"How does it feel Hyoga," you asked as you pointed the blade at him. "To be bested by the blades of science."
You guys stood ready to fight with your katanas as Hyoga and his men looked at you guys. With all of them with broken weapons. Hyoga's men were obviously not happy by this as Hyoga kept his poker face. His men then ran away which made Ginro so happy.
"Remarkable athleticism, combined with coordinated teamwork, and a dirty betrayal," Hyoga said.
"Well you would know about those now wouldn't you," you said.
Hyoga didn't say anything as he looked at Senku. You raised your katana to him as you put your hand in front of Senku.
"Add to that thee scientific knowledge to create guns and Japanese katanas. You people seem to know the proper way to do things," Hyoga said.
Both you and Senku had an uneasy feeling about this. Hyoga seemed so unfazed by all of this which made it seem that he almost expected this.
"What would have been more proper was if you had realized that all of this was merely a distraction."
You guys gasped as you turned to look at the village. The village was now on fire.
"Ah. So that's really why they came here," Senku said.
"I should have known Hyoga would play dirty," you said.
People screamed as they tried to get to safety. You guys then see a girl with pink hair and a matching pink outfit holding a torch walking down the bridge.
"So you have a partner now," you said. "Gotta admit I'm shocked since you were never a team player."
"Say hello to Homura, my right hand," Hyoga said. "Unlike those mush-brained macho men, she can get things done properly. She's quite thorough." He glared at you. "And can actually be useful to get the job done."
She tossed the torch to the water below and ran to Kokuyo. Kokuyo tried to attack her but she simply flipped over him which shocked him. Kohaku tried to attack her from above but she simply jumped on the rope and flipped to doge Kohaku's blade. She then flipped over the rest of you and joined Hyoga's side.
"A gymnast," you mumbled.
Hyoga and Homura walk away as the village continues to burn. The strong winds didn't help either since the strong winds will only help the fire grow. Some tried to put the fire out but it wasn't going to help. You guys helped everyone evacuate safely as the village was going down. Unfortunately you guys couldn't go to where Ruri was since the brigade was burned down. This meant the only place to go was the base of the kingdom of science. However this meant that Jasper, Turquoise and Ruri were stuck but thankfully the fire didn't spread to them so at least they were safe.
The battle team stayed on guard since they had the katanas so they could protect everyone as you guys figured out what to do. But then out of nowhere Homura came and started a fire in the middle of the area. Kohaku goes to attack her but she runs away. You guys then go to put out the fire since if you guys lose this area, you guys are screwed.
As you guys were putting out the fire, Ginro told you guys that Suika ran away.
"What? Suika ran away," Kohaku said, shocked.
"I, uh, tried to stop her," Ginro said. "But she took off toward the hot springs!"
You thought about it and remembered that the poison gas was in the same direction as the hot springs. Not to mention the winds were stronger right now and they were blowing from the mountains. You couldn't shake this bad feeling and you noticed Senku had a feeling. Your eyes then winded as you realized why you had this bad feeling.
"Oh crap," you said.
Senku realized it too and the both of you started to run to Suika. You guys made a quick stop to grab the gas masks and ran as fast as you guys could to Suika. You guys saw Hyoga and his man up ahead along with Suika.
"Suika! Climb up that tree," Senku yelled.
You managed to get to her and put the mask on her as you held her. Suika began to shake as she was scared. You told her that it was fine since you guys had the masks on, meaning the poison gas can't hurt you guys. Hyoga's men heard poison gas and climbed the tree where Hyoga and Homura were. You walked back to Senku as one of the men yelled at Senku, claiming he made the gas. Senku of course claims that he did to make the kingdom of science look like more of a threat. Senku told them they can go back to Mama Tsukasa after waiting ten billion seconds for the gas to clear. With that you two walk away as you hold Suika.
"What are the chances that they believed that threat," Senku asked.
"Pretty good," you said. "But knowing Hyoga, he's going to push the three meat heads off to see if it's safe. Regardless, we made an impact on the Tsukasa empire."
"You're right about that."
You guys made it back home and Kokuyo declared that even though they lost their homes, they didn't lose any lives which were far more precious. They meant that Ishigami village won this battle. The villagers were happy as you and Senku were in the lab. Even if you guys won this fight, that just meant the war was about to begin. But that made you guys excited.
The next day, the villagers began to rebuild the bridge and the homes of the village. Meanwhile the original members of the kingdom of science, now with Gen, were gathered in front of the lab.
