Eishi left his villa in a rush. He only had a quick wash before heading straight to Tokyo. He knew full well the capabilities of people stationed over there. They are not strong enough to deal with that horrifying seventh-order whale. Heck, even sixth-order monsters could wreck havoc in that city.
The best option, barring all the traffic blockages, was to fly. Fortunately, Eishi was more than capable of doing so.
Swoosh-!
The hoodie he wore fluttered along the wind. The same went for his pants that threatened to detach on its own. The pair of shoes fitted his feet perfectly. Gravity’s drag had zero effect on his actual body, however.
‘Can they handle it..?’
After the battle, Eishi placed greater emphasis on his spirit attribute. He sought ways to improve it first. The fruit he asked the farmer girls to improve was none other than the [Spirit Boost] fruit. Back then, he had consumed a Potential Enhancement Fruit to bring up his S-rated [Constitution Boost] to SS rating. Eishi saved up his other use for the said fruit, intending to find ways to bring up his B-rated [Spirit Boost] first to S rating, and then use the Potential Enhancement Fruit to bring it up to SS rating.
However, the crisis now made him rethink his decision. [Time Dominator] acted based on the difference between two parties’ spirit attributes. His 5,000-point spirit worked on the seventh-order whale.
What if it was already at the eighth-order?
That thought was enough to make him reconsider things.
‘If nothing else works…’
Eishi sensed the raw genetic energy coursing through his veins. His fourth-order life level allowed it to penetrate deep into his bones, granting him a larger reserve. The enhanced electromagnetic field he used was a byproduct of it. Having a higher life level elevates his own physical body into a god’s domain.
The reason he could not react to the whale was partly on its innate talent; and another on the ‘stunning’ effect its life level exerted upon him. The mental pressure he faced was enough to halt his thoughts for a second. His 200% mental resistance helped him greatly, lest it would have been a full three seconds of immobility.
‘Six minutes… It should be barely enough.’
Click.
The familiar shade of gray swept over the world. Only Eishi retained colors in this dull world. Gravity no longer acted on him. The wind drag never disappeared. It was Eishi who kept ‘piercing’ through layers of wind. Still, it made his flight easier.
His initial estimates were wrong. Eishi arrived in Tokyo's airspace in the span of three minutes. At first glance, he saw the severe damages it sustained. More than a kilometer of walls and defensive lines deployed at the shore fell apart. Black pillars of smoke rose high in the sky, remaining in a frozen state. Military vehicles and artillery cannons lay wrecked on the broken roads. Corpses littered the ground—both humans and aquatic creatures. Their siege never stopped as he saw countless amphibians laying waste onto the remaining defensive lines.
Overall, the situation was very shitty.
“Hm..?”
Eishi’s keen eyesight spotted a lone man holding back hundreds, if not thousands of monsters alone. The pair of machetes in his hand dripped with blood. Along his path, he saw dozens of cold weapons in a severely damaged state.
“...As expected.”
Takashi was one of the few whom Eishi acknowledged. In his story, he was someone capable of establishing order. He was benevolent, but also mature enough when it comes to most things. Most, because he wasn’t able to deal with the issue with Rei. Both he and she were at fault. At least, that was how Eishi saw it.
Survival-wise, Takashi stands at the top.
Human-wise, Takashi also stands at the top.
That was something Eishi failed to do before… and he would keep on failing until now. He was that selfish. He would only care about his confidantes first and foremost, followed by their families. As for the rest, it is all up to fate.
If it doesn’t trouble him, Eishi would lend a hand. But not without placing debts onto them. If it troubled him, he wouldn’t care about others at all.
“Things like these are better left to people like you.”
Shaking his head, Eishi flew straight to the farming spot. Unlike the scene of hell outside, it was properly preserved. Rows upon rows of soldiers guarded the paths leading to it. It was the most heavily-defended place out of Tokyo.
‘...How clever. Is it to be expected from Motoi? Or was it from Hachiman? Or Amane?’
Eishi saw through their ploy. They wanted to get him here by focusing their efforts on his God Farming Project. It could be seen on the dozens of plant-based espers serving as the auxiliary supporters of Kaguya, Rei, and Miko—the girls with SS-rated superpowers.
Through their collective efforts, they shortened the time for fourth-order fruits’ appearance. It was something Eishi overlooked when he left this project to them. A slight frown appeared on his lips as he examined each expression of the people present.
‘They aren’t under the contract. It is inevitable for a few to harbor thoughts about it…’
For now, their safety relied on the espers guarding them. They did not dare have thoughts about these precious fourth-order fruits. Perhaps there was an information blockade that left them in the dark, too.
Either way, it will be resolved after a heart-to-heart with Motoi.
Click.
The world regained its colors. Everything around him began moving once again.
“It’s—”
Miko happened to bump onto Eishi at this moment. Her nose bumped onto his abdomen—into his abs. It felt like bumping into steel. Her nose quickly turned red.
“Ow…”
Before she could say another word, his words overtook Miko’s.
“Sorry.”
“It’s…”
Her head looked up. Her mouth went wide open in shock. Words got stuck in her throat.
“H-Hiraoka-san.” She said. “You must have come here…”
“Yes. I will also deal with those monsters in a second.”
Eishi’s keen eyes saw the box of fruits stored in a corner. The box itself was made of exquisite-looking wood, having the size of a cubic meter. Inside were two snow-white fruits. They are perfectly round, emitting a faint sense of coldness now and then. They looked like a pair of persimmons in his eyes.
