APTX-4869

"You're from that organization, aren't you? Although you've disguised yourself very well, only someone from that organization would come knocking at a time like this."

With a ferocious expression, Kawai Jiro grabbed Tsurumi Kawaru by the neck, hooking his leg and trying to pin him to the ground. But for some reason, he stumbled and fell to the ground with Tsurumi Kawaru in his arms, ending up on top of him and almost suffocating.

Before Tsurumi Ryu could react, he turned and fell to the ground, with Kawai Jiro cushioning his fall. Kawai Jiro's arm around his neck remained firmly in place.

He struggled for a moment, then, not knowing where he hit his elbow, he cried out in pain as his restrained arm came free. He took the opportunity to flip down, grab the chair leg next to him, and lift it high into the air.

"Bang--"

Inside the room with the curtains drawn, a figure swayed and fell to the ground with a thud, letting out a short groan.

Tsurumi Kawaru, holding the chair leg, stared at the fallen Kawai Jiro, his bright golden eyes still reflecting the panic caused by Kawai Jiro's sudden outburst.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he picked up the cleaning fluid scattered on the ground, then took out his phone to text Gin and Vodka who were waiting downstairs.

A moment later, there was a knock on the apartment door. Tsurumi Kawakami quickly stepped forward to open the door, and Gin and Vodka walked in one after the other.

Tsurumi Kawa pointed to Kawai Jiro lying on the ground and explained, "He seems to know I'm part of the organization. He ambushed me just now, but I knocked him unconscious."

Gin glanced at the garbage piled up everywhere in the room, frowned in disgust, and winked at Vodka. Vodka then stepped forward, grabbed Kawai Jiro by the collar, and slapped him hard twice.

The attack was extremely ruthless; two red marks quickly appeared on his cheeks, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. When Kawai Jiro awoke from his unconsciousness, he was immediately confronted by the vicious Vodka, and he trembled with fear.

Tsurumi Kawaru stood obediently behind Vodka, clutching his backpack, when his eyes met those of Kawai Jiro. Upon seeing him, Kawai Jiro seemed to recall everything that had happened before he lost consciousness; his face turned pale, then white, then dark, and finally flushed red.

"Who are you? I'm going to sue you for trespassing and assaulting the homeowner!"

Vodka looked at Kawai Jiro's fierce but weak appearance and sneered mercilessly. He grabbed him by the collar, dragged him to the coffee table, pressed his head on the table, and stepped on his back.

"Don't you already know who we are? Why are you asking us such questions? Just hand over the stuff honestly, and you'll suffer less."

Seeing Vodka's threatening manner, Tsurumi Ryu looked up at Gin with some surprise. The latter was still standing in the entryway, not stepping into the messy living room.

Gin stood in the dimly lit entryway, his tall and imposing figure half-hidden in the darkness, the brim of his black top hat casting a shadow over his face, completely obscuring it.

"Vodka, hurry up." A deep, icy voice echoed in the room, tinged with tension, displeasure, and a barely concealed disgust.

Vodka grinned, grabbed Kawai Jiro's head and slammed it against the coffee table. After a few times, he turned his head and gestured for Tsurumi Kawa to go to the bedroom to find something.

Upon receiving the message, Tsurumi Kawakami grabbed his backpack, glanced around the living room for places to put things, and finally, with a hint of disdain, chose to put on the backpack.

The bedroom was in a better condition, at least there wasn't so much messy trash, but clothes were scattered everywhere. He carefully avoided the things under his feet and walked to the computer desk to look through them.

There were many papers on the desk that he couldn't understand, with many incomprehensible formulas written on them. Tsurumi Kawaru glanced at them a few times and then ignored them, focusing his attention on the computer that was in sleep mode.

The computer wasn't password protected. Once activated, it immediately redirected to the desktop, which was very clean with no unnecessary software—practically spotless except for the original installed programs.

Tsurumi glanced at the blue sky and white clouds on the desktop background, then his gaze suddenly stopped on the task display box. He moved the mouse over it and saw a shrunk folder named with a string of letters and numbers.

He opened the folder, and the pop-up directory was recorded in chronological order. Inside were data analysis tables recording data for a certain drug.

Tsurumi Kawakami couldn't understand these things, so he scrolled to the bottom to see if there was any written summary.

Suddenly, a video about a minute long caught his eye. Tsurumi Kawakami blinked, moved the mouse, and clicked on the video—

The video footage was shaky and the lighting was inconsistent, clearly indicating it was taken from a hidden camera angle. Once the footage stabilized, a high-tech-looking door appeared in the frame, and the person filming was followed by several people in white coats, who swiped their cards to enter through the door.

After passing through a white corridor, the scene shows many researchers in white lab coats, but this scene only flashes by, and the perspective quickly shifts to a conference room.

The PowerPoint presentation flashed with many anatomical images of the human body, and then a slightly distorted but clearly young voice rang out, and a young girl in a white coat entered the screen.

