SCIAW: Chapter 128/129

Chapter 128: The Promise of Training Together
Taking Kaguya's personal clothing, she returned to the alternate dimension.

But this time, behind the door was the main hall of the Tsukikage Island hot spring inn.

With that step, she reopened the door, completing the spatial traversal from the Shinomiya residence to Tsukikage Island.

"Kaguya-sama."

"You're back?"

Kaguya was, in fact, quite curious about the power Hayasaka had gained, especially after witnessing the unusual way she used it.

However, Hayasaka didn't answer directly. Instead, she quietly presented a piece of cloth she was holding to Kaguya.

"What's this?"

Kaguya instinctively reached out to take it.

Then, as the cloth unfolded completely, she saw what it was.

A pair of pure white panties with cute butterfly ties.

"…"

Kaguya's brain briefly short-circuited before her entire face turned red.

At that moment, she nearly exerted her body's full strength, using unimaginable speed to shove the unfolded panties into her pocket.

Although the observation skills of those present weren't at a Superman level, they were all fairly sharp, so they clearly caught a glimpse of the style.

The only male present, Ren, also saw it clearly. However, to avoid embarrassment, he deliberately turned his gaze to the side.

With her face burning, Kaguya glanced at Ren. Seeing that he had intentionally averted his gaze, she quickly suppressed her mortified emotions.

Then, she shot a fierce glare at Hayasaka.

What's wrong with you!? Weren't there other things you could have used as proof!?

But Hayasaka simply turned her head away, pretending not to see Kaguya's glare.

That deliberate movement nearly made Kaguya explode in anger.

However, given that she had just had an embarrassing moment, she absolutely couldn't afford another one. Otherwise, she really wouldn't be able to face anyone.

"Hayasaka, explain your ability."

Left with no other choice, Kaguya changed the subject.

Hayasaka pouted slightly but still began explaining.

"The fruit I ate allows me to freely open doors to another dimension."

"That dimension is nearly identical to the real world, except the colors are slightly lighter, making it look somewhat different."

"In that alternate dimension, I can also open doors leading to other locations."

"Once a door is created, the space on the other side of the door will match the space where the door is set."

"I can also enter the door's connected space without needing to pass through a physical doorway."

"In that dimension, I can hear sounds and see actions from the real world, but I can't interfere with them."

"Likewise, people in the real world can't interfere with my dimension, unless I open a door connecting both worlds."

"This ability isn't as combat-oriented as Kaguya-sama's, but it has immense potential for transportation and intelligence gathering."

Indeed.

Just from Hayasaka's description alone, everyone present grasped the sheer utility of her ability.

A spatial ability.

Not only could it be used for spatial traversal, like instantly returning from Tsukikage Island to the Shinomiya residence in Tokyo, but it also had terrifying implications for reconnaissance and information gathering.

And because it existed in a separate dimension, it was nearly undetectable.

"Besides transportation and intel gathering, Hayasaka-san, you could also explore ways to use it for confinement."

"If you can transfer people, you might also be able to trap them in the alternate dimension for long-term sealing."

Hayasaka's eyes lit up. That was indeed a viable strategy.

While reconnaissance and movement were valuable, the ability to imprison someone indefinitely would greatly enhance her power's effectiveness.

"Amamiya, do you think that's possible?"

"It should be."

"However, if you want to develop it further, like Shinomiya, you'll need extensive training."

Ren paused for a moment before mentioning a crucial aspect of Devil Fruit abilities.

"Devil Fruit powers can be further developed."

"If a Devil Fruit ability is trained to a certain extent, it undergoes a qualitative transformation."

"This transformation is known as Awakening."

"When a Devil Fruit awakens, it unlocks a higher tier of power, allowing the user to wield their ability in an even more advanced way."

"But the stronger the ability, the harder it is to awaken."

"You should be mentally prepared for that challenge."

Hayasaka found this reasoning quite sound.

The more powerful a Devil Fruit ability, the harder it was to push it to its full potential.

The power she had acquired wasn't something that could be easily mastered overnight.

Ultimately, it all depended on fate. If the right opportunity arose, her ability might have a chance to evolve.

But until then, Hayasaka felt she should follow Kaguya-sama's example and dedicate herself to serious training.

Then, Ren made a suggestion to Kaguya.

"Shinomiya, now that Hayasaka also has the Door-Door Fruit…"

"You used to hold back in training your ability because you didn't want to attract attention, but now you can enter the space Hayasaka-san opens and train in the alternate dimension without anyone noticing."

That's right!

Kaguya's eyes immediately lit up.

Her Ice-Ice Fruit ability had too large of an effective range, every time she trained even a little, the entire pool at home would freeze over, which was far from an ideal training environment.

But in another dimension, she wouldn't have to worry about being seen.

She could even go anywhere within the alternate world and unleash her power freely.

"That's a great idea!"

Not only did Kaguya think so, but even Nagi agreed that the suggestion was fantastic.

"If the alternate world is unaffected by external factors, then there's no risk of drawing attention."

"Ever since I gained my Vision, I haven't had a proper chance to test it out. This could be the perfect opportunity."

"Shinomiya, let's go together when we return."

As she spoke, Nagi turned to look at the others.

"How about everyone else? Want to join in?"

"I have a feeling that more of us might end up acquiring the diary later on."

Kaguya also found Nagi's suggestion reasonable.

She, too, suspected that other members of their group might receive the diary in the future.

Now, it was just a matter of waiting for things to unfold.
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Chapter 129: The Avenger Who Didn't Avenge Herself Personally

The progress on Tsukikage Island was faster than expected.

