37. Industrial Era
10-07-2023
A/N: College is really racking up the assignments, so I'm seriously trying to finish writing these chapters to make sure you guys get them lol.
Q: Since it's October, are you watching any of the new/continuing Fall anime? I started a couple good ones!
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"Senku, (Y/N), Gen! Your grand ol' plan to convert the Tsukasa Empire over to your side using the songstress is not a bad idea! However, the most important part, the likeness to your fake Lillian, is a fifty-five percent!"
Nikki was in the middle of criticizing Gen's Lillian Weinberg impression, when she had given it the worst rating you could possibly imagine.
"That's some harsh grading!" The mentalist cried out with fear, sweat dripping down his temples.
You spoke up, "Considering she is a Lillian stan, we better take her opinion to heart."
"Yeah, just leave it to me and I'll toughen you out to make sure that no one will be able to see through your facade!" She happily declared.
Senku grinned confidently, pumping his fist with joy. "That'd be great!"
"Great for you guys! I've got a really bad feeling about this..." the mentalist whined as he swayed his head left and right.
"Now that I'm on your side, that problem is solved," Nikki said. Suddenly, her tone had lowered as she began explaining, "However, the only problem left is Ukyo. If we keep broadcasting the song over and over, it's eventually gonna come around to Ukyo and his ears. If he does hear it, I'm skeptical whether it'll be able to fool him or not, even if being played over a phone."
You and Senku then looked at Gen for explanation. "Ukyo?"
"Ukyo-chan was in charge of operating a sonar for a submarine, so his ears are extremely sensitive and attuned. And right now...that very person is being occupied dealing with Chrome-chan and Magma-chan..." The man told you both.
You sighed in worry. "I hope they manage to make it through him safely..."
You suddenly heard Taiju piping up, as if he had gotten an idea, "Ah! So we can't go playing the song over and over, roght? Let's just not play it a bunch!"
"Ah, I suppose if we don't play it to one person at a time and instead, we wait for Ukyo to be distracted and get everyone together all at once...it could work!" Yuzuriha agreed.
Nikki then laughed. "Taiju, you're pretty simple-minded and optimistic, aren't ya? My kinda man! Anyways, let's get this vocal training started! We need that likeness to be as close to one hundred percent as possible!"
"Oh boy..." The mentalist looked as though he wasn't prepared for what was going to come.
~~~
"Ohhhh boyyyy..." said the mentalist as he flopped down on the floor, clinging to his throat.
You and Senku just had sweat dripping down your temples as you watched the soul of his vocal cords leave his body. You weren't exactly there the entire time, for you were helping out with getting water for him, as well as helping the scientist make some remedies for the mentalist's throat. It's not like you were going to sit in a room for hours listening to Gen and Nikki talk.
"Nikki really did you in, huh, Gen?" You nervously asked him as you lightly patted his back.
"Considering that we need this plan to work, she has to push him for results," said Senku.
The man rolled over to speak to the both of you, only to find the look of pity on your faces. With a frown and tiny tears pouring from his dark eyes, he cried out with a slightly hoarse voice, "Don't look at me like that, Senku-chan, (Y/N)-chan!"
"Kinda hard not to when you're all over the floor," you told him as you handed him some water.
He sat up, then graciously took it and nearly chugged the entire thing down. When he was finished, he let out a breath of relief and wiped his mouth dry. "Nikki-chan was so strict with me...she told me that I needed to get Lillian-chan's accent down to make it more authentic..."
"Hehe, gotta get rid of that Japanese accent of yours," you joked with him.
"Ah, I wish I didn't have trouble like you did, (Y/N)-chan~" The man sighed.
Senku added as he gave him a remedy, "If you've lived long enough in a certain place, you can lose the accent and speak as naturally as this slowpoke does. But all you can do now is just work hard for the sake of pulling people into the Kingdom of Science."
"Yup. We believe in you, Gen," you told him with a grin.
Before the mentalist could even say anything in response, all of you heard a loud commotion outside of the observatory. The three of you looked out to see Magma all worn out as he entered the village. However, there was no sign of Chrome anywhere.
"Magma! Where's Chrome?!" Kohaku questioned him as Suika handed him a wooden canister of water.
The brute man snatched the drink out of the little girl's hands and chugged as if his life depended on it. He replied between breaths, "Chrome...captured...by...Tsukasa Empire..."
"HE WAS CAPTURED?!"
Kohaku's bright eyes were wide with shock, just as the rest of the villagers were. You could see her getting ready to make a run for it with her sword, so you jumped out of the observatory and quickly grabbed her furry poncho. Despite you grabbing hold of it, she started dragging you behind with her without stopping.
"Wait, Kohaku, stop! You are going to get yourself killed!" You begged as you planted your feet on the ground to pull her back. It was basically a game of tug-of-war with the two of you.
"Let go of me, (Y/N)!" She demanded as she continued to pull.
"No!" You snapped back.
Suika cried out, "She's trying to leave by herself!"
"Help (Y/N) and stop her!" Kokuyo tried commanding some of the villagers, but they didn't budge.
"Stop her?! There's no way she's gonna stop! No one is as fast and as strong as her except for (Y/N)!" Ginro screamed.
"GET BACK HERE, LIONESS!" You heard Senku's voice expanding, as well as some feedback following it. You looked over to him to see that he had converted the microphone into a megaphone.
Kohaku shouted back at him, "I'M NOT A LIONESS!"
It was enough to get her to stop, so you quickly jumped and restrained her until Kokuyo had gotten ahold of her. With him holding her tightly, all she could do was flail her arms and legs around, squirming in her father's arms. All the village members watched as Kohaku thrashed about like a wild animal.
Turquoise came up to them and began scolding her like a mother would, "Have you lost your mind, Kohaku?! What do you expect to accomplish diving into the enemy's territory all on your own?!"
