Chapter 143: Happiness~
Since I joined the yakuza I have entered this place hundreds of times, but this is the first time I noticed something unusual in the environment.
I can't explain it, but it felt like the air and the ground was a swamp that devoured my energy and restricted my abilities, of course, it was just a feeling since in reality, my abilities remained the same. If it wasn't for my system, all of my abilities would have actually been restricted leaving me in a very vulnerable state.
If this is the authority of a Guardian then it is understandable that foreign entities are so afraid of them, on the other hand, this shows how dangerous system users are since if I wish I can use my skills without a problem.
I was quickly taken to the main meeting room of the Ichijo residence, before entering the room I made a respectful bow to the man who brought me to which he gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder and left.
Within the yakuza, I have three identities of which my current identity as Luis Santos is that of an unimportant subordinate so currently, I must show respect to my superiors even if they are carefree people.
When I entered the room I met Mr. Ichijo, which was already a daily occurrence, normally in my meetings with my boss he does not usually have a bodyguard next to him, which seemed stupid and overconfident to me.
Only now can I notice that in reality there were bodyguards, but that they are entities with supernatural stealth abilities that cannot be noticed by conventional means and if it were not for my sense of smell that is at the level of a spiritual tracking ability then I would not have noticed these entities.
How many troublesome things have been happening around me without my knowledge?
No, I really don't want to know.
"Boy, I'm glad you look healthy" – Mr. Ichijo stood up and gave me a hug.
This man has always been attentive to me and it is no exaggeration to say that in the two and a half years that I have worked for him, he has treated me like a son, however, he has also sent me on missions where I have almost died numerous times for which his actions feel contradictory.
I smiled wryly as if he made me uncomfortable, but at the same time showed that I was grateful to be treated kindly after the 'hell' I went through.
"Come, have a seat and tell me what happened" - Mr. Ichijo sat in the place assigned to the leader and I sat in front of him.
I sat with my left leg bent in the lotus position while my right leg rested on the floor It was a delinquent-like stance, but actually this is a good defensive stance as I can use my right leg to push myself back in case I get sneak attacked.
I don't normally use this posture when I'm in this place as I always maintain an appearance of trusting this man completely, but since I just came from 'hell' I need to show signs of post-traumatic stress.
Mr. Ichijo noticed my posture as I sat down and let out a sad sigh. – "Did you have such a bad time?" nôvel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.
I was silent for a moment and then sighed. – "Actually I am surprised to still be alive..."
"I see" – Mr. Ichijo looked at me with compassion and kindness and then opened a bottle of alcohol to offer me a drink.
"Sorry, I don't drink anymore" - I smiled bitterly.
Shit, I want to get drunk, but now I've become mentally weak towards alcohol since drinking makes me lose control over my own Chaotic Beast desires and instincts.
"Come on, won't you share a drink with this old man?" – Mr. Ichijo frowned as if he were a child.
[System Notification: The skill 'Mythomania' will temporarily contain the reproductive and destructive impulses of the user]
This skill is becoming my favorite.
I sighed and took the glass he offered me. – "Just a drink..."
Mr. Ichijo smiled and we toasted for no reason.
After we downed our drinks, Mr. Ichijo showed a serious expression. – "Boy, there is much of this vast world that you do not know, I do not know what you may have experienced in the place where you went, but I would like you to trust me and tell me what happened"
Now comes the important thing.
I didn't feel the influence of any mind control abilities, there were no drugs in the drink and all of Mr. Ichijo's body language shows sincerity so at least he doesn't seem to want the truth out of me at all costs.
I quickly went through the whole story I prepared with the help of System Goddess and activated my [Mythomania] and [Schizophrenia] skills to distort my own sense of truth, so the lie detection skills won't be able to detect falsehoods in my words.
"One day I went to the bar that I usually frequent to gather information..." – I began to tell my story before I got my system.
"At the bar, I met a woman too beautiful to ignore, since I wasn't in business hours I felt there was nothing to lose in trying something with her so I asked her out and surprisingly she accepted, after talking for a while we went to a hotel and well, the usual happened..."
I've been thinking about it for a while and came to the conclusion that it's strange that my system activated after my night with Lin Ruoxi.
System Goddess mentioned that my system was in such bad shape that even if the system wasn't modified by Navi, Beast VII's setup was made in such a way that the system would only wake up if I received a large amount of power from external means, so taking Lin Ruoxi's virginity must have been more significant than I thought...
I need to find that woman and investigate what happened.
"The next morning I checked out of the hotel, but when I was on my way to take a new job at a construction company, a strange circle appeared under my feet..."
I frowned as if from here on it was all unpleasant memories.
"The next thing I knew, I was in Japan, but not this Japan, but another Japan, a Japan where martial arts allowed people to have the strength to demolish buildings with their fists and stop earthquakes with a punch..."
