Chapter 140, Fifty-Seventh Cycle (12)
June 3rd.
The world lines are beginning to converge.
Nine o'clock in the morning.
Just like in the previous developments, when Rye defected, Bourbon happened to be assigned to another country on a mission and couldn't find a suitable reason to refuse.
Rei Furuya sighed with regret, lamenting that he was about to miss another opportunity to hunt down Shuichi Akai.
3 PM.
The world lines are converging even more sharply.
Morofushi Kagemitsu sent a message to Furuya Rei.
The BOSS assigned Vermouth and me a mission: after disguising ourselves, we were to go to the vicinity of the warehouse where Shuichi Akai was planning to capture Gin that night.
Even if I don't report Shuichi Akai, Vermouth will tell everyone.
So let's not test the limits of the timeline anymore. Just let me follow Rum's storyline. Even if Ray holds a grudge later, it's okay, I'll be careful.
After reading it, Rei Furuya frowned immediately.
No, what if Akai attacks you later? His storyline is more significant than Rum's, so we have to be extremely careful.
Depending on the situation, you can tell the boss about this using both your and Vermouth's names.
This way you've also followed Rum's storyline, since Vermouth was also deeply involved in Shuichi Akai's defection.
This time the world lines converged really well; be careful.
He said "be careful" three times in a row, and Morofushi Kagemitsu was quite helpless, so he could only reply that he understood.
More than his own safety, he was worried that Zero's probing would cross the line of the world and cause him heart pain or even cardiac arrest and death.
However, with the timelines converging so dramatically, Zero ultimately gave up on further probing and chose to follow the original storyline.
7:15 PM.
It got completely dark.
Shuichi Akai, posing as Rey, arranged to meet Gin at 8 PM. The area around the abandoned warehouse in this remote port was already quietly filled with FBI agents, waiting for Gin to arrive so they could arrest him, quickly stuff him into a ship, and transport him to the United States for FBI detention and interrogation.
Gin will be arriving in less than an hour, and all the other FBI agents must remain hidden.
Before that, Shuichi Akai confirmed with them again that the operation was going smoothly.
“Nothing strange can be overlooked; you must point it out immediately,” he emphasized seriously.
“Ah, um…” a tall, burly man hesitated before speaking.
"What's wrong, Camel?" Shuichi Akai turned and asked.
Carmel scratched his head: "When I was patrolling outside and checking if anyone was around, I saw a strong man and an old man. After asking them, I learned that they were looking for their lost cat. I told them that it was dangerous here and the cat wouldn't come here, so I chased them away. I think that should be fine?"
Shuichi Akai frowned: "Strong men and old men? Looking for a cat here at this hour? When did this happen?"
"Just fifteen minutes ago," Carmel said.
Shuichi Akai said solemnly, “Describe all the details to me in detail.”
Carmel also became nervous, trying hard to recall the details one by one, but he still didn't feel that anything was wrong. No matter how you looked at it, it was just a very ordinary father and son worrying about their lost cat and even finding it in such a remote place.
Akai Shuichi's eyes sharpened: "There was no obvious cat hair on their clothes, and they left immediately after you said it was dangerous here, right?"
Carmel wasn't sure if there was any cat hair; he hadn't looked that closely, but the two men did leave quickly without saying anything.
“There’s something wrong with them,” Shuichi Akai asserted. “The cat has only been missing for a short time, so it’s impossible for it not to have cat hair on it. And since they cherished the cat so much that they went to such a remote place to look for it even after dark, they wouldn’t actually believe a stranger’s inexplicable statement that this place is dangerous and the cat won’t come, and that you should leave quickly.”
"Th-then they—" Carmel stammered in panic, and the FBI agents around him were also a little nervous and uneasy.
Shuichi Akai remained silent, his eyes lowered as he rapidly considered his options.
