Chapter 2123 - 2121: Final Boss (Second Run Begins, Keep Grinding)

At this moment, in a room, several children are looking at the screen with ashen faces.

"Wha... Wha... what’s that!"

A boy dressed in blue clothes is trembling relentlessly, staring at the screen, his face bloodless.

"A Demon Creature, it must be a Demon Creature!!"

Another boy with a snakeskin mask, dressed in tattered clothes, is also trembling uncontrollably, curling up into a ball shivering.

"Are you kidding? Is Daigoro really dead? Then... what exactly is that?"

Beside them, a girl with pink twin tails also has an ashen face, she bites her lips tightly, looking at the screen engulfed in flames, she can’t believe what she’s seeing. As far as she’s concerned, the girl would rather believe this is a movie clip, rather than something really happening to their companion.

"This is really........."

Meanwhile, another girl with green hair sitting in a wheelchair has an intrigued and amused expression, looking at the screen, not saying a word.

"Need to say something to Sister Junko......"

Fang Zheng doesn’t care what those people are thinking, after killing the boy named Daigoro Daimon, he sets the whole arena ablaze, then turns away. He opens his personal terminal and contacts the rear.

"Nymph, connect me to Shihou Souki, I need to talk to her."

"Yes, Master, please wait a moment."

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s order, Nymph responds quickly, and after a moment, Shihou Souki’s voice appears at Fang Zheng’s ear.

"What’s up? Mr. Fang Zheng? It’s rare for you to look for me, isn’t it."

"I need your help for something."

Fang Zheng says as he walks, describing the situation here to Shihou Souki, and after listening to Fang Zheng’s words, Shihou Souki doesn’t respond for quite a while.

"......... Shihou? Are you listening?"

"I’m listening......... Damn......"

Although Fang Zheng cannot see Shihou Souki’s expression, he can already sense her mood from Shihou Souki’s angry and slightly trembling tone.

"...... Mr. Fang Zheng, to be honest, I always thought Academy City was dark enough......"

"Academy City is where? That’s just Entry Level."

"Then what about the world you’re in now?"

"Consider it advanced."

"I don’t really want to know if there’s more beyond... What’s your point......?"

"Like I told you, these kids have been brainwashed, and I’m currently unsure how much of their actions are instinctive or of their own will, nor am I sure of the consequences and impacts post-deprogramming. So I need a qualified psychologist to assist me in making judgments, and among the people I know, you’re the strongest in mental capabilities."

Fang Zheng isn’t really lying, he’s not skilled in Mental Manipulation himself, and Fang Zheng has never used these kinds of abilities. Although Fang Zheng studied psychology for a period of time, he’s nowhere near as good as Shihou Souki, the master of "Psychological Grasp."

"......... frankly, I really don’t want to go......"

"Understandable."

Fang Zheng certainly understands why Shihou Souki would say that; compared to this world, Academy City is already a cozy and harmless little nest. It’s not about physical threats, but psychological fear. As the master of "Psychological Grasp," even though Shihou Souki just listens to Fang Zheng’s brief description of the city’s situation, she knows she’s about to face scenes akin to Hell.

A group of kids in a brainwashed state tortured and killed their parents and played with their corpses... Now the entire city has turned into a playground where children hunt adults...

Just thinking about this scenario makes Shihou Souki feel nauseous.

Even as a Level 5 Superpower User, Shihou Souki is not unfamiliar with human experiments or the dark side of Academy City, but compared to what Fang Zheng describes, those so-called dark aspects of Academy City are really nothing.

"If you’re unwilling to come, I can find someone else."

Fang Zheng also considered Shihou Souki’s feelings. Although Shihou Souki’s figure was better than many adults, she was ultimately just a fourteen-year-old middle school student. Facing such a desperate and dark world required an incredibly strong heart.

"No, I want to go. I believe my abilities can solve this problem."

Shihou Souki was silent for a moment before giving her answer.

"Then I’ll leave it to you. I’ll have Kurumi send a clone to assist you and select a few suitable candidates to help you with the work. In short, prepare yourself first."

Fang Zheng did not intend to let the little girls in the Heavenly Dao Palace intervene in this matter. Right now, this matter has divided the entire city into two camps: children under ten and adults over twenty. They are currently opposing and fighting each other. Only middle and high school students between ten and twenty years old can be accepted by both camps.

But that’s not enough. Without enough mental resilience, one cannot withstand this world. So Fang Zheng chose Shihou Souki because he felt she was strong when it came to mental pressure. On the other hand, Misaka Mikoto was not. To be honest, even Kuroko Shirai had greater resilience than Misaka Mikoto. If Misaka Mikoto were to enter this world, she would be played by Enoshima Junko in no time.

