Chapter Nine: Ten Thousand Falling Petals, Foes Like the Sea (4/4)

Late at night.

Inside the bedroom, only the fluorescent glow of the computer screen flickered, illuminating Light Yagami's face.

"It is because your father is a police officer that you can have this kind of confidence, Light."

The apple-loving Shinigami spoke from behind Light.

"That's right," Light smiled, his fingers tapping lightly on the keyboard. "I can even use my own computer to effortlessly hack into my father's computer and constantly retrieve investigation information."

Just as he finished speaking, his right hand, gripping the mouse, gave a gentle click.

The screen immediately displayed the access password for Soichiro Yagami—who was not only Light's father but also the Chief of the Japanese National Police Agency leading the Kira investigation.

"Got it."

Light leaned forward slightly and quickly typed in the password.

Pressing the enter key, the folder regarding Kira immediately cascaded down the screen like a waterfall. In just the blink of an eye, it filled Light's monitor.

Picking up his coffee cup, Light leaned back lazily in his chair and said with absolute disdain, "It seems the police already suspect the culprit is a student."

"Isn't that terrible, Light?" the Shinigami asked from behind him.

Only a scornful chuckle answered him.

With a soft click, Light set his coffee cup down on the desk. Subconsciously touching his chin, his brain began to spin at lightning speed.

"After writing a person's name, if the cause of death is specified within forty seconds, they will die as written. If no cause is specified, they all die of a heart attack. After writing the cause of death, you are granted an additional six minutes and forty seconds to detail the circumstances of the death. Isn't that right, Shinigami?"

Light's eyes flashed with a cold, piercing glint in the darkness.

"So what?" the Shinigami asked, looking utterly puzzled.

"That means after writing the cause of death as 'heart attack,' one can still write down the manner of death or the time of death. Perhaps this will bring you some more entertainment."

With a sharp snap, the notebook opened once again before Light.

A ballpoint pen held in his right hand, a trace of a disdainful sneer spread across the corner of Light's mouth.

Death after death. Right beneath this unassuming pen, people's fates were sealed.

***

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Takashi Komuro anxiously knocked on Liu Menghao's door. Liu Menghao had stayed inside this room for a full day and night without coming out once.

On the other hand, some things L had just told him made Takashi increasingly anxious.

"There are only twenty minutes left until the time he agreed upon with us."

The reincarnators standing next to Takashi, however, were not anxious at all.

Liu Ling was still holding her doll, standing by Liu Menghao's door alongside Qi Xiaoxiao, who had just taken a bath and let her long hair flow loose.

Click...

The door was pushed open by Liu Menghao.

Everyone was deeply shocked the moment they laid eyes on him.

His hair was plastered flat against his scalp, looking as if it hadn't been washed in over ten days. The bags under his eyes were swollen alarmingly high.

"Did you stay up all night?"

Qi Xiaoxiao asked with a concerned frown.

"It's not about staying up; it's about not sleeping at all," Liu Menghao said with a smile. "Rewriting one's own subconscious is no easy task. Even for me, it required staying awake for twenty-four hours to completely dismantle my subconscious and then reconstruct it."

With that, Liu Menghao made a welcoming gesture and ushered everyone into the room.

"Ever since we deduced that Kira is a student, a criminal has died every single hour," Takashi blurted out impatiently the moment he stepped inside.

Liu Menghao nodded and turned to Liu Ling, who was checking herself in the mirror. "What did L say?"

"This is Kira's way of telling us that he can manipulate the time of death. Moreover..." Liu Ling shook her head and sighed, "We only deduced that Kira was a student yesterday, and today this news received a tit-for-tat response."

"This shows that the plot hasn't deviated from its track."

Tap, tap.

Two more knocks at the door.

It was Xu Longxiang.

"I remember this part being in the notebook," Xu Longxiang said with a smile as he stood at the entrance. "But doesn't this help Kira—meaning Light Yagami—expose his own identity?"

"No, it doesn't." Despite his messy hair, Liu Menghao's mind remained sharp. "He must want L to investigate the police, seeing as the information leaked from the police department in the first place."

"How could..."

Liu Menghao nodded and continued, "It's difficult for people to truly trust one another. Compared to our cooperation with L, the Japanese police receive L's instructions solely through computer screens. This leads to a major problem."

"A trust crisis?"

"Yes, a trust crisis," Liu Menghao smiled. "Because of this, the police officers who realize they are being investigated by L will quietly start investigating L's identity. Naturally, that includes L's appearance and his real name."

"Won't that result in his name being leaked and subsequently killed by Light Yagami, who has access to police intelligence?"

"You're getting smarter, Takashi Komuro." Liu Menghao smiled faintly, collapsed onto the bed, and closed his eyes. "If there's nothing else, you can all clear out. After twenty-four hours of exhaustion, I really need to rest."

