Suddenly, someone kicked Sheng Ju behind his knee, making him fall to his knees.
Sheng Ju didn't get up. He looked down at the bag, his body trembling violently, his eyes shifting between struggle, fear, and a hint of forced humiliation.
He didn't want to die!
He wanted to prove himself!
But the Kabane-like blood vessels were like a brand, nailing him to the pillar of shame as "non-human."
Just as Sheng Ju's trembling hand reached for the cold self-determination bag, and Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's finger was about to pull the trigger—
"Oh my~ It's so lively! Are you playing some game? It looks so fun!"
A clear, slightly innocent and curious girl's voice suddenly broke the deathly silence.
The door connecting the carriages opened, and two figures, one male and one female, walked in.
It was Naruto, with a calm expression, occasionally observing his surroundings with the corner of his eye, and Tenten, humming a little tune, with her hands clasped behind her head, a lollipop (she got it from who-knows-where) in her mouth.
Tenten's amber eyes curiously scanned the tense scene, her gaze lingering on Sheng Ju's neck, which glowed with Kabane-like molten veins, the self-determination bag on the ground, and Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's cold gun barrel, finally settling on Sheng Ju's desperate face.
She tilted her head, as if seeing something novel.
Naruto, walking side-by-side with Tenten, withdrew his peripheral glance. As he looked straight ahead, he saw Sheng Ju, and his expression shifted slightly: "Isn't he the male lead of the Kōtetsujō world?"
Naruto's mind stirred.
In the original plot, Sheng Ju and Tenten met, but now, without a doubt, the plot's direction had completely changed.
On the other side, the moment Jiu Zhi Lai Xi saw Naruto, his pupils sharply constricted!
The terrifying memory of being instantly defeated with no chance to fight back rushed over him like a cold tide.
His gun-holding hand trembled imperceptibly, and the muzzle unconsciously deviated from Sheng Ju, with more vigilance instantly shifting to the blond young man.
"This monstrous guy—why is he here too?! When did he board the Kōtetsujō?!"
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's face changed dramatically, various thoughts churning in his mind. He subconsciously took half a step back, and the bandaged wound on his right shoulder faintly began to ache again.
"Save—save me—"
Sheng Ju gasped, as if grasping at a last straw.
Naruto's gaze swept over Sheng Ju, and when he saw the self-determination bag on the ground, his brows immediately furrowed.
He was about to speak, but Tenten acted first.
She skipped to Sheng Ju's side, ignoring the tense samurai and Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's almost fiery gaze, and extended a slender finger, curiously pointing at the glowing, violently bulging blood vessels on Sheng Ju's neck.
"Wow! Shiny! So pretty!"
Tenten exclaimed innocently. Then she looked up at the ashen-faced Jiu Zhi Lai Xi, a brilliant smile on her face, yet tinged with a hint of challenge and mischief:
"Hey, you grumpy samurai uncle! Why are you so nervous?"
She deliberately drew out her words, then, in a casual tone, as if discussing "what a nice day it is," she uttered earth-shattering words:
"It's just a little glow on the neck~"
As Tenten spoke, her small hand casually pulled off the blue ribbon tied around her delicate, fair neck.
The 'Mist Time' began.
The power of the Kabane immediately surged, causing molten, fiery vein patterns to bulge on Tenten's fair, swan-like neck.
The glow was identical to Sheng Ju's, but more stable and dazzling!
"Look!"
Tenten pointed at her glowing neck, her smile still innocent, but her eyes held a mischievous glint, "I glow too! And, I seem to be a little brighter than him!"
Boom—!!!
Tenten's words and the dazzling molten light on her neck were like a bomb exploding in the narrow carriage!
"She—she too!!"
"Two! There are two Kabane in the carriage!"
"Oh my god! They've been with us all this time?!"
"Quick! Kill them!"
"Let's run, get out of this carriage."
"Ah ah ah—There are Kabane on the Kōtetsujō, run!"
After a brief, deathly silence, an even more intense panic erupted!
The samurai retreated in fear, their steam guns chaotically pointing at Tenten and Sheng Ju. Some timid commoners even let out terrified screams.
The entire carriage instantly plunged into extreme chaos and fear!
"Bastard! You truly are a monster too!"