Based on the current investigation, this world has almost completely collapsed, turning into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. In many places, nuclear wars have even erupted — well, saying this world is a modern version of radiation isn’t too far off. Therefore, Fang Zheng plans to take over this planet entirely, starting from this city to reshape the Order Fortress to resist another wave of Chaos.

So Fang Zheng decided to deploy Fleet Girls as the main force to fight here, partly because of their strong abilities and also because they are Mind Models. Although they exhibit a lot of humanity, their essence is still just weapons, so they won’t be affected by emotions like despair.

After all, you can’t make a gun feel despair, right?

Fang Zheng casually said a few words and then closed the connection before leaving the underground passage to return to the street. He saw Komaru Naegi and the blonde girl hiding in a nearby alley, watching anxiously. Seeing Fang Zheng emerge, they relaxed and ran up to him.

"Umm......."

Komaru Naegi glanced at Fang Zheng and the smoke-filled passage behind him, but Fang Zheng just waved his hand.

"I told you, don’t ask, and I won’t tell."

".......Alright."

Heard Fang Zheng’s answer, Komaru Naegi lowered her head. To be honest, she was also quite shocked earlier. It’s understandable; an ordinary girl seeing piles of corpses and a child indifferent to it would certainly be mentally stimulated — if not, that’s the real problem, trust me.

"By the way, I’ve contacted Makoto Naegi. You should talk to him."

Seeing Komaru Naegi looking like this, Fang Zheng handed her a phone. She soon saw her brother’s face.

"Brother!"

"Komaru! Are you okay?"

Seeing his sister, Makoto Naegi, who was previously tense, also relaxed. Fang Zheng took a couple of steps back, giving them room to communicate. Then he turned to the blonde girl.

"Oh, I forgot to thank you. You saved her, right........You are......"

"Kaede Akamatsu, my name is Kaede Akamatsu."

Facing Fang Zheng’s inquiry, the blonde girl smiled and introduced herself, to which Fang Zheng nodded.

"My name is Fang Zheng......So, Miss Kaede Akamatsu, you were captured and brought here too?"

"Yes, just unlucky......"

Facing Fang Zheng, Kaede Akamatsu wasn’t reserved and quickly explained herself. What surprised Fang Zheng was that Kaede Akamatsu was also an Ultimate, introducing herself as the "Ultimate Pianist." One day, after school, she was abruptly abducted and found herself here.

Like Komaru Naegi, Kaede Akamatsu spent nearly a year in captivity here, but she entertained herself by playing the piano daily as a distraction. Then, this morning, while playing the piano, she heard footsteps outside. Being the Ultimate Pianist, her keen ears easily detected something was off, and she hid with a shotput ball.

Then a Black and White Bear robot broke in, attempting to kill Kaede Akamatsu, who instead delivered a counterstrike from behind with the shotput ball. She escaped and rescued Komaru Naegi from the Black and White Bear chase. Together, they fled, eventually finding the underground train passage where they met Fang Zheng......

"I see. It seems you were somewhat lucky."

Hearing Kaede Akamatsu’s explanation, Fang Zheng nodded. His initial impression was that Komaru Naegi seemed passive and introverted, while Kaede Akamatsu was clearly energetic, lively, and extroverted......

"Next, I’ll take you to a shelter where you can rest a bit. Then we’ll figure out how to remove that thing on your hand."

Talking, Fang Zheng pointed at the black Black and White Bear bracelet on Kaede Akamatsu’s wrist.

Upon hearing this, Kaede Akamatsu also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is there really something wrong with this bracelet?"

"Of course, if you accidentally leave this city, it will explode... Hmm, I guess you figured that much out."

"Uh..."

In response to Fang Zheng, Kaede Akamatsu’s expression changed slightly. Clearly, she had her suspicions, but... having them confirmed is never a good thing.

After that, Fang Zheng led the two girls to the gymnasium, the agreed meeting place. The gym was already packed with people. The first batch of Jumping Bugs sent by Fang Zheng had timely intercepted the rampant slaughter by the Black and White Bear Legion, saving a considerable number of people. In the gym, you could see countless men and women, both young and old.

Makoto Naegi and the others were also moving through the crowd, working hard to accommodate the refugees. Seeing Fang Zheng return, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brother———!"

Seeing Makoto Naegi, Komaru Naegi hurriedly shouted and rushed forward to hug Makoto Naegi—not to mention, Komaru Naegi is three centimeters taller than her brother...

This did look somewhat awkward.

"Thank goodness you’re finally back."

Celestia also approached, visibly relieved to see Fang Zheng.

