Now that Mahito had spoken of immortality so openly, their perspective shifted naturally, and they immediately thought of other aspects. Rather than simply using them as an energy source, if they could cultivate as many ability users as possible, they could reap more possibilities. Now that immortality existed, the possibilities would only grow as the number of Jujutsu Sorcerers increased in the future.
But Kinji Hakari, being a Jujutsu Sorcerer himself, felt a chill run down his spine as he listened.
It was as if they were discussing how to eat a pig; this group of people was merely discussing the possibilities of Jujutsu Sorcerers as much as possible. As for the personalities of the Jujutsu Sorcerers, they seemed not to care at all... No, it wasn't "seemed"; they truly didn't care.
As a superpower that held the world in its grasp through power and violence, they didn't have the slightest concern for the human rights of people in other lands, nor even for the livelihoods of the lower-class American public. Their high-flown talk centered entirely on furthering American hegemony and making their own lives better, and nothing more.
The President was more excited than anyone. After all, this was happening during his term; he felt he could achieve something on par with the Founding Fathers of the United States. Yet at least a shred of calm remained in his mind as he observed the expressions of the people sitting across from him...
Well, there wasn't much expression to see. Mahito and Kenjaku maintained their smiling faces, as if they hadn't heard this group discussing a hundred ways to cook Jujutsu Sorcerers at all. However, the two standing behind Mahito had different looks on their faces. The Cursed Spirit girl was expressionless, merely watching this farce quietly. Kinji Hakari's face looked like a demon's, but he held it in as much as possible, resulting in his entire face being contorted.
The President gave a start and shouted, "What are you doing? Do you expect me to personally order the kidnapping of Japanese citizens?!"
Kinji Hakari's expression indeed softened; ah, it seemed the President of a superpower still had a bit of a conscience.
Then he heard the President roar:
"What about the Japanese-Americans and public opinion at home? I have to be responsible to the voters of this country! If others find out that I personally ordered the kidnapping of Japanese superhumans, I can kiss my term goodbye!"
Kinji Hakari went numb.
The man in military uniform spread his hands. "I won't act without a direct order. We will only act out on precise orders."
The black man said calmly, "Kidnapping Japan's superhumans to serve as research samples for our country is a matter of whether the United States can continue to bear the great responsibility of being this planet's protector. Your Excellency, I believe you should be aware of the stakes involved."
The white-haired elder said solemnly, "This is a competition! A competition for resources! Cursed Energy is energy. Fossil fuels like oil and natural gas, and renewable energy like solar, wind, and geothermal—all of these can be replaced by it. This is the cleanest energy in human history!"
Fuck you, these people want me to take the fall!
The President was fuming and roared, "As the US President, I resolutely..."
The middle-aged white woman said impatiently, "What's with the orders? Just find a Judas to act on his own and kidnap the samples. Never mind if it's discovered; even if it is, we can just say he acted on his own. When public opinion boils over, let him sit inside for a few days, Your Excellency can sign a pardon, and then let him out. Why make it so solemn?"
The President's voice caught. He straightened his collar and whispered, "Let's do it that way."
'How damn magnificent,' Mahito thought.
The President spoke seriously:
"Your Excellency Mahito, we have other things to discuss... I'll be blunt. You just said that sorcerers are basically all Japanese, but there are still exceptions. Can we be that exception?"
Author's Note:
I'm very sorry; I really didn't expect one chapter to cause such a big reaction.
I originally wanted to write a formal meeting of non-realistic powers, from how to get America's attention to showing supernatural abilities by using Instant Movement to bring American bureaucrats to the same location during a remote video call, but the original work...
It's just very ridiculous that the President brought his staff to meet Kenjaku in person.
That included the Secretary of Energy, an Army General, the Director of Intelligence, and other important figures. Pretty ridiculous, right?
What's even more ridiculous is that if the America in the original work had even a slight resemblance to a real governing government, then things like Cursed Energy should have been well-known to the upper class long ago. But in the original work, they really knew nothing.
It's so absurd it makes one wonder what's going on.
The biggest mistake I made was that the America in the original work is too shameful, so I can only rely on the original work to expand my writing.
As for what I wrote in the previous chapter—the US experimenting on its own citizens without their knowledge, signing certificates at will, using agents to make life-threatening threats—this really isn't political commentary; these are real cases. You can find them by searching on Baidu. Because these things caused a huge reaction, they are easy to find.
False inferences of political reactions are commentary; I rarely do that. I just follow real cases directly.
I did it to speed up the plot and wrote it so the original work wouldn't feel so cramped, but I didn't expect it to have the opposite effect. Now I'm really down on my luck. (I originally wanted to write about the rise in rice prices in real-life Japan and the mess with the Agricultural Association, but now I really don't dare to write it; I've learned my lesson.)
Finally, these two chapters really can't be glossed over, because they involve a very important decision that allows Tengen to leave Japan without being killed. If this were glossed over, the transition when Tengen leaves later would be very jarring, to the point of causing considerable discomfort, like rubbing one's brain against sandpaper.
I won't do that.
Transition chapters may seem like filler, but they are actually quite important so that things don't happen abruptly. When looking back for foreshadowing and suddenly finding only a single sentence, it's hard to take. Sigh, failing to make it interesting and instead making it seem like political commentary, awkward, or filler is entirely my own problem. I'm sorry.
But I also promise that when similar topics are involved in the future, I will try to gloss over them and won't expand on them. Even if I have to write them, I'll go straight to the original work. Even if there are variables, I'll try to control the reactions based on the intelligence of the characters in the original work and reduce my own original content in this area.
Finally, I apologize again! I won't dare do this again!
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