Chapter 222 The Third Player
"Eight years ago, Dead Souls, a famous intelligence dealer who was still roaming around Eastern Europe, received an investigation commission about a notorious serial killer couple named Lorenzo Hawthorne and Gwendolyn Riemann.
He completed this commission very well, but unfortunately the result was only half successful - because the client who issued this commission to him died at the hands of Gwendolyn Riemann the day before receiving the information.
The client died, but the data had not yet reached the other party, so the completion of the dead soul's mission was discounted, and the final commission fee could not be obtained.
Then, the dead souls began to focus their attention on Gwendolyn Riemann.
Lorenzo Hawthorne and Gwendolyn Riemann were naturally aware of the investigation and pursuit of the dead souls. After realizing that they could not kill the dead souls, the couple began their escape journey together.
But after a week on the run, the only person who appeared before the dead souls again was the injured Lorenzo - an internal conflict broke out between the couple, and finally Lorenzo killed Gwendolyn and begged the dead souls to let him go.
The dead souls rejected Lorenzo's request and eventually killed him.
The story should have ended here, with the death of Lorenzo and Gwendolyn, and the death of the dead souls a year later, and no one knew anything about them anymore.
But no one knew that eight years ago, Lorenzo had cleverly deceived the dead souls. Gwendolyn did not die, but faked her death and escaped from Eastern Europe.
Seven years after Lorenzo's death, that is, a year ago, a mystery novelist wrote a novel called "The Museum of Wax Unknown". Coincidentally, the story and many characters in the novel all bear traces of the killer couple Lorenzo Hawthorne and Gwendolyn Riemann, and the people they have killed.
The subsequent story then brought about new twists and turns.
Gwendolen, who had faked her death, saw the book "The Museum of Wax with No Name", and then she was convinced that the author of the novel was the dead soul himself.
So more than a month ago, she came to Yokohama, Japan under the pseudonym Fukushima Kyoko, trying to find the writer, who was a dead soul in her eyes.
The writer hid his real information very well, and she did not believe that the information given by Jingfan Publishing House was necessarily complete and correct. She also did not think that the lives of the publishing house and editor who seemed to be the only ones connected to him could threaten him...and might even alarm him.
So she planned several cases carefully, pretending to be the same as the plot in "The Unknown Wax Museum", trying to shape her image in the outside world as a fanatical fan of the writer, using "X" as a code name, and leaving love letters at the scene that were actually invitations to death for Mochizuki Kurumi. The pretense was to imitate the crime, but the actual purpose was to catch the writer who she believed was a dead soul.
With her ability, it is difficult to kill the dead soul. However, it is relatively easy to use this to focus the attention of the Yokohama Police Department and the Special Power Division on these cases, and then use these powers to deal with the dead soul, or expose everything about his past to everyone.
Even the people she killed in these cases, who seemed to correspond to the victims in the novels, were carefully selected prey in order to find the dead souls.
No one would have thought that her purpose was these - smart people are always more likely to believe what they have deduced, such as the killer's purpose was to use public opinion to kill the writer himself; or to kill the writer himself directly.
It seems that no one can stop her thoughts except the dead soul himself who appears and kills her.
But once the dead soul reappears, her goal will be half achieved.
This is the script you wrote for the dead souls.
The reason why you chose me is because after your investigation, you found that I had connections with the port mafia. No matter whether I survive or die, it will advance your plan a big step.
So that's what it is. Am I right, Miss Gwendolen Riemann?"
Dazai Osamu was sitting on a chair.
The chair with a backrest was placed on a piece of ruins. There were broken tiles everywhere around it. The ground looked very uneven and the four legs of the chair seemed a little crooked, but Dazai Osamu sat very steadily and his clothes were barely neat.
He was still wearing the black coat that Saikai Haruto had seen before. Due to the height, the corners of the coat naturally hung on the ground, so it was covered with a lot of dust, and there seemed to be some other marks. Next to him was a climbing rope scattered on the ground, covered with black, brown and gray marks.
However, no one had time to pay attention to these trivial things at this time.
The boy with black curly hair crossed his legs obediently, with a slightly heavy book placed on his legs. He lowered his eyes, as if he was concentrating on the contents of the book, and slowly turned the soft pages to the next one. The tone of his voice was extremely calm and steady, and it did not change at all from beginning to end.
The black coat seemed a little too big for him, making him look like a child wearing adult clothes. In terms of age, this was indeed the case - he was only 14 years old, and there was still a long way to go before he became an adult. The baby fat on his cheeks had only just disappeared.