"No..." Xu Longxiang shook his head regretfully. "I'm afraid that won't do. I just came from L, and he demands that we begin tailing someone..."

"Tailing whom?"

"Light Yagami."

"The reason?"

"L says this is Kira challenging him. In other words..." Xu Longxiang said with a bitter smile, "L has acknowledged that today's hourly deaths of criminals are definitely no coincidence."

"The probability of it being a coincidence is less than twenty percent," Liu Ling added from the side. "Although we cannot reveal Light Yagami's information directly to L, we can provide him with some guidance."

Hearing this, everyone in the room couldn't help but smile involuntarily.

The opposing reincarnators hadn't even shown up in this reincarnation world yet, while Liu Menghao and his group were already closing in on Light Yagami step by step.

Victory seemed almost within their grasp.

"So, we're setting off now?"

Liu Menghao smiled and stepped out onto the window ledge. On the thirtieth floor, the wind was indeed much sharper. However, possessing the bloodline of the Assassin's Creed, falling from heights was the last thing Liu Menghao feared.

Turning around, Liu Menghao stood with his back to the outside and waved at the people inside.

"See you then." With that, Liu Menghao pushed off with both hands and squatted on the window frame. "Oh right, I forgot to tell you—my new name is Liu Yuan. Don't forget it."

Snap!

With a sharp push from the tips of his toes, Liu Menghao plunged backward into a free fall.

The wind in the air seemed to awaken in an instant. It gathered beneath Liu Menghao's outstretched arms, continuously adjusting his posture and trajectory.

Just over a dozen seconds later, a muffled thud echoed from within the fountain in front of the Imperial Hotel.

Wringing out his damp hair, Liu Menghao smiled.

"I suppose this counts as taking a bath along the way?"

Liu Menghao pulled a waterproof-wrapped communicator out of his pocket and placed it over his ear.

After a burst of static electronic noise, Qi Xiaoxiao's voice came through his earpiece.

"Spy satellites are being deployed right now to pinpoint Light Yagami's general location."

"Mhm."

Liu Menghao nodded, and amidst the astonished gazes of the group beside him, he climbed out of the fountain pool, disappearing from view with a few swift bounds.

Moving at high speed, Liu Menghao listened to Qi Xiaoxiao's instructions through the micro-earpiece.

"We have a rough heading for Light Yagami. He's at the Shibuya scramble crossing. There are quite a few people there—can you find him?"

"I'll try."

With that, Liu Menghao closed his eyes. When he opened them again, everything around him had transformed.

Tokyo, which had been brightly lit, suddenly darkened completely. In stark contrast, a single yellow dot of light was pulsing continuously right before Liu Menghao's eyes amidst the crowd.

"I found him," Liu Menghao muttered as he wove through the crowd. An assassin's stealth was executed to absolute perfection by Liu Menghao at this moment; as he brushed past people, they felt nothing more than a sudden gust of wind. Nothing else registered in their senses.

"He just walked into an alley."

Liu Menghao reported to Qi Xiaoxiao.

"Will you lose him?"

"Not a chance." Liu Menghao smiled slightly, putting strength into his legs. In a split second, his hands scaled the wall, and before any passersby could react, he was already standing atop the rooftop.

"I'm on the rooftop now, keeping an eye on Light Yagami." Liu Menghao stepped like a cat in the moonlight, gliding from one shadow to another, his eyes locked firmly on Light Yagami not far below.

"Liu Menghao, do you think stakeouts like this are even useful?" Qi Xiaoxiao's voice suddenly chimed in with a hint of worry.

"Useful."

Liu Menghao noticed that Light Yagami, walking ahead of him, had stopped. He was turning his head to look back. Clearly, he was keeping tabs on potential followers behind him while completely neglecting the shadows above.

Suddenly, Light's entire body mechanically jerked upward, looking directly at Liu Menghao hidden within the shadows. Then, feigning an interest in the moon, he casually scanned the area without leaving a trace before continuing on his way home.

"Did he spot me? No matter." Liu Menghao chuckled into the earpiece for Qi Xiaoxiao. "I don't care if Light Yagami shows a flaw; as long as we can convince L that he is the killer, our mission is complete."

"Meaning?"

"As long as L is convinced, that's enough."

Liu Menghao straightened up, leaping in two or three bounds to the roof of a taller building, and looked down at Light Yagami, who was pressing forward as if nothing had happened.

"Qi Xiaoxiao..."

Liu Menghao suddenly initiated conversation.

"It looks like today's stakeout is coming to an end."

"Why?"

"Because..." Liu Menghao stood tall, gazing far into the distant horizon. "I see a sea of red dots representing hostility. They have arrived."

Ten thousand crimson points flashing bright, the enemy a vast sea!