Footsteps Deepen · Immortal Crane

Professor, Liu Qi, Elizabeth, and Bai Cangshu sat aboard a train bound for Kyoto. After the previous events, they had more or less reached a consensus.

Professor had originally planned to take the Stone Hashira and Flower Hashira to kill the government troops and officials coming to search for the Blue Spider Lily near Tanjiro’s home. That would both earn them reputation and prevent the hostile faction from helping Kibutsuji Muzan complete himself.

But Bai Cangshu vetoed that plan and proposed an even more "vicious" one.

The Kakushi accompanying the Demon Slayer Corps helped Tanjiro’s family and the nearby mountain households relocate. After Bai Cangshu’s group used advanced modern weapons to rout the arriving government forces, they directly set the entire mountain forest ablaze.

Aside from several Blue Spider Lilies they had collected in advance, everything was reduced to ashes.

Although Kocho Kanae opposed the plan, Himejima Gyomei contacted the Master through a Kasugai Crow, and the Master approved it.

In truth, only such a plan could ensure that Kibutsuji Muzan would not obtain the Blue Spider Lily anytime soon. But since Kibutsuji Muzan already knew that the Blue Spider Lily only bloomed during the day—

Then obtaining it was, in theory, only a matter of time.

Ubuyashiki Kagaya understood this principle, so he would not consider Bai Cangshu’s plan vicious. He would only worry that it had not been thorough enough.

"Since the few of us have already confirmed the upcoming Main Mission, and since we’re all newcomers, it’s unlikely that any of us have something like a Scapegoat Doll. From here on, our actions can only end one way: either we succeed, or we… die."

Professor looked at the others as she spoke.

"I think we need to share more of our information with one another so we can better arrange our operations afterward. If we run into a powerful enemy like an Upper Rank, I’m afraid we’ll all be in danger fighting alone."

Professor put it tactfully. In her judgment, aside from "Mercenary Tao," who might be capable of defeating some Upper Ranks, the others would almost certainly be killed by one.

The Upper Rank Demon Moons were worlds apart from the Lower Ranks. Even with their intelligence advantage, knowledge of the enemy’s Blood Demon Arts, and advanced firearms, paper-tier Reincarnators like them still could not bridge the inherent gap in strength.

Speed, power, regenerative ability, room for error—in every regard, the Upper Rank Demon Moons held an overwhelming advantage.

Elizabeth and Liu Qi understood what Professor meant and raised no objections.

Elizabeth, who had always seemed difficult to approach, was the first to speak.

"Vincent and I are members of a team under the Salted Fish Subordinates, a loose gathering. Since it’s a loose gathering, it doesn’t have much resource support. We’re basically just paper-tier Reincarnators who can use the team function to undertake missions."

"That special gathering where even the president supposedly vanished?" Professor seemed to have heard of that rather slapdash-sounding group name as well.

Elizabeth nodded and continued.

"My highest attribute is Mental Power, twelve points. Within a range of ten meters, I can communicate through Mental Power. And then…"

Elizabeth glanced at Bai Cangshu. In the end, she sighed and said, "I possess an incomplete high-level ability, Heart Mastery. I can crush an opponent’s heart, but because my Mental Power attribute isn’t high enough, I can only use it when I can see the enemy’s heart…"

Her voice grew softer toward the end. This imposing woman, nearly 1.8 meters tall, seemed somewhat embarrassed by the limitations of her ability.

Professor nodded without saying anything, and Liu Qi naturally began his own introduction.

Only Bai Cangshu watched Elizabeth with an inexplicable smile, making her subconsciously avert her gaze.

Bai Cangshu clicked his tongue inwardly. Sure enough, this was what Reincarnators were—a pitiful bunch who could never feel secure.

He was certain that Elizabeth’s ability was absolutely not merely the so-called Heart Mastery she described. Simply crushing a heart could never instantly kill a Lower Rank.