"So then what are you saying we should do?! Just abandon Chrome and leave him to die?!" The lioness questioned.
You then heard your boyfriend chuckling with his subtle confidence. You looked up to see him climbing on the roof of the observatory, snapping the Kingdom of Science's flag off of the top. "Kukuku, if we can't do anything on our own...then we'll all just have to go together..."
Everybody was surprised. "You--You mean..."
"A Kingdom of Science all-unit sortie! Now that we've gotten Homura, who had us under surveillance, out of the picture, we have nothing else to wait for!" The scientist declared as he climbed down. He started explaining, "We'll mass transport the entirety of our forces and set up an encampment right next to Tsukasa's empire! From there, a rescue operation for a Chrome just might be possible!"
As he reached the bottom to join your group, Ginro spoke up in a shaky tone, "Ehhhh...that's so terrifying...er--how about not doing any of that scary stuff and just fortifying ourselves here?"
"In just half a month, winter will end," Kohaku told him.
You added, "And if we just sit here, an all-out offense from Tsukasa's forces will obliterate us."
Senku agreed with you as he started carrying a few supplies out from the lab, "Yeah. After all, the best defense is the best offense."
With that, the blonde boy quickly changed sides, "Yeah, that's right! I was thinking the same thing!"
With that, you and your friends helped Senku empty out the laboratory and the warehouse of its science materials. They were all sorted into different bags and boxes, as well as tagged with labels that the scientist had created for each and every one of them.
"It's too heavy!" Suika managed to squeak out as she placed a massive jar on the ground.
Looking around, all the materials laid out made it seem that it was impossible to bring over to the Tsukasa Empire.
"This is crazy...you're not really planning to bring all your science materials, are you?" Gen puzzled.
Senku replied, "Without them, the Kingdom of Science has ten billion percent no chance of winning."
"But we can't have everyone carry all of this. Everyone's backs will be broken by the time we get there," you stated.
The scientist smirked as he looked over to Kaseki. "Kukuku, that's no problem at all..."
You turned your gaze over to the old.man to see that he was sawing something circular. You and Gen widened your eyes are you realized that it was a primitive wheel made out of wood and bamboo.
"There's no way..." you gleefully put your hands together and looked over to your boyfriend. "Are we really gonna...?"
"Hell yeah! We're gonna make an automobile!" The scientist cheered, pumping his fists up in the air. "Man, this is gonna be exhilarating!"
"Seriously?! Exciting or not, you really look like you're having fun, Senku-chan...you really wanna do this, (Y/N)-chan?" The mentalist wondered.
"If it's the best way to transport everything, I'm all for it!" You exclaimed, causing the man to sigh. What did he expect?
The boy then grabbed your hand and started taking out all of the leather sheets from the lab. He began laying them out on the floor, drawing each blueprint one by one. You began to think how cute he looked lying on his stomach as he kicked his feet back while painting all the instructions out. He would soon pace around as he would think, and continue to write when he figured something out.
"Oho! Well isn't this something! But what are these blueprints for?" Kaseki questioned him.
"Circles, triangles, lines...all these drawings are making Suika's head spin!" The little watermelon said as she and Kohaku were examining the prints.
You started to laugh as the villagers looked at the sheets. "This is going to be one of the biggest projects we've done..."
"Yeah, just picture it! It's basically a mega version of a mini-model 4WD kit!" Senku exclaimed with a pinky in his ear, then started moving his head and neck around in a strange way. "The parts are ten billion times more primitive than what I needed for all those rockets we made growing up! It'll be a neck swinging engine!"
You would follow him around to help prepare the items needed, such as boiling down beehives for beeswax. Using the water wheel as a lathe, the scientist and Kaseki could carve it as it spins for intricate parts and pieces. In the village, one of the stoves that Senku had created was to be recycled into the neckswing engine, which had gotten the old man all fired up after he explained its use and process.
"You guys really are too excited for this..." Gen mentioned again after a few hours of working.
You replied, "Well...Senku's always been a fan of building things like this. Everything after this shouldn't be a surprise to you anymore..."
"But the entire point of this car is to get the whole village to rescue Chrome...or have you all forgotten that original goal?" Kohaku huffed with her hands on her hips.
The scientist overheard the conversation, then added, "Kukuku...don't worry. Think about it from Tsukasa's army's perspective. To them, Chrome's just some lowly, wimpy villager. They'll keep their hostage locked up safe and sound. He'll be fine as long as he doesn't run his mouth."
You and the lioness looked at each other, then back at Senku. The blonde started, "We're talking about Chrome, right? 'Safe if he doesn't run his mouth'? We're talking about Chrome, right?"
"Yeah, we heard you the first time," said Ginro with no thoughts in that little brain of his.
With that question ringing through their heads, the look of worry and doubt began forming on you and your friend's faces.
"Well...just have some hope in him..." Ginro muttered.
Kinro added quietly, "He'll live...he's strong in his own way..."
"As long as he doesn't say anything about the cellphone, we will be fine..." Kaseki spoke up, sounding a bit disheartened.
"That doesn't sound like you have any hope in him!" You scolded them. "Just have hope and we can just continue making the rest of the car parts!"
Senku then added as he walked up to you, "Yeah, you're right. We just gotta have hope and continue with the part-making process. We're gonna start molding the large pieces of iron, and Kaseki and I will handle the smaller bits."
"You don't need any more help for the smaller metal pieces?" You wondered. "Wouldn't you want more precise help?"
"No. You need to help the others carry the bigger stuff. I'll bring you the smaller stuff and you can help me weld the rest of them together," he told you with a small smirk.
"Alrighty, you got it!"
-To be Continued-
A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter this week but I still hope you enjoyed some of it!