At Ueno Park, where the Ghost Stall was located, the nearby traffic had already been completely blocked off.
Helicopters were buzzing overhead, and the Martial Soul Thirteenth Division had all arrived on the scene, beginning a comprehensive search operation.
"Area A search complete, nothing found!"
"Area V search complete, nothing found!"
"Area Z search complete, nothing found!"
A young member of the Martial Soul squad yawned, holding a flashlight while following his senior through the wooded area near the Ueno Zoo, and asked, "Senior Sato, what exactly are we looking for?"
"You don’t know?" The middle-aged Sato, a fellow squad member, asked in surprise.
"I was pulled out of bed before I woke up. I’m still groggy and didn’t hear it clearly..." Lin said with a giggle.
Sato slapped Lin hard on the forehead, annoyed, and said, "We are searching for the Fairy Palace!"
The Fairy Palace? Hearing this term, Lin instantly perked up. "What? Is someone from the Fairy Palace taking disciples here?"
"Taking disciples, my foot!" A very angry Sato slapped him again. Fortunately, they were searching in pairs. Otherwise, Lin’s behavior would have disgraced the Eleventh Division in front of the others.
"The Fairy Palace Food God is suspected to have appeared in Ueno Park, and we need to find her! The characteristics of the Fairy Palace Food God include having a food stall cart that can be pushed. She is a black-haired girl from the East, wearing an apron, with big eyes and a small mouth... Basically, if you see a cart that looks like it’s selling ramen in the park, that’s the Fairy Palace Food God."
Lin rubbed his head and said, "After we find her, then what? Capture her?"
"I don’t know either, but the higher-ups probably aren’t that stupid," Sato said. "The last one who dared to challenge the Fairy Palace was beaten black and blue by the monkeys from there."
Lin recalled the earth-shattering scene in the "Opening the Spirit Treasury" video and nodded in agreement.
He asked, "So what do we do after we find her?"
"Find a way out and pass on the message," Sato said. "However, the captain has already said that it’s almost impossible to do so."
"The Federation and Mysterious Country have both tried to send out messages, but all have failed."
"So, if you do encounter the Fairy Palace Food God and can’t leave, just enjoy a delicious meal from her. It’s said that by tasting a Fairy Palace delicacy, one can gain tremendous benefits."
Lin clicked his tongue in amazement. "So, does that mean the Fairy Palace Food God has come to bring warmth?"
"Hmm? You could say that... However, this is the first time I’ve heard it put that way."
"Hahaha, I learned that when I visited Mysterious Country half a year ago."
Sato continued, "Also, if you come across someone who is neither a member of the Martial Spirit Squad nor a policeman, you must immediately detain them and notify others. They could very likely be customers of the Fairy Palace Food God, and we need to investigate and analyze the changes in their bodies."
"Got it. So our search targets are the food stall and strangers, right?"
After patrolling for a while, Lin suddenly slipped, letting out a yelp.
"What’s the matter? You’re a Second Cloud Onmyoji. Can’t you even control your own body?" Sato chided.
"The ground is very slippery here!" Lin complained, crouching down to shine his flashlight, and discovered that a puddle on the ground had frozen.
"Frozen? Then be careful," Sato said.
Bad luck, Lin thought, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he hurried to keep up with Sato.
At that moment, Lin saw a blue-haired girl in white clothes approaching them from the left.
Sato glanced at him. "Focus on the job."
"I am focused!" Lin said, wondering which Division she belonged to.
The blue-haired girl seemed to notice Lin’s gaze. She turned her head to look at him with a slight smile, instantly captivating Lin, making him feel as if his soul had flown away.
Lin immediately decided he had to ask around about this girl later; he wanted to try pursuing her!
Lin was a star member of the Eleventh Division. He was not only a Second Cloud Onmyoji but also possessed special abilities. With his decent appearance and substantial resources, he felt qualified to chase the love he desired.
"Look at you, all smitten," Sato glanced at Lin. "What did you see just now?"
"I saw a very pretty girl. Later, I’ll need to ask others if they know her," Lin said cheerfully.
"Oh? What does she look like? Maybe I know her."
Suddenly, Lin drew a blank.
Huh? What was that girl wearing, and what did she look like? Lin scratched his head, unable to recall the details.
Sato sighed. "Young man, take care of your health. If you’re this forgetful at such a young age, what will you be like when you get old..."
Lin’s mouth twitched. Oh well, if I see her again, I’m sure I’ll recognize her.
At that time, an old man with a cane walked past them.
Sato and Lin glanced at the elder as they crossed paths.
While Sato didn’t show much reaction, it was Lin who commented, "Does the police force have officers this old still on active duty?"
"Maybe he’s from the Martial Spirit Squad."
"The Martial Spirit Squad has someone this old?"
