Dr. STONE IF: The World Where Tsukasa Shishio Got the Petrification Cure - Niter Cave —The Smoke in the Distance, and Their Two Answers—

The morning air was cold enough to sting the skin. Senku stepped out of the ruined building on Yokohama Bay Side and stretched wide. The sky was blue. Not a cloud in sight. The autumn air was dry, and every deep breath made the back of his lungs tighten. "All right, let's move, Taiju. We're heading for the mountains today. We're looking for food, and materials for gunpowder." Behind Senku, Taiju lumbered along. A massive frame, 185 centimeters tall. About ten days had passed since he'd awakened from petrification, but his stamina hadn't faded in the slightest. If anything, the daily ruin explorations had made him look even sturdier. "Yeah! Leave it to me! Heavy lifting's my specialty!" Taiju carried a stone axe Senku had made over his shoulder. It was a primitive tool — just a sharp stone lashed to a tree branch with vines. But in this world, it was a fine weapon. Senku glanced sideways at Taiju and let the corner of his mouth curl up just a little. (He really is full of energy. Well, I'm grateful for that stamina.) Their destination was a mountain about half a day's walk west of Yokohama Bay Side. It had apparently once thrived as a hot spring resort. Ruined inns and souvenir shops, covered in vines, still dotted the area here and there. "The geology around there is mostly volcanic sediment. The fact that hot springs existed is proof there's plenty of sulfur underground. Sulfur is a raw material for gunpowder. And if there are caves, we might find saltpeter too." Senku opened a battered notebook as he walked. The pages were yellowed, the edges crumbling away. Even so, the chemical formulas and geological notes he'd jotted down were still barely legible. "Gunpowder! That's awesome, Senku! That's the stuff that blew that boar away, right?!" "That was just luck — the materials happened to be available. This time, I'm securing proper materials so we can make it more reliably. Gunpowder will blow you up if you get the recipe wrong." At Senku's words, Taiju laughed and said, "Whoa, scary." Once they entered the mountain path, the air grew even colder. Trees grew thick, and fallen leaves piled up underfoot. With a dry rustling sound, the two kept walking. After a while, a small stream came into view ahead. They could hear the sound of flowing water. Senku crouched near the stream and scooped up a bit of soil. "The soil around here is rich in limestone. If there's a cave, there's a high chance bat droppings have accumulated and formed saltpeter. ...Scientifically speaking, that's about a seventy percent chance of something exciting, right?" "Seventy percent! All right, let's find it!" Taiju started swinging his stone axe and pushing through the bushes around them. Senku walked slowly, checking the geology. "Wait, Taiju. Over there." Where Senku pointed, there was a rocky area. Large boulders were piled up, and a black hole gaped in the gap between them. A cave. "Oh! That's it!" The two stood at the cave entrance. It was pitch dark inside, and a cool breeze drifted out. There was a distinctive smell — like mold, like earth. "This smell... no doubt about it. That's the smell of saltpeter." Senku narrowed his eyes and stared into the depths of the cave. "Wait, you can tell by the smell? That's amazing, Senku!" "Don't underestimate a scientist. Your nose is part of the analysis equipment too." Senku stepped into the cave. The ground was damp and slippery. When he put his hand on the wall, a cool sensation spread through his palm. "Taiju, I need fire. Make me a torch." "Got it! Leave it to me!" Taiju broke a branch off a nearby tree and lit it with the flint Senku had made. With a whoosh, flames rose, dimly illuminating the inside of the cave. "Whoa...!" The entire wall of the cave was covered in white crystals. They glittered like fallen snow. "This is saltpeter?! There's so much of it!" "Yeah. With this much, we can make a huge amount of gunpowder. ...This exceeds my expectations." Senku carefully scraped the crystals off the wall. White powder piled up in his palm. "Saltpeter is crystallized potassium nitrate. Mix this with charcoal and sulfur, and you get black powder. The ratio is... well, roughly seventy-five percent, fifteen percent, and ten percent." "Se-seventy...? I don't really get it, but that's amazing!" Senku gave a small laugh at Taiju's reaction. "Enough. Help me. We're collecting as much saltpeter as we can. For bags... here, use this." Senku handed Taiju a cloth he'd picked up from the ruins. Taiju kept wrapping saltpeter in it. "All right, we got a ton! Now we can make all the gunpowder we want!" "Don't get carried away. Gunpowder will kill you if you use it wrong. And this is a weapon. It can hurt people too. ...Don't forget that." Senku's voice dropped just a little. Taiju stared at Senku's face. "...I know. But I'm going to use it to protect you. That's all." Senku said nothing in response to those words. —— By the time they exited the cave, the sun was high in the sky. Senku sat down on a rocky spot near the cave and spread out the saltpeter he'd collected. He had charcoal gathered from the remains of a campfire. Sulfur had already been collected from the rocky area in the hot spring zone. "All right, that's all the materials. I'm going to make an improvised gunpowder ball right here. Taiju, do not come near me. If this explodes, your arm will fly off." "O-okay! Got it! I'll just watch!" Taiju crouched down several meters away. Senku carefully mixed the saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur. His hands were calm, as if he were conducting a precise experiment. "Saltpeter seventy-five, charcoal fifteen, sulfur ten... This is the basic ratio for black powder. Grind the particles fine and mix evenly. ...Good, done." Senku wrapped the finished black powder in a small cloth and tied it with string. "So that's the gunpowder ball! Even though it's small, it's got crazy power, right?!" "Yeah. But I haven't tested it yet. Whether it actually explodes — we won't know until