Chapter 898: Chapter 487: Cooperation Achieved_2

The off-road vehicle stopped at the gate of the Chuan Area. After the two got out, they entered through a small gate that was only wide enough for pedestrians.

They greeted the two exorcists from the Nether Bakufu stationed outside and followed the stone steps up the mountain.

About halfway up the mountain, Daisuke Kitahara left the stone steps and continued along a path paved with gravel.

After walking for about ten minutes, they stopped in front of a grave marked by a tombstone.

Yan Junze curiously leaned his head to look behind the tombstone and discovered that the grave was open. Inside, it was pitch-dark, seemingly containing a coffin, though it wasn’t very clear.

At this moment, Daisuke Kitahara suddenly fell to his knees before the tombstone.

He turned around and gestured to Yan Junze, indicating that he didn’t need to kneel with him.

However, Yan Junze merely took a step back and had no intention of kneeling. Though he held great respect for the God of Death of Japan’s Great Capital, it wasn’t to the extent of requiring him to kneel.

Daisuke Kitahara quickly bowed his head to the tombstone, letting his forehead knock against the stone ground with an audible sound, and reverently uttered a sentence in Japanese.

Then he made a second bow, speaking another phrase in Japanese that was different from the first.

At that moment, a creaking sound suddenly came from the grave behind the tombstone, as though the ancient coffin inside was being cracked open.

Daisuke Kitahara hastily performed a third bow, once again speaking a third phrase in Japanese with utmost respect.

“Ah–”

A voice, old and decrepit, as if pulled from the depths of hell, resounded from behind the tombstone, awakening from its slumber.

“Who?” The elderly voice uttered a single word.

Daisuke Kitahara immediately prostrated himself on the ground. “God of Death, my lord, I am Daisuke Kitahara, a disciple of Kurosawa Tsuyoshi.”

Silence fell behind the tombstone before the voice spoke again after a brief pause. “Who is he?”

Daisuke Kitahara glanced at Yan Junze.

Yan Junze understood that the God of Death was asking about him. He replied, “Lord God of Death, greetings. I am an exorcist from Huaying’s Great Capital, brought here by Mister Reaper Kurosawa Tsuyoshi to seek your guidance.”

Saying this, he gestured for Daisuke Kitahara to take out his phone, and Kitahara immediately complied.

The aged voice behind the tombstone spoke fluent Huaying dialect: “An exorcist from Huaying? What did Kurosawa Tsuyoshi ask you to find me for?”

Yan Junze said, “There is a critical matter that requires informing the Nether Bakufu and seeking their collaboration. As for the details, I believe Mister Reaper Kurosawa Tsuyoshi has explained them fully in his recorded video.”

As he finished, a grayish, withered arm suddenly reached out from behind the tombstone, grasping its edge. Following that, something began to crawl out.

The beam of light from Daisuke Kitahara’s flashlight, which lay on the ground, happened to illuminate a part of the desiccated limb.

Yan Junze saw a frail, tattered old man in ragged clothing, barely covered, climb out of the grave and approach the tombstone.

The man’s appearance was ordinary, but his face was devoid of moisture, his body gaunt to an unnatural degree–clearly no longer belonging to any living being.

Yan Junze understood that the man before him was merely a corpse but was serving as a corporeal avatar of Akira Kamiya, the God of Death.

In other words, the person standing before him was not Akira Kamiya himself.

“Greetings, Lord God of Death!” Yan Junze gave a slight bow.

Daisuke Kitahara remained prostrate on the ground, not daring to rise without explicit instruction from Akira Kamiya. He cast cautious glances at the barefooted feet within his field of view, which belonged to Kamiya’s avatar.

Akira Kamiya’s grayish pupils shifted slightly as though looking at Yan Junze–or perhaps not at all.

He took two steps forward, standing so close to the kneeling Daisuke Kitahara that barely half a meter separated them. Yet he paid Kitahara no attention, merely taking the phone from his hand.

The phone screen was already lit, displaying the playback screen for the video.

Akira Kamiya extended a withered finger, lightly tapping the screen.

As the video began to play, he silently watched.

Seven or eight minutes later, the video ended.

The phone slipped from Daisuke Kitahara’s side and fell to the ground. Akira Kamiya lifted his head, casting his gaze toward Yan Junze in the distance.

