Makoto definitely could not be considered a good person. Even from certain perspectives, what Yukino had said was correct… this person was truly rotten to the core.
But people are multifaceted.
While Makoto was indeed quite evil, that didn't prevent him from also wanting to do what he could within his power after obtaining power.
For example, he felt disgusted by certain capitalists and bastards who, despite having excellent conditions, were always coveting the meager possessions of ordinary people.
During the great earthquake in his previous life, Makoto was also one of the affected people.
Fortunately, the area he was in wasn't the hardest hit. Aside from a few frightening-looking cracks in the walls of his home, it was still habitable overall.
But countless other victims lost not only their physical homes but their true homes… their families.
In comparison, Makoto was fortunate.
However, over a decade later, Makoto learned that fundraising activities had been held all over the country at that time.
Makoto and countless other survivors of that disaster were dumbfounded… what donations?
They, the vast majority, hadn't received a single cent.
So where did the money go?
Well, it went to buy earrings.
When Makoto found out about this back then, he wanted nothing more than to kill every single corrupt rat in the world.
Unfortunately, in his previous life, he was just a miserable writer. There was nothing he could do.
But in this life, he had the chance to change everything.
Naturally, he wanted to fulfill the regrets of his past life.
So, after this epoch-making speech, Makoto didn't rest.
Those capitalists who were unwilling to come to Nishikawa Nation and sign a contract with Nayuta… kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!
Escape?
Find them!
Seize all their industries, incorporate them into the Nishikawa Nation's treasury, distribute them to the poor, and issue a global warrant!
Execute them by slow slicing in front of the whole world!
However, for these irredeemable beasts, taking their money and their power was worse than taking their lives.
Even when driven to a dead end by the army led by Yu, they still tried every means to retain their status as 'Celestial Dragons'.
"I-Ishigami-sama, please, please spare us. Look, isn't my daughter pretty? I, I am willing to offer her to you!"
Saying this, the old man, dragging a young woman who looked about 18, just of age, but for some reason resembled a mouse, kept pushing her towards Yu.
The woman also put on a pitifully seductive expression, leaning towards Yu, occasionally turning her face to show off her proud earrings.
The earrings refracted a blinding light in the sun. The emeralds were of excellent quality, each one worth a fortune.
The woman's ears were covered in such pendants, weighing them down heavily, as if silently flaunting every penny the family had taken from the disaster victims.
The old man's face was plastered with a fawning smile. The smile twisted and squeezed his features, making him look exactly like a mouse.
His eyes darted around, sizing up Yu, as if calculating how much bargaining power his daughter's 'value' could buy.
"My daughter just came of age, Ishigami-sama. Look at this skin, this figure..." The old man's voice was shrill and rapid, like the rustling of a rat in the dark. "As long as you are merciful, she is yours. You can do whatever you want with her..."
The young woman also pressed her body against him. The coquettish shyness she feigned was a perfect mockery of the heavy emerald earrings dangling from her lobes.
There was no trace of shame in the smile curling at the corner of her mouth, only naked transaction and calculation, carrying the peculiar cunning and greed of a rat.
"Our family still has a lot of money, so, so much money," The woman's voice was seductively sweet. "Ishigami-sama, we'll give you anything you want..."
However—
Bang!
The only response was a single bullet from Yu!
The bullet pierced through the old man's face, frozen in its fawning, rat-like expression. A cloud of blood mist exploded in mid-air. The face didn't even have time to register terror, still frozen in that nauseatingly obsequious pose.
"Get lost! Don't let your stench get on me."
The woman screamed and collapsed to the ground. The emerald earrings tore from her earlobes, rolling across the ground with a crisp, piercing clatter.
"In the world ruled by Makoto-senpai, there is no place for you parasites!"
That afternoon, Yu returned to Nishikawa Nation.
He hung the family's bodies on the streetlights lining the road in Nishikawa Nation.
This was also the order of their revered Great Leader, Nishikawa Makoto—
Any wealthy or powerful person who fled or refused to submit would be hung from streetlights for the people of the world to behold.
"Wahhh... Mercy, mercy..."
