A Saiyan's Journey

At night, Shin sat in front of his computer when he received a call from Kiryu.

Kiryu was a perceptive person. He would never call Shin without a good reason. Even if the organization encountered a new Stand user, he wouldn't report it to Shin.

It wasn't that he wanted to hide anything from Shin, but Kiryu knew it wasn't necessary—after all, the one responsible for awakening Stands was Shin's Blackbird: Black Sabbath, and every awakened Stand user would have Blackbird: Lovers implanted.

If Kiryu's group awakened a few Stand users, could Shin not know? Calling Shin to report such things would only serve to disturb him.

So, if Kiryu was calling, it must be something important—like the last time the Shinomiya family reached out to him.

Shin's hands were still on the keyboard, and his game character was still battling in a dungeon. He couldn't spare a hand.

Thus, Shin summoned Blackbird Requiem, which picked up the phone and held it to his ear:

"Kiryu, calling me this late—what's going on?"

"Master Shin, we've made progress on the information about the 'virus' you asked us to collect earlier. The news comes from a police chief."

Kiryu's voice came through the phone, leaving Shin momentarily stunned before he remembered he had indeed given that order.

It was something he had instructed after meeting Saeko Busujima at the kendo dojo. After all, he didn't want this world to suffer a zombie outbreak that would wipe out most of the population in one fell swoop.

He genuinely liked the daily life atmosphere of this world. In the mission worlds, he was either training or using force against people, but in the everyday world, he could temporarily put aside his violent tendencies.

If one were constantly ruled by violent emotions, they'd become twisted. So, he wouldn't allow this peaceful world to turn into a zombie apocalypse.

But after a week, Shin had almost forgotten about this.

To be fair, it wasn't entirely Shin's fault for forgetting. Although it had only been a week in the outside world, Shin had spent several months training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

After several months, forgetting a few things was normal, wasn't it?

"Interesting... tell me the details."

Shin's fingers continued tapping on the keyboard. While listening to Kiryu's report, he skillfully maneuvered his game character to dodge the dungeon boss's mechanics.

With his current reaction speed, even while focusing a good portion of his attention on Kiryu's report, he could effortlessly avoid anything that tested reflexes in the game.

…

As the game dungeon concluded, so did Kiryu's report.

"I see. So, a pharmaceutical company developed something that looks like a 'vaccine' but is actually a 'virus.'"

Shin typed 'BRB, restroom' into the game, then personally took the phone from Blackbird Requiem's hand.

"This thing caused a recently deceased patient to show instinctive reactions during clinical trials, as if they'd come back to life."

"Yes, but the matter was suppressed. Apart from a few people, no one else knows about it," Kiryu's voice continued.

"I heard that the pharmaceutical company plans to develop this 'virus' further. The police chief, Tadashi Miyamoto, stumbled upon this while investigating the company's tax evasion."

"What's the name of the pharmaceutical company?"

While chatting with Kiryu, Shin had Blackbird Requiem open a web browser. His hands typed on the keyboard, searching for recent news about pharmaceutical companies.

But all he found were trivial updates—stock rises and falls, or announcements of new products from various companies.

It made sense. Experiments like these wouldn't be publicized, especially not technology as controversial as "reviving the dead."

Even without detailed investigation, Shin suspected this "virus" was the same thing that caused the zombie apocalypse in that story.

The fact that this information came from Tadashi Miyamoto only reinforced his suspicion—if he remembered correctly, this guy was the father of Rei Miyamoto, one of the female protagonists in the original work.

In a way, it was fate. Ever since he obtained a Stand from the JoJo universe, Shin had started to believe in fate to some extent.

But he was an outsider—this world's fate had no hold over him.

"It's Black Jack Pharmaceuticals. I heard the founder was saved by a black-market doctor named Black Jack decades ago, so he named the company after him," Kiryu relayed what he had learned from Tadashi Miyamoto.

"But the company underwent significant personnel changes recently. The researchers working on the virus were relocated, and their whereabouts are unclear. We might need the Shinomiya family's help."

Though the pharmaceutical company had developed a significant virus, if the Shinomiya family got involved, it wouldn't be hard to find leads.

"No need. I'll handle it."

Shin flatly refused. While it wouldn't hurt to have the Shinomiya family lend a hand, they were just an ordinary conglomerate of people. Finding clues through them might take ages.

If it had been Shin from yesterday, he might have accepted Kiryu's suggestion—letting the Shinomiya family find the target before personally eliminating it.

Back then, even though he had many abilities, without knowing the target's location, all that power was useless.

But now, things were different. Shin directly activated Blackbird Requiem's ability.

—He set the "result" that Black Jack Pharmaceuticals' virus and all related data would be destroyed!

From Blackbird Requiem's body, a strange wave of energy spread out, unnoticed by anyone. Only Shin felt a portion of his Ki vanish from his body.

Though the loss was negligible given Shin's total Ki, if converted into a Kamehameha, the destructive power would be significant.

Normally, destroying a virus research facility wouldn't require this much Ki, but since Shin didn't know the facility's location, some of that Ki must have been used for the search.

"Tomorrow, keep an eye on any sudden explosions at Black Jack Pharmaceuticals' research sites… or even labs not officially under their name."

Although Blackbird Requiem's ability had clearly taken effect, Shin didn't feel anything special.

If nothing unexpected happened, he should hear relevant news tomorrow. With that, he gave Kiryu his instructions and ended the call.

To be continued…

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