Chapter 341: Chapter 339: A Choice Between Two? I Want Both_1
It takes an hour and a half by train from Shinjuku Station to Okutama Town. After leaving the station, it’s a five-minute walk for the group to reach the Glacier Camping Site.
This place is nestled in the valley of the Tama River, with towering cliffs on both sides, lush with verdant trees. The riverside terrace has been neatly flattened. The bright sunlight falls here as if streams of silvery-white light were flowing on the ground. The river water is crystal clear to the bottom.
"So beautiful~" Ayatsuki Iroha swept her gaze around, immediately feeling refreshed as if her soul had been cleansed by the natural beauty. She took out her phone to take photos as a memento.
Nomura True Wave scanned the area permitted for camping, her expression slightly strange. "Such a beautiful place, and no one comes here to camp on holidays?"
Takahashi Saeko explained, "Adults don’t have the leisure to come here for camping. Just the hour and a half on the train is enough for most people to choose to enjoy the view at home."
"That’s right." Hojo Tetsuji quickly nodded in agreement. As a manga artist with one foot in society, he was well aware of the pressures of adult work. Had it not been for Yoshikawa Sayuri also coming here, he would never have taken an hour-and-a-half train ride to camp. It had nothing to do with how beautiful the scenery was; it was simply a lack of energy.
Peter laughed out loud. "Girls, just enjoy yourselves! Leave the tent pitching to us."
"Eh, that doesn’t seem quite fair, does it?" Tama Chan curled a finger in her tea-colored waves, quite pleased with the decision but still feigning reluctance. She had to act reluctant so that others like Ayatsuki Iroha, who truly felt it was improper, wouldn’t have to speak up.
Hojo Tetsuji’s fists clenched tighter. He felt that this guy named Peter must be interested in Yoshikawa Sayuri, constantly snatching the cool lines he should have said.
"No worries, we’ll handle this sort of physical work," Aozawa chipped in.
At this point, he couldn’t very well propose that the boys and girls pitch tents together.
"Then we’ll leave it to you." Nomura True Wave waved her hand with a beaming smile. She too had a laid-back personality, happy to be lazy whenever possible.
The girls went off to explore the scenery together.
The boys pitched tents.
The girls hiked the mountains.
The boys pitched tents.
The girls chatted and snacked.
The boys pitched tents.
"Damn it! I didn’t come here to pitch tents!!" Hojo Tetsuji, on the verge of collapse, drove a stake into the gravel with a punch. Looking up in rage, he shouted, "Peter, you bastard! You call yourself some kind of Adventure Prince, yet you can’t even pitch a tent?"
"I have a wealth of adventure experience," Peter said. "It’s just that my physical condition is so strong, I often don’t need a tent. Just pull out a sleeping bag, and I can lie down in the Arctic with no problems at all."
Peter was unapologetic about the accusation, speaking with total candor. "Speaking of the Arctic, I recall one morning I was covered in snow, and a polar bear stepped right over me. It startled me awake, and I immediately engaged in a fierce brawl with the polar bear—truly an invigorating morning exercise."
"Don’t stand there blowing your own trumpet! If you can’t pitch a tent, you shouldn’t have volunteered for this," Aozawa retorted. After some time together, Aozawa found that Peter, despite his rich life experience from extensive travels at a young age, was no help with pitching tents. The guy simply couldn’t do it and was extremely narcissistic.
Peter spread his hands, his face conveying disappointment. "I can’t help it. I didn’t expect you guys wouldn’t know how either. I thought talents like you would definitely know how to pitch a tent."
"Hey, stop wasting time chatting! If you dawdle any longer, it’ll be dark! When those girls come back and see we’ve taken this long and haven’t even pitched the tents, they’ll laugh themselves to death!" Furusawa Kyoichiro yelled, telling them to stop wasting time talking. If they didn’t get the tents up, they would be humiliated in front of the girls.
"Peter, you should have bought an automatic hydraulic tent from the start," Aozawa said.
Peter replied, "Aozawa, if you seek high-tech for everything, what’s the point of having people at all? Let us unite and sweat our youthful energy! Back when I was in the Sahara—"
"Shut up! Just get to work!" Furusawa Kyoichiro yelled, feeling veins throb on his temples with frustration. The delay in pitching a single tent was all due to these three fools dragging their feet. One bragged at any chance, another only knew how to slack off, and the third just used brute force without any skill.
"Aozawa, stop slacking off! Get serious and work!" Furusawa ordered.
"Can’t help it, slacking off is our family tradition," Aozawa shrugged. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to make an effort, but knowing Peter had taken on the task and would get all the credit demotivated him. Logically, the person who came up with such a lousy idea should be doing more work, not just standing there boasting.
"That’s not a family tradition worth passing down! Just get on with it!" Furusawa snapped.
Tokyo’s rainy season had ended, and the surrounding temperature and sun rapidly reached summer levels. It was just after six, still considered afternoon. The sunlight was still radiant, the breeze blowing down from the mountains carried a cool touch, the leaves rustled, and cicadas chirped.
After making a round, the girls returned with various snacks from the convenience store and a bunch of meat.