"Although that world was supposedly peaceful, there was an intense fight between martial artists and somehow I ended up involved in that fight, from one day to the next I was chased by a group of martial artists and I had to fight every day to survive. ..."
I showed a gloomy and exhausted expression as if all those fights had damaged my heart, but I still showed an intense desire to live to show that my willpower grew from this experience.
"After three years of fighting with my life at stake, I finally survived, and involuntarily I think I saved the world or something" – I scratched my cheek awkwardly as if I felt uncomfortable with my own words. – "One day I heard the voice of a woman who called herself Goddess, she helped me giving me the advice to survive and save the world because according to her that was the only way to return home..."
"I'm really not sure what happened, but when I managed to destroy the last of my enemies, a light that called itself the Will of the World told me that I became a hero or something, that light was the one that allowed me to return home ..."
"And well, that's the summary" - I sighed heavily. – "Honestly, this sounds absurd to me even though I lived it myself..."
I smiled wryly. – "But I don't know what else to say, until now I still don't understand what happened"
Mr. Ichijo had finished the bottle of liquor while I was telling my stupid things. His expression was serious and when I finished speaking he just let out a tired and relieved sigh like a father who hears that his son had a car accident only to go to the hospital and discover that the son was unharmed.
"Boy, it seems you were lucky" – Mr. Ichijo saw that I frowned so he smiled wryly. – "Believe it or not you are lucky, it seems that you found a guide who could show you the way back home, there are people with less luck who could only return home after tens or even thousands of years and the mental consequences of those people are... Well, I'm glad you're still yourself."
I can imagine it. Going to another world and fighting for thousands of years only to find that not a single minute has passed when you return home may bring temporary relief, but the stress of war leaves its mark.
On the other hand, coming home to find that you've been missing for 10 years during which everything you know has changed and you no longer have a life of your own should come as a shock to anyone.
Whatever, I'm just here for some people I like, fixing my family issues and getting a costume to avoid Beast VII so I don't care about anything else.
We both talked for a while where I talked more about my trip to another world.
When I talked about the existence of Ki, Mr. Ichijo didn't seem very surprised which is normal, this world also has Ki, although the Ki used here is a bit different from my Ki.
"Let's see..." - Mr. Ichijo held his chin as he thought and then began to smile. – "Let's go to the main gym, I want to see how strong you have become"
I made a confused face and then nodded.
I walked with Mr. Ichijo and we entered what looked like a kendo training room with a wooden floor.
In this place, I felt the restraints covering my body disappear, though I kept the Anti-Rasen restraints to only show my Ki and Hamon.
"Boy, show all your strength" – Mr. Ichijo smiled at me and then gestured towards the man with a scar on his face.
In this world, the concept of spiritual weapons is not so strange, but I kept it a secret that Tsubaki is a spiritual weapon with a mind and soul of its own since that would classify her as a foreign entity, and if the Will of the World knows that I could bring an entity without their permission will only mean that I am a spy for another entity, or that I have a system.
The idea is to pass off Tsubaki as a weapon without a conscience, over time she will 'evolve' to develop a conscience and thus she will be registered as my weapon and not as a foreign entity.
Fortunately, Tsubaki already has a way to start getting stronger so this plan doesn't have the risk of her not being able to get stronger while I get stronger.
When I was able to evolve into a Higher Entity, Tsubaki almost ceased to be a suitable weapon for me since if I used her in combat she would break easily. Fortunately System Goddess once again showed her usefulness.
System Goddess became a Higher Existence because she found a dying system user.
She used to be a cultivator without much talent in cultivation or sword techniques, but her talent in studying mystic formations was at the level of a prodigy so she took advantage of the fact that the user was too injured to defend herself and through various experiments with mystical matrices and forbidden rituals, she managed to understand the workings of the system, and not just any system, a naturally formed system.
She mentioned that this user had fought against one of the most powerful entities in her homeworld. The user was so arrogant that he thought he was invincible and provoked the fury of a Guardian with enough power that could resist the effects of the 'Plot Armor'.
In the end, both the user and his lovers were cut to pieces, a clear example of what not to do if you are a system user looking for a long life.
System Goddess found the user by sheer luck while she was in a remote forest looking for medicinal herbs.
(Yes, I am surprised that she has the luck of a protagonist despite not being a protagonist, the multiverse is surprising).
When System Goddess found the user she was initially drawn to help him due to the influence of the 'Plot Armor', however, System Goddess had a mind protection artifact that was given to her by her late master, thanks to that artifact she did not help the system user and instead she turned him into an alchemy material.
Cultivation worlds are so cruel that they might not be a bad place to collect souls...
After analyzing the user, System Goddess gave up her cultivation, her Dao, and her name to develop a new path, thus she became the System Goddess.
Although this made her weaker, it allowed her to learn of the existence of other worlds, granted her actual immortality, and gave her the ability to move to other worlds.
She is not interested in being strong, she just wants a quiet life so instead of obtaining power through means that depend on pain and meditation, she prefers the easy method that also allows her to flee to other worlds when she feels in danger.
