Chapter 73 The Way Back: Everyone is carrion for crows.
"I'm asking you a question, what's your name?"
In a daze, Furuya Rei heard someone calling him, and the voice seemed to be getting more irritable.
He snapped out of his daze, his gaze finally focusing, and found himself sitting at a wooden table.
The person in front of me looked familiar, wearing a police academy instructor's uniform, with a stern face and a fierce appearance.
The surrounding temperature was a bit high, and his uniform clung to his body with sweat. The blond youth felt a little dizzy, shook his head, and when he looked up again, he was still seeing the instructor's face.
"Hey kid, you were fine just now, why are you suddenly all down?"
The familiar roar, filled with concern, pierced straight into his ears, making his eardrums buzz. Rei Furuya quickly dodged back, trying to cover his ears, but found his hands were tied to the table with rope and he couldn't lift them.
He turned to look to the side, where Kitagawa Ryusei and the others were sitting cross-legged on the ground, their eyes filled with doubt as they looked at him.
Kitagawa Ryusei's eyes were filled with worry. Seeing that he hadn't reacted yet, she exaggeratedly mouthed, "Name, I'm asking for your name, counter-interrogation!"
Upon seeing the young man, Furuya Rei's tense nerves relaxed considerably. He blinked silently in gratitude, and when he turned to face the instructor, he subconsciously replied, "Amuro Tooru."
The next second, a fist slammed into his head.
"—Aww!"
Already suffering from a headache, this blow made Rei Furuya bend over, his head buzzing, and he cried out in pain, "Instructor!"
"How did I teach you all? You've completely forgotten everything I just taught you!"
The interrogation instructor, his beard bristling and eyes wide with exasperation, exclaimed, "At a time like this, saying your name is Fugui is much smarter than making up a fake name on the spot. Lying about your name is too easy to be exposed, and once the lie is exposed, it will seriously affect your mindset for the next interrogation!"
"..." Furuya Rei was speechless. Seeing that the instructor was planning to give him another punch as part of his "education of love," he could only mutter under his breath, "...It won't be exposed."
For some reason, he felt that the name Amuro Tooru was as familiar as his own name, which is why he blurted it out.
"You think you're 007? Even professionally trained people wouldn't dare to talk like that—" The instructor heard him clearly and, with a mischievous glint in his eye, launched a surprise attack: "Amuro Tooru!"
Before he could finish speaking, Furuya Rei looked up blankly: "Huh?"
The blond youth's reaction was truly unexpected. The instructor stared in disbelief, rubbing his chin with his fingers: "Hey... he actually reacted."
However, he didn't think too much about it. After all, Furuya Rei was the instructors' favorite student. Seeing that he wasn't in the right state of mind today, he waved his hand and told someone to go down and replace him with another one.
Rei Furuya rubbed his temples as he walked back to the classroom and sat down directly in the open space between Ryusei Kitagawa and Kagemitsu Morofushi.
Morifushi Kagemitsu turned his head and asked with concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Rei Furuya didn't even want to nod; he felt uncomfortable if he shook his head. He could only gesture with his hand to indicate his head and didn't dare to move too much.
Kitagawa Ryusei raised his hand to feel the temperature on his forehead, then touched his own head, and concluded: "No fever."
He helped Furuya Rei unscrew the water glass and handed it to him.
Behind him, Kenji Hagiwara put his hands on his shoulders, one on each side: "I knew I shouldn't have stayed up so late yesterday, but you're a bit too weak."
The words were so ambiguous that everyone's faces twitched in unison, as if they were performing some kind of performance art: "..."
Rei Furuya was instantly horrified, almost spitting out a mouthful of water: "What are you all thinking?!"
Yesterday, we were all studying literature theory together in Matsuda Jinpei's dorm!
Date Wataru and Matsuda Jinpei burst out laughing without giving him any face.
The group of people acted so obliviously that, unsurprisingly, they were all glared at by the instructors.
Even during the next arrest techniques class, when everyone went into the combat training hall together, Furuya Rei's head was still throbbing, showing signs of catching a cold.
In the training hall's storage room, Rei Furuya's locker was right next to Ryusei Kitagawa's, and the two of them stood together.
The name tag next to me had become blurred at some point.
After taking his training uniform, Kitagawa Ryusei glanced at it and noticed this, then leaned over and wiped it with his fingertips: "...I can't see it anymore."
