Destroy Evil

The meeting on Perseus was in full swing. Gen explained why they couldn’t resurrect more people now, and everyone had already agreed with him, but the conversation had somehow gone in another direction. Senku was unhappy about this, but he didn’t interfere yet. “… Such problems as the seizure of power by unscrupulous politicians.” " Like Tsukasa,” Kohaku tried to guess. “No, more likely those he didn’t like. He wasn’t the first to think about it, but he wasn’t the most radical.” Having said this, Ukyo shuddered. “The Akumetsu incident?” Ryusui chuckled nervously. “They tried to scare me with this when I was a child.” The inhabitants of the stone world naturally didn’t understand what was being discussed and looked at Senku. However, instead of explanations, they received exactly the same misunderstanding. “Yes,” Ukyo, with his glassy gaze fixed on the wall, had not noticed it yet. “Tsukasa often referred to it. It seems he was able to find the records before the petrification occurred.” “Can you elaborate?” Senku sighed, but did not seem overly interested. “What was this incident? If it helps avoid the mistakes of the past, all data is important.” Everyone silently stared at the scientist. The fact that he did not know something seemed wild. But the tension quickly disappeared: the residents of Ishigami village decided that it was not that important. “Nothing surprising,” Gen smiled understandingly, voicing the thoughts of those already petrified: “As far as I know, this is not related to science, so I will explain: about fifteen years before the petrification, one country was not in the best position.” “On the surface it was not so noticeable, but in reality everything is complicated,” Ryusui decided to add. “Let’s say that’s why I’m not so angry at the conglomerate and my father, who didn’t like my character. To them, I looked like someone who could make things worse.” “In general, the people in power back then were the kind of people Tsukasa hates, and who, at first glance, our friend the captain looks so much like. Very evil and greedy.” Kokuyou chuckled louder than anyone. As a former village leader and a responsible person, sometimes even too much, he clearly found this strange. Gen continued, somehow imperceptibly switching to a tone more suitable for horror stories around a campfire. “And then one day a group appeared that wanted to destroy evil. They killed politicians, directors, while exposing their crimes against ordinary people. He did it publicly, with fire.” “Don’t say it,” the usually calm Ukyo shuddered and hid his face under the visor. “I saw him admit to being a terrorist on TV before that.” “Oh, and here comes the Freudian excuse,” Gen noted. “But Ukyo is right, Akumetsu was cruel. In some regions his name has become a household word, so it’s a miracle that Senku doesn’t know.” The scientist looked at the descendants of the astronauts. They were quite frightened by this story, each in their own way. “To be fair,” Ukyo smiled tensely. “He explained politics and the system of government well, and I remembered it.” “As far as I understood, he understood everything, just like Sen…” Speaking more relaxedly, Gen abruptly cut himself off. “Most of us only know about it from censored documentaries over lunch, so let’s not talk about it! I’m sure the “villains” won’t be able to hide, because science has everything under control! Where were we?” Senku was taken aback by the abrupt change of topic. Now that he realized that he didn’t know something, it interested him a little. Unfortunately, no one else wanted to talk about it. Especially, for some reason, with Senku, avoiding meetings that were not related to the matter for quite a long time, until he supposedly forgot.

***

The scientist himself didn’t know why he approached Ibara’s statue in the first place. There was no point in making sure that he was actually petrified. Like the others, he didn’t seem alive even by a millimeter. The entire island was enveloped in deathly silence. Only one thought sounded strange, as if from the outside. “One person — one murder.” Senku somehow knew what that meant, but Ibara wasn’t dead. He was just encased in stone. The same thought had been spinning in his head when he was about to freeze Tsukasa. Only last time it had disappeared immediately when the Strongest Primate reminded him of Senku’s own death at his hands. The conditions had come together. This time, however, he had to convince himself for a long time that all the enemies were alive. Fortunately, with each person whose petrification fell, the thought died down.