Location: Philippine Sea – International Waters
Date: Tuesday | 07:00 AM
HOOOONK.
The massive foghorn of the Oki Mariner blasted across the open water.
Right next to it, matching its speed perfectly, was the flagship patrol boat of the Red Dot Taskforce. The two massive ships cruised side-by-side.
The morning sun reflected off the blue waves. The sea was calm.
THUD.
The heavy metal boarding ramp dropped, bridging the gap between the two ships.
Kaito walked across the metal grate, his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets. Right behind him were Big Red Dot, Siti, Pulse, and Tidal.
"Kaito!"
A gravelly, booming voice shook the deck.
Before Kaito could even fully step onto the Mariner, a massive blur of blue wool and muscle charged at him.
WHUMP.
Selkie grabbed Kaito and lifted him entirely off the deck in a bone-crushing hug.
"Captain," Kaito grunted, trying to breathe. "Put me down. We have guests."
"Hahaha! Sorry! Just glad to see our Honorary Officer back on a real deck!" Selkie laughed, setting Kaito back on his boots.
Sirius walked up, her teal hair blowing in the sea breeze.
She had a huge, genuine grin on her face. Mick followed right behind her, shaking his head but smiling just as wide.
"You really couldn't stay away from the salt water for more than a year, huh?" Mick joked, crossing his arms. "The guys actually missed having you around to yell at us about our paperwork."
Kaito adjusted his glasses. A real, relaxed smile touched his face.
"I missed you guys too," Kaito said. "But they built a platform on the ocean in Singapore, so here we are."
Kaito turned and gestured to the massive man standing behind him.
"Captain Selkie, this is Big Red Dot. Rank 1 Hero in Singapore. Big Red Dot, Captain Selkie."
Big Red Dot stepped forward. He looked at Selkie. Selkie looked at him.
"....."
"....."
They were both absolute giants.
Big Red Dot had his thick lion mane and fangs. Selkie had his spotted seal bulk and webbed hands. They both commanded the ocean.
CLAP.
The two captains grabbed each other's hands for a handshake.
The sound was so loud it echoed off the hull. They squeezed hard, both of them grinning.
"I read your files, Captain!" Big Red Dot boomed. "Ripping steel nets with your bare hands? That's the kind of raw power I respect!"
"And I saw your arrest records!" Selkie roared back. "You hold down an entire country's coastline! It's an honor to share the water with a fellow beast!"
KYUNN!
Selkie suddenly tilted his head, his face scrunching into his bizarrely cute, wide-eyed seal expression.
"...."
Big Red Dot froze.
He blinked twice, completely confused by the giant man acting adorable.
"Uh... what was that?" Big Red Dot asked, looking at Kaito for help.
Selkie snapped back to his stern, tough-guy face and burst into loud, shaking laughter.
Big Red Dot caught on and started laughing too. The deck shook from the noise.
Sirius let out a long sigh and rubbed her temples.
"Oh no," Sirius muttered. "There's two of them now. They're going to be impossible."
Siti walked up next to Sirius, crossing her arms. "You have no idea. Is he always this loud?"
"Always," Sirius nodded. "I'm Sirius. I handle the sonar and comms."
"Siti. Tactics and recon," Siti smiled, shaking her hand. "We should probably compare our patrol routes before those two decide to arm-wrestle and break the ship."
"Agreed."
A few feet away, Pulse was practically vibrating with excitement.
He walked straight past the captains and stared up at the massive radar dish spinning on top of the Mariner.
"Mick-san, right?" Pulse asked, pointing at the equipment. "Is that the actual Silent Command rig? The one that filters out the engine noise?"
"Sure is," Mick said, looking proud. "Arisaka built it for us. It changed everything."
"Can I see the server room?" Pulse asked, looking like a kid in a candy store. "We just linked our feed to yours, but I really want to see the hardware."
"Yeah, come on down," Mick waved him over. "Just don't touch the red cables. The captain spilled coffee on the console last week and it sparks sometimes."
Kaito watched the two crews mingle. There was no tension. No rivalry. They were just professionals hanging out.
Big Red Dot walked over to Kaito, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye.