The old man hanging from the streetlight, his face covered in blood, begged for mercy.
"Not killing him?" Beam walked up and asked.
"Makoto-senpai said to make them suffer more," Yu responded calmly, then said somewhat proudly, "How many did you kill today? I only got 200."
Beam cracked his neck and pouted, "Damn, isn't it just because you have the Gun Devil's ability? If my ability was that strong, I'd definitely catch more than you."
Just then, the old man hanging from the streetlight, his face already festering from the bullet wound, suddenly roared: "W-What did I do wrong? I just wanted to buy earrings for my daughter! What did I do wrong?!"
The sudden outburst startled the watching crowd.
Yu, who had been competing with Beam, also glanced over.
'This old man's face had been blown open and he still had the strength to yell?!'
The 'Earring Woman' hanging from the adjacent streetlight also began to swell rapidly. Visible black body hair sprouted on her. Her expression contorted as she screamed: "Why! Why are you doing this to us? That money was our family's money! Why should those peasants be allowed to have it? If they died, that's their own problem! It's all your fault! If it weren't for you, our family wouldn't have ended up like this! Waaaaaah!"
Her voice was sharp and piercing, like the squeal of a rat with its tail caught. Her face distorted, cheekbones jutting out, front teeth protruding, nose shrinking into a small lump of flesh… that face no longer looked human. Or rather, it had finally become what it was always meant to be.
The frantic shouts transformed into a wind pressure that spread outwards.
It knocked the surrounding spectators to the ground, even blowing some away.
Crack!
The entire streetlight collapsed.
Where the father and daughter had been… two giant rats now stood!
No, rather, they had finally revealed their true forms.
The old man had turned into a dwarf rat, his back hunched, his fur grey and filthy. His front paws were laughably short, yet they clutched tightly onto a wallet he hadn't had time to hide.
His rat eyes were murky and terrified, darting around as if still searching for the next corner to exploit.
The daughter, originally slender, had transformed into a larger rat instead. Her fat, bloated body was covered in clinking, clattering jewelry, refracting a greedy light in the moonlight.
The massive emerald earrings hanging from her ears were exceptionally conspicuous, weighing down those rat ears, stretching the lobes long until they looked ready to tear.
"Dad, Dad, I want money! I want lots and lots of money!" The daughter rat shrieked. Her voice held no remorse, only deeper desire fermenting.
The dwarf rat father nodded frantically, squeezing out a nauseating smile on his rat face: "No problem, sweetheart! Dad will definitely embezzle... oh no, earn you more money!"
Bang!
Another gunshot.
The dwarf rat father was blown directly into blood mist.
"You killed my father!?" The earring rat woman roared, her fanged mouth wide open.
Yu's expression was blank. "I heard before that the Crab Monster who was released by Makoto-senpai turned into that because he ate too many crabs. I thought that guy was lying. Seems like turning into a monster for such absurd reasons really can happen."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the jewelry covering the fat rat's body, over the luxury goods bought with the blood money seized from countless disaster victims. A cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"No, wrong. The Crab Monster, at least, it was because he ate… you, this, is because of greed."
"Raaaaaaagh!"
The earring rat woman screamed again. She tore the emerald earrings from her ears and threw them like a splash of green gemstones at Yu.
But before Yu could move, Beam had already transformed into a shark, weaving between the ground and the gems, and bit off the earring rat woman's head in one go.
Blood sprayed from the headless rat body, splattering onto the jewels scattered on the ground, dyeing the emeralds and diamonds crimson.
The bloated rat carcass twitched a few times under the streetlight before finally collapsing to the ground.
The jewelry rolled off its body, clattering and scattering across the floor, refracting blinding light under the sun… a light within which one could almost see countless despairing eyes.
Yu watched the headless rat body spewing blood and squinted. "I'll have to report this to Makoto-senpai later."
He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the crowd.
Those faces held fear, satisfaction, tears, and smiles.
Behind him, the headless rat corpse swayed slightly on the streetlight. Together with its father's blood mist, it became the most striking landmark on this street, warning all the greedy, embezzling rats: there is no place for you here.