Chapter 13: The Smug God and the Sneering Man (Part 2)

"Tch, a dating note? How boring!"

The fugitive opened the slip of paper, glanced at it, and with a look of utter disdain, crumpled it into a ball and threw it directly at Light Yagami's face.

However, the moment he raised his head again, his entire face was contorted with absolute terror.

Lifting the gun in his hand, he shouted in a panic, "What on earth are you—the guy all the way in the back! Are you kidding me? Since when were you standing there?!"

Liu Mengchao smiled. The fugitive's weapon was not aimed at him, which meant...

It was pointed at the Shinigami, who should have been invisible to ordinary eyes.

Sure enough, exactly as Liu Mengchao had anticipated, the figure of the Shinigami suddenly materialized in the fugitive's field of vision.

"Hm? Are you talking to me? Can you see me?"

The Shinigami looked thoroughly puzzled, stepping closer to the fugitive one slow step at a time.

"D-Don't move! I'll shoot, you monster!"

"Oh, is that so?" The Shinigami remained entirely unperturbed. Inside the bus, the passengers had already curled up in terror, hugging their heads, not one of them willing to lose their life to a stray bullet from the fugitive's gun.

Seemingly recalling something, the Shinigami chuckled.

"The dating note Light dropped earlier was written on the notebook's paper. Once this fellow touched the paper, he became the only one capable of seeing me. How clever."

At that moment, the Shinigami's smile appeared unimaginably terrifying in the eyes of the fugitive. Moreover, rather than staying put, the Shinigami continued to close the distance step by unyielding step.

"Stay back!"

Bang!

A gunshot rang out sharply, the bullet passing straight through the Shinigami's body to shatter the rear window of the bus.

Bang!

Another shot followed, yet the projectile once again sailed harmlessly through the phantom's form, completely without effect.

"Pardon me, but I am a Shinigami. Such trivialities cannot kill me."

Under the Shinigami's gaze, the fugitive's face warped completely. Fear snapped like an over-tauten string.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A rapid succession of gunshots echoed through the interior. Gleaming brass shells cascaded onto the floor until the magazine of the fugitive's weapon was completely empty. He could only stare helplessly at the Shinigami as the hammer clicked repeatedly on empty chambers.

"Whoever touches the notebook gains the ability to see my form. I must remain wherever Light goes, and bullets cannot harm a Shinigami. I explained all of this to Light beforehand. To think he graduated at the top of the national mock exams—his practical application skills are truly impressive. And then, using this bus hijacking to extract the pursuer's name..."

"Now is the time!"

Even as the Shinigami spoke, Liu Mengchao sprang into motion.

Pushing off the floor with both feet, his figure became a blur in an instant. Like a streak of lightning, he flashed past Light Yagami and materialized directly before the fugitive.

"S-Stay back!"

Screaming in terror, the fugitive swung his fist blindly toward Liu Mengchao.

A slight tilt of the head, a swift grab of the wrist.

Liu Mengchao wore a smile of utter contempt.

"Your strength is far too lacking."

As he spoke, Liu Mengchao's hand closed like a hydraulic press made of alloy, emitting a faint crunching sound. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans immediately broke out across the fugitive's forehead from the excruciating pain.

Now, let the countdown begin.

Ten seconds... fifteen seconds... nineteen seconds...

*Zzt.*

Suddenly, Liu Mengchao felt a strange electrical current pulse through his palm, forcing him to instinctively release his grip.

Shrieking wildly, the fugitive scrambled to his feet and lunged forward, locking his arm around the driver's neck.

"Hurry! Stop the bus!"

A harsh screech of tires pierced the air. The fugitive stumbled off the bus in a panic, dropping heavily to his knees on the pavement as he gasped for air.

Clearly, both the Shinigami he had just witnessed and the man who had nearly crushed his arm in a fraction of a second had instilled an overwhelming terror within him.

Yet, the true horror was yet to come.

With a heavy thud, Liu Mengchao watched as a great splash of fresh crimson splattered violently against the bus window.

An innocent sedan sat parked beside the bus, its front end completely caved in and deformed from the impact with the fugitive. From Liu Mengchao's vantage point, the fugitive's form was vaguely visible draped across the crumpled hood.

"Thirty seconds," Liu Mengchao murmured, a faint smile touching his lips as he calculated the time. From the moment he seized the fugitive's wrist until the man was cast out of the bus, exactly thirty seconds had elapsed.

