Chapter 223

When the intelligence team actually found a blood relationship report in Miyano Akemi's apartment, everyone was stunned.

After the FBI developed the impression that "the people in this organization must all have some serious illness," the organization's members also developed the strange impression that the FBI "only takes crooked and shady paths."

After all, the intelligence team was well aware of Miyano Akemi's identity. There was nothing about her that they cared about; on the contrary, her younger sister was very important to the organization.

Considering that Ray—no, to be precise, the FBI agent whose real name is Shuichi Akai—attempted to set a trap to capture Gin and the others, his original purpose might have been to deceive the Miyano sisters, but he failed due to Lord Potts's intervention, which is why he had to change his target.

As for why this particular time was chosen, and why the targets were changed so hastily, it's probably because Lord Potts' great achievements in America made Shuichi Akai, the undercover agent, feel a sense of urgency. He was worried that the organization really took Lord Potts' words seriously, so he had no choice but to start planning his withdrawal and intend to take some spoils with him... That must be it!

Surely it's not that he was targeted by Lord Potts to the point of mental breakdown, forcing him to resort to such means to bribe Miyano Akemi, who is by Lord Potts' side, in an attempt to save the country indirectly?

...Ahem, thankfully it's been confirmed that the other party has always been an FBI agent, otherwise, given Bornet's track record, the possibility would actually be quite high...

The intelligence team members exchanged glances and quietly suppressed their wild speculations.

How could you be so disrespectful to Lord Potts! Lord Potts was clearly doing everything for the good of the organization!

Our Lord Potts is absolutely brilliant! He forced the undercover agent to reveal his true colors! What more could they possibly want?!

...So, where is the powerful Lord Potnis now?

After making a mess of the organization and the FBI, Usoppei Saiki simply packed up and left, not idle himself, but busy looking for a new house.

After all, he had to give up his house in Hanchuan Shenliu's place, and now he probably couldn't stay in the organization's house either, so he had to find a new one. He was really busy.

As for why the device was shut down...

"Of course, it's because they don't know the answer that they have doubts." Bo Yezaki argued confidently. "If I appeared too early and gave them the answer, even if they weren't entirely convinced, the level of doubt I generated wouldn't be as high as when their initiative was at its peak."

The system excitedly agreed: "[Yeah, you've just boosted the suspicion that you're being retaliated against by the FBI.]"

Usakabe glanced at the system log: [Rei Furuya and Hiromitsu Morofushi will probably still suspect me of colluding with the FBI... Hmm, that's about it. Time to boot up.]

The system felt that this wave of suspicion points was very profitable, but it was also a little worried.

After all, the disappearance of Bo Yezaki means that he cannot intervene or personally take charge, which also means that he does not know where the organization's people are thinking now.

If there's any unfavorable development in the situation, and if he can't figure out anything from the suspicion value in the system log, wouldn't it be a bit dangerous to contact the organization like this?

Bo Yezaki was very confident: "Don't worry, I'll grab someone and ask them."

System: […Vodka? Bourbon? Scotland? Do you want to torture someone else? They've already given us enough suspicion; no amount of stimulation in a short time will squeeze anything out of us.]

Human emotions have their limits. These people were most stimulated in the first wave because they had more contact with Usakabe Saiki. Now they have recovered, and further stimulation in the short term will not have much effect.

On the contrary, those who have a casual relationship with Bo Yezaki and rarely see his bizarre remarks directly still have a lot of room to exploit others.

Usoppō Saiki, of course, understood this as well: "It's alright, I'll find someone else. I haven't called since I got the phone."

However, after turning on the phone, he was immediately faced with a barrage of missed calls and new email notifications that nearly caused the system to freeze. He almost couldn't open his contacts and it took him a long time to finally make a call.

The call went through a bit slowly this time, but at least it connected.

"...Hello?" The person on the other end was a woman with a gentle but very wary voice. "Who are you?"

This attitude indicates that the other party did not have Usaku Saiki's caller ID—meaning they were not close enough to know Usaku Saiki to the point of knowing his phone number.

However, Usakabe Saiki didn't care and said directly, "Kir, it's me."

Kir: "...!!!"

That voice... is it Potts?!

Although she didn't have much contact with Potts, this voice was something an undercover agent absolutely had to memorize, otherwise he wouldn't even know how he died.

But Botness is missing, isn't she?! So many people can't find her, why would they call her at a time like this?!

She really doesn't know Potts well! And considering the last person Potts inexplicably targeted... could it be that Potts actually thinks there's something wrong with her...?

As a CIA undercover agent, Kiel receives a phone call and, before he can even say anything, breaks out in a cold sweat, but he still has to force a smile and pretend everything is fine.

"...Potnis, you're alright? Everyone's been looking for you."

Great, now she has something to talk about, which will help her stall for time and adjust her mindset.

Bo Yezaki watched with satisfaction as the suspicion level in the backstage area skyrocketed, exceeding the amount he had received from Gil in just a short time: "I just hate it when so many people suddenly come looking for me all at once, that's why I'm hiding. It's so annoying."

Kiel could understand this aversion to trouble, but Potts's evasiveness was truly irresponsible... Well, since it's Potts, then it's fine.

"If you want to avoid trouble, why are you calling me now?" What Kiel really wanted to ask was why he called me instead of someone else, but asking that would be too obvious, so he could only try to cover it up.

Bo Yezaki didn't mince words: "Tell me what's the current situation in the organization, and how they're discussing me."