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's anger instantly broke through his reason, causing him to lose his composure.
He violently swung his gun, pointing it at Tenten, who was closer to him and "showing off" her neck, and his finger unhesitatingly pulled the trigger!
"Die! Monster!"
However, the trigger couldn't be pulled.
Because a seemingly ordinary hand, like an iron clamp, firmly and silently gripped the scalding steam gun barrel.
The immense force instantly deformed and twisted the steel gun barrel!
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi looked up in terror, meeting Naruto's cerulean eyes, which now held no trace of a smile, only cold warning.
Naruto's movements were as fast as a ghost; Jiu Zhi Lai Xi didn't even see how he moved!
"I said—" Naruto's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable, mountain-like heavy pressure, clearly overriding all the noise in the carriage, "...Did you forget what I said?"
"As Lady Ayame's chief guard, is your memory really that bad? Then I can only suggest she replace you."
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi looked at Naruto's face, inches away, feeling the terrifying force from the gun barrel, strong enough to easily crush steel. An uncontrollable fear, originating from the depths of his soul, instantly swept over him.
He remembered the despair of being instantly knocked away at the abandoned station, utterly defenseless.
He remembered the opponent's god-like power!
All his anger, duty, and killing intent were crushed to dust before this absolute disparity in power!
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's arm trembled, his teeth chattered, and his back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.
He wanted to roar, to resist, to order the samurai to fire, but his throat felt constricted by an invisible giant hand, unable to utter a single word.
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi could only stare intently at Naruto.
His eyes were filled with extreme unwillingness, anger, but even more, a bone-deep dread!
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi knew that if this blond young man wished it, in the next moment, he would become a twisted piece of scrap metal, just like the deformed gun barrel!
"Na—Naruto—"
Tenten and Sheng Ju were both stunned, not expecting Naruto to intervene so forcefully and directly.
"He—he deformed the steam gun with his bare hands?!"
"Is this still human strength?"
Kneeling on the ground, Sheng Ju's heart was in turmoil.
Naruto didn't look at Jiu Zhi Lai Xi, his cold gaze sweeping over the terrified samurai and commoners.
He exerted a little force on his hand, and the deformed steam gun was completely ruined, tossed aside by him like trash, making a clang.
"Listen!"
Naruto's voice was like a booming bell, resounding throughout the chaotic carriage, carrying a soothing power, yet also an undeniable authority.
"Tenten, she is not your enemy! She uses this power to protect you, to kill Kabane!"
Naruto pointed at Sheng Ju: "His piercing cannon has killed more Kabane than many of you combined!"
He then pointed at the still smiling Tenten: "Who among you can match her speed in killing Kabane?"
"Monsters? Yes, their bodies do resemble Kabane somewhat," Naruto admitted frankly, but his tone was incredibly firm, "But their hearts are human hearts! Hearts that want to protect comrades, that want to live! They are fundamentally different from those Kabane outside who only know how to kill!"
"If, because of fear, you want to expel or even kill those who have protected you—" A sharp glint flashed in Naruto's cerulean eyes, "—then what's the difference between you and those irrational Kabane outside?!"
His words were like heavy hammers, striking everyone's hearts.
The panic and commotion in the carriage were temporarily suppressed by Naruto's powerful aura and resonant words.
The samurai exchanged glances, their gun muzzles involuntarily lowering a few inches.
The commoners looked at Sheng Ju and Tenten with suspicion and uncertainty, then at Naruto, who stood before them, with awe.
"Exactly!"
Tenten skipped to Naruto's side, hands on her hips, and said happily: "I, and that guy with the yellowish-green hair over there, we aren't Kabane, but—Kabaneri!!"
"Kabaneri? What's that?"
"She says they aren't Kabane, so there shouldn't be any danger, right?"
"Who knows, let's see what the samurai lord says."
The half-believing commoners turned their heads, their gazes uniformly falling on Jiu Zhi Lai Xi.
He was Lady Ayame's chief guard, the "acting lord of the castle," possessing great power and prestige on the Kōtetsujō.
In this apocalyptic world, the fear of Kabane and death had not completely changed just because of Naruto's few words.
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi stood in place, his face alternating between green and pale, his chest heaving violently.
He stared intently at Naruto, his knuckles white from gripping the broken gun, his fingernails digging deep into his palm.