But one look at his eyes and no one would have such thoughts anymore - those iris-colored eyes were like a whirlpool at the center, like a black hole about to annihilate, capable of strangling all a person's thoughts and ideas.
Dazai Osamu looked at the person he was questioning, who was sitting opposite him.
Gwendoline Riemann.
"According to your plan, if everything goes well, the dead souls and the special power department should have arrived by now."
The black-haired woman sat on the same chair as him.
He had a typical Western look, with a high nose bridge and deep features, but his face looked pale, weak and bloodless, as if he was about to faint. His brown eyes were half closed, his long hair was messy, and the black dye at the end of his hair had faded halfway, forming an ugly color of black and gold. There were still traces of a disguise mask on the edges of his cheeks and temples.
Unlike Dazai Osamu who was sitting upright, the woman seemed to be almost slumped in the chair, with her tattered black oversized coat almost burying her entire upper body.
There was a bullet hole on the right side of her waist that she was covering with her hand. It was unknown how long it had been there, and fresh blood was still oozing out of the wound, dripping onto the ground through the gaps between her fingers, forming a circle that was still expanding.
After hearing Dazai Osamu's question, she was raising her head with difficulty, and her body shook subconsciously - as if she was afraid of him.
"What exactly do you want to do?"
A hoarse female voice came from the darkness, so low that it was almost inaudible.
"If you don't deny it, I'll take it as if you've admitted it, Miss."
Dazai Osamu smiled and closed the book in his hand. The words "Nameless Wax Museum" on the cover were particularly clear in the dim space.
"What if I tell you that the dead soul and Mochizuki Kurumi are not the same person?"
"No... Impossible." Gwendolen struggled harder and screamed at Dazai Osamu with a ferocious expression: "He is the dead soul!"
"I saw those messages. I will never admit my mistake!" Her eyes were terribly stubborn, with unseen malice: "That's him!"
When she read the book, she almost immediately connected the heroine in the novel with her husband, her husband and herself. After finishing reading, she quickly connected the author named "Mochizuki Kurumi" with the dead souls.
Only the dead souls themselves could truly know what she had experienced personally.
"You really are a person who doesn't understand what others say, and you are so stupid that it makes people want to laugh."
Dazai Osamu sighed and said, the smile on his lips was light but with a hint of mockery, and his voice was even gentle:
"You stubbornly believe everything based on the so-called 'information'. Have you ever thought about the possibility that you got the information about Kurumi Mochizuki's creation from someone else?"
Gwendolen pursed her lips tightly and said nothing.
Dazai Osamu's brisk voice continued to ring: "You don't even dare to contact him again, or meet him to confirm it, but you are stubbornly convinced that Mochizuki Kurumi is the dead soul...Are you afraid that he will find you and die in his hands like Lorenzo eight years ago?"
"I'm afraid Lorenzo himself will be so angry at your folly that he will crawl out of his grave - oh, no, I forgot, he doesn't have a grave at all."
This was probably what "murder and heartbreak" meant. Gwendoline cared about Lorenzo the most, and she was so angry at his harsh and brief words that she spit out blood. Her face instantly turned red and white, and she looked even angrier than before.
But she moved her fingers, but still couldn't make any other movements - all her limbs had been broken by Dazai Osamu during the previous interrogation.
She closed her eyes, as if to hide her fear of the boy in front of her, and weak words came out of her pale mouth: "Shut up...you devil...I didn't do that!"
It's so scary.