"What?" Furuya Rei hadn't noticed, but upon hearing this, he bent down and leaned closer.
From a distance, the two furry heads looked intimately close together.
The blond youth followed the fingertips of the person next to him and looked over.
The name tag on the cabinet belonging to Rei Furuya had been worn away by sweat, leaving a thin layer of ink residue.
...
"...Look closely, but the words are already blurred. It's okay, it's your name, you know what it says..."
"Tell him what the words on it should be."
The laboratory was bathed in cold light, and various instruments beeped and dripped.
The only conscious person in the enclosed space was whispering.
On the operating chair, the blond youth had his eyes closed, his gaze darting around rapidly, completely immersed in a nightmare.
He clenched his teeth tightly, refusing to let go, as if his body's instincts were fighting against his consciousness.
The sounds around me were light and airy.
“That’s your most trusted friend, look into his eyes…”
He will keep all your secrets.
"So, your name is..."
For a fleeting moment, Rei Furuya seemed to actually smell the scent of the toiletries that Ruki Kitagawa used during his student days.
It's not strong; it has a refreshing feel.
The chaotic mind clings tightly to this sense of familiarity, amplifies it infinitely, and solidifies it into a substance that can bring people a sense of security.
The young man loosened his clenched teeth and pressed them against his lower lip, as if he was about to utter a sound.
A look of delight flashed in the researcher's eyes. He swiveled his chair and leaned closer to listen.
Rei Furuya's eyes darted around faster, and he loosened his lips: "...Toru Amuro."
Junairik's upturned lips fell, and his joy vanished instantly.
He turned the chair back around and picked up a pen to draw a heavy cross on the record sheet.
Documenting yet another failed hypnosis attempt.
The basement fell into an eerie silence again, with only the sound of machinery operating.
The stiff chair behind him and the tactile sensation of the wrist straps gradually became clear. In the struggle, Furuya Rei regained some of his senses and broke free from the comforting illusion.
This time, he gritted his teeth and mentally refuted Junelek's words.
Screw your friend.
Something was pasted on both ends of the young man's temples. It didn't change with his body temperature; the touch remained as cold as metal. The vibrations made his head buzz and ache, as if a swarm of flies were rubbing their hands and fluttering their wings under his skull.
The sideburns that were once covered with soft blonde hair have also become bald under the eyes.
He had no idea how much time had passed outside... Furuya Rei was in a state of semi-consciousness in the sunless laboratory, having long since lost his sense of time.
When he's lucid, he has to deal with the erratic Junelek; when he's unconscious, he has to be wary of strange hallucinations and be on high alert at all times.
With the police operation imminent, he absolutely could not let Junerick succeed.
If there truly were a drug that could alter a person's memory, I would at least try large-scale poisoning, if not to control high-ranking Japanese officials. Therefore, I am more inclined to believe that drugs are merely an auxiliary means of hypnosis.
Rei Furuya unconsciously recalled what Rukawa Kitagawa had said when he saw the research report on Junelek. Feeling helpless, he seized the opportunity to catch his breath, and his thoughts wandered away.
I wonder what Ryusei is doing now...
He was lost in thought when the researcher, whose back was to the blond youth, suddenly spoke up.
"Hey boss, don't you ever do your research on potential hires before you start hiring?"
Junairik's drawn-out voice, though still tinged with malice, carried a weak and elusive quality, never quite landing on solid ground, making it unsettling to listen to: "Even the name is fake."
It was Karasuma Renya... Furuya Rei's ears twitched slightly. He closed his eyes to rest, pretending not to be awake, while his mind raced.
This was the first time in many days that he had heard a second person's voice while he was conscious.
This time, what reached my ears was no longer the stuttering electronic sound.
Karasuma Renya's voice was so old that just listening to it could make you feel suffocated; the sounds of the ventilator and the heart monitor were always with him.
Even if he suddenly stopped breathing halfway through his sentence, Furuya Rei would still find it understandable.
The old man spoke in a half-dead voice and a chilling tone, uttering incomprehensible words: "So it can't be used yet, is that right?"
Upon hearing this, Junairik's voice sounded remarkably similar to his: "Brainwashing isn't like prying open someone's head and spraying it with a high-pressure water gun. You don't even know his name, so where do you expect me to start?"
