"Um?"
Yami was slightly surprised.
Because everything Jackie Chan and the others were doing was exactly what he had expected.
Uncle Chan had already signaled Tohru—who had once belonged to the Dark Hand—to secretly make contact with Valmont and arrange a meeting between the two sides.
"Looks like something interesting is about to happen."
Yami's spirits lifted.
He didn't pay the slightest attention to Ella, whose eyes had already grown unfocused as he casually toyed with her.
...
Dressed in a green suit, Valmont stepped out of a warehouse with an imposing air.
Behind him stood three young men, each with strange outfits and equally strange temperaments.
"Oh? Well, well—look who it is," Valmont said with a crooked smile. "Isn't this our old friend, Jackie Chan?"
"Jackie," he continued mockingly, "did you come here because you've got business with the Dark Hand? Or are you finally thinking about working with us?"
Facing Valmont's teasing tone, Jackie Chan ignored the provocation entirely. He went straight to the point.
"I want to see Shendu."
"Shendu?"
Valmont froze.
The next instant, his body shuddered violently.
His pupils shrank as his eyes turned blood-red, an eerie and sinister glow flashing within them. A heavy, oppressive aura spread outward.
When he spoke again, his voice had become deep, distorted, and filled with malice.
"Jackie Chan… what do you want this time?"
"Are you here to hand over the Twelve Talismans and pledge your loyalty to me?"
Shendu had taken control of Valmont's body.
But even facing the Demon Sorcerer himself, Jackie Chan did not panic.
He took a slow breath, met Shendu's gaze, and asked calmly:
"Shendu… do you know what's happening in the heavens right now?"
He didn't immediately explain his purpose. Instead, he deliberately posed a question, trying to draw Shendu's interest.
After a brief silence, Shendu let out a low, mocking laugh.
"Hah… nothing more than corruption, evil, and endless darkness."
To a being like Shendu, good and evil had long since lost their meaning.
But what Jackie said next caught him completely off guard.
"No, Shendu."
"This time, it's an invasion from outside our world," Jackie said gravely.
"There's a mysterious force trying to devour this world entirely."
For the first time, a trace of surprise flickered within Shendu's eyes—though it was quickly buried under cold indifference.
"Hmph! Even if that's true, so what?"
"I am a demon! I once ruled this world!"
"Why would I fear outsiders?"
Jackie Chan didn't retreat in the face of Shendu's overwhelming arrogance. Instead, he pressed on.
"Shendu, you are powerful. No one denies that."
"But if we just sit back and let these outsiders run wild—"
"—then this world itself will be destroyed."
"Do you really want to watch your own territory torn apart by others?"
Jackie's voice rang out clearly.
This was Uncle Chan's carefully prepared plan.
Through conversation, they would force Shendu to acknowledge the threat—and push him into cooperation with Jackie and the others.
Even without the Talismans, Shendu himself was still a terrifying existence.
"Jackie Chan," Shendu sneered, "do you really think such childish provocation will work on me?"
"Once that being finishes ruling humanity, I can simply take the world back from him."
"I am the great Shendu!"
Seeing that Shendu felt no sense of responsibility toward protecting the world, Jackie had no choice but to reveal his final card.
"You're wrong, Shendu."
Jackie's eyes sharpened.
"Their goal was never to rule the world."
"They plan to slaughter everything—humans, life itself—and devour the entire world whole."
"When that happens, do you really think there will be any humans left for you to rule?"
"Even if you reclaim the world afterward, you'll only be left as a lonely demon standing over ruins."
"All the humans you wish to enslave… will already be extinct."
Each word struck like a blade.
For a moment, silence filled the warehouse.
Shendu slowly narrowed his eyes, clearly deep in thought.
After a long pause, he finally spoke.
"Then give me the Twelve Talismans."
"As long as I regain my full power, I will personally eliminate every last outsider."
Jackie Chan shook his head.
"Section 13 has been destroyed. Captain Black was killed."
"And the Twelve Talismans… their whereabouts are currently unknown."
"What? Unknown?!"
Shendu's expression twisted instantly.
For a moment, he suspected Jackie was lying.
"There's no reason for us to deceive you," Jackie said seriously.
"If we still had the Talismans, why would we come here and negotiate with you at all?"
He spread his hands helplessly.
No one had expected that one day they'd be forced to cooperate with both Shendu and the Dark Hand.
