Chapter 173, Seventy-Third Cycle (3)
[Zero Observation Diary] This group chat without Furuya Rei has been very active ever since Date Wataru cleared the game.
They were only talking about the one guy who wasn't in the group chat.
From their initial concern that Rei Furuya was too relaxed, to his sudden disappearance and capture by the organization's boss in the lab, and finally to the feeling that something was off about Rei's safe release, they discussed all of this in the group chat.
While expressing concern, there was also no shortage of complaints and grumbling.
But they're not in the mood for it anymore.
[Zero Observation Diary]
[Noah's Ark: May 2nd, 12:00 PM, Zero showed no sign of leaving his room, and his phone and computer were not switched on, so his situation could not be determined.]
[Mazda: Is that guy still asleep?]
[Hiro: It's not impossible. Zero used to occasionally work for days without sleep and then sleep for days afterward, but I feel this situation is different. I still want to go see him, and I'm speeding up the completion of the mission.]
[Squad Leader: Is he really alright? Could he be injured and unconscious? Has he been eating properly?]
[Hagi-chan: Even though Zero said that, can't we really go check on him? If he were truly alright, it's impossible that he wouldn't even let Noah's Ark in to check on him, saying he was sleeping and resting and hasn't come online to reply to us since. Things are definitely not as easy as he makes them out to be.]
[Hiroki: Noah's Ark and I have been repeatedly reviewing the two surveillance videos from yesterday. We've confirmed that Zero shouldn't have suffered any serious injuries. Aside from slight stiffness due to lack of activity, his physical condition seems fine. However, I also think Zero's mental state is a bit off, but I'm unsure if it's an act for the organization monitoring him, or if he's genuinely experienced something significant and suffered some kind of shock.]
[Hiro: Maybe it's acting, maybe it's real, but I need to see it with my own eyes to be sure.]
[Hiro: In such hot weather, he was wearing long sleeves, covering his body completely, and wouldn't honestly explain himself. Even if it wasn't serious, he must have suffered some strange injury.]
[Hiro: I have a feeling this isn't as simple as it seems. Zero clearly said he wouldn't hide anything from us. I don't think Zero would break his promise over something so trivial. Something serious must have happened that's why he can't let us know.]
Matsuda Jinpei let out a "tsk", and the fingers holding the phone were a bit white from the excessive exertion: "That guy must have had an accident. He is holding on alone again. He must be thinking of recovering from his injuries and then appearing in front of us perfectly. He clearly promised not to hide it from us... I will really punch him hard next time I see him!"
“Something must have happened, but it shouldn’t be too serious. Kofuruya is being considerate; he probably wants to wait until he’s fully recovered before telling us.” Kenji Hagiwara sighed, resting his chin on his hand on the table next to him. “It’s just that today isn’t really the right time to wish Morofushi a happy birthday.”
Date Wataru shook his head helplessly: "He's definitely not in the mood right now. He's rushing to get back to see Furuya, but is that really okay? Didn't Furuya say that his suspicion hasn't been completely cleared and that he's being monitored and wiretapped? What if the organization has set a trap and is just waiting for us to get there? Didn't he say that even Scotland would run into trouble if they went there now? Will Morofushi be alright?"
Hiroki Sawada, who happened to be coming from next door, greeted the three of them and sat down in a chair: "I don't think it's a big problem. Noah's Ark secretly hacked into the phones of the people monitoring Zero and heard them betting on whether Scotland would come to find Bourbon. This means that it wouldn't be strange if Scotland did go to find Bourbon. Besides, the BOSS didn't say that they should stop Scotland, just observe and report the situation."
Noah's Ark chimed in, "I agree. Although I think Zero is very powerful, our opponent is no ordinary person after all. We can't just leave him alone like that. He might be partly worried about being discovered by the people in the organization who are watching him, but completely refusing to contact us is definitely a problem. The only one we can forcefully go and check on right now is Scotland. Let's carefully observe and provide support from behind."
All three of them looked at Hiroki Sawada and the Noah's Ark on his phone.
Hiroki Sawada nodded: "Mr. Morofushi has already decided. He said he can get there tonight. Noah's Ark will be with him, and he will notify us immediately if anything happens."
Matsuda Jinpei immediately laughed: "As expected of Master Jing, that's right, even if we worry, we can't stop him."
Kenji Hagiwara and Wataru Date both breathed a sigh of relief, exchanged a glance, and then smiled.
Although Furuya Rei does have a penchant for recklessness, fortunately, Morofushi Kagemitsu is by his side, preventing him from getting into real trouble.
Otherwise, they really wouldn't know what to do. Given their status, they couldn't just rush over to find the person, could they?
By the time Rei Furuya finally agreed to come out and meet people, it was too late.
Tsk, they'll find an opportunity sooner or later to interrogate and examine him thoroughly.
*
When Rei Furuya woke up, it was already 7 p.m. on May 2nd, and it was dark.
This was slightly unexpected, and he pressed his temples in exasperation before turning on his phone to contact others.
After organizing all the information in his dream, he immediately began trying to unravel the layers of hypnotic suggestions. However, it seemed that because there were too many layers, and because he was sure he was safe and could rest, he gave up after unraveling only a few layers and fell asleep in his dream.
Sleeping in dreams is a deeper level of sleep and can restore mental health more quickly, but there is a risk of having dreams within dreams.
The problem is he slept for too long!
Although Furuya Rei himself didn't realize it, he did seem quite tired. Once he relaxed, he slept for a whole day, and even the alarm clock couldn't wake him up.