Now Kiel could finally ask logically, "Why me?"

"you guess."

Kiel: "…………"

No wonder that Lei, no, Shuichi Akai, responded to Vodka in the same way back then; he was really tormented by Potts to the point of being thoroughly marinated.

But what is the reason? Is it because he has something on me...? Is he going to toy with me like he toyed with Shuichi Akai? Am I going to be the next person bullied by Potts?

Kiel was extremely suspicious, but it was okay to have doubts in her mind, but she couldn't actually ask out loud, otherwise there would be no way to undo the damage. She could only pretend that she was too lazy to play along and gave the answer directly.

"I don't know much, but the intelligence team recently reported that Shuichi Akai is planning to frame Akemi Miyano and claim kinship. The intelligence team is having a meeting later..."

Bo Yezaki asked a few more questions, subtly trying to ascertain the organization's current attitude towards him.

Well, Akemi Miyano is quite steady. As expected, after she presented a very outrageous but true story, everyone lost interest in the ordinary possibility of "colluding with traitors".

“I understand.” Bo Yezai sighed. “Well, it’s no wonder everyone thinks it’s outrageous. The probability of a newly joined member being a relative is just too small…”

Kiel cautiously agreed, "Yes."

"Actually, it wouldn't be so bad if they were cousins. It's better than a father and daughter going undercover together. Wouldn't that make it obvious to everyone at a glance?"

Kir: "...!!!"

She was an undercover agent in the organization with her father, and even got her codename because of her father's death. What exactly is Potts implying with these words?!

Did Potts ever meet her father?

Oh no, it seems like she and her father appeared in front of Potts at the same time... Could it be that he actually saw it back then?

No way, it's been years, and Potts hasn't responded at all, but today he suddenly called and brought up father and daughter... Don't they usually use father and son as examples?

Could it be that Potts is actually very focused, torturing one person before moving on to the next?

Kiel was sweating profusely, and could only console himself that he and his father didn't actually look that much alike. If you could tell a family relationship just by looking at them, then there would be no need for DNA testing...

“…Yes.” Kiel replied to Potts with feigned composure, “But generally speaking, this is too easy to be discovered, and once one is exposed, the other will also be in trouble, so very few undercover agencies arrange it this way…Akai Shuichi’s is also a fake.”

"That's hard to say," Bo Yezhai said ambiguously. "Anyway, thank you for your reply. Now that everyone has calmed down, I'm relieved... Let's keep in touch. Bye~"

Kiel: "…………"

No, why is it hard to say? And what does "keep in touch when you have time" mean? Does it mean I'll really have to call her frequently in the future?

No! She doesn't want to be the next Ray!

As a spy trained by a legitimate undercover organization, Kiel calmly analyzed the current situation after hanging up the phone and decided that no matter what, he needed to keep things stable first.

After all, there were quite a few people in the organization whom Potts accused of being undercover agents, but it was only Rye who got into trouble.

Moreover, Potts has never produced any evidence to prove that Ray is an undercover agent. He only talks about it verbally and doesn't seem very serious. At most, he shows disgust. So... even if the other party suspects something, she can't panic. As long as there is no evidence, everything is fine.

She should even cultivate a good relationship with Potts, so she'll have less in common with Shuichi Akai...

Of course, the most important thing is to establish a firm foothold within the organization.

After pondering for a while, Kiel decided that he should take the initiative.

Otherwise, if someone else contacts Potts and Potts says he called her but she didn't report it... it would make her seem like there's something wrong with her!

So Kiel decisively called Bourbon, who was now in charge of the intelligence group regarding Potts.

Bourbon: "Kier? What a rare guest."

“Bourbon, I have some updated information about Potts.” Remembering his disguise, Kiel couldn't be too easygoing, so he spoke in a affected tone, “What are you going to offer in exchange?”

Bourbon readily agreed: "I owe you a favor. Just contact me if you need any information. So, what happened to Potts?"

Kiel then recounted the earlier conversation to Bourbon in a slightly edited manner: "...That's how it is. I never expected him to call me."

Bourbon readily offered an excuse for her: "It's because we're not that close. People who are closer to Potts are more likely to offend him. Look how many times Vodka has been blocked by him... That guy is hard to please, and he holds grudges. You can't win him over."

"...You're describing a stray cat."

“He’s much more troublesome than a stray cat,” Bourbon quipped. “But he might be okay for you because he’s a bit sexist.”

“Ah, I think I’ve heard something about that…” Kiel said uncertainly, “Really? He was very nice to both Miyano Akemi and Vermouth?”

Bourbon didn't really like Miyano Akemi making such a strong presence in the organization, but there was nothing he could do; Miyano Akemi was truly famous now: "...I guess so."

Kiel then took the opportunity to probe for information: "Speaking of which, when I was talking to Potts about Miyano Akemi and Akai Shuichi earlier, his attitude seemed a bit... strange. Do you know why?"

Bourbon: "…………"

A sense of foreboding washed over Kiel: "...Bourbon?"

“…This information…never mind, you’ll find out later anyway.” Bourbon answered reluctantly. “According to the investigation, no one at the appraisal center that Miyano Akemi went to later was bribed, which means the appraisal report is genuine…and it seems that it was Potness who first commented on their resemblance…”

Kiel: "…………???"

Wait a minute?! Potts really uses the naked eye to determine blood relations?! Then her relationship with her father...?!