Chapter 98: The Organization's Great Failure

The grayish-white smoke gradually thinned out and eventually melted into the night.

Bourbon—Rei Furuya almost rushed to the rooftop, his heart pounding in his chest like a drum.

He received news that Hiro's identity had been exposed, and he was not informed earlier than other codenamed members in the organization's mass notification to purge traitors.

How could this happen so suddenly? Furuya Rei was filled with doubt and uncertainty. Without time to think, he tracked down Morofushi Kagemitsu's possible location as quickly as possible, and every second of his journey was agonizing.

As soon as he stepped onto the rooftop, Furuya Rei smelled a faint yet unmistakable stench of blood in the air.

For a moment, Rei Furuya's heart almost stopped. Hiro...?

The worst possible scenarios flashed uncontrollably through Rei Furuya's mind, and his gaze swept across the scene with lightning speed. Surprisingly, he didn't see his childhood friend as he expected; instead, he saw only the tall man in the knitted hat standing alone.

It's Ray.

Realizing someone was approaching, Rai turned around warily, but whether it was Rei Furuya's imagination or not, he felt that Rai's reaction seemed slower than before.

His gaze immediately fell on the dark red stain slowly spreading on the sleeve of Ray's right forearm... it was blood.

Not Hiro's blood? Rei Furuya's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, instantly sank in half.

The injured one is Lei? That's alright then, no matter how bad the injury is. (Akai Shuichi: ...Are you being rude?)

Only then did Furuya Rei have the time to observe the other strange things about Rai.

Ray's injured right hand held a pistol, while his undamaged left hand held a dagger—his left hand was his dominant hand.

There was obvious blood on the dagger, and the person's right forearm was likely cut by themselves. But why?

Rei Furuya's gaze shifted to Rai's face, which remained unchanged for years, with an unwavering calm that seemed to indicate he had everything under control—irritating, but his pupils appeared somewhat unfocused.

...Was it to keep him awake with the stimulation of pain? Ray has probably inhaled a sedative!

Why switch to a dagger in such an emergency instead of shooting yourself directly?

—Of course, Furuya Rei could tell that the dagger was drawn from the back, and that his left hand was Ray's dominant hand. He couldn't have been chasing Scotland with a dagger instead of a gun, could he?

He glanced thoughtfully at the gun in Ray's right hand. The muzzle was slightly lowered, but Furuya Rei still keenly noticed that something was wrong with the muzzle.

The muzzle seemed to be blocked by something, something the color of clay...

Rei Furuya's eyes narrowed instantly; he recognized it as a specially made lightweight clay, one of Ikuya Nekono's many disguise tools, which could be quickly shaped using a special method.

Nekono Ikuya has been here! So, Morofushi Kagemitsu has probably been rescued safely as well, and Furuya Rei's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, has eased a little.

Seeing that the person who came was Bourbon, Ray lowered his head as if no one else was there and continued to solemnly examine the gun in his hand.

Jianggu Ling:......

Rei Furuya gritted his teeth; that's why he hates Rae so much.

“Ray!” Bourbon’s voice was cold, carrying a perfectly timed question. “What happened here? Where is Scotland?”

Facing Bourbon, an organization colleague who had always disliked him, Shuichi Akai had no intention of trying to win him over. He simply said, "As you can see, he was rescued."

"She was rescued?" Bourbon raised his voice, a mocking expression instantly appearing on his face, but inside, Furuya Rei was already relieved.

He glanced at the rooftop, which had no other exit except the staircase he had come up from, and gave a sneer.

"Oh? In a place like this? A rooftop with only one exit? Don't tell me Scotland grew wings and flew away!"

The person who wronged someone knows better than anyone how wronged the other person is, and Furuya Rei interrupted.

As he spoke, he walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked down, seemingly unable to believe that Scotland had simply disappeared, and wondering if Rye had hidden Scotland somewhere.

He seemed to distrust Rae completely.

Shuichi Akai, whose suspicions were laid bare and who was rendered speechless: ...

Lay remained unfazed: "Perhaps it really is so? Scotland has grown wings?" Like hang gliders, for example.

Ray's tone was equally unpleasant. He was injured, had lost his target, encountered sarcastic and hostile colleagues, and was unjustly suspected by them. It would be abnormal for him to be in a good tone.

Shuichi Akai had no guilty conscience at all. After all, he hadn't even had a chance to reveal his true identity before Scotland was rescued by someone else. And the person who rescued Scotland wasn't one of his own, so he didn't need to feel guilty at all!

Bourbon turned his head: "Ray, you!"

Then Bourbon sneered, "Ray, not only did you let someone rescue the traitor right under your nose, but you even got injured. Should I doubt your abilities, or your principles?!"

His purplish-grey eyes swept over Lei like blades: "Could it be that you, like Scotland, are a rat sent from somewhere?!"

That's a really vicious statement.

Rei Furuya glanced at the wound on Rai's arm, his mind racing.

Ray is injured, not in good condition, and his gun is malfunctioning. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

If he stalls Ray here and notifies the police... is it possible to take this opportunity to arrest this important member of the organization, this dangerous Ray?

This thought made Rei Furuya's blood boil slightly, and his bourbon-colored eyes turned dangerous.

Shuichi Akai's green eyes narrowed suddenly as he sensed the dangerous aura emanating from Nami that was far more targeted than usual, and his body tensed slightly.

Is Bourbon, that mad dog, trying to use this opportunity to his advantage? Is he trying to take this chance to kill me?!

