The Perseus continued to head towards Treasure Island in the storm. Ryusui gave a big grin as everyone else noticed it. Senku and Sumi gave a small smile at their destination. "We made it to the Treasure Island!" Yo cried out while trying to get off the ship. He was imagining getting gold from treasure boxes and becoming rich. "Now let's go!" Nikki was holding him back by the collar, however.

"Kinda bites that we can't all charge in together," Senku started off as he and Sumi stepped out into the open. He placed his hands on his hips. "It would've been fun to have the whole crew blitz the place."

"And a bit easier to pull off, but hey, can't change the past..." Sumi hugged herself while looking towards the shadow of the island. She glanced down at her camera around her neck. While she did promise Minami to take pictures, the storm would probably ruin the images when they were developed. And she'd rather not get a lecture from the reporter for doing that.

"We better not," Kinro interjected in front of them. "We don't know what kind of people we're dealing with."

"Yeah, but you know what?" Chrome smiled confidently, his arms crossed. "We've got the power of science on our side! And that's gonna give us one bad lead over the competition!"

"I don't think we can be quite so sure of that," Kohaku stated while looking through the telescope.

"Well, we're the only ones with radar technology at least," Ukyo spoke up while looking over the radar. "If the islanders had it, they'd have detected our ship by now." They would've gotten captured or attacked by now if they had been found out. Or could've sent out an attack ship on them.

"Yeah," Senku smiled while looking over to the rest of the crew. "Which means Chrome's right. Science is gonna be our trump card. So let's use the eyes of science to sneak up, while the storm acts as cover."

"We won't be able to hide this ship once the storm clears, though. That won't be able to change thanks to it being too big," Sumi placed a hand on her hip, looking over the vessel. They didn't really have anything to cover it with. And if they did, it'd look too suspicious anyway. Hopefully the natives wouldn't think to try anything on the ship or on them once they got there.

"I can't see anything ahead of us. And with a ship this big, it seems like we'd run into something underwater!" Kokuyo exclaimed while standing at the edge. Senku laughed as he and Sumi walked over to him and Kaseki.

"You underestimate our sonar man, Ukyo," The green-haired scientist gave a small smile.

"When it comes to navigating in even a storm, Ukyo's the best one to guide us through any obstacles in our way!" Sumi chirped with a big smile. Ukyo had heard it from one of the nearby speakers and gave a small smile from her praise. It reminded him of when he teamed up with her, actually, and how she expressed her gratitude back then too.

"Whoo-hoo!" Kaseki cheered while waving his hands. "Those eyes of science sure are something. Who's the genius who put those things together? Oh wait, that's right, it was this one!" His eyes shined proudly and she giggled at his enthusiasm.

"Yup, all of your hard and dedicated work keeps paying off, Kaseki," She smiled down at him, her bangs flying in front of her. "Wouldn't have gotten to this point at all without you!"

Ryusui gave a small smirk while still steering the ship, and then turned serious. "Return to your stations!" He announced, alarming everyone. "The rain's about to let up. And we're gonna have to hide this ship before it does. I've got a reward waiting for anyone who does a good job!" Everyone cheered at this news and he laughed. "Time to storm the Treasure Island!"

The radar suddenly reacted as they got closer, getting Ukyo's attention as something was definitely down there. Although he had no idea what as they approached the bay of the island.


Minutes later, the storm had finally cleared, revealing a rainbow in the sky as the ship had been docked in front of Treasure Island. "Ha ha! What gorgeous weather!" Ryusui exclaimed with a big grin. "We snuck in cliffside just in time! You all did exceptionally well, perfect marks!" He snapped his fingers as Francois revealed to be holding a tray of drago. "You all get a ten thousand drago bonus as promised!" Most of the crew cheered at this.

Senku chuckled as he and Sumi stepped up. "Hey, save the celebration for later. We'll be spotted if we stick around too long. So let's hurry this up," He gave a smirk as Sumi nodded in agreement.

"And then who knows what the natives here will do? We don't wanna get into trouble with them if they're hostile," She held up a finger. She then blinked in realization, holding up her camera and snapping a photo of the island. She had to get a picture of their first destination for Minami. "So now that I've got that out of the way, why don't we first-"

"We're finally off to find buried treasure!" Yo interrupted her happily, to her bewilderment. Magma ran next to him with a gleeful look of his own.

"You mean we're finally off to kill the islanders!" He had a big smile on his face. Nikki kicked them both in the nuts with one leg and they both fell down in unison. Smoke came from their bodies as she stood there with her arms crossed, as she wasn't gonna let them pass her. Especially since their motivations were less than ideal. Senku simply stared while Sumi groaned at the two of them, rubbing her temple in disbelief.

"How many times do we have to tell you two?" She placed her hands on her hips, a bit annoyed by their behavior. "We don't have any interest in doing either of those, we're only here for the platinum. Not to get rich or to kill anyone. Now that I think about it, it's actually a good thing that this island is inhabited," She deadpanned and then turned to the blonde. "Thanks, Nikki. You and Taiju can keep an eye on these two clowns for us until we find the treasure box."

Nikki and Taiju nodded sharply while flexing their arms in front of Magma and Yo. At least they weren't going to send out a big team of people anymore, because if they had, Yo and Magma would just make things worse. "Let's get moving!" Senku turned around to the rest of the crew. "Need a scouting team!"

Suika perked up from somewhere on the ship, having heard him. Scouting team... She rolled out into the open, stopping behind the crowd of people. Before she could reveal her presence to everyone, a barrel was placed over her hard by Ryusui. Everyone turned around as he sat on top of it. Sumi blinked in confusion at this, but shrugged it off.

"A full-scale invasion could lead to an all-out war," Ryusui spoke up with a small smirk. "Am I wrong? So we'll go with the smallest team possible."

"Yup," Senku agreed with a smirk of his own, looking over his shoulder. "I hope you guys haven't forgotten our ultimate goal in coming to this island. We're here to plunder the missing piece to our infinite revival machine. Our platinum's waiting for us in that treasure box! And if we find it right away, great. But if not, we're gonna have to ask the natives where it is."

