Senku's plan fell into motion as the explosion went off.
"Run!" Senku gave the signal, and Yae, Magma, Gen, and Chrome took off as fast as they could to gain as much ground as possible before Homura noticed. "Do it now while the enemy is distracted by the sound bombs!"
"We'll deliver that exclusive cellphone even if it kills us!" Chrome assured them.
Magma didn't like the idea they were running away from a fight. "Why do we gotta sneak out like this anyway?"
"Has the plan gone completely over your head, Magma?" Yae jabbed her finger at him.
"Homura is likely to pursue us if she spots us," Asagiri explained.
Chrome spoke up. "We broke our backs making this cellphone. And if our cover's blown, it's all over."
Magma clenched his fists. "If Homura gets in our way, we'll kill her. There, problem solved!"
A vein popped over Yae's brow. "You simple-minded..." She didn't bother finishing her insult.
"Indeed." Said Asagiri. "Though surely this ruse will rouse her from her hiding spot."
Yae continued to fight deep snow as she walked. She smirked. "If I didn't know any better, Gen, I'd say you were pretty excited about this."
He chuckled. "Maybe. After all, they're especially wary of our gunpowder, am I right? So after they hear those explosions, the scout will have no choice but to investigate."
Yae gave him a toothy grin. "I do love a deceitful plan."
Meanwhile, Suika and Kohaku observed the forest up in the observatory.
"If she shows herself, she'll be somewhere between that hill and the bomb zone."
A high pitched gasp escaped Suika's mouth. "Suika sees someone moving super fast!"
Kohaku immediately took action and jumped from the observatory. She took off running like the true lioness she is and sprinted toward Homura, their target.
The small girl dressed in pink was easy enough to spot in the pure white snow. Kohaku unsheathed her dagger, closing the gap between her and Homura. But Homura saw this and dodged Kohaku's swift attack as she jumped into the air, bending backward effortlessly. If Kohaku wanted to succeed, she would need more than her blade to get the job done.
"I'm not trying to kill you," Kohaku called out to her.
Homura didn't even bother glancing back. "I know."
"Then why don't you just come quietly?" She wanted to know.
"Why should I?" Homura answered her question with another question.
All of that running and talking was not all for nothing. Kohaku managed to lead her back towards the village.
"They're coming this way!" Suika called out at the top of her lungs so everyone could hear her.
Not far from the action, Senku ran at top speed, a device in his hands. He tossed it into the air and aimed it at Homura as she made her way to him. "Curious to know what this is? Turn your peepers this way and stare real hard at my shocking science item level two." He shielded his eyes with safety gear. "The flash grenade!"
A flash of light lit up the surrounding area, blinding anyone standing too close. Homura fell from her position, blinded. Senku took this as his opportunity and pounced on her.
"Senku is as weak as a flea, but he did it," Ginro said.
"Yay! That was so cool, Senku." Suika praised him.
Homura craned her head to look back at Senku. "Watch where you're touching me!"
Senku rolled his eyes and smirked. "That won't work on me. After our scientific civilization is up and running, there will be plenty of men you can flirt with there. Besides, I already have someone."
Homura pursed her lips, none too pleased with the situation.
The hold-down didn't last long though, as Homura quickly, and with ease, gave Senku the slip, quiet literally. The poor scientist's feet flew right over his head, and he landed fast first into the snow.
"Weak as a flea!" Ginro cried
Homura dodged passed everyone and jumped back into a tree where she was safe for now.
"This is not a matter of strength." Said Kokuyo. "It's the way this woman moves!" Everyone looked up at her, dazed and shocked. She started naming off everyone who was there, counting the heads of all those who wished to stop her from doing her job.
"Where...?" Her voice was caught in her throat as she suddenly realized those who were missing and took off in a mad dash.
"It seems she figured out that our mission team has moved on." Said Kinro.
Ginro's eyes grew double in size. "This is real, real bad!"
Homura was out of sight within seconds, and there was no way to track her. The young woman was too quick and nimble.
"So there's no hope in picking up Homura's scent," Kohaku grumbled. "Chrome and the others should be making a beeline to Tsukasa's empire's home base. It's only a matter of time now before she learns about the cellphones. If she destroys it or even reports back to Tsukasa, we're done for!"
Kaseki didn't like the sound of that. "No! Not after all our hard work. I can't bear to imagine."
Kinro pushed his glasses further up his nose. "We must catch her before that happens!"
"So while Homura is going after them, we'll be chasing down her? Damn...that sounds tough." Ginro was none too excited about this ordeal.
Senku chuckled. He had another trick up his sleeves. "Not to worry. Our ultimate weapon level three is here!" He brought forth a giant scope with light beaming out of it. When shone ahead, Homura's tracks could be seen.
"What's that glowing light?" Ginro was fascinated along with everyone else.
"It shows the route Homura took!" Kinro was impressed.
"Yes! With this, we can hunt her down!" Kohaku didn't hold back when it came to showing her excitement.
"There's no time to lose, guys!" Senku pointed forward. "We're in for a fun chase within a chase. Ready, set, go!"