His actions couldn't have been exposed from the start. Even Akemi didn't know the details of his actions, and only Gin should know about the matter of meeting Gin. Therefore, it's highly unlikely that the organization members would come here with a clear purpose to investigate.
So it's just a coincidence?
Did the organization's members coincidentally discover a group of suspicious-looking individuals operating in such a remote location, arousing their suspicion? Or did some place directly expose their FBI identities, making the organization's members feel something was amiss, and thus they came to test the waters before reporting to the organization?
No, ordinary members of the organization don't have that ability, but the physical characteristics of the two people that Carmel described were completely unfamiliar to him. He had seen most of the powerful members in the organization, so he shouldn't have overlooked two people.
A strong man... an old man... the man was taciturn... it was always the old man who was speaking...
Shuichi Akai's eyes slowly widened.
Vermouth and Scotland?!
Vermouth, who can disguise herself and change her voice, just returned yesterday. Bourbon went on a mission abroad today without Scotland following him, which means Scotland must have a mission. Could it be that he and Vermouth happened to be operating nearby?
Vermouth can easily disguise herself as an old man, and it's also simple to make Scotland appear stronger. Since Scotland can't change his voice, he can just make him taciturn.
If it were just the two of them, it would be easy for them to notice something was wrong and come to investigate.
Moreover, if it were them, Gin would be informed of this news very quickly and would realize that this was a trap and that Rye was actually an FBI undercover agent trying to capture him.
"Wait another half hour." Shuichi Akai took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Send half of the men to keep watch around. If anything seems amiss, everyone retreat immediately."
"What if there's still no movement after half an hour?" Carmel asked, feeling extremely upset and frustrated that he had messed things up, and trying to make amends.
"Mission failed, retreat immediately," said Shuichi Akai.
Those around him were shocked by his decisiveness.
"Are we really going to abandon Mr. Akai's plan, which he's been working on for so many years, just because of this?"
Shuichi Akai didn't bother to explain further. He told them to hide again and then stood in the middle of the warehouse, taking out his phone and falling into thought.
If it weren't for the safety of others, he would have waited until the very last moment, even if it wasn't Gin alone but an attack by the entire organization, he would still want to give it a try.
However, he couldn't take such a risk for the sake of so many FBI colleagues who had come to Japan because of his plan; his identity and plans had most likely already been exposed.
It failed. So, preparations for Akemi and the others can't be started for the time being.
He is about to face a long-term manhunt by the organization, one that will not stop until he is dead.
To date, Shuichi Akai has never heard of any undercover agent who, after being exposed, managed to leave the organization alive.
Of course, he will become that person now.
*
At 9 p.m., Bourbon received an email from his boss.
[Ray is a traitor, an undercover agent for the FBI.]
Bourbon, return from Italy immediately and hunt down Rye with all your might. You absolutely cannot let him return to the FBI alive.
——BOSS
【receive.
——Bourbon】
Although he gave that reply, Furuya Rei knew it was too late for him to return.
By the time he returned, Shuichi Akai had already successfully escaped the organization's encirclement and returned to the FBI in the United States.
It would be even more difficult for the organization to hunt him down by the FBI in the United States; Vermouth almost lost to Shuichi Akai.
While Furuya Rei was pondering, his phone rang again; it was Vermouth calling.
"Bourbon, you must have received the news by now, about Rye being an FBI undercover agent." Vermouth leaned against the wall and laughed.
Upon hearing Bourbon's name, Scotland, who was engrossed in frantically typing on the keyboard, immediately turned to look at her.
Vermouth smirked, raised her hand and gave him a provocative wink and a flying kiss: "Yeah, Scotland and I found this together."
Scotland looked conflicted, as if she wanted to come over and talk to Bourbon, but ultimately turned back to her work.
“Yeah, we found out by chance while we were on a mission. Later, Scotland confirmed that Rye was an FBI undercover agent. His real name is Shuichi Akai, and he's an FBI ace.” Vermouth looked out the window at the crowd. “You’re in danger now, Bourbon.”
