Chapter 112: The Card Scramble, The Boys World Opens
"How many of the herbs I asked for have you found?"
Kaito Shirogane leaned against the window, his eyes casually scanning the compound outside. That "Grinder" was certainly a cautious one. It had been two days, and there was still no sign of him.
Lin kept his head bowed. In his heart, he was cursing the ancestors of the subordinate who had failed to get the job done, but he could only answer with a strained voice, "It seems those herbs are not common in this region. I am contacting several merchant guilds in Japan… I have a few leads."
Kaito turned his head, a smile on his face as he looked at this man who was so full of schemes, yet so cowardly. "Give me a timeframe, Lin. You know I'm a man who values efficiency. Consider this your KPI. If you fail to meet it… there will be penalties."
You sit here all day doing nothing, and you talk to me about efficiency?!
Lin raged internally, but he knew the "penalty" this man was talking about would be terrifying. His broken wrist was already showing signs of infection. He had to force the words out. "Three days! I'll definitely have a result in three days!"
He was certain that Grinder wouldn't tolerate this bastard seizing his territory. In three more days, the news that one of his compounds had been stolen would surely have spread. After all, Kaito had dismissed nearly a hundred workers; a secret like that couldn't be kept for long. Grinder would have to act.
Kaito nodded. He knew this was the most likely timeframe for Grinder to appear. In fact, if Grinder didn't show up, he might even give Lin a chance to send another, more successful, plea for help. A gang boss didn't care about his underlings, but he cared about his reputation. He couldn't let such a challenge go unanswered.
"You're dismissed. That hand… have someone wash it. It's starting to smell like it's rotting."
Lin clutched his hand and fled.
Kaito, now alone, took out the [Record Pointer] and the [Directional Anchor]. The needle on the pointer, which had been spinning, had now gradually come to a fixed stop. A jolt went through him. Sure enough, the familiar notification appeared.
[Notice: ID# Ex051, you will be deployed on a new mission in 1 hour. Please ensure your surrounding environment is secure beforehand.]
Kaito sat quietly in the office. When the timer reached ten minutes, he entered his private space. After becoming a 1-Star Reincarnator, his extra Dwell Time had become cumulative. This was a major benefit. He had begun to consciously save any time he didn't need to spend in the public space. He had a premonition that in the future, he would have many items to trade, and that Reincarnators would be lining up to deliver them to him...
[Deployment will begin shortly.]
[3…]
[2…]
[1…]
[Deployment Anomaly…]
[Re-anchoring deployment target. Deployment commencing.]
The [Directional Anchor] and [Record Pointer] in Kaito's hand shattered. A pale blue light, mixed with the data stream, enveloped him, and his body vanished.
At the same time, in Korea, a tall woman held a terrifyingly long blade, pinning a man to the ground.
"You have three seconds to hand over all of your items and resources, and beg me to let you live."
The man, pinned to the skyscraper roof in the pouring rain, was covered in blood. Even with this level of blood loss, he was not yet dead. He looked up at the woman's face and spat out a bloody laugh.
"I've seen your face. You think you'd ever let me live? Don't treat everyone like an idiot, you stupid…"
Slice!
An emerald-green sword light flashed. The man's body exploded into a shower of flesh and blood. A Crimson Card appeared before the woman. She grabbed it, but then frowned.
A light flashed in her hand, and the black blade disappeared, replaced by a [Record Pointer]. At this moment, the pointer's needle was spinning wildly. This meant that its target had just entered a mission world, but... it wasn't the scheduled deployment cycle.
She now knew for certain. That [Mercenary Tao]... he possessed an abnormal, powerful luck that made him impossible to pin down.
HONK! HONK!
The sharp blare of a car horn brought Kaito back to his senses. He blinked, and his vision returned.
A yellow taxi was stopped in front of him. The driver, a black man, was laying on the horn, his mouth moving as he spewed a stream of obscenities.
