"Ri-chan, are you serious about the whole idea of adding paper to the Steam Gorilla?" asked the dubious mentalist. Ever since Senku revealed that idea, Gen had been trailing behind the young doctor trying to make some sense of it.
Rikona, who was in the process of taking out a large pot, glanced at him over her shoulder and nonchalantly replied, "Yes, I am. Is there something a matter?"
"I don't mean doubt you or Senku-chan, but is it such a good idea to add something so flimsy to the automobile?" was his question.
She was certainly confused, but it didn't take long for her to understand why he was so worked up. "Ah, I see your concern. Maybe Mr. Scientist and I should've phrased it better. But don't worry. You'll eventually see what we meant."
Before he could utter a word, Suika's voice chimed from afar, "Everyone has collected so much!" The pair looked over, seeing the girl carrying a large heap of grass, along with Shovel and Ruri.
"Any grass will do?" asked the blonde woman while presenting a bunch in her hands.
"Yeah, most of them will work." said the green-haired scientist casually, keeping both arms folded across his chest, before looking over to Suika. "Bring these to Doc. She'll know what to do."
"Roger!" was the girl's enthusiastic response.
By the time she reached the said doctor, the latter was already preparing a large pot placed on top of the firewood. After dumping the grass inside, the pot was then filled with water to the brim followed by some sodium hydroxide before the concoction was brought to a boil. Moments later, the once clear, transparent water had turned gooey. Removing the pot from the stove, the sticky grass was then washed, layered atop each other, and pressed by a large boulder before they were finally dried under the hot sun. Alas, the Kingdom of Science achieved paper!
"It looks just like paper!" commented the amazed Gen. "Making paper is so easy."
"With this, we can draw more blueprints easily." announced Rikona.
"Drawing on leather was such a waste of resource." stated Kaseki, agreeing with her.
Of course, like the majority of their inventions, there were two types of the group - ones that know the value of paper; and ones who don't understand.
"What's that?" asked Kinro.
To prove a point, Magma grabbed a piece of paper and easily poked a hole through it with his fingers. "What does this thin thing do?" he mocked.
"Are you serious, Senku, Rikona?" asked the dubious Kohaku. "You will use such weak material to make a tank?"
"Yeah, you got it right." was the former's smug reply before raising a wooden grid with a shape resembling a shield. After he placed the grid onto the ground, Senku added a sheet of paper that was cut into its shape by Rikona.
As Gen watched him apply a dark brown substance that appeared to be like glue, Gen asked, "Is that... something like a shoji door?"
"Correct, 10 billion points to you." confirmed the scientist. After repeating the process four more times, he then wore a thick mitten before carrying a pot of burning charcoal which he then pressed onto the stack of glued papers. Once it cooled off, he raised the shield up high and announced, "Paper shield is done. Now, we just have to paste the paper shield around the automobile. Steam Gorilla is now a tank."
However, Kinro wasn't convinced. "Senku." he called. Once he got the said man's attention, he turned around and walked towards a tree while wielding a spear. "I don't think you and Rikona understand this." With one thrust, the spear lodged into the tree trunk. The force was so strong it ripped the tree off from stump before it tumbled backward. "With enough strength, a spear can pierce through a wooden shield. Thin paper shields will not protect us from Tsukasa Empire."
"I agree." jeered Ginro from behind.
"Oh?" drawled Senku, unfazed by the scene. "Sure. Perfect time for a test, isn't it? Let's test the paper shield."
"Are you sure you want to do this, Mr. Scientist?" asked Rikona, placing a fist on her hip. "I don't mind volunteering to conduct the test."
"Don't sweat about it, Doc." he assured, picking up the paper shield before making his way to the front. "I'm 10 billion percent confident that the test will succeed."
"No, that's not what I meant..." she mumbled, which went unheard by him.
SENKU VS KINRO
"This is bad!" shouted the panicking Suika while pointing ahead. "Senku and Kinro are going to fight!"
