The atmosphere in the living room fell into a brief standoff.

Emily stared at the young mistress of the Phoenix Academy, finding nothing suspicious.

She had somewhat underestimated Phoenix Academy Maggie. Realizing that continuing to question her would yield no answers, Emily simply stood up and said, "You have a point. We should be leaving."

"Don't rush, have dinner before you go."

Phoenix Academy Maggie displayed a smile and cordially urged them to stay.

Emily shook her head. "Staying too long here would be bad for your reputation. Goodbye."

Aozawa, hovering in the air, was somewhat surprised.

Is that it?

In his mind, the conversation would likely be long, with both sides testing each other. He hadn't expected the questioning to end after just a few sentences.

Quick and clean.

He grumbled inwardly. He didn't linger in the living room.

There was no longer a need to pay attention to Phoenix Academy Maggie's side; what mattered next was whether the task force believed her or not.

Aozawa floated in the air like a ghost, following the three of them until they reached the parking lot.

He squeezed himself into the car, cramming into the back seat next to the tall Katerina.

Of course, he couldn't really ride.

In his Schrodinger's Cat non-existent state, he was intangible, and the starting car would simply pass through him.

Aozawa needed to keep himself in sync with the car at all times.

He had thought it would be an easy task. But once the car actually started moving, he found that constantly keeping his thoughts in sync with the car was even more difficult than running to those places in Kyoto.

Additionally, he needed to listen in on Emily and her team's conversation in the car.

The Honda left the Phoenix Academy residence.

Morimoto Chiyoda asked while driving, "I think that girl is sharper than expected. Her words might not be trustworthy."

"Morimoto, I believe a smart person wouldn't talk recklessly."

Emily sighed. "This trip was in vain; we got no useful information."

"You can't say that. At the very least, the possibility that Dio is acquiring information through his superpower has increased," replied Morimoto Chiyoda.

Emily stretched and said, "Previously, I would definitely have ribbed you about what you were thinking. Now, I can't dismiss the possibility you presented. The Yasuda Family is in the same situation. Everyone has been questioned, and we've interrogated all those who could have potentially leaked information, confirming there were no leaks. Yet Dio still knew exactly where Yasuda Masao's bedroom was. Does his superpower of collecting information have any conditions? If so, what are they?"

As she spoke, Emily rubbed her temples and complained, "Being enemies with Superpower Users is tricky. Their abilities that go beyond scientific explanation are a thorny problem and completely unpredictable."

In her eyes, among the superpowers Dio was known to have, the easiest to deal with was the intangible attack.

As long as one stood outside the range of the attack, it was fine.

The other abilities were very troublesome.

Especially, the superpower to appear anywhere at will made the so-called tight security a complete joke.

Coupled with the unconditional ability to obtain all kinds of information, it was completely unstoppable.

At least Emily racked her brains and couldn't think of how to deal with such a twisted Superpower User.

"What's our next move? Should we keep checking on those charlatans?"

"This is the only way to see if we can find a second Superpower User to counter Dio."

Emily showed a troubled expression and said, "Eh, no wonder there were no rumors about Superpower Users before. They're really hard to find when they want to stay hidden."

"Yeah," Morimoto Chiyoda agreed offhandedly.

Every time the task force thought they had grabbed the tail of a clue, when they actually began to search, they found false leads again.

However, this time she might have truly grabbed onto Dio's tail, yet she hoped it was just her overthinking.

…

As the task force's questioning involved the Phoenix Academy, upon returning to Hisamatsu Apartment, Emily immediately organized the conversation into a report, explained her reasoning, and submitted it to her superiors.

After reading the report, the Police Director handed it to the Minister of State, who then passed it to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, in turn, informed the Family Heads of the six major financial groups, letting them know the results of the investigation.

The six gathered at the top of the Iwasaki Group building, around a round table with the report of Emily's visit to the Phoenix Academy laid out.

It detailed the conversation and Emily's exclusion of Phoenix Academy Maggie from suspicion, and it speculated that Dio had a superpower for gathering information, using the Yasuda Family as an example.

After reading the task force report in detail, Iwasaki Yizo felt a tinge of regret and sighed, "Their conclusion is that she's not a suspect. It seems there's no need to investigate the Phoenix Academy."

"It's only natural that she's not under suspicion," Mitsui Takashi said in a low voice. He had a gaunt face and an emaciated figure; his arms were wrinkled like drying branches. "After all, the Phoenix Academy is one of us."

"That's right, Kochou has no reason to do such a thing to us," Sumitomo Taisei added.

When the task force requested to investigate the Phoenix Academy, a flicker of doubt did cross the minds of the six.

After all, out of the seven, it was only Phoenix Academy Maggie who was unharmed.

But such doubt ultimately had no foundation.

