Chapter 146

Kitami Ichi is currently in a very bad mental state.

He never really realized that he was just lucky. He always felt that his smooth sailing was partly due to his father's high position and partly due to his own intelligence.

So when so many unexpected events suddenly occurred today, he panicked, and his flaws were exposed. He was both angry and scared, and couldn't even speak.

But Usoya Saiki was so considerate. After waiting a few seconds, he noticed that all he could hear from Kitami Ii was heavy breathing, so he took the initiative to ask.

"So, do you still want to kill Han Chuan Shenliu? Or do you have any other requests? I'm willing to give them a try."

To be honest, Usaku Saiki was also quite surprised to receive a call from Kitami Ii.

He thought that his identity in the organization meant that he would only meet Bei Jianyi once and then they would never cross paths again. After all, Bei Jianyi was too busy taking care of himself to have the energy to care about a yakuza person he had only met once. He would at least wait until the case was over and he was sure that he could not be traced back to Bei Jianyi.

As a result, Kita Kenji, for some inexplicable reason, actually emailed him asking if he would accept murder cases...

No joke, his email address is always filled with influential figures in the organization. For someone to suddenly send him such an amateurish email... it's obvious who it is even if you use your toes. Does he really think he won't recognize Bei Jianyi just because he changed his email address?!

And why kill a third-rate manga artist? Just think about it for a second. Who does Kitami I want to kill most right now? It's definitely Samukawa Shinryu, okay?

The scene where someone asks Bo Yezaki to kill his own alias was so funny that it made both Bo Yezaki and the system laugh.

He wanted to see just how far Kitami Ichi could go in his madness, and whether he would actually ask him to kill Hanchuan Shenliu.

As it turns out, only a minority of people go down a dead-end path. Bei Jianyi clenched his fist tightly, barely managing to calm himself down and not make any more impulsive decisions, forcing himself to speak.

"No, I already said I was just setting a trap."

Although everyone knows the truth, there are some things that cannot be admitted verbally.

Bo Yezaki was very tolerant: "Okay, then I'll take it as a sting operation... Now that your sting operation has failed, I'll hang up?"

"Wait!" Kita Kenichi quickly called out to him, then hesitated, "Um, if you're an information broker, do you sell all kinds of information?"

"If the money is right... but I'm not a heartless businessman, so I can buy out some information and guarantee it won't be revealed."

Kitami I breathed a sigh of relief: "Okay, then I'll buy out all the information I have related to this 'Strawberry Night,' and I hope you won't tell anyone else."

"It's possible, but Hanakawa Shinryu already knows."

“I’ll talk to him,” Kita Kenji gritted his teeth. “Have you told anyone else?”

"No. You want to buy it out? Considering that you gave me the information and that some people already know about it, give me this amount and I won't tell anyone else."

After saying that, Bo Yezaki gave a number.

Upon hearing this, Kitami I thought to himself, "What a swindler!"

This is robbery, profiting from disaster! He makes money this easily, even more easily than his father embezzled and took bribes!

But as everyone knows, disasters can be profitable, which means that some people have no choice but to accept them, and Kitami is a case in point.

He gritted his teeth and agreed: "Okay, I'll add another 20%. If you have any information that I need, just let me know and the information fee will be calculated separately... But I'm too busy to deal with this right now. I'll transfer the money to you after I've finished dealing with this. Anyway, you have something on me now, so you're not afraid that I won't admit it, right?"

After all, Kitami Ichi was a bit clever. He knew that if he gave the money away, the other party would not acknowledge it and there was nothing he could do. But if he kept the money in his own hands, the other party would be more careful in order to get the reward.

They might even secretly protect him and ensure he can get out unscathed, otherwise he wouldn't get the money.

Kitami felt that his operation of exploiting people's greed was brilliant, and he believed that this time it would go as he wished.

"It's so much more straightforward to talk to smart people. Don't worry, I'll definitely keep my promise. Otherwise, if word gets out, I won't be able to continue doing business," Bo Yezhaiji reassured him. "Then I'll wait for your triumphant return. I'll keep an eye on the case's progress. Good luck! Don't let Han Chuan Shenliu kill you!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone and turned to complain to the system: "Trying to outsmart me? Doesn't he realize that only he and I knew about this deal? Now that he's dead, who can ruin my reputation... Oh right, I'm not involved in information brokering, so I'm even less of a problem?"

System: [You're so heartless... Did you tell the truth the whole time?]

[How can I put it? I only told a few white lies about small details like how many people I gave the email to, to avoid him panicking and thinking I was spying on him. Did I lie about anything else? Did I provide the information about Hanchuan Shenliu? Wasn't I genuinely grateful to him for giving me this website? Even when he lied about being a sting operation, I was too kind to call him out. There's no one more considerate than me in this world!]

