Takehara South Private School Park, Super Gymnasium.

The actual combat training room on the second floor.

In the middle of the dojo where the light can be seen, two people wearing protective gear stand with wooden knives.

Knife tip to knife tip.

The feet of the two of them and the hands holding the swords were very steady, but the eyes of each other were like beasts lurking in the grass, not only to each other on the field, but also to the other people sitting around watching the battle.

"I've thought about the Higashino classmates being so strong, after all, the people who won the 'Five Consecutive Slashes' battle award and the group award at the last exchange meeting, but I didn't expect that the elementary school student in Kame to be so powerful!"

"That's right, look at that elementary school student who just easily defeated the second-order 4th stage Saki guy, the current strength is at least the second-order 5th stage, right? Maybe it's possible at all three levels! ”

"Do you know that people are so powerful that they still call them 'elementary school students' behind their backs? You boys are so hateful! Be careful of being beaten up by 'elementary school students' next time! ”

"Ahh Hehe, who do you think will win this time? ”

"Then you don't need to ask..."

As soon as the voice fell,

The two of them, who had been silent for almost half a minute, suddenly moved.

There is no one cut at all. Ghost cut!

Just listen to the crunch of the bell!

The two figures on the field have changed positions.

I saw that the tall figure on the right side of the dojo suddenly split into three, and the three wooden knives in his hand were like ghosts, and they flew out of the petite figure in an instant.

In the next second, Higashinohara stood in the position where Rika Kame had stood before, and subconsciously waved the sword in his hand, and immediately laughed a little in his heart, but he was still satisfied with the ghost cutting sword type of [No Self One Knife Flow] just now, although the proficiency was still at the elementary level (3/10), but the "intracranial sword training" in this small half a month has also looked good.

After coming back to his senses, Higashinohara walked straight over and picked up the deer eye Liangxiang who had fallen into a small toad looking up to the sky.

Even though he just had this kind of shadow in a flash. The ghost cut of the triple shadow immediately retracted his strength the moment he hit the opponent's protective gear, but now that his [Physique] attribute is as high as 30.6, he is still too "heavy" for the petite Shikame Ryoka.

The latter staggered a few steps back almost instantly, and fell to the ground with his butt, almost on all fours.

This scene may be a bit embarrassing for others, but fortunately, Ryoka Shikame is petite and cute, and she looks a little unspeakably coquettish.

At this time, facing Higashinohara's outstretched hand, Ryoka Kakume looked a little confused.

After a while, she reacted, her little face was slightly red under the armor, and she raised her hand slightly to dip her hand into Higashinohara's outstretched arm and hurriedly let go.

Even if Rikaka Kame's strength has now leaped to the 5th stage of the second order, she is still a proper honor student in Class A in the first year, but she has never been able to raise the courage to approach by the side of Higashinohara, who is becoming more and more dazzling...

"Higashino-san, win!"

Ken Nakasaki, the teacher of the practical class next to him, shouted loudly, and everyone around the audience also reacted, and the applause quickly became one.

The one-year F class is a repeater class.,In the superpower school park where strength is paramount, it's basically a "weed" that can be stepped on.。

No one expected that in the last semester, Higashinohara, a "genius" who had accumulated a lot of money and made a breakthrough after repeating a grade for three years, led the first grade to win the group award of the exchange meeting.

Now Ryoka Kazume, a persistent kendo girl, also has a sign of heavenly reward, and her ability level has improved by leaps and bounds, according to this momentum, after the academic level test at the end of February, she may be able to enter the elite class of Class A in the second year next year.

There are such dazzling two people in the F class in the first year, and now who dares to say that the repeater class is a bunch of weeds?

The most substantial advantage is that after the exchange meeting about two weeks ago, the school's key training policy for Higashinohara was quickly implemented, and in the afternoon, the venue and equipment used in the actual combat gymnasium were raised to a rule, and the rest of the class was also wiped out.

The applause slowly fell, and Higashinohara and Ryoka Kame both took off their training armor.

Ken Nakazaki, the teacher of the actual combat class, walked over with a smile, patted Higashinohara's shoulder, and said in amazement, "Although I haven't learned Guliu swordsmanship, I also have some involvement, and the sword type you just now should be a sword school, it's so strange... Why have I never seen it in all my years of teaching? It's a bit similar to the idealistic one-knife flow in Kyoto, but it adds a bit of killing domineering,"

Higashinohara's style [Oni Cut] is derived from the Seventh Ruling of the Great Sword Hero Gaius. Rhine's [selfless knife flow] was born out of the peach palace dojo's [idealistic knife flow].

