Finally, after what felt like an eternity of flying, Shin descended, bringing Sakamoto Kenji with him. He unceremoniously dropped Kenji to the ground and began his interrogation.
Shin gave him a light kick. "We're here. Wake up!"
In truth, Kenji hadn't been asleep at all; he wasn't even pretending. Thanks to Yoshida Haru's treatment, his injuries had mostly healed, and he didn't need the rest.
He flipped to his feet in a single motion. "Our offense was a mistake, sir. Do what you will with me. Kill me or let me go—it's your call."
Kenji already suspected that Shin had no intention of killing him. If he had, he would have finished both him and Haru on the spot. If that had been the case, there would have been no opportunity to resist or even try to bargain.
Moreover, Shin's current attitude seemed surprisingly neutral, not hostile...
Kenji realized their goals probably didn't even conflict. Even if he failed his side mission, there was no penalty. If he could trade something for a bit of goodwill—or even gain something valuable from this man—it might be well worth it.
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Shin studied his expression. "You seem to have figured a few things out. Are you proposing a deal?"
Kenji nodded. "You're not from this world, are you? I know you have access to incredible things, and you have your own objectives, just as we have ours. I only acted against you because I was afraid you'd interfere with our mission."
Shin, however, was unaware that Kenji's side mission was to kill him. He simply assumed that Kenji's team, like his own, had received intel on the opposing party and, seeing his overwhelming power, decided to eliminate him as a precaution. It didn't make perfect sense—seasoned Reincarnators like them shouldn't have been so quick to provoke a powerful unknown, drastically increasing the difficulty of their own mission—but picking apart their logic wasn't his priority.
Right now, he needed to get some information, or at least a promise, from them.
Shin decided to start by shaking him a little, letting him know that he wasn't completely in the dark about their situation.
"You're Reincarnators from the Lord God Space, aren't you?" Shin asked him directly.
The moment the words left his mouth, a tremor ran through Kenji's body. He gave a stiff, almost imperceptible nod.
Seeing his reaction, Shin smiled. "No need to be so terrified. I know all about it. You don't have to worry about being 'erased' or whatever."
Kenji swallowed hard. "How... how do you know about that?"
"I killed a guy a while back," Shin said casually. "Found his diary. Seems this 'Lord God' of yours is supposed to be Omnipotent, right?"
Another stiff nod from Kenji. "But... the diary should have been retrieved by the system. How was it left behind?"
A thoughtful, almost dangerous look crossed Shin's face. "Because we used a Time Machine... Just before he died, I took him to the past. It seems the Lord God's reach doesn't extend there."
Kenji's mind raced, piecing together a grand, dramatic narrative:
—A Reincarnator came to this world on a mission but had the misfortune of running into the killer standing before him.
—This man not only killed the Reincarnator but also used a loophole—a time machine—to prevent the Lord God from tracking the events. That made him the only person in this world who knew about the Lord God Space but remained beyond its grasp.
—To prevent this from happening again, the Lord God sent another team—his team—to solve the "Shin" problem.
—But then, against all odds, this god-killer returned from the past to the present timeline. The Lord God decided to kill two birds with one stone, making one team do the work of two to save the trouble of sending another.
He never expected this man to be so absurdly powerful, far beyond what his team could handle. Even after they gave Super Perfect Cell a heads-up, it made no difference. Yoshida Haru had even arrived early, using an item to get here ahead of time and gain Cell's trust, trying to guide his actions.
But in the end, it was useless. Cell still died...
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Seeing Kenji's silence, Shin knew his little story had hit its mark. It was a shocking tale, after all. He briefly wondered if telling them he was a transmigrator would have been even more mind-blowing.
He continued with a friendly smile, "You guys looking for another teammate? Count me in. I get the feeling I can't quite control my own fate in this world."
Kenji was about to nod, but he hesitated, thinking hard. It would cost 3,000 points to bring someone from a mission world into their ranks.
Was Shin worth that price?
Of course, he knew that Shin's power far exceeded that value. But adding a team member from the Lord God Space was always more cost-effective. And this man, Shin, who could kill a Reincarnator without even knowing the rules... his mentality had to be incredibly strong.
He didn't know how to answer. Even if they brought Shin into the Lord God Space, there was no guarantee he'd stick with their team. If another team poached him, they would have taken a massive loss.
Kenji was torn. Adding Shin's power would be a game-changer; it could double their team's overall combat effectiveness. Right now, their entire team was built around a single core member, Domon Kyouji.
With Shin, they would have an even stronger core, or maybe even a dual-core system.
But just as he was wrestling with the decision, a voice echoed in his mind: "Main quest completed. Returning to base. Countdown: Three, two, one!"
"No time to explain!" Kenji yelled, ripping a watch from his right wrist and throwing it to Shin.
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