"We're finally here!" cheered Chrome with a fist raised up high. "At the headquarters of the final boss, Tsukasa!"
But the panic look on Gen said otherwise. He quickly shushed the brunette with a finger placed to his lips "Quiet, Chrome-chan." he whispered. "There's someone with a good hearing in the Tsukasa Empire."
That was more than enough to silence the brunette as he stepped back and said, "Oh, my bad! Crap, it'd be bad if we got caught after coming all the way here-" He was suddenly interrupted when he felt something on his head, prompting him to turn around in alarm. Much to his relief, it was only a hand belonging to one of the statues among the large pile. "It's just a statue. Damn. These statues look strong."
"Why is there blood letter on their forehead?" wondered Magma when he took note of the crimson numbers written on the statues.
"It seems to be the order in which they're to be revived." guessed Rikona while surveying them. "What do you think, Kitsune?"
"It wasn't there last time I checked." recalled the said man. "The smallest number is 33, which means that Tsukasa revived 32 people at least. It's faster than expected."
"Even if we try our best to recruit people from the Tsukasa Empire, if he can revive people faster, then our effort will be in vain." said Chrome with a hint of worry.
"That'll be bad news." commented Rikona.
"Why not just destroy these statues?" proposed Magma who stepped forward with his stone axe ready. "No, it's still too bothersome. Let's break their limbs. That way they can't fight anymore."
Gen and Chrome looked at him with uneasiness while Rikona had a blank stare. "You're merciless, Magma." commented the brunette nervously. "Oh wait, he's always been this kind of guy! I guess I'd kinda forgotten since we became allies."
"You sure don't go easy on your enemies, do you?" sighed the doctor. "Seriously... Oh, let's not forget the time he killed Kitsune back then."
But Gen was silent for a few moments before he said, "Well, in all seriousness. If it's a matter of yes or no, breaking them now might be for the best." As if that was enough to cue him, Magma cackled while lunging forward with his axe raised. Rikona glanced at the mentalist who stared at the ground emptily.
All of a sudden, it was at that moment he changed his mind. Gen rushed to the front and halted the brute man in his tracks, keeping his grip firm on his arm wielding the weapon. "Actually, I take that back! 'Cause these guys... They haven't done anything wrong, ya know? At least, aside from any real villains in their number~" His closed-eye smile faltered slightly as he looked down, saying, "Humans can claim to be as realistic as possible, but when you have to do it, you'll still hesitate. That's why the cold-hearted Tsukasa-chan is scary. We have to stop him."
"We're no weak at all." said the determined Chrome, causing the rest to look at him. "We serve a higher purpose. We want a bloodless war. If we can recruit faster than they can increase their army, then everything will be good. So let's get going! Our mission is to get our mobile phone hotline working as soon as possible!" Gen and Rikona smiled at him, agreeing as the team continued to make their way further into the Tsukasa Empire with the mentalist in the lead.
"By the way, Magma, you didn't hesitate to destroy those statues." pointed out the brunette disapprovingly.
"I don't care about the life of strangers." responded the said man bluntly.
"I see." stammered Gen. "Thank goodness Magma-chan is an ally."
"I guess this is one of the rare moments where I think we're pretty lucky." muttered Rikona.
Chrome was the last to step out of the dark pathway. "Is this..." he trailed off while observing the surroundings.
"A cemetery." was Gen's reply, with the group now standing in front of the large wooden cross wedged into the ground.
"Cemetery of Tsukasa Empire?" guessed Magma.
"Not at all." answered the mentalist.
"Whose then?" asked the blond man.
He turned to look at him with a dark expression and eerily said, "It's Senku-chan's grave."
"Is he dead?!" shouted Magma who had beads of cold sweat on his face.
"It's quite obvious that he's still alive." deadpanned Chrome. "It's to trick Tsukasa into thinking that he's dead."
Rikona watched the two interacted while completely oblivious to Gen shushing them trying to keep their voices down. 'Why do I have a hunch things are about to get more complicated than they should?' she wondered. Heaving a mushroom sigh, she stepped forward and said, "Let's get to work before anyone catches us."