He spoke bluntly: "If you give someone two doses of truth serum in a row, even Gin would have to speak up. Are you sure you've recruited an information broker and not a professional spy?"
Jianggu Ling: "..."
At this moment, the air was frozen to the extreme, and the young man's muscles slowly stiffened.
Surprisingly, the boss, who is usually most sensitive to traitors, remained silent on the matter this time, contrary to his usual behavior.
He interrupted Junelek with barely suppressed urgency: "I'll give you another week... Within a week, ha ha, I want to see the experiment succeed!"
After saying that, the call ended abruptly.
Almost at the same moment Karasuma Renya's voice disappeared, Furuya Rei immediately relaxed his control over his body, pretending that he had not yet woken up.
But then he heard Junelek scoff: "There really are people who think they can fool the most sophisticated instruments."
Now that he'd been discovered, Furuya Rei decided to drop the pretense. He opened his eyes, his greyish-purple pupils gleaming with mockery: "You can't fool the instruments. Dealing with drugs that supposedly alter memories is easy."
"Junerick... is a misnomer."
Even at this point, the young man's voice still carried a hint of laughter. Junairik's face turned gloomy, his eyes dark and deep, and the next moment they seemed to drip with ink: "Who told you I used drugs?"
"If it weren't for the fact that the BOSS wanted this body and couldn't damage the brain tissue, you would be begging me for mercy right now with your brand new brain, Bourbon."
...
It took Furuya Rei a long time to understand what was said.
For a moment he wasn't sure if he had misheard something, and he hadn't figured out what expression to use to make his expression perfect.
What does it mean that Karasuma Renya wants his body?
The heartbeat quickened due to the owner's surprise and uncertainty, and the nearby monitoring equipment immediately synchronized the data.
The lines representing heart rate fluctuated more dramatically.
This change did not escape the researchers' notice.
Perhaps because he had been in the lab for too long without talking to anyone, or perhaps he wanted to use conversation to lower Furuya Rei's guard, Junerek was not as silent as he had been a few days ago.
He sat in front of the computer, typing away, talking to himself as he multitasked: "Actually, I think Gin is better. His physical abilities are practically at the pinnacle of human potential. It's a pity that the Boss doesn't want to use a wanted criminal's body."
The researcher in front of me was like a crazy child, gesturing wildly when talking about familiar fields, regardless of whether Furuya Rei could understand, as he talked about his hard work and excitement.
"The exchange of consciousness and memories within the body... this is the kind of research that can be compared to rejuvenation!"
As he said this, Junelek's eyes gleamed with a terrifying light.
Rei Furuya felt a chill run down his spine.
He belatedly realized that the temperature around him was a bit too low, the cold sweat on his back had dried, and his hands and feet were a little cold.
Even at this point, his brain was still analyzing all the usable information for him—
Because the police acted so quickly, the organization collapsed unexpectedly, and Junerick had no time to take over the research results left by Shirley.
Time was running out for Karasuma Renya. This old man, who had spent the rest of his life pursuing immortality, was absolutely unwilling to be taken away by death before his imminent crushing defeat.
He fantasized about escaping his aged body.
As long as he can survive, Karasuma Renya has enough resources to make a comeback.
So he risked abandoning the seemingly endless path of rejuvenation, seizing Junelek as his only hope, and set his sights on this completely different road.
Besides Junairik, even Vermouth and Gin were kept in the dark about this plan, naively believing that the BOSS wanted to control the organization's members.
Over the years, Karasuma Renya has invested so much money in Drug A, but when it came to the last resort, his only option was a brain experiment with an extremely low success rate that hadn't even been considered in the first place.
Calvados, Ireland, Cohen… one after another, they were scrapped in the lab. At this moment, in Karasuma Renya's eyes, everyone was just disposable consumables.
Anyone who dares to make a living with crows should be prepared to become their carrion.
Rei Furuya's breathing became heavier; he rarely showed such a look of utter absurdity and disgust.
At the same time, Junerick also stopped talking.
He seemed to have come up with a good idea, snapped his fingers, turned his chair around, and rummaged through the neatly arranged bottles and jars on the medicine shelf to find one of the medicines.
"Since anesthetics aren't working, how about we try something hallucinogenic?" The boy said excitedly, a smile on his face, as he skillfully drew up the medication with a syringe, under Rei Furuya's icy gaze.
“You were laughing the whole time during the hypnosis session. I want to know what you saw…”
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