As the door creaked open, the dim light sketched the silhouettes of the room. A gust of damp, cold wind rushed out, carrying a faint, metallic scent of rust.
The space was not small.
Two massive cabinets stood organized in rows on the left and right, filled with various items. Satoru Gojo's eyes swept across them, his pupils dilating involuntarily as a chill climbed up his spine.
On the left cabinet... lay an assortment of torture instruments.
Many were stained with blood—some dried into a dark, crusted brown, yet still vividly clear. They were like macabre graffiti, silently narrating tales of the horrific cruelty that had transpired here.
As for the items on the right, they were even more stomach-churning.
Row after row of transparent glass jars, every single one containing a blue eye preserved in formalin. The eyes varied in size and shape; though all were blue, each possessed subtle, unique differences.
Did that sanctimonious beast Hermann do all of this?
These are the "collectibles" he spoke of. Had it been the real "Hailey" walking in today instead of Satoru Gojo, she would have undoubtedly met a tragic end.
Despite his grim suspicions prior to arriving, the reality exceeded his darkest imaginings. A wave of nausea surged from his stomach, a bitter lump rising in his throat.
The white-haired youth's expression grew increasingly frigid.
A few stabs were far too merciful for a man like Hermann.
Satoru walked past the cabinets and cluttered debris, searching for the presence of living beings. Eventually, his gaze fell upon a group of young girls huddled in a corner of the room. Clad in thin dresses, their skin was a map of scars and bruises. Their hands and feet were bound by heavy chains, and at the sound of Satoru's approach, they began to tremble violently.
Among them was a blonde girl with a bandage wrapped over her right eye. She stared at the unknown figure in the darkness with her remaining blue eye, her breath hitched as she struggled to suppress her terror. A forced, unnatural smile twitched on her lips—less an expression of joy and more a muscular spasm of survival.
"Father... you've finally come to see us. Alice is so happy..."
她 lifted her head urgently, her voice hoarse. "Anna really didn't mean to defy you before! Please, forgive us... it's been three days, we haven't eaten anything, we can't hold on much longer..."
A small black-haired girl nearby crawled over on all fours, sobbing, "Father, it was all Anna's fault. I'll be good from now on, I'll do whatever you want, just please don't discard us..."
The other girls pulled at her sleeve, silencing her whimpers.
A kaleidoscope of emotions swirled in Satoru's heart. He approached them, kneeling to meet their eyes, and spoke in a softened, steady tone. "Don't be afraid. That man is dead."
Alice stared at him blankly, her voice trembling with disbelief. "Father?"
"He's... dead?"
"Yes. No one will ever hurt you again."
In the center of the basement, a dim yellow lamp cast a faint glow, lending a sliver of warmth to the chilling space. Though the light was insufficient to dispel the surrounding gloom, it softened the features of the youth who looked like a child of the gods, making his words impossible to doubt.
The other children froze as they saw his face clearly.
They hadn't seen a stranger other than Hermann in a very long time. They were lost, having forgotten even the basic instinct to cry for help.
"Big brother, you're so handsome... were you really not captured by Father?" the youngest, Anna, whispered. Her eyes darted behind Satoru, fearing Hermann might emerge from the shadows at any moment.
"Stop calling him 'Father.' He's just a piece of trash who's already in hell."
Satoru used raw strength to snap the chains, tossing them aside. With the shackles gone, their fear dissipated slightly, but their weakened bodies left them unable to stand; they remained kneeling on the floor.
This mess... they need a hospital.
There were four girls in total. Satoru could carry three, but as for the last one...
He dialed his "good buddy," Gin.
By the time Vermouth arrived with the organization's clean-up crew, she found Satoru Gojo feeding the scarred young girls while Gin, wearing his usual poker face, was begrudgingly helping by handing out water.
A quick mental review of Hermann's history told her exactly what had happened.
Truly a scumbag who deserved to die...