From dusk till nightfall, the execution team began to set up the mobile phone. While Chrome climbed up the nearest tree to place the satellite and the coil of wire, Gen and Rikona were busy burying the wires into the ground
"This is a brilliant idea." commented the mentalist. "It's also normal to commiserate in front of a tombstone."
"But then..." The young doctor looked at the tombstone with a deadpanned expression and continued, "Why are we making it look like we're preparing for the Salem witch trial?"
Gen followed her gaze and was stunned at the tree branches decorating the wooden cross. "This is not normal at all!" he commented.
"It's too obvious we're trying to hide something!" pointed out Chrome.
After removing and disposing of the tree branches, the group focused on burying the microphone and speaker into the ground. "Try burying about 80 percent of the receiver." suggested Rikona. "So that only a visitor that crouches would notice a reflection in the sunlight."
Chrome dug the ground until his shovel contacted something hard. "Damn, another annoying stone." he grumbled.
Much to the other three's dismay, Magma raised his axe up high and smashed the rock into bits. Unbeknownst to them, the sound alarmed someone who'd been standing outside the empire's headquarter far away from where they were. Though it seemed Rikona's gut was warning her, for she snapped her head in the direction where the three men were, and urgently said, "We need to hurry."
That was all it took for them to frantically - and quite comically, if one might add - dig the ground.
"You're too much, Magma!" scolded Chrome. "That was so loud!"
"Anway, we've gotta hide it!" said Gen who was also digging as fast as he could. "Just bury the whole thing!"
Once the hole was deep enough, Magma chucked the mobile phone inside before they covered it up as much as possible. After rapidly patting the dirt out, the group rushed to the nearest rock and jumped behind, peering over it to see if anyone was approaching them. Seconds had passed, and it was still silent; which could mean that they hadn't been found.
"Seems like no one noticed." said Chrome with relief.
"You three are just too sensitive." jeered Magma.
"No, we don't know yet." corrected Gen nervously. "I told you that there's someone with a good hearing in the Tsukasa Empire."
Rikona felt her stomach churned, and that was certainly not a good sign. There were many times when she was grateful for having such a sharp instinct that stemmed from her albeit short years of working as a surgeon. As much as she wanted to think the same in their current situation, she dared not know what was going to happen next; and she didn't like how that wretched feeling worsened whenever she looked at Gen.
Wait, why him of all people?
That was when her eyes widened. "Kitsune, duck!" she warned.
Before he could even utter a word, an arrow flew mere inches above his head and lodged itself into the basket he was carrying. To say that Gen was freaking out would be a complete understatement. Letting out a quiet yelp, he immediately ran away with Magma and Chrome trailing behind; with the latter clamping his hands over his mouth as he let out a muffled, "CRAP!"
Rikona lowered herself behind the rock while peering over in an attempt to look for the enemy. Cautiously, she removed the bow from her back and knocked an arrow before running in the direction where the others went off. 'Now, then.' she thought. 'Let's see how long this cat-and-mouse chase will last.'
Just then, a slim young man of average height landed atop the large boulder. He had turquoise eyes and short blond hair hiding underneath his orange cap that matched his long, baggy top with a loose turtleneck. He also wore a pair of long, -slim-fitted khaki trousers and pointed brown loafers. Like Rikona, he carried a bow and quiver on his back with the sling decorated with some kind of fur, ones that were similar to the fur adorned on his sleeves. The young man kept still, listening tentatively to the sound of the intruders. Once he tracked down the direction they were heading to, he turned to the left and ran with an arrow knocked into his bow.
'The sound came from somewhere nearby.' he noted. Much to his surprise, his ears picked a sound that he was all too familiar with. He immediately halted in his tracks, pulled the bow while aiming towards a direction downwards, and released it. The arrow struck an incoming arrow which then sent both arrows to the ground. 'It seems that they have an archer on their side as well. Let's see how long this will go on.'
The following morning, the rest of the Kingdom of Science gathered inside the observatory, where Senku had already set up the mobile phone. "If Tsukasa Empire found the phone, we're done." expressed Suika worriedly.
