Chapter 323: They Can’t Be Quadruplets, Right?

Seeing the guarded expressions on Fang Cheng and Kanzaki Rin’s faces, Wakagi Kazuhiro immediately understood their thoughts.

He gave a bitter laugh. “Relax. I won’t report your identities to the Truth Cult. I stepped in because I didn’t want two youngsters dying here. Just leave.”

Fang Cheng had already removed the rings from their necks.

Kanzaki Rin rubbed her neck, her voice soft. “Why not return with your family? The Truth Cult has no future. Your actions will bring catastrophe. With your achievements, the Countermeasures Department would treat you fairly.”

The Truth Cult’s method of extracting secrets from wishers seemed flawless, but using those secrets would inevitably draw the Area 11 Government’s attention.

Once missiles rained down, even Kitakudo Shingen’s strength couldn’t stop Nampoku Village from becoming rubble, burying every worshiper alive.

“Fair treatment? Please.”

Distrust dripped from Wakagi Kazuhiro’s voice. “My youth’s already wasted here. What’s left for me out there?”

He’d followed the Truth Cult from Tokyo to this wasteland, fighting gangsters and monsters alongside believers while building Nampoku Village brick by brick.

Early on, he’d maintained contact with his superiors and remembered his duty. But after communications broke, he slowly became one of them.

Though he’d considered leaving, complacency eroded his resolve.

Fang Cheng ignored their talk, eyes locked on Kitakudo Shingen as he approached. The silent figure felt wrong.

Kanzaki Rin eyed the unconscious Kaneda Hideki. “Why spare him?”

Wakagi Kazuhiro sank onto the steps, exhausted. “He’s just trying to survive. I see myself in him. Take him if you go—he’ll rot in prison anyway.”

Kanzaki Rin said nothing. Kaneda’s betrayal had doomed countless moles. Life imprisonment was mercy.

Reaching the motionless cult leader, Fang Cheng stared down. Kitakudo Shingen finally lifted his head, their gazes clashing.

“Don’t bother,” Wakagi Kazuhiro called out. “That’s a fake. The real one’s elsewhere.”

Startled, Fang Cheng yanked off the soul stabilizer. Cold metal met his fingers, devoid of supernatural energy.

“Are his ornaments fake too?” Kanzaki Rin asked.

Wakagi Kazuhiro lumbered over, snatching the crown. “Only this is real.” He chuckled. “I nearly became Truth Cult’s leader myself. Lost for one reason.”

“What reason?” both pressed.

He plopped the crown on his head. “Too fat. Crown didn’t fit.”

“……”

The tiny circlet slid off his broad skull. Fang Cheng snorted—this was clearly a cover story.

Tearing off the impostor’s mask revealed a strikingly handsome face, its owner no older than twenty-five.

The man looked panicked, his eyes darting nervously between Fang Cheng and Kanzaki Rin.

When Fang Cheng saw the face, his body stiffened. The mask slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor.

This face looked almost identical to his own. Side by side, they’d definitely be mistaken for twins.

Kanzaki Rin was also stunned, rooted to the spot and speechless.

“Don’t blame him… he’s just another victim…”

Wakagi Kazuhiro trailed off as he noticed their strange reactions. “What’s wrong?”

Fang Cheng regained his composure, his expression turning grave. “Your name. Where are you from?”

This marked the second time he’d encountered someone bearing such uncanny resemblance to himself.

The first had been Asaka Akihime’s younger brother, Asaka Makoto.

Two lookalikes could be coincidence. Three? Definitely not random chance. Something deeper connected them.

The imposter Kitakudo Shingen flinched at Fang Cheng’s intensity, silently pleading with Wakagi Kazuhiro for help.

The baffled Wakagi Kazuhiro explained, “He’s Tamagawa Hidetaka – a stand-in Kitakudo Shingen recruited from an orphanage. Do you know him?”

Fang Cheng’s suspicions solidified.

If this was Kitakudo Shingen’s stand-in, their appearances must match. Combined with Asaka Makoto, that made four near-identical faces.

Were they recycling some separated-quadruplets cliché? Impossible – their ages didn’t align.

Asaka Makoto was fifteen. Fang Cheng, eighteen. This Tamagawa Hidetaka looked twenty-five. Quadruplets couldn’t be born years apart.

“I’m taking him,” Fang Cheng declared.

Wakagi Kazuhiro blinked in surprise. Kanzaki Rin snapped to attention, gripping Fang Cheng’s shoulder. “Remember why we came!”

Fang Cheng jolted. The soul stabilizer took priority. Without it, Ye Yuqing had four months to live. Asaka Akihime wouldn’t survive five years.

This doppelgänger mystery could wait.

He inhaled deeply before addressing Wakagi Kazuhiro. “I’ll collect him when we leave. Keep him safe until then.”

Wakagi Kazuhiro hesitated. “But explaining this to Kitakudo Shingen…”

Fang Cheng’s burning gaze cut him off. Cold sweat beaded on Wakagi Kazuhiro’s forehead. Though masked, Fang Cheng’s eyes blazed like furnace flames, crushing the air from his lungs.

Only Kitakudo Shingen had ever exuded such terrifying pressure.