"A bunch of people might scare them off, so we'll only be taking the most essential members to smooth things over. If we do ask them and they end up being friendly, then maybe we'll have the crew explore the island. Just because we're here for an important purpose doesn't mean we can't have fun," Sumi smiled a little, hands on her hips. Looks could be deceiving, so she didn't want to send out the whole crew unless they were absolutely sure of who these natives were to them. Tsukasa himself was a good example of why they couldn't just assume anything of the islanders without getting a sense of the island.

"The people who will make up the scouting squad are..." Ryusui snapped his finger. "These five: Senku and Sumi!"

"Gotta have people who'll recognize platinum when they see it," Senku smirked, his pinky in his ear.

"And to have some extra help on hand science-wise when we do find it," Sumi smiled brightly, holding up a fist confidently.

"Soyuz, the only native on the crew!" Ryusui continued, Soyuz looking a bit nervous since it was a bit of pressure to rely on him.

"Uh, I'll try to remember something helpful!" He exclaimed nervously while sweating.

"Kohaku, defense with Sumi and vision!"

"Understood," Kohaku replied to the captain simply.

"Gen, for negotiating with the islanders!" Ryusui then finished off.

"Come on..." Gen gave a nervous look, since they didn't know who they'd be dealing with.

"You didn't think we brought you along for no reason, did you?" Sumi grinned while popping up as a chibi head.

"Alright, commence operation!" Ryusui ordered as the five took off by the motor boat towards the island. Sumi and Senku sat up front, with Soyuz, Kohaku, and Gen in the back. Once they made it onto the island, they had to climb up a mountain of rocks. Kohaku pulled up Senku behind her as he panted tiredly. He wasn't expecting to do this much, Taiju could knock it out with no problem. Sumi giggled to herself at Senku's very low stamina.

"And what is so hilarious to you?" Senku panted while looking back at her. "That I'm dying?"

"You're not dying," She waved it off and he rolled his eyes, turning his attention back up front. "Hey, if you wanna make fun of me for being childish—which I'm not—then it's only fair I get to make jabs at you for how you can't even complete a marathon."

"Alright, fair," He muttered while looking back up towards the cliff, still out of breath. Kohaku stared back at the ship curiously.

"Why isn't Ukyo coming with us?" She couldn't help but wonder. "I may have pretty good eyesight...but wouldn't his hearing help too?" It was pretty helpful when they had to make the world map for the oil, after all.

Gen looked up at her from the back. "He's busy staring a hole into that sonar display," He looked back at the ship as well. "Guess he was looking at the sea floor..."

"It might be better if he stays there, anyway," Sumi glanced back at the Perseus. "Just in case he sees something that we can't from up here and then he can warn us with the cell phone. He's the only one with the experience..." She gave a sheepish smile while turning back around. Chrome had experience with it too, but definitely not as much as a sonar operator.


The radar beeped as Ukyo continued looking, as he knew that the radar detected something when they were close enough to the island...now he just had to find out what exactly it was. "Well, since they're gone," Ryusui sighed a little, standing up and removing the barrel. Suika popped out and everyone gasped upon seeing her.

"Suika, you're here?!" Kaseki exclaimed in shock as she rolled past everyone. "Since when?"

She landed on her knees, tears flying out from her eyes. "I just wanted to make myself useful!" She cried out as Chrome grinned widely down at her. "I can help out with scouting if you let me go! And I miss Sumi!" As she was crying, Chrome was the only one who wasn't shocked.

"Honestly, I can't say I'm too surprised. I didn't see you at our send-off, and you wouldn't miss that," He spoke up to the little girl. He had seen Minami, Ruri, and Mirai, but definitely not Suika. And it wasn't like her to not say goodbye had she actually stayed behind, so he knew that she had to have been up to something the day of departure.

"Not happening!" Ryusui shouted down at her. "You're a stowaway, Suika! And stowaways are returned to their port of origin. So until we bring you back to Japan, you're gonna behave yourself!" He berated her, and if Sumi was here, she would let him have it for his tone with the little girl.

"Sorry," Suika cried out tears that formed into two small puddles below her while kneeling in front of him. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble..." She sniffed as she looked up, and he didn't say anything else as he turned away from her. Francois approached her, and she turned around with a small whine. She thought the butler would do the same to her, and instead, they bent down to her.

"Scouting an unknown island could be an extremely dangerous mission," They whispered to try and ease her. "As our captain, he would feel responsible for risking the life of a child. I understand that he may come off as harsh, but Ryusui is simply concerned for your well-being."

He had still heard it, however, as he turned around to the duo. "Don't put words in my mouth, Francois," He warned his butler.

"Of course, my apologies, sir," Francois smiled a little while bowing. Suika still looked a little nervous as she understood his reaction. But that meant she had to be careful around him right now, since he wasn't pleased to have her potentially be in danger should the natives also attack them or the ship. Which was something that didn't cross Francois' mind, but that did add to a level of danger for the little girl being on the ship now. Taiju approached her with a broom.

"Hey, don't sweat it, Suika! Everything will be okay!" He told her cheerfully and she turned around. "There are plenty of ways you can be useful, right here on the boat! Like, since the storm kinda trashed everything, we'll clean up while we wait! And I'm sure Sumi would be really happy once she finds out you came along!" He gave her a bright grin, knowing from Senku that she and Suika had a close bond. So the black-haired scientist would probably vouch for her with Ryusui.

"Okay!" She chirped up at him with a smile, wanting to do a really good job to feel needed. And maybe it would ease Ryusui a little too. "Let's make this place spotless!"

"This sucks," Ginro complained behind them, lines over his head. "Please don't make me...!"

Ukyo stared at the radar closely, a small shadow over his eyes as he had finally found what he was looking for. But he couldn't tell what it is. "I thought so. Yup, something's down there..." Ginro was scrubbing the floor nearby one of the speakers. "Hey, if anyone has a second, could you swim down and check out the sea floor?"