However, had he not crossed the organization's red lines, the Boss would never have ordered his execution, and Vermouth wouldn't have bothered with such "trifles."
She watched from the sidelines for a long time. Seeing Satoru abandon his usual flippant attitude to show such tenderness toward the girls struck a chord of curiosity in her.
Which one is the real you, Satoru?
She truly couldn't see through this child.
> [Ding! Impression points from story character Vermouth +500. Impression: Mysterious.]
>
The system notification did nothing to improve Satoru's mood. In fact, a knot of frustration remained lodged in his chest.
While doing his best to comfort the girls, his mind flashed back to the words of the original Satoru's best friend, Suguru Geto: "Protect the weak, Satoru."
That handsome youth with the topknot had said it with a smile, unaware of how that single sentence would derail the rest of his life.
Did Suguru feel the same way I do now when he saw those twins imprisoned by the villagers?
Though the twins were persecuted by ignorant commoners and these girls by a "civilized" monster, the essence was the same: the strong preyed on the weak.
Trash like Hermann was no different from the garbage in the Jujutsu world.
Perhaps because the original memories were so vivid, the current Satoru was beginning to lose track of his own core. Was he Jiang Wu, the boy who loved shonen manga and dreamed of saving the world, or was he the "Strongest," Satoru Gojo, determined to reform the Jujutsu world?
After a long while, the girls finally drifted into a peaceful sleep. His complex thoughts were interrupted by Vermouth's voice. "Everything is mostly cleaned up. Caesar, I have some good news for you."
She held up a document. "Thanks to your swift completion of the mission, Hermann didn't have time to hand over the organization's secrets tonight. You've saved 'That Person' a great deal of trouble."
Satoru gave a disinterested "Oh."
The glamorous woman behind the sunglasses asked, "What reward do you want? Besides me teaching you disguise, you can think of something else."
He answered with a question of his own. "Are you planning to silence them?"
"..." The woman didn't deny it.
To leave no trace, one naturally had to destroy everything associated with Hermann.
"Then the reward I want is for them to be healthy, safe, and returned to their homes." Satoru shrugged. "For the 'almighty' organization, that shouldn't be hard, right?"
Vermouth arched an eyebrow. "Those words... don't sound like something the adopted son of 'That Person' should say."
"What? Are you that afraid of a few little girls?" Satoru smiled, locking eyes with her. "I recall you saying that a charming woman doesn't easily go back on her word, right?"
Vermouth was left speechless.
Perhaps deciding that the girls truly posed no threat, she eventually relented.
News of the famous wealthy businessman Ben Hermann dying in a villa fire hit the local papers. The Cassino family was furious, knowing the organization was behind it, but since the man was now nothing but ash, they could only let the matter drop.
Having zero faith in the organization's "credibility," Satoru stayed by Vermouth's side the entire time. He watched as the children received proper treatment at an organization-affiliated hospital and were successfully reunited with their families.
Except for Alice, the eldest.
Her parents had died young; she had been bought by Hermann on the dark web. Having been with him the longest, her abuse had been the most severe. She was missing an eye, leaving her vision blurred. Yet, she was the strongest among them, often acting as a protective older sister and doing her best to take the brunt of Hermann's anger to spare the others.
After seeing the others embrace their weeping parents and ensuring their lives would return to normal, it was time for Satoru to leave.
Before departing, he visited Alice's ward one last time to tell her of her future. She would be placed in the best foster home, go to school, and make friends. The past would be nothing more than a nightmare, something she didn't have to carry forever.
The blonde, blue-eyed girl looked much healthier. As Satoru turned to leave, she scrambled up to grab him, but stopped halfway, her eyes brimming with tears.
"What's wrong?"
The girl asked timidly, "Are you a god sent from heaven to save me, or an angel? My body is too dirty... I shouldn't touch you."
Satoru shook his head. "You are very clean, Alice."
