Chapter 55: Cooperation with the Soviet Union, An Overbearing Agreement
Denji and Pochita played in the private room until noon, while Otonashi Chiya watched from the side, occasionally joining in for a couple of rounds.
For lunch, they went to a high-end restaurant. In the afternoon, they caught a movie at the cinema and then did some shopping at the mall, finally returning home as evening fell. Their day out ended there; Denji was exhausted and collapsed face-first onto the sofa. Pochita, however, remained full of energy, bouncing up and down on the cushions.
Peaceful days never last long. Two days later, Chiya received a notice.
Chief Yoshimura of Tokyo Public Safety suddenly called him in for a private meeting. Chiya knew it had to be something significant; otherwise, there would be no need for a confidential one-on-one talk. He arrived at headquarters immediately and entered Yoshimura's office.
"Otonashi, the higher-ups have recently reached a decision. They want you to go to the Soviet Union for a period of time in the near future," Yoshimura Taki said, getting straight to the point.
"The Soviet Union? For what?" Chiya asked, confused.
He knew that in this world, the Soviet Union had not collapsed; in fact, its military strength surpassed even that of the United States. But he couldn't figure out why he was suddenly being sent there.
"I'll be blunt," Yoshimura Taki explained in detail. "The administration wants to leverage your power to elevate our country's international standing and influence. To that end, they've negotiated a partnership with the Soviets and have already signed the relevant protocols. However, the Soviet side is quite aggressive. The agreement contains many overbearing terms—one of which is the requirement that you must work in the Soviet Union, rather than a Soviet devil hunter coming here to partner with you."
"I see..." Chiya nodded slowly.
He realized this was likely the same arrangement as years ago when Quanxi came to Tokyo to partner with Kishibe—a cooperation between China and Japan. However, the Soviet Union was far more dominant; unlike Quanxi coming to Japan, they demanded he go to them.
After all, the Soviet Union was currently the strongest nation in the world. They held the largest portion of the Gun Devil's body—a deterrent that crushed nuclear weapons. It wasn't an exaggeration to call it a nation-erasing superweapon. A small country like Japan, which possessed no part of the Gun Devil's main body, could truly be wiped out.
Aside from a fully matured Makima or Pochita logging back into his "Black Chainsaw" account, Japan had no means of opposing the Gun Devil. Furthermore, at this point, Makima had not yet arrived in the human world from Hell.
The Gun Devil in its complete state could be described as a "six-way" apex devil with high attack, high defense, and high speed. It only seemed less impressive because it eventually ran into an even more peak-level Pochita and a fully developed Control Devil. Speaking of which, while the Control Devil's powers are "broken," they require time to grow. Nayuta, who hadn't developed, was vastly inferior to the long-matured Makima; in the second part of the original manga, Nayuta even struggled against ordinary humans. Simply put, the Control Devil is a "late-game" scaling devil that is relatively weak early on.
Yoshimura Taki continued, "While the stance from above is that this is not to be refused, I still wanted to ask about your own wishes."
The fact that the higher-ups had swallowed such an arrogant agreement spoke volumes about their attitude. They didn't really care about Chiya's personal desires.
"I'd like to know the absolute latest I must depart for the Soviet Union," Chiya asked calmly.
He had loose ends he couldn't just leave behind. He hadn't fully settled Denji and Pochita yet, he still needed to take Denji to the hospital for her heart condition, and the threat of the yakuza hadn't been completely eradicated.
The "higher-ups" Yoshimura referred to were likely the Cabinet. It was clear how impatient those old geezers were. After all these years, an S-class genius on par with the young Kishibe had finally appeared, and Chiya had barely started at Public Safety before they tried to use him as a bargaining chip with the Soviets.
"At the latest, roughly one month from now," Yoshimura Taki answered.
"One month... that should be enough time." Otonashi Chiya replied immediately, "In that case, I have no objections. As long as I can settle my outstanding affairs, I am ready to depart at any time."
"Good." Yoshimura Taki was somewhat surprised that Chiya had agreed so readily. Though, even if Chiya had objected, the Cabinet wouldn't have cared...
"You won't need to come into the office during this period. You may treat it all as paid leave to handle whatever business you need to attend to." Yoshimura Taki loosened every restriction he possibly could, attempting to ease his own guilt regarding Chiya's situation.
"I have one condition," Chiya stated plainly.
"Go ahead. As long as it is within my power, I will do my best to fulfill it," Yoshimura Taki said without hesitation.
"There is a powerful yakuza syndicate in Tokyo with influence even beyond the city. They are not only hoarding a large number of Gun Devil flesh fragments, but they also pose a potential threat to my family. Therefore, I want to use your resources to uproot this organization entirely."
As he spoke, Chiya's tone grew colder, his expression chillingly grim. A flicker of murderous intent sparked deep within his eyes. While the yakuza members in Suginami Ward had likely all been turned into zombies, there were still many more in other wards. Even if those thugs could never trace the "mastermind" back to him or Denji, they remained a threat that hadn't been fully neutralized. He would not tolerate even a risk from this gang; they had to be eradicated.
"If the hoarding of Gun Devil fragments is true, we would move against them even without your request." Yoshimura Taki's expression shifted the moment he heard mention of the Gun Devil.
Since this was Chiya's request, he was more than willing to help. He had the authority to command Public Safety devil hunters and the police directly without seeking higher approval. Whether the gang actually had the fragments or not, he would rather act on a false lead than let them go.
"Let's do it in three days. We will launch the formal operation then. I will personally lead the team to wipe out their main forces in Tokyo," Chiya set a tentative timeline. He had other things to take care of before then.
"Understood. Then I shall report to the higher-ups that you are willing to head to the Soviet Union within the month?" Yoshimura Taki confirmed one last time.
"Yes. If there's nothing else, I'll be heading back."
"That's all. You may go," Yoshimura Taki nodded.
Chiya said no more. Shortly after leaving the headquarters, his right eye flickered, and he warped himself into his private dimension...