"What?!" exclaimed Kokuyo, who was the last to join the onlooking crowd. "What happened?!"
"Senku-chan even said to use a real weapon, instead of the spear we use in competition." muttered Gen, who was just as concerned as everyone else; with the exception of a deadpanned Rikona.
"It's dangerous, Senku." warned Kinro, clearly reluctant to be involved in the test which could potentially hurt the said man. "For me to-"
"I need your full commitment for my experiment." intercepted the scientist, who was barely worried about the risk of getting injured by someone as strong as the brunette. "This is the rule. "Rules are rules" is your motto, right?"
That was all it took for Kinro to get into position, readying the weapon. "Understood. Then, I won't go easy." Swinging the weapon, he harshly thrust it forward and struck the shield. Much to everyone's surprise and worry, Senku firmly held the shield in front of him as he blocked the attack as much as he could.
"Senku!" called Kohaku worriedly.
But there was no need for the audience to worry, for Kinro's spear split apart while the shield was barely damaged; not even a dent in sight.
"WHOAAAAAAA!!" exclaimed the astounded Ginro.
"Senku wins!" announced Kohaku.
"Kinro's spear broke but the paper shield is still intact." noted Kaseki with amazement.
"Eh?!" expressed the confused and stunned Gen. "How did that shoji door..."
Upon closer inspection, Kohaku noticed something; something rather unsurprising. "No, wait." she said. True to her words, Senku, while still holding the shield, trembled furiously after receive such a powerful force just mere moments ago. "He can't answer that question now."
"His arms went numb." pointed out Suika.
"He blocked the spear but he couldn't nullify the force." added Ginro.
Rikona heaved a sigh before remarking, "I did tell him that I'd do it."
It was at that moment Gen realised something peculiar about the process earlier. "You didn't apply normal glue onto the paper, did you?" he questioned.
Finally, after recovering, Senku let out his signature chuckle and said, "Very good, 10 billion points for you. It was melted plastic before it hardens. Mixing the flexibility of the paper with the hardness of the plastic brings us the birth of carbon fibre resin."
"Carbon!" gasped the mentalist. "Uh, I may or may not have heard of that before..."
"It's light but unbreakable." explained Rikona. "It was used on F1 race cars and rockets. In other words, it's the ultimate material with SS-tier mobility and defence."
And so, in no time at all, Steam Gorilla had transformed into a well-armoured tank ready for battle.
"Whoa, Steam Gorilla!" shouted Ginro, in awe of the automobile's upgrade.
"Oho!" cheered the enthusiastic artisan. "Power up!"
"It looks so strong!" commented Suika.
"We also added double-boiler engines and continuous track on the large front wheels." explained Senku.
"With this, we can do it!" said Kohaku. "As long as we use this tank made by tough paper shields, we can easily rush in and destroy the jail. We'll save Chrome without any bloodshed!"
DING!
Just then, Ginro had an amazing idea. "Hey, hey!" he called out to Senku. "Maybe after we rescue Chrome, if we use this Steam Gorilla as a tank, can't we give the Tsukasa Empire a little bit of a hard time? Even if we don't fight, things will just clear up, right?!"
The scientist let out a chuckle as he walked over to the vehicle and placed a hand on it. "After we crash into the cell, it won't be able to move properly." he said casually. "This was meant to be used to rescue Chrome and then thrown away."
"REALLY?!" shouted Ginro and Kaseki with utter disbelief; especially the latter.
"This is a one-use-only mecha, meant to shock and surprise." continued the green-haired man. "If they figure out what we're up to, no matter how we strategise to use the vehicle, it won't matter."