Except for the inquisitor Sinde, who also died at his hands. Fuwai has not been taught to anyone, and it is inevitable that Ken Nakazaki will be surprised if he has not seen it.

"Hmm... I learned this style by watching videos on the Internet, and I usually like to ponder and make slight changes. Higashinohara scratched his head and thought about it.

Ken Nakazaki had a look of approval on his face.

Swordsmen throughout the ages,

Who doesn't like to ponder?

Learning what is like is just a decent apprentice for a lifetime.

Thinking of this, Ken Nakazaki looked at the increasingly sturdy teenager in front of him with some emotion - he had taken Higashinohara for three years, and witnessed how this former "inferior student" grew from a decadent teenager to today's inspirational model after failing the exam to enter the second grade twice.

"At the end of this month, the annual academic level test will be held, rest assured, with the [Shadow Instant] that you can now condense the three real shadows, there will definitely be no problem with the ability level assessment, at least it is also a third-order start, but the examination section depends on your on-the-spot performance."

"But now that you have preliminarily mastered an ancient flow swordsmanship, the ancient flow swordsmanship is the way to kill and conquer, and those who have the ability to fight with a sword type have a natural advantage in the actual combat test stage, so you don't have to worry too much."

The passing line for the first grade to the second grade of the Takehara South Private School Park is the second order 3 stage, and the promotion to the third grade is the second order 5 stage, and if you want to graduate successfully, you must break through the third level at the very least.

Higashinohara had actually slightly reined in his strength just now, and under normal conditions, his [Agility] was as high as 50, and now he could completely urge out the four dark shadows and form an instantaneous Hell Shadow Killing Array, which was the fourth-order peak state that the talent sequence 98 gray ability [Shadow Instant] could achieve.

It can be said that even if he is a normal attribute, he stands out among his peers.

However, thinking of these head-on frictions with the adjudication division, as well as the recent news media talk about the arrest of the high-risk element "Captain Dragonfly", the strange calm before the storm that he felt made him feel more and more urgent.

Now, the teaching at the high school level has become less and less helpful for all aspects of his normal strength growth.

After thinking about it, Higashinohara asked, "Mr. Nakazaki, there's actually something I want to ask.,I heard that Takehara Minami Private School Park can choose to skip a grade during the academic exam.。 ”

"Skipping a grade?"

Nakazaki Ken was stunned, glanced at Higashinohara, nodded thoughtfully, and said, "There is such a rule, but if you skip a grade... You have to think about it. ”

The subtext of this is...

The third stage of the second order is only the passing line of the second grade, even if Higashinohara's strength has reached the third level, but if he enters the second grade, he can still enter class A and enjoy the preferential treatment of special students, but it is not certain whether he can enjoy preferential treatment at the level of the third grade.

The passing line for the third grade is the second order 5 sections.,It's only one step away from the third order.,There are many geniuses who will be promoted to the third grade in the next school year of the Takehara South Private School Park.,Maybe there are even the elites of the peak of the third order.。

Considering the innate gap in Higashinohara's own talent sequence, it is too difficult to stand out.

"I want to try."

Higashinohara said with a smile, "After all, I've been 'behind' for more than two years. ”

Hearing this, Ken Nakazaki nodded in understanding, but when he thought of the talent awakened by the confident young man in his eyes, he couldn't help but shake his head in his heart.

Talent sequence 98 shadow instants.

Even if this kind of gray ordinary ability is improved faster in the early stage, the growth is too low.

In the future, when he reaches the stage of a fourth-order superpower, he will be surpassed by those students with high talent sequences around him one after another, and judging from the records left by the [Shadow Instant] ability in history, there is no hope of stepping into the fifth order at all.

Ken Nakazaki has been teaching at Takehara Minami Private School Park for so many years, and I've seen many examples of people with low order ability who are full of high self-confidence in the first grade, and gradually fade after being beaten up after entering the second and third years of high school.

Thinking of this, Ken Nakazaki glanced at Higashinohara and found that his face was also a little "gloomy", and he wanted to be relieved but didn't know how to speak.

His heart suddenly moved slightly, and he lowered his voice and said, "Don't be discouraged! Young people should be optimistic, have you read the news about 'that man' during this time? ”

"The man?"

Higashinohara, who was thinking about what the Adjudication Division and the Metropolitan Police Department would secretly do in the near future, couldn't help but be stunned for two seconds when he heard this.

"It's 'Captain Dragonfly.'"

