My Avatar Is Becoming the Final Boss-Chapter 39: Conflict

8:00 a.m. Japan time, Minato Ward, Tokyo, in front of an abandoned office building’s entrance.
Ke Qirui lowered the brim of her Rustek hat, the corners of her sharp eyes slightly upturned.
From the shadow beneath the brim, she expressionlessly glanced at the Work Demon that was slowly turning into ashes, then sized up the backs of the four brigade members.
She took a vintage monocle out of her pocket, placed it on her left eye, and clipped the chain to her trench coat collar. She said, “We detected demonic fluctuations and came to check it out, looks like someone did our job for us.”
Su Zimai also stared at their backs and asked, “Leader, are they Exorcists too?”
“Probably not,” Ke Qirui shook her head.
Standing here now was Ji Minghuan’s second game character—Xia Pingzhou, not the first character Gu Wenyu.
Naturally, the two of them couldn’t recognize it was him.
But in the memory of the second character, Xia Pingzhou had met Ke Qirui once two years ago.
Both of them held SS-level Tianqu powers, and within China’s Reality-altering Esper Association, they were both rising stars with immense attention—it would be hard not to know each other.
If Ke Qirui looked closely, she should be able to tell that this person was Xia Pingzhou.
Side-eyeing the two figures, Ji Minghuan silently thought:
“Looks like this could get messy. If my little sister dies at the hands of the brigade, doesn’t that mean my ‘Black Cocoon’ loses a major long-term main quest?”
With that in mind, he decided to try to find a way to let Su Zimai go without arousing the suspicion of the other team members;
as for Ke Qirui, whether she lived or died had nothing to do with him.
“I’m hungry,” Origami Ayase said expressionlessly, “Kill them, then let’s hurry up and get food.”
As she said that, she turned half her body to the side.
Just then, Ji Minghuan suddenly spoke up: “I think I recognize the one wearing the hat. She’s a member of the Reality-altering Esper Association. Her Tianqu is a ‘vintage monocle’... never seen the other one. You guys know of her?”
Hearing this, Arlens seemed to recall something.
“Old-fashioned monocle?” he muttered, raising an eyebrow, “Oh… Ke Qirui from the Reality-altering Esper Association, huh. She’s pretty famous. The leader knows her—he even considered inviting her into the team before.”
“And?” Ji Minghuan asked.
“The leader didn’t say, but seeing how things turned out, she must’ve rejected him.” Arlens smiled. “Later, she formed her own Exorcist squad—the ‘Ghost Train Brigade,’ probably named after the Train Demon she’s contracted.”
Origami Ayase turned her head and glanced at the two of them with emotionless eyes.
She asked, “So are we killing them or not?”
Robert scratched his mechanical box-like head and calmly said, “Forget it. The leader told us not to cause any commotion before the auction starts. Fighting these two Exorcists here won’t do us any good.”
Hearing that, Ji Minghuan smoothly added, “If you all agree, I’d like to spar with that girl.”
He paused, then added, “But her Tianqu makes a huge scene. If you think it would compromise the secrecy of the auction op… then forget it.”
In his memory, Ke Qirui’s Tianqu, the ‘vintage monocle,’ allowed her to directly summon the demons she had contracted.
That was fundamentally different from other Tianqu—others merged their demons into the Tianqu as components, but hers retained the demons’ actual bodies, which she could summon when needed.
And just last night in the park, Ji Minghuan had used Binding Restraint Detection to test her Tianqu. Ke Qirui currently had two contracted demons: one was the Train Demon, and the other was the Movie Demon.
Judging by the name “Train Demon,” it was definitely massive in size, meaning if they fought here, she would definitely summon it and they’d be locked in a stalemate.
The resulting commotion would be enormous, practically an announcement to all of Japan:
—“The White Crow Brigade has arrived in Tokyo.”
Arlens shrugged: “You’re right… the leader did remind us not to underestimate her.”
“Let’s not waste time,” Robert said, withdrawing his gaze from the two at the office entrance. “If we’re going to kill them just to cover our tracks, but starting a fight causes even more noise, then we’re doing more harm than good.”
He paused: “Let’s go. Don’t make the leader mad.”
“Then we’re off.”
With that, Origami Ayase was the first to turn around and head down the empty hallway.
“Alright,” Ji Minghuan replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
Turning to leave with the others, he let out a quiet sigh and thought:
Sis, this is as far as I can go for you. If they really decide to kill you two, then so be it—we part ways forever. Losing one main quest is better than losing a character.
“Oh yeah, Number 12,” Arlens caught up and slung an arm around his shoulders, “So you used to be part of the Reality-altering Esper Association?”
“Anyone who awakens a Tianqu gets invited by local authorities. They invited me too,” Ji Minghuan explained without hesitation. “I just got bored and left.”
“No wonder you came to us willingly. Guess you think life in the brigade is more exciting?” Arlens chuckled.
Ji Minghuan didn’t bother answering. He only said, “So, one week from now, we hit Tokyo’s underground auction, right?”
“That’s right. That’s when we strike,” Arlens said.
“No concrete plan?”
“The leader usually only tells us five minutes before we move.”
“No prep?”
“Anyone who can’t even handle that would’ve died ten thousand times in our squad,” Arlens smiled. “The leader’s really interested in your power. Stick with us and try to die slower. Don’t end up like the last Number 12.”
Ji Minghuan expressionlessly nodded.
He turned his head slightly and caught a glimpse of Ke Qirui and Su Zimai still standing in the office, thinking:
“So why are Ke Qirui and Su Zimai in Tokyo? Are they also getting involved in the auction? With my sister’s current strength, getting into a high-level op like this… even if I’m playing double agent in the brigade, there’s no way I can save her.”
The four of them reached the corner and entered a narrow, grimy corridor. Robert placed his right hand on the wall and opened a doorway. The group turned the knob and stepped through, vanishing without a trace.
At the same time, inside the abandoned office—
“Their presence just vanished?” Su Zimai frowned. She had been ready to draw her Tianqu the moment she sensed hostility, but unexpectedly, they just turned and left.
She turned to Ke Qirui and asked, “Leader, who were those people?”
“Seems like members of the White Crow Brigade…” Ke Qirui said in a low voice.
“Huh?”
“I’ve seen a photo of one of them. That little girl in a kimono is the eldest daughter of Japan’s Origami family. She later left her family after being invited by the White Crow Brigade’s leader and became one of them.”
“So just now… they were going to kill us?”
“Yeah. I don’t know why they didn’t.” Ke Qirui said, “Every member of the brigade is strong. If we weren’t prepared, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”
She thought for a moment: “Looks like the Japanese Reality-altering Esper Association’s worries were legit. The White Crow Brigade really is in Tokyo, and they’ve set their sights on the underground auction jointly held by the association and several Yakuza families.”
Su Zimai asked, “Are we still going to take that ‘protect the auction’ commission?”
“We’ve already come all this way. Would be a shame to turn back,” Ke Qirui rested her hand on her chin. “Let’s what happened to the association. Japan will probably ramp up the auction’s security.”
“Who could they even call?” Su Zimai sighed, holding her forehead. “Japan’s Exorcists and Espers are all weak as h*ll. There’s barely anyone worth a damn.”
“You’re not wrong, but the Japanese Association could always ask neighboring countries for help—have them send someone over.” Ke Qirui smiled.
Su Zimai frowned. “Like who?”
“Blue Arc.”
Ke Qirui softly uttered the name.