Chapter 180: A Neither Side Away in Illness

Ignoring the somewhat foolish Number 26, Morofushi Kagemitsu focused on his escape route, hurrying as fast as he could, and finally returned to Tokyo just as dawn was breaking.

After settling things with the car, he made a special trip back to a two-story villa he had secretly bought in the suburbs, tidied himself up, and then drove a new car to the company.

Actually, he didn't want to relive that work environment, but it was part of Melo's test of him, so even if it was meaningless, he still had to play along.

Morofushi Kagemitsu smiled at the iris recognition system in front of Merlot's office, then stepped into the woman's territory.

This time, Melo didn't do anything that made him think he was crazy. Instead, he sat there looking at documents like an ordinary leader in the company.

Zhu Fujingguang: ...

This is even stranger.

However, he still maintained a perfectly appropriate expression as he sat on the comfortable sofa next to him.

[Anti-fraud expert #11: Don't be fooled by her current act. Just before you walked in, this woman was holding a gun, ready to shoot you through the door.]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #205: Not only that, I just scanned the office door, and it seems it was replaced with a new one three months ago, containing a lot of shady stuff. The controllers for these little mechanisms are right next to Melo.]

Morofushi Kagemitsu glanced at Melo's right hand without leaving a trace; besides a black pen, there was only a mouse.

[Anti-Fraud Guru #66: Guess which one it is?]

...Generally speaking, it should be that black pen. But Melo isn't an ordinary person, so I think there's something wrong with both of them.

[Anti-Fraud Guru #148: Congratulations, you got it right!]

[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: No... is it a good thing to be able to figure out what this lunatic Melo is thinking? It means you're not far from her mental state!]

...Well, that's not so bad, at least the risk of exposure is reduced, isn't it?

Morofushi Kagemitsu remained inwardly silent, but outwardly displayed his usual demeanor towards Mello, gently whispering, "Now that you've seen me, get to work. Don't miss this opportunity."

Melo tapped a few keys on the keyboard, then stared at him intently for a few moments before laughing as the printer started up: "Why the rush? Don't you have an inside man?"

An inside man.

Could she be referring to Zero? That's strange. I've already given her such a great opportunity in Tottori, and she's still thinking of having Rum take the blame.

Melo's actions made him seriously question whether she was really going to get into brandy.

Morofushi Kagemitsu raised his right eyebrow and bluntly stated, "So you still don't want to use this opportunity to take action against Brandy? Could it be that you deliberately lost to him in the previous encounters?"

Melo took the freshly printed documents out of the printer and said, "Kong-kun, I've already said it, Brandy is going to die in Kyoto. You should understand what I mean, right?"

[Anti-Fraud Guru No. 19: Is she implicitly admitting it? Sure enough, the organization's development of the island project goes far beyond what you've seen in the documents; they had a backup plan from the start.]

That's normal. No matter how well I was a good fit for their project, I was just a newcomer back then. Why would I hand over all my assets right away? Besides, haven't I been secretly turned away several times over the years when I tried to get involved in island projects?

Maintaining this mindset, Morofushi Kagemitsu didn't mention Tottori again. Instead, he focused his attention on the stack of documents in Melo's hand and said, "Now that I've handed over Goto Shunsuke's disguise, you should be able to easily handle the threat from that brandy in Kyoto."

Upon hearing this, Melo, unusually patient with him during his early days as a novice, said, "Just snipe a few people for me. The organization is in turmoil right now, and when facing even bigger storms, we need someone like you, who is both capable and shrewd, to step in and keep things under control, so everyone understands who is the most reliable side."

...Those words are truly full of ambition.

He felt that this upheaval was more like a power reshuffling tacitly approved by the BOSS. The infighting among the organization's top brass had now gotten so chaotic that even the Tottori experimental base had to back down slightly.

[Anti-fraud expert #205: I don't quite understand the BOSS's actions. In those fragmented future memories, it seems the organization didn't carry out such a reshuffle.]

Perhaps this is why Merlot predicted that Brandy would lose in Kyoto? The future she envisioned was probably a line drawn from the present reality.

[Anti-fraud expert #198: Looking at it this way, if she had a butler like Hasegawa by her side, she'd be our bootleg version. However, the organization doesn't have that kind of technology yet. Besides, if the BOSS makes a big move, she can only cooperate.]

[Anti-fraud expert #11: But ultimately, it's a good thing for you guys. Old Deng has suppressed some people this time, but he'll naturally promote others. You were the first one the boss promoted; after the pilot program succeeded, he started tacitly allowing others to target brandy and rum. He might even promote bourbon next.]

Zero, huh...?