Shendu fell silent once more.
Finally, Jackie asked carefully:
"So, Shendu… is there any other way, besides the Talismans?"
"..."
Shendu didn't answer immediately.
Jackie's urgency told him that the situation was real.
The Twelve Talismans truly might be lost.
Recovering them wouldn't be easy.
Shendu slowly raised his head, staring at the sky above, where the blood-colored clouds were growing thicker by the second.
Anger burned within his crimson eyes.
"…Very well."
"We go to Australia."
...
"How did Uncle Jackie and the others end up dealing with the Dark Hand?"
Jade Chan was pacing anxiously, hands tangled in her hair.
She muttered nonstop, unable to calm down.
With the situation already so urgent, she couldn't understand why Jackie and the others would make such a dangerous decision.
Even Viper frowned, equally confused by what was unfolding.
--
"Australia…"
Yami's eyes lit up slightly.
He understood exactly what Jackie Chan and the others were planning.
But judging by the distance alone, it would still take them some time to arrive.
Yami lowered his gaze.
Ella's cheeks were flushed, her breathing uneven as his palms lingered against her skin.
"Owner…"
Shion, who was resting comfortably on Yami's lap, immediately noticed the subtle change in him.
Just one look at his eyes was enough.
She understood everything.
A soft smile curved her lips as she reached out, moving with practiced familiarity.
The light curtain in front of them faded away.
If war was coming, then preparations had to be made.
Weapons needed to be readied.
Blades sharpened.
Guns checked and loaded.
...
Reality
Yukinoshita Residence
Not long after Haruno and Yukino returned home, they were summoned to the guest room by their mother.
With a brief instruction, the maids were dismissed from outside the door.
Only the three of them remained.
"Yukino. Haruno."
Mrs. Yukinoshita sat upright, hands resting lightly near her teacup.
"What did you learn at Potential Academy?"
There was no pretense, no pleasantries.
Just a direct question.
Yukino instinctively opened her mouth, ready to answer honestly—
—but before she could speak, Haruno quietly reached out and pressed Yukino's hand down.
"..."
The movement was subtle.
But it did not escape their mother's sharp gaze.
Yukino looked at her sister, confused.
She didn't understand why Haruno had stopped her.
Yet at this moment, Haruno felt different from usual.
She still respected her mother—but there was no longer any trace of fear.
Haruno took a slow breath, steadying herself, then spoke.
"Mother."
"Before answering your question… may I ask you something first?"
"…Oh?"
Mrs. Yukinoshita paused slightly.
She withdrew her gaze from the two sisters and gently set her teacup down on the table.
Then—perhaps for the first time—she looked at Haruno not as a child, but as an equal.
Their eyes met.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
This was no longer a simple conversation between mother and daughters.
It felt like a formal negotiation—solemn, restrained, and razor-sharp.
Mrs. Yukinoshita's calm expression carried a quiet pressure that could suffocate most people.
But Haruno did not avert her eyes.
Instead, she asked plainly:
"Mother… recently, something happened."
"The principal of our academy has taken innocent lives."
"What is your opinion on that?"
The question landed heavily.
Yukino's heart tightened.
She had expected her mother to deflect—or remain silent, as she often did with dangerous topics.
But instead—
"I don't see a problem."
Mrs. Yukinoshita answered immediately, without the slightest hesitation.
Her tone was calm. Certain.
"Everything stems from the ignorance of the Fengshan family's daughter."
Haruno's eyes narrowed slightly.
But she didn't stop there.
She pressed forward, her next words sharper—almost provocative.
"Then let me ask this, Mother."
"If Potential Academy… or its principal… were to stand against the entire world—"
"What choice do you think should be made?"
She paused.
"No—more accurately."
"How would you choose?"
The room fell silent.
Mrs. Yukinoshita slowly lifted her gaze, fixing it squarely on Haruno.
Her eyes were like drawn blades—cold, precise, and probing.
As if trying to pierce straight through her daughter's heart and uncover her true intentions.
The pressure in the air surged.
Yet Haruno did not retreat.
She met her mother's stare head-on, her expression firm, her posture unwavering.
For the first time in her life, she felt this kind of overwhelming pressure—
—and yet she stood her ground.
The tension between them grew tighter and tighter.
Like a thread pulled to its limit.
One wrong move and it would snap.
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