Chapter 66 The Bad News Brought by Zero
"Heh... Kofuyu hasn't changed much in either his voice or his personality! He's still so cautious." Listening to Kofuyu's voice, which hadn't changed much in the seven years since they last met, and which lacked the mature man's aura but was full of the clear and bright feeling unique to young men.
Seeing the strong sense of wariness in his tone, Hagiwara couldn't help but laugh. However, he knew that the dungeon time was limited and now was not the time for reminiscing. The nature of his profession made him quickly say something that could dispel all his doubts: "Didn't they not find my and Kojinpei's bodies at the scene?"
Don't worry, we're all fine, alive and well. Don't believe me? Well! So many colleagues were involved in the convenience store incident, many people know about it, and we've all given statements in other cases. If someone wanted to fake it, they could easily find out by checking those statements.
He first used the fact that he and Kojin hadn't died to increase the likelihood that Kofuruya would accept that they were still alive. Then he deliberately brought up a case they had experienced, but first denied the unreliability of using it to prove himself.
Then came the decisive blow: "But there's a little secret, which I think only the two of us know! Furuya, after the person who asked me to delete the photos left, who was it that came to me with their hands clasped together, bowed sincerely at a 90-degree angle, and apologized?!"
Although he was asking a question, his tone carried a strong mocking undertone, reminding Furuya Rei of what happened shortly after he was assigned to the Public Security Bureau's Planning Section: the supervisor, Kuroda, thought his mixed-race appearance would reduce the suspects' suspicion that he was an official undercover agent.
His personality and abilities are also good at handling various crises, making him a suitable candidate to infiltrate the organization. During his university years, he never gave up investigating the matter of Dr. Miyano and his wife, and even before entering the police academy, he had found some clues about that organization.
So when he heard Kuroda's suggestion, he agreed without hesitation. He also wanted to find out whether Dr. Miyano really died in an accident at the research institute, or... encountered some other bad thing.
After agreeing, in order to conceal his true identity, the original Furuya Rei would be replaced by another 'Furuya Rei', and he would have to become Amuro Tooru in the file set up by the Public Security Bureau.
Naturally, because of this, not only were his school records and activity photos from childhood to adulthood secretly cleaned up and replaced by the public security, but even photos of him that existed in the files of his familiar classmates from university and his former neighbors were also cleaned up.
They used reasons such as plastic surgery to induce them to believe that Furuya Rei had become another 'Furuya Rei' arranged by the Public Security Bureau. Only his classmates from the police academy who had a very good relationship with him, had a deep impression of him, and knew that he was selected by the Public Security Bureau would be interviewed by the Public Security Bureau.
He felt very sorry for deleting the group photo that they all cherished, in order to keep confidential. So when the police came to talk to them one by one, he secretly followed them and apologized to each of them after they left.
At the time, only he and Hagiwara were in his apartment. He didn't know how he apologized to him or what they said inside. Even if someone knew he went to his rented apartment, they wouldn't know what they did inside.
Knowing that the police had deleted those cherished photos of them together, only the two of them were there to apologize to Hagiwara. Even if others guessed that they would seek out Hagiwara because they had contacted them before, they wouldn't know the details of what happened. Besides, Hagiwara was very tight-lipped about important matters...
So it really was Hagiwara? But it's hard to imagine that he could have survived without wearing blast gear at that scene. Even the other team members who were wearing blast gear suffered varying degrees of injuries from the explosion...
Although Furuya Rei still had doubts, he asked as if he believed her:
"Is it really you? What happened? Since you're still alive, why didn't you return to your unit? Why didn't you contact your family or us..."
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"Stop! Hold on, Furuya, I'm not contacting you to say these things!" Hearing this series of questions, Hagiwara could almost imagine the expression on that suspicious and cautious guy's face as he both didn't completely trust him and wanted to believe that he was still alive.
But he really didn't have time to reminisce with him now! He could only say in an apologetic voice, "Actually, Xiao Jinping and I are currently in Building A of the Twin Towers in Seymour City, where an explosion is taking place, and we've discovered that there are quite a few bombs installed all over the place."
The countdown timer showed only a dozen minutes left. There were too many bombs, and the two of us didn't have time to dismantle them. This time would also give the fire department members time to arrive and put out the fire.
They were unaware of the large number of explosive devices hidden here, which could potentially cause serious casualties due to these timed detonations. So, I don't need to explain why I called you, right?
"Let me ask the police to delay the fire department's entry into the building to extinguish the fire." With only a dozen minutes left, there was no time to dismantle or move the bombs to another location for detonation; they could only be left to explode inside the building.
This way, the fire department wouldn't need to enter the building before the explosion. Anyway, if the explosion was as severe as Hagiwara described, it seemed the building would have to be demolished and rebuilt. Furuya Rei knew that was what Hagiwara meant.
What puzzled him was why Hagiwara and Matsuda, who were both alive, didn't contact them. Why were they in Seymourne City at this time? And who planted the bombs in the Twin Towers of Seymourne City?
