Chapter 270: The Urushibara Surname, the Eight Members of the Brigade, Hokkaido
"Are we heading to Japan today?"
"Get in the car."
In New York, Manhattan District, there was a bright-colored Ferrari parked right in front of the villa gate. On the Ferrari was a striking white-haired girl. She wore a light blue denim jacket and medium-length light blue casual pants, revealing her beautifully curved calves.
"Wasn't the mission document saying we'd go to Hokkaido tomorrow?" Gu Qiye looked up at You Ruirui.
Today, he was wearing a black shirt, and the summer sun blazed down, making his eyelids slightly droop.
"I usually prefer to prepare the day before the mission starts just in case. And from my previous experience, this approach is very correct."
You Ruirui answered briefly, and her ice-blue eyes under her sunglasses glanced over and met Gu Qiye's gaze.
He got into the car and casually closed the car door.
You Ruirui started the engine, and the red Ferrari roared away. The girl's silver-white hair fluttered wildly in the wind, but her face remained expressionless, as spotless as an ice sculpture.
"Where's Urushibara Ryuri?" Gu Qiye asked casually.
"She's already on the plane," You Ruirui said.
The two fell silent.
After a while, the Ferrari suddenly braked, stopping near the Empire State Building. In the sunlight, Gu Qiye looked up, and directly ahead was a spacious private airport, with rows of private jets parked inside.
You Ruirui got off the car first, followed by Gu Qiye, expressionless, boarding the plane after her.
The moment he stepped into the cabin, he saw the back of Urushibara Ryuri. She was still wearing a black jacket and pants.
"Hello, emotionless girl and Sonic..." Urushibara Ryuri was looking down at a newspaper, greeting them without turning around, raising her right hand from the back of the chair.
"I'm not Sonic."
"I'm not emotionless."
Gu Qiye and You Ruirui spoke in unison, then turned their heads simultaneously, gazing at each other silently.
"Personally, I think you're quite Sonic." You Ruirui bowed her head and opened the browser, "Features: fast running, blue."
With that, she picked up her phone and showed the search results, which popped up a picture of a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog.
Gu Qiye glanced at the photo on the phone, remained silent for a while, "I'm black now."
"Doesn't make much of a difference, Sonic has black versions too."
As You Ruirui spoke, she added some keywords and searched for a few more photos.
"Okay, then I feel you're quite emotionless too." Gu Qiye paused, shrugged, "Although I don't understand what emotionless means."
Urushibara Ryuri flipped through the newspaper, speaking indifferently, "In Japanese anime, emotionless refers to 'silent,' 'expressionless,' and 'heartless,' usually speaking of those radio-wave cute girls."
"Feels like you guys get along well with my brother." Gu Qiye said, "He understands these better."
"Next time, let me meet your brother. Sis has never been in love with a high school boy before." Urushibara Ryuri smiled.
"Too bad, he prefers the 'Swallowing Silver' type."
Gu Qiye said casually, finding a seat in the cabin and sitting down, turning to look out the window in a daze.
You Ruirui sat behind Gu Qiye, put on her white Apple headphones, and picked up her tablet to open a fishing game.
Gu Qiye opened his phone and glanced at the calendar, New York local time was 8:00 AM on August 7th.
Estimating based on the time difference and flight schedule, by the time the plane arrived in Hokkaido, Japan, the local time there would be around noon on August 8th.
You Ruirui was right, if the White Crow Travel Brigade activated their prison break plan during this period, it would be too late by the time they arrive, flying to Japan a day early couldn't be wrong.
However, the United Nations and the official Japanese side seem to be laid-back, hearing that Hokkaido's superpower prison is overseen by a Catastrophe-level Superpower User, so they don't believe the White Crow Travel Brigade can get past this hurdle.
After all, the strongest in the brigade is just Quasi-Catastrophe level, and their most threatening Quasi-Catastrophe level Superpower User has already been filled with superpower inhibitors and locked in prison, namely "Ryukawa Chiba."
The information mentioned, Ryukawa Chiba is a rare Psychic Superpower User, and his superpower is absorbing emotional energy, different emotions can provide him with various strengths, brainwashing a regular person is nothing for him.
Greater emotional fluctuations can generate even more extreme, powerful energy for him, among which standouts are "hatred," "fear," "rage," "despair," just slightly inducing these emotions, Ryukawa Chiba can even make a stranger commit suicide with a gun in a short time.
Because of the side effects of his superpower, Ryukawa Chiba has been extraordinarily sensitive to the emotions of those around him since childhood, so his personality can be described as introverted, gloomy, extremely hating those with significant emotional fluctuations, yet his family happens to be those hysterical figures.
Thus, after tolerating to the extreme, he buried his frequently abusive, alcoholic father in the dirt, altered his mother's brain, turning her into an emotionless puppet.
As he grew up, Ryukawa Chiba became more unstoppable. He became a neurosurgeon, dedicated to using surgery to eliminate his patients' emotions.
This method is even more dangerous than prefrontal lobotomy, but the advantage is that the patients only lose their emotions, not their normal thinking abilities.
In the end, seeking a quiet environment, he chose to move from the bustling city to a remote mountain village, offering free medical services there. He never charged any money, but whenever villagers came to him for help, he would use surgery to remove their emotions, making this world feel less noisy.
However, such peaceful days did not last long before Ryukawa Chiba's whereabouts were exposed. The official Japanese superpower guard came to find him in the mountains, and it was then that the White Crow Travel Brigade arrived. They accepted Ryukawa Chiba, turning this misfit genius into one of their own.
