[Location: Dr. Stone – What Remains of Japan – Near Ishigami Village – Near Chrome's House]
The light and warmth of the crackling campfire held steady against the cold winter night.
Sheltered by its glow, a group of people watched with anticipation the chief of their village, Senku Ishigami.
Senku extended his hand toward the fish placed in front of him.
"Devour," he whispered, with a hint of excitement.
But nothing happened.
"Huh? What did you just say?" Chrome asked, tilting his head as he watched him from the side.
"Something should've already happened, right?" Gen commented, almost stating it as a fact.
"Yeah. The fish should've disappeared," Senku replied thoughtfully.
Minutes earlier, after returning from the White World, Senku had briefly explained what had happened to him after accepting that strange proposal. Under that premise, he found it interesting to learn that, from everyone else's perspective, he had simply vanished from the spot the instant he accepted the invitation.
After all, from his point of view, what had changed was the world around him. He even came to consider that space as nothing more than a kind of mental palace into which he had been drawn by unknown means.
As for the time elapsed during everything involving the other "part-time workers" and Zefir, it had barely amounted to about an hour.
For their part, his friends and the other villagers—the workforce—limited themselves to listening to his account, expressing their surprise, and accepting what had happened without much questioning.
For them, the fact that Senku had returned safe and sound was reason enough not to dig any deeper.
In other words, they didn't fully understand what had happened… and they preferred not to.
As for what Senku was doing now, the answer was simple: he was experimenting.
From the moment he heard the phrase "devour targets," a doubt had taken root in his mind.
'What exactly is considered a "target"?'
The immediate translation was simple, but the context allowed for multiple interpretations: objective, goal, victim.
Under the concept of "devouring the target," the implication was clear—the target had to be completely consumed or absorbed, whether literally or figuratively.
The real issue lay in who defined that target.
Zefir… or himself?
To test it, he asked them to bring him a freshly caught fish. After all, it met the known restrictions of the "devour" ability.
Only technically dead targets could be devoured.
That is, those who had suffered an irreversible loss of consciousness or were incapable of breathing spontaneously.
He could have analyzed more carefully the exact wording Zefir had used when explaining the ability, but he hadn't considered it necessary… until now.
"How is it supposed to disappear?" Kohaku asked, leaning forward with curiosity.
"Well…" Senku thought for a moment before answering. "Once I say the keyword 'devour,' the target should be devoured. Or something like that." He gestured toward the fish.
There was no avoiding it. He would have to carefully analyze the original explanation.
"Hey, Senku… what does 'devour' actually mean?" Chrome asked again.
He wasn't the only one with that question; the curious looks from the others made that clear.
Senku glanced at them briefly before answering, aware of the attention he had drawn.
"You could associate it with eating," he explained. "More specifically, consuming food. But it can also mean destroying or consuming something completely."
Silence slipped between them.
"Hm… but to eat something, you first have to catch it, right?" Kohaku commented.
"That's true. And to destroy it, you'd have to strike it somehow," Chrome added, making a gesture to support his point.
Off to the side, Gen smiled in amusement.
The conversation was, at its core, simple.
"I suppose you're right…" Senku admitted plainly, aware that there were some exceptions. "Well, I've got nothing to lose by trying." With a tired sigh, he focused on the fish again.
This time, he extended a finger and gently touched it.
Even if it didn't work, he would keep testing, gradually increasing the level of exposure.
Unfortunately for him, the smell of fish was growing stronger by the second.
"Devour," he murmured, a little louder than before.
In an instant—without sound or flash—the fish vanished.
"Woooow~! It really disappeared!" Chrome exclaimed, visibly excited.
In fact, everyone present was.
"It was like a magic trick," Gen commented, genuinely surprised.
For someone like him, accustomed to deception and sleight of hand, it shouldn't have been impressive. And yet, this time he was convinced it wasn't just a trick.
"It wasn't like the tricks you do, Gen," Kohaku interjected.
She had personally seen the tricks Gen used from time to time, and to her eyes, they were easy to spot.