"It’s really troublesome to gather these people, and some of them simply ignore our advice. If it weren’t for your little dogs being intimidating enough, Mr. Fang Zheng, things might be even more troublesome now."

"Is there trouble?"

Hearing the implication in Celestia’s words, Fang Zheng raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, over there."

As she spoke, Celestia turned her head. Fang Zheng looked in the direction she pointed, seeing a group of people gathered at the entrance, shouting who knows what. Fang Zheng walked over slowly and soon saw a burly man shouting at the Ultimate students in front of him.

"What do you mean by this? Do you know who I am? I’m Tahe Haisey of the Tahe Group! I demand to meet with your leader!!"

"What’s going on?"

Seeing this, Fang Zheng finally stepped forward, and others breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing him.

"Mr. Fang Zheng!"

"Mr. Fang Zheng, you finally came... This man, he..."

"Are you in charge here?"

The man also approached Fang Zheng boldly, staring at him, while Fang Zheng folded his hands behind his back and nodded.

"Yes, what do you want?"

"I’m Tahe Haisey, heir to the Tahe Group. Which department are you from? I demand you help me contact the outside world immediately..."

"Tahe Haisey?"

Hearing this name, Fang Zheng sneered.

"I see, so you’re the young master of the Tahe Group, which created these Black and White Bears. I haven’t even come to bother you, yet you delivered yourself to my doorstep?"

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding people were stunned and turned towards the man. The man’s face turned pale, and he involuntarily stepped back.

"How do you know... No, it wasn’t me, I didn’t make those strange robots!"

"Those damned robots were made by your Tahe Group?!"

The refugees around immediately surrounded the man named Tahe Haisey.

"Your group killed my wife!"

"What exactly is the Tahe Group trying to do?!"

The crowd became more and more agitated, and Tahe Haisey’s expression grew increasingly fearful.

"I really don’t know, it wasn’t designed by me, that thing was originally made to be an assistant for household chores... I don’t know why it turned out like this..."

"Who wants to hear your nonsense!"

Even though Tahe Haisey tried to argue, the people filled with rage wouldn’t let him off. Many of their loved ones had been killed by those inexplicable Black and White Bear robots, and now that they’d found the supposed culprit, they certainly wouldn’t let it go!

"Alright, don’t be impulsive."

Just when the crowd seemed ready to tear Tahe Haisey apart, Fang Zheng’s voice rang out again. Several Jumping Bugs suddenly leapt in, landing beside Tahe Haisey and roaring at the crowd. Seeing these terrifying creatures, those who had lost their heads to rage calmed down and retreated.

Fang Zheng walked over once more, standing there, he looked over the crowd.

"I’m not afraid to tell you, the outside world is already completely done for, and Tahe City is no exception. From now on, I’ll be taking over this city, and all affairs will be decided by me. As for this man, I understand your desire to tear him apart, but he’s not the prime culprit. I’ll personally deal with the true mastermind. As for him..."

Fang Zheng glanced at Tahe Haisey.

"I’ll imprison him for now, and after everything is over and normal order is restored, then we’ll decide his fate. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

"Are you kidding?"

However, just as Fang Zheng finished his words, someone in the crowd shouted again.

"Why should we listen to some random guy about this city? This is our city! What makes you say you’re taking over..."

"Boom!!"

Before the person could finish, a Flying Dragon descended from the sky and landed behind Fang Zheng. It opened its massive jaws and glared coldly at the crowd. Seeing the Flying Dragon, the people swallowed their words in fear.

"I said, from now on, this city is under my control. Whether you oppose it or not is up to you, but I must tell you, if you act rashly..."

Fang Zheng sneered.

"My dogs and birds have big appetites."

"......"

This time, finally, no one dared to say anything more. Under Fang Zheng’s blatant threat, everyone clammed up and dispersed.

"As expected of Mr. Fang Zheng, that speech just now was quite ’Demon Lord’-like."

Celestia laughed as she approached and spoke.

"Has the outside world really been destroyed?"

Sayaka Maizono was worried about a different issue, but unfortunately, Fang Zheng could only give a definite answer.

"Yes, in fact, just a few days ago, a nuclear war began, and everything was destroyed... Tahe City survived because Enoshima Junko wanted to use it for a new experiment. As for other cities, they were either destroyed by nuclear explosions or utterly ravaged by war."

"How could this happen...?"

"No, it’s true."

At this point, Nanami Chiaki came over, nodding.

"In fact, we originally planned to head to Hope’s Peak Academy, use it as a base after rescuing everyone, because everywhere else is practically collapsing, the nation, the army, the police... everything’s been utterly destroyed."

"And now, we have a better base."

Fang Zheng shrugged, looking towards the distant tower.

"But before that, we still need to deal with a few troubles first."