No review from AV, but from someone else this time. CrazyCause said:

This is so cool, such an amazing idea! (I also like the fact that its set in austrlis!)

I'm glad someone else thinks so.

CrazyCause also favorited 私は、キラ/I, Kira, as did UnovanChicken, the latter of whom also is also now following as well, alongside DarkkBluee. So I'd say things have been going okay between chapters, at least as far as that's concerned-

And just as I'm done editing I see that's not all! triazatriborinane (sorry if I'm pronouncing that wrong) has followed, favourited and left a review.

"You're a bit late for that, bitch."
DAMN! Easily the most savage line in the history of I, Kira

If you look around you could probably find a more savage one, but I can't find any specific examples right now.

*'…Good answer. Of course, giving up on the case then wouldn't have gotten you assassinated, probably. But now… you know, that speech has earned you over twenty new nicknames, few of which are positive. I'm not going to lie, unless you turn up results soon, the Kiras will be the least of your problems. And if you can't do that, there's only one way you can avoid assassination.'*
The original L had no pressure on him to solve the case, and he was doing it out of his own interest. This guy is not only less smart but also under more pressure, but he said that he'd "die" (fake his death, I guess?), so a number of things can happen. I'm interested to see which direction the story takes at this point...

This is one of the things that I really don't like about the original Death Note. But I guess the elitists, deep states, secret societies etc weren't as well known back when it was written, and as such I can forgive Tsugumi for completely forgetting about them. But in reality, they would've been a force to be respected from day one of Light's campaign. Or rather, day three or four since it would take a while for them to figure out what the fuck is going on.

As for Luci being less smart than L, that's out of necessity. Because without giving Team Kira even more ridiculous plot armor, there's no way they could've survived this long against a truly intelligent opponent. I should also point out that L is objectively way less intelligent than both the fandom and DN's civilian public perceive him to be, but that's a story for another day.

(Indy's POV, 17:59, July 20)

The eerie silence of the abandoned aircraft factory is broken only by the soft hum of my motorcycle. Parking next to the central hangar, Katashi and I jump out and approach the entrance.

'So, is this the place?'

'Yup. Should be right inside. By the way, on the off-chance we happen to bump into my dad, do you think you could, I dunno, make yourself a bit more presentable?'

'Oh, yeah, sorry about that. It was one of those "how did I get into bed and what am I wearing" mornings.'

'You said you were going to bed early for this, so I thought that wouldn't happen.'

'That's where you went wrong. Never assume that I'm adult enough to do something on my own.'

'In any case, onwards, to the Kira-Mobile!'

'We really need to think of a better name for it.'

Walking through the doorway, I see the vessel for the first time. I'm slightly blown back by the sheer size and beauty of the black, streamlined, futuristic-looking device.

'You… own this?!'

'Yup. Cost 43 million dollars so far. But she won't be ready to fly until the new engines have been installed. It turns out the scramjets are only a tiny bit better than what the thing had when my dad bought it, and they only work in an oxygenated atmosphere, which the shinigami realm may not have. But until we've got a better propulsion system working it'll have to do-'

*BINK*

'…Why'd the lights turn off?'

'You know what they say, with great power comes a great electricity bill.'

After a few seconds the vast room again floods with light, and I see a young man tinkering with something on the aircraft's underside.

'Oh, it looks like Sol's here today. Hey, Sol! Say hi to my girlfriend!'

'I already told you, Katashi, I have no time to be messing around with children.'

'…Indy, have you ever accidentally befriended someone who is very very irritating? That's Sol. By the way, how's your progress with the weapons systems been going?'

'Well,' I answer, 'the hard part has been finding enough mini-nukes to give this thing a useful amount of firepower. And as Gandhi once said: First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you cleanse them in atomic fire, then you win. Until then we can substitute them for Hellfire missiles, but at a hundred thousand dollars each they aren't cheap.'

'What about the other two systems you were working on?'

'They both require more energy to test, let alone run, than I can get my hands on. So, how long until the new "Baryonic Tardyon Reactor" arrives?'

'It'll probably arrive within a mon-'

*BINK*

'Dammit, if the power goes down again we'll be watching TV by candlelight!'

Looking around I see a faint orange glow from underneath the aircraft, dimly illuminating the hangar as Sol runs up to us.

'What is it?'

