Chapter 753: ITEM, ITEM, Materials for Quick Fluff Balls, Harvested Four Fluff Balls!
"It's the General Superintendent, so what exactly were you sent here to do?" Misaki Shokuhou pressed, her star-shaped pupils narrowing as she waved her fan lightly.
Her voice carried the unmistakable arrogance of the Queen of Tokiwadai, demanding an answer not out of curiosity, but out of command.
"Uh..."
Kinuhata Saiai and Takitsubo Rikou both dared not answer. The pressure in the air was suffocating. They stood frozen, their instincts screaming that any wrong move would result in instant annihilation.
They could only look at their leader, Mugino Shizuri, for guidance.
"..."
Mugino Shizuri gritted her teeth, the muscles in her jaw twitching. She felt like a trapped rat. She said in a low, seething voice, "The General Superintendent's order was... to kill everyone here."
"Huh???"
Misaka Mikoto had a head full of question marks. Sparks of blue electricity crackled violently around her bangs, reacting to her incredulity.
"Do you know there are three Level 5s here? Three!"
And there was also the legendary strongest, the First-Ranked Level 5, Accelerator, nearby. How dare they?
This was a bit too overconfident. No, it was sheer insanity. Even without Accelerator, did they really think the Railgun was someone easy to bully?
"..."
Mugino Shizuri was the one who wanted to curse the most. Her fists clenched so hard her nails dug into her palms.
How could they know this place was so tough? The mission briefing had been vague—eliminate intruders and secure the perimeter. If they had known the targets were the pillars of Academy City's hierarchy, she wouldn't have come even with a hundred guts.
But that was the General Superintendent, Aleister Crowley.
As tools of Academy City's Dark Side and the Board of Directors, they had no room to resist. Disobedience meant death. Failure meant death. And now, success was impossible.
It was too late for regrets now.
What she cared most about was their own future. Mugino was ruthless, but she was also pragmatic. She knew when she was beaten.
"We admit defeat. How do you plan to deal with us? Just state your terms."
"Heh, you're in no position to negotiate with me."
Ren stepped forward. His expression was playful, yet his eyes held a depth of darkness that made the night sky seem bright in comparison.
"To be honest, I'm not interested in what you were ordered to do."
Not to mention, they had no direct animosity with him, nor with the people they were sent to kill. They were just knives held by someone else.
He was only here to protect his group members and to enjoy the show.
What's more...
Mugino Shizuri didn't have the ability to kill anyone among these people. Her Meltdowner was powerful, yes—capable of piercing through almost any defense—but against the mental manipulation of the Queen, the electromagnetic dominance of the Railgun, and Ren's own unfathomable power, she was insignificant.
Her strength was truly insufficient.
'Even the top four of my espers are just half-baked individuals who can't perfectly control their abilities,' Ren thought, analyzing their AIM fields with a glance.
"What do you think I should do to you? Should I kill you, or... kill you?"
It was like the whisper of a demon. The intention behind the words washed over them, a palpable wave of killing intent that made the air heavy and hard to breathe.
"Wah! Don't kill me! I'll do anything!"
Frenda Seivelun, the blonde beret-wearing bomber of the group, broke first. She threw away her pride instantly, prostrating herself on the cold concrete ground. She cried out for mercy excitedly, her forehead touching the dirt.
"I surrender! I surrender! Please, big brother, spare me! I'm useful! I can cook, I can clean, I can blow things up for you!"
Such a spineless act was undoubtedly met with a heavy kick to her backside from Mugino Shizuri.
"Tch, Frenda! I really should just kill you myself!"
Her weak display truly enraged Mugino. Veins popped on Mugino's forehead, and killing intent had already risen in her tone. Green sparks of unstable electrons began to gather around her form.
"Ugh!"
Frenda, looking disheveled and covered in dust, shrunk her head into her shoulders like a turtle, not daring to look at the intensely murderous Mugino Shizuri. But she didn't stand up. Between an angry leader and the monster named Ren, she knew who was scarier.
The most crucial thing was that Ren didn't sound like he was joking.
Even Kinuhata Saiai's legs trembled with fear. The Nitrogen Armor that usually protected her felt like tissue paper before this man's gaze.
"Gulp!"
She swallowed hard, her throat dry.
"Are we really going to die here? It's super, super scary. This situation is super hopeless!"
No one wanted to die.
Even though they had all joined the Dark Side for various reasons—money, power, shelter—none of them had signed up for a suicide mission against god-like entities.
Mugino Shizuri remained relatively calm, though cold sweat trickled down her back.
She didn't beg Misaka Mikoto or Misaki Shokuhou. She knew the heroes wouldn't kill them, but they also wouldn't let them go. The decision lay with the man in the center.
Instead, she stared directly at Ren.
She asked very bluntly: "What will it take to buy my life?"
She used "my" and not "our."
In the face of death, she would undoubtedly abandon Kinuhata Saiai and the others without hesitation. That was the way of ITEM. Survival of the fittest.
"Buying your life? Of course, no problem. From now on, you'll be my playthings."
Ren's single sentence stunned them, leaving them utterly shocked. The word hung in the air, heavy with implication.
"Playthings... is that... is that what it means?"
Kinuhata Saiai immediately thought of something very filthy. Her face turned pale, then red. "That is super inappropriate! Super scandalous!"
The Misaka Sister standing nearby, clone number 10032, suddenly spoke up, her voice monotone but cutting. "Plaything, a derogatory term. The initial definition is a vessel for others to vent upon, typically involving physical or psychological domination. Misaka understands it as such and offers a dictionary definition to clarify the situation."