Ken Nakazaki rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully, "According to my observations, the ability he urged should also be [Shadow Instant], but I don't know what ability he fused, but he found another way to climb such a terrifying peak, the unlimited realm... The existence that can resist the power of the rules, the realm that many seventh-order absolute abilities dream of... Tsk, that guy is a genius like no other! ”

Higashinohara's face suddenly became even more strange when he heard this,

Being licked like this in front of someone...

It's not embarrassing.

As he spoke, Ken Nakazaki noticed the change in Higashinohara's face, and hurriedly stopped, "The teacher said that these are not to hit you, the scenery of those immortals fighting on the top of the peak... No, the vast majority of people with ordinary abilities may not have the opportunity to appreciate it in their lifetime. “

"I say this to tell you, there is no need to feel discouraged, since there are already [Shadow Instant] ability people who have broken through the shackles of the fourth order in history, you may not be able to one day, as an ability, the most important thing is to have firm beliefs..."

Higashinohara looked at the rare "confidant big brother" appearance of the actual combat teacher Ken Nakazaki, although he knew that the other party was comforting and encouraging him.

But the examples he gave did not seem to have any "comforting" effect.

However, at this time, Higashinohara was suddenly stunned, and caught a word in his mind that the other party had just said - unlimited domain?

"What is an unrestricted field?" He asked subconsciously.

Ken Nakazaki was also stunned, he didn't expect to be so relieved, but Higashinohara noticed the word, although he wanted to say "This is not something we should ponder", but he was afraid of damaging the other party's enthusiasm, so he opened his mouth to explain:

"The unrestricted field is an open field, and I don't know much about the specific teachers, but I once heard the principal say that if [field expansion] is compared to a canvas, the unlimited field is a real magic skill that can draw out of thin air without a canvas! The man who is now being officially wanted for a bounty is in the hands of this kind of realm, so he can have the qualifications to fight against the eighth-order absolute ability. ”

Higashinohara was stunned when he heard this, and continued to ask, "What you're talking about... That one... Is a man's speed a compound ability? ”

"Compound ability?" Hearing this, Ken Nakazaki immediately shook his head, "No, no, no, that's not a simple compound ability, it's an unlimited time realm!" ”

Higashinohara has not thought too much about it since he recombined the speed system abilities of [Shadow Instant] and [Time Hourglass] with the same attributes as [Shadow Instant] and [Time Hourglass] since the Emperor's Birthday White Jade Square.

But at this time, from the mouth of Ken Nakasaki, a well-informed instructor of practical classes, he had the illusion of "lying in the groove, I was so hanging" in a trance.

Inflated... Inflated...

......

Today is February 11th, Friday, and it has been almost two weeks since the "Sky Tree Incident".

After class in the afternoon, Higashinohara boarded the Hanzomon Line train and saw the campaign posters of the prime minister for the next general election plastered on the walls of some of the advertisements at the train stop.

The background of the poster is a gray color, and it shows a middle-aged man with outstanding looks and bloodshot eyes - this photo appears to have been taken the day after the Sky Tree Incident, when the most vocal grassroots lawmaker in Wano Province's next general election, Higashi Mori Valley, was occasionally photographed by the media.

At the bottom of the poster is a campaign slogan.

"Prime Minister of every populace!"

After the train started, many passengers began to discuss the latest hot event, that is, the election of the prime minister.

Most people have a good impression of the grassroots member of the Eastern Mori Valley, especially when he shouted from the bottom of his heart in his speech after the tragedy of the Tokyo Sky Tree Incident that he wanted to become "the prime minister of every people", which made his support rate, which was already far ahead in the country, rise by one percentage point again...

Higashinohara listened to the discussion of everyone on the train, most of which were about the upcoming general election at the end of the month and some hot events in the past few days.

Speaking of which, under the public opinion suppression of the official media and the terrifying deterrent effect of the Adjudication Division, the aftermath of the bloody purge of the Adjudication Division on the people who were descended out of control by the demons two weeks ago has been minimized today.

Hardly anyone was seen continuing the discussion.

It's no wonder that you think about it.

In this era of information explosion, all sorts of things happen every day.

According to the laws of communication, people's attention to hot events is only about 5-6 days, and two weeks is enough time to restore the normal life of many people who were heartbroken and angry when they saw the news from various channels at that time.

Life has to go on.

Ordinary people always have to run their own lives separately.

But in a corner that many people don't pay attention to, many of the survivors of the "Sky Tree Incident" two weeks ago who were taken to the hospital for observation were released after passing the safety factor assessment, and the rest of the survivors returned home with tears of joy to reunite with their families.

Of course, there are also some survivors whose names have been quietly erased from the hospital's roster by the black-robed enforcement team, and correspondingly, they have completely disappeared from the world.