Upon seeing the [Fourth-order] label given by the system’s appraisal, Eishi nodded in satisfaction. He stored the entire box inside his storage space, and without saying another word, flew high in the sky. He hasn’t activated [Time Dominator], instead choosing to scan his surroundings.
It wasn’t long before he spotted a blinding bright-red color swimming across the shallow waters. Its size was the exact opposite as that of the whale’s.
Click-!
The world halted before Eishi’s thoughts were formed. It took a second before he breathed out.
“...Shit.”
He rested his right palm atop his chest. He could feel his heart beating extremely fast. At that split second he ‘acknowledged’ that red dot’s existence, it didn’t hesitate to make a move. He had used his time stop first, however.
Eishi gave a good look at the swordfish a meter away from his eyes. Its body was extremely thin, as thick as his palm at most. The scariest thing on it was the half a meter long thin needle above its mouth. It shone with a pitch-black glint. Looking at it exerted mental attacks over him.
When the whale attacked him back then, the shockwaves that it spat out of its mouth triggered [Absolute Shield]’s defensive effect. Eishi didn’t doubt this thin needle would do the same. Worse, it would go straight to his head.
A leathery texture became more apparent on his hands as he grasped them into fists. The [Starfall Fist] bore heavy weight in its normal state. But, stopping time halted gravity’s effect unto Eishi. It allowed him to wield the pair of gloves along with its overwhelming mass without repercussions.
His right arm went backwards slightly. The muscle fibers on his arm were stretched. His posture gathered the power his current physique could exert. The combined effect of his tripled strength, agility, and constitution showed itself at this exact moment!
Bam-!
Splat-!
The swordfish’s thin body exploded into flesh fragments. Before they could fall, they froze mid-air. Every drop of blood it possessed floated lifelessly onto space. The thing that caught Eishi’s attention the most was the untouched ‘sword’ of the swordfish. It wasn’t damaged by his power exertion at all.
‘A good weapon and a convenient hack…’
Eishi stored its flesh and blood inside the spatial backpack before looking towards the endless horde of monsters. A ruthless glint appeared in his eyes. With a thought, his special electromagnetic field shot straight towards the cluster of monsters.
Splatter-!
The expected loud sound didn’t appear, yet these monsters swiftly fell to their knees. Some had their heads broken off. Others had their tough shells shattered. Some even turned into fresh sashimi on the spot. The usage of this ‘basic ability’ wasn’t much. It was recovered by his insane constitution as well as his two god-like recovery talents.
Before long, piles of flesh and blood scattered across Tokyo.
Click.
The moment time had returned, the scent of flesh and blood wafted across the city. Hundreds of people were shocked by this spectacle, but Eishi did not care. The third-order monsters and above were already stored in his spatial backpack. As for those left behind, it was the ‘reward’ he gave away in exchange for bearing a fourth-order fruit.
After all, he wasn’t a babysitter. He invested ‘heavily’ in Tokyo to gain a wider supply of evolution fruits. Eishi counted on the manpower of an entire city to discover things he wouldn’t have found otherwise.
‘The ocean…’
The ocean’s horizon was reflected in his pitch-black irises. An extremely noticeable blood-red remained along its surface, mixing with the orange hue of the sunset. So long as he had touched the ocean’s surface, an unimaginable danger awaited him. Its danger far exceeded what the seventh-order whale and the seventh-order swordfish gave him. The concentration of the red color was so intense it was blinding.
One answer remained from that:
Eighth-order.
‘Are humans really not meant to survive..?’
Eishi felt that wasn’t the case. Just like how the leveling mechanism of talents worked. It could be practiced over and over for it to level-up. Only, it was extremely slow compared to eating their way through it. There is something that he hasn’t found yet, something that gives humanity a chance at survival.
‘I need to talk to them… to Amane.’
*****
“Ah..?”
The first thing Amane saw was a blinding white light… and then the small tube connected to his mouth. A strong bloody taste assaulted his tongue, making him wince.
“Mmph..!”
“You finally woke up.”
Amane hastily removed the small tube on his mouth as he sat upright. The metallic taste couldn’t be removed even when he spat several times. Instead, he made a mess on his white quilt.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Have you noticed the changes in your body?”
He turned to face Eishi who explained things calmly. A crimson-red blood floated in front of him, coalescing into a spherical shape. It is connected to the tube Amane drank on. Upon closer inspection, he found it was heavily corroded.
“This…”
After a few seconds of delay, he finally noticed his changes. His body didn’t feel as heavy as it should have been. Amane hadn’t just fully recovered; he grew stronger!
“The blood of the seventh-order evolved beast. It’s as effective as it should have been despite being diluted.”
Eishi gave a nod of acknowledgement. During the short span of six hours, Saya managed to research a bit more about the evolved beasts’ flesh and blood. Its power is extremely potent as it could increase genetic energy by direct consumption. It poses milder risks, however, compared to evolution fruits.
Eating high-leveled fruits as a low-level esper carries the risk of self-implosion. On the other hand, the blood of high-leveled evolved beasts pose lesser risks. Of course, it has to be diluted with blood from lower-leveled evolution beasts.
After flying back and forth, Eishi brought back a ‘prototype’ compound for Amane to consume. That was how the floating spherical blood came to be.
Amane processed it all and looked at Eishi. He knew full well his personality. Every time he gives something, he wants something back. Eishi saw through his thoughts and did not bother hiding his intention.
“About the rifts you spoke of…”