When he woke up, Rei Furuya felt that his mind was much clearer. He no longer had that illusory feeling of floating around without any bottom to the world around him, and many things flashed through his mind.
First and foremost... it's Hiro's birthday!
Rei Furuya jolted awake, sitting bolt upright in bed. He hurriedly turned on his newly turned-on phone to look for his childhood friend's contact information, but stopped before he could click on it.
He took a nap yesterday at noon and set his alarm for 11 p.m., intending to at least send a message to Hiro to celebrate his birthday after midnight, and at the same time reassure everyone who was worried by appearing more normal, so that they wouldn't rush over to check on him.
But now it's all over...
Furuya Rei first activated the Noah's Ark defense network to prevent Noah's Ark from finding out something was wrong through the network cable before checking other messages.
First, I'll reply to the boss's message, ignoring the messages from Vermouth, Vodka, and Gin. Then, most importantly...
Seeing that the "Sakura Squad to Save the World" group had been quiet except for the initial few people asking questions and expressing their concerns, Furuya Rei knew that they must be having a heated discussion in another group chat called "Zero Observation Diary".
Most importantly, Hiro sent him a private message.
[Hiro: My mission here will be finished soon, I'll come find you right away.]
[Hiro: Don't worry, I'll prepare all the reasons. There won't be any problems. I just came to see you for a moment; I won't say anything about being detected by a bug.]
The last message was sent at 1 PM, and it's already 7 PM now.
Rei Furuya typed rapidly: 【No need! Really no need! I'm fine, completely okay! If you come over, the boss will definitely cause trouble! If you get punished, you won't be able to help me handle the aftermath!】
There was no reply from the other party.
Rei Furuya nervously drew back the curtains and glanced down, quickly spotting several members of the organization monitoring him. He drew the curtains again, turned around, and typed: "[Hiro, you're not already here, are you?]"
[Don't come any closer, really, I'm not hurt at all, I'm perfectly fine, I was just too tired and overslept. I can explain it to you properly, I'm not lying.]
The other party still hasn't replied.
Furuya Rei sighed and said a few more words in the group, but no one believed that he was completely alright, or rather, even if he was alright, Morofushi Kagemitsu had to confirm it, as he had no trust in him.
Jianggu Ling: "..."
Rei Furuya paced around the room a few times, but dared not call Hiromitsu Morofushi. The bugging device was still there, and if he pretended to have a bad signal, it would arouse the organization's suspicion. He could only send a message.
Moreover, now that things have come to this, he understands that he probably can't stop his childhood friend from coming over, and he already had a hard time changing Hiro's decision.
Rei Furuya could only sigh silently. After checking the house and equipment one last time and finding no problems, he turned on his computer and picked up his phone to start looking for everyone's photos online.
Although the group photo was destroyed, finding individual photos of everyone was not a problem for him.
In short, we need to address the most easily noticeable consequence of not recognizing people first, otherwise, big problems will arise.
Fortunately, it was Hiro who came. He was at least familiar with Scottish faces, so even if he suddenly saw him, he wouldn't fail to recognize him immediately.
Rei Furuya sat in front of the computer for a long time, trying hard to confirm everyone's full names, repeatedly repeating those names in his mind.
[Kagemitsu Morofushi, Jinpei Matsuda, Kenji Hagiwara, Wataru Date]
You can't ask them for the photos; he has to find them himself.
Fortunately, this was no problem for the super hacker Sakura, and she quickly found the photos.
The most famous is of course Matsuda Jinpei, especially for his undercover work with the Yamaguchi-gumi, which made him a trending topic. Although it was quickly suppressed, a few photos can still be found.
Rei Furuya stared intently at the curly-haired youth in the photo.
One second, two seconds, three seconds... Okay! He remembered! It was that bastard Matsuda's infuriating face!
However, this was only a temporary recollection of Matsuda Jinpei's face; the hypnotic feeling hadn't yet dissipated, and Furuya Rei continued to stare intently at his photograph.
One minute... three minutes... five minutes...
Ten minutes.
Time is up.
Although he didn't feel the hypnosis break, Furuya Rei still tried to look away for a few seconds, and then clearly felt the face of the curly-haired youth in his mind gradually blurring. Even the name was gradually blurring, until only the nickname "Mazda" remained.
Rei Furuya's eyebrows furrowed little by little, and he turned his head with an ugly expression, even leaning forward to stare at that extremely punchable face again, not daring to blink, for a full fifteen minutes.
But it still failed.
He could quickly deduce the reason: it was because so many hypnotic and suggestive treatments had been given, through so many cycles and so many experiments, layer upon layer, that it could no longer be easily reversed.
The photos might not be enough.
What about the video?
Furuya Rei went directly to the surveillance footage and got a video of a young man with black curly hair and sunglasses. He stared at it for ten minutes, but he forgot the young man's face as soon as he turned his head away.
Do we have to see the real person?
Rei Furuya stared at the sunglasses on his face, thinking that maybe it was the sunglasses that made him feel better.
But even if he dug out the most standard police ID photo of Matsuda Jinpei without sunglasses and stared at it, it was no use. He tried looking at photos and videos of the squad leader and Hagi, but it didn't work.
Rei Furuya frowned in thought.
Do I really have to stare at them in person for ten minutes? They'd definitely notice something's wrong! Hiding something like this from them would get me killed!
Just as Furuya Rei was anxiously pacing around, Morofushi Kagemitsu, who hadn't replied to him until now, finally sent a message.
[Hiro: Mission accomplished, I'm here.]
Jianggu Ling: "..."
Jianggu Zero: "!!!"
Heavens! Death! Me too!
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