Hearing Bourbon's angry, teeth-gritting voice, Vermouth couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Hahaha, who told you to target him from the moment he joined the organization and then partner with him, yet you never discovered he was an undercover agent? This means either Ray is too amazing or you, Bourbon, are not good enough."
After laughing, she became a little serious: "In short, Scotland has now done a good job and cleared his name, but you're still in some danger. So, Bourbon, come back soon. You'd better kill Rye yourself... or should we call him Shuichi Akai now?"
“Bourbon, you’d better kill Shuichi Akai yourself before anyone else does,” Vermouth said.
“Of course.” Bourbon sneered. “You’d better be careful too; that man is indeed very dangerous.”
“Only I can kill him,” he said, his tone so firm it sounded like he was stating a conclusion that was already set in stone.
Although Vermouth felt that Shuichi Akai wasn't so powerful that only Bourbon could kill him, she wouldn't say it directly in front of Bourbon right now.
"Then you'd better hurry back so you can catch up with everyone's actions," she said with a smile.
After hanging up the phone with Bourbon, things were almost done in Scotland.
“Let’s go, it’s time for us to get started. We have to kill Rye before Bourbon does.” Scotland stood up.
Vermouth raised an eyebrow: "What? Trying to steal Bourbon's target and make him hate you even more?"
Scotland smiled without saying a word.
Vermouth chuckled as well.
“You guys are really funny,” she said.
*
It's 11 p.m.
"Mr. Akai! Why haven't you arrived yet? Has something happened?" Cameron asked anxiously from the driver's seat.
"I just suddenly remembered I had something else to do, so I took a slightly longer route." Shuichi Akai's calm voice came through the phone, accompanied by the sound of wind. "It's okay, I'll take care of it right away. Just wait for me for another fifteen minutes."
"Huh? Mr. Akai, where have you run off to? If you don't hurry and retreat, you might not be able to escape the organization's encirclement! This is your only chance!!!" Carmel was still very anxious. He couldn't afford to make any more mistakes and had to get Mr. Akai back to the FBI safely!
"Don't rush, Carmel."
"Bang--"
"It's over. I'm coming right now."
Camel was stunned by the loud gunshot at close range. After a long pause, he stammered, "Mr. Akai, what were you doing just now?"
“Sniping Scotland.” Shuichi Akai stuffed his sniper rifle into his bag and immediately retreated. “I just happened to see him, so I’ll go back and give him a finishing shot before I leave.”
"Mr. Akai! You...you finally escaped the organization's encirclement, and you've gone back???" Camel was almost going crazy.
“Hmm.” Shuichi Akai even chuckled. “Probably no one expected me to dare come back, so the operation was a success.”
Carmel was almost scared to death by him, but he also sincerely thought that he was really amazing. He could only do his best to drive and successfully pick up the person and escape the encirclement.
Shuichi Akai took out his phone after getting into the car.
He first contacted the FBI, then opened Bourbon's contact information and started typing rapidly.
Scotland was seriously injured by me and will need a long time to recover, but he won't die, so don't worry about him revealing the dirt he has on you.
You can take this opportunity to seize control and find a way to completely resolve his problem. If you need my help, just let me know.
After finishing the fight, Shuichi Akai thought about Bourbon's rebellious nature and explosive temper, and then added a few more words.
No need to thank me, this is what I should do. It's an apology for helping Scotland hurt you when I was unaware of the situation, and also a thank you for not exposing my undercover identity even though you knew all along.
Bourbon, I don't want to be your enemy, and I know you don't really want me dead.
Let's get to know each other again. I'm Shuichi Akai from the FBI, an undercover investigator just like you.
We are all hounds that want to tear the crow apart, companions with the same goal.
If possible, I hope you can put aside past grievances and cooperate with me to destroy the organization.
——Akai Shuichi]
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