Ginro grinned widely with a sinister chuckle and jumped off the boat, swan-diving for the water. "I guess if you insist! Certified man of the sea at your service!" He called out, Yo staring down at him in irritation.

"Give me a break! Scumbag! You're just doing this to get out of cleaning!" The former policeman shouted accusingly at the blond. Ginro landed in the water seconds later, now happy that he didn't have to clean, since he hated chores.

Now I get to swim in the southern seas! This is ten billion times better than clean-up duty! He continued to swim downwards, touching a rock from the sea floor. He looked up and screamed in alarm. He was startled to see a statue right in front of him. Whoa! Man, that scared me! It's just a statue, I've seen tons of them. However, taking a closer look up ahead...that wasn't the only statue lying around. Taking a closer look, there were a bunch of them around. Wait...they're all over the place! Once he surfaced, Ukyo was looking down at him. He shouted up to the sonar operator, explaining what he saw.

Ukyo gasped as his eyes widened. "What's the problem?" Yo shrugged as he didn't seem to be realizing the issue here. "We see those stone statues everywhere."

"The timeline doesn't add up..." Ukyo spoke up in unease, as there was definitely something bigger going on from the island. "When Earth was showered by this petrification beam, this island was all but unhabited. It was only way later that the astronauts had kids!" Not to mention, when they had explored the island, they had found other statues lying around to confirm they were the only six. They also had no way to petrify people, even if the method was discovered by them. They wouldn't have a reason to go through all of that again if they were the only survivors. "So where did these statues come from?" He had a look of horror on his face looking at Yo. "And when were they petrified...?" Someone or something else had to be behind all of this...and if that was true, they needed to find out what was going on.

A glint came from on top of a rock in the distance. Ryusui turned around sharply as he sensed it immediately. We're being watched! "Who's there? Who are you?" He demanded to the mystery person.


Birds flew off into the sky and Kohaku gasped, turning around. "That was strange, I thought I saw a flash of light by the boat...did I imagine it?" She murmured to herself while trying to get a closer look.

"Our signal's horrible," Gen muttered as he was trying to call the ship, but no one was answering. "Bad spot, I assume. That, or they're all too busy yapping to pick up the phone..." Sumi blinked in confusion while her hand was on Senku's shoulder. Once again, he was exhausted from all of the movement they had been doing. They had no problem getting a signal before hand...as long as they had the box, they had no trouble contacting anyone. Like when Senku, Kinro, and Kohaku were tracking down Homura. So it definitely wasn't the phone, but she had no idea what it could've been. Someone would've called back by now if Ukyo heard it... "Sumi, Senku, Kohaku, go ahead without us for a sec," The mentalist spoke up again, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Soyuz and I will try a higher point."

"You got it," Kohaku nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Be careful," Sumi told the two of them while clutching her necklace. She had no idea if her instincts were right or if she was just worrying too much. Maybe they would be able to contact the others and she could put it to rest.

Kohaku noticed her expression and blinked. "You okay, Sumi?" She wondered to her friend, who blinked rapidly. She then turned away from the others.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine. Just something on my mind, that's all," Sumi waved it off, Senku staring up at her. She was definitely thinking of something, but he couldn't tell what it was. But if he asked her, he knew that she was debating it already in her head.

Soyuz was wearing the cell-phone, both him and Gen standing at the closest high point to the ship. "Ello-hay?" Gen spoke up awkwardly, but there was still no answer from anyone.

"Wonder what they're up to," Soyuz gave a small smile. "Well..." He used the telescope to get a better look...and once he did, he gasped, his eyes widening. He then screamed loudly while falling backwards, alerting Gen immediately.

"Hey, what's the matter, Soyuz?" He asked in concern, and only earned Soyuz shakily holding up the telescope. The mentalist took it, and he gasped as well, his eyes glistening. There...on the ship...the ENTIRE crew had been petrified into statues. And not a single one was unaffected by it, either. He screamed from the sight—they had to find the others, NOW!

The waves hit the rocks as Suika was standing by herself near some trees. She was soaking wet looking at the ship. I still don't really know what just happened...I couldn't see it cause I was sent flying. Ryusui kicked me away to save me... She used the back of her wrist to wipe off some water, still staring at the ship sadly.

"Why are we sprinting all of a sudden?!" Senku cried out behind Kohaku and Sumi, trying to keep up with the both of them. "Did you find something?!" The blonde leaped a couple of times.

"Uh-huh," She landed safely, looking towards the ground. "I found a lead!" She pointed down to some shells, Senku panting in exhaustion. "These discarded seashells! Someone's nearby! It's gotta be someone who lives here on the island...they might lead us to the treasure!"

Senku stood up after catching his breath with a small smile. "I knew we could count on your vision, Ms. Eagle-Eye!" He complimented her as Sumi gave a small grin.

"Finding them with us working together shouldn't be a problem at all!" She clapped her hands together.

"Yeah, but how do we track 'em down now?" The blonde wondered to the duo, neither of them noticing Gen and Soyuz running up to them.

"Heh heh. Oh, that won't be a problem at all," Senku responded and Sumi hummed.

"Yeah, we just-"

"HEY SENKU! SUMI!" Gen shouted at the top of his lungs, waving to them and interrupting the black-haired woman. The three turned around...and got the horrible news. Kohaku's eyes slowly widened as she looked horrified to hear it. Senku had a dark look on his face, half of it covered in shadow. Sumi covered her mouth in terror, tears prickling her eyes. She knew that something was off before...and now they had no idea what they were going to do. They had no platinum for revival fluid... Kohaku's eyes shook, Gen staring at her nervously. "I know it's a challenge, but let's try to stay calm..."

The blonde immediately ran off, though. "Wait, did you hear me?!" Gen cried out as a rope between him and Kohaku was tugged. "I had a feeling this was gonna happen!" He yelped as both him and Kohaku fell to the ground, the mentalist landing on his face. Kohaku growled while sitting up, looking annoyed.