we use it. ...Well, about a seventy percent chance of success." "Seventy percent again! Your seventy percent is usually right on the money!" Senku tucked the gunpowder ball carefully into his pocket. "All right, let's head back. I want to return to base before dark." The two began retracing their path. —— That was when it happened. Rustle, rustle, rustle! The bushes shook violently. "W-what was that?!" Taiju raised his stone axe. Senku stopped too, staring hard at the bushes. Thud, thud — the sound of something pounding the ground. And then, from deep within the bushes, a massive shadow burst out. "A boar...! It's huge!" It was a descendant of the wild boars that had once lived on this mountain. Over three thousand seven hundred years, it had grown even more ferocious and enormous. Its body length easily exceeded two meters. Its tusks were sharp, its eyes bloodshot. "BMOOOOOH!" The boar snorted violently and charged at the two of them. "Senku, get back!" Taiju stood in front of the boar, shielding Senku behind him. "Taiju, that's insane! You're going to fight a boar with your bare hands?!" "I've got no choice! I decided I'm protecting you!" The boar closed the distance in an instant. Taiju swung his stone axe up. Crack! The stone axe hit the boar's head. But the boar didn't flinch. If anything, it was as if the blow had ignited its rage — its charge gained even more momentum. "Damn it! It's too hard!" Taiju took the boar's charge head-on. Thud! With a heavy sound, Taiju's body was sent flying. "Taiju!" Senku screamed. Taiju tumbled across the ground, groaning in pain. Blood poured from his arm. The boar's tusks had deeply gashed his arm and his side. "Gah...! It hurts...!" The boar turned toward Senku. (This is bad. It's targeting me next.) Senku pulled the gunpowder ball from his pocket. His hand was shaking. (The gunpowder ball hasn't been tested. I don't even know if it'll explode. But I have no choice.) Senku lit the fuse with his flint. "Damn it! Hit!" Senku hurled the gunpowder ball at the boar's snout. It arced through the air and, right in front of the boar's face—— BOOOOM!! A roar and a flash of light. "BMOOOOOH!?" The boar let out a scream-like cry and leaped backward. Its eyes and nose had been hit. "It worked...! I got it!" Senku pulled out another gunpowder ball and threw it at the boar. BOOM! Another explosion. The boar, now thoroughly terrified, fled deep into the mountains. "Hah... hah... damn, my heart... I thought it was going to stop..." Senku dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. Then he turned toward Taiju. "Taiju! Are you all right?!" Taiju, covered in blood, managed to force a smile. "Heh... I'm... not... really okay... my arm... it hurts..." Senku looked at Taiju's arm. The wound was deep. The flesh was torn, and the bleeding wouldn't stop. "Stay quiet. I'm doing first aid now." Senku picked some wild grass nearby, put it in his mouth, and chewed it up. A bitter juice spread through his mouth. This was a plant that had long been used as a wound medicine. "I'm applying this to the wound. It'll sting — bear with it." "Whoa, what is this, it stinks...! Ow ow ow!" Senku smeared the chewed grass onto Taiju's wound and bound it tightly with cloth from the ruins. "This should stop the bleeding. ...But the wound is deep. Don't move it unnecessarily." "Sorry, Senku... I'm just dead weight..." "Don't be stupid. You shielded me, so I'm safe. ...Thank you." With that, Senku hoisted Taiju onto his back. "H-hey, I'm heavy! I can walk!" "Shut up and let me carry you. Your body weight is nothing if I calculate it scientifically." Taiju's massive frame was absurdly mismatched against Senku's slender body. Even so, Senku gritted his teeth and began descending the mountain path, one step at a time. —— Dusk was approaching. The sky was stained orange. Birdsong echoed in the distance. Senku carried Taiju on his back as he slowly made his way down the mountain. His breathing was ragged, sweat beading on his forehead. "Hey, Senku... I'm really sorry..." Taiju murmured from Senku's back. "I told you, don't worry about it. More importantly, does the wound hurt?" "It hurts. But more than that... your back is so thin. Are you eating properly?" "I eat more than you do. I use my brain, after all. The brain consumes the most energy." "Haha, what's that? So my brain doesn't use much energy, so it all goes to my body?" "In your case, it goes way too much to your body." The two walked in silence for a while. Eventually, Senku spoke. "Hey, Taiju. Do you remember what I was doing before the petrification?" "Yeah. You were researching the signs of the petrification phenomenon with a university professor, right? Something about electromagnetic anomalies, some complicated stuff." "That's right. Back then, I was seriously trying to unravel the mystery of the petrification. And at the end of that research was space." "Space?" "Yeah. I wanted to become an astronaut. I wanted to go somewhere no one had ever seen, using the power of science. That's why I studied like crazy. ...But everyone around me treated me like a weirdo." Senku's voice sank just a little. "At school, in the neighborhood, I stood out. I was too smart — couldn't connect with anyone. I didn't have a single friend. ...No, I had one." Senku stopped there. "...That's me, right?" Taiju said quietly. "...Yeah. Just you. You were the only one who listened to me. You didn't understand a word, but you just laughed and said it sounded fun. ...Back then, because you were there, I could keep doing science." Senku's voice was trembling slightly. "Senku..." "That's why I saved you. Not because I was using you as a test subject. ...No, that's true too. But more than that, I wanted you to live. ...Because you're my one and only friend." From Senku's back, he heard the sound of Taiju sniffling. "Damn... don't make me cr

日本語

What is Novelia? →

Episode 3

Name: Dr. STONE IF: The World Where Tsukasa Shishio Got the Petrification Cure
Author: Novelia

What is Novelia?

Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.

Learn more about Novelia →New sign-ups get 5,000pt