The video had explained the purpose of Yan Junze’s visit, as well as Kurosawa Tsuyoshi’s predicament. In it, Tsuyoshi had vouched for Yan Junze’s sincerity and trustworthiness, affirming him as a reliable ally.

Akira Kamiya maintained a prolonged silence, his plain gaze fixed on Yan Junze, devoid of anything unusual.

Yan Junze refrained from speaking.

The God of Death from Japan’s Great Capital standing before him elicited no remarkable aura, coming across as just another peculiar being–nothing particularly dreadful.

However, Yan Junze knew all too well that the more unassuming someone seemed, the more dangerous they often were–and this figure was not to be underestimated.

After about a minute, Akira Kamiya finally spoke: “How… shall we collaborate?”

“By stopping Sylvanus, the True Word Demon, from continuing his atrocities. If necessary, eliminate the Olay Great Capital Demon Hunter Group that summoned him.” Yan Junze stated, “As for the specifics, I will stay in contact with Kurosawa Tsuyoshi and relay information to him at all times.”

Akira Kamiya contemplated for a moment before responding: “The True Word Demon appears to be unkillable. Now that it has emerged into the world, what else can we do?”

“I have a plan to ensure that after eliminating the Olay Great Capital Demon Hunter Group, the demon can no longer wreak havoc. But it requires close cooperation between the exorcists from both Great Capitals. We must act without hidden agendas.” Yan Junze explained.

Akira Kamiya nodded. “That, I can guarantee. If we are to collaborate, there can be no room for secrecy or selfish motives.”

Yan Junze nodded. “I have determined that the time to unite and act is approaching soon. I will notify Kurosawa Tsuyoshi in advance; we may need to travel to the Olay Great Capital.”

Akira Kamiya remained silent.

Suddenly, his body shuddered. The flesh on his face began to peel off, dropping to the ground. Then he lowered his head to the kneeling Daisuke Kitahara.

“Kitahara, my next avatar body lies in the southwestern sector of the Chuan Area. The body is named Satoshi Matsukawa.”

As he finished speaking, most of his flesh rapidly disintegrated into a deep yellow dust, merging with the dirt and rocks beneath him, vanishing completely.

Yan Junze surmised that this eerie God of Death seemed to damage each corpse-avatar he inhabited during his appearances, necessitating the continual acquisition of new bodies for each future manifestation.

Daisuke Kitahara quickly got up, and the two of them left the site.

Upon returning to the Ito family residence, they found that someone was already cleaning up the aftermath there.

Yan Junze secluded himself in a tea room with Kurosawa Tsuyoshi. Together, they discussed the details of their future communication before Yan Junze took his leave.

Standing at a street corner outside the Ito family residence, he directly returned to the Void.

This visit to Japan’s Great Capital had been another successful operation. While a minor incident had occurred, Yan Junze believed that without Ito Yuko’s cunning scheming, Kurosawa Tsuyoshi might not have come to trust him so deeply.

This was evident from the two video recordings of different lengths that Kurosawa Tsuyoshi had provided. If Akira Kamiya had only seen the first, he might not have agreed to collaborate with him at all.

Standing within the Void, Yan Junze first used [Butterfly Effect Stabilization] to repair unnecessary ripple events from the current Great Rewind. He then reviewed his plan once more in his mind.

Since initiating the Great Rewind through the Space-Time Rift, he had first uncovered the approximate events surrounding the True Word Demon’s emergence. Then he had traveled back to the time before the lab explosion in his previous life, exposing Dong Sheng’s conspiracy and deducing that Dong Sheng might have possessed the body of Claudia IX.

Next, he crossed space to secure the Yin Yang Master Lin Yishan as his informant within the Olay Great Capital. Now, he had successfully persuaded the Nether Bakufu in Japan’s Great Capital to form an alliance.

With one more Great Rewind, he could begin executing his counterattack.

He exhaled lightly and declared, “I will now describe the event, and the Atlas will pinpoint it for me. Time: before the True Word Demon attacked Mister Reaper Han Yu in Huaying’s Great Capital with the True Word Barrier. Space: near Han Yu’s residence, in a location that allows easy access to him while ensuring my own safety.”