Chapter 220

Listening to Vodka's words, which sounded like a wronged woman questioning a scumbag who had deceived her feelings, a question mark slowly appeared above Shuichi Akai's head.

It's already outrageous that you call during a gunfight, but it's even more outrageous that you finally get through and ask such a meaningless question!

It's to the point where you might suspect that it's been possessed by Potnis!

As Shuichi Akai fell silent, Vodka gradually became hysterical: "Say something! Why won't you say anything?!"

Quickly say you're not an FBI agent! Hurry up!!!

This obvious mental breakdown was so infectious that even through a phone, everyone who heard it could empathize with vodka's breakdown.

Judy was shocked: "Does it really matter if he's from the FBI...? Did he have a grudge against the FBI before?"

To use such a precious opportunity to ask this is simply a joke.

Shuichi Akai, however, spoke up for Vodka, saying, "It's understandable."

After all, anything involving Usaku Saiki tends to take a rather strange turn.

Moreover, he might not answer questions about other information, but he doesn't necessarily have to hide where he is an undercover agent, so there's a chance he'll find out.

Most importantly, whether he's an FBI agent or not is a matter of values, reputation, and intelligence for many people in the organization...

Just imagine, everyone initially thought Usuoba Saiki was mentally ill, but then they realized that Usuoba Saiki was completely right, and they were all wrong...

It's equivalent to overturning one's long-held understanding of the world, and one might even doubt that they are the one who is sick.

Moreover, given Usui Saiki's personality, they would be despised by him for the rest of their lives, and even Gin probably wouldn't be able to maintain that disdainful attitude anymore... It's normal that they can't accept the reality of Usui Saiki's vodka, which had recently blocked him with great fanfare.

Asking this question is probably so that one can die knowing the truth.

Shuichi Akai, who once spent an entire night questioning his existence because of a few words from Saiki Usaba, felt a pang of sympathy.

Left out in the cold, Vodka's voice was hoarse as he angrily questioned, "You have time to answer other people's questions, but why don't you answer mine? Yes or no, it's just an answer, is it that hard?!"

If it weren't for the fact that this was a male member of an organization, Judy would have seamlessly transitioned into the female lead of the soap opera she was watching.

Even if it were an enemy, Judy wanted to question: "Your radio communications are on, aren't they? Are you really going to do this in front of other members of the organization?"

Is there no one left in this world you care about?! Or is it just that everyone in the organization likes to talk like this?!

The black organization's reputation was in turmoil for the FBI agent.

And sure enough, many people in the organization's communication channels were anxiously waiting to hear Shuichi Akai's reply.

After all, the fact that Potts kept saying that Rye was an FBI agent had been known throughout the organization for a long time, but no one ever took it seriously.

Because, apart from those who had direct contact with Potts, other members who heard such rumors were immediately told: Don't take it seriously, Potts is mentally ill, and if what he said was true, then Ray would have been in the torture chamber long ago.

As a result, the world has been turned upside down, as if we were suddenly told that the knowledge we had learned about the Earth being round was wrong. Everyone is finding it hard to accept and is waiting for the truth.

So they not only didn't think there was anything wrong with Vodka asking that question, but they even empathized with him.

Shuichi Akai felt a little sorry for Vodka. Since so many FBI agents were returning to the United States from Japan, they no longer needed to hide their purpose and would definitely leave many traces. It wouldn't be difficult to investigate them. It wouldn't be bad to tell Vodka the correct answer in advance.

But just as he was about to admit it, Shuichi Akai suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Having been tormented by Usui Saiki for so long, Shuichi Akai had become quite familiar with some of the rhetoric Usui Saiki often used. At this moment, he suddenly couldn't help but wonder how Usui Saiki would respond.

He blew out another car tire with a single shot, and after confirming that the men were no longer planning to pursue them because the police were about to arrive, he took the phone from Judy and responded.

"you guess."

*Click*, the phone rang, and the caller was blocked.

Before leaving, I decided to reflect on my organizational mindset, which also served as a way to wrap up my undercover mission.

There was a deathly silence on the organization's communication channel.

Scotland coughed. "Vodka, calm down. While Ray did betray the organization, we can't be sure he's an undercover agent..."

It wasn't that he wanted to speak well of Lai because they were both undercover agents; rather, he actually harbored some resentment towards Lai. How could he be so incompetent? He'd exposed himself, potentially implicating others...

The main concern is that if Ray is indeed an FBI agent, and the organization starts to take seriously what Saiki Usopp had said, both he and Bourbon will be in trouble.