She turned to him accusingly as his face was slightly scuffed. She pointed to the rope tied on her leg and his wrist. "The heck is this about? There's no time, we have to go save them!" She argued to the mentalist.

"They got every single person on the ship," He pointed at her with a small frown. "If the five of us rush in without thinking if the enemy's still there, then they'll probably just petrify us too and that'll be it! Game over, man!"

As they continued to argue, the other three just stared. "When did he tie the rope to her?" Soyuz couldn't help but wonder.

"Don't question it," Senku gave a knowing look; Kohaku was known to rush in without thinking, especially when it came to her friends. So it was no surprise to him that Gen had thought of this should something had happened to either them or the others. "Slight of hand's his thing. The dude's a magician." He then glanced at the quiet Sumi as some tears were falling from her eyes and onto her cheeks. "Hey...come on, this isn't the time to be crying," He turned around to her, placing his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. He then let out a small knowing sigh. "That must've been what was on your mind earlier, right? That the phone signal couldn't have been that bad..."

She nodded silently in confirmation and he gave her a small smile. "We're going to figure this out together, Sumi. Because we'll revive every single last one of our friends. I promise," He told her in determination and she looked up. "After all, we're not alone, are we?"

"...Yeah," She gave a small smile; she was always cheering people up, and now he was doing the same to her. "We're not. Thanks, Sen." He gave a small smile with a hum, kissing her forehead since no one was paying attention. Well, Soyuz didn't really mind it himself to really comment about it. Speaking of, he gasped, getting their attention.

"Hold on...we need to stay away..." He held his head in a panic, Senku and Sumi both turning around to him. "I just remembered something...something dramatic from when I was a baby..." The baby Soyuz looked towards the island. "When I was taken from the island...we were running away. From something that was petrifying people." He then looked disappointed with himself, looking towards the ground. "Look, I'm sorry I don't remember everything...but I'm positive about that now."

"Sorry? You were just a baby," Kohaku told him in assurance.

"Yeah, it's amazing that you can remember anything from that time!" Gen added in and Sumi walked up to Soyuz, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't beat yourself up over this, Soyuz. We're not expecting perfection!" She gave a small smile, hands on her hips. "And every little piece of information helps a long way, even if you don't realize that now. Every piece of a puzzle says a lot," Senku smiled to himself that she was back to being the Sumi they knew well.

"You know, that hint's actually crazy helpful like she said. Sumi and I appreciate anything you can tell us, Soyuz. That means..." He grinned while looking towards the sky. "One, there's an enemy force on this island who knows we're here. And likely wants us all petrified..." He stepped up to the seashells. "And two, there may be potential allies who are trying to avoid the same fate."

The others all gasped as Sumi walked over to examine them as well. "Think about it. Being petrified for thousands of years does a lot to you. I'd imagine that if they knew the risks or have seen a petrification themselves, this potential ally doesn't want the same fate as Senku and myself. Maybe even the whole island is trying to avoid petrification if all the villagers are aware of it being a possibility for them."

"Yeah, and if we're able to befriend even one person on this island, then...they can point us in the direction of the treasure box!" Kohaku smiled while clenching a fist.

Gen was holding revival fluid, Senku and Sumi holding the platinum. "Platinum has been acquired!" The green-haired scientist gave a big smile.

"Which means we've got infinite revival fluid!" Gen cheered next while holding a jar of it.

"And we can save our friends!" Sumi chimed in with a closed-eyed smile.

"And that will allow us to revive not only all of humanity, but our friends on the ship as well!" Kohaku said optimistically, thankfully having calmed down now.

"It does seem like these shells were carried here by someone..." Gen murmured in thought while pointing to the shells on the ground.

"Yeah. My bet is they were discarding shellfish that were dead or hard to eat," Kohaku suggested as they examined the shells.

"That doesn't tell us if they were friend or foe, of course," Senku interjected with a small smirk. "But I'd much rather take our chances that this person will tell us where to look than wonder around aimlessly like idiots for ten billion years. Let's find this native quick. We can still catch up if we hurry. I mean, it hasn't even been 30 minutes since they left these here."

"I'd say it's been around at least 10 minutes since they were here," Sumi rubbed her chin looking at them.

Kohaku, Gen, and Soyuz all flinched in alarm, white eyes as Sumi waved her hand near her hair. "How can you be so sure about that?!" Kohaku screeched and Senku pointed up to the fly Sumi had swatted at. They then looked up to see.

"These green bottle flies can sniff out the stench of death from 60 kilometers away," The green-haired scientist started off.

"Plus these flies are scavengers like a certain Resource King," Sumi gave a small smile. "They can sniff out any decomposing organic matter, really. I could too, but I tend to focus my nose elsewhere than the stench of death, to be completely honest here. Even if I take that away, I can still smell a prominent scent from their fingers on the shells. If these shells were here longer, it'd be a more faded smell."

"And on an island this small, it couldn't have taken them long to get here. So if they've all just shown up to the party, that means...it's only been 10 or 20 minutes since our suspect tossed the shells." The other three were a bit uneasy while Senku chuckled to himself. He then pulled out a small clay bottle from his pouch. "Get ready for some pain-staking intricate step by step forensic heroics. We'll make the details of the crime scene talk. And trust me, they'll spill where the perp is. Time for a scientific investigation."

"Heck yes! I love forensic science!" Sumi cheered happily while clapping a little. It felt like they were actually doing an investigation from the modern world, with the others as cops. Senku popped open the bottle.

"Is that the stuff you and Mire-chan used when you performed surgery on Tsukasa?" Gen asked curiously to the duo.

"As an adhesive," Senku confirmed while pouring it into a bowl. "It's called cyanoacrylate."

"It's basically a super glue. I made something similar when I got hit with Ukyo's arrow, just less so. It can cause skin allergies, hives, or skin irritation if that is the case, but otherwise, it's perfectly safe," Sumi explained to him.

"That's right!" Gen blinked in realization. Sumi held her injured arm at the Tsukasa Empire, instructing Chrome and Gen so that she could patch herself up. "I almost didn't remember, it was a very ense-tay situation at the time..."