The system had to interrupt Bo Yezaki's self-praise, reminding him: "You told him that everything would be fine once the money was in place, but you clearly have no intention of fulfilling your promise."

Forget about letting Kitami Ichi go; it seems they don't even intend to let Kitami Ichi go overnight!

Usakabe Saiki really tries hard to avoid working overtime.

"I didn't lie, I already said the money was in place—but has he actually paid? He said he'd pay after everything was finished! So the deal never even started!"

The system was greatly shocked: [So that's how it is! It can be done that way.]

No wonder it can't earn points! Its ability to deceive without batting an eye is far inferior... especially the shamelessness of Bo Yezhaiji, which it should learn from.

Unlike the relaxed atmosphere on Usaku Saiki's side, Kitami Ichi's mood remained heavy after hanging up the phone, but he still forced himself to clean up his email and call history, and even broke the SIM card and flushed it down the toilet.

Hanchuan Shenliu really knows everything! Now it's like a cat toying with a mouse, watching him struggle in his death throes, or hoping to escape, before delivering the final blow...

For someone with a bad temper who likes to seek thrills and appreciate scenery that he doesn't usually see, this is perfectly normal. If he were Hanchuan Shenliu, he would do the same.

However, he has an advantage over Hanchuan Shenliu now, because Hanchuan Shenliu is unaware that he already knows everything and thinks he is still in the dark, so he will be careless towards him.

People who have never failed are prone to looking down on others, especially when they think they have everything under control... He was like that, and Hanchuan Shenliu was no exception.

In that case, perhaps he could take advantage of this...

Kita Kenji anxiously pondered whether there was any loophole in Han Chuan Shen Liu that he could exploit—he didn't even dare to tell his father, because when he was playing around too wildly before, his father had warned him not to cause any big trouble, but he had confidently said that he could handle it... Even his father didn't know that he had now gone so far as to commit serial murders.

If I have to solve this myself... and if Hanukawa Shinryu's purpose is to toy with me, then perhaps I'll have a chance to spend time with him in the future...

Kitami returned to the conference room in deep thought. As soon as he entered, he sensed that something was wrong. There were fewer people in the conference room for some reason. Upon closer inspection, he found that Hanakawa Shinryu had already returned and was talking to Inspector Megure about something.

Good grief, everyone else must have made excuses to sneak away!

Kitami didn't know what they had just talked about, but after taking a couple of steps over there, he saw Inspector Megure nodding seriously, then glancing around the conference room: "It seems like none of the local police stations are here..."

Kita Kenji's heart skipped a beat.

"Isn't this it?" Han Chuan Shenliu pointed north with a strange expression.

They're here! They're here!! They're definitely coming for him!!!

At this moment, amidst his fear, Kitami Ichi even felt a surge of smugness—look, the only difference between them was the intelligence gap. Once his intelligence catches up, Hanchuan Shenliu's actions will be exactly as he predicted!

As expected, he is still very clever. Hanchuan Shenliu is currently missing a crucial link in the intelligence network, so he can't beat him!

Since Inspector Megure's expression didn't seem unusual, Kitami knew that Kanekawa Shinryu probably hadn't mentioned to anyone that he was the criminal. So, excited, he mustered his courage and approached, "What is it, Inspector?"

"Han Chuan said there are a few suspicious locations and he wants to find someone from the local police station who is familiar with the area to investigate together."

Inspector Megure asked, "Are you willing? Just the two of you, his partner is busy with other things..."

I understand. It means spending time alone with him, manipulating him, and then negotiating with him.

Kitami thought to himself, "Who wants to negotiate with you? You're courting death. Just you wait and see who will have the last laugh!"

So he put on a very deceptive smile and replied, "Of course, I'd be happy to help solve the case!"

Once Han Chuan Shenliu is dealt with, this case will become an unsolved mystery, and he will be able to return to safety.

Kitami cursed inwardly, "Han Chuan Shenliu, I must shut him up tonight, or I'll be the one who dies!"

He turned the tide and reached another peak in his life!

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Today I finally didn't go over time (updated at 15:29:56, you can see the initial release time on the web version, followed by the time to correct typos).

Extra chapter tonight! I can finally start paying off my debts!

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Thin Leaf Email: No Uncultured People in Our Circle (x)

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In Kitami I's original work (Strawberry Night), some of the actions are just plain stupid, displaying an elitist arrogance that makes him think everything can go his way... It's supposed to be a serious crime novel, even adapted into a Japanese drama... How can the villain be like this...?