Chapter 222

The meeting was originally intended to discuss the punishment of the traitor, Rye. However, it seemed that people were less accepting of Bo Ye Zaiji's prophetic accuracy than Rye being a traitor. So, they spent half the day discussing Bo Ye Zaiji, and it took Rum, Scotland, and Bourbon a lot of effort to steer the conversation back on track.

People didn't bring up Usuo Saiki for no reason; after much research, most people believe—

"Although Potts likes to point out spies everywhere, Gin and Ray have one thing in common: Potts openly dislikes them! Potts even says that Gin and Ray look alike all the time! He must be hinting at something!"

People like to summarize patterns, and the result of summarizing was that Gin left the core of the organization in a very frustrating way. According to Rum, he would be put back after a period of observation.

Then Rum decided to select a group of people to investigate and hunt down Ray, and to have those who had Usoppai's contact information make phone calls from time to time to see when the phone would be turned on. If they still couldn't contact him after three days, they would start looking for him seriously.

Despite being a very serious and important meeting, the atmosphere ended in a gloomy, desolate, and somber mood due to the absence of Usoya Saiki and the fact that everyone's emotions had been too intense in the past few days and they were now somewhat exhausted.

The only one who remained consistently energetic and defiant was Chianti; even Cohen wasn't so arrogant as to point at Gin and say he was definitely an undercover agent.

Scotland was rebuked by Chianti several times for trying to balance things out, but he earned Vodka's gratitude.

After the meeting, Vodka even asked Scotland if he wanted to go for a drink together.

He's been so depressed and scared these past few days!

He didn't dare to breathe loudly next to his older brother, as if there was a live volcano sitting next to him... And to put it bluntly, he was actually a little afraid of his older brother speaking, but the answers he gave were the ones he didn't want to hear.

Although it's said to be a temporary departure from the core, it also means that no problems have been found. The eldest brother is highly valued by the boss. After the intelligence team investigates a few more times, things should be back to normal.

Vodka was genuinely relieved that he hadn't had to get rid of the gin immediately and was really looking forward to having a drink with someone.

Scotland is a good place for people with sharp minds and clear thinking.

Vodka thought that if he talked to Scotland more, he might become a little smarter.

Scotland smiled and said, "Sorry, I'd like to go with those people to Potneys's apartment."

Considering the possibility that the FBI might be lying in wait, the organization planned to send some people to check the area around Saiki Usaba's apartment and ask Akemi Miyano if she had any clues. Scotland planned to go along as well, since in the organization's eyes, he had always been one of those people who had a pretty good relationship with Saiki Usaba... even though he had been reported as an undercover agent.

But compared to Gin, he didn't face much suspicion, only another round of investigation... Thank you, Gin, it's true that when the sky falls, there's a tall guy to hold it up!

Scotland expressed its heartfelt gratitude to Gin.

Vodka didn't seem surprised at all, he just sighed: "Well, it is indeed unsettling that the guy has been missing for so long at this time. It would be great if we could find some clues... If he's alright, I suggest you have him move out as soon as possible."

Otherwise, he would still be living at an address that was exposed to the FBI, because he always felt there was some danger.

Although Vodka is often tormented by Usoppai, Usoppai was already quite troublesome when he was still on the fringes of the organization. Now that the Lai incident has happened, Usoppai may be given more attention in the future... so he'll just have to bear with it for now.

He should quickly try to curry favor with Usaku Saiki, lest everyone start to analyze the patterns and discover that he is also deeply disliked by Usaku Saiki, like a deserter in reserve...

Vodka shuddered.

Scotland nodded, and then went to ask Rum if he could go with his teammates near Usui Saiki's apartment.

Soon, several junior staff members and members of the intelligence team arrived at their destination with Scotland. The junior staff searched the vicinity but did not find any FBI agents or other suspicious individuals.

Scotland then stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Akemi Miyano happened to be home and ran over to open the door for him: "Ah... Mr. Scotland, and everyone else... Mr. Potts isn't home."

Scotland was somewhat troubled: "Oh, I see... But wasn't he here the day Rye defected? Can we go in and take a look?"

"……Can."

After letting the people in, Akemi Miyano followed behind them, answering their questions whenever they needed to.

The intelligence team was in charge of asking questions, while Scotland listened from the sidelines.

Then, as Scotland listened, he felt cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Uh...you mean, Potts slept in that day, and as soon as he woke up, he called Vodka to warn him that Ray was an undercover agent and that today's mission would definitely fail?"