"Must've been really nerve-wracking to have to make that as quick as you could and tell them how to apply it," Kohaku murmured and Sumi rubbed the back of her neck.

"Let's just say it was an experience and leave it at that..."

"Anyway, we'll pour it into a pan, bring it to a boil and let the steam hit a shell," Senku slowly held the shell out to the steam coming from the pan. "Then we take our good friend the blacklight to it and the evidence will appear," He turned it on with a small grin, seeing fingerprints on it.

"Uh! Fingerprints!" Gen exclaimed in awe.

"We can actually see where the mystery person touched it?" Kohaku asked behind the two scientists with a hopeful smile.

"And we can make some inferences about them too," The green-haired scientist explained while he and Sumi got a closer look. "Female, average height...and weight."

"Probably about 18 years old or maybe even turned that age recently, judging by the pattern and size of the fingerprints," Sumi stated while bent down next to him. "They're not too small to be a teenager's, but not big enough to be in say, their 30s or 40s."

"You figured all that out using glue and fingerprints? Azy-cray, scientist detectives," Gen commented to the duo, earning a small smile from the black-haired scientist.

"Save your slack-jawed praise for later and come up with a suspect profile for us, will ya?" Senku stood up, unfazed by what Gen said. He then smiled a little, holding up a finger. "We need your skills, mental detective."

"Really, mental detective, that's my title?" Gen gave a small awkward smile from the new nickname.

"Yeah! Because you're really good at it. And it'd really help, please?" Sumi smiled brightly while clasping her hands and staring at him. "No one else can do it but you, Gen. Another reason why it was a good idea to bring you along to our journey to the other side of the world!"

"Alright, fine, Mire-chan. Only cause it's my bestie," He sighed in defeat at her.

"Yay!" She grinned while giving him a side hug and he gave a small smile, closing his eyes while enjoying the moment.

"Oh, is that what you are now?" Senku smirked at the two a little; he wasn't that word he had with Tsukasa since he knew Gen wouldn't even pull anything like that. And Sumi herself had always teased him about even admitting he was her best friend to begin with. She turned around to him with a hand on her hip.

"If you're my boyfriend, that makes Gen my best friend, but all my friends are equally as important. Besides, it just means you're still at a higher point than him," She pointed out, earning a defeated grunt from the mentalist. That was fair, considering that she and Senku had known each other for way longer compared to her and Gen.

"Alright, just remember that being a mentalist doesn't mean psychic powers or anything," Gen warned while walking forward. "This is all hypothetical, got it?" He then turned around to the group. "But I believe the suspect is a young woman. An experienced elder wouldn't bother picking up shells they didn't have use for. It's a waste of energy. And older people tend to be good at being lazy, sifting through their haul after the fact would be far too inefficient for them. But our suspect walked away from the beach before filtering some out, probably because it was too heavy to carry them all," He then started walking through the bushes. "Which also means...she'd had had trouble ducking past foliage or setting it aside. A young woman with an average build, let's say 160 centimeters? If someone of that height was walking here..." The others stared while watching him work. "Yup, bingo," They gasped as he held up a single strand of black hair. "Here. One strand of a young woman's hair."

"Excellent work!" Senku held up a small test tube.

"Great find, mental detective!" Sumi grinned at Gen, holding out her hand. "Can I see it first?" He gave it to her and she held it up to her nose to sniff the hair for herself. "Hmm...wavy, shoulder-length black hair, amber eyes, and pale skin. Ooh, and nice scent from it too, is that jasmine?" She gave a small smile from the nice smell.

"Ha! Wow, you got all of that from just a single hair?" Kohaku smiled with her arms crossed, earning a nod.

"Yup! My nose doesn't lie," She pointed to it and her boyfriend grinned. He knew she was right on this, since her nose would never steer her in the wrong direction. Just like how Kohaku's eyesight never strayed her wrong.

"Ten billion points, Sumi!" Senku then kissed her cheek, to her surprise. "Always giving it your all," He praised with his hands on his hips. He wasn't much for public displays of affection, but he didn't want to give her a normal type of praise of just a compliment. So he figured that was the best way in their relationship.

"It was nothing," She giggled a bit while rubbing the back of her neck.

"You two have plenty of time to be adorable later," Gen remarked while placing the hair in the test tube.

"Whatever. Let's pop the evidence in here," Senku changed the subject.

"Do we need more?" Gen wondered as they started searching through the bushes.

"As many as possible, ideally. Let's search the area together," Senku informed, and when they had enough, he had a big grin on his face. "Then we'll toss our findings into a centrifuge!"

"Wha-?! Where in the heck are we gonna find a centrifuge on this island?!" Gen screeched, and Senku turned around with a smirk. He yelped as Sumi grinned knowingly, both her and her boyfriend gesturing to Kohaku.

"Right here," He informed, earning confusion from Kohaku.

"Centrifuges work by rotating at rapid speed, to separate our substances. Its speed is the same amount of force that equals the gravity of the Earth, actually!" Sumi closed her eyes with a small smile. "And who better to operate one by hand than the fastest person in the Kingdom of Science?"

Kohaku smiled widely while spinning it around into a big circle over their heads, shocking both Soyuz and Gen. Senku and Sumi were unfazed while staring at her. "As hard as you can, okay?" He called out to her.

"We want them as separate as possible, you got this, Kohaku!" Sumi cheered while pumping a fist.

"Yeah, I got it! Thanks, Sumi!" Kohaku replied back to them. Once it was finished, the two scientists looked at the contents.

"Our muscle-powered centrifuge divided its particles into layers," Senku explained to them. "We're after the polyp layer, so..." He then presented a microscope out of nowhere.

"Really?!" Gen screeched in disbelief.

"Good thing the two of us decided to level up our lathe a bunch!" Senku grinned proudly, remembering the work Kaseki did to build it. "Made making this thing a cinch!"

"And thankfully we can finally use it after it was collecting dust!" Sumi gave a peace sign with a wink. "Thanks, Kaseki, even though I know you're petrified. We'll put your hard work to good use!" Senku then examined the particles himself.