But that was how Reincarnators were. Even when cooperating and sharing intelligence, they would selectively conceal things.

Such incomplete information would become the trigger for a total wipeout when they encountered a powerful enemy.

Yet Bai Cangshu could not fault such behavior. After all, even he would not honestly reveal the foundations of his own abilities.

This kind of loose team cooperation was utterly boring to him.

Bai Cangshu suddenly pushed open the window on the side of the carriage, and the night wind immediately rushed in.

Everyone else was startled.

Liu Qi was still instinctively listing his abilities.

"I am Liu Qi. My highest stat is Strength, thirteen points. I specialize in close combat, with a specialization level of Lv5. The specialization path I chose is enhanced slashing…"

Bai Cangshu stepped onto the table before him. Amid the startled cries of the surrounding passengers, he launched himself out of the carriage. The corner of his mouth curled upward. This Liu Qi was so honest that it was almost amusing.

Bai Cangshu gripped the metal edge at the top of the carriage exterior with both hands and pushed hard, flipping himself onto the roof in a counterintuitive motion.

He waved down at them.

"You can play this boring little team game yourselves. I’ll handle the target on my own."

Seeing Bai Cangshu act this way, Professor sighed. There was nothing she could do.

Yet inwardly, she felt faintly relieved. Whenever she acted alongside Bai Cangshu, she always felt completely suppressed by him, to the point that she constantly felt less confident.

Besides, perhaps splitting up was the most efficient way for their side’s Reincarnators to complete the Main Mission.

To reverse the balance of power between the two sides, they needed not only to kill as many of the hostile faction’s powerful political supporters as possible, but also to find assistance for the Demon Slayer Corps faction.

Professor’s eyes lit up. She suddenly realized that in some respects, even that "Mercenary Tao" was utterly incomparable to her.

Bai Cangshu sat atop the carriage. Trains in this era of Japan did not pass through tunnels. Sitting atop the train, feeling the wind howling through the mountains and wilderness, he still struggled to maintain his Hamon through his nose and mouth. The injury on his right hand was now nearly healed.

Scarlet light appeared in Bai Cangshu’s hand, and he immediately crushed it.

You have activated the Scarlet Drop Card

Opening drop...

Calculating target kill points. Target kill points: 4. Rewards slightly increased.

Calculating your kill points...

Ex051 was found to possess 2 Karma Points. You will receive 1 additional reward selection.

Calculation complete. This time, you may choose 2 of the following rewards.

A: 30% of their Dimensional Points

B: 2 items from their backpack

C: Gain an additional 10% of their primary attribute as an increase to your own attributes

D: Randomly draw 1 specialty, retaining up to Lv3

E: Randomly obtain 1 ability, which can only be retained at Lv1

Bai Cangshu noticed that the values for this activation were somewhat watered down compared to Evans’s Drop Card.

The biggest difference was probably that when he killed Evans, he had directly gained 1 point of Agility, whereas this time, he had not.

In other words, the Space fundamentally did not want reincarnators slaughtering one another in this kind of cooperative mission world. Because of the special nature of being a Sin Karma Reincarnator, he had obtained a certain degree of "override authority," granting him the special ability to potentially produce Scarlet Drop Cards in such mission worlds.

"Choose C and D."

You selected C: Attribute Extraction. Extraction will now begin.

Your Agility has increased by an additional 1 point.

You selected D: Specialty Draw. Drawing will now begin.

Drawing...

You obtained Basic Footwork Specialization. It has been detected that you already possess this specialization. Your specialization level has increased slightly.

Basic Footwork Specialization has increased. Current level: Lv5.

You may choose one advancement path. (Note: Advancement paths may be selected at Lv4, Lv7, and Lv10. If a reincarnator already possessed a specialization at that level before entering the Space, they may choose at the next level.)

A: Spirit cat. Your footsteps are as light as feathers, producing almost no sound as you walk.

B: Immortal Crane. Your steps are light and agile, increasing your jumping height and airtime.