Chapter 218
After hanging up with Usui Saiki, Gin and Vodka continued driving to their destination.
The two were initially in a relatively calm mood, but after receiving a call from Usakata Saiki, the atmosphere in the car instantly became tense, and no one spoke for a long time.
People who walk on the edge of life and death generally fall into two categories: one is very superstitious, constantly praying to gods and Buddhas for divine protection; the other is someone who feels that since they have killed so many people, if there were really a god, they would have been struck by lightning long ago, and that they have survived until now entirely due to their own strength, believing that there is no god in this world, and therefore they are atheists and scoff at superstitious activities.
Vodka was originally the latter.
But now...
He glanced cautiously at Gin's expression in the rearview mirror and thought dejectedly: Am I the only one who feels inexplicably unlucky after receiving Usui Saiki's call, as if this mission is going to go wrong?
Although it wasn't the first time that Usaku Saiki had acted this way—whether it was suddenly calling before a mission, accusing Ray of being an undercover agent, or questioning whether Gin was also an undercover agent—today, the addition of a bad dream made the atmosphere different from before.
Vodka inexplicably recalled the mystical aura surrounding Usoppō Saiki, coupled with his serious, anxious, and seemingly serious tone... Could it be a divine message in a dream...?
Haha, when I'm driving and my mind wanders, it's so easy to have all sorts of random thoughts!
Vodka couldn't help but laugh when he thought about how Usoya Saiki's outfit, which seemed mysterious on its own but looked terrible when worn together. He didn't know where his previous inexplicable depression and anxiety had flown away.
We'll be at our destination in less than half an hour. I'll tell Lei about this then. Lei, who's been targeted by Usoppō Saiki, should really enjoy hearing this kind of joke.
About 20 minutes later, Gin's phone rang.
Gin glanced at the caller ID and clicked his tongue: "Rum."
“We’ll be there in ten minutes. If I call now… Boss Rum, are you going to change the meeting place?” Vodka felt a pang of pain at the thought of that possibility.
As the organization's second-in-command, Rum never hesitated to order them around.
Rum, in particular, is very impatient. If they really want to change the address, he won't consider the consequences of his superiors running around like crazy. He'll just keep urging them, saying that time is money, as if the time they waste isn't time at all!
Gin was also annoyed by Rum. Vodka at least addressed Rum respectfully as "Boss," but Gin didn't stand on ceremony and just called him by his code name.
The thought that they were about to meet and talk at the scheduled time, but instead they had to call at this time, meant that something had happened and they wouldn't be able to meet, which made Gin impatient.
After all, the mission was important, so Gin suppressed his displeasure and answered the phone: "...Hello?"
“Gin.” Because of the phone’s sound leakage, even without speakerphone, Vodka could hear Rum’s serious tone, “Ray is an undercover agent. I just confirmed it. There’s a trap over there.”
Gin: "...!!!"
Vodka blurted out, "Really?! Is Ray putting on an act with Potness?"
Rum: "…………???"
After a few seconds of silence, Rum reluctantly but with difficulty admitted, "...No, Potts is right, Ray...is indeed an undercover agent."
He has already verified it himself!
Since Usui Saiki didn't seek out Rum very often, and most of the time Rum promptly pushed Bourbon to take the blame for him, Rum wasn't actually tortured by Usui Saiki very many times.
Therefore, when he heard that Usaku Saiki had actually discovered an undercover agent in America, albeit from another organization, he couldn't help but become a little suspicious of the person he had identified.
However, since Gin immediately began investigating Rae and found no problems, Rum temporarily put aside his doubts.
This time, however, it was his first time going on a mission with Lai, who was rumored to be relentlessly targeted by Bo Yezaki, and on a whim, he decided to test the waters as well.
So he disguised himself as an old man passing by and went to the target warehouse to sit and rest.
Thinking of Gin's previous investigation, I thought things would be peaceful, but who knew he would actually find out something strange.
After he sat down, a stranger, a foreigner not part of the mission team, suddenly ran out and told him something like, "It's dangerous here, please leave quickly," and Ray stood next to that person...