However, that was a huge concern for the young doctor. Albeit knowing him not long, she knew just how highly intelligent Tsukasa was. The evidence was already there; from the moment he - assuming that he actually possessed some knowledge of human physiology - admitted to targeting his cervical nerve to "kill" Senku. Not to mention, when Senku made it look like Rikona, Taiju and Yuzuriha escaped from Tsukasa out of defeat, she knew that the latter figured it out, otherwise he wouldn't have doubted his "death" and send Gen for confirmation. From realising that nitric acid was the key to the de-petrification, to predicting that Senku was going to make gunpowder solely based on where their group was heading, to replicating the full de-petrification formula without any written procedures; Tsukasa was certainly too intelligent for his own good. And she could only hope that he wouldn't figure out that they were going to invade his empire with the Stam Gorilla; although, in her heart, she knew that he knew.
"Throwing it away is such a waste~" sighed Gen disappointingly. "If we take the time to add fortifications, couldn't we use this to regain control of the Miraculous Cave?"
"Don't try to "if" or "maybe" us, Kitsune." deadpanned Rikona. "You're merely wasting time."
"So tewwible..." sobbed the mentalist.
"Hah!" scoffed Kohaku. "If only Chrome could break out by himself, then our plan will become even easier."
Others might've seen this as a joke, but the young doctor hoped that this was the case. And she knew that, for someone so enthusiastic and passionate, Chrome would find a way out. There's only one reason why he'd be able to do so - His pride as a scientist.
"Alright." began Senku, who stood on top of the tank in front of the crowd. "Launching Operation: Save Chrome. The plan is simple. First, we break the prison using this upgraded Steam Gorilla. Then we run. That's all." Everyone's response was a sweatdrop hanging on the back of their heads.
"So simple!" commented Suika quietly.
"Because if they find out, they will counter-attack." explained Gen, keeping both arms underneath his haori sleeves. "Steam Gorilla is just a one-time-use ambush tool. Senku-chan and Ri-chan are quite chill about it." The girl responded with a few curt nods.
However, someone wasn't so keen on that idea. Kaseki latched onto one of the wheels and wailed. "My cute Steam Gorilla." he sobbed. "How can you throw it away after one use?"
"We don't have time to dally." said Kohaku, stepping towards him with a straw hat in her hands. "Who knows if Chrome will reveal too much information." But after thinking about it, she said, "No, it might even be too late."
"I think so too." said Senku before turning to face everyone else. "Ambush operation. Get ready.
"Yeah!" they cheered.
But something - or rather, someone - caught a certain mentalist's attention. Quietly, he scooted towards the young doctor, standing next to her before he whispered, "Something the matter, Ri-chan? You're awfully quiet."
"Kitsune." she murmured grimly. "What if Tsukasa already knows about this plan? I mean, think about it. If Suika was able to find Chrome's location within an hour, that means they placed him in a wide-open space where it's easy to spot him. But you and I know Tsukasa isn't someone so careless to put him there, assuming he truly treats Chrome as a prisoner."
It didn't take long for Gen to understand what she meant, for he then adorned a similar expression as he said, "This is bad news for us."
"This is Tsukasa we're talking about." she stressed. "I think he and Senku are equally intelligent, and that's not a good thing for our current situation. Kohaku might've said it as a joke earlier, but I honestly hope that Chrome breaks out as soon as possible."
He looked over to the horizon with a blank smile. "Let's hope he figures that out soon."
Meanwhile, at the Tsukasa Empire, Chrome extended his hand through one of the gaps of his cell. The guard, who had been taking a nap just seconds ago, looked up, seeing the prisoner looking desperate as he gripped his pants. There's only one answer to that - toilet. So after tying both of Chrome's hands together at the front, Chrome was brought out of the cell and into the grassy land with two guards accompanying him, with one of them gripping onto the rope attached to the knot around his wrists.
"What?" jeered the brunette when they finally came to a halt. "You want to watch me pee, too?"
"Shut up!" snapped the guard. "Deal with it quickly."
As soon as Chrome went into the bushes, the two guards sat on a rock right behind him. Both were completely unaware of the scientist stuffing whatever plants he could get from his surroundings into his pants, preparing for his prison break once he returned.