DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dr. Stone! :)


To my awesome reviewers (21/07/22): Hello, everybody! ^_^ Thank you so much for reviewing the forty-second chapter of No Stone Unturned! [194. NotCold361] You're rereading the manga? Nice! :D I'm pretty sure I'll do that someday, too - the manga is way too good to read just once! XD I'm glad what I wrote makes sense! :) [195. sunshineisdelicious] Rocks, friendship... and deadly acid, of course! XD Thanks! :) I hope all of you enjoy this new chapter, and thank you again! ^_^


Chapter Forty-Three: (S01 E12e) Ultimate Goal (Day 29)


Excerpt from Chapter Fifteen ("Foxtail Ramen"):

Peering into his bowl, he frowned critically.

This is nothing like the ramen Byakuya and I used to eat, he thought to himself, but it'll do.

"Byakuya?" asked Kohaku curiously.

Oh, I said that out loud?

"Who's Byakuya? Is he a…" she paused, then pronounced the unfamiliar word carefully, "…a scientist, like you?"

A pause.

In his mind's eye, Senku saw water, as well as something that he had created in the past to help his father: the swimming electrodes that helped Byakuya pass his astronaut exam and go to outer space.

I'll follow that old man. I just need more time.

"No," he said simply as he dipped his makeshift chopsticks into the most awful – yet ironically, also the most delicious – ramen on the face of the stone world. "I'm a scientist, like him."

As he ate, Senku felt the weight of his ramen bowl.

It was heavy.


Excerpt from Chapter Twenty-Six ("Hunting Education")

Senku heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Chrome, who had been cooking lunch over the fire, eagerly come over to greet Kohaku as well. They exchanged a few murmured words Senku couldn't hear, and Kohaku gave Chrome a particularly warm smile, which Senku noted absently was the gentlest expression he had seen on her face since the day she had thanked him for saving her life.

In response, the man put his hand on her shoulder and said something to before walking past her to help carry what she had brought back to them.

Kohaku took a few more steps before coming to a stop a couple of feet in front of Senku.

"I'm back," she said, smiling as she gave him a small wave.

"Welcome back," replied Senku. She looked sleep-deprived, but happy.


Excerpt from Chapter Twenty-Eight ("Kohaku"):

She was quiet. Senku hadn't exactly answered her question, but by mentioning the darkness twice, he had answered it all the same.

"I… don't really understand electricity, but I'm glad you have it," she said sincerely.

He glanced at her and let out a small laugh. "Me too. I've been waiting a really long time."

"Now that you have it, what are you going to do? I mean, after we cure Ruri-nee and get the whole village on our side?"

"We're going to get Taiju and Yuzuriha back, of course! And then there's the Tsukasa Empire, but from our ramen, and from Gen, we know bribery works."

Just when it seemed to Kohaku that Senku was about to cheerfully talk about delicious things and wonderful objects from his time that would help him add members to the kingdom of science, he trailed off and looked at the fire.

He stared at the flames for a long, long time.

Then he put a hand over his face, reminding Kohaku of the time Senku had berated himself about not knowing where true north was, before he let his hand fall to his side as he looked up.

"And after that," he said quietly, "I'm going to search every single second for a hundred nights, and bring back all seven billion people, too…"

In the light of the fire, Kohaku caught a glimpse of Senku's expression. Her friend was gazing at the sky, but somehow beyond it at the same time, as if it held all of his past and all of his future.


The next day, Senku and the others finished creating the two gas masks they would use to be able to breathe while gathering sulfuric acid. While Senku had never tried this particular type of gas mask before, he knew that the mixture of activated carbon and potassium carbonate they used should be able to neutralize the toxic gas that would emanate from the sulfuric acid lake.

After Senku and Chrome had their ropes tugged slightly by Kohaku, who seemed to want to make sure the bamboo canisters with the crushed charcoal wouldn't be dislodged, Chrome walked over to Kaseki and Suika to talk about the gas masks, inadvertently giving them a moment to talk.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" asked Kohaku, frowning in thought.

Senku, who had already recently accused one member of the kingdom of science of not wanting to be left behind for childish reasons, wasn't about to make the same mistake not even twelve hours later.

"Ginro's a guard, and you're using his spear," Kohaku continued, "but we all know I'm the fastest out of all of us. I'd be better at acting quickly if something goes wrong."

Nodding, he replied, "You are the fastest person here, and that's why you have to stay."

At Kohaku's slightly displeased look, Senku continued.

"The Grand Bout's tomorrow, which means this is the last chance the battle team has to train. Ginro's going to join tomorrow too, but he won't stand a chance against Magma anyway, so it's fine if he comes with us today. But you're the only one who can defeat Magma, and Kinro's the only one of us who has a realistic chance of being able to marry Ruri. You both need to be here, training to be stronger and faster, because even though today will be harder for the three of us, tomorrow will be harder for you and Kinro. We can help the most out there, and you can help the most right here, training Kinro."

Mollified, Kohaku nodded slowly - and then turned her head slightly to look in Chrome's direction.

"I understand. And Senku, I know how good you are at using black powder…"

Huh? Senku blinked. What does she mean by that?

"…but be careful, alright? And…" her voice softened, "…take care of Chrome, will you? He takes too many risks, but he has a good heart…"

Kohaku trailed off, her quiet voice fading away as she gave a fond shake of her head, and Senku remembered the warm smile she had given Chrome when she had come back after being away for two weeks while… educating… Gen about hunting.

It made sense that Kohaku had a soft spot for Chrome, when Senku thought about it. Chrome had mentioned testing medicinal plants on himself - for the sake of Kohaku's sister, no less - and Kohaku had probably seen him do so, or at least seen had him after he had done so, with the two of them having known each other for most, if not all, of their lives.