The villagers only learned about the village chief's drug production and trafficking when the investigation began the following day.

That was also when they confirmed the existence of those dozens of corpses.

Upon seeing the bodies, nearly all the villagers involved in the identification erupted in shock and fury.

"I never would've imagined… I always thought that old man never left Tsukikage Island his entire life, why did he suddenly go outside in the end?"

The passing of the elderly was already tragic enough.

These were people from the same generation, yet they were murdered in such a cruel manner. Seeing this, the older villagers felt an overwhelming sense of grief.

The village chief they had elected had turned out to be the very murderer who killed their peers.

And it wasn't just the elderly who died.

Their children, sons- and daughters-in-law, and even grandchildren who weren't yet eight years old had all been killed in the same horrific way.

That realization filled them with rage.

Recalling the village chief's usual demeanor, as well as the worsening condition of the marine environment, the island's fishermen clenched their teeth in fury.

They had known that the environmental damage was the village chief's doing.

But they had originally assumed it was just industrial pollution, illegal waste disposal causing a massive die-off of fish in the surrounding waters.

That was what they had been protesting against all this time.

But now? Now that they knew the truth, they were on the verge of passing out from sheer shock.

The environmental impact of drug production lasted far longer than they had realized.

Long before they could recover from the damage to the marine ecosystem, they—fishermen who relied on the sea—would have already starved to death.

And the poppy fields discovered in the back mountains?

Those plants could even alter the geological conditions of the area.

If they contaminated the underground water supply, the consequences would be catastrophic.

The scope of this disaster was massive.

Even outsiders like Kogoro and Conan had caught wind of the situation.

"The village chief was actually running a drug trafficking operation…?"

"On top of that, he's involved in dozens of murder cases."

"…"

Kogoro didn't even know how to respond.

As far as he was concerned, these crimes all but guaranteed the death penalty.

Life imprisonment? That wasn't even an option.

There was no way a sentence like that could cover the weight of these crimes. The only possible verdict was execution.

"Miss Asai."

Mouri shifted his attention, only to see that Dr. Asai had been staring blankly ever since hearing the news, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

"Miss Asai!"

He raised his voice, snapping Narumi Asai out of her daze.

"…Ah? Mr. Mouri, did you need something?"

"Do I need something? You look like you have a serious problem."

"Me?"

"Ever since you heard about the village chief's crimes, your emotions have been all over the place."

Narumi Asai let out a small breath of relief, thankfully, that was all he had noticed.

She couldn't control her emotions right now, but she forced herself to shake her head.

"It's just… I can't believe that such a large drug trafficking operation was hidden behind Tsukikage Island."

"And I never would've expected the village chief to be capable of something this outrageous."

Seeing her shocked expression and the way she had been zoning out just now, Kogoro Mouri couldn't really blame her.

Who could remain calm after learning something like this?

"Dr. Asai, it's no wonder you're having a hard time processing this."

"After all, this is a major case. The Metropolitan Police Department wouldn't normally act this fast, unless they had already been keeping an eye on Tsukikage Island for a while."

Conan, standing beside Mouri, nodded in agreement.

A large-scale operation like this had to have been in the works for quite some time.

Tsukikage Island had likely been on the Metropolitan Police Department's radar for a while, and this operation had probably been in planning for months.

Drug-related busts were always carried out with extreme precision.

The task force was deployed with a clear objective: to take down the traffickers as swiftly as possible.

They stormed both the village community center and the back mountains.

Once the raid was complete, the criminal investigators moved in to gather evidence.

The entire operation was executed swiftly and efficiently, completely unlike the sluggish response times usually seen in Tokyo.

There was no doubt that this plan had been meticulously prepared.

The goal was to catch the drug dealers off guard, which was why the raid resulted in a near-total annihilation of the armed traffickers and the successful capture of all major leaders.

Come to think of it, the letter that had requested Uncle Mouri's help earlier was that also related to the discovery of the drug traffickers?

Conan found that possibility highly likely.

Especially after learning that the supposed "client" had actually died over a decade ago.

"Uncle Mouri, do you think that person had already discovered the truth about Tsukikage Island?"

"Could it be that Seiji Asoh's death more than ten years ago was also connected to the village chief?"

"Was the client trying to lead you toward the case from back then?"

"Hmm… That's a real possibility."

Kogoro had to admit, Conan's theory made sense.

"The client paid the commission fee in advance and even used the name of Seiji Asoh, who's been dead for over a decade."

"And considering all the village chief's crimes, it's possible that Seiji Asoh was killed back then because of the drug trade."

"Someone must've recently found evidence of the village chief's operations and used a fake name to hire me for the investigation."

Listening to all of this, Narumi Asai felt… conflicted.

The reasoning was sound. The conclusion was correct.

But the problem was… she had originally planned to take matters into her own hands.

Yet, in the end, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police had handled everything.

They struck with overwhelming force, wiping out the entire drug operation in one decisive blow.

The village chief and all key figures were now in custody.

There was nothing left for her to do.

The task force and the investigators had done everything she had wanted to do and they had done it legally and justifiably.

That left her feeling strangely empty.

But… wasn't this a good thing?

It should be a good thing.

Even though the outcome and process had deviated completely from her original plan, the fact remained: the major drug traffickers had been caught.

And dozens of hidden murder cases had been brought to light.

Most importantly, she had gotten her revenge without having to stain her own hands or end up in prison.

From an objective standpoint, everything had turned out perfectly.

Aside from her personal feelings of awkwardness, there was nothing to complain about.

So, in the end…

It was best that no one found out she was the one who had sent that letter.