Kaito ignored him. He turned and looked up, finding himself in a bustling city, surrounded by skyscrapers. The people passing by were all either black or white. The people, the atmosphere... this was a completely different type of world.
On a massive, 100-square-meter screen on a distant building, an advertisement was playing for [The Seven]. The man in the lead, wrapped in an American flag, was giving a "friendly" smile.
Tsk. So it's a live-action world.
Kaito shook his head and was about to walk away, but the enraged driver slammed his door open and got in his face.
"You got a death wish, motherfucker?!" he yelled. "You really wanna die, I can spare a bullet and send you to your momma. You know, in this country, nobody gives a shit if an Asian like you lives or dies."
Kaito turned his head, watching the man spew a torrent of racial slurs. This is just like them, he thought. They hate being discriminated against, but the moment they get the chance, they are more than happy to discriminate against others.
Kaito's lips curled into a grin. He placed his hand on the man's chest. The man, stunned, also pushed back.
BAM!
Kaito gave a gentle shove. The man flew backward, smashing into the windshield of his own taxi, which shattered. A chorus of gasps and screams rose from the street.
[World Load Complete.]
[Mission World: The Boys Derivative World B4110]
[Mission Type: Team Arena]
[Challenge Difficulty: Low ~ High]
[Time Limit: 30 Days]
[Notice: Due to the effect of the Mark of Sin, your appearance and identity have been altered.]
[Notice: You have been granted universal language comprehension for this world.]
[In this world, you can obtain and unlock the following Milestones. Milestones will affect your final mission rating and potential Title acquisition.]
[Hero: In any single event, save over 30 civilians.]
[Villain: In any single event, cause the deaths of over 30 civilians.]
[Superhero: Become a member of The Seven.]
[Anti-Hero: Kill at least one member of The Seven.]
[Speedster: Drive a car into the Vought-America Tower and successfully escape.]
…
A flood of information scrolled past. Kaito had already turned and left the street. He passed a mailbox, and a single card flew out, landing in his hand. He was used to the Nexus's theatrics by now. He turned the greeting-card-sized item over and saw his mission information.
[Main Quest Initiated]
[Main Quest 1: Within three days, join any faction and raise your reputation to Friendly or higher.]
[Main Quest 2: Unlocks after completing Main Quest 1.]
[WARNING: Mission anomaly detected. Your reputation with the Vought Faction has been lowered to: Loathing (65/100)]
Kaito saw the sudden notification. He looked back and saw two people in special costumes, clearly "Supes," questioning the bystanders, who were now pointing in his direction.
Kaito frowned. Did I really get such a massive reputation hit just for injuring one civilian? If Vought was truly such an upstanding, righteous organization, this story wouldn't exist. On the contrary, The Boys was an anti-hero story. The people who got superpowers in this world didn't become heroes; their powers just allowed them to indulge their worst vices. The Seven, the so-called pinnacle of heroism, were the worst of them all: [A-Train], who'd run through a civilian while high; [Translucent], a pervert who used his invisibility to spy; [The Deep], who was... intimate with octopi; and of course, [Homelander], the man-child with a mommy-complex who liked to laser people from the sky.
Kaito's body became light. He tapped his foot, jumped, and kicked off the side of a wall, flipping backward and landing on a seven-meter-high fire escape. The Supes who had been looking for him had lost him completely.
He climbed the stairs to the roof. He saw that several people were already standing there. The one in the lead was a man in an orange monk's robe, his upper body bare. The others were all women, dressed in black tactical uniforms, using binoculars to scan the area.
"Yo," the monk called out, "looks like you're one of the ones who got their Vought reputation lowered, too."
The Nexus always deployed Reincarnators on the same side near each other. The monk's words confirmed it.
Kaito also noticed two other people on the rooftop of an adjacent building. One of them, who looked like a teenager, was balancing on the edge of the guardrail, tilted forward, as if a single gust of wind could send him falling.