.....

Get off the train and go back to the Aagaki apartment.

Tomorrow weekend is off, and Higashinohara is about to regain his status as the "Emperor of Workers".

Speaking of which,Since the exchange meeting won the "Fighting Reward" and "Group Award" and began to enjoy the generous subsidies of the school park again,Higashinohara can't talk about buying a house with money now.,At least you don't have to worry about rent and food anymore.,Basically, you don't have to go to extra jobs to make money.。

But this time it was different, this time the part-time job Higashinohara took the initiative to ask Ying to enter the Aragaki Detective Agency to conduct an investigation commission for an "unnatural death".

In this case, the results of the investigation of the Metropolitan Police Department's search section have not been released for a long time, but the family of the deceased seems to be in a hurry, and finally privately commissioned a number of detective agencies to investigate, and the Aragaki Detective Agency is just one of them.

Higashinohara heard about this case when he came home from school yesterday and went upstairs past the detective agency, and he remembered the "suicide case" of Ryoka Kame's mother last time, and he felt that this time it might involve a capable person to commit the crime.

You must know that the ancient flow swordsmanship that fell from the eighth-order great swordsman of the [Selfless One Sword Stream] that Higashinohara had practiced during this period of time had progressed slowly, and he had only mastered the four-style sword form.

As for the secret technique [Selfless Mirror Heart] and the secret mystery [One Sword Shura] that can ignore speed, the progress bar is even more stuck at (0/100), and it does not go up at all.

Higashinohara had secretly speculated about this... For example, this kind of self-contained ancient flow sword technique may have to wait for him to learn all the seven ordinary sword types or upgrade to the intermediate level, and then he can proceed to the next step of cultivating the secret technique [Selfless Mirror Heart] and the secret meaning [One Sword Shura].

However, time waits for no one, and the sense of crisis in my heart is becoming stronger and stronger.

Higashinohara had to try to rely on contacting those ordinary ability criminals to trigger the [Guilty Manual] quest to obtain the dropped ordinary ability and turn it into a source power point through the title skill [Decomposition], so as to improve the proficiency of the Great Sword Hero's swordsmanship [Selfless One Sword].

Knock knock!

Higashinohara knocked on the door.

"Please come in."

Satoru Aragaki heard the lazy voice of Satoru Aragaki coming from the door.

After pushing the door in, Higashinohara found that the window of Satoru Aragaki's cramped detective office had been closed with a sunshade, and the room was dark.

Through the faint reflection of the computer screen, Xia Li's tiger-eared girl could be seen staring at the screen with her chin rubbing her chin, as if she was reasoning about something.

"Higashinohara-kun, long time no see."

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from around the corner.

Higashinohara turned his head, only to find that behind him was Taku Morita, who had been investigating the bizarre murder case at the cherry blossom intersection last year.

This guy...

Pulled by this unlucky master again?

Morita Taku's impression of Higashinohara is good, and it was with this young man's keen insight that they discovered that some similar faces always appeared when the Sakura Crossroads suicide occurred, and then dug out the organization [Funeral Society] behind the scenes.

It's just that until today, the "doctor" behind this organization has once again evaporated from the world, without the slightest trace, and he doesn't seem to care about the destruction of the [Funeral Society] that has been in business for many years...

Shaking his head, not thinking about these old cases, Taku Morita smiled and clapped his hands and said, "Since you are all here, then let's take a look at this case, the deceased's name is Taro Nagayoshi, 47 years old this year, slightly bald, running a 24-hour convenience store in Edogawa Ward, which has a good business, and the time of death was at ten o'clock on Friday night a week ago, on his way home from the convenience store by train, this is a death photo." ”

Takutaka Morita pressed the remote control in his hand, and in the dimly lit room, the scene that emerged from the projector on the wall was a corpse lying in a pool of blood on the ground in a dimly lit corner not far from the exit of the train.

It doesn't seem to be much to see just by looking at this photo, but when Taku Morita switches the picture again and gives a close-up of the corpse in a pool of blood, Higashinohara's eyes can't help but shrink slightly!

The corpse's hands... The flesh and skin of the palms and arms from the wrist down were all stripped away, leaving only a terrifying pair of white bone joints.

Immediately after, Taku Morita switched photos again.

In these images...

Different incident scenarios,

different victims,

Different facial expressions when dying...

In the same way, the hands of the victims, without exception, were only white bones, exuding an eerie aura in a pool of blood...

At this time, Morita Taku sighed, turned to Satoru Aragaki and said:

"What's new... This case has escalated into a serial murder case, and the murderer's motive for committing the crime is currently unknown. ”

......