Silence of ten thousand

*Thud*

Genkei was immobilised. Fusao was around the same height so his head was over Genkei's shoulder. He held Genkei in a tight embrace but made sure their chests didn't come in contact with each other and patted hard on Genkei's back.

Genkei had his outstretched arms frozen in mid-air behind Fusao. His arms relaxed and curved to Fusao's back and held him, completing the hug. It only lasted for a second as Fusao broke the embrace and went back to stirring the pan.

Fusao wanted to say "You need a bath old man. You reek." but didn't want to ruin the spell. He was lucky enough that his father came for an embrace and so took advantage. This would dampen his father's temper down so that they wouldn't fight as much while he was staking out.

He was desperate but he didn't want to make himself miserable. He had also inherited half of his father's temper if he got so mad, he probably would leave and get caught by the Triad. Sometimes pride is more important than living longer, at least he felt that way until he was actually dying or being tortured.

He was shocked that his father had become this soft but if he asked about it, he might snap out of it and so no words were spoken after the hug. Genkei stood beside him and craned his neck over the pan.

*Plop, plop* *Sizzle*

Drool from Genkei's mouth fell onto the pan.

"Hey man! Don't get your spit on the food! Heh heh... gees are you that hungry? Go sit down, it's done."

Genkei didn't move from his position but stopped craning his head.

'F***ing lunatic.' Fusao cursed in his head.

He didn't know whether Genkei was doing it on purpose or he had really lost it. He made sure the drool evaporated before finishing.

Fusao turned off the gas and transferred the contents over to a large plate which he set on the coffee table. Genkei started eating with his hands not caring if the food burnt his fingers. His fingers were bright red but he seemed to be fine.

Fusao saw a pizza box and opened it to see if there were any leftover. To his surprise, it was full and untouched.

"Why didn't you eat your pizza... Can I eat it?"

"... Omm"

Fusao interpreted his deep growl while eating as approval and ate the pizza.

"Since when do you order vegetarian pizza?"

"..."

Fusao was used to Genkei's lack of responsiveness by now. He wanted to use a fork and knife but watching Genkei eat without a care in the world, he picked the meat with his hands.

"F*** it."

He sprinkled some meat on his pizza and ate it. It was delicious. Putting meat on a vegetarian pizza was the way to go.

'Where did he get this meat? This is the best and it's not beef.' Fusao wondered.

He had eaten a lot of luxury foods before when he was rich. It tasted similar to veal but had an unknown taste to it. He still liked beef best but it was high quality, must be fresh.

Genkei pulled out a can of Asahi beer which he turned it horizontally and chomped its side.

"Hahahahaha! What the f*** are you doing dad!"

He tilted his head up and chugged it all.

Fusao burst into laughter. It was so sudden that he was shocked at his reaction but continued giggling.

"You in beast mode gramps!"

Genkei scrunched up the can in one hand and dropped it on the floor. Fusao was so impressed by his old man's strength.

"Do it again!"

As if in response, Genkei slumped down to grab another can and bit down into it.

"Bahahahaah!"

"Where the hell were you in all my life!"

"You could be my bodyguard and I the pimp!"

If the old man was really strong, they really could work as a team. That absurd yet believable imagery made him even laugh harder.

***

It was 5:30 am and the sun was rising although the sky would only be grey until about seven. Hikaru had killed a total of 10,000 people since 9:30.

Ever since his absorption speed had increased exponentially, so did the number of people he killed. The more people he killed, the faster his absorption speed was. This positive feedback loop grew out of control until the improvements started slowing down. He seemed to be reaching his limit and could absorb an adult in 3 seconds.

He had killed roughly 3.2% of the 310,000 population of Aoba ward in one night, all in silence. This was thanks to his fast routine. He would spend a minute or more scouting a house. Keeping a note of entry and exit points, the number of people in the house and their positions.

Things went faster since he acquired Phillip's spikes which he had incorporated to at the end of his tentacles. He was able to kill people swiftly without much strength thanks to the sharp bones. By summoning multiple tentacles, he was able to dispatch multiple targets simultaneously. It was particularly easy to catch fleeing occupants. With each harvest, he was getting faster and more practised.

There were a few screams here and there but no one would call the police just because of that. He went around the block, killing all the neighbours. He did not bother doing the clean up as he didn't care if the authorities were notified. In fact, it was to his benefit if the humans found out and spark a war. After both sides were weakened, he would take over the world.

Sometimes during his kills, his emotions flared up and he felt exhilarated. Killing so many people became mundane and so he was glad when his feelings had returned. He was more creative and took joy.

Before he killed the father, who was playing blind-folded tag, he had stabbed the kids with spikes. The father had heard this and walked towards some of the bodies, he was playing tag with the father by moving their bodies around. He dangled the corpses like a piece of meat in front of an alligator.

However, Hikaru could have killed around 15,000 people but he took the time to enjoy what he was doing. He had become less efficient because of his emotions. Was this change a good thing? His old self would have focused on maximising efficiency. However, he'd sacrifice that anytime if he could feel the things that everybody else can.