Chapter 16: 𒉣𒆠 (NU.KI)

It was evening as the sun set on the same day P had escaped from her apartment.

Hanabi was sitting at her dining table for six, eating a bowl of noodles she had cooked.

She held her chopsticks in one hand while holding her phone in her right, currently on a video call with Yuki.

"So he ran away, huh?" Yuki said through the screen.

"Yes, he just disappeared into thin air," Hanabi said, feeling a little bit down.

"I knew that sly fox would just run off, even after promising you," Yuki scoffed.

"Well, he might have his own reasons, and maybe something might have made him move," Hanabi reasoned.

"Yeah, right." Yuki rolled her eyes.

"I think the bill Mio put on him must have been too much, and that's what made him run away.

He seemed completely dazed when he heard the amount. Isn't that some people's entire monthly salary?!" Hanabi said.

She gobbled up some more noodles while talking to Yuki, who just let out a loud yawn on the other side of the line.

Hanabi swallowed the noodles and lowered her voice. "Don't let Mio know about this. Only God knows what she might do if she finds out."

"Fine, I won't. You're still way too protective of him after what he did. He just left you completely blank. I wonder what he's even up to right now," Yuki said, sounding curiously annoyed.

"Hmmm..."

Hanabi lost her gaze on the plate of noodles. Her left arm rested on the edge of the table, loosely holding the chopsticks.

P... Hanabi meditated subconsciously. The vivid memory of an entire survival axe piece stuck directly into his back flashed through her mind.

"I wonder how you're doing," Hanabi muttered softly.

On that same day, in the morning:

Hmmmph! Hmmmph!

Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!

P was struggling, hurriedly climbing over the high cement fence at the backyard that surrounded Hanabi's compound to reach the outside world.

Hurmph! Hergh!

He successfully pulled his upper body upward with both arms, his muscles straining.

Herrgh! Hargh!

He immediately tilted his body to the right and quickly sat on top of the fence.

He turned his body while sitting backward to face the outside world. Directly below him was a busy pedestrian walkway close to the fence.

Passersby who were walking to and fro immediately stopped, watching in absolute awe as a chocolate-skinned man with no shirt and bare feet came climbing out of the compound.

Huff! Huff!

P jumped straight down from the fence, landing heavily on the walkway directly beside two middle-aged business ladies.

They violently flinched at his sudden landing.

As P stood there shirtless on their left-hand side, they couldn't help but stare at his heavily muscular, tanned body.

"Oh my..." one of the business ladies gasped.

She and her colleague instantly blushed, hurriedly walking away from P.

P casually looked down, turning his head to watch them as they moved away to his front-left.

Huff...

P breathed heavily, looking out at the incredibly busy road.

People passing by kept gazing at him, some chuckling to themselves or nudging a colleague, while others murmured under their breath.

"Where do I go from here?" P questioned himself.

He gazed across the street to the opposite pedestrian walkway in the middle of the busy, modern city.

Tmph! Tmph! Tmph! Tmph!

He walked barefoot over to the zebra crossing where a crowd of people had gathered on his left.

He stood there looking up at the traffic light, which was currently glowing yellow.

A few folks nearby seemed highly intimidated by his massive stature, especially since his bare back was covered in fresh medical stitches.

As he was looking up, he felt something poking his abs.

He glanced down to his right side and saw a little Japanese boy. The kid was holding his mother's hand with his right hand, looking straight up at P with his mouth wide open.

P looked down at him, offered a calm smile, and nodded his head up shortly, signaling a quiet "Hey" to the child.

The little boy looked up at P. From his perspective, P's head completely blocked the sun, leaving only glimmers of bright light shining from behind his hair like a silhouette.

The traffic light immediately shone green.

As the kid was being walked away by his mother, he suddenly glinted his eyes, raised his left hand, and stuck up his index finger, saying:

fuck-you.

"Hmph." P smirked at the kid from behind as he proceeded to cross the road toward the opposite walkway.

Stores lined up the right side of the street, with endless shops mirroring them on the opposite side.

P walked barefoot along the walkway close to the road, looking up at the store signs for clothing.

Endless gazes and heavy murmurs were bashed on him, making him feel the awkwardness a bit.

"Thief... anybody help... thief!" shouted an old lady's voice.

It was faint, so faint that most people on the street barely heard it.

But P noticed the voice instantly. It seemed to come from a dark porch area just ahead of him on his right.

He walked towards the porch and turned inside, looking straight into the dark corner.