"Now then...let's take a much, much closer look..." He looked at the little pieces inside. "Lily pollen. Lillies don't grow by the sea shore. Which can only mean one thing. Our suspect is living in the interior mountains." Specifically, the area near the highest point of the island on the middle/right hand side.

"Lillies in particular are used for medicinal purposes if you boil down the roots or the bulbs to make tea for stomach issues, fevers, or to help women during labor. It was also used in the 16th century by herbalists for gout antidotes. But if this island is just like Ishigami Village was at the start, I doubt these natives would know any of that," Sumi replied while looking at the test tube.

"Ha!" Kohaku gave a small smile. "Scientific investigations aren't so bad. We started with nothing, and we're already closing in on her." She turned to the trio of Gen, Sumi, and Senku. "With Gen, Senku, and Sumi's strengths combined, no suspect could ever hope to hide from us." The three all smiled at her.

"The rest of the job is easy. We use the pre-existing trail and extrapolate a route towards the mountains. Mire-chan can also sniff her out with the hairs!" Gen explained the plan.

"That's more than enough," Kohaku smirked and bent down in front of Sumi. She blinked and got onto the blonde's back piggy-back style. "It's the territory of us ladies now!" The men gasped as she jumped past them, Sumi yelping while hanging on tight. "If speed, eyesight, and smell can get the job done, then this job is perfect for us!"


And so, the three followed the women while looking up the trees. It took a while, but they eventually found them sitting on a tree branch. Kohaku looked back while holding up a hand. All three were panting heavily as they had to keep up their pace with the two so fast. The blonde let up a finger to her lips to shush them, and then looked towards the ground. Down there... She thought as they had found their suspect, walking up ahead. The descendant of the same people as us...from the group that Ishigami Village branched off from. Kohaku then gripped her sword behind her shoulders, unsure of how to proceed. An enemy...or ally?

It's not impossible she's the one who petrified everyone on the ship. This is risky. Gen thought uneasily, since they couldn't tell if she was armed, or if she could have something up her sleeve.

Gotta remember! Soyuz tried really hard to go through his head, to see if he could remember something that could help. Something...anything!

Senku chuckled as Sumi glanced towards him. "Whatever the case, we have no choice but to make contact and gather some intel. We've made it to this moment through the power of science. The key to reviving humanity is in front of us...a resident of Treasure Island!"

The woman stopped and then turned around, revealing in fact amber eyes like Sumi described before. She didn't see anything though, and after a few seconds, turned back around to leave. The five were hiding in the bushes. "Bingo, there goes our young lady. And I'm impressed, Mire-Chan. She's exactly as you described her earlier," Gen glanced at her with a small grin.

"I knew she had to be at least 18 given no wrinkles or any signs of low stamina like older people—well, most of them," Sumi smiled happily from her correct guess. Senku chuckled to himself as he didn't have any doubt in her whatsoever.

"So what do we do?" Kohaku glanced at the duo. "Capture her?"

"Nah, let's do things the friendly way for now," The green-haired scientist replied to her.

"We'll be seducing her, then...into joining us," Gen had a dark look on his face.

"Yeah...she's the only lead we've got, and I'm not about to lose it," Senku had a similar expression. "Once she tells us the location of the platinum, we'll be one step closer to reviving everyone we want."

"Looks like a tough nut to crack, just like Mire-chan was when I met her. Going up against such a captivating beauty is icky-tray. At least for a normal person, but I'm a mentalist," He stood up, and before he could make himself known to the woman, three men bent down in front of her on one knee. All of them were holding up bouquets for flowers as she opened her mouth in shock, a slight blush on her face.

"I beg you, please consider marrying me!" They all pleaded with her. Soyuz had hearts coming from his head, Senku had lines on his body with wide eyes, Gen was baffled, and Kohaku was a little embarrassed. Sumi had white eyes while sagging her shoulders in bewilderment.

"What am I looking at?" Gen asked in utter shock.

"She's cute..." Soyuz murmured while Sumi turned her face into an awkward smile.

"I guess that's what happens when beauty is used to its advantage, huh?" She replied sheepishly, her eyebrow twitching.

"Yeah, you know what? Maybe wait for this to play out..." Senku muttered a bit awkwardly; none of them were expecting this, to say the least.

"Agreed!" Kohaku gave a pleased smile at the sight in front of them. "This is a good chance to get a sense of their personalities too. Let's kick back and watch 'em!"

"Why do you seem so excited about all this?" Gen turned to her; he thought that she would've been a bit like Senku was, not caring at all about romance. At least, that was what he assumed since it never came up in regards to her own feelings towards anyone.

"Well, this shit's getting good! We don't wanna miss any of the details!" She replied and Sumi scoffed in utter disbelief.

"Oh woooooow..." She drawed out at this answer, shaking her head slowly. That was something she definitely thought she wouldn't hear from Kohaku of all people.

The woman gasped and placed her hands in front of her face, still blushing. "Oh, no! What do I do? My heart is pounding! Forgive me if I say something silly, but...you've all made me oh so very happy. I don't know why you would want a girl like me!"

"What do you mean 'a girl like me', my fair Amaryllis? You're the most beautiful person on the entire island!" One of them explained while the others were crying.

"Look at her..." Soyuz murmured in awe, blushing.

"Not gonna lie, I didn't expect Soyuz here to turn into a lovestruck young lad!" Gen remarked from behind. Kohaku and Sumi just stared while Senku had a blank face, digging into his pinky. "Kinda wish Senku was that way around his own girlfriend."

"He is in private," Sumi smiled in amusement, earning a simple scoff from Senku.

"The hell I'm not, where'd you get that stupid idea from?" He ruffled the top of her head to mess up her hair and she smacked his hand off with a small whine in protest.

As the men continued to admire Amaryllis, she had her back turned to them. She used something from her basket to wiggle something into her eyes, making them red. She shook while shedding tears, turning around to them. "But alas...they're coming to take me tomorrow. I'm to become one of the master's brides in the inner palace. I'm sure you three understand, don't you? You know what happens to anyone that defies him."