As expected of the notebook...

Liu Mengchao walked slowly to the bus doors, gazing down at the robber lying motionless in a pool of blood.

When he had gripped the fugitive's wrist moments earlier, a poisoned needle concealed within his sleeve blade had pierced the man's skin. The time required for the toxin to take effect was roughly... twenty seconds.

In other words, within twenty seconds, the fugitive standing before him should have perished from the poison.

And yet... thirty seconds later, having fled the bus, he was directly struck and killed by an oncoming automobile. Once the notebook dictated the method of a person's demise, that individual would succumb precisely as prescribed, even if external forces attempted to intervene or alter the course of events.

"It really is... rather useful."

Liu Mengchao turned his head to look at Light Yagami, who had been sitting just in front of him moments before.

Nodding slightly, Light supported the young woman who had been seated beside him and walked toward Liu Mengchao. Without a word, Light offered a meaningful glance indicating he was still escorting the girl, then stepped past Liu Mengchao and off the vehicle.

The moment he stepped onto the pavement, a smile broke eagerly across Light Yagami's lips.

Precisely eleven-forty-five. Everything had gone according to plan.

At the thought, Light recalled the exact words he had inscribed within the notebook:

*Kiichiro Demegawa, accidental death.*

*Departing from the East Park Station at 11:31 AM. Boards the Space Land-bound bus with a firearm, beholds the hallucination of an entity not of this world, empties his entire magazine at it, and flees the bus. Immediately thereafter, at 11:45 AM on the same day, encounters an accident and dies.*

The notebook was infallible.

Light Yagami slowly closed his eyes, Liu Mengchao's visage drifting into his mind's eye.

You are next, FBI agent.

Reflected within the pool of blood on the asphalt, Light's shadow strode steadily into the distance. He was thoroughly satisfied with the drama he had authored; the first act had played out to perfection right before his eyes.

The notebook's capacity to dictate the exact timestamp of a death granted Light an even deeper appreciation of its power. Above all else, Light now possessed the name of the FBI operative who had been seated right behind him.

"Hmph..."

Utilizing the reflective surface of the blood, Light cast a disdainful glance at Liu Mengchao's lingering reflection. Your death is already sealed. Once the name and face are known, only a single outcome awaits: expiration.

No...

Not merely expiration. Light's smile widened further, his normally composed eyes suddenly flashing with a crimson hue.

It was execution under the judgment of a Shinigami!

"Changfa..." Liu Mengchao gently tapped the earpiece resting in his ear. "Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

"Good. Then from this moment onward, prepare to execute the plan."

"Is everything proceeding smoothly?"

"Immaculately." Liu Mengchao raised his head, watching Light's retreating silhouette grow smaller in the distance. "I played my part precisely to match his expectations. After all, individuals who fancy themselves gods invariably hold the utmost contempt for foolish mortals like us."

For reasons she couldn't quite fathom, Qi Xiaoxiao felt a profound chill seep through her as she listened to Liu Mengchao's voice over the comms.

"Do not forget the Lord God's directive. We must not harm Light Yagami, or we will be erased."

"I am well aware." Liu Mengchao smiled, turning to walk in the opposite direction of Light. "Failing to maintain composure is hardly the mark of a seasoned psychologist. Moreover..."

"Moreover what?"

"Let us hope our opponent isn't entirely dim-witted; otherwise, all this elaborate maneuvering will have been for naught."

"He won't be..." Qi Xiaoxiao's voice offered a soft chuckle through the earpiece. "Because whether someone is brilliant or foolish, human psychology remains fundamentally identical. Those were your very words."

"Indeed. As I said, there are only two kinds of people in this world." Liu Mengchao licked the corner of his lip, halting his steps as he stared at the massive electronic billboard that suddenly loomed before him.

It was the very spot where he had first arrived in the Death Note world.

Shibuya, right before the colossal display screen of the 109 Department Store.

"Which two kinds?" Qi Xiaoxiao's voice drifted through once more.

"Liars," Liu Mengchao narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing up at the screen broadcasting twenty-four-hour news feeds, "and fools."

"And which category do you fall into? A liar?"

Without answering, Liu Mengchao simply tilted his head back, watching the cascading text on the massive display. Unawares, a smile identical to Light Yagami's crept onto the corners of his mouth.

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Hey-hey-hey... I always feel like my brainpower is completely inadequate whenever I'm writing this arc... (+﹏+)~ Dizzy

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