Although the organization forbids infighting among codename members and even more so, killing each other, what are people in the shadows incapable of doing?

Lei slowly adjusted his center of gravity, assuming a posture ready to launch a sudden attack at any moment, his tone icy: "Such unfounded speculation only makes you look foolish and impatient, Bourbon."

"What you should be doing now is not mocking me, but tracking them down immediately. They haven't been gone long, so you might still be able to find some traces if you track them down now."

"Oh, really?" Bourbon smiled enigmatically.

The idea was so tempting that he was assessing the success rate of his operation and how to leave Ray to the arriving police without exposing himself.

The atmosphere at the scene instantly became tense.

The air froze, ready to explode at any moment.

Just as Bourbon and Ray were about to make their move, "buzz..." the cell phones in their pockets vibrated almost simultaneously.

Rei Furuya stared intently at Rai, slowly taking out his phone. The instant his gaze swept across the screen, his pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.

From: [Rum]

The message was concise and carried an unquestionable command: [Bourbon, mission terminated. Do not engage Ray. Evacuate immediately.]

His undercover work with the police had played its final role, informing them that the intelligence had reached the police and that Scotland was safe.

!!

Rei Furuya's heart skipped a beat. Rum knew he was entangled with Ray, and there were probably Rum's spies nearby!

It was a pity. At the same time, a strong sense of regret and resentment welled up. It was a pity that this opportunity to capture Laiyi had to be given up. If he had known, he would have disguised himself and come here instead of as an organization member. Maybe he would have had a chance to capture Laiyi.

He suppressed all outward emotions, only giving Lei a colder and more disgusted look.

You're lucky!

“I will report what I see ‘truthfully’ to my superiors, hmph,” Bourbon said viciously.

That would inevitably involve embellishing the story.

After saying that, he turned and left.

Shuichi Akai was unconcerned about Bourbon's threat because he had also received the message.

His message came from Gin, whose instructions were even more direct: [Ray, situation unclear, retreat.]

The information about Gin is very concise, with almost nothing to analyze, but that's okay, because Ray has a thoughtful drinking buddy, Vodka.

With Gin's tacit approval, Vodka sent a second message to Ray, adding more details.

[My brother says something's wrong! We've lost contact with several teams chasing Scotland, like they've been ghosted! The police probably already knew Scotland was exposed; it might be a trap, waiting for our people to walk right into it! Rye, you need to retreat!]

...It seems there's no need to bother explaining why Scotland was able to escape from him (even though he didn't actually do anything wrong).

Without further hesitation, Shuichi Akai retreated in another direction.

But why was Scotland exposed so suddenly? Was it really a trap set by the police? And who was the mysterious person who saved Scotland...?

These remain mysteries for Shuichi Akai.

The house near the Metropolitan Police Department was warmly lit. Morofushi Kagemitsu had taken a hot shower, changed into clean clothes, and sat on the sofa with a cup of hot tea, his nerves completely relaxed.

Nekono Ikuya sat opposite him, her posture not upright, but rather languid and curled up like a cat.

He twirled a silver-white spherical object between his fingertips—a leftover smoke grenade from before. His always smiling eyes gazed clearly at Morofushi Kagemitsu, like a stream under the moonlight.

"So Jingguang, tell me, why was this exposure so sudden? Your disguise was flawless, and you acted very cautiously." He tilted his head, feigning thought. "Could there be a problem within the Public Security Bureau?"

Nekono Ikuya thought, "That shouldn't be the case. He had secretly investigated Kagemitsu's colleagues before, and all the problematic people should have been identified. Could there be any omissions?"

When asked about the cause of the exposure, Morofushi Kagemitsu's expression became serious and firm. He shook his head: "No, there should be no problem internally. It was me... I took a risky step."

He looked at Nekono Ikuya with clear eyes: "I obtained the list of undercover agents planted by the organization in the police system."

"!" Nekono Ikuya's bright eyes widened slightly. "What?!"

No wonder! No wonder the organization discovered Jing Guang was an undercover agent so quickly, and the order to hunt him down was so urgent, with so many people involved, almost all of them mobilized!

Morofushi Kagemitsu continued, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve: "That list is too important. The longer the undercover agents exist, the more people are in danger. The police's actions may be transparent to the organization. I know that the moment I take action, I will be exposed, but... I can't miss this opportunity."

He paused, then gave a relieved smile: "I sent out the list as soon as I got my hands on it, because I was afraid the organization would intercept the intelligence, so I didn't use the usual methods of intelligence transmission."

It was almost inevitable that the organization would soon discover that such important intelligence had been tampered with, and it was extremely fortunate that he was able to access this intelligence.

Under these circumstances, Morofushi Kagemitsu knew he didn't have the time to deliver intelligence cautiously, safely, and slowly as usual. He resolutely sent the intelligence directly, and then left the organization's base without hesitation and immediately ran away.

Sure enough, ten minutes later the organization discovered that the intelligence had been tampered with and immediately identified him as an undercover agent.

This is why he was exposed. In any case, the list of undercover agents had already been sent out, and all that was left was to save his own life.

"On the rooftop, when Lai cornered me, I thought my mission was over. Fortunately, the list had already been sent out, so this was the best outcome. I never expected... Yu Mi, you suddenly appeared and saved me." This time, he didn't say thank you; there was no need for so many thanks between them.

The value of this list is immeasurable. With the organization removed from the police's sights and ears, its power will undoubtedly suffer a huge blow.

"Wow, that's amazing, Kagemitsu!" Nekono Ikuya exclaimed.