'I want to preface this by saying nothing happened, nothing is on fire, it is mere speculation. Do we have a fire extinguisher?'

(Okada's POV, 11:47, July 21)

With the midday sun relentlessly beating down overhead, I whisper into the handheld radio:

'This is Wonder Waffle to Drop Bear, do you copy?'

'Okada, I'm literally standing right here.'

'…oh. Uh, Mungalo, who are all these people?'

Turning to the individuals following him he responds,

'Here's some of my mates from my hometown. They've agreed to help us out if we need backup.'

'Hey!' 'Hi!' 'Hello!' 'G'day!' 'Gracias!' 'Nice to meet you!'

'Okay, now you say hi, Okada,' he continues, gesturing toward them.

'H-hi, guys…'

Did I say that too awkwardly? I think I did.

'So this is Okada, from work. He hasn't seen much of Sydney yet, and when this is over I was thinking we might wanna show him some of the sights. Hey, you know, "Okada" is also a girls' name.'

'SHUT UP MUNGALO!'

Without another word, we begin to search through the shopping mall. Between all the easily visible changes that have been made to the place, from the vastly increased number of security cameras to the small spy drones routinely flying overhead, nobody would think that a couple police officers would be among these unsuspicious people, and our job is just to hang around here all day anyway.

(Chris' POV, 16:02, July 21)

I must say, Facetime has made staying in touch with Lauren a lot easier these last few days. Although focusing on her while also focusing on what to get here at this unfamiliar marketplace is a bit difficult.

'I must do homework now, bye Chris.' – BIP –

And so, Rugo and I are once again left to ourselves. Speaking of which, I think my other idea is going quite well. Who else would've thought of using my Shinigami as an umbrella AND portable shade?

'It's kinda funny how Luci's going to treat those places like goddamn warzones, but none of us are even going to go near them. So, what else do we need here?'

Standard phone-ringing procedure is standard.

'Ne ne pa-'

-Beep-

'Hello? I think we have everything, except snacks. You know, so many potato chips in the world are waiting for me to eat them-'

'Do you think maybe at some point we could get a pet?'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, there was this really adorable talking bird in the pet store back there.'

'Get a talking bird. Oh sure, that sounds like a great idea. "Chirp-Chris-is-Kira-chirp". Listen, I have my hands full as is. Lauren, Luci, Dimina, the aftermath of the nuclear exchange… I have so much running through my mind I can barely concentrate. The power of one man like myself doesn't amount to much… but, with whatever little strength I'm capable of, I'll do everything humanly possible to protect the people I care about, and in return they'll protect the ones they care about. It seems like the least we tiny humans can do for each other. And on top off all of that there's the fact I can't even talk to my own family about any of this-'

'You think you've had problems with lying? Listen, kid, since long before you were born i've always been lying. The lie of living. My name too, a lie. My personal history, a lie. Nothing but lies. I was sick to death of a world that couldn't be changed. But even in my lies, I couldn't give up in despair. Even behind the façade I was forced to hide behind, I never stopped trying to make things right. In a way, I wasn't far from where you are now. Like you, I knew that you can't buy peace or love with money and bullets alone, and as those were among my opponents' greatest assets, the cracks in their armor were virtually invisible to them until I reached checkmate. Of course, my victory was nothing short of a miracle. But if miracles only happen once, what are they called when they happen a second time?'

'…I have absolutely no idea what the fuck you are going on about.'

'…'

'…'

'Ne-'

-Beep-

'Hello?'

'I haven't done any homework but I'm back, hello Chris.'

(Connor's POV, 16:08, July 21)

With this many people, even if I'm spotted, there's no way I can't just disappear into the crowd. This is a good defense against the security cameras, too. Of course, facial recognition is a thing that exists, but some red hair dye and blue contact lenses should keep me safe enough. I actually made eight lenses, but Chris and Kallet didn't want to show up. So it's just me. Yup, lonely ol' Connor, doing all this shit by myself. And Harry, can't forget about Harry. Well I suppose it isn't that bad. All I need to do is hang around and try to find anyone suspicious. First, I'll obviously look for someone carrying a notebook (like in Death Note), see if I can take any pictures of them clear enough for someone to do a facial scan of them later, and go home.

'Connor, in Christian mythology, does god really watch us all the time?'