However, Senku wasn't worried about that. Chuckling, he assured, "Mentalist and Doc are with them. They'll find a perfect hiding spot. The other two should have no problem, too. They are known for their perseverance and willpower. I believe that no matter what, they'll be safe."
As if on cue, the phone suddenly rang. "I-I-IT'S RINGING!" gasped Suika.
"What if it's from Tsukasa Empire?" asked Kohaku with concern.
But that didn't discourage Senku from picking up the call and saying, "Yo."
It was silent for a few moments before it was interrupted with the familiar voice shouting, "SENKU!!!!!"
Listening to his friend's voice, followed by his and Yuzuriha's sobs, the said man had a grin stretched across his face before he looked up with tears welled up in his eyes. "I miss your voice so much that I'm in tears now." he admitted nonchalantly. "Especially your loud voice. I can already imagine Doc making fun of me if she were here."
Meanwhile, the rest loud out ooh's of surprise and triumph after hearing the young man's voice from the other side. "Is he the fabled..." trailed off Ginro excitedly.
"Taiju?!" completed Kohaku with a big smile.
The happiest one among them, however, was none other than the artisan who had tears gushing out from his eyes. "It's working!" he shouted. "Cell phone hotline. You can talk to each other despite the distance."
"Senku..." said Taiju shakily, after his sobs had finally ceased.
"It's been a year since that incident." stated the said man in a warm tone.
"Senku, I..." continued his friend. "Senku. I... Senku. I... Senku. I... I'M SENKU!!!"
That was all it took for the warm reunion to be interrupted, as Senku stared at the speaker with a look of deadpanned while the rest standing around him had blank looks and blue lines all over their heads.
"No, you're not." deadpanned the scientist. "I'm Senku, damn it. What the hell are you trying to say, anyways?"
"I'm sorry." sobbed Taiju. "I'm just too emotional now."
"Senku-kun." called a familiar female's voice.
"Yo, Yuzuriha." greeted the said man.
"You made a cell phone within a year." she noted gleefully. "You're amazing! I knew you had it in you."
"I'm shaking from the fact that I can finally hear you both on the phone." said Senku. "I'd die to spend 10 billion hours to catch up with you guys. But now is not a great time for lengthy conversations. I'll go straight to the point. I just need one person. Show this phone to one person." Despite the sound of their gasps blaring through the speaker, he continued, "Use whatever excuse. I'll tell you about the details later."
"Straight to the point?" repeated Kaseki, who was just as flabbergasted as the rest by the scientist's straightforwardness.
"If they are being watched, this is our only option." suggested Kohaku.
"And you, Taiju." continued Senku. "It's better if we keep you in the dark. Even if you hear something, try your best to play dumb."
"You're being pretty blunt here." commented Ginro. "Taiju-kun will be mad!"
Taiju was silent at first. "Senku, let me just double-check one thing." was the first thing he said, catching everyone off guard by his serious tone. "This is the best way to avoid blood being spilled, right?"
Without an ounce of hesitation, Senku confirmed, "Yeah, it's the best way to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed."
"Alright, I got it." responded Taiju. "If you said so, Senku, then there's no need for explanation!"
The rest let out quiet gasps of surprise. But Kohaku knew better, for she was smiling as she stated, "Even after a year, they still believe in each other. I guess I can understand why Senku and Taiju survived after facing Tsukasa."
"There's not much time left before Tsukasa goes all-out on us." warned Senku. "We'll begin our operation when the group comes back tomorrow. Did they leave any message?"
Unexpectedly, Taiju initially let out a hum of confusion before he answered, "No, nothing at all. They just buried the handset deep into the soil." Senku's eyes widened at that moment.
But he wasn't the only one worried. "We're screwed if the enemy found out." expressed Kaseki. "It's unbecoming of Gen and Rikona."
"Something must have happened!" deduced Suika with concern.
Senku stared ahead in silence. 'Doc, just what the hell is happening on your side?' he wondered, although he knew very well that she wouldn't be able to answer him. Nor would anyone tell him about how the group had spent the entire night dodging arrows, causing the entire area to be littered with them. Some of the arrows were lodged into the ground, some had even fallen to the ground scattered among another set of arrows. It was as if a battle between two archers had occurred.
