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Ideas are easily conceived, but implementing them is difficult. Without a thorough understanding of the principles, how can one even talk about fusion?
All Ishikawa Katori could do now was strengthen his existing abilities and accumulate enough knowledge. The rest was up to fate; perhaps he would succeed in his research one day.
And he had been doing just that. For instance, the newly launched 'House Call Medical' service was a way for him to study the spirit body composition of Rukongai residents and compare it with his knowledge of Kaido, which allowed his Kaido abilities to improve by leaps and bounds over the past month.
Of course…
Research was secondary; the primary goal was still to treat customers. He couldn't possibly dissect a few customers just for research purposes.
"Hmm?"
Ishikawa Katori, whose mind was immersed in the system, suddenly looked up at the road ahead.
Directly in front of the convoy was a mountain path, flanked by two densely forested low-lying mountains. It looked like a beautiful painting, yet… beneath this beautiful painting lurked a murderous intent.
"It seems we're very lucky today. We'll be in District 42 after passing through this mountain pass."
Shinno, the President, exhaled softly beside him. As his words fell, the convoy's taut nerves immediately relaxed a little.
"There's an ambush."
However, with a single sentence, the recently relaxed nerves became tense again.
Everyone couldn't help but look at the speaker. When they saw it was Ishikawa Katori and not the guards on either side of the convoy, their faces immediately showed annoyance.
"Ishikawa, kid, you can't make jokes like that."
"You scared me to death."
"You're too tense, kid. If you're such a coward, don't take on dangerous jobs like this."
"…"
It wasn't that they didn't believe Ishikawa Katori. The main reason was that to protect Ishikawa Katori's safety, Shinno, the President, had arranged for him to be by his side, which was in the very center of the team.
His view was completely blocked by the people around him, so Ishikawa Katori couldn't see the surroundings at all from his position. Therefore, what he said simply couldn't convince everyone.
"I'm not joking."
Since he had accepted this commission, Ishikawa Katori naturally wouldn't, because of a few words from the crowd, petulantly say 'believe it or not' and then wait for casualties to occur in the convoy before stepping out to turn the tide.
When doing business like the Everything Store, the store's reputation and customer satisfaction were always the most important.
Seeing Ishikawa Katori's certain expression, the originally disbelieving crowd couldn't help but show hesitation.
"Stop!"
Shinno, the President, who was beside Ishikawa Katori, directly raised a hand and halted the convoy. The guards on both sides held their swords and carefully observed the surroundings. The atmosphere in the field instantly became heavy.
"Where is the ambush?"
Shinno, the President, quietly asked Ishikawa Katori. In fact, when Ishikawa Katori first said there was an ambush, he had already become vigilant, because given Ishikawa Katori's serious attitude towards work, it was unlikely he would make such a Low Level joke.
Ishikawa Katori hadn't spoken yet when he heard an annoyed shout from a distance, "Get them, don't let them escape!" As the sound rang out, dozens of people swarmed down the mountain from the forests on both sides of the low-lying mountains.
This scene made Shinno, the President's, face sink, because if the convoy hadn't stopped, they might have already been surrounded from both sides.
They actually gathered so many people?
Usually, when these ruffians came out to rob, they were mostly in groups of a few people, at most a dozen. This was the first time he had encountered a situation with dozens of people like this.
He glanced at the surrounding guards. Although the guards had all gathered at the front of the convoy after discovering the enemy, each of them had more or less panic on their faces, obviously startled by the number of opponents.
This is bad!
Seeing this, Shinno, the President's, heart sank. Then, as if he thought of something, he looked at Ishikawa Katori beside him with hopeful eyes.
Since Ishikawa Katori could detect the ambush before the guards, he should also have some possibility… of helping them overcome the current difficulty, right?
But the result…
Was somewhat disappointing to Shinno, the President, because Ishikawa Katori was currently looking at those bandits with a dark expression, as if he had been scared senseless.
This time, they were going to lose.
Shinno, the President, sighed inwardly. Without even starting the fight, those guards had already been scared into losing their will to fight. It was impossible for them to protect the convoy from being robbed. Now he only hoped that these bandits would only seek wealth and not harm anyone.
After the bandits rushed down, they did not immediately attack the convoy but stopped not far from it.
Then, a person emerged from among the bandits. This was a slender man, about 30 years old. If judged solely by his physique and appearance, one couldn't connect him with a vicious bandit, but the surrounding bandits looked at him with reverence.