Two passersby wide-eyed as they caught a glimpse of P's stitched back, then hurriedly walked past him.

Inside the alley, an old Japanese lady was pinned against the wall by a thief.

The thief had his right arm pressed hard against her neck, holding her against the concrete while his left hand was raised, pointing aggressively down at her head.

He had a colleague standing on his left side, holding a sharp knife.

"Shut up, old lady! Give me all your money... if you don't want to die!" the thief threatened meanly.

"Dude, what the fuck are you doing? She's holding a purse, just take it!" his colleague snapped.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, huh?! I listen to nobody!" the thief bitterly warned his partner.

"....Oh God," the colleague muttered, rolling his head and eyes in pure frustration followed by a loud sigh.

"Hey, you," a voice shouted from the entrance.

Both thieves and the old lady immediately turned their heads toward their right.

They saw the massive stature of a man standing in the dark, while the bright morning light shone brightly from behind the entrance of the porch.

Both thieves looked at each other, then back at the man.

"Who the fuck are you?!" shouted the thief who had the granny pinned to the wall.

"I need the both of you to let the old lady go," the man said.

He walked closer to them, finally revealing his identity. It was P.

"A Nigga...." both thieves muttered in complete disbelief.

"Seriously, out of all the people you could rob, you pick an old lady? Have you no shame at all?" P said, sounding highly annoyed.

"Who the fu—"

The thief was unable to complete his sentence.

P immediately slammed his body forward, pushing him backward against the wall.

The colleague instantly charged with his knife, but P shielded the old lady with his right hand placed firmly on the wall to his right, using his free leg to drive a powerful kick straight into the colleague's stomach.

Hurhg! Haaagh!

The first thief struggled to gain his balance off the wall, while his colleague grunted loudly on the ground, holding his stomach.

"Thank you, child," the old lady said quickly, making her escape out of the alley while tightly clutching her purse.

The thief P had pushed away to his left immediately rushed back, lunging his left hand forward with the knife to stab P.

Simultaneously, the colleague charged back at him.

P easily saw through the attack.

He weaved his body to the side, grabbed the first thief's left hand, and violently pulled him forward to block the colleague's path.

Before they could recover, P delivered a devastating uppercut straight to the thief's chin, followed by a hard stomp to his chest that sent him flying backward.

P let out a sharp grunt of pain from the sudden movement, his stitches straining.

The colleague turned his head, watching his teammate crash hard onto the ground behind him, groaning and clutching his chest.

As he turned his head back around, P was already there.

P grabbed his left hand, pulled and spun him around, then quickly grabbed his shoulders—forcefully launching himself up into the air to drive his right knee directly into the thief's back.

Arhhhhhg!!!

The thief screamed in pure agony, completely losing his grip on the knife as it clattered to the ground.

P kicked him aside, sending him falling painfully to the ground right next to the other thief.

P walked up and stood directly over them, his massive shadow completely covering them on the concrete.

When both thieves looked up from the ground and clearly gazed at P's stature, they immediately realized this man was an absolute monster to beat.

"What's your problem, man.... we were only doing our jobs, we didn't mean to harm anyone!" the thief said, frantically raising his right hand to tell P to stay away while leaning his left hand on the ground in pure fright.

"This is all your fault! If you just took the purse, he wouldn't have stepped in!" the colleague whined.

P intensely gazed down at them seriously, his shadow darkening over them before his eyes suddenly glowed a dangerous red.

BADUM! BADUM! BADUM!

Both thieves' hearts beat fast.

We're gonna die... they both thought subconsciously, terrified.

Suddenly, the red glow vanished, and everything returned to normal.

"I'm not actually against the notion of robbing," P said, trying to clear up a misunderstanding.

"Whaaaat?!" both thieves exclaimed in total shock.

"Then why did you stop us from our work?!" the colleague asked, completely baffled.

"That's because she's an old lady. You can rob anyone else, but don't ever rob old people.

They are very tired, helpless, and might be very low on money sometimes. You should actually rob more mature people or big men. Don't you want to hit gold someday?" P suggested like a helpful lecturer.

Both thieves looked at each other, their faces practically saying: it-could-be-true.

They gazed back up at him. "Who the hell are you...?" they questioned, confused and amazed by P at the exact same time.

"It doesn't matter. Now, you!" P commanded, pointing the stolen knife down at the colleague.

"!...M...Me?!" the colleague stammered, placing his left hand on his chest under pressure.

"Yeah, you....... are you deaf? Take off your clothes and your shoes right now," P instructed.

