Chapter 157

Baifu has saved a lot of money over the years. The organization will not mistreat code-named members, especially those who can bring direct benefits to the organization. Baifu's movement is relatively free, except that he needs to report to the organization in advance if he wants to leave the area. So he actually secretly saved several safe houses in Tokyo, two of which the organization didn't even know about.

At this time, he had just come out of the laboratory. He first changed back into his usual black hooded clothes at the organization's base, put on a mask, and planned to go to one of the safe houses to rest for a while. Before that, he had to eat something at the ramen restaurant downstairs in the safe house. In fact, including the day he fell asleep, he had not eaten for almost two days.

However, when he really arrived at the door of the ramen shop, Baifu turned around and subconsciously walked towards the cafe next to it. After walking in, he found that the waiter standing in front of the bar was not the familiar Enomoto Azusa or Amuro Toru, but an unfamiliar waitress. The decoration style of the shop was also not familiar to him. He finally realized that this was not the Polo Cafe three years later, but just an ordinary cafe downstairs in the safe house.

He could not help but realize that his mental state was really bad. He was in such a state of unclear self-awareness and even mental confusion. Was he really overworking his brain before? It seemed that he really needed to rest for two days to adjust his condition.

"Welcome. What can I order?"

The waiter greeted him warmly. Baifu couldn't refuse anymore, so he simply found a corner where he couldn't be noticed and sat down.

"Give me a sandwich and a cup of hot cocoa."

He thought that he would just visit some shops during his vacation and see how the sandwiches of other cafes tasted compared to Poirot. However, after the sandwiches were served, he took a bite and finally confirmed that Toru Amuro's cooking skills were better.

As time went on to noon, the number of customers in the store increased. Baifu finished his sandwich and was about to get up to pay and leave when he saw the wind chimes at the door of the store ringing. At the same time as the crisp sound rang, two familiar figures pushed the door open and walked in.

It was exactly three years ago, when Hoshikawa Kazuaki was only fifteen years old, and Nishihara Tadahiko, the young police officer whose life had just been saved by Hoshikawa Kazuaki. Both of these vests have already gone through the dungeon timeline, so they are already in the vest activation state.

Although their consciousness in the main timeline did not follow themselves into the dungeon, so they have not awakened their self-awareness now, but this does not affect the fact that they are still another self.

Looking at these two familiar faces that caught him off guard, belonging to two other versions of himself, Baifu was still thinking vaguely that according to the timeline, Nishihara Tadahiko should have promised Xingchuan and Ming not long ago that he would take him out for a big meal as a thank you. No wonder the two of them showed up here at the same time.

That’s not bad, my own vest can have a feast, rounding it off, it means I can have a feast.

But, coming to a coffee shop? Can this be called a feast?

What the hell is wrong with you, Nishihara Tadahiko? Why do you even lie to a child?

And that wasn't just any kid, it was another version of himself. Does that mean he was lying to himself? Wait, am I that bad?

Baifu subconsciously widened his eyes and looked in the direction of Nishihara Tadahiko with reproach.

No, for Baifu now, Nishihara Tadahiko is no longer another self, but the biological brother of this ID card, the only relative he has left in the world.

And considering my current status, I should probably hide at this time...

Perhaps his brain, which had been slow and numb, finally started to function normally, and Baifu finally realized that he should not have looked at it so blatantly. After all, Nishihara Tadahiko was a well-trained and excellent policeman, so how could he be indifferent to such undisguised condemnation?

As expected, Nishihara Tadahiko immediately turned his head and looked back alertly. Then, his brown eyes met those dark red pupils.

The brown pupils contracted for a moment. Nishihara Tadahiko's breathing stagnated, and he raised his legs to walk towards Baifu.

Baifu had taken off his mask because he needed to eat, so Nishihara Tadahiko recognized him immediately. But just as he tried to suppress his excitement and wanted to go forward to talk, he saw Baifu with a cold face, using his eyes to signal him not to act impulsively. At the same time, he also made a subtle tactical hand gesture, also suggesting that he should not act rashly, and slowly put his mask back on.

Nishihara Tadahiko: “…”

What happened to Junye? Didn't he get mixed up in the underworld by accident? How come he can use police tactical sign language so skillfully?

However, after being interrupted, Nishihara Tadahiko immediately calmed down. His good reflexes made him realize something was wrong, and he adjusted his state immediately, opening his mouth and yawning, as if the slight abnormality he had just experienced was actually just due to being too tired, and it was just a preparatory action for yawning.

No, since Junye has already said that it is not convenient for us to meet now, I must not rush in. The tense atmosphere during the last meeting and the attitude of the public security department afterwards have already explained the problem. Junye's current situation is definitely not as good as it seems. Once people know that I have been in contact with him, or if the relationship between me and him is exposed, it is very likely to bring him trouble.