Ayatsuki Iroha waved to the boys who had finished pitching the tents and said cheerily, "Great job, guys, this is your reward." As she finished speaking, she walked up to Aozawa and handed him a bottle of cold orange juice.
"It’s obviously not suitable to drink something cold right after exercising. Better to drink water instead." Phoenix Academy Maggie, not caring about sparing Ayatsuki Iroha’s feelings, handed over a bottle of unchilled mineral water. Her brows and eyes curved delicately, as her porcelain doll-like cheeks revealed a sunshine-bright smile.
But Aozawa knew that if he didn’t choose the mineral water, the smile on Phoenix Academy Maggie’s face would turn icy cold. And if he chose the mineral water, Iroha would likely look like she was on the verge of tears.
"It’s fine," he said. "I’m really thirsty from putting up the tents. One bottle simply won’t be enough." He took the mineral water with his left hand and the orange juice with his right.
However, this maneuver clearly didn’t satisfy either of them. They stared at Aozawa. The contest had now shifted: whoever’s drink he sipped first would be the one he valued more.
The world in Aozawa’s eyes turned grayscale. Time paused at this moment. He could see Peter catching a drink handed to him by Takahashi Saeko, secretly watching him. Hojo Tetsuji caught the drink from Yoshikawa Sayuri with a goofy smile and drank.
Aozawa transformed into a breeze and, using Schrodinger’s Cat, quickly departed. He picked up a heart-shaped straw from a department store warehouse and rapidly returned to the Glacier Camping Site.
He resumed human form, stashed the straw in his pocket, and time began to flow again. Color returned to the world.
Without missing a beat, Aozawa calmly took out the heart-shaped straw. He unscrewed the cap of the mineral water, popped the tab on the orange juice, and, holding the straw with the heart end down, simultaneously drank the orange juice mixed with mineral water.
"Delicious!" Aozawa gave a thumbs up.
"Haha." Ayatsuki Iroha let out a laugh.
Phoenix Academy Maggie was rendered speechless by his producing a heart-shaped straw. She couldn’t help but admit to herself that Aozawa had won this round.
"Alright, boys, who’s going to move the barbecue equipment over here?" Takahashi Saeko clapped her hands and shouted.
Just as Hojo Tetsuji was about to stand up, Peter shouted, "Leave it to me!"
Hojo Tetsuji was annoyed. His line stolen again by this guy! So annoying! Angry, he grabbed a stone from the ground and crushed it, venting his frustration.
"Wow!" Yoshikawa Sayuri, seeing this, exclaimed with surprise, "Hojo-kun, you are so strong, you can actually crush a stone."
"Eh? This is nothing—" Hojo Tetsuji began, the compliment instantly going to his head. He walked over to a large rock by the river and exploded a meter-long stone with one punch, calmly saying, "I’ve always been strong since I was little. Shattering stones is just child’s play."
Peter quickly interjected, "Sure, child’s play. A martial artist needs not just strength, but also skill." He then demonstrated his own skill by picking up a larger piece of broken stone and slapping it forcefully several times with his right hand.
CRACK. The stone split into several more pieces, revealing a rough human figure in his palm.
"Amazing!" Yoshikawa Sayuri clapped excitedly, feeling as if she were watching a movie.
Ayatsuki Iroha looked at Peter, then stared at Aozawa with hopeful eyes. In her view, if Peter could do that, then Aozawa, who was so proficient in Sword Dao, ought to be able to carve a stone into a human shape with a few swift moves.
Aozawa fell silent. He could use his Marked Detonation ability to shatter the stone into powder, leaving no residue, but trying to sculpt it like Peter was clearly impossible.
The brightness in Ayatsuki Iroha’s eyes dimmed, like a constantly wagging Husky that suddenly stopped wagging its tail.
"It’s okay if you can’t do it. It’s no big deal," Ayatsuki Iroha said, trying to comfort Aozawa and not wanting him to feel down.
Nomura True Wave retorted, "To be honest, being able to do that is the real abnormality, right? That’s a stone, not flour. Are you two even human?"
Peter tossed the stone figure up and said, "Haven’t I mentioned it? I’ve practiced martial arts since my youth, which is why I’ve mastered such extraordinary skill." With that, he got close to Hojo Tetsuji and said animatedly, "Do you want to learn? I could teach you. With your strength and the skill I impart, aspiring to the title of the strongest martial artist is not just a dream, partner~"
"I am not your partner, and I’m not going to learn your techniques!" Hojo Tetsuji replied irritably. He was convinced the guy was interested in Little Sayuri and was trying to recruit him as an underling to boost his own image in front of her. So annoying!
Takahashi Saeko clapped her hands. "Alright, you guys, go move the barbecue equipment."
Tama Chan tilted her head, surprised. "Saeko, you’re really good at adapting."
"If it’s this level, there are indeed people who can do it," Takahashi Saeko replied calmly. As a Street Cleaner, she knew plenty of martial artists who surpassed ordinary imagination. But ultimately, they were just humans who could be dealt with by a single bullet. It was just a matter of switching to a larger caliber sniper rifle.
The existence that could truly be called a "monster," from beginning to end, there was only one: the Superpower User whom even she did not dare to investigate, Dio.