眼前的這個少年。
明明剛開始的時候一切都很順利……但是從她将他帶到這個廢棄工廠的深處以後，一切都出錯了。
她不明白他的那些針對她的藥劑都是從哪裏帶過來的，而且她的異能力也完全對他不起作用。
而他用在她身上的那些審訊手段更是熟練得過分，更可怕的還要是他對待她時那種完全不把她當做一個人類、一個生命體的态度。
那種感覺足以讓任何一個有生命與智慧的人類感到極大的恐懼，就連她這樣的殺手都完全無法抵抗。
完全無法想象他過去到底有經歷過什麽才會變成如此可怖的模樣。
還有他的那雙眼睛……真的能有人能夠完全看穿人的內心麽？她在他的面前仿佛什麽秘密都不存在，一切都赤裸地袒露在他的眼中。
格溫多琳的內心對他升起難以言喻的抵觸與害怕來。
“诶？可是我還想繼續說下去呢。”太宰治起身走到格溫多琳的面前湊近，微微彎下了腰，唇邊的笑容連一絲弧度都沒有發生變化，聲音帶着冷酷的惡劣：
“讓我來當一個好心人，給你做出解答吧？”
“其實你的內心還是在害怕，害怕望月久留美真的就是死魂靈本人吧？為什麽無論如何也不承認望月久留美有可能并不是死魂靈，而是真的只是一個普通人呢？是因為你本人其實早就想過了吧？但他一定要是死魂靈才行——不然你要如何克服掉自己內心對于死魂靈的恐懼呢？要如何說服自己，不給洛倫佐報仇，不再像八年前逃掉那樣再次在死魂靈面前逃跑呢？”
“所以，望月久留美一定就是死魂靈。甚至你還在不斷地給自己加深這一認知。他絕不可能是其他人。對于其他的一切只需要視而不見就好，殺死了望月久留美就是殺死了死魂靈，殺死了望月久留美就能夠報仇成功了。死魂靈會死在你的手中，你不需要再逃跑了。至于真正的死魂靈本人？誰會在乎呢？反正你不會。”
太宰治的聲音連嘲弄、冷酷都消失了，臉上的笑容虛無、酷烈，而後徹底消失在了唇邊。
他對她做下了最後的判決：“這才是真正的真相啊。”
——被完全地否認了。
連同她現在所有的、所剩的一切，連同她整個人，都全然地徹底掀翻、否認了。
“不……不是、不是啊啊啊啊！！！我不是啊啊啊啊啊啊——！！！！”
格溫多琳睜大了雙眼，明明想要否認，卻只是發出了非人類一般的大聲尖叫嘶鳴。
那雙眼睛裏只剩下了空洞的、簡直要将一切都一同拖進深淵裏凍結的恐懼與絕望。
仿佛是從靈魂之中升起的絕望和恐懼。
從最開始她見到眼前這個看上去僅有十四歲的少年起，就一切都出錯了。
——大錯特錯。
現在甚至連她自己都恍惚地無法分清，他說的到底是真是假？就像他說的那樣，她真的是這樣想的麽？她真的沒有這樣想過麽？她真的是在用這些自己一遍遍地給自己洗腦、說服自己麽？
格溫多琳的思緒變得無比的混沌、混亂。這種感覺讓她痛苦不堪。
太宰治的話語不斷地重複着鑽進她的耳朵裏。
……真的沒有麽？
……是有的吧？
……那個叫做“望月久留美”的作家，真的是死魂靈麽？
……或許不是吧？
她已經完全分不清了。
“這樣就完全崩潰了麽？”
太宰治聲音在空蕩的空間內響起，帶着索然無味的平靜。
他仿佛變魔法一般取出了一支手槍。槍口正對着格溫多琳的眉心。
“真是無趣的表現。時間也差不多了吧，那就這樣讓你去死好了。”
“順便，你真的很蠢。”他曲起手指。
扳機被扣起。
“砰——”
槍聲響起的瞬間，工廠外挂在幹枯樹枝上，僅有的一只黑色的鳥被驚起，振動着翅膀向着遠處飛去。
幾分鐘後，西海晴鬥與異能特務科的櫻井踏進這座廢棄多年的工廠的內部後，見到的還活着的人就只有一個太宰治了。
已經被他查到是“格溫多琳·黎曼”的女性倒在地面上，眼神空洞、瞳孔已經要開始擴散了，眉心的位置上還留有子彈穿過的空洞。
詭異的是，她的嘴角似乎還帶着一絲……像是解脫的笑意？
西海晴鬥完全怔住。
“來晚了哦，不管是異能特務科還是望月老師本人。”
太宰治歪了歪頭，黑色的睫毛眨了幾下。
他無視掉站在他面前擺出了一副如臨大敵的姿态，伸手攔在西海晴鬥身前向他拔出了手槍的櫻井，聲音聽上去毫無異樣。
“一點也不盛大有趣的戲劇現在已經落幕了呢。”
他甚至連槍都沒拿出來。
……來晚了麽？
西海晴鬥的心裏泛起一絲困惑來。
但這的确是他所能做到的，最快的速度了——
從今天早上讓“望月薰”從“羽淵千秋”的手中拿到所有有關“X”、也就是格溫多琳·黎曼的資料，再到現在找到她的具體位置到底是在哪裏，并且排除掉所有的煙霧彈選項、一路追蹤過來找到這裏……也就過去了六個小時不到吧？
當然如果他身邊沒有這位不知道從哪裏突然出現的、來自異能特務科的精（笨）英（蛋）成員跟着，還沒能甩開的話，時間說不定還能再縮短一個小時。
這種速度在他眼裏還算很慢麽？西海晴鬥在心裏大概估算了一下，說不定從這家夥被綁到這裏到現在，也就過去了不到一個小時吧？