The five all flinched in alarm, gasping as they stared. They could infer that she meant something dire, considering their petrified friends. That must've been what she meant; the master could've came across them and then used something to petrify the whole crew.

The men all cried at the reminder. "We'd never...not a chance!"

"That's exactly why we wanted to confess our feelings today! It was our last opportunity!" They then all turned away while crying, running off in utter disappointment.

Senku cackled while clenching a fist. "Ten billion points to us! Tailing this lady was the right move! We're already starting to learn about the big bad boss. And I have a good feeling she's gonna lead us right to him!" He told the five as Sumi smirked a bit.

"And we know that none of the natives wanna cross him. Meaning that he has something big up his sleeve if anyone dares to stand against him," She held up a finger.

"Amaryllis was her name? That coveted young woman..." Gen had an evil smirk on his face while looking at her. "Judging by her words, we may have a common enemy. In which case if she knows where the treasure box is, she may choose to cooperate. Although, first impressions decide about 90 percent of these situations, so let's make our introductions carefully."

Senku popped up next to Amaryllis without a care, though, his pinky in his ear. Sumi was standing next to him, hands behind her back. "Hey, where's the treasure box at?" He asked casually, earning a sound of shock from the native. Sumi had a small smile on her face.

"That was way too direct!" Gen shouted from the bushes with wide eyes.

"You're not wrong, but this is classic Senku and Sumi," Kohaku remarked with a knowing smile. "Efficiency is always their number one priority," She had a malicious look on her face while stepping forward. "Heh. And I'm on board with that. We wanna be as quick as possible so we can save our petrified friends on the ship, and time's wasting...push comes to shove, I'll shove this at her throat," She smiled wickedly while unsheathing her katana a little bit.

"Not that I don't respect and appreciate it, but you really go all out when it comes to your friends, huh, Kohaku?" Gen sweated immensely with shadows over his eyes, getting terrified of her.

Sumi dragged a hand down her face at the blonde, raising a 'really' brow before turning to her with a scolding look. "No! No sword, Kohaku!" She snatched it away from the blonde. "And besides, with you holding that thing like that, you'll just scare her!"

"Aww, you're no fun," Kohaku pouted, earning a small eye roll. Amaryllis blinked as she didn't recognize them at all.

Who are they...? I've never seen any of them before. Does that mean they're from the inner place? "Are you here to take me to the master?" She asked them, while sounding a bit unsure. "That was to be tomorrow!" Since they didn't have clothing similar to the natives, that was her only assumption. But people from the inner palace weren't known to be this time-efficient, not even one particular one from the upper ranks she knew. There was no reason to move the date, or pick her up earlier.

"There's that word again," Gen murmured in thought, turning to Soyuz. "Does master ring any bells to you, Soyuz?"

"Hmm," He rubbed his chin in thought, trying to remember that word specifically. But nothing came to mind, and he didn't have time to dwell on further. That was because Amaryllis gasped while glancing at the man, running up to him with a shadow over her eyes.

"I had no idea! You're the master?!" She exclaimed loudly in shock. His whole face then turned red staring down at her as she had hugged him tightly. "I love you!" She declared as smoke came from his ears. "Truly!" She looked up with adoring eyes. "Such might, yet such kind eyes that embrace me! Just at a glance...I can tell you and I are destined to be together!"

This overwhelmed him to say the least as everyone but Senku gave a look of shock as he fainted... "Welp, he's down!" Kohaku yelped with wide eyes.

"He's been petrified!" Gen exclaimed, and Amaryllis gave a nervous laugh from this reaction. This may or may not have happened with other men a couple of times when they had approached her in the past...Sumi bent down to Soyuz, putting her ear to his mouth.

"Well, he's still breathing, so I wouldn't say he's petrified," She informed while sitting on her legs, hands on her knees. "I think he just needs a few minutes to calm down and he'll be fine," She gave an awkward look while closing her eyes. "That is, unless he thinks back on this and he'd react the exact same way..."


And she was right, as a few minutes later, he had calmed down to explain to Amaryllis that he wasn't who she thought. "So you're not the master?" She blinked in confusion and he nodded, a slight blush on his face.

"Sorry..." He replied meekly to her.

"You seem the most familiar..." She then turned to the four right nearby. "These other four don't appear to be from the island."

"So, this master, do you mean like your leader?" Kohaku wondered curiously to her. "Cause if you look at it one way, the guy next to me is the closest thing we have to a leader," She gestured to Senku on her left. "Along with—" And immediately just like with Soyuz, Amaryllis hugged him tightly.

"I love you!" She cried out, Kohaku looking alarmed as Sumi opened her mouth wide.

"Wait, it's just not him!" The blonde protested while waving a hand, but Amaryllis didn't seem to process this.

"Hey! Hands off, please!" Sumi clenched her fists with a pout towards them. Senku himself had a blank look on his face, as the trick wasn't gonna work on him at all.

Senku silently looked down at her, his lips in a thin line. Amaryllis took note of this while looking at him awkwardly. His face definitely wasn't in her favor. "Such might, or uh...maybe not so much might. Ah...such kind eyes that seem to embrace—uh, actually, they look more like a villain's. They're eyes of intelligence! My dear, from the first moment I saw you, I could tell you-"

"Yeah, yeah, I was there for the last performance," Senku interrupted without any sign of being affected by her. "You know where the treasure box is or what?"

Sumi sighed in relief at this. Though, she should've expected this, from the both of them. "You two are both so obtuse..." Kohaku murmured with lines over her face.

Amaryllis recoiled back with white eyes and a shadow over them, her mouth open in disbelief. Senku was the only man ever to not be affected by her at all, and it was pretty remarkable to her. It didn't work! My irresistible charms were resistant! Is that even possible? But I'm so adorable!

"Sorry to break it to you, but that kind of thing won't work on Senku," Gen had a sleazy smile on his face while stepping up. Senku continued to have the same blank look. "Not when he already has a lover of his own. I, however, am right for the manipulation. Oh, and that's right, I forgot to mention! I'm the master you're looking for."