"The Martial Spirit Squad has a lot of off-the-books personnel," Sato said. "Their ages span all groups, so it’s pretty normal to have some elderly people."
Lin nodded. He was aware of the off-the-books personnel arrangement and accepted the explanation.
Following that, in the early hours, they encountered various people near the forest of Ueno Park, including housewives, middle-aged office workers, and youngsters with flamboyant, dyed hairstyles.
Lin remarked, "There sure are a lot of people searching."
Sato replied, "Yeah, the higher-ups are taking the Fairy Palace Food God very seriously this time. It’s not easy to catch a trace of the Fairy Palace again, and no one wants to give up."
Lin added, "Mysterious Country seized the opportunity last time. It has to be our turn now, right?"
Suddenly, Lin asked, "Speaking of which, we all know that the Fairy Palace Food God is here, yet we don’t know her exact location?"
"We don’t know. It seems we confirmed it was Ueno Park only after discovering that one of the off-the-books personnel’s positioning devices had malfunctioned," Sato explained.
As they chatted and searched, Lin and Sato walked to one side of Shinobazu Pond, enjoying the cool night breeze from the lake and feeling refreshed.
"Hey, is there a fight going on over there?" Sato suddenly pointed to the opposite shore.
Looking in the direction Sato pointed, Lin saw on the other side of Shinobazu Pond, in front of a food stall, a samurai in red armor and a girl in a scarf were brutally beating a creature that closely resembled a Crow Tengu.
"They’re really going at it," Lin observed.
"It’s more like a one-sided beatdown. That Crow Tengu is getting frozen solid," Sato remarked.
"That samurai’s sword technique is so cool! Is it an Onmyo Magic Technique?" Lin asked excitedly.
"You rascal! If you want to learn advanced magic techniques, you better figure out how to get promoted to Second Cloud first!" Sato retorted.
Soon, the Crow Tengu was beaten to its knees. It even took off its mask and handed it to the girl, then spread its wings and flew away.
"So, Crow Tengu can actually fly," Lin said.
Sato lit a cigarette and commented nonchalantly, "What’s so surprising? I once saw a Nine-Tailed Fox walking on air."
"For real? Were you at the scene, Senior Sato?" Lin asked excitedly.
"I was watching the live broadcast of the scene," Sato replied without batting an eyelid.
Then they watched the girl and the white-haired samurai in red armor pack up their things and push the food stall cart in another direction.
"Looks like a small food stall," Lin said. "Are you hungry, Senior Sato?"
And so, they just watched as the food stall cart left.
After the food stall had completely vanished, Lin and Sato finally sensed something amiss.
Ice forming on a pond in Ueno Park in summer?
They encountered so many people in Ueno Park at dawn?
The creature that just flew over their heads was a Crow Tengu?
The Fairy Palace Food God and the white-haired samurai in red armor just beat up a Crow Tengu in front of a food stall?
Ignoring the cigarette burning his hand, Sato asked urgently, "Where did that Crow Tengu fly off to just now!?"
Lin raised his hand but pointed directly overhead, looking bewildered. "I’ve forgotten where it flew off to..."
Sato opened his mouth but eventually sighed and turned on his radio, saying, "Sector H, reporting a find..."
On the eighth day after clearing the game, only two days remained in the "Midnight Walker" storyline.
The eighth day of the Tokyo adventure, although initially spotted by Red Armor, an off-the-books operative of Flourishing Sakura, went surprisingly smoothly.
Was Flourishing Sakura too slow to react, or was the "Midnight Walker" barrier that ’allows the game to proceed normally’ just very powerful?
However, compared to these issues, it was the Tokyo customers that made Ren Suo slightly perplexed.
Zashiki-warashi, Snow Maiden, and the boss Crow Tengu that appeared at the end...
If the video was uploaded, the audience might not be surprised to see these creatures—after all, even the Handsome Monkey King and the Nine-Tailed Fox had made appearances.
But Ren Suo knew that the Handsome Monkey King and the Nine-Tailed Fox were just products he had forcefully linked to pre-existing concepts.
The real demons and ghosts were mostly listed in the "Over My Dead Body" Demon Encyclopedia. Ren Suo hadn’t seen Zashiki-warashi or anything similar in its records, nor in the Countermeasures System’s records of demons.
If Flourishing Sakura had these creatures, why wouldn’t Mysterious Country have them too?
But in reality, using Ghost Walking, Ren Suo had traveled to many places in the world and met many customers with special abilities, yet only in Tokyo did he encounter such uniquely ’historically evocative’ demons and ghosts.
Either these types of demons and ghosts only appeared in Flourishing Sakura, or Flourishing Sakura possessed some power that caused demons and ghosts to mutate in this way.
Regardless of which possibility it is... Ren Suo mused, opening his computer. It’s certainly enough to whip up a paper on...