The monk walked toward Kaito, stopping three meters away. His face was dark, and he looked like he should have been an honest, simple man, but his smile was unsettling. "This is a real mess. The [9527] survivor has managed to attract both [Bad Kid] and [Mercenary Tao] to hunt him."
"I'm a little scared," the monk said, his smile widening. "You two aren't going to come after me, are you?"
He had clearly recognized Kaito's identity. In the East Sector, his avatar was already becoming infamous.
Kaito smiled back. He could feel the faint, needle-prick of killing intent coming from the man in front of him. This monk was no simple character. The women behind him, who were supposedly just "scanning," had all quieted their breathing and tensed their muscles the moment he'd landed. They were ready for a fight.
"So that one over there is [Bad Kid]," Kaito said. He had heard the name. A Reincarnator whose avatar was that of a white-haired, pale-skinned teenager, who was famous for his cruelty and violence. Some guessed he was a dwarf in the real world, but there was no proof.
Kaito knew that anyone who had gotten the [Card] information was no fool. He wasn't surprised to see other hunters. He suddenly looked at the monk. "I'm Mercenary Tao. He's Bad Kid. And you… who are you again?"
The monk's unsettling smile slowly faded. His reputation, in many circles, was even greater than Kaito's or Bad Kid's. [Kalpa] had been on more missions. He was a true veteran. This "Mercenary Tao" had heard of [Bad Kid], so he should have heard of him, the man who had defeated Bad Kid in a previous mission.
So… "Are you trying to humiliate me?"
[Kalpa]'s expression turned cold, the flesh on his face twitching. Kaito thought this look was much more natural for him. This was who [Kalpa] really was.
Kalpa raised his right hand, his left hidden behind his back. A circle of golden light began to glow on his palm.
Kaito saw this and his own breathing pattern changed. Golden ripples of Hamon began to flow from his hands, like ribbons fluttering behind him.
Kaito had sensed Kalpa's killing intent the moment he'd landed on the roof. The three of them were all here for the same card. Cooperation was impossible. Kalpa's "friendly" chat, while walking so close to him, was an act of aggression.
And Kaito was not a nice person. He was, on the surface, provoking him, but in his mind, he was already prepared.
The next moment, Kaito stomped his foot. The ground cracked, and he instantly appeared in front of Kalpa, his fist flying, the air booming.
Kalpa, not flinching, spread his hands. A golden field of energy exploded outwards, enveloping Kaito.
BAM!
Kaito's fist slammed into Kalpa's chest. A white, concussive force blew out from his back.
Kalpa's eyes widened. He slid backward, grabbing the ground with his feet. At the same time, Kaito felt a sharp, needle-like pain in his own head.
He immediately rolled backward, tossing several high-explosive grenades as he dove for the stairwell, disappearing into the building.
BOOM!
A massive explosion ripped across the rooftop. The building's alarm began to shriek.
Kalpa frowned. This [Mercenary Tao]... he's not as tough as I thought. Suddenly, his expression changed. He turned and grabbed the rooftop guardrail, leaping off. His female teammates, who had been his "followers," were still in a daze, having no resources of their own.
VMMMM!
A sound like a supersonic jet screaming through the air made their ears bleed. They turned, and a man in a star-spangled banner, his hair blond, was now hovering above the roof.
Homelander tilted his head, looking at the bombed-out rooftop and the terrified Asian women.
He spread his arms. "Hey, ladies. My camera crew will be here in a minute. Please, stay calm, okay?"
One of the women, seeing Homelander, instinctively pulled out a black pistol and aimed it at him.
Homelander's smile vanished. His eyes narrowed. His heat-vision flared.
Sizzle!
The woman's upper body simply vanished. Her lower half stood there for a second, before toppling over.
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Guys We cross the 500 power stone goal and as promise here the bonus chapter
Next goal 600 power stone,come on guys you'll can do it, good luck.
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