"He's a good guy," Big Red Dot said. He looked out at the water. "But Kaito, we're crossing the maritime border. This is the Philippine Sea now. Their Exclusive Economic Zone. We can't just sail in here uninvited."
Kaito pulled a tablet from his coat pocket and tapped the screen.
"I know," Kaito said. "That's why I made a few calls last night. I spoke directly with the Agila Agency in Manila, the top guys over there. We have full clearance from the Philippine Hero Commission for a temporary joint patrol."
Big Red Dot raised an eyebrow. "You got a foreign government to sign off on us roaming their waters in one night?"
"They want us here," Kaito explained, turning the tablet to show a map of Southeast Asia. "The Agila Agency is dealing with the same smuggling rings we are. And they aren't the only ones watching."
Kaito pointed to the coastlines of Taiwan and Vietnam on the screen.
"If we prove the Pacific Shield works today," Kaito said, "they want in. All of them. We aren't just linking Japan and Singapore today. We're laying the groundwork for an entire Southeast Asian Hero Alliance."
Big Red Dot stared at the map. The scale of what Kaito was building finally hit him.
"You're trying to lock down the whole hemisphere," Big Red Dot whispered.
"Just the dangerous parts," Kaito said, putting the tablet away.
He walked over to the railing and looked out at the open ocean.
Behind him, the Japanese and Singaporean sidekicks were laughing and sharing data.
*-*-*-*
Location: Europe – Gollini Family Underground Headquarters
Date: Wednesday | 02:00 PM
SLAM.
Valdo Gollini threw a heavy remote control onto the long mahogany table. It clattered across the polished wood.
The boardroom was dark, smelling heavily of cigar smoke and expensive cologne.
A month ago, the Capos sitting around this table were celebrating. They had just raided the League of Villains' European branches and stolen their research.
Now, nobody was smiling. They all looked terrified, staring up at the massive flat-screen on the wall.
"Someone explain this to me," Valdo said. His voice was low, but it had a sharp edge that made the men flinch. "We hit their Trigger factories. We took the data we needed. Now, three of our new safehouses are completely gone. Not attacked. Gone. Flattened."
Deborah stood near the screen at the front of the room.
Tap. Tap.
She tapped a tablet, and a grainy black-and-white security video started playing.
"It's a heavy retaliation, Boss," Deborah reported. "The League isn't just defending their remaining labs. They are actively exterminating our men. There are no survivors from the Milan or Lyon hits. None. We only have this recovered black-box footage."
On the screen, two guys wearing simple, featureless masks walked through a fortified bunker door.
One of them just threw a casual punch. The shockwave shattered the steel vault and leveled the entire hallway, turning ten modified guards into paste.
The second masked figure blurred out of existence, appearing behind a squad of shooters and snapping their necks in half a second before vanishing again.
Paulo was slumped in a leather chair. He looked terrible. Thick, dark purple veins bulged on his neck and crawled up his jaw.
Anna's Overmodification was giving him power, but it was physically tearing his body apart. He rubbed his neck, sweating and breathing hard as he watched the screen.
"Look at how they move, Boss," Paulo wheezed, pointing a shaking finger at the video. "That's not normal. It's like watching dead bodies walk around with raw, stupid strength and crazy speed."
The other Capos murmured among themselves. They used to be the top predators because of Anna's upgrades, but now their guys were getting crushed like bugs by two silent puppets.
Valdo didn't panic.
He just stared at the frozen frame of the masked freaks.
He remembered a phone call from years ago. An invitation from Japan that he turned down.
"The League of Villains," Valdo said quietly, almost to himself. "The Number One Rank Terrorist is finally taking this personally."
"You think the big boss over in Japan sent them?" Bruno asked.
Bruno stood by the door. His skin was dark grey and thick with jagged, reactive armor plates.
He looked like a walking tank. Next to him was Gil, who looked bone-thin and sick, but the air around him felt terribly dry. If Gil touched anything, his Quirk would turn it to dust instantly.
"Of course he did," Valdo said, turning around. "We raided his backyard and stole his Enhanced Trigger formula. He thinks he can send two masked puppets to punish me for rejecting his little club years ago. He wants to humiliate us and burn our research."