From behind a herd of dried bushes, the group of four peaked over, looking warily for signs of the shooter. Although, Magma wasn't too keen on this as he snapped, "Why do we have to hide in the bushes like a coward?! Let's just kill the enemy!"
Chrome latched onto Magma attempting to pull the impatient man back down while unknowingly arguing with him; much to Gen's dismay. "We need to know where the enemy is first!" he refuted. "You'll be the first one to die during a war!"
Rikona heaved a sigh before turning to the mentalist. "So, who exactly are we facing right now?" she asked.
"Our enemy is Ukyo-chan." he answered with uneasiness. "And he's got an increeedible set of ears on him."
"Why I'm not surprised." she remarked. "I'd been trying to fire my arrows at him, but he managed to deflect every single one of them."
"Also, isn't it more dangerous to hide in bushes?" questioned Chrome when realisation struck him.
"Bingo." answered Gen. "If we move, we'll make a lot of noises. Then, he'll shoot at where the noises are. But it's not like we chose to hide in the bushes. He baited us here."
"Damn it, at least make sure Gen can return safely." muttered the scientist. "That way we can launch the phone operation against the Tsukasa Empire."
"In that case, I have an idea." said Magma enthusiastically, prompting Gen and Chrome to look at him with anticipation. "First, Chrome heads out. I'll follow him."
"And then?" prompt the said man excitedly.
"The arrow will expose the enemy's location." continued the blond man nonchalantly. "Then I punch!"
"I see!" But that gleeful expression was instantaneously replaced with a glare as Chrome yelled, "LIKE HELL! I'M GONNA DIE, AREN'T I?!"
"What?" mocked Magma. "You don't wanna do it just cause you're gonna die? Don't you think of anyone but yourself? How selfish you can get."
"WHO'S BEING SELFISH HERE?!" fired back the scientist.
"Kitsune, there's no point trying to shush them." deadpanned Rikona who had a sweatdrop hanging on the back of her head as she watched the desperate mentalist tried to keep them quiet. "Considering that Ukyo has such an impeccable hearing, it's not a surprise he has already pinpointed where we are."
"You just want me to be the bait." continued the angry Chrome, luckily in a quieter tone. But then, he paused. "Bait." Without sparing any second, he removed the backpack and placed it on the ground. As the other three watched with confusion, he rummaged the leather pouch until he fished out a battery. "This is the spare battery that we couldn't give to Taiju. This is positive, and this is negative, right?"
"Yeah." confirmed Rikona, watching him pull out the wires and then coiled them around the battery. It didn't take long for her to understand what he had in mind, as evident by the surprised look on her face. "Don't tell me you're..."
"Yeah." he confirmed. "If we connect both poles, the battery will be overheated due to constantly being in a circuit." He then walked out a few feet away from them and toss the battery onto the grass. "Starting a fire with sticks will expose our location due to the noise and smoke it produces. But if we harness the power of science, we can..." At that moment, the battery cables sparked, and the fire reacted with the grass on the ground, creating thick shrouds of smoke.
Chrome took this as a cue to dash out and yell, "HOLY CRAP! HOLY CRAP!"
'He won't be able to see us through this smokescreen.' thought Gen with surprise. 'And his shouting is to mask the sound of the branches as I run away.'
Magma darkly cackled as he stood. "Interesting." he commented. "It's much better than waiting for an opening. Letting out a yell, he dashed out and joined Chrome in distracting Ukyo, whose attention was certainly drawn to the loud noises.
'This is it.' thought Rikona. It was then her turn to stand, and she turned to Gen saying, "Let's go, Kitsune. While Ukyo is distracted, we need to return to the village as fast as we can." Gen was hesitant at first. He was reluctant to leave Magma and Chrome behind to deal with Ukyo. But he had a more important role to play. So he left the basket behind and ran with Rikona.
'That's right.' thought Chrome with a grin, watching their disappearing figures over his shoulder. 'If you don't run now, our sacrifice will be in vain. You still have the important task of convincing the people from Tsukasa Empire.'
