Akaya Mountain is located south of Higashi Fukuyama City, about one hundred kilometers away. It's neither too close nor too far.
There's a road through the mountain forests that goes directly near Akaya Mountain. After that, the road disappears, leaving only some abandoned paths and trails.
Lefty's driving skills are excellent. Because Kurozawa told it to drive faster, it practically floored the gas pedal and sped the entire way.
For a while, the speed of this red car reached its peak, like a red lightning bolt piercing through the darkness.
However, such high speed naturally attracted the attention of some traffic police checking passing vehicles on the roadside. Some police cars with flashing lights on their roofs started chasing the red car.
The police cars driven by the traffic police were much better equipped than the red car he had borrowed randomly from the roadside.
After spotting the red car speeding, they quickly gave chase.
But after Lefty took a few turns, they were shaken off and disappeared from sight.
Throughout the process, Kurozawa watched with curiosity and keen interest, sticking his head out of the car window and feeling the gusting wind against his face.
The car chase was short, but it felt quite stimulating.
Kurozawa had only seen car chases in movies and TV shows before, so experiencing one firsthand felt quite novel.
Initially, because he found it novel, Kurozawa even had Lefty deliberately string the police cars along. He was amused and wanted to let them chase for a while longer, but his novelty quickly wore off, and after a short time, he felt somewhat bored.
About an hour and a half later, the city lights in the dark night had completely faded into darkness.
Dense forests surrounded them, and looking up, there was a towering mountain, faintly visible, resembling a massive beast under the night sky.
Only the moon and stars in the sky emitted a bright and soft light, illuminating some of the surrounding darkness.
Since there was no more road ahead, Lefty stopped and, without a word, transformed back into its Left Hand form. It concisely asked Kurozawa if he still needed it. After receiving Kurozawa's answer, it immediately fell into a deep sleep.
After Kurozawa could manipulate the Parasyte Body without Lefty's consciousness, it seemed to feel some kind of crisis.
It had been actively choosing to sleep and rest. Unless Kurozawa disturbed and woke it up, it would remain in a state of deep sleep.
Moreover, even after being awakened by Kurozawa's stimulation, it became much quieter, often remaining silent and no longer asking Kurozawa to let it absorb knowledge. It was as if it was trying to diminish its presence in Kurozawa's eyes, afraid of being noticed as a threat by Kurozawa.
In response, Kurozawa merely chuckled.
He had always shown no mercy towards strangers, but he would not casually abandon or kill someone or something he had been with for a long time and who had accompanied him. Especially since Lefty could not pose any threat to him anymore.
Kurozawa's consciousness strength was evident; he could easily suppress the consciousness of the Parasyte Body.
Keeping Lefty inside him like a pet or a butler was also a good method.
Sometimes, when Kurozawa wanted to eat and indulge his taste buds but was too lazy to cook, he would wake Lefty up. Or when he felt mentally tired, he would let Lefty massage him for a while to relax.
Lefty had always been willing to do this work without complaint, happily accepting it without a single word of refusal.
In its eyes, survival was the most important thing. Being able to exchange such easy work for Kurozawa's protection was incredibly cost-effective. Other similar creatures were still being hunted by the Blade Breakers, living from hand to mouth.
"Next time I wake Lefty up, I should let it relax a bit. I'm not going to take its life."
"It's been a bit boring lately with it like this," Kurozawa muttered to himself, not caring if the sleeping Lefty could hear him.
Then, his gaze turned towards the silent mountain not far away.
Akaya Mountain, at first glance, seemed to be entirely made of piled-up rocks. From the foothills upwards, it became bare, without any vegetation. The mountain was covered in strangely shaped, rugged rocks of varying forms, resembling crouching monsters under the night sky.
The rocks on it carried a faint reddish texture, which was the reason it was called Akaya Mountain.
At the same time, Kurozawa slightly closed his eyes, faced the moon, and spread his arms wide.
It was as if he was embracing the night, embracing the bright moonlight.
Buzz. Invisible and formless waves of Fighting Spirit swept through, quickly enveloping Akaya Mountain. He meticulously scanned the things within it. In an instant, Kurozawa found a safe house built halfway up the mountain, which from the outside was just a small wooden cabin.
There was a person inside.
But that person was tense, their Fighting Spirit also in a state of high tension, motionless towards the door.
Without closing his Fighting Spirit Domain, Kurozawa opened his eyes.
"It's not Kana."
He shook his head, and a cold, sharp light gradually rose in his calm eyes.
Above the massive shadow of Akaya Mountain, behind the rock formations that resembled monsters, hid humans with active Fighting Spirit.
Fighting Spirit can reflect a person's spirit and vitality. The Fighting Spirit of these people was far more active than that of ordinary humans. They were clearly soldiers with tough spirits, iron wills, and specialized training.
"One, two, three, four... a total of four hundred and thirty-two people."
"Half a battalion's worth of troops. They really think highly of me."
"Last time, only a little over thirty people came. This time, it's more than tenfold."
Kurozawa's gaze penetrated the dark night, piercing through the layers of obstacles in front of him, and he already knew the distribution and number of the enemy like the back of his hand.
Although the enemy did not understand Kurozawa's Fighting Spirit Perception, resulting in their layout being seen through by Kurozawa without them knowing.
But Kurozawa also had to admit that the Blade Breakers' actions were truly decisive and ruthless.
Half a battalion's worth of people could stir up a small war in some small countries. Moreover, in Kurozawa's perception, on the back of Akaya Mountain, there were some constructed platforms with armed helicopters parked on them, their fifteen-meter long silhouettes quietly lurking.
In addition, many surveillance cameras were set up in the surrounding mountain forests, installed in rock crevices, on tree crowns, or in shadowy corners, making them extremely difficult to find.
However, the Fighting Spirit fluctuations of technological creations were completely out of place with the natural mountain forests. They were very conspicuous within the Fighting Spirit Domain, like fireflies in the dark night, and were immediately discovered by Kurozawa.
To deploy so many troops all at once, just to deal with him, truly living up to the saying "motionless as a mountain, swift as fire."
They were clearly determined to capture or kill Kurozawa, leaving him no chance to retreat.
Without Fighting Spirit Perception, Kurozawa would have guessed there were maybe a hundred of them at best, not four hundred-plus, and with air support to boot.
But then again, if he didn't have Fighting Spirit Perception, Kurozawa wouldn't have come so rashly in the first place.
Kurozawa's main goal was initially to get Kana out, but now seeing layer upon layer of forces deployed just for him, a combative fire ignited in his heart. The black Demon Slayer Marks covering his body twisted slightly, grotesque yet beautiful.
Violence and slaughter were never the only ways to solve problems.
However, Kurozawa had always greatly enjoyed the passion and pleasure they brought.
"Waiting for me to step into the ambush?"
"Hmph, let's see who designed this ambush and who the real prey is in the end."
Kurozawa withdrew his gaze, took a step back, and his tall frame instantly melted into the dark shadows.
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