Chapter 225: Mad Potter
"Oh?"
Kaito Shirogane put away the two Crimson Drop Cards.
[Mugi] instinctively took a step back, his heart still pounding from the other man's terrifying speed.
Although teleportation was, in theory, the fastest way to move, activating the ability still required him to react. Facing a martial artist like this, whose high-speed movement—based on pure physical skill—was enough to deceive the eyes, he couldn't be too careful.
He realized his words had just revealed that he knew the other's identity. In a conversation between Reincarnators, this was often a form of threat. Mugi immediately explained.
"I sent an offer at your stall in the Nexus, so I saw your ID number. After you fought me two days ago, I realized it was the same number, so..."
"But I didn't tell Boss Jin or the others your identity."
Mugi had a harmless appearance. He had a youthful look, with short, slightly yellowish hair, and a body that wasn't robust, merely healthy. But as an esper, his physical strength wasn't necessarily what it appeared to be.
Many espers had muscle density higher than that of ordinary people.
In truth, the moment Mugi realized who he was facing—the notoriously fearsome [Mercenary Tao] from the Nexus—he had already given up any thought of being his enemy. Even Flame Fiend had been killed. If his group went looking for trouble with this guy, it would be no different from suicide.
Compared to a guy like Boss Jin, Mugi was far more willing to serve under Mercenary Tao.
Rumor was that he was still a lone wolf. If Mugi could form a team with Mercenary Tao, the benefits for him would be immense.
Mugi had heard that many Titled-grade Reincarnators in the Nexus were already keeping an eye on Mercenary Tao. It was said that [Silent/Dead-Still Fate] was even trying to recruit him.
Kaito Shirogane didn't tilt his head, but he was sizing up [Mugi]. The man's reaction speed, strength, and defense weren't particularly high. His entire skillset was basically concentrated in that unique teleportation ability.
But Reincarnators were a group defined by chance. It was nothing new for someone to get lucky, obtain a powerful ability, and then use that one trick to rise through the ranks.
An ability like teleportation was extremely useful in the low-to-mid power tiers, but...
Kaito looked down at his left hand. Then, a tyrannical killing intent, mixed with a profound disappointment at the weakness of these Reincarnators, erupted within him.
Like a seed, it suddenly split open in Kaito's heart and then burst forth violently.
An intense aura instantly swept out in all directions like a hurricane.
Mugi, who had been focused entirely on Mercenary Tao's movements, suddenly felt his pupils shrink. The powerful aura was like an ocean, drowning him in an instant. He could barely breathe within the surging pressure.
He felt every inch of his skin being battered by a tangible impact. His hair flew up, and his mind trembled.
This feeling... could it be... Conqueror's Haki?!
The next moment, a faint, almost imperceptible sound of slicing air rushed at him. His heart went cold, his scalp almost tearing from sheer terror. He suddenly opened his mouth and yelled.
"I know the location of the teleportation point arranged by the Final Empire!"
Pfft~
Kaito's hand-blade stopped an inch in front of Mugi's chest. The intense force and Satsui no Hado had still lanced a wound in his chest, from which blood slowly trickled.
The sharp pain brought Mugi back to his senses. His body trembled twice, and he flickered seven or eight times in an instant before finally managing to calm down.
Mugi's heart was hammering. His legs felt weak. That feeling of death's approach... he felt suffocated just recalling it.
He was terrified. He suddenly lost all impulse to join Mercenary Tao's faction. He even wanted to run away right now, far, far away. Leave Burmia, go back to the East Federation, or even the Indus Republic—anywhere was fine, as long as he never had to meet this guy, Mercenary Tao, ever again...
A single moment of distraction, and he had almost been instantly killed on the spot.
Ha... so in Mercenary Tao's eyes, I'm no different from Boss Jin, Muni, or Kurokawa.
[Mugi], beneath his seemingly friendly and reserved exterior, was actually incredibly arrogant. He looked down on Boss Jin and the others because ever since awakening his superpower, he had never once faced truly lethal danger.
He just needed to keep stocking up on various shields to avoid being killed on the first encounter. With his ability, escaping was never hard.
He had even planned out his future development path. As long as he found a specific Cursed Technique or ability, something like [Idle Transfiguration], he could use his hyper-mobility to instantly kill other Reincarnators. The only thing to watch out for were those spellcasters whose Spirit attribute had broken the Limit.
But he was prepared for that, too. He himself was about to touch the Spirit Limit, so he had a high resistance to mental attacks...
Having just brushed past the god of death, Mugi's thoughts scattered uncontrollably.
Swoosh.
A figure instantly appeared fifty meters behind him. Mugi's nerves tensed up all over again.
Kaito Shirogane stood with his hands open, a smile on his face. The purple Satsui no Hado on his hands was slowly dissipating.