[...The drug APTX-4869 is currently in the experimental stage. The preliminary semi-finished product is highly toxic and can cause rapid death after ingestion, with no detectable toxins.]*

[...The efficacy of the anti-aging and time-reversing drug is still debatable...]

The voice continued, but the screen suddenly went dark, and the video abruptly ended a few seconds later.

Tsurumi Kawakami wanted to watch it again, but then he heard vodka outside the door. He paused, then closed the folder as if possessed, silently memorizing the information from the video. He then got up and went outside to report the situation.

Kawai Jiro was slammed against the table seven or eight times by Vodka, his forehead bleeding profusely. Crimson blood flowed down his brow bone, nose, and cheeks, quickly staining his entire face red.

Tsurumi glanced at it and then looked away. He walked straight to Gin and quietly reported what he had found in the bedroom. He didn't mention the video he had just watched, only saying that there was a folder on the computer that seemed to contain experimental data.

Gin subtly lowered his head, then looked up at Vodka. Vodka received his gaze, released Kawai Jiro, and went into the bedroom. A short while later, he came out with a USB drive.

Vodka: "Brother, it's all copied to the disk. Should we smash the computer inside?"

Gin slightly raised his chin, and Vodka, having received his order, stepped forward, grabbed Kawai Jiro, and dragged him into the bedroom.

The sounds of clattering and clanging rang out, interspersed with occasional wails from Kawai Jiro, before falling silent after a while.

A moment later, Vodka came out, straightening his sleeves as he said, "Brother, it's all taken care of."

Gin grunted in response, as if he didn't want to stay a second longer, and turned to leave the room.

Vodka straightened his sleeves, patted Tsurumi Ryuu on the shoulder, chuckled twice, and then walked into the apartment's semi-open kitchen. He turned on the gas valve and closed the window.

Vodka: "Let's go."

Tsurumi looked at the bedroom, then at the kitchen, opened his mouth and then closed it, before leaving the apartment with Vodka.

On the way back, Tsurumi Kawaru was still carrying the black backpack. He had broken the shoulder strap during his fight with Kawai Jiro, so he could only hold it to his chest.

"Don't we need to deal with that Kawai Jiro anymore?" He glanced at Gin, who had sat back in the passenger seat, and asked in a low voice.

Moreover, he felt that this mission was too easy and smooth. Apart from the fact that his identity was exposed when he went door-to-door to sell and he had a fight with Kawai Jiro at the beginning, things went abnormally smoothly afterward.

Gin toyed with the USB drive Vodka had just given him, lit a cigarette with the car's cigarette lighter, and put it in his mouth. He glanced at Tsurumi Kawa in the back seat, his jaw tightening and a sarcastic smile appearing on his lips.

"Natural gas leaks are quite common. We'll probably see the news tomorrow, but it won't take up much space; you can find it in the corners," Vodka said, gripping the steering wheel with an air of experience.

Tsurumi Kawakami paused for a moment, then hugged his backpack and huddled in the back row without saying anything more.

Back at the organization, Tsurumi Kawaru was released. He stood by the roadside, watching the black Porsche drive away, and only realized what was happening when the evening breeze made him sneeze and he rubbed his nose.

"Ah, I forgot to return the bag to Gin." Looking down at the backpack he was holding to his chest, Tsurumi Ryu muttered to himself and turned back to his residence.

Upon opening the door, a figure was seen sitting near the window in the dark living room.

Tsurumi Kawakami blinked, then snapped on the living room light switch. A blond, dark-skinned young man sat there looking at him.

Tsurumi Kawakami changed into slippers in the entryway, then glanced at a pair of leather shoes next to him. He picked up his bag, walked to the sofa, sat down, and poured himself a glass of water.

"Why are you here?" the boy asked.

Amuro Tooru did not answer, still thinking about the scene he had just seen through the curtains—the black Porsche was a piece of information known within the organization, and it belonged to Gin.

Tsurumi Ryuu saw Amuro Tooru without saying a word, put down his backpack, got up and went to rummage through the refrigerator. He took out three sandwiches, put them in the microwave to heat up, and then boiled water to prepare instant noodles.

At that moment, Amuro Tooru also got up and walked over.

He rummaged through the instant noodles on the counter, glanced at Tsurumi Kawakami, and then helped out. "You and Gin just got back from a mission."

Tsurumi Kawakami nodded. "Yes, I went to find a researcher who resigned from the research institute. Gin said he stole some very important experimental data."

After saying that, he looked up and told Amuro about the contents of the video he had seen at Kawai Jiro's house: "Will that drug called APTX-4869 really be able to reverse aging in the end?"

Amuro Tooru's expression turned very serious from the moment he started talking about the video. Hearing his words, he pursed his lips and then sternly warned, "This is extremely important. You must never tell anyone that you've seen that video, not even if Gin asks."

Tsurumi Kawakami nodded with his mouth tightly shut, showing less interest in that drug than in instant noodles.

After all, the water has boiled, so we can make instant noodles now.

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*Source: Baidu