'No, Harry, he does not watch us all the time. He doesn't watch when you Instagram pictures of your breakfast. Because no-one watches that.'

'That's a bit mean to say.'

'If we weren't disguising our appearances right now our lives would be at risk. I don't think you're in a position to talk about meanness.'

'Fair point. And considering the lengths you, Chris and Kallet have to go to just to keep your skulls bullet-free, it only strengthens my hatred of Luci and his supervillain allies even more.'

'That kind of enthusiasm will help when you become the fourth member of our L-case group. Or I suppose you'd be sixth if Chris is successful in recruiting the Blackhearts.'

'And I'm sure we're not the only ones who feel this way.'

'Of course not. In case you haven't been paying attention, Kira, whoever he or she is, has spread through the media like wildfire over the last year. Everywhere I turn, its presence is splattered across the headlines in bold font. Every internet community is buzzing with the debate over the world's "savior". Every TV and news radio station is holding talk shows about the topic. Every wall is covered in promotional or demotional posters: Praise our Savior. Support the Police. Protect the People. Protect Life. Kira is Justice. Kira is Evil. Make Earth Great Again.'

'Hey, since you, Chris and Kallet are L's main suspects, have you thought much about the fact one of you three is most likely Kira?'

'Yeah. But it sure ain't me, and out of those two, well, I could certainly see either of them in that fancy suit. On one hand, Kallet's family is really rich, and it's basically common knowledge that she's gotten away with multiple murders already with money and manipulation. On the other hand, Chris was once in the mafia's vigilante corps, which is probably the most Kira-like job anyone could have other than being the man himself. Chris also has all the skills and knowledge he'd need to get started, was a fan of Team Kira even back when it was just a fictional entity in Death Note, plus he has connections with everyone from an expert hacker to a weapons specialist to an air-'

'Well it's certainly one of them.'

'You think so?

'Yeah. If I had to guess I'd say it's Chris, since he certainly has a Kiralike sense of justice, and he seems to truly understand that nothing is ever completely black and white. Except skunks. And newspapers. And penguins. And old movies. And Oreos. And zebras. And killer whales-'

A few sudden gasps a dozen meters away grab our attention, and we immediately rush over to find an armed man dead on the sidewalk, surrounded by a crowd of bystanders.

'What the fuck…'

'Reporting live for black TV! White folks are dead, we're getting the fuck outta here!'

'…Connor, you need to hide.'

'You need to run. Or hide, hiding's probably better.'

After merging into the crowd we find a good hiding spot in a shrubbery as heavily armed police units and SWAT teams enter the area. I can see several bird-sized drones swooping overhead.

'These guys sure aren't kidding. They've probably blocked all routes out of the mall too. Makes sense, I mean, from their point of view one of the Kiras must be here, so this could be their one chance to catch or-'

'Wait. Connor, how did this happen, if neither Chris nor Kallet showed up here?'

'Second Kira, I suppose. In any case, I'm already a suspect so if anyone sees me here I'm dead.'

'…Maybe they've set this up to deflect suspicion onto you. Think about it. Is it just a coincidence that we were almost within eyeshot of that guy when he collapsed?'

'Chris wouldn't betray me like that.'

Listening closely through the bushes I can faintly hear Luci's voice through some of the military-grade radios:

'Capture Kira if he's alive. If not, kill him.'

'Damn merciless pawns, obeying every order that son of a bitch gives.'

'Indeed. This world is merciless… but it can also be very beautiful.'

'…'

'…'

'Hey, you! In the shrubbery, get out where I can see you! You some teenage troublemaker?'

Shit, someone found us. Well, here goes nothing…

'No, I am merely one hell of a shrubbery.'

*WEIRD LOUD SOUND*

The soldier suddenly appears startled in confusion, and all noises from his radio go silent.

'Connor, what was that?'

'Our chance to escape. Run!'

With our opponent distracted we speed out of the shrubbery and soon find safety in into an empty alleyway.

'No, really, what was that?'

'Electromagnetic pulse grenade. Disables all electronics within a radius of half a hundred meters or so. You can thank me later.'

We both turn around in surprise to see a familiar teenage girl on her motorcycle.

'Indy? How did you…'

'No time to explain! They've just launched a dozen tomahawk missiles and twice as many Reaper drones, and in a few minutes the entire shopping mall is gonna get blasted out of existence! Hop on, and let's get outta here!'