"If you don't get your ass back to the village pronto, I'll kill you myself!" yelled Magma.
With Chrome and Magma continue yelling and running around amidst the smokescreen, Ukyo aimed his arrow at where they were and released it. But seeing the arrow didn't discourage either of them, as they merely continued their scheme. Gen and Rikona, on the other hand, ran back to the village as fast as they could. Time was running short, and they couldn't afford to lose spare anymore if they wanted to take down the Tsukasa Empire.
Meanwhile, a happy Kaseki raised a copper coil up high and cheered, "Ohoooh, I've finished it! This curled-up piece of sheet copper!"
Senku took the copper coil and attached it to the record player. Now, the player was playing at a consistent speed, much to the primitive people's amazement. "The gramophone is working so smoothly." noted Suika.
"Playing it manually will result in different speed." explained Senku. "The music will be off-key." But he had another concern in his mind. 'Even if it works perfectly, it's useless if Gen can't make it back.' he thought. 'Taiju and Yuzuriha will soon show the phone to the first target. If Gen isn't here by then, we're done for.'
At that very moment, someone stepped in front of the laboratory, causing him to turn around and look at them with surprise. There stood a panting Gen who had his arm slung over Rikona's shoulders as he attempted to catch his breath. "Well then, Senku-chan, who's going to be the first to face my powers of persuasion?" he asked exhaustedly.
"Gen!" exclaimed Kohaku.
"You're alright!" cried Suika with much relief.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up before the call." suggested Rikona, who carefully brought him to the observatory.
"It's alright, Ri-chan." he assured. "I can still wait until we finish the call to clean up."
"If so, then I don't plan on getting close to you, stinky." she warned.
"Tewwible..." he sobbed as animated tears streamed down his cheeks.
Fast forward to after a good shower and changing into a new set of clothes, Gen was already awaiting inside the observatory with Senku; just in time for the phone to ring. The mentalist picked the call as he prepared for his impersonation. Once he was ready, he spoke in Lilian's voice, "Hi! I'm Lilian Weinberg!"
"Ah, I'm the interpreter, Sebastian." introduced Senku who attempted to pretend to be someone else by using a fake accent which even someone like Taiju found odd.
Senku should count his lucky stars that Rikona was still away. Had she been here, she would never live that down.
When it was silent on the other line, Gen continued with Senku "interpreting", "Hello? I'm calling from the USA. People of Japan, are you listening? The United States of America is being rebuilt and revived."
"What?!" gasped Taiju from the other line. "Did you hear that?! We're saved!"
The line went silent at first, until a female's voice said, "Hold it. First things first, I remember Lilian was in outer space."
"Exactly, I was petrified when I returned." explained "Lilian". "Someone woke me up recently."
"Lilian..." trailed off the woman who was starting to get emotional. "I... Don't translate this... I...! Do you have any idea just how much your songs saved me during my student life?! I would do absolutely anything to help you if I could, Lilian. But, if someone is using Lilian Weinberg's identity to accomplish their own schemes... I would never forgive them!"
'We're so dead.' thought Gen who went pale. 'Maybe we should've listened to Ri-chan from the start.'
'A diehard fan, I see.' thought Senku who wore the same expression as the mentalist. 'Why did you find us a diehard fan as our very first subject?'
"I've always felt that your luck sucks, Senku-chan." highlighted the latter quietly. "You woke Tsukasa-chan up first. Things go wrong when you're well-prepared."
"Still, I feel like something's wrong with the voice." continued the woman from the other line. "If you're real... I don't mean to offend you, but to make sure you're real, can you answer a few questions? The real you will know the answer. How many copies have you sold?"
Gen immediately looked over to Senku and whispered, "We only have 3 options - One, play dumb. Two, wing it. Three, get mad. Which one, Senku-chan?"
But the said man replied, "Four, get it right." As Gen stared at him with surprise, the scientist began his calculation. 'This is an ad hoc Fermi Problem. According to my deduction, a seat on SOYUZ costs around 50 million USD, so that's 5 billion yen. Assuming Lilian has twice the amount of money, around 10 billion yen, simply because she can easily make back ten times the money from touring. If we take out the royalty...' Finally, he replied, "More than 60 million copies. Not sure if there is more."