"You know, if you run right now, I will definitely find a way to hunt you down. I imagine that among low-tier Reincarnators, one with both mind control and teleportation is fairly recognizable. I'm sure the info brokers wouldn't refuse my contract."
Kaito's tone was calm, as if catching up with an old friend, but Mugi's mind was stretched to its absolute limit.
He did not try to teleport away again.
Mugi was truly afraid. A man's reputation precedes him. He didn't dare bet his life on whether Mercenary Tao could find him or not.
Kaito nodded. This Reincarnator before him had probably just gotten lucky awakening a rare superpower, but he did possess some quick wit. Whether it was using hand seals as a feint to attract his attack and then teleporting, or this time, blurting out intel that could actually make him stop, right on the brink of death.
[Attention, ID Ex051. A new Nexus-transport will commence in 1 hour. Please ensure your surroundings are secure in advance.]
Just then, Kaito suddenly saw the Nexus notification. His next round of missions was about to begin.
This was the inescapable fate of all Reincarnators. It was precisely because of this that Kaito felt the so-called [Final Empire] was a joke.
Who knew when the mission intensity would suddenly spike? At that point, without any other country needing to do anything, this group of superhumans would all die in some unknown mission world.
"Speak. That teleportation point, where is it?"
Mugi's nerves were on edge, ready to resist the Conqueror's Haki and teleport away at any moment.
He didn't dare to be perfunctory. At this moment, he wished for nothing more than to never cross paths with Mercenary Tao ever again.
"I saw the message Boss Jin received. That group will open a large-scale teleportation array in seven days, at the border between the East Federation and Burmia. They're telling all Reincarnators who want to go to prepare their resources and head over together."
"But... there will probably be Reincarnators maintaining order there. Maybe... even a Titled-grade."
After that, Mugi stared intently at Kaito, wrote a coordinate on the ground with his left hand, and then slowly backed away. Seeing that Kaito didn't stop him, he vanished in an instant. After a few more teleports, he was completely outside Kaito's detection range.
"Are you alright, Boss Shiro!"
Hayashi, leaning on a cane but still insisting on following behind the guards, hurried over to ask Kaito as he walked out of the woods. Eliza, however, knew her place, keeping her head down as she offered him a clean white towel.
Kaito wiped his hands and tossed the towel back at the woman.
Hayashi wanted to slap himself. How could Madman Shiro possibly be in trouble? He was spouting useless words again.
He was gradually beginning to grasp some of Madman Shiro's "habits." This was a monster who was rational to the point of cruelty. He didn't need bootlicking, but he did need to see everyone's value and utility.
If someone lost their utility, they lost their reason to exist.
This woman, Eliza, was smart. Even after her attempt at seduction failed, she still remembered small things like handing him a towel.
Kaito returned to the manor, looked at the collapsed wooden building, and said to Hayashi.
"Find a new base."
As "Project Paradise" truly moved forward, this manor in the mountains was too far from the future center of "Paradise," making it inconvenient for Kaito to find prey.
He decided to abandon the place entirely.
After temporarily moving into a hotel owned by Eliza, Kaito returned to the Nexus from his room.
He still had enough time left to stay in the public space.
Kaito planned to complete a new round of enhancements and liquidate his assets before the next mission began.
His main mission completion rate in the last world was too low, so he figured the difficulty of this next mission would be reduced accordingly. In the Nexus's evaluation system, every Reincarnator had a hidden evaluation metric.
If you achieved a high completion rate, the next mission world and its difficulty would be higher. If you kept succeeding, the difficulty would continue to increase.
In higher-difficulty worlds and missions, the rewards were greater, but so was the risk of death.
It was because of this system that among Reincarnators, the strong grew stronger, and the weak only grew weaker.
[GA99954770 (Mad Potter) has sent you a message: Luo Xi sent you? I'm at stall B-77. Think it through, I charge a high price.]
This was the Reincarnator Luo Xi had introduced. He could supposedly custom-make special items for others and also had some appraisal abilities. He was a magic-side, mystery-side Reincarnator.
Kaito glanced at the various offers on his own stall but wasn't in a hurry to deal with them. He headed to Area B first.
The Reincarnator calling himself [Mad Potter] had an equally distinct and exaggerated Avatar. He had a red afro, so massive it was almost four or five times the size of a normal person's head, making him easy to spot from a distance.
His skin had been turned black, making him stand out conspicuously among the other Reincarnators.
Combining this with his codename, Kaito could already guess his personality.
Eccentric, bizarre, and a standout personality.
Extending from that, he could even form a vague profile of the person's real-world identity. Most likely under thirty, probably an otaku (male or female), a fan of niche culture, with a lot of free time. High probability of being a student or a freelancer.
Mad Potter suddenly felt a strange chill. He looked up and saw an ugly, red face staring at him with great interest.
"Crap, stop staring at me! You're giving me goosebumps."
"Dammit, Luo Xi was right. You're a freak, too."
(End of Chapter)