Valdo pointed right at Paulo's bulging purple veins.
"But we aren't backing down," Valdo told the room. "Look at Paulo. Anna and the doctors are already reverse-engineering the Trigger data we took from the League. We are so close to stabilizing this power and making it permanent. If we let these masked freaks destroy our labs now, the Overmodification will kill Paulo and the rest of us anyway."
Paulo nodded slowly, clenching his fists. They had the formula; they just needed time to finish it.
"So we kill the masked freaks," Bruno grinned. He cracked his massive, armored knuckles. "Me and Gil can take them. My armor will break the strong guy's hands. Gil can turn the ground to ash so the fast guy can't run."
"No," Valdo said flatly.
Bruno blinked, looking confused. "No?"
"This isn't some honor duel in an arena, Bruno," Valdo said, walking up to him. "This is Europe. This is our home. We own eighty percent of this continent."
Valdo looked around the room, making eye contact with every Capo.
"I'm not sending you two in alone right now," Valdo commanded. "Take thousands of our modified grunts. We will surround those two masked idiots and swarm them. Bury them under a mountain of bodies. Let them get tired hitting the foot soldiers. Bit by bit. We have people."
Gil gave a slow, raspy chuckle. "Tire them out. Then we step in and finish it."
"Exactly," Valdo said, his eyes cold and absolute. "You swarm them... You slaughter them... We buy the doctors the time they need to finish the cure. We consume it and you guys finish those two together with another thousands of men and bring their heads back to this table. Once the formula is fully ours, I want the League of Villains entirely erased from my continent."
"Consider it done, Boss," Bruno grunted.
Bruno and Gil turned and walked out of the heavy double doors, eager for the cure to be ready.
Valdo watched them go.
He was completely unaware that he was just sending hundreds of his own men directly into the ultimate field test for All For One's new clones.
*-*-*-*
Location: Naruhata – O'Clock Records Studio
Date: Thursday | 11:00 AM
SCRIBBLE. SCRIBBLE.
Makoto Tsukauchi signed her name on the last page of the thick permit application.
She tossed the pen onto her desk and stretched her arms way over her head, letting out a loud, satisfied groan.
"Done," Makoto said, smiling over at Kazuho. "The ward council literally handed me the park permits without even checking the noise curfew this time."
Kazuho was sitting on the couch, flipping through a clipboard full of schedules. She looked up and laughed.
"Well, after you bullied the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and organized a hundred-thousand-seat stadium at the Sky Egg last year, a local park is basically a vacation for you," Kazuho pointed out.
"Tell me about it," Makoto sighed happily, grabbing her coffee mug. "This is just a free charity concert for the locals. How are our acts doing?"
"Great," Kazuho smiled. "The Feathers are ready to go. The Mad Hatters are actually doing a special acoustic set so they don't blow out the neighborhood windows. Nanboku-san is closing the afternoon slot. Everyone is just excited to play for the ward again. Zero stress."
BASS-THUMP.
A heavy, fast-paced beat shook the walls, coming all the way from the vocal booth down the hall.
Kazuho looked at the door and giggled. "Well, zero stress out here. The guys are definitely suffering in there, though."
Inside the soundproof vocal booth, it was complete chaos.
Soga was standing in front of the mic, looking extremely annoyed. Moyuru and Rapt were right behind him, trying to practice a bouncy, crossed-arm shoulder-wiggle dance.
"I am not doing this stupid dance," Soga complained, glaring hard at the lyric sheet on the stand. "I used to run these streets with a knife. People were scared of me. Now you want me to wiggle my shoulders like a cartoon character. I look like a total idiot."
"Come on, Soga!" Rapt laughed hard, bumping him with his shoulder. "It's going to be viral! Kaito-san specifically said the hip-hop crowd eats this stuff up. You want the crowd to hype you up, right?"
"I look cool when I punch bad guys," Soga grumbled, crossing his arms stubbornly. "Not when I shake my hips."
Koichi was standing at the other mic. He was bobbing his head to the fast, catchy beat, completely ignoring Soga's complaints. He actually looked totally in his element.