But a few years later, during an operation of the White Crow Travel Brigade, Ryukawa Chiba unfortunately fell into official hands and was imprisoned in the Hokkaido superpower prison. This prison is heavily guarded and ranks among the top globally.
For recent years, Ryukawa Chiba has quietly stayed in the prison, eating, drinking, and occasionally visiting the library, leading a day-to-day life. It's likely that even among the White Crow Travel Brigade members, batches of them have changed, and no one expects anyone to rescue this already possessed mad doctor.
Yet just a week ago, Ryukawa Chiba suddenly laughed raspily when he saw the newspaper, claiming to the prisoners: "The brigade members are coming... They will come to rescue me soon." Such abrupt words, combined with the brigade's recent good deeds in the Whale Terrarium, naturally attracted widespread attention.
Gu Qiye silently looked at the photo on the dossier sheet. Ryukawa Chiba was wearing a white shirt with rimless glasses hanging on his nose, appearing gracious and gentle like a refined scholar.
He put down the phone and glanced at Urushibara Ryuri reading a newspaper. It was a newspaper from a few days ago, featuring wanted photos of the White Crow Travel Brigade members.
Seeing the photo of the White Crow Travel Brigade leader in the newspaper, Gu Qiye suddenly hesitated. He remembered that day at the auction when the leader introduced himself: "Urushibara Osamu, that's my real name."
"Urushi... bara?"
Gu Qiye raised his eyebrows, softly muttering this familiar surname, glancing over at Urushibara Ryuri once more.
"Why, have you been staring at me all this time?" Urushibara Ryuri turned and looked at him, slightly curling her lips, "Want to chat with me for a bit?"
"No, I just suddenly remembered that the White Crow Travel Brigade leader once introduced himself to me, saying his name was 'Urushibara Osamu', sharing the same surname as yours."
"There are plenty of people in Japan with the surname Urushibara; it doesn't mean I have any relation to him," said Urushibara Ryuri, "Besides, such criminals generally don't use their real names. You don't need to take it seriously."
"That's true."
"Let me say upfront, I'm not a combatant. Once in Japan, I'll be your and You Ruirui's support. If, in my judgment, you face life-threatening conflicts with the enemy, I will rescue both of you at the first instance, rather than letting you fight until the end," Urushibara Ryuri said, "In today's world, Catastrophe-level superpower users are exceedingly rare and valuable, so the United Nations policy is to ensure no harm comes to Rainbow Wings personnel as much as possible."
Speaking here, she paused for a moment, raising her clear, glass-like eyes, "You must understand how precious your life is, and not treat yourself carelessly like during the 'Blue Arc' period, understand?"
Gu Qiye withdrew his gaze and silently nodded. He thought, speaking of life being precious, it's only because they can't find a suitable replacement tool.
He leaned back on the chair, closing his eyes, suddenly having the faces of his brother and sister float into his mind, wondering how they were doing now.
....
....
On August 7 at 1 pm Japan time, Sapporo City, Hokkaido, at the mountain-top ski resort.
The weather was still summer, with no snow started yet, so the ski resort was naturally empty, with no sign of tourists, only a wooden sign with a little snowman painted on it tilted slantingly in the ground.
However, six figures from the White Crow Travel Brigade were gathered here at this moment: Bloodline, Jack the Ripper, Tong Zizhu, Hacker, Robert, and their leader Urushibara Osamu.
Urushibara Osamu stood on the hillside, hands in the pockets of his coat, gazing at the distant scene, "A few more kilometers ahead, you can see the superpower user prison where Ryukawa Chiba is held."
"Never seen this group member, curious what he looks like." Jack the Ripper said casually while polishing his Demon Blade.
"We haven't seen the doctor in a long time either." Bloodline laughed, "Wondering how he's been lately." The doctor was their nickname for Ryukawa Chiba, with a hint of mockery.
Tong Zizhu muttered, "Don't quite get your thinking; being in that kind of hellhole can't be good."
"Hard to say." Robert scratched his mechanical head, "With the doctor's character, he might find peace in prison; after all, few can be locked up with him in the same cage."
"That's how masochists are." Hacker shrugged.
As they chatted, two figures suddenly walked into the ski resort from a distance: a young man in a black hoodie and a girl in a reddish-brown kimono.
Xia Pingzhou walked over slowly, "You all arrived so quickly, I thought you'd be late."
"Rookie, saying that doesn't hide the fact you're an hour late, nor does it ease the awkwardness." Robert touched the antenna on his head.
"He still counts as a rookie?" Jack the Ripper tilted his head, "He already had a newer rookie die before him."
"Don't talk like that, will you? It sounds awfully ominous; I might end up dying before Xia Pingzhou like Bernardo." Tong Zizhu hugged his shoulders, shaking his head.
"Why we were late, you have to ask her."
Xia Pingzhou raised his hands in a surrender gesture, indicating with his chin at Ayase Origami beside him.
The brigade members looked at the doll-like fair kimono girl.
"Very sleepy, so slept a bit longer." Ayase Origami said succinctly, with no remorse in her clear voice.
"Ah, you guys are as sweet as ever," Bloodline spread his hands, "I'm a bit jealous."
"What's to be jealous about, Longevity Love-Chasing Old Lady, when you find your 1001 you can be just as sweet…" Hacker hadn't finished speaking when Bloodline flicked his head.
Urushibara Osamu set free a crow from his hand, watching it fly towards the distant majestic mountains, then slowly turned back.
"Since everyone's here, let's talk about tomorrow's action." He said expressionlessly.