Rum isn't stupid. It's obvious from the situation that Ray is in cahoots with that foreigner. And what kind of behavior is it to bring an outsider to the mission location without notifying anyone? Need I say more?
As the second-in-command, Rum immediately realized the danger.
Even though only these two people appeared in front of him, it didn't mean that they were the only two people nearby. He had to leave before these two idiots realized what was happening.
And so, with the unsteady steps of an elderly man, Rum made his way to safety before daring to make a phone call.
Rum was naturally unwilling to mention his embarrassing disguise as an old man; simply stating the outcome would make him seem like a master strategist. Besides, now was not the time to prove his judgment to others; as the second-in-command, he had the authority to give direct orders.
Therefore, he skipped over the unimportant parts and said.
"Anyway, there's an ambush over there. Call all the nearby members over here quickly. Maybe we can catch them all. Hurry, Gin!"
Even Gin was still somewhat dazed, subconsciously responding without actually processing what had happened.
The main reason is that he had just investigated Lai Yi and even confronted Bo Yezaki. Now, this development makes him wonder if he is actually having a nightmare.
It must be a nightmare, right? Otherwise, why would the whole world be against me?
Gin, the work machine, was actually staring blankly at his phone.
Vodka had just slammed on the brakes and stopped on the side of the road. Now, he didn't care about the ticket anymore. After hearing the keyword, he sleepwalked and opened his phone, instinctively calling a sniper he felt was reliable.
"Hello?" Scottish voice came from inside the car.
Vodka opened his mouth, only to find that he couldn't make a sound because his throat was too tight.
Scotland asked again, puzzled, "Vodka?... Or Potts? Do you have Vodka's phone?"
When faced with such inexplicable and bizarre situations, it's always best to guess that it's related to Potts.
Upon hearing the code name Potts, Vodka's eyes welled up with tears, and his voice choked with emotion: "Potts... Potts was right..."
Scotland listened blankly to Vodka's stammering words: "He said a lot, what do you mean?"
Gin's vacant gaze, which had been unfocused for a while, finally came to a focus. He turned to look at Vodka, who was inexplicably choking up, and explained himself.
"...Lay is an undercover agent. Where are you now? Come and provide support immediately."
"Huh?" Scotland thought he had misheard. "Who are you calling an undercover agent?"
"Ray is an undercover agent!" Vodka shouted.
With that shout, he finally broke free from that sleepwalking-like, hazy state of escaping reality. His emotions were no longer as if they were separated by a layer of glass, but rather as if a bomb had exploded inside his body.
Under such provocation, his rationality almost evaporated, and he continued incoherently, "Potnis even called just now, saying he dreamt that Lai was going to hurt Big Brother, and told us to cancel this mission... What kind of god in the Middle East is so powerful that he would appear in dreams? We just finished investigating Lai, and Lai should be innocent! Why! Why Lai! I trusted him so much! I even blocked Potnis for him! Potnis even said that it was our own people investigating our own people..."
Vodka suddenly realized this was not something he should say, and he choked.
Although the speech was packed with information, disjointed, and had a slightly erratic feel to it, Scotland still understood it.
Scotland: "...What dream?! What 'our own people'?!"
Gin took a deep breath to clear his oxygen-deprived mind and interrupted the off-topic conversation: "Enough, this isn't the time for this. Scotland, where are you right now?"
If the distance is nearby, tell him the location and ask him to come quickly. If he can't come, don't waste his time and move on to the next person.
Rum, on the other end of the phone, couldn't see Gin's behavior of maintaining his sanity by breathing oxygen.
He was forced to listen to Vodka's emotional breakdown because the phone call hadn't ended yet.
After hearing this, Rum's forced composure crumbled, and his mental state collapsed.
"What dream? What blocking? And what's this about your own people investigating each other? Gin, explain this to me first!"
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Bonus chapter
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Gin: Oxygen Inhalation
Vodka: A Breakdown in Reason
Scotland: What dream? What undercover agent? What… (100,000 Whys)
Rum: Yeah, what is all this? Gin, explain it to me.
Shuichi Akai, betrayed by his incompetent teammate: needs oxygen
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