"Just follow the rhythm, guys," Koichi smiled. "The lyrics are super fast, but once you catch the breath markers, it's really fun!"
The beat dropped into a crazy, high-energy hook.
Koichi leaned into the mic and perfectly nailed the rapid-fire lyrics without stuttering once.
"Bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang-born!
Bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang-born!"
Koichi stepped back, pointing finger guns at them. "See? Just like that!"
Soga just stared at him. "How do you even breathe while saying that?"
Moyuru chuckled, fixing his heavy headphones over his ears. "Koichi is just weird. But seriously, how does the Golden Manager come up with this stuff? He handed Makoto this track three weeks ago when he was supposed to be on a relaxing vacation with his grandma and her right?"
"The guy isn't normal," Soga said, finally giving in and trying the shoulder-wiggle dance again. He sighed heavily. "He's over in Singapore right now running an entire ocean, and he still expects us to nail a viral dance routine this concert."
"I bet he just writes rap lyrics in the margins of his tax spreadsheets instead of sleeping," Koichi laughed.
"Probably," Soga groaned. "Whatever. The song is actually really good. Let's run it from the top! We have to get the timing right before Kazuho comes in here and yells at us for slacking off."
"Got it!" Rapt cheered.
Moyuru hit the playback button, and the heavy bass filled the small room again. Soga rolled his eyes, took a deep breath, and started wiggling his shoulders to the beat.
BEEP.
BASS-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP.
The heavy, infectious beat blasted through the studio monitors. Rapt clapped his hands together, hyping up the intro.
"Yeah, boy!" Rapt and Moyuru yelled into their shared mic.
Soga rolled his neck. He still looked annoyed, but the second the beat dropped, his street instincts took over. He leaned into the mic, his voice rough and aggressive.
Soga rapped, his gruff tone fitting the harsh rhythm perfectly.
"Chiito, gifted, arawaza, wanted,
Kinki, kinjite, akiraka mouten. Hansoku, ijigen, kono yo no naka no mon de wa nai desu. Muri gee, sore kiitenai tte!"
[Cheats, gifted, rough skills, wanted
Taboo, forbidden ways, blind spots
Violations, another dimension, not of this world
Impossible Game, you haven't heard of it!]
Moyuru chanted from the back, throwing his hands up.
"Ay, raibaru kuchi wo soroete!"
[Ay, rivals echoing each other]
Rapt echoed, bouncing on his heels.
"Wow, raibaru kuchi wo soroete!"
[Wow, rivals echoing each other]
Soga kept going, spitting the words with a heavy punch.
Koichi slid right up to his mic, a massive smile on his face.
He caught the transition effortlessly, his voice pitching up with pure, upbeat energy.
Koichi sang, doing the crossed-arm shoulder wiggle.
"It's namami, it's namami, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah!"
[It's real, it's real, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah]
Soga groaned internally, but he forced his arms to cross.
Rapt and Moyuru lined up next to him.
All four of them hit the chorus at the exact same time, their voices blending into a loud, rowdy harmony while they did the ridiculous viral dance.
"Bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang-born!
Bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang-born!"
They nailed the timing. Soga actually found himself tapping his foot. The rhythm was just too catchy to ignore.
"Kagami yo kagami kotaechatte," Koichi sang out, pointing finger guns at the soundproof glass.
"Who's the best? I'm the best! Oh yeah!" Rapt and Moyuru shouted together.
"Namami no mama ikeru toko made," Koichi finished, grinning. "To the next, to the ichiban ue!"
"Now singin'!" Moyuru yelled.
"Bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang, bling-bang-bang-born!" all four of them roared together, the small booth vibrating from their combined volume.
....
The backing track faded out as the training session ended.
Inside the booth, Koichi was out of breath, leaning on his mic stand and laughing.
Rapt and Moyuru were high-fiving each other hard.
Soga wiped a layer of sweat off his forehead. He looked at the lyric sheet, then looked over at Koichi.
"Okay," Soga admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I hate the dance. But the song goes incredibly hard. Kaito actually knows what he's doing."
"Told you!" Koichi cheered, giving him a thumbs up. "We're going to blow the roof off the park this concert!"