Could it be related to their faking their deaths and moving around under assumed names? Wait! If they're still alive, are the people photographed on the Shinkansen really them? Or were they imposters sent by the organization to lure out their relatives in Scotland?
Rei Furuya, who had just seen the photo and firmly declared that it was not his friend from the same period but a member of the hateful organization in disguise, couldn't help but show an embarrassed look in his eyes as he was sending an email to his assistant Kazami on his spare phone to inform him about the bomb.
"It's great that you can understand so quickly!" Hagiwara said, and then, as usual, casually complained to him, "I wanted to contact the class president or Morobuchi, but I don't know why their phone numbers are all disconnected."
There's no other way; I have to contact you to explain the situation clearly, as it's the most troublesome part and hard to convince you without a clear explanation! It's really rare to find someone so understanding! It seems you've grown a lot in the seven years since we last met!
If it were Kofuya from seven years ago, it wouldn't be easy to persuade him under these circumstances!
"You didn't know that the squad leader and Hiro have both passed away?" Hearing that familiar voice, Furuya Rei was very surprised, even though he and Matsuda had something that required faking their deaths to resolve.
Given their abilities, finding out about their old friends shouldn't be difficult. Besides, even if no one else knew about Hiro's death except themselves and the Public Security Bureau, and everyone knew about the squad leader's death in the car accident, why did Hagiwara seem completely unaware of it...?
Hagiwara, who was happy to be talking to an old friend, was stunned when he heard Kofuruya's words. He didn't even realize that his phone, the small lamp he was holding in his other hand, and the basket containing the phone had fallen to the ground.
A few seconds later, he picked up his phone in a flustered manner and said somewhat dryly, "Haha... I think I need to see a doctor about my ears. I think I just hallucinated something incredible!"
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"Hagiwara!" Furuya Rei heard the panic and disbelief in his voice, and was once again puzzled as to why he knew nothing about the squad leader's affairs. His personality made him ask tentatively, "Didn't you hear that the squad leader died a year ago while saving someone who had been in a car accident?"
What kind of environment were they in that they didn't even know about something that made the Japanese news for those few days? Haven't they paid any attention to news about their relatives and friends all these years?
When Hagiwara heard the words of the squad leader's death from Kofuruya's mouth again, he couldn't believe his ears, realizing that he had dialed their cell phone numbers several times and they were all disconnected.
Remembering that Matsuda mentioned that when handling the murder case of Miss Tokiwa, Inspector Megure from the Metropolitan Police Department brought along some unfamiliar junior officers, and wondering why the squad leader, who was also under Inspector Megure's command, wasn't there, I wondered if he was at home taking care of his child and didn't have time to work overtime...
It turns out it wasn't that he didn't have time to come, but that he couldn't come even if he wanted to. How could this be? Why did the squad leader and Morofushi both die young after he saved Kojinpei?
In an instant, the image of the bold and resolute class monitor and the gentle, smiling Xiao Zhufu kept flashing through his mind, making him feel as sad as he did that night when he saw Xiao Zhenping's more than a thousand text messages.
Are their Sakura Class really that unlucky? If it weren't for Kaze-chan, wouldn't only Furuya be alive now...? Huh! Kaze-chan, thinking of the beloved person who always brings him hope and makes him never despair.
Hagiwara's grief instantly subsided. Although he still found it hard to believe, he was able to calmly face the situation, knowing that even if he heard news of their deaths now, it might not necessarily be this way.
So he immediately said to Furuya Rei in an unusually serious tone, "Furuya, tell me as much detail as possible about the specific time, events, and location of the deaths of the squad leader and Morofushi."
"Hagiwara, you..." The people are already dead. Shouldn't Hagiwara be asking where they are buried and where to pay respects to them? Why is he asking about the time and cause of their death instead? Furuya Rei's personality makes him subconsciously want to find out the truth about this matter.
Hearing his questioning tone instead of a reply, and considering the personality of his classmate, Hagiwara felt a headache coming on. He glanced at the timer, and the mere 11 minutes left made him anxious.
He simply used the serious tone he only used in extremely urgent situations to urge, "Hurry up, I'm running out of time. I'll explain the rest another day."
Anyway, now that I've got so many phones, I can just use them to tell Furuya about the game and their current situation when I go into a dungeon next time.
"The squad leader was on his way home after spending the night staking out a suspect on February 7th, a year ago, around 9 a.m...." Hearing Hagiwara's rare police-like tone, Furuya Rei instinctively answered his question simply and clearly, following the method of interrogating criminals during their time at the police academy.
But after recounting the class monitor's death, the topic brought back the scene of Hiro's death, a nightmare he least wanted to recall, something he found difficult to talk about. Even as Hagiwara, he didn't want to repeat what happened back then.
Hagiwara naturally understood that for Kofuruya, Komorofushi was like a childhood friend to him and Kojinpei, and his death would be the biggest and most painful blow to Kofuruya.
Asking him to recount the death of a close friend would be like reliving the pain and despair of that time, but he needs to know the truth to change everything. However, Kofuruya's personality is too difficult to deal with...
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