She began to sob. "If it weren't for you, I'd never have escaped that nightmare. I don't even know how to thank you... I don't even know your name..."
"I don't need thanks. Just live well."
He gave her forehead a gentle flick with his finger. The white-haired, blue-eyed youth flashed a smile as radiant as the morning sun.
"Call me Gojo-sensei."
Alice wiped her tears and summoned her courage. "Yes! Gojo-sensei!"
Seeing the tragic girl finally smile through her tears, the knot in Satoru's heart seemed to loosen significantly.
Once the mission was fully resolved, Vermouth returned to her elusive state, vanishing for a few days but promising to fulfill her vow of teaching him disguise soon.
Satoru pouted in annoyance, turned off his phone, and slumped into the passenger seat like a puddle. Gin drove him back to Vermouth's villa, completely unbothered by the fact that he didn't have a license. Catching a glimpse of the "cat-liquid" blob in his peripheral vision, Gin frowned.
"Sit up straight. If you get thrown out when I turn, it's not my problem."
"Got it~ Jin-chan is becoming such a nag. It's clearly your bad driving, and you're blaming me."
Gin: "..."
If his hands weren't on the steering wheel, he would have punched the kid.
Tsk... I need to find a driver.
"I'm not wrong. Weren't you quite 'handy' at taking care of people earlier?" Satoru laughed, resting his hands behind his head.
"You're still bringing that up?" Gin snorted. He'd only done it because he was forced to. "If you hadn't meddled, there wouldn't have been all that extra work. A total waste of time."
"About that..."
Satoru looked up, but saw only the car roof.
He was quiet for a moment. Just as Gin thought he had finally shut up, Satoru asked a strange question.
"Do you know how many years Hermann would have gotten if he'd been taken to court?"
Without waiting for an answer, Satoru talked to himself. "With his connections, even with ironclad evidence, he'd get twenty years at most—probably less than ten."
"So?" Gin drove on, indifferent. "You're a person of the underworld too. Why do you care? Does it even matter?"
Because I am in the dark, I have the chance to execute him.
"I decide what matters."
The short sentence was packed with youthful arrogance, earning a side-glance from Gin.
The world was full of evil, and there were always places the light couldn't reach. The strong bullying the weak was common. To defeat a strong bully, one had to be stronger. But the justice that the law failed to provide was something Jiang Wu had seen all too often in his previous life.
Some things weren't even human anymore; they were just pests. And as long as the pests lived, there would never be peace.
He had made up his mind. He was Jiang Wu, and he was Satoru Gojo. At least in this world, he would embrace this identity. In this script of reds and blacks, beyond earning impression points, Satoru wanted to do something meaningful—to protect certain things.
"Because I'm the strongest~ And a friend once told me that the strong protecting the weak is just how nature intended."
> [Ding! Impression points from story character Gin +500. Impression: Naive.]
>
Gin sneered. "I think those sweets have rotted your brain. You're playing house. Do you even remember your codename? Caesar."
"Aww~ of course I remember. You're so mean, Gin-chan."
"Protecting the weak is what the cops do. You'd better stop while you're ahead." Gin felt a surge of irritation at Satoru's "stupidity." "In the future, mind your own business."
"Sheesh, Mama Gin, you worry too much..." Before he could finish, Gin slammed on the brakes, the car jolting violently.
The youth, whose face was as cold as a lone wolf, glared at Satoru. His dark green pupils were full of menace. "Do whatever else you want. But if you ever think of betraying the organization, I will kill you with my own hands."
The atmosphere in the car turned heavy.
Satoru looked at him. He tried to stay expressionless, but eventually burst out laughing, giving Gin a familiar answer.
"Sure. I'll be waiting."
Gin restarted the car, his face stony and silent.
What he didn't know was that Satoru Gojo had already decided—
From now on, the name "Caesar" would become known as the cleaner of the underworld.
He would walk with blood to sever the evils the light could not reach...
Until the dawn finally broke.