*-*-*-*
Location: Tokyo – Sir Nighteye's Agency
Date: Friday | 03:00 PM
SLURP.
All Might sat on the comfortable sofa in the pristine office.
He was relaxed, looking completely healthy, wearing a simple yellow button-down shirt.
He took a sip of the green tea on the table.
Sir Nighteye sat across from him. The tall, sharp-featured hero adjusted his glasses. He poured himself a cup, the atmosphere between the two old friends feeling warm and easy.
"It's good to see you, Toshinori," Nighteye said, offering a rare, genuine smile. "Though I doubt you came all the way here just to drink my tea."
"Hahaha.. You know me too well, Mirai," All Might chuckled. The laugh faded into a more serious expression. "I need your help. I need your network and your Foresight."
Nighteye leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "All For One."
"Yes," All Might nodded. "Ever since the America incident, he has gone completely underground again. The League of Villains is moving, but they are hiding their tracks perfectly. I need to find his true main base. I want to end this before he hurts anyone else again."
"I have my people digging into the black markets," Nighteye replied smoothly. "The Yakuza groups are stirring, and a lot of illegal money is changing hands. But let's not forget who untangled the League's financial web for me in the first place that caused the massive worldwide purge of League of Villains."
Nighteye pushed his glasses up his nose, the lenses catching the light.
"Arisaka."
All Might let out a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "Actually... that brings me to the other reason I came here today. Principal Nezu proposed something."
Nighteye raised an eyebrow. "Nezu? What is the principal planning now?"
"He wants me to hire young Arisaka," All Might said. "He wants Kaito to analyze One For All. To give me advice on how to develop the Quirk itself and push its limits further."
Nighteye sat back. He didn't look surprised. He actually looked thoughtful.
"And you are hesitating."
"Mirai, I've known Kaito since he was just a kid in high school," All Might sighed, his voice full of genuine concern. "I know he has a good heart. I know he's a good kid. But One For All is the most guarded secret in the world. If someone finds out it can be passed on... it would cause mass panic. Villains would hunt down young heroes just for a chance to steal it. Is it really right to drop a dangerous burden like this onto a civilian?"
CLINK.
Nighteye set his teacup down.
"Toshinori," Nighteye said, dropping the formal tone entirely. "You are looking at this the wrong way. Arisaka isn't just a normal civilian anymore."
All Might looked up. "What do you mean?"
"Look at what he has done," Nighteye explained, ticking the points off on his fingers. "He found the League's money trails when the I couldn't. He didn't just fix Endeavor; he turned that agency into something better. He pushed Best Jeanist to Number Two. He gave Edgeshot lethal precision, and he turned Ryukyu and the Pussycats into national powerhouses. Almost all the hero agencies locally and internationally that Kaito have contracted pushed their quirks and agencies perfectly."
Nighteye pointed a finger at the desk.
"Kaito's professional standard is absolute," Nighteye said firmly. "If you trust him with the secret, he will take it to his grave. But more importantly, Toshinori... he probably won't even care about the history of the power."
All Might blinked. "He won't?"
"No," Nighteye let out a dry, short chuckle. "He doesn't care about lore or magic. He cares about physics. He's going to look at One For All as a raw energy source. He won't ask about the past users. He's going to ask how your body channels the output, why your limits are where they are, and how to safely push the Quirk past a hundred percent."
"....."
All Might stared at his tea. He knew his old sidekick was making a lot of sense.
He had always relied on the raw, overwhelming force of the Quirk, but All For One was adapting.
"Toshinori, the enemy is evolving," Nighteye said, his voice completely serious now. "If you want to defeat him permanently, the Symbol of Peace needs to evolve too. Hire him. Let Arisaka break your ceiling."
All Might slowly nodded. His blue eyes filled with fresh determination. The heavy weight of the secret felt a lot lighter now.
"Alright," All Might smiled, standing up. "I'll call Nezu. We'll set up the meeting."
*-*-*-*
Location: Singapore – High-End Seafood Restaurant
Date: One Month Later | 08:00 PM
BEEP.
The large TV mounted in the corner of the private dining room was playing the international news.