Misaka Mikoto's pretty face flushed crimson instantly. "Don't explain everything out loud! And you, don't say such things in front of a kid!"
"Ren, you're joking, right?"
Misaki Shokuhou crossed her arms under her chest, puffing out her cheeks. She didn't know why, but she wasn't very happy. A pang of possessiveness flashed through her.
"Do you think I'm a joking person? Don't you know what kind of person I am?"
What kind of person was he?
A person who was very frank about his desires. He didn't hide his greed or his lust. He was a conqueror.
"..."
Misaki Shokuhou couldn't help but recall the time when the Doomsday Companion system activated, and he went to his world. She remembered the group of women he had embraced—beautiful, strong, and utterly devoted to him.
For a moment, she couldn't retort.
"..."
Takitsubo Rikou also fell silent. Her drowsy eyes widened slightly. Such a matter was still somewhat difficult for young girls to process, but her instinct told her that being a plaything was better than being a corpse.
Mugino Shizuri's willow-like brows were raised high. Disbelief warred with anger on her face.
Plaything. What was the difference between that and a slave?
She was the Meltdowner. The fourth-ranked Level 5. She ruled the underground. She would rather kill people and rot in the Dark Side than have her body treated as a toy by others.
But Frenda didn't care about dignity.
Upon hearing that she could live, she immediately perked up. Her blue eyes sparkled with tears of relief.
She immediately crawled on her knees towards Ren, moving with practiced speed.
Hugging his leg tight, burying her face against his trousers, she cried out: "I'm willing! As long as you don't kill me, I'm willing to do anything! I'll be a dog, a cat, anything you want! Woof!"
"You're sensible."
Ren reached down and patted Frenda's head, stroking her blonde hair as if she really were a pet. Scanning the thoughtful Mugino Shizuri and the other two, Ren said indifferently: "I'm not giving you a choice, but merely making an announcement."
"From now on, you will simply be my pets. My property."
He snapped his fingers.
Snap!
A surge of energy rippled through the air. A black, intricate pattern, resembling a tribal tattoo or a cursed collar, manifested instantly on the fair necks of the four girls.
"What is this?"
Mugino Shizuri's pupils constricted. She felt a searing heat around her throat, like a branding iron.
She instinctively reached out, clawing at her neck, trying to wipe away the eerie pattern.
But the moment she touched it...
The black pattern flashed red.
"ARGAAHHHHH!!!"
A painful scream, raw and guttural, erupted from Mugino Shizuri's mouth. Her entire body twisted abnormally, muscles seizing up. She collapsed to the ground, convulsing as if thousands of volts of electricity were coursing directly through her nervous system.
"Mugino!!!"
Kinuhata and Frenda screamed in horror. The sudden scene was truly frightening. The invincible Meltdowner was reduced to a writhing mess in seconds.
But Kinuhata Saiai dared not approach. Fear rooted her to the spot.
"A friendly reminder, this is a temporary plaything collar set for you."
Ren spoke words that made them feel cold from head to toe, with a calm, indifferent demeanor. He looked down at Mugino with cold eyes.
"Now your abilities are sealed, and you cannot resist. Your Personal Reality is locked behind a door you cannot open. I will properly train you when I return."
Why "when I return"?
Of course, he had to go see Aleister Crowley first. The master needed to deal with the owner before claiming the strays.
He turned to the stunned Misaka Mikoto and Misaki Shokuhou.
"You two wait for me here. Accelerator and Kakine Teitoku pose no threat to you now. They are busy with their own existential crises."
"As for her matter..."
Ren looked at the innocent Misaka Sister, who was staring at the scene with empty eyes.
"We'll talk about it later. Keep her safe."
With that, space warped around him. He had already vanished from the spot, teleporting directly into the heart of the Windowless Building.
Leaving them looking at each other in the silent port.
Takitsubo Rikou blinked, rubbing her neck where the black mark sat. She tried to activate her AIM Stalker ability, tried to sense the fields around her.
"My ability... it's gone."
It was a void. The colorful world of AIM fields she usually saw was now pitch black.
"Mine too... This is a super screw-up. My Nitrogen Armor won't activate!" Kinuhata Saiai cried with a small, pale face, hugging herself. She felt naked without her defensive barrier.
"Phew, it's good that we didn't die, it's good that we didn't die."
Frenda was much more carefree than them; she sat on the ground, panting. She only felt the relief of surviving a disaster. Being a pet was fine. Being alive was better.
The most miserable was only Mugino Shizuri.
"Damn it!"
She pushed herself up from the ground, her body still trembling from the aftershocks of pain. She gritted her teeth so hard they might crack, her eyes filled with rage and humiliation.
Unwilling to accept such a fate, she tried to force her Personal Reality to obey, tried to summon even a spark of her Meltdowner beam.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah!"
Another scream tore through her throat as the collar punished her defiance instantly. She collapsed again, foaming at the mouth slightly.
Misaka Mikoto, on her side, had no mind to pay attention to those playthings. She looked at the empty space where Ren had been.
Instead, she worried about Ren: "He won't be in danger, will he? He's going to face the General Superintendent..."
Hearing this, Misaki Shokuhou rolled her eyes repeatedly, fanning herself to hide her own slight concern.
"Instead of worrying about him, you should worry about your Misaka Sister. And yourself."
What kind of person was Ren? Did he need weaklings like them to worry about him? If anything, she should be worrying about Aleister Crowley.
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