"But si—"

"Are you mad?! Take off your clothes!" P shouted, annoyed.

The colleague immediately jumped up, frantically stripping off his clothes.

"And give me your phone and all your money...." P demanded.

He turned, pointing the knife at the other thief on the ground who was shivering in fright.

"That includes you, too. Give me all your money and your phone. If you don't want to die."

The thief looked up at P in utter confusion as everything darkened around them.

STEP... STEP... STEP...

P walked out of the porch with a brand-new outfit.

He was now wearing a crisp white shirt beneath a black Lakers jacket, paired with black trousers and fresh black Nike shoes.

He also wore a black front cap with the Nike check sign clearly branded on it.

"Hmph," P smiled, positioning the hat on his head to slightly cover his face.

He walked away from the porch.

Behind him, the two thieves were left half-naked in the dark alley with absolutely no money and no phones, looking completely dry.

It felt like a brand-new day.

As P was walking along the walkway, he suddenly felt a strange sensation, like he was being watched.

He immediately turned his head and scanned the other side of the road.

He noticed a man across the street who quickly turned his head away, pretending to look at the store windows.

But there was no fooling P.

P's gaze locked in deadly serious.

He turned his head back forward and continued walking calmly straight.

He knew the man was spying on him, but P had his own plans. He planned to deal with him after doing exactly what he came to do.

P walked forward for about 17 minutes until he spotted a massive police station up ahead.

He checked the other side of the road again, but the man following him was completely gone.

"Tsk, bastard.." P muttered, annoyed.

He stared at the police station across the street for a moment.

He looked to his upper right, and his eyes widened. It was an internet cafe.

He quickly walked inside.

Bling!

The bell rang as he pushed the door open.

The cafe was a clean mixture of a library and rows of laptops and PCs.

The eyes of the woman at the registration desk seemed to notice him as he entered.

He walked deep into the library section, hoping to find a private PC, which he finally located at the very back end of the cafe.

He sat down, placed his newly acquired phones on the table, and proceeded to boot up the system.

The moment the computer turned on, he moved the mouse, controlling the arrow on the screen to click on Chrome.

Then, he typed an unknown word into the search bar:

𒆳 𒆕.TU (Kur Du₃.TU)

TL/N: An ancient language.

The system immediately began to violently glitch.

It overrode the browser, displaying an empty box for a password while the screen flickered aggressively.

A time limit of 5 seconds began counting down.

P cracked his neck to his right, then to his left, before typing the password into the box:

𒉣𒆠 (NU.KI)

The exact second he pressed the enter key using the mouse, the Microsoft operating system was completely overridden.

An unknown, highly advanced program written in different ancient languages started loading rapidly across the screen.

The vibrant green and blue matrix colors reflected across P's face, who watched the monitor with a serious, nonchalant expression.

He then proceeded to start programming:

> Target:

> Shinjuku Central Police Bureau

> 3-18-12 Nishi-Shinjuku

> Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0023

> Accessing:

> TSG (Tokyo Secure Grid)

> Processing: Forceful Server Override...

> Status: CONNECTED...

>

Meanwhile, inside the police station:

The officers were in absolute chaos as serious emergency alarms began to sound.

"Our system has been breached! We can't gain access to anything!" cybersecurity officer one exclaimed frantically.

"Those damn hackers... let me try logging in with my personal laptop," another cybersecurity officer snapped.

He quickly tried to search for the main system, but the screen only flashed back a single error message: #System-#Does-#Not-#Exist#.

"What the fu— let me try again!" the officer growled, annoyed, as the entire station tried to get a hold of the situation.

He kept trying to force his way into the server, refusing to give up as he attempted his fifth login.

But then, his laptop forcefully glitched.

BZZZZT! BZZT!

BOOM!

"Aaaaaaah...!"

The officer screamed in pure agony.

The laptop had completely blown up, burning his hands terribly while broken shards of the glass screen pierced his face and parts of his body.

"Sato! What the hell?!" cybersecurity officer one shouted, rushing over to his heavily bleeding colleague.

The Inspector stood there, watching the bloody chaos unfold.

"Who in the world could possibly be capable of doing this...?" the Inspector questioned, sweat dropping from his face.

### Back at the cafe:

P sat calmly as his system slowly began to heat up from the massive data transfer.

Having fully gained total access to the police department's secure server and network, he pr

oceeded to type a single name into the master database.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.

H A . . . . . N A . . . . . B I

"TSK," P muttered, his eyes narrowing as the screen began to search.