"So what's your next move," Gen asked. "You managed to hide for quite a while, but they'll tell Tsukasa you're alive."
"Yeah, and I'm sure he'll figure out we can't produce the gunpowder that quickly," Senku said. "At least not enough to use guns."
"Huh? What do you mean we can't," Ginro asked.
"Why would that be," Old Man Kaseki asked.
"It's like this. The revival fluid that Tsukasa's guys have been cranking out is actually pretty easy to make," Senku stated. "And yet, we still haven't revived a single statue." You clenched your fist a bit.
"That's because we don't have enough nitric acid," Senku admitted. "Now we could make some from dung or sea shells, but we're short on both time and materials. Also, no nitric acid means no gunpowder. Tsukasa's smart enough to figure that out on his own."
"Of course we had to get a smart muscle man and not a himbo," you mumbled.
Senku chuckled. "We didn't have much gunpowder saved to begin with and now we're completely out."
"You lost me the moment you started talking about that whatever-it-was acid," Kohaku admitted.
"Isn't there an easier way to explain it to us," Old Man Kaseki asked.
"To simplify what he said, if we had guns, Tsukasa would know we can't use them," you clarified. "Plus, there's no doubt in my mind that this Tsukasa guy is gonna have an army ready for an invasion. That is 10 billion percent certain, especially with Hyoga on his side."
"The more time passes, the more fighters they have, after all," Gen said. "Too bad we can't do that with gunpowder."
"Ah! Well? So what're we gonna do," Ginro asked.
"I think the answer is very clear," you admitted.
Senku chuckled. "She's right." He put an arm around you. "We'll just have to attack them first. With a ridiculously awesome scientific toy."
They all gasped.
"Ha! You've got the right idea," Kohaku exclaimed. "Waiting puts us at a disadvantage. So our only choice is to strike first!"
"And that means we got to build a new weapon," you said.
"Uh. So what kinda weapon are we talking about," Chrome asked.
Senku chuckled. "We've gone leaps and bounds, but now it's time for us to break out the ultimate modern tech! We've been recreating scientific advancements from as far back as the stone age, but we're finally getting to something from my time. What was truly the deciding factor in modern conflicts. The strongest weapon in two million years of history."
"Wait, you don't mean nukes, do you," Gen asked, clearly nervous.
"Hell no," Senku said.
"We have to be logical about this and create something we can actually make in the stone era," you said. "And what Senku has in mind is something that can give one side a huge advantage. Communication."
"You don't mean-"
"We're making cell phones with service even in the stone world," Senku said.
Chrome was excited about this as the rest of them were confused by what a cell phone was. Meanwhile Gen just looked at you two, mainly Senku as if he was insane. To help make the cell phone, Senku and to summon the entire village since this wasn't gonna be easy. After you and Senku explained what a cell phone was, the villagers were so shocked.
Communication with someone far away? How is that even possible?
However Chrome was excited to see how it worked and Old Man Kaseki was excited to make it.
"And that's gonna be our weapon," Kohaku asked.
"Oh definitely," you stated. "Communication can have the biggest effect in any situation and completely turn the tide in a battle."
"For example, suppose we have a double agent who leaks intel to us in real time," Senku said. He stated that with the cellphone, they could know where the enemy is or what they are planning. Which in turn, they can make a plan to counter it. This also meant you guys could possibly take down the Tsukasa empire without any bloodshed.
"But who would we use to be our double agent," Ginro asked.
"Ah? We've already got our mole over there," Senku stated.
You smiled as he took your hand.
"Two in fact," Senku said. "Taiju and Yuzuriha."
"And I bet Taiju will be so happy to have a phone again," you said.
Senku chuckled. "That big oaf was desperate to get his hands on a smartphone from the very beginning."
Senku had a better drawer to draw out the roadmap to make the smartphone. However due to being in the Stone World, this phone had to be a more traditional, regular phone rather than a smart one. Regardless, it was gonna get the job done and people were excited to make it. After all, you guys made the sulfa drug which was a pain to make so you guys could totally make the phone.
However Gen tried to bring them to reality since it was clear that they didn't know what Senku was saying. After all, at first glance, almost everything on the roadmap is impossible to get but that made Senku chuckle.
"Nothing is impossible, Gen," Senku stated. "No matter how far off the goal may seem, if you follow the steps, you'll get there ten billion percent of the time."
"Plus, the modern era was only possible thanks to people who made the impossible possible," you said. "That's simply how science works."