While I don't approve of her choice to reject power, I respect the idea of prioritizing one's life over pride.
The point of all this is that System Goddess managed to extract some remains from the dying user's system. It wasn't enough to create a new system, but she was able to give Tsubaki a new innate ability.
Tsubaki hasn't become a Superior Entity yet, but in terms of power, she is already a Superior Entity who also has an ability that allows her to evolve.
Tsubaki got a skill called 'Resonance'. Not only did this ability allow us to finally use soul resonance, but Tsubaki also managed to do something that should be impossible in his world, a demonic weapon making a perfect resonance with the 'Madness' energy.
Now my black blood is not only my connection to Ortro, it also connects me to Tsubaki without her receiving the negative effects of the mental corruption.
Tsubaki can now mold my black blood to forge weapons while she is based on the designs Shigure made.
The operation of my 'new weapon' is as follows:
Shigure made many types of weapons so that I would have a full arsenal during my journey (being pregnant didn't stop her from forging which was worrying, but hey, she's happy so she's fine).
Those weapons were analyzed by Tsubaki, then she joined with my black blood and replicated the same weapon with my black blood.
The weapon created with black blood is not only stronger than steel, I can use any of my different energies on these weapons without difficulty so I can maximize the potential of the weapon.
Due to Tsubaki's soul frequency and my [Mythomania] skill, other entities can't detect that the black blood comes from the 'Madness' energy so there is no risk in using them, besides, since they are weapons made from my blood, I literally carry a whole armory on my body, moreover, since Tsubaki is now linked to my black blood, the stronger I get, the stronger she gets, and the stronger she is, the stronger my weapons will be.
Best of all, even if these weapons are destroyed, Tsubaki won't take any damage since she's in my Core of Existence so the only way to hurt her is to destroy my mind, split my body, and crush my soul.
If those three conditions are not met in that same order, Tsubaki and my entire harem will be safe even if I die, although they will be trapped in the world inside my soul at least until I can reincarnate.
This is a little arrangement I made with the help of System Goddess so that the women in my harem remain safe if the worst comes to pass, although they don't know this.
Anyway, the important thing is that my current weapons are made up of the work of two of the women I love the most in my harem, Tsubaki and Shigure.
Leaving all this unnecessarily long explanation aside, I continued conversing with Mr. Ichijo about unimportant things, or so I would like to say if it weren't for the fact that he looked at me with the most seriousness I have ever seen in his eyes.
"Luis" – Mr. Ichijo didn't have his usual carefree expression but the expression he usually wears when he gives me extremely dangerous missions.
I got serious.
"I want you to answer me with total sincerity" - Mr. Ichijo seemed worried. – "Do you think Raku is capable of inheriting my position as head of the yakuza?"
No, not even as a bad joke, he is too stupid.
"I sincerely believe that Raku is not made for this life, he seeks a peaceful and normal life" - I shook my head acting like an older brother worried about his younger brother.
"I know, I think the same" - Mr. Ichijo sighed and then looked at me again seriously. – "Luis, are you willing for me to adopt you as heir to the Ichijo family?"
...
I admit, that was unexpected.
[System Notification: Contract 'Until the End of Mankind' in danger.
Section 4, Article C of the contract: As long as the user is the child of '■■■', the user may not kill '■■■'. In case of breach of the contract, the user will go into hibernation until 'Beast VII' can correct the problem]
[System Notification: The title 'Stingy Jack' has found one loophole of the 'Until the End of Mankind' contract.
If the user stops being the son of '■■■' then the user will be free to seriously injure '■■■'. The shared family ties between the user and '■■■' still prevent the user from killing '■■■'.
If the user manages to kill or get sincere love from all the people who share blood ties with '■■■' then the user will be free to kill '■■■'.
The title 'Stingy Jack' cannot decipher other items in the contract that protect the life of '■■■']
[System Notification: 'Mythomania' skill, 'Anti-Rasen' energy, 'Reader's Madness' energy, and 'Stingy Jack' title have prevented 'Beast VII' and '■■■' from discovering the interference of the user in the contract 'Until the end of mankind'.
If the user completely destroys the 'Until the End of Mankind' contract, 'Beast VII' will know the user's interference]
"Mr. Ichijo... I... That's a bit..." – My expression was one of honest disbelief as well as happiness.
"I know you have a complicated family situation" – Mr. Ichijo smiled gently. – "But I am serious, since I met you I saw potential in you, and most importantly, I know that if you inherit my position you will not only protect my role as leader of the yakuza, but you will be able to fulfill my greatest dream, to unite the supernatural factions of Japan..."
I feel my heart beating with happiness.
I never thought the day would come when I could feel such happiness.
I smiled showing my sincere happiness born from the depths of my heart. - "Thanks"
I almost cried with happiness.
Finally...
I finally know how to kill him...
Oh, life is beautiful...