Chapter 13: Pimples in the Sky
With such an incident, the laboratory was in chaos. The tour had to be abruptly ended.
Two people died on their own turf. It was a big deal for the Yumura Society. Kenichi Koike was very busy, but luckily he remembered to arrange for someone to take Uesugi Kiyoshi home.
Sitting in the car on the way back, Uesugi Kiyoshi closed his eyes, the recent events still fresh in his mind.
Can you believe that Head Balloon committed suicide?!!
But why would it do that?
Was it trying to challenge things beyond its capacity, using a nylon head and toughened glass?
Of course not!
Leaving aside the fact that Head Balloon never attempted to break buildings, if their intelligence was that low, they would have wiped out humanity long ago, considering how many sharp objects there are in the city that can pop balloons.
Was it driven to suicide by the repeated experiments and feelings of humiliation?
That doesn't seem very likely.
After all, now people wearing protective suits and walking machines on the streets are doing similar things, Head Balloon has failed time and time again, but he has never felt disappointed before.
Could it be...
Uesugi Kiyoshi looked at his watch, the hour hand pointing to "1", calculating the time, the time for Head Balloon to self-destruct should be at midnight today.
Exactly!
"Squeak~~"
The huge inertia and screeching brakes pulled Uesugi Kiyoshi out of his reverie, he looked up and saw the driver angrily jumping off the car, shouting loudly.
"Shameless bastard, didn't you see? This is a Yumura Society car!"
The street lights on both sides of the road were dim, only vaguely illuminating a blurry figure lying in the middle of the road, blocking their way, the driver's shouting didn't make this figure move an inch.
"Could he be drunk, or sick?"
Uesugi Kiyoshi felt his pockets and realized that his phone had turned off.
"Please call the hospital or the police, sir," said Uesugi Kiyoshi.
"It's not like that, Your Excellency Uesugi!" The driver's anger grew, "I saw clearly, he was walking on the side of the road, then he suddenly threw himself into the middle of it!"
Is it a scam?
Uesugi Kiyoshi admired him greatly.
This was really risking his life for money, as the protective suit only works when a person is standing, lying down exposes a gap that can't block the Head Balloon from behind.
The driver cursed loudly, his voice getting louder, but the other party seemed oblivious, so in frustration, he kicked out with his foot.
After a light rain and the lubricant dripping from the pedestrian's protective suit, the ground became extremely slippery. After being kicked, the person on the ground slid along the road for three to five meters until hitting a lamppost and stopping.
Uesugi Kiyoshi then noticed that the person was not wearing a protective suit, only a wet school uniform, shining with oil under the lamppost.
Is it impossible?
Even though covered in oil, it couldn't stop the Head Balloon's attack, as the human body has too many uneven parts to defend.
Those who didn't believe were already hung up in the sky for all to see.
But the truth is, this person was unharmed, the impact seemed to wake him up, and he was now using his hands to push himself up, shaking his head.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Uesugi Kiyoshi put on protective gear and opened the car door.
Ignoring the approaching Head Balloon, he looked up at the sky, where the driver's balloon was circling reluctantly, preparing for the next attack, with nothing else in the sky under the night.
... Can this be true?
Uesugi Kiyoshi was shocked, suddenly heard the driver's scream, stumbled back and almost fell, caught off guard by the menacing balloon nearby.
"What's wrong with you?"
"He, he, he has pimples on his face! Lots of pimples!" The driver tightly held onto the car door, exclaiming in panic.
Uesugi Kiyoshi felt relieved and gave a displeased look at the driver who was making a big fuss.
Just pimples, even if he had hemorrhoids, there's no need to react like this!
The person lying on the ground finally stood up, the dim yellow light shining on his face, almost making Uesugi Kiyoshi cry out.
It was a face resembling a honeycomb, or like bubble wrap packed into a box, with numerous pimples occupying most of the space on his face, leaving only gaps for the mouth, nose, and eyes.
What's even more horrifying is that mature pimples would occasionally burst, oozing out milky white pus mixed with oil, carving out grooves on his face.
This can already be considered an alien face!
Uesugi Kiyoshi could even understand why the other person didn't have a Head Balloon.
However, this horrific sight gave him a strange sense of déjà vu, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Feeling someone looking at him, the guy with pimples on his face covered his face with his sleeve under the light, about to leave, but he tripped and fell into a puddle by the roadside.
Though called a puddle, it was covered with a thick layer of colorful oil. He struggled to sit up, but his head involuntarily hung down lower and lower until his mouth was tightly pressed against the oily surface, making gulp sounds.
"That's disgusting, you rascal!"
The driver nearby gathered his courage, picked up a stone, about to approach again, but he stopped in front of him, looked for a moment, then returned reluctantly, bowing repeatedly to Uesugi Kiyoshi.
"I'm terribly sorry, Your Excellency Uesugi, for delaying your journey, we will leave now!"
With no more obstacles, the sedan continued to move forward smoothly, the strange man quickly disappearing from view, but Uesugi Kiyoshi's heart remained unsettled for a long time.
He recalled the origin of his déjà vu.
However, that person should not have appeared in Tokyo! And definitely not in the world of the Head Balloon!
"Do you know who that person was just now?" he couldn't help but ask.
Unable to understand this problem, he couldn't relax later on.
"I don't know, Your Excellency Uesugi."
Looking through the rearview mirror, Uesugi Kiyoshi noticed the driver sneak a glance at him, with a confused expression on his face.
"Excuse me, Your Excellency, have you not seen him? Such a person should stand out, right?"
"Should I know him?" Uesugi Kiyoshi was unsure.
"After all, he was wearing the uniform of Baguang Academy!"
It took Uesugi Kiyoshi a while to remember that Baguang Academy was his school.
A person like that in the school should be well-known, so he could just ask Nakasone Kazuko when he got back.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Uesugi Kiyoshi closed his eyes and silently prayed in his heart.
Hope didn't turn out as expected, making it hard to handle!