The slender man glanced at the convoy's guards, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes: "Leave the goods, and you can go."
Hearing this, the guards blocking the front of the convoy immediately let out a sigh of relief and turned to look at Shinno, the President, in the center of the convoy.
"Alright."
Shinno, the President, was also straightforward. Encountering so many bandits, they could only consider themselves unlucky.
"Leave the goods for them. We'll retreat."
Upon hearing this, the convoy guards immediately dispersed to both sides, preparing to cover the retreat of the convoy personnel.
"Hmm?"
As the guards dispersed, the slender man suddenly froze, looking at someone in the center of the convoy, and subconsciously said, "Ishikawa…"
Whoosh~~
A strong wind whistled. Everyone only felt a blur before their eyes, and a figure appeared out of thin air behind the slender man.
Before they could even figure out what had happened, they heard a 'thump.' The figure directly pressed the slender man's head with his hand, forcing his head into the ground. No matter how the slender man struggled, that hand remained as still as an iron clamp.
"…"
The scene instantly became extremely quiet. Both the bandit side and the convoy side stared blankly at the figure in the middle.
Meeting Shinno, the President's, gaze, Ishikawa Katori forced a slightly stiff smile onto his face:
"Since I've taken on the guard work, I will absolutely not sit by and watch the goods be robbed. I will protect you and the goods, staking the reputation of the Everything Store."
Shinno, the President, was clearly a bit confused by Ishikawa Katori's impassioned words, but then his expression changed.
Although he didn't know how Ishikawa Katori suddenly appeared behind the bandit leader, doing so would surely anger all the bandits. If they swarmed him, Ishikawa Katori would be in danger.
Thinking of this, Shinno, the President, subconsciously looked at those bandits, only to find that those fierce bandits were now staring blankly at…
The bandit leader, who was pinned down by Ishikawa Katori's hand and had stopped struggling at some point, yet not a single one dared to step forward.
What was going on now?
This scene was truly too bizarre. Dozens of fierce-looking individuals surrounded a young man, yet not a single one dared to move.
Were these bandits really that cowardly?
Shinno, the President, didn't know that these bandits in front of him had all been gathered by the slender man under Ishikawa Katori's palm, through sheer strength. In their eyes, the slender man was a monster like a Shinigami.
But now, the monster in their eyes was instantly defeated by someone.
"If you don't want to die, then settle down."
Ishikawa Katori in the middle spoke to the person on the ground in a voice that others couldn't hear.
Although Ishikawa Katori had vaguely anticipated this after hearing the sensitive phrase 'a month ago,' encountering it in person still made his face darken.
Ishikawa Katori not only knew the guy under his hand, but he was also very familiar with him.
His surname was Takashi. Ishikawa Katori hadn't paid attention to his given name, only knowing that he was the Takashi everyone liked, and also a regular customer at Uzuki's tavern. Ishikawa Katori saw him almost every day.
Compared to others, Takashi was very efficient and, like Ishikawa Katori, enjoyed drinking. So he would often send the 'protection fees' he collected from merchants in South Rukongai to the Everything Store. They were all good wines that Ishikawa Katori found very pleasant to drink.
What kind of situation was this…
Ishikawa Katori's mouth twitched slightly. If people knew that his tavern's regular customer gathered a bunch of ruffians to rob merchant convoys, and then used the money from the robbery to drink in his tavern, then his Everything Store wouldn't need to open anymore.
If it weren't for those good wines, Ishikawa Katori would have wished he could just crush this scoundrel's head.
Turning his back to the convoy, Ishikawa Katori looked at the surrounding bandits with chilling eyes.
The next second, his spiritual pressure erupted silently. The bandits only felt the air around them become incredibly viscous, making it difficult to even move a finger. Ishikawa Katori's chilling gaze continuously magnified in their minds, and the entire world seemed to fall under those eyes.
The feeling was as if, in the next second, they would be swallowed by that gaze.
Fear instantly escalated to its peak!
Fortunately…
This feeling came and went quickly.
"Scram!"
With that single word, the inexplicable feeling of terror immediately receded. It was brief, not even lasting a second, but it left all the bandits drenched in cold sweat.
Immediately, the bandits scattered, climbing back up the low-lying mountain faster than they had come, disappearing into the dense forest.
"Shinno, the President…"
Ishikawa Katori stood up, then kicked Takashi in the abdomen, sending him flying in a high arc before he dropped into the forest on the low-lying mountain.
"Let's continue forward."
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