The game of tag was only just beginning.
Homura bounced from one tree branch to the next. Kohaku was hot on her heels, but always just out of reach. Thankfully the glowing spots made it possible to know exactly where she was going without the use of extreme stamina.
"These glowing spots really do tell us what path Homura took. This is amazing. Pursuing her will be easy!" The lioness was excited as ever to follow this new glowing trail.
Little Suika tilted her head to the side, confused. "How're those spots glowing in the first place?"
Senku laughed. "You guys gotta pay closer attention. You've seen this before.
"Oh! The twinkling blue jewel!" Suika said.
"Yep." Senku nodded. "In powder form." He crumpled it further and let it slip through his fingers for demonstration.
Kohaku's eyes lit up. "Oh, I get it now. You put that all over Homura's hands and feet when you were wrestling with her, huh?"
"But that stone only shines when hit by the rising sun." Kaseki pointed out.
"There is a way to replicate that artificially with science." Explained Senku. "It's called black light."
The group didn't waste a second more and followed the trail Homura left for them.
On their way, there was something that had been weighing down on Kohaku's mind. She approached Senku as she normally did, but this time her gut was yelling at her to speak her mind.
"Senku, there's something you need to know. Homura's movements are out of the ordinary. Capturing her may not be possible."
Senku guessed the lioness might bring this up, so he said, "Yeah, Homura is a gymnast. A technique you haven't seen in this era."
"Hmm." Kohaku thought. "If I stop using the back of my blade, I could easily lop off her head and be done with it." She paused. "Are you okay with killing?"
Senku looked at her, serious now. "Have you ever killed a person in cold blood before?"
Hearing those words come out of his mouth shocked Kohaku. "Of course not!" She steadied her voice. "Which is why I would hesitate at that moment. I know this to be a weakness of mine. In order to stifle those qualms, I need total reassurance from you..."
Senku's cocky grin returned. "Relax. If all goes well, you won't have to use that nasty thing on your side at all. Remember how the whole village slaved away on this? We're hauling this gigantic box out here for a reason."
Once the sun had set and Senku's group made camp, it was finally time to rest. A fire was started to escape the chilling night air, and few skinned rabbits were spiked to roast over the fire.
"This race is like two games of tag." Said Senku. "Yae and the gang are hauling the other phone with Homura chasing after them, and we're after Homura." He looked around the campfire at his fellow teammates. "Can anyone tell me what happens if we use two radio waves to communicate our positions to each other?"
Kohaku hopped to her feet. "This game of tag suddenly becomes the perfect pincer attack!"
Senku laughed. "That's info warfare for ya!"
Little words were exchanged after that. They ate their meal and headed to bed. They would need their rest if they wanted to catch Homura.
Meanwhile, Yae and the team were busy setting up a decoy. They had followed through with Senku's plan without a fault. Now, all they had to do was wait. It was clear that Homura was after them, and they would lure her in further bu setting up a fake cell phone. The trap was risky, and they were unsure if it would work. But they couldn't afford to do any second-guessing. With Magma's help, it was easy enough to set it along with Gen's and Yae's careful instructions.
The finishing touches were set up by Gen.
"Damn. We're out of luck. Why don't you stick the signal above the treetops, dear Chrome?" asked Gen.
While Chrome was busy setting up the signal, Yae took it upon herself to focus on her surroundings. She could feel Homura's presence. She was close, which didn't surprise Yae. She figured the nimble girl would be able to catch up with them fairly quickly. That meant something else too. Senku and the others were nearby also.
Suddenly, a loud crack from a branch made Yae twirl on her heels and look up from where the sound came from. Past a few trees, Homura was spotted falling. Magma and even Kinro were there to strike down the branch.
Out of nowhere, Kohaku dashed forward, taking Homura hostage by locking her arms behind her. The catch was a success! Yae rested her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to make move if Homura escaped. But there was no need. Homura was completely surrounded now. And for a brief moment, Yae locked eyes with Senku. She nodded his way and he returned her gentle gesture.
Their ultimate weapon for info warfare was finally arriving. Soon they would be at Tsukasa's Empire where the true test for endurance was about to begin.
As Tsukasa's Empire came into view, so did a feeling of being in a hostile environment.
"We finally made it!" Cheered Chrome. "The Home Base of Tsukasa."
"Shh! Keep it down, will ya?" Yae nudged him in the shoulder.
"Yeah, keep it down!" Gen quickly shushed him. "Some of Tsukasa's followers have excellent hearing."
"Whoops! Sorry! It would be super bad if we got caught after coming this far, huh?" He took a few steps back, not wanting to within arm's length of Yae or Gen in case they decide to put a muffle on him. But his heart skipped a beat when the back of his head touched a stone figure. "Oh, damn. A whole mountain of fierce-looking statues."
Magma bent over to examine one of them. "There seems to be something written on them."
"That must be the number indicating revival priority. I didn't see that the last time I was here."
Yae swiped out her dagger, her eyes scanning every rock and corner. "This is his army."