So whatever the truth is, he has to try to make it seem more like a coincidence so that it can help him and his undercover friend.

After remaining silent, vodka, who had been listening to hysterical gin, finally spoke.

Gin's tone was fierce, and it was clear he was in a very bad mood, as if he would bite anyone he saw.

"The facts are right in front of you, and you're still speaking up for that traitor, Scotland? You're not actually an undercover agent, are you?"

Scotland paused for a moment: "...Gin, do you know that the way you're speaking right now sounds a lot like Potnis?"

Gin was so disgusted he was speechless: "…………"

Vodka still sided with his older brother: "Scotland, don't change the subject. How dare you still speak up for Ray now?!"

"First of all, I'm not speaking up for him, I'm just saying that he might not be an undercover agent—maybe he only recently joined forces with that group? In that case, wouldn't he be considered a traitor?"

Scotland revealed the reason he had racked his brains to come up with while secretly fishing during the pursuit: "Is it possible that he was actually forced to betray us by Potts?"

Everyone: "...???"

"After all, his work experience was really bad. Before he even joined, he was hit by a car driven by one of Potts's men. They wouldn't even let him be hospitalized; they discharged him the same day. Then he started working for Potts, supposedly to help him find jobs, but he secretly acted as a shady middleman, swindling a lot of money. When he was caught, he claimed it was a brokerage fee, and he still hasn't paid it back to this day..."

Scotland, who had a good relationship with Saiki Usui at the time and even visited Usui's home to talk with Shuichi Akai, recalled these events with great familiarity.

"After finally getting rid of Potts and joining the organization, and no longer having to pay intermediary fees, Potts is now spreading rumors throughout the organization that he is an FBI agent. He even stops calling Rye by his code name and just calls him FBI. It's blatant bullying."

"When Ray goes on missions, Potnis calls every now and then, warning others not to associate with Ray and to ostracize him. Even Gin was swayed by this a few days ago and investigated Ray again, but they didn't find anything wrong, did they?"

"So, Ray wasn't an undercover agent after all. It's just that Gin's investigation was the last straw that broke him. So he couldn't stand the atmosphere in the organization and decided to collude with other organizations to betray us... It's not impossible, is it?"

"Isn't that more convincing than the idea that Gin was also an undercover agent, and that the reason we didn't find out before was because Gin was protecting Ray?"

After Scotland finished speaking, the communication channel fell silent again.

Those organization members who had little contact with Pottnis but had only heard of the code name trembled with fear.

So Potts was this terrifying... to actually bully people within the organization... what a psychopath...

After a long pause, Vodka spoke slowly: "I admit there's some truth to what you said, but Lai's missions are mostly in Japan. If there hadn't been prior contact, where would he suddenly go to join an organization full of foreigners?"

Scotland thought to himself, "This is bad. Vodka, who was just acting like a madman, has suddenly grown a brain."

Vodka's tone grew increasingly sinister as he spoke: "And I heard it too, those foreigners were speaking English. I couldn't quite make out their accents, but it didn't sound British; they were most likely American..."

Scotland advised him, "Look on the bright side, what if it's the CIA? After all, the FBI is generally responsible for domestic matters, while the CIA is responsible for international matters!"

The real CIA undercover agent, Rena Mizunashi: "...???"

I had no idea that Ray was an undercover agent; he's definitely not from the CIA!

But then she became even more curious about how Potts had discovered that Ray was an undercover agent.

So Rena Mizunashi couldn't help but ask, "How did Potts discover that Lei was an undercover agent? Did you ask him?"

It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it, because once this topic came up, the rationality that Vodka had painstakingly pieced together began to crumble again.

"He said he dreamed about it today..."

Scotland sighed: "Anyway, let's wait for news from the intelligence team. If it's not the FBI, then everyone can rest assured."

At this moment, everyone who had been identified as an undercover agent by Usakabe Saiki was praying in their hearts.

Please, Ray, you absolutely mustn't be an FBI agent! Even a CIA agent would be great!!!

As long as it's not the FBI! We'd accept it even if they told us you were an undercover agent sent by an environmental organization!

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Bonus chapter for nutrient solution, bonus chapter for landmines, energy recharge 39/100

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Scotland did its best!

Vodka: I can't tell! I really can't tell what Potts is saying is true, bro!

Judy: Is there no one left in this world you care about...? Or do all the people in the organization talk like this...?

Organizational reputation victim

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You can imagine what Conan will think of Potts's appearance when he hears about him from Ai Haibara in the first year of Conan...