Working towards the same goal, even if they didn't do so in the same ways, must have brought Chrome and Kohaku closer together, mused Senku.

He found it amusing that even though they were going on the same mission, Kohaku seemed more worried about Chrome's safety than Senku's - although that could be because Senku was the one who knew exactly how the gas masks worked.

"I'll watch Chrome's back, and he'll watch mine," nodded Senku confidently. "And don't forget - we also have Ginro, our bodyguard."

…Although, as it turned out, they did not have Ginro, their bodyguard. Instead, they had Ginro, their coward, who absolutely refused to go with them, fearing "the fairy of the spring." And while Ginro's presence would have helped, forcing somebody to risk their life when they didn't want to wasn't Senku's way of doing things, so a bit of grumbling and one restored silver spear later, Senku and Chrome headed for their destination.


Situated in a deep valley, picturesque in its solitude, but deadly in its lowered position, was the emerald green lake of sulfuric acid…

…that Senku casually jogged down to, prompting Chrome's shock at how fearless he was being. Senku explained that it was important to remain calm, and while Chrome understood his point in theory, he grumbled about his own inability to be as calm as Senku was.

"…I'm not like you, Senku, I don't have nerves of steel…"

Just as Chrome said that, it suddenly became so clear to Senku how easily sulfuric acid gas could end three thousand seven hundred years of counting and plans and roadmaps and hope, and the primal human took control from the rational scientist for just one moment of abject terror-

If you're serious, remembered Senku, a very familiar voice echoing in his head, you can accomplish anything through the diligent application of science.

And Senku could breathe properly again.

Senku hadn't explained it to Chrome, but there were two reasons for why while he wary of the danger of the sulfuric acid lake, he was still optimistic that they would make it out alive.

As he surveyed the lake from his now-closer vantage point, he thought of the first reason - that in this particular situation, science had taken a lot of the mystery away from Senku.

Yesterday, when they had come here together for the first time, Senku had used geometry to measure the distance between level ground and the sulfuric acid lake; used chemistry to ascertain the percentages of different elements present in the toxic gas; and used physics to determine how likely it was to stay relatively inert in the absence of outside factors, such as wind or rain.

From that data, Senku knew how many steps away from the lake would be risky or safe; how much activated carbon to mix with the potassium carbonate; and how dense the gas would be above and close to the lake, but not beyond that. He didn't have the fine-tuned instruments of the modern era, so his calculations were more approximations than reliable hypotheses, but having even just estimates to go on made the ordeal a lot less nerve-wracking.

The second reason was because of the very specific objective Senku had for his future - the objective that Senku could see so clearly that it actually not coming to pass almost seemed like an impossibility.

Chrome also had a very clear aim, and Senku would never underestimate his tenacity, his determination, to cure Ruri.

But Chrome's eighteen years of exploring, searching, and testing wasn't quite the same as Senku's three thousand seven hundred years of petrified consciousness, using one side of his mind to count second after second, and using the other side of his mind to cling to every single piece of science he could remember as he formulated plans: practical ways to acquire food, water, shelter, and clothing for his immediate survival after breaking out of the stone; chemistry hypotheses for how to break other people out of stone so that he could revive Taiju, Yuzuriha, and other humans who would possibly become his allies; complex roadmaps for the reinvention of machines and vehicles that would signify a modern civilization; the widespread revival of even more people in order to form cities, and later on, regions and countries, all with their own governments; and the optimism that after those governments saw to the people's most basic needs, they would be open to recruiting large numbers of the revived human population to build larger, more complex machines to explore the entirety of the world's land, sky, and sea.

Three thousand seven hundred years.

A pause.

In his mind's eye, Senku saw water, as well as something that he would create in the future to help his father: the submarine that would help Senku pass the bathypelagic zone and search every single second in the depths of the ocean.

I'll find that old man's petrified statue. I just need more time.

As he stood, Senku felt the weight of his ultimate goal.

It was heavy.


(End of Chapter Forty-Three.) (July 21, 2022, Thursday.)


I. My personal comments: We all know how this will end, of course :'( Senku's reasoning (about why he thinks Byakuya's petrified statue might still be intact) will be explained more comprehensively in a future chapter... but to give a small peek, it has to do with what happens to retired space satellites in real life. When its term of service is over, a satellite can either remain in outer space OR it can be programmed to fall into a specific part of the Pacific Ocean. After making a water landing, the satellite would sink around 4,000 meters (or 13,120 feet), which is the deepest part of the bathypelagic zone (1,000 meters to 4,000 meters, or 3,280 to 13,120 feet) and the shallowest part of the abyssopelagic zone (4,000 meters to 6,000 meters, or 13,100 to 19,700 feet). In Chapter Twenty-Eight ("Kohaku"), Senku acknowledges that Byakuya's statue might be in outer space ("gazing at the sky"), but in Chapter Forty-Three ("Ultimate Goal"), he shows that his preference is that it is underwater ("depths of the ocean"), because it will be easier for him to find Byakuya's statue in an ocean on Earth, as opposed to the vastness of outer space :)

II. Question of the day: How do you feel about Senku's ultimate goal? :O (And a bonus question: Have you noticed what Chapters 28-29, 31-32, 34-35, 37-38, 40-41, and 43 have in common? :D)

III. A tiny request: Thank you for reading my fanfic! :D If you've read this far, I hope you'll consider taking an extra minute to leave a review for Chapter Forty-Three ("Ultimate Goal")? :D Reviews really mean a lot to me as a fanfiction writer, and all kinds of positive, negative, and/or constructive reviews are very welcome! ^_^ Even if it's the year 5738 or something, I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! :D (By the way, I'm "fireflyhwufanficwrit" on Reddit and "firefly-hwufanficwriterrrrr" on Tumblr :D)