……甚至如果再仔細算一算，如果把他們趕來中途，因遇到了來自港口黑手黨的阻力而消耗掉的時間也給去掉，西海晴鬥甚至還能再将這個時間縮短将近一個小時……
說不定太宰治剛被綁、甚至都不一定來得及被綁，他就已經找到格溫多琳了。
西海晴鬥現在甚至有種懷疑他們中途遇到的那些港口黑手黨的家夥，說不定還是太宰治派過去的沖動。
但是轉念一想這又怎麽可能呢？太宰治被綁結果反過來幫着劫匪攔着他們幹嘛？
他完全沒必要……也沒有理由來做這種事。
正常人大概都會有這樣的想法吧。
但是。
……違和感。
西海晴鬥微微皺起眉，一言不發地看向太宰治，眼神一錯不錯。
前所未有過的、強烈的違和感從他的心中升起。
——一定有什麽，非常、非常、非常重要的事情發生了。
……穩住，不能慌。他應該還能茍住。
西海晴鬥的心情忽然變得格外冷靜。
起碼太宰治現在看上去，對他沒有抱有任何惡意。
但這本身就是一件不對勁的事情。
“我認識你麽？或者說，你認識我麽？”
良久，他忽然開口，鎮定自若地推了推鼻梁上的金絲眼鏡鏡框。眼鏡背後，原本平靜的桃花眼中泛起一絲真切的困惑，聲音倒是一如既往的如死水般平淡，且毫無波瀾。
“這位，港口黑手黨的，”他頓了頓：“……不知名成員君？”
“……那麽現在我們認識了。”
太宰治的臉上露出了一個有些奇異的，輕緩的笑容：“我是港口黑手黨的成員，太宰治。我知道望月老師也是她想要對付的人，對吧？”
……甚至态度還挺友好的？
西海晴鬥飛快地眨了下眼睛。
而且情緒很穩定的樣子。就是多了點對于“太宰治”來說，本不應該有的緊張。
西海晴鬥似有所覺。
“那麽，太宰君。”他态度自然地沖他點了點頭，直接問道：“這個人是你殺死的麽？”
太宰治輕輕點頭。
“我本來是想要看看，敢來綁架港口黑手黨的人的家夥是不是哪個敵對勢力派過來的新人，結果她只是單純地……想要殺掉随便一個與港黑有關的人而已。”
太宰治說：“既然這樣，那我就只好先幹掉她了。”
望月薰深深地看了他一眼。
“就只是因為這些麽？”
他的語氣并不帶有任何敵意或是攻擊、防備的意味，然而太宰治縮在外套長袖下的手卻微不可查地抽動了一下。
他無言地點了點頭，原本智珠在握的心中卻忽然泛起一絲地不安。
……再想想，他剛剛的回答是有哪裏出現什麽問題了麽？
他為什麽會是這樣的反應？
對了，是那個、他的身份的問題麽？
“她想要殺掉我，所以被我殺掉了，不是很正常麽？不然的話，現在這裏死掉的就是我了。”
太宰治說：“至于別的什麽東西，港口黑手黨并不在意。”
望月薰向他點了下頭，眼中的冷漠和戒備逐漸消散，像是在對他的話表示肯定。
“她也同樣想要殺掉我，也殺掉了很多其他人。”
他說着，眼風不在意地掃了眼倒在地上的格溫多琳：“這樣看來，她就這麽死掉也挺好的。”
而後他又看向櫻井，順口道：“櫻井君，可以結案了。”
——答對了。
Dazai Osamu felt relieved and an innocent and well-behaved smile appeared on his face.
That’s right…it was exactly the same result as he had imagined in his mind.
...Ah? Really? Is this the end of the case?
Being stared at by the two people, Sakurai looked at Mochizuki Kaoru and then at Dazai Osamu, hesitating to speak, and groaned in her heart——
However, Mr. Mochizuki, do you really believe what a member of the Port Mafia says? What if he is lying to us? And Mr. Mochizuki, your vigilance disappears too quickly. This is a member of the Port Mafia? Didn't he just kill someone?
...Also, the Port Mafia actually didn't even spare 13 or 14-year-old children? In short, it's worthy of being the Port Mafia.
"So we can go back now?"
Mochizuki Kaoru is still asking.
In the end, Sakurai nodded.