"And look here," said Gen. "The lowest number is thirty-three. Which means he has already revived thirty-two people. Hmm. That's faster than I anticipated."
Chrome took a good look at all the statues. "So even if we do recruit some of Tsukasa's members, he can just keep reviving new warriors."
"That seems to be the case." Gen sighed.
"Then why don't we just smash 'em all to bits?" Magma said. As if that were such an easy task.
Yae gripped her dagger tighter. "Are you insane?" She shook her head. "No, don't answer that."
"But what if we just snap off their arms and legs?"
"Idiot!" Yae hissed. "You'd still be killing them. "Senku doesn't want bloodshed."
Gen and Chrome stared at Magma, sweat drops forming on their foreheads.
"You truly have no mercy fro your enemies." Said Gen. "But, speaking pragmatically, at the end of the day, destroying them is our best option." Yae gaped at him, and the mentalist could only turn his gaze away from her disappointed stare.
"Then let's do it!" Magma raised his ax, but Gen and Yae held him back.
"Just a minute." Said Gen. "These fellows haven't done anything wrong. Maybe they're not villains. Maybe they're different."
Yae let go of Magma once he loosened his grip on his weapon. "If these guys end up being good, we could use them to our advantage. They could join us."
Gen nodded in agreement. "Tsukasa's power is incredible. We'll need all the help we can get if we want to stop him."
"Yeah!" Chrome added, "I can't believe you were going to smash these statues with no regret."
Hear this confused Magma, and he looked at the other two for an answer. "Huh? I don't owe these people anything!"
"Hang on. That doesn't make you weak." Chrome told him. "We're aiming to take the high road and win without spilling any blood."
"Which means," said Yae. "No smashing statues. If we can recruit faster than Tsukasa can replace, then there's a good chance this war between us will be over sooner than we anticipate."
Chrome bumped his fist with Yae's. "Let's do this! Our mission is to set up the cell phone on the double!" He shared a smile with Yae, and they continued on their way.
The location for setting up the cell phone was a spacious area, but well enough hidden to not cause any suspicion.
"Here we are!" Gen sang.
"What's this?" Chrome asked as he stared at the wooden cross before him.
"It's a grave," Gen answered him.
Yae gulped. "A grave? For whom?"
"One of Tsukasa's soldiers?" Magma guessed.
Gen shook his head. "For our dear Senku, of course." The look in his eyes was ominous.
Magma's eyed bulged. "Senku's pushing up daisies?"
Chrome almost choked on air, one brow rising out of annoyance. "No, Senku is obviously still alive. This is just for show to convince Tsukasa. Dumb ass."
Yae walked up to the cross and touched the top of it. She could hear her heart thumping in her ears. The time when Senku was nearly killed by Tsukasa's hands was something she'd never forget. To think that Senku really could have died and been lying here. If that had happened, would she had ever remembered who she was? The thought couldn't be stopped from crossing her mind.
"Everything okay, Yae?" Chrome placed a hand on her shoulder.
She nodded, turning away from the cross. "Yeah. Let's get to work on that cell phone!" She smiled.
Yae and the team worked tirelessly well into the night. She stood above the others with a small light to help see their work better. The light from the moon helped, but the digging they were doing required a bit more lighting to the untrained eye. Doing this would have been a lot easier if Senku was with them, but he, unfortunately, wasn't, and so their work took even longer.
"A brilliant plan, truly." Said Chrome as he covered the wire with dirt. "It's only natural to speak to the dead when visiting a grave."
"Senku said to bury eighty-percent underground." Said Yae.
Chrome nodded as he continued to dig, but a stone suddenly got in his way. "Ah, shit. What now?" He scratched his head.
Before anyone else could speak their idea, Magma rushed in and smashed the rock with his ax.
"You moron!" Yae bonked him on the head.
"Try thinking for once!" Gen almost screamed.
"Hurry!" Said Chrome. "Bury it nice and deep!"
The four of the scuttled away once their job was finished. They hid behind a few large boulders and waited for a sign.
"Phew! It looks like nobody is on to us." Chrome heaved a heavy sigh of relief.
Magma crossed his arms and scoffed. "You guys scare too easily."
"I wouldn't speak so soon." Gen cautioned them. "One of Tsukasa's men has super amazing hearing."
From the distance, Yae heard a whistling sounding coming closer and fast.
"Duck!" She pushed down on Gen's shoulders right before an arrow stuck to the straw basket he carried on his back. His eyes seemed to pop out of his skull out of fear. A subtle nod toward Yae let her know he was internally grateful.
Dawn was quickly approaching as they high-tailed it out of there and someplace with better coverage.
"Run like hell!" Said Gen. They took off before whoever was hot on their heels could make their presence known. Their job setting up the cell phone was finished, but now they had a bigger problem to deal with.
Author's note: This chapter contained three chapters of volume 8 in the manga. I can continue to do it that way, unless you want me to update two chapters of the manga at a time. I would update faster but the chapters would be shorter. Let me know what you think I should do. I've had little motivation these days. Send help!