waistline purity, maybe?
『Earth's Cancer』: Wait—if that condition exists, then Veyron-san, does that mean you…?
『Ordinary Human』: …Anyway, that's the deal. Just be careful how you use it, alright?
Veyron awkwardly shut that topic down fast.
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