"Alright, I shall take over now." Gen then returned to the mobile phone, impersonating Lilian as he answered, "I held a party to celebrate after selling more than 50 million copies, but the market then wasn't in favour of CDs. Maybe I should revive my manager?"
"No, that's fine." said the female, though one could tell that she was taken aback by the answer. "Alright, one last question. I'll trust you if you can answer it correctly."
"It works, Senku-chan!" cheered Gen. "Another math problem. Just use your Fermi Problem thingy to deduce."
"What are your body measurements?" was the final question that caused the two to spit.
"An estimation will do!" pleaded Gen. "Even if we miss the mark, we can always say that the body has changed!"
Never in his life, Senku thought he had to recall a picture Byakuya sent to him millenniums ago and estimate someone's body measurements based on that. If Rikona were here, he was truly going to be a laughing stock for the rest of his life. 'Using my memory to compare Byakuya's height and size of the surrounding objects.' he thought. 'Her body measurements should be...' After a brief calculation, he replied, "88, 65, 85."
When Gen repeated the answer, the woman went silent. "You were always way skinnier in your profiles." she finally said.
'How was I supposed to know that?!' screamed Senku, already dreading that they screwed up. 'Those are just made for the fans to read! That's how all the pros do it!'
"Well, those are my real measurements!" said "Lilian", though it was easy to see that Gen was panicking as well.
"She'd never reveal the real measurements to her fans." said the woman. "Because Lilian is still a famous celebrity in this world. She won't burst her fans' bubble. YOU'RE NOT LILIAN WEINBERG!"
'This is bad.' thought Gen. 'What if we just play the strong straight away? Wait, no. A diehard fan will definitely notice the difference in my voice after listening to the song. Should we continue? Or perhaps... Ah, we should've listened to Ri-chan!'
The sound of footsteps from behind caught his attention. He turned around to see Rikona, who'd entered the room just in time to hear everything, approaching the record player where she placed the disc onto the turntable. "Play the song." she proposed. "Since the springs are wound, the sound quality should be better. Isn't it better to risk it all on science instead of bluffing?" She glanced at the two and smiled.
"Yeah." was Senku's response.
As soon as placed the needle onto the disc, music began blaring through the speakers. Gen positioned the microphone near the speaker, allowing the music to travel through it and reach the other line.
"Yeah, that's the real thing." said the woman quietly. "At least that song was. No way I'm mistaken. You can never imitate that. Do you know how many times I've listened to it? How many times I've played that song? Lilian is not here anymore, right?"
"Yeah, you're right." replied Senku gravely.
"But you revived her." she cried, though with happiness lacing her tone. "She'll live forever in this song. I have a question. Can you use your knowledge and revive Lilian's other songs?"
Gen quickly jumped onto this as he whispered, "Just say yes, Senku-chan!"
"Didn't I just say to risk it all on science instead of bluffing?" muttered Rikona with a look of deadpan.
And as expected, Senku bluntly said, "No, it's impossible. Those broken recording devices are ten billion percent ashes now." Gen could only watch with despair, watching the negotiation going down the drain just so easily. The scientist walked over to the gramophone and held the disc. "But I can promise you this: I'll use the power of science to protect this last song of hers."
"You are real tactless and blunt, aren't you?" remarked the woman, though her voice was now softer and warmer. "I can immediately tell that you wouldn't lie with science because you put your faith in it. I'm getting fond of you."
"Please stop." said Senku with beads of perspiration on his face. Receiving the microphone from Gen, he continued, "To fool everyone from the Tsukasa Empire, we will need this record, and you'll try your hardest to protect this song. I believe we have a common goal now?"
What followed seemed to be the sound of a ruffling cloak, before she declared, "Very well. You've got yourself a deal! I'll corporate with your plan!"
"Thank you, Nikki-san!" said Yuzuriha from the background.
"Finally, we converted an enemy from the Tsukasa Empire!" cheered Taiju.