Compared to Binga, who is single-mindedly loyal to Rum, and Curaçao, who is in a special state, Bourbon, who is very capable and thrives in the organization, is obviously more suitable for this position.

[Anti-fraud expert #66: I think so too. No matter how much the rumors about your love-hate relationship spread, from a standpoint of position, you two are mortal enemies. The boss certainly isn't afraid of you two teaming up to divide more power.]

Morofushi Kagemitsu flicked the stack of papers in his hand, silently assessing Melo's influence within the organization, and said with a smile, "If you think there's no problem, then continue. Just don't forget our deal."

After saying that, he prepared to leave, since there wasn't much to say during their meeting today.

Melo thought so too.

Seeing that Fu Jingguang no longer questioned her arrangements, she simply hummed in agreement and continued looking at the files on her computer.

[Anti-fraud expert #214: She wouldn't even see you off; what a heartless woman!]

Away from Melo's territory, the anti-fraud team became more active. It seemed that every time they saw her, she brought them countless artistic inspirations.

[Anti-fraud expert #19: I actually think the cold-faced office play is quite interesting. They're all from the finance team, so you can just use that story template directly.]

Here we go again. You think my gossip isn't trending enough on the forum? Don't try to increase my visibility during this time of strict investigation.

God knows how much he wanted to write hundreds of other people's "love stories" to distract himself after he opened the forum on the plane and read a few cloying analysis articles!

Morofushi Kagemitsu silently prayed for his long-lost innocence and hoped that he would never encounter anyone who would easily become the subject of romantic rumors.

As a result, he saw Ms. Yuki, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, as soon as he turned the corner.

Zhu Fujingguang: ...

[Anti-fraud expert #26: Actually, she's alright. She's just your assigned secretary, within the realm of normal human desires.]

Are you really trying to comfort me?

[Anti-fraud expert #26: Actually, no. I just wanted to say that nothing about you and Ms. Yuuki has come out. It's mainly because you caused such a stir with the other men in the organization that they basically assume your sexual orientation leans more towards men.]

Zhu Fujingguang closed his eyes.

This kind of thing was to be expected.

Don't be angry, don't be angry! These shameless people have always been like this...

He used this gesture to reassure himself, but it made Miss Yuki overthink things. She asked, "Mr. Asakawa, are you alright? Have you been working too hard lately?"

Zhu Fujingguang opened his eyes, gently shook his head at her, and said, "It's alright, I'm fine. I'll be traveling frequently for work for a long time to come, so you need to keep a close eye on things at the company. If you feel troubled or unsure about anything, just come to me."

Miss Yuki had received a similar notification before, and now that her supervisor had personally repeated it to her, she naturally took it to heart and reflexively replied, "Yes, I understand."

She had barely finished speaking when she remembered something, and her words became hesitant.

"What's wrong?" Morofushi Kagemitsu asked.

“Well, actually I was planning to report this to you anyway.” Ms. Yuki followed him back to the office. “It’s General Manager Utsumi. He’s been asking about the financial statements for the last three years.”

Uchihachi, why is he so eager to get the reports? Has he finally realized that the financial hole is too obvious?

"What is he planning to do?" Morofushi Kagemitsu asked gently as always. "I heard he's been causing quite a stir at the company lately. Is he planning to lay off people?"

"...No, he changed the company's 'Finance Department' to 'Finance Special Group'." Ms. Yuki paused before replying.

Morofushi Kagemitsu waited a while, but even after everyone had gone to their offices, Ms. Yuki didn't seem to be going on to continue.

Hey hey... don't let this get awkward! Don't tell me he changed his name and is ready to call it a day!

"...So, and then?" Morofushi Kagemitsu opened the door, turned to look at Yuuki-san, and finally asked the question.

"Um... at the moment, Manager Utsumi hasn't arranged any follow-up work." Ms. Yuki's words were quite tactful, but they still left Morofushi Kagemitsu, who instantly understood the meaning, speechless.

…Very well, between change and reform, he chose to change his name.

Sure enough, he shouldn't have had any expectations of these people!

But then again, why did he suddenly decide to check the accounts? Did someone give him some pointers?

Morofushi Kagemitsu calculated the approximate timeline of the Utsumi manager's downfall in the future timeline, but found it didn't match up with the current situation. Could this be a deeply buried, hidden problem?

[Anti-fraud expert #148: ...No, it's just that during this period, #66 and #19 released the brainwashing tactics used in future pyramid schemes ahead of time.]

...So that's what you guys were whispering about behind my back?

[Anti-fraud expert #19: You know that Manager Neihai is particularly fond of these feudal superstitions, so after misinterpreting the divination given to him by #66, he became extra wary of villains, which ironically led him to discover the trap.]

...