"...That's roughly the gist of it." Miyano Akemi didn't really want to go into such detail, but the intelligence team was so good at getting information out of her that she unknowingly revealed all of this.

The intelligence team also felt that this precognitive dream was a bit far-fetched, so they asked with some suspicion, "Has he been in contact with Ray recently?"

Akemi Miyano shook her head.

The intelligence team members narrowed their eyes.

Because of such a big incident in the organization, including investigating Lei and those identified by Lord Potnis, the intelligence team was short-handed a few days ago.

Since the focus wasn't on Lord Potts before, the intelligence team assumed that Miyano Akemi, being a low-level staff member, probably wouldn't know anything, so they simply called her to ask if she could contact Lord Potts without asking about these details.

Now, when they asked about Lord Potts, specifically whether Lord Potts had been in contact with Ray recently, Miyano Akemi's reaction was a bit strange.

"...What are you hiding?" The intelligence team member looked at Miyano Akemi with a cold expression. "Lord Potnis is colluding with Ray? He asked you to help him cover it up?"

Akemi Miyano quickly denied it: "No!"

Regardless, Bo Yezaki did indeed help her and...her cheap cousin. How could she harm Bo Yezaki because of her own mistake?

However, her acting skills were probably not up to par with the intelligence team. Although they wouldn't torture her for her sister's sake, if they pressed her for an explanation and she didn't give a plausible reason, the intelligence team would definitely think that Bo Yezhai had ulterior motives...

So, I need to quickly come up with an excuse, an excuse to get Usoppō Saiki out of this mess...

Scotland knew that Miyano Akemi was the daughter of the doctor he had liked since childhood, and he wanted to help, but he didn't dare to act rashly in front of the intelligence team. After all, they were all still under suspicion, and the less they did, the less mistakes they would make.

Therefore, he could only watch Miyano Akemi anxiously with a cold face, but he couldn't say a word.

The intelligence team continued questioning and discovered that Akemi Miyano was definitely hiding some very important information.

Everyone was happy, thinking that if it really was Potnis and Leie colluding, then everyone in the organization, especially Lord Gin, would definitely be happy!

This shows that Lord Potts' words and actions were not based on any real insight, but rather on information provided by Ray, the person directly involved. Regardless of what Ray said, Potts' failure to report what he knew is problematic.

This means that this is a world without metaphysics, and mental illness is not a form of prophecy!

No more innocent victims, no more being inexplicably accused of being undercover agents just because they said something wrong! How harmonious!

The Scots had thought of these things too; in fact, he had considered them one step further than the intelligence team.

What if Usoya Saiki really had been secretly colluding with Lai Yi all along, and was just pretending to be crazy to help the undercover agent?

Could it be that Saiki Usaba's disappearance was actually because he went to join the FBI?

They're clearly the children of the Japanese Public Security Bureau, so why...?

Finally, under interrogation by the intelligence team, Miyano Akemi decided to sacrifice herself in order to protect Usui Saiki.

"Because...because Ray suddenly contacted me and said he was my relative, I felt very uneasy, so I told Mr. Pottness about it and hoped he could help me see if it was true or not. Mr. Pottness said that he would handle the matter and give me an answer whether it was a scam or not..."

Akemi Miyano trembled and tears streamed down her face: "I never expected that before we even got the results, Rae would defect. I didn't know if it was related to me, so I didn't dare to mention it before... I'm sorry... But, I'm absolutely loyal to the organization. You see, when people try to claim kinship, I always have them reviewed by the officers first..."

Intelligence Team: "…………"

That sounds outrageous! It's even more outrageous than saying that Ray confessed to her and then Potts stole her away!

Do you have any evidence?

"I have."

Akemi Miyano selectively tells the truth for two reasons: firstly, she is aware of her own acting skills, and secondly, she actually has evidence to back it up.

Moreover, before leaving, Bo Yezaki had told her that if necessary, she could mention the bloodline test report... She had wondered what "if necessary" meant, but now it seemed that was it.

"...Lay gave me a bloodline certificate, it's in a drawer in my apartment study, you can go look for it."

Intelligence team: "...There really is evidence???"

Scotland:"…………"

—Rye, what's going on here? Why would someone pretend to be a relative before running away?! Is the FBI's undercover training program this weird?

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Akemi: In short, let's get rid of the great guy, Bo Yezhaiji, first!

Vodka: First, let's get close to the clear-headed Scotland!

Scotland: If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. Thank you, Gin.