It seems that I must find another opportunity to ask for clarification. Ignoring the deep worry in his heart, Nishihara Tadahiko resisted the urge to look away with great difficulty.

However, because Nishihara Tadahiko was too focused on Baifu's situation and used all his extra energy to cover up his actions, he did not notice that Hoshikawa Kazuaki, who was walking half a step behind him, paused as soon as he saw Baifu, and then looked down at the ground reflexively. He seemed to be frightened by Baifu's cold face and completely avoided any eye contact with Baifu.

Baifu finally sorted out his thoughts at this time, and looked thoughtfully at the two people who had just walked in. He was not surprised by Nishihara Tadahiko's reaction and cover-up, but the reaction of Xiao Xingchuan and Ming, as children, was a little beyond his expectations.

Suddenly, the memory flashed back to the time when I was with Hoshikawa Kazuaki as Shinshu Momotomi. I would protect him secretly and arrange secret agents to keep an eye on him. However, when we first met, I taught him how to pretend that he didn't know me at all when there were outsiders around. Perhaps Hoshikawa Kazuaki's acting skills were stimulated at that time.

I really didn't expect that the three vests would meet at this time. However, this time, I was the only one who entered the dungeon, and the two of them were now in the stage of being activated but not awakened. I was afraid that I could only treat them as brothers I hadn't seen for many years and children I had watched grow up.

Baifu smiled bitterly and covered his face with his hands. Wasn't he the same?

The moment she saw Nishihara Tadahiko, even though she was able to maintain her usual cold expression, her heart began to beat wildly. Her emotions urged her to look at her brother one more time, but her reasoning forced her to pretend to be a stranger.

At the same time, they warned themselves in their hearts that they could not recognize each other rashly, as it would bring danger to each other.

For a moment, I didn't know whose bitterness was more unbearable.

Another crisp sound of wind chimes rang out, the door of the coffee shop opened and closed, and a fat male customer walked in. However, they no longer had the extra energy to pay attention to the customers coming and going. Sadness spread between the two brothers, but they tacitly did not let their emotions leak out.

However, accidents always happen without warning.

"Don't move! You've been kidnapped!"

The fat customer who just walked into the coffee shop showed a strange expression, and suddenly took off his shirt, revealing a row of bombs tied inside. It turned out that he was not really fat, but he was just fat, and the bloated bombs made his shirt bigger. The coffee shop was quiet for a moment, and then there was a "buzz" sound, and the crowd was instantly excited.

"Oh my god! Is that a bomb? It's a bomb! Is this guy crazy?"

"What's going on? Why is there a kidnapping? Call the police!"

“Help…”

"Shut up, everyone!"

The bomber seemed to be unable to react to this situation, so he angrily pulled out his gun, without aiming, and fired at the crowd. The bullet hit the calf of a middle-aged man, who screamed and fell to the ground immediately.

"See? Stand together. If anyone doesn't obey, I will shoot him!"

Although the bomber seemed to be not very smart, the weapon he had was very powerful. The originally noisy crowd was suddenly frightened and huddled together in fear. No one dared to speak anymore.

Nishihara Tadahiko immediately shouted at the crowd: "Don't provoke him, let's do what he says!" After that, he pushed Hoshikawa and Ming to the middle of the crowd, and then walked along the crowd towards the bomber, raising his hands as if to show weakness in order to reduce the threat level in the eyes of the bomber.

"Stop right there! Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Mr. kidnapper, we will fully cooperate with your actions. Please do not shoot again."

As he spoke, Nishihara Tadahiko had already walked to the front row of the crowd, facing directly into the muzzle of the bomber's gun.

"You probably made the decision to break into the cafe and take hostages on your own on the spur of the moment, right? Did you need hostages to threaten the police? Then you should stop shooting at the crowd. Only intact hostages will make the police hesitate. If the hostages die, won't that force the police to take action against you as soon as possible?"

While Nishihara Tadahiko tried to reassure the bomber with ambiguous words, he looked in the direction of Baifu inconspicuously with worry in his eyes.

Baifu was sitting in a very secluded place, with green plants blocking his view. Even if the bomber had observed the environment after entering the room, he did not notice Baifu's presence.

However, at this moment, when Baifu saw the bomber appear, the first thing that came to his mind was the comic strip he had seen in the exhibition room when he returned to the orphanage as Xingchuan Kazuaki three years later.

His sight moved from the bomber to Nishihara Tadahiko, and finally stopped at Hoshikawa Kazuaki in the crowd. A vague plan gradually became clear in his mind.