They could not comprehend what benefit the Phoenix Academy could possibly gain from this incident.

Moreover, such methods violated the unwritten rules of the business world.

In business, deception and sabotaging one's enemies might be permissible, might even lead to their bankruptcy, but resorting to assassination was a lowly act.

That was a Pandora's Box that must never be opened.

Nobody wants to live in fear of assassination every day.

"Let's get back to the main topic. How do we find Dio? And how do we persuade him to work for us?"

"The task force says he's an extreme idealist. Ideals can be exploited. We can use our power to help him realize his own ideals, making Dio the Prime Minister of this country. We can support his policies in exchange for the secret of how he became a Superpower User, or for him to grant us immortality."

Mitsui Takashi's idea received the agreement of the other five. With their financial strength and power, they could certainly elevate Dio to the Prime Minister's throne.

"However, we can't put all our hopes in this one approach. Didn't the task force submit a report? It said that Dio's actual combat ability—the range of internal damage he can inflict on a person—won't exceed two or three meters. We can opt for long-range sniping, taking him down with tranquilizer darts."

Sumitomo Taisei nodded and said, "Speaking of sniping, the Street Cleaner is probably the strongest in Japan. We can directly recruit people from the underworld and form a small team. Only by maintaining armed force can we have an opportunity to speak with Dio on equal terms."

Iwasaki Yizo said, "The experiments must not stop either. It's always good to prepare for all contingencies."

The six people present quickly reached a conclusion.

Besides the task force, they decided to pull together a team from the underworld to counter Dio's threat.

And they were planning to leave Japan immediately.

If Dio had an unknown superpower for gathering information, their movements within the country, no matter how hidden or cautious, might still be discovered by Dio.

To save their lives, they had no choice but to flee abroad collectively and remotely control domestic matters.

They would return when everything settled down.

...

「At five forty in the afternoon.」

「Kabukicho, Hundred Herb Bookstore.」

In the living room on the second floor, Takahashi Saeko lay on the sofa, wearing a silver mask that covered her face and a silver-white cloak that concealed her distinctly feminine figure.

Such attire wasn't for secrecy, but simply a commercial ploy.

In her line of work, the more mysterious she appeared, the more professional she seemed, and the more people trusted her.

Those who were flashy weren't cut out for the job of a Street Cleaner.

She typed with both hands, bragging in the Hot Girl chatroom about a new prey she had just found.

"That man is perfect. On the surface, he seems to have a strong desire for control, but inside, he's very cowardly. Once I tear apart his tough exterior, he'll become incredibly weak, obedient like a dog. I'm really looking forward to that day."

"Saeko, that's not very nice."

In this chatroom, only Ayatsuki Iroha would say such things, always unwittingly exposing her non-Ocean Empress nature.

Takahashi Saeko typed back with a laugh, "Iroha, with your romantic notions, you wouldn't understand the sheer thrill of trampling men underfoot. Just picture stepping on Aozawa while he worships your feet, sucking on them like they were candy, his face full of adoration. Wouldn't that excite you?"

This passage made Ayatsuki Iroha imagine the scene in her mind, and her face turned red instantly.

She shook her head quickly to dismiss the image and typed hastily, "I would never do that."

"Maybe Aozawa is into that sort of thing. Doesn't he like maids?"

"..." Ayatsuki Iroha wavered. What if Aozawa asked her to step on him like that in the future? What would she do?

Just imagining it made her little heart pound wildly.

Ayatsuki Iroha couldn't define the feeling, but it felt as if she had glimpsed a crack in a door that didn't belong in her world.

Strange. She had often heard Saeko advocate such views before.

But comparing it with Aozawa, she seemed to understand why Saeko was so excited.

"Aozawa isn't like that."

Despite her thoughts, Ayatsuki Iroha still typed in defense of Aozawa's image.

Takahashi Saeko smiled and was about to continue persuading her.

The doorbell rang.

She quickly typed, "Got to go, something's come up."

Exiting the chatroom, she accessed the surveillance at the door and saw three men dressed in suits.

They were probably here for business.

Takahashi Saeko got up and walked to the door.

The last job she took from Emily had gone south. Finding information about Dio was too difficult, a complete waste of time.

She had simply given up. Even Street Cleaners aren't gods and have missions they can't complete.

Currently, she had no active orders.

Takahashi Saeko opened the door, her voice changer making it impossible to discern if she were male or female. "Welcome, please come in."

"You guys wait outside," the lead man in a suit said, entering the living room.

The other two stood guard outside.

Takahashi Saeko closed the door and asked, "Would you like some tea?"

The man shook his head, getting straight to the point. "Street Cleaner, we want to hire you for a job. It might take a long time. But we'll pay you a handsome fee."

"What job?"

"Sniping Dio."