But this time…
"The fish just completely disappeared," Kohaku could only marvel.
While the group discussed what had happened, Senku shifted his gaze toward the upper-right corner of his field of vision.
[1. / 1.]
The moment the fish disappeared, the counter—previously [0. / 1.]—had increased by one.
Immediately after, a holographic window appeared in front of him, visible to everyone.
[Do you want to obtain its memories?]
[Yes. / No.]
The previously lively group suddenly fell silent.
"…"
"Kukuku… now this is interesting," Senku smiled, breaking the silence.
Not only had he found a way to complete the counter, but he had also discovered something unexpected.
It was possible to obtain the memories of a fish.
Without hesitation, he accepted.
[Yes (Selected). / No.]
An avalanche of fragmented images flooded his mind, as if they were his own memories.
To the others, Senku appeared to fall into a brief trance before snapping back to reality.
"Kukuku… just as I expected," he murmured, bringing a hand to his head.
The memories were chaotic and incomplete—mere visual sequences, vivid yet disordered.
He couldn't help but reflect on the way the human brain stored information.
In the human brain, memories are distributed networks of synaptic connections.
Each memory is formed from patterns of activity across many regions of the brain (the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and so on).
Now, if somehow "devouring" copied the entire neural network, then the memories would be complete.
But if instead it merely absorbed them—something like a superficial "imprint"—then only fragments would be obtained: images or isolated emotions, lacking coherence.
That said, the "devour" ability had a clear restriction that couldn't be ignored: the target had to be technically dead.
This, of course, drastically altered everything mentioned above.
When the heart stops beating, neurons begin to die from lack of oxygen.
Still, some neurons survive for several minutes—even up to half an hour under favorable conditions, such as low temperature.
During that brief window, the physical information of memories still exists within the synapses, even if there is no longer consciousness to read them.
Once the neurons die, the structure degrades, and with it, the memory physically disappears.
In conclusion, if the target had been dead for too long, there would be no memories to obtain.
"Hey, Gen… what did the message say this time?" Chrome asked quietly.
He really wanted to ask Senku, but seeing that he seemed deep in thought, he chose not to disturb him.
In truth, everyone was curious about what the message said.
"Hm~… well, it said something like: 'Do you want to obtain its memories?'" Gen replied, sounding uneasy, confused, and incredulous all at once.
Senku hadn't mentioned it, and the mere idea of obtaining the memories of everything that was devoured was—putting it mildly—disturbing.
'Well… I guess he wasn't exaggerating when he called that Zefir guy chilling', Gen nodded to himself, convinced the wording had been accurate.
"What?! Obtain memories? A fish's memories? Can fish even remember things?" Chrome exclaimed, visibly shocked—just like the others.
"Yeah! How can a fish remember anything?!" Kohaku added, incredulous.
Before they could delve deeper, another holographic window appeared in front of Senku, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
[You have completed the counter!]
[Reward: Storage Ring.]
[Description: Allows you to use a cubic space of the White World as storage. You can store almost anything. Edge length: 1000 yards. Keywords: Store / Retrieve.]
Moments later, a silver ring appeared floating in the air.
Before it could fall, Kohaku deftly caught it.
Curious, she examined the object, noting that it shared a similar design to the other ring Senku had shown them.
"It's really beautiful," she commented, captivated by its craftsmanship.
Around her, the others gathered to take a closer look.
"Kukuku…" Senku smiled, genuinely amused and excited by the additional reward.
He glanced back at the counter.
[1. / 10.]
"Alright. Starting tomorrow, I'll need a lot of fish and other animals. Small or big—it doesn't matter," he said, looking toward the hunting team.
"Got it," Kohaku replied without hesitation.
"We'll take care of it."
"Yeah, leave it to us!"
"There'll be so many you won't even be able to finish them all!"
The others added, smiling and joking.
Off to the side, little Suika—still holding a stone that she didn't fully understand but felt was somehow different—felt relieved and happy as she watched Senku and the others smile.