["A historic success for international maritime law," the news anchor said.]
The screen showed a massive four-way press conference.
The Japanese HPSC President and the Singapore Hero Council Chairman were on stage. Standing right next to them were the heads of the Philippine Hero Commission, represented by the Agila Agency, and the Indonesian Hero Council, represented by the Garuda Agency.
["The Pacific Shield data-sharing agreement is officially expanding," Madam President said, smiling warmly at the cameras. "We owe a great debt to the cooperative spirit of our Southeast Asian neighbors. And, of course, to the strategic planning of Japan's own Golden Manager, Kaito Arisaka.""]
Kaito didn't even look at the screen.
CRACK.
SNAP.
He was using a metal tool to break open a massive chili crab claw.
He was wearing a cheap plastic bib over his shirt, completely focused on the food.
"You're an international celebrity now," Siti laughed, bumping his shoulder. "And you're covered in chili sauce."
"Yeah, well, the news didn't mention I'm currently losing a fistfight to a dead crab," Kaito grunted, trying to pull the meat out of the shell. "This thing has better armor than half the villains we catch."
Big Red Dot let out a booming laugh, scooping a huge pile of fried rice onto his plate.
"Hahaha.... We had a really good run today," Big Red Dot rumbled happily. "But that bust near the southern docks got a little too close for comfort. You guys see what those smugglers were packing?"
Raju stopped eating. His face got serious. "The gas bombs. Yeah, I bagged the evidence."
Pulse shivered. "That stuff is nasty. It's not the normal liquid Trigger."
"I almost breathed it in before my mask sealed," Raju said, shaking his head. "If that aerosol goes off in a crowd, it violently incapacitates anyone who breathes it. It forces their Quirks to malfunction and just knock them unconscious."
Siti pointed her fork at Kaito. "We were talking about it on the boat. Since we locked down the Pacific, the League of Villains can't smuggle their normal liquid Trigger anymore. So they got desperate. They weaponized the Enhanced Trigger into a gas to cause mass chaos without needing needles. It's pure terrorism."
Kaito finally got a piece of crab meat out. He popped it into his mouth and nodded.
"You guys are connecting the dots faster than Interpol," Kaito smiled, genuinely impressed. "Keep thinking like that. The enemy is adapting, so we have to stay sharp."
Big Red Dot tossed his napkin on the table and leaned forward. His massive elbows took up half the space.
"Alright, enough business talk about smugglers," Big Red Dot grinned. He looked at his team. "The logistics phase is done. The Mother Base is running itself. The international borders are locked."
He dropped his voice to an excited whisper.
"That means tomorrow... Phase Two begins."
Kaito picked up his glass of water. "Quirk development."
"YES!" Raju cheered, pumping his fist quietly so the waiters wouldn't hear.
Siti literally bounced in her chair. "We are so ready for this. We read the reports, Kaito. We know what you did for Star and Stripe. You gave her the guidance to fight All For One one-on-one. We are starving for that kind of upgrade."
Pulse leaned across the table, his eyes wide. "Can you make me shoot radar beams out of my eyes?"
Kaito looked at him. "I'm a haken specialist manager, Pulse. Not a comic book writer."
"HAHAHA!" The whole table burst out laughing.
Kaito set his glass down. He wiped his hands on a warm towel.
"I've been watching your combat footage for the last month," Kaito told them. "You guys rely way too much on your raw physical stats."
He pointed at the giant captain. "Big Red Dot, your quirk usage and development is not enough. Your footwork is sloppy."
Big Red Dot slapped the table, laughing. "Guilty!"
Kaito looked at Siti. "And your kicks are so loud you basically announce them to the bad guys before you even swing."
Instead of getting mad, Siti grinned. "So help me."
"I'm going to completely tear your bad habits apart," Kaito promised, leaning back in his chair. "But since you guys are paying for dinner tonight, I'll try to be nice about it. We start at tomorrow. Do not be late."
CLINK.
Big Red Dot raised his glass high. "To the Pacific Shield Alliance! And to getting our brains kicked tomorrow morning!"
"Cheers!" Siti, Pulse, and Raju shouted.
.....
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(9 Advanced Chapters)