He wanted to retort, to uphold the samurai's duty, to protect the safety of the Kōtetsujō—
But Naruto's cold gaze and the absolute power suppression from earlier were like an insurmountable mountain, pressing down on his dignity and will!
He knew that if he dared to move again, or give an order to attack, the consequences would be absolutely unbearable for him!
Finally, Jiu Zhi Lai Xi squeezed out a low growl, suppressed to the extreme, full of humiliation and unwillingness, from between his teeth. He abruptly turned around, his shoulders trembling violently with anger, but he dared not say another word.
He could only express his final, powerless resistance with his silence and stiff back.
Naruto looked at Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's back, then at the crowd, still fearful but not daring to move rashly. Finally, his gaze fell on the somewhat stunned Sheng Ju and the still smiling Tenten, a cold glint flashing in his azure eyes.
"Stop!"
"Did I tell you to leave?"
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's steps instantly halted. He instinctively stood rooted to the spot like a statue, not daring to move.
Naruto beckoned, telling Sheng Ju to pick up the self-determination bag at his feet.
"This lord..."
Sheng Ju's face changed drastically, thinking Naruto wanted him to end his own life.
"What are you standing around for? Give the self-determination bag to Jiu Zhi Lai Xi," Naruto said.
"Yes, yes—"
Sheng Ju quickly went before Jiu Zhi Lai Xi, a little fearful, but with Naruto present, he felt he had a backer. So he mustered his courage and handed the self-determination bag to Jiu Zhi Lai Xi, who glared at him furiously, not saying a word.
"Lord Jiu Zhi, you dropped something, here it is."
Sheng Ju forcibly returned the self-determination bag to Jiu Zhi Lai Xi, then quickly retreated, moving away from Jiu Zhi Lai Xi.
He felt Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's gaze was so intense it could almost devour him.
"Thank! You!"
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi gritted his teeth and spat out two words, preparing to move again, but Naruto's second sentence came again.
"You remember what I said, right? If you're a man, use the self-determination bag and die with dignity."
"Na—Lord Naruto!!"
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi could hardly believe what he heard. He turned back in shock, his eyes wide with disbelief, staring directly at Naruto, gripping the self-determination bag.
Even Sheng Ju, who had personally returned the self-determination bag to Jiu Zhi Lai Xi, was stunned.
He had originally thought it was simply to let Jiu Zhi Lai Xi take the self-determination bag.
That had already made the previously aggrieved Sheng Ju feel very satisfied.
He didn't expect—
Naruto was actually using Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's own methods against him, making Jiu Zhi Lai Xi use the self-determination bag himself.
The dull roar of the Kōtetsujō echoed within the steel carriage.
In the narrow connecting passage between the two carriages, only the grinding noise of the rails and the hissing of the steam pipes accompanied them. Water droplets condensed on the cold metal walls, and the air was suffocatingly oppressive.
"You—" Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's voice was dry and hoarse, trembling with humiliation, "...What exactly do you want?!"
"You, aren't you very fond of this thing?"
"You, didn't you constantly say that for dignity, and to avoid becoming a monster and harming others, one should use it to 'end oneself like a man'?"
"Now, it's your turn, Jiu Zhi Lai Xi."
Naruto's voice was devoid of any emotion, yet it contained a killing intent colder than a blade.
"Prove to me that your so-called 'samurai dignity' isn't just a double standard for others. Prove that your demands for yourself are as 'fair' as those for Sheng Ju and Tenten."
"No—you—you can't—"
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi's voice completely changed, filled with terror, confusion, and fear.
He instinctively wanted to retreat, but his body was firmly pinned to the spot by Naruto's invisible pressure, unable to move.
The immense psychological shock almost suffocated him!
He had never imagined that he would become the target of the self-determination bag!
"Tenten and Sheng Ju are Kabane, I'm different, I'm human, why should I use a self-determination bag?"
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi held the self-determination bag in one hand and gripped his steam gun tightly in the other.
"No reason."
Naruto couldn't be bothered with idle talk, nor did he need to offer any explanations.
Jiu Zhi Lai Xi, with a choked, unwilling voice, said: "Lord Naruto, you—you're being unreasonable!?"
"Reason? Sorry, I only speak with my fists!"