While Gorou was in his own little world during breakfast, Miki finally managed to wake up Issei and dragged him to breakfast.
This situation had become common recently, as Issei stayed up late and his morning alarm didn't really help.
Normally, Gorou would have ignored this or justified the situation as Issei's irresponsible behavior.
But Claud knows the truth.
His son was literally killed recently and reincarnated as a devil.
"Morning," Issei said lazily.
"Morning... son," he struggled to get the last part of his sentence out, but he had to.
'I need to avoid looking suspicious.'
Finally, Miki served him the rest of his breakfast and he devoured it quickly.
He needed to hurry a bit to avoid being late to work.
'To use Stanford's intellect, I need money... lots of money if possible.'
Thanks to the 1% synchronization, he had already gained Stanford's IQ and mental strength.
However, he hadn't really gained access to dangerous knowledge like his quantum destabilizer.
A weapon capable of erasing a creature's existence, and even Bill Cipher could theoretically suffer a similar fate.
'I need to quit my current job soon, but staying home will just worry Miki... I have to tolerate this situation... for now.'
He also needed to avoid attracting the Devils' attention, because he doesn't trust them.
There had been countless theories about the suspicious death of his son Issei, but Gorou had mixed feelings about the matter.
He wasn't sure about the Devils' trickery to obtain The Longinus Boosted Gear.
Despite this, he knows that his son was happy in the end.
That's why he decided to ignore it and just stay away from the scene for now.
He just needs to increase his synchronization with Stanford Pines and observe the situation.
'I'll only intervene for my own interests or in case of a serious butterfly effect.'
With this perspective, he decided to make a mental note to buy some gadgets on the way back.
"Damn, I'm broke..."
After a long drive, he reached the modest company where he works.
"Help me..."
Upon arrival, Gorou Hyoudou found a desk overflowing with paperwork, with his colleague Taka "defeated" and slumped over it.
'I'm starting to better understand Gorou Hyoudou's pitiful physical condition.'
After letting out a sigh of anticipated fatigue, he immediately got to work.
He began by sorting the documents by priority, then helped Taka with the most urgent ones.
'If this was before, I wouldn't have had enough confidence to face this much paperwork.'
Stanford Pines is a man capable of obtaining multiple doctorates, so how could the man inheriting his intellect be afraid of simple paperwork?
He began processing the documents quickly at an inhuman speed, which didn't match his usual pace.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Gorou. You're really saving my ass."
He was slightly caught off guard by Taka's voice resonating from the neighboring desk.
Gorou forced himself not to show any reaction, but sketched a humble smile before nodding to him.
Despite his young age, Taka is a promising element of the company and his hierarchical superior.
This leads him to work much more than Gorou Hyoudou.
'I remember he mentioned having neglected his wife a lot recently.'
An act that the former Gorou had advised him to avoid, but the man in his thirties wanted to give his wife a good life.
"No need to thank me. But you've clearly had a rough night."
Unfortunately for Taka, he'll have a cruel fate at this rate.
'I thought I'd seen his face before, and the name of a woman called Yumeko resonated strangely in my memory.'
[Image]
If he didn't have Stanford's intellectual abilities, he might have missed this element and the connection with a hardworking man named Taka.
Gorou's hierarchical superior is a secondary character in an... extremely dark story.
'Man, you're working yourself to death for a masochistic woman and...'
Gorou noted Taka's case for later, as he judged he lacked time to save him from this responsibility.
"I'll leave you for a moment, and don't hesitate to call me."
"No problem..."
Not many words, but they were enough to convey his gratitude to Gorou.
Thus, the day went by quickly.
Taka and the other team leaders greatly appreciated his efficiency.
However, he doesn't plan to stay in this establishment.
'They think I'm aiming for a promotion? Ridiculous.'
He had already decided to start the process regarding his resignation and obtaining end-of-contract compensation using his poor health as an excuse.
"Damn, my back."
Outside of work-related matters, Gorou had to buy several devices and electrical objects.
Of course, he had difficulties introducing them into his garage.
"There, I'll take a little break and then get started."
He went to the house to get a refreshment before returning to the garage.
Thanks to the refreshing drink, his mind became more relaxed.
'Given my current level, creating a perpetual motion machine is out of the question, especially not for commercial purposes.'
Of course, he doesn't yet have the memories related to Stanford's dimensional portal.
Thus, his options are limited because of his synchronization.
"I can only create objects efficient enough against low-class and intermediate devils."
Gorou needed a weapon capable of defending his home and family, but also an urgent way to earn money.
The easy solution is just to join a well-established organization like Grigori or the Shinto faction, but that would restrict his freedom.
Gorou wanted to remain free.
If one day the supernatural world learns that a human like him is capable of accessing other realities...
'Indeed, I must remain free and be my own boss.'
When Issei makes things official with Rias, he plans to stay in this small house and not follow him.
"Ok, let's start with something simple like a memory gun."
(Image)
It may seem crazy, but an object like the memory gun isn't really complex compared to the quantum destabilizer.
It just requires generating or producing a radiation wave powerful enough to dismantle the neurological pathways containing memory.
Stanford even managed to convert radiation waves into a sound frequency to affect a huge area and make a group of government agents lose their memory.
This weapon is extremely effective and versatile, but also familiar to Stanford Pines.
He mentioned words like "I don't know how you got a hold of one of these," after observing it.
This suggests that he had already seen similar objects in the multiverse, and Stanford's memory in Claud confirmed it.
'I'm sure that high-class devils and above have a way to counter mental attacks of this kind, but the rest...'
The memory gun was able to defeat Bill because the latter was in a human's mind.
A creature without defense against these effects, but without this element it would have been useless.
This explains the idea of the quantum destabilizer and not just creating a memory gun.
Stanford himself is immune to the effects of the weapon thanks to a metal plate protecting his brain.
Thus, Gorou was aware of the limited effectiveness of this device.
He could just beat the small fry or even convert them to his subjects, but beyond the intermediate devil level... Gorou knows that his weapon will just be a joke.