Pfft!
Rentaro flinched and suddenly woke up from his trance.
He gasped for breath, touching his body. At the same time, he quickly looked around.
This place was the hospital basement, Dr. Sumire's research room.
"Rentaro!"
Kisara, who was attending by the bedside, showed an expression of immense joy. She happily rushed forward and hugged Rentaro, causing him to feel awkward, but also a warmth in his heart.
However, Kisara's happy face was involuntarily replaced by that dark Kisara, which made Rentaro feel uneasy.
After that, Kisara left as she had matters to attend to. Rentaro was still in a daze, only mumbling dully the whole time. Sumire walked in and lost interest seeing him like that.
"What a failure, Rentaro. The meat was practically delivered to the cat's mouth, and you didn't know how to enjoy it..."
"I..."
Rentaro was still stuck in a train of thought. To be honest, he was still recalling the moment the man named the Silver King appeared. His memory stirred, and Rentaro realized this wasn't the first time he had encountered the Silver King.
"Yesterday afternoon, the person... the person who walked out of the hospital was the Silver King, wasn't it?"
"You could say so."
"Professor, are you cooperating with this person?"
"What do you think?"
Rentaro sealed his mouth, his face still contorted amidst the chaos of events, ideas, and thoughts. Seeing him suffer so much, Sumire suddenly asked him a question.
"Rentaro, how many powers do you think exist in this world?"
...
"Luke, how many powers do you think exist in this world?"
Suddenly asked by him, Luke was slightly surprised, but then he seriously pondered the question.
"Sir, if I have to say, I think this world must be divided into four powers. Russia, America, Germany, Japan. The remnants of humanity, such as the vestiges of other nations or the remaining nations after the Gastrea War, all revolve around these four powers."
"Quite standard, but not enough."
Luke was full of questions, but he dared not question the will of a king. Seeing this, Asahi shook his head and smiled.
"No need to be so formal, Luke."
"It's my fault."
Feeling he had been too solemn, the young man thought for a moment and then asked.
"So, what would your answer be, sir?"
"Countless forces, small ones constituting the large."
Asahi answered.
Seeing Luke still shaking his head in confusion, he continued to explain.
"Luke, do you think Japan is one unified power?"
"This..."
"Japan... no, whatever remains after the Gastrea War is no longer what it was. Only a handful of ashes remain, reflecting a glorious past and picking up the remnants of the pre-war civilization."
"Japan was never a single power to begin with. The five areas, named after the regions they're based in, are only names. In reality, the five areas can already be called five independent nations. Although I don't know much about the situation in the other three nations, it is likely similar, or even more fractured than Japan, due to the gathering of different nations and factions huddling together for warmth."
"Here, although the media still hails the Tokyo Area as the capital of Japan, this is only a sad form of eye-wash. The Gastrea War only ended ten years ago. Many people still yearn for the past, even to the point of despair. Therefore, these mere illusions are enough to comfort them, to make them feel that civilization still exists as before, and is not a structure rebuilt from a pile of ruins."
Reaching this point, Asahi's tone held a touch of helplessness. Luke sensed that his words still contained other implications, but he didn't fully grasp them.
"Speaking of the Tokyo Area, do you think Tokyo is a unified power?"
"Perhaps... yes, sir. But I suspect your answer is no."
"Tokyo... officially, there are probably three powers on the table."
"Three... three powers?"
"The Tendou Clan specializing in politics, the Shiba Clan specializing in military, and the Civil Security."
Actually, if calculated seriously, the Silver King's Dominion should also be included.
"Civil Security? Sir, is Civil Security also considered a power?"
Luke asked, confused, his mind beginning to wander. No, he had been wandering since the topic began. Seeing this, Asahi chuckled slightly.
"Luke, although Civil Security is scattered and individuals fight alone, fundamentally, it is still managed by the IISO. As for Tendou and Shiba, haha... their main strength lies in the Self-Defense Force, the ones guarding the Monoliths every day."
"What about Her Highness Seitenshi?"
"Seitenshi... I haven't had too much contact. Although she appears to be the sovereign, a puppet installed by the Tendou Clan, she's also a bit different. However, I can confirm one thing: this Seitenshi is not 100% leaning towards Tendou."
At this point, he lapsed into silence. Luke also became quiet, frowning as he carefully considered everything that was just said. Suddenly, Asahi spoke again.
"In short, it's all a stupid mess to me."
"From beginning to end, there were only two factions: humans and Gastrea. But under some influence, the situation eventually evolved into civilization being torn piece by piece. On the surface, it looks like a hundred flowers blooming, but in reality, it is consuming humanity's last potential."
"This kind of rotten order, I will personally destroy it."
Throughout the conversation, Luke had heard various tones—sarcasm, mockery, bitterness... but only this last sentence made him feel an extreme sense of determination, an unwavering resolve, unshakeable by anything else. This solidified the young man's still-confused spirit.
"Alright, let's take a walk around."
"Yes, sir."
Actually, there was a final point he didn't elaborate on, because no one would believe it if he did.
When Luke heard him speak of the entity that created this "rotten order" and tore human civilization apart, he only took it as a metaphor for the situation. But what if it was truly the result of a series of manipulated processes, plans, and actions?
Luke couldn't be blamed for not knowing, as this thought was too bizarre; fundamentally, no one would think in this direction. Manipulating an entire world war—the thought alone was chilling. However, he had a small foundation to speculate upon.
The Gastrea War—even now, he couldn't dig up much information. It seemed to be hidden in the darkest place, covered by a lock, preventing anyone from accessing it. This could logically be explained: humanity was pushed to the brink back then, all moral limits were removed, and countless horrible things were done. However, this doesn't explain the strangeness of the war itself. Even the number of people who knew just a little about it was small.
Furthermore, all documents about the Gastrea War were destroyed, vanished. This raised enormous suspicion.
All of them, all the citizens, seemed not to clearly know what the "face" of the Gastrea War truly looked like, nor how humanity actually survived that ordeal. One must know that Varanium was still being developed back then, and Cursed Children fundamentally didn't exist. Although it was explained by the advent of the "Monolith," Asahi knew instantly this was a cover-up.
You say the Monolith successfully saved all of humanity? Then what about the Level 5 Gastrea ravaging the world? They were fundamentally unaffected by the Monoliths' Varanium magnetic fields.
The whole thing seemed logical, but pieced together, it made no sense.
It was as if everything was a dream. The citizens only knew of the event called the "Gastrea War." All they remembered was the hatred. It sounded ridiculous, because the Gastrea War only passed a mere ten years ago. Although ten years can make people forget many things, a horrifying event like a world war cannot be one of them.
Asahi had seen many people who lived through wars—wars that were perhaps less than one percent the scale of the Gastrea War—and they couldn't forget. Decades later, the memory was still imprinted in their minds, allowing them to recount it vividly to future generations. Unless the physiological capabilities of humans in different worlds were different, humans here should be the same.
But everything was illogical. Even intelligent people, not just ordinary ones, were no exception. He once asked Dr. Sumire but only received a shake of the head.
Asahi had a feeling that everything had a reason.
The Gastrea War... never truly ended from beginning to end.