"Ahhh!" Sumi yelped while blushing deeply. "I don't know if lover is the best term..." She waved her hand rapidly. Girlfriend, yes, but lover might have been taking it a bit too far. They had been dating for a year, but still.

Amaryllis then hopped up, holding out her arms. "I love-" She then stopped herself as Gen was waiting in anticipation. She then giggled as she realized that he was lying. "You had me fooled there for a few seconds."

He looked away with a small whine. Kohaku scoffed while clenching a fist, leaning towards him. "If you want a warm embrace that bad, Gen, I'd be happy to oblige!" She offered darkly, causing him to shake in fear of her.

"I'll pass on at that! No offense, but you'd break every bone in my ody-bay...!" He cried out while terrified of possibly going through that.

"Would my future life partner next to me be enough to convince you that I don't have any interest in you?" Senku pointed at Sumi blankly and she flinched in alarm.

"Ack! Senku!" She shouted while turning around to him.

"What? Over 3,700 years, you're practically already that," He waved it off, hands on his hips.

"W-Well...maybe...but you didn't even give me a warning!" She protested and he chuckled, smirking towards her.

"Eh, so what? We'll be married by next year anyway," Senku opened an eye, the others all gasping at his declaration. They couldn't tell if he was serious or just saying that to get a reaction out of Sumi for his entertainment. He did always like to mess with her, after all.

"What the hell?!" She exclaimed loudly with white eyes at him, a red mark on her forehead. This was honestly a big shock to her, since they never even discussed marriage, so hearing this was causing her brain to break a bit. "If you get on one knee right now, the answer is no! We have other things to worry about right now!"

"What's really stopping me? I can make a ring no problem!" He cackled at her while holding his stomach and she glared towards him.

"Stop being like this! This is so embarrassing, and should be a private conversation!" She yelled at him while the others all stared. Amaryllis had a small sweat drop at the back of her head, as she had never seen this from a couple before.

"Uh...are they really life partners? Is that how they're supposed to act?" She asked sheepishly towards the duo as Senku continued to tease her. Sumi was not having it at all, to put it lightly.

"Our dear Senku and Sumire are always this way. It's like watching an old married couple, ironically," Gen smiled in amusement, his hands in his sleeves.

"They can disagree quite a bit..." Kohaku gave a semi-awkward look towards them. "I guess that's just how it is when you know your significant other for over 3,700 years," She shrugged a little.

"H-Huh?! But how?" Amaryllis recoiled back in shock.

"I see...so this is just how they operate," Soyuz murmured in thought, since he didn't really know what their relationship was like. Sure, everyone from the village knew about it, but not always how they acted.

Sumi huffed with her hands on her hips, turning around. "Anyway-"

"You know I'm right!" Senku called out to her and she whipped back towards him.

"You shut up!" The black-haired scientist hissed a little in warning, pointing a finger towards her boyfriend. "Ugh, men. Anyway, we need to get back on track," She turned away, though she did have a slight blush on her cheek.

"So you're not the master or from the palace..." Amaryllis blinked in confusion at them. "Then which village are you people from?" Before they could explain, suddenly there was yelling in the distance. Her eyes widened in horror as she recognized the direction it was coming from. "No...don't tell me..."

"What's all that shouting about?" Gen wondered and the native woman ran off immediately.

"Amaryllis, where are you going?" Kohaku called out after her.

"I'm going to my village!" She shouted back while taking the lead, and they followed after her.


A bunch of men were holding torches near a village. "We're just gonna have to fight back!" One of them shouted angrily.

"Our master, I mean that piece of garbage, is going down!"

"Let's do it, guys!"

"It's a riot!"

"What, have they all gone mad? Because they're taking Amaryllis away!"

"It's pointless, no matter how many of us there are, they're gonna get this entire village turned into stone!"

Amaryllis' eyes shook while looking worried. If they fought back now, they'd face the dire consequences. And she couldn't have that, since she indirectly caused all of this... "What do I do?"

"I'll cut them down if that's what it takes," Kohaku stepped up while gritting her teeth. Gen yelped while gabbing her shield from behind. "Better than the alternative."

"No, you would be ruining everything!" Gen warned with white eyes. "None of these people would ever side with us after that!"

"Then what do you propose?" Kohaku retorted back, Senku and Sumi running to Gen.

"Gen, time to whip this out!" He ripped off the cover to reveal a metal pack. Kohaku, Gen, Sumi, and Senku put on gas masks. "Science's suppression device: chloroacetone," He chuckled a little. "Probably better known as tear gas. This'll put a stop to the riot!" Gen was bent down in front of him, Kohaku and Sumi holding the pump while Senku aimed it. The two rolled the crank around to release the gas. Once it hit the villagers, floods of tears flew from their eyes. Amaryllis coughed, having shielded her own eyes. Once she looked up, she gasped in shock to see all of them bawling on the ground. Sumi reached out to her own gas mask, pulling it off while shaking her hair around.

"Since the tear gas got released outside, most of it should be gone in a few hours. At best, your fellow villagers will experience a runny nose after excessive tearing and some slight coughing," She explained with a small smile. "So they'll be completely fine once the effects wear off!"

"Wow...was that sorcery?" She muttered in disbelief. "Who are you people?"

"We wanna be as quick as possible...so we can save our petrified friends back on the ship."

She then slowly opened her eyes. "Listen..." She thought of the petrified people in the water that Ginro saw earlier. "I know the secret of the petrification beam," Amaryllis revealed, to the utter shock of Gen, Sumi, and Senku. "I thought if I could be appealing and infiltrate the master's inner palace, I could defeat him. In order to save everyone, I made up my mind. I'd become the most beautiful girl on the island..." She looked out to the sea, turning around to the five. "I'm begging you, will you help us? Please, fight by my side!" She extended a hand towards them.

The island's most beautiful girl, Amaryllis, has joined the party!

The five all stared at her in silence, as they contemplated on what to do...