Chapter 56: League of Zombies
Otonashi Chiya intended to check in with the Zombie Devil to confirm if all the yakuza members in Suginami Ward had been zombified. Once the formal operation began, he could ignore Suginami and focus entirely on eradicating the syndicate's members in other areas.
Chiya had left a "coordinate" at the factory where the Zombie Devil resided; using his Kamui ability, he could perform a pinpoint-accurate "instant teleportation." Without such coordinates, he wouldn't be sure where he'd end up and would have to rely on blind intuition.
Even though many days had passed, his gut told him the Zombie Devil would likely still be hunkered down in the same spot.
The next moment, Chiya warped himself into the abandoned building. His "Vitality" was now high enough to withstand the drain of long-distance teleportation. However, he didn't plan on using this ability for trivial matters—only when something important was at stake.
Suginami Ward, Tokyo — An Abandoned Building
"My servants are growing in number... this feels amazing!" the Zombie Devil laughed in ecstasy.
A veritable zombie legion had formed inside the dilapidated house. However, it usually kept the legion from wandering outside to stir up trouble; its only plan was to lay low right here. If a foolish human came knocking to sign a contract, it would gladly accept the offering. This way, it wouldn't be targeted by its most hated enemies: the devil hunters.
"What feels so amazing?"
Just then, the Zombie Devil heard a familiar voice. A spatial vortex appeared out of thin air before its eyes, and Otonashi Chiya emerged from the swirl, landing steadily on the floor.
"You—why are you back again?!" the Zombie Devil shrieked.
It hated other devil hunters with a passion, but for this human youth, it felt nothing but sheer terror!
After it had dealt with the yakuza in Suginami, its contract with Chiya had automatically dissolved. Chiya wouldn't have felt the shift, as such contracts are intangible in their formation and release. The devil thought it was finally free, only for the boy to show up on its doorstep again so soon.
How could it not have a strong reaction?
"Why shouldn't I be allowed to come?" Chiya asked coldly.
"You can! Of course you can!" The Zombie Devil instantly changed its tune, speaking with submissive honesty.
Chiya stopped toyed with it and got straight to business. "Relax. I'm not here to make things difficult for you this time. I just want to confirm if all the yakuza members in this area have been zombified by you."
"But of course! You can count on me!" The Zombie Devil immediately showed off its results, summoning all the zombies in the building to gather around. "Look, this whole group belongs to that yakuza gang!"
Chiya did a quick sweep with his eyes; there were several hundred zombies packed into the house. Seeing that the Suginami branch of the syndicate had been neutralized and gathered here, he didn't need to worry further. This ensured that when they eventually raided the yakuza headquarters, they wouldn't encounter any zombies there.
In the original story, the reason there were so many zombies beneath the yakuza headquarters was likely because the debt collector's contract with the Zombie Devil stipulated that all yakuza members in Suginami would gain devil powers. As a result, members scattered across the ward were zombified by the contract. However, in that timeline, the Zombie Devil was slaughtered by Denji (as Chainsaw Man) just as the contract took effect, before it had a chance to gather the zombified members from other locations.
Later, this group of zombies was taken in and hidden one by one beneath the yakuza headquarters, kept as their own "biological weapons."
"Good. You've done well," Otonashi Chiya said flatly. "I'm heading back. But let me warn you: keep your head down from now on. If you dare to go out and harm humans or actively lure people into contracts, I won't let you off."
"No, no! I definitely won't!" the Zombie Devil promised frantically.
Chiya didn't waste any more breath on the devil and disappeared into the spatial vortex formed by his left eye.
Once Chiya was finally gone, the Zombie Devil let out a massive sigh of relief. However, it still didn't dare badmouth him behind his back; if the boy suddenly reappeared, it would be game over. After this warning, the Zombie Devil decided that even if some idiot came looking for a contract, it would just tell them to get lost.
It didn't have much interest in eating humans anyway; zombifying people was just a drive of its instinct and didn't offer many practical benefits—it was more like collecting "action figures." The league of zombies it already possessed was enough to satisfy it; there was no need to risk being pulverized by that human youth just to infect more people.
"Oh, right."
At that moment, Chiya's face suddenly popped back out of the spatial vortex, scaring the Zombie Devil out of its wits. As a dignified devil, it was nearly being scared to tears by this elusive human youth. Devil hunters were truly the worst!
"I'll be borrowing your league of zombies when the time comes. I assume you don't have an objection?"
"None! None at all! Not even a tiny bit!"
Returning to the Kamui dimension, Chiya immediately transferred himself to another "spatial coordinate"—his home. Before leaving for the Soviet Union, he had to make sure Denji had a physical check-up, or he wouldn't be able to rest easy.
"Denji, I'm taking you to the hospital for a check-up. I'm worried years of malnutrition might have caused some issues," Chiya said, making up a reason.
"I don't think anything's wrong..." Denji thought about it, then changed her mind. "Wait, actually, there might be something..."
She suddenly remembered that she might have inherited her mother's heart disease. At the thought, her face paled. If she really had it, wouldn't she be dead in a few years? She had finally achieved her dream life, only to find she might not get to enjoy it for long...
Seeing the dejected look on Denji's face, Chiya comforted her. "Don't worry. If you do have it, I'll find a way to cure you for good."
Upon hearing this, Denji's expression brightened considerably. She nodded vigorously. "Mhm! I believe you, Chiya-nii!" After everything they had been through, her trust in him was absolute. She felt that if Chiya said something could be done, it would be done!
Soon, Denji accompanied Chiya to Tokyo Hospital. Since Chiya was a Public Safety devil hunter—and a Vice Captain of Special Division 1 at that—having priority access was a basic privilege. He was able to book a chief physician almost immediately to conduct the examination.
After a series of tests, the suspicion was confirmed: she did have it.
That was the bad news. But there was good news: Tokyo Hospital had access to devil powers that could cure it!