Chapter 31 The First Player

"Keep replying." Saikai Haruto said silently to Maruno Ryouta.

"…It's okay. I ran into some gangsters on the road, but I've gotten away from them now. Tell the president, I'll be back soon."

Maruno Ryota calmed himself down, answered the caller calmly, and then hung up.

Mitsuo Shunsuke died earlier than Saikai Haruto had imagined... He died at noon today, which means that he died when they were discussing who the undercover agent was in the villa.

"Jun Du, that guy is dead...what should we do now?"

Vodka frowned. What a coincidence... they just found this clue and found that the person was gone.

"Could it be Pa... Was it that guy who did it? But the timing doesn't seem to match."

"There's a 90% chance that it was him... Haha. It's impossible for that guy to be anywhere else this afternoon, but he has another identity after all. Although he may not have done it directly, it's also possible that he asked someone else to do it beforehand."

Haruto Nishimi put on a pensive expression. In view of the fact that Ryouta Maruno was still present and he was still wearing the false shell of the "Hong Kong Mafia Special Operations Force", he deliberately made the message in his words vague.

Vodka wondered: "Ah? Who else is there?"

Xi Haiqingdou blinked and said, "It is possible that it was our colleagues on the other side... I mean, it is possible that it was done by the black lizard or the guerrilla forces."

"Oh, really, these troublesome things will arise without communication... They are really a bunch of reckless men who only know how to fight and don't know how to use their brains at all. When we go back, I'm afraid they will say that we are not doing our job well again. Tsk, they really know how to cause trouble for us." He complained in a very natural manner.

At the same time, I whistled happily in my heart - well done, Rei Furuya! As expected of you, your efficiency is really high... I give him full marks for this wave of cooperation!

"……ah?"

Vodka was at a loss, and his expression gradually turned into fear when Xi Haiqingdou couldn't see him.

He roughly understood what Cointreau meant... that Passetto might not have done it himself, but it was also possible that he had used other Hong Kong gang members to kill the guy named Sanwei Shunsuke. But...

Is Cointreau addicted to acting? Or does he really think they are members of the "Special Operations Force" of the port mafia? When did they have colleagues from the "Black Lizard" and "Guerrilla Force"? Damn it, is his memory really wrong again?

…Forget it, I can’t say any more about this topic. If I continue, Vodka will probably think he’s crazy. Could it be that his acting skills have evolved to the point where even his own people can’t tell the difference between the real and the fake, or is it just that Vodka’s brain is not very sharp?

Nishimi Haruto knew when to stop. Seeing that Maruno Ryouta didn't show any doubt on his face, he coughed strategically and changed the subject: "Vodka, keep driving, speed up a bit. Even if Mitsuo Shunsuke is dead... Tsk, his death is really unfortunate."

He grumbled again, then continued, "But even if he dies, we still have other work to do."

"I know, Cointreau," Vodka responded.

Factional fighting within the Port Mafia? Maruno Ryota was stunned for a moment, then reacted immediately.

Xi Hai Qing Dou glanced at him casually and added casually, "Brother, don't think too much. The relationship between the members of our organization is still very good. It's just that sometimes some colleagues are not very smart, but this is not a big problem."

"Ah... I understand."

As expected of a person with the ability to “read minds”… Maruno Ryota took a deep breath and immediately cleared his mind.

Knocking on the chair, Xi Haiqing Dou continued, "By the way, Vodka, please contact Bourbon and Canada... Tell them that they can withdraw first. It doesn't matter whether they go back to the 'base' now or leave directly."

He just received a message from Mori Ogai: "Thank you for your help, Kimi-kun and Imai-kun, please take care of me in the future." It seems that Mori Ogai has already dealt with the Hong Kong Black side - that is, if they want to leave Yokohama now, they should not encounter so many Hong Kong Black people blocking them.

Vodka: "Just leaving like that? But isn't that what Pa——eh, what about that guy? Bourbon and Canada are still with him, right? Are they in danger?"

It should be confirmed now that Pasetto is the undercover agent, right? But Canada and Bourbon went to the underworld with Pasetto!

"That guy's skills are not that good, and they are not fools. First, it is impossible for them to be in danger and unable to send a signal for help. Second... I just contacted Dr. Mori, and he said that everything is going smoothly over there, which means that Bourbon and Canada are not in danger."

Xi Haiqingdou said calmly, "So they should both be fine now. I'll explain the rest to you when I get back. Just send them a message first."

Vodka: “Okay, I understand.”

He felt that his brain was no longer enough... But never mind, it didn't matter, with Jun Du here, he would just listen to him. It was no different from how he listened to his elder brother in the past.

The Takase-kai's current base was much closer to the route they had taken than to their safe house, and in less than half an hour, they had found a nearby location.

Lei and Morobushi Kagemitsu carried Maruno Shunta out of the car in a deserted area. Morobushi Kagemitsu shook the phone in his hand with a serious expression: "Cointreau, Bourbon just called me and said that Passetto--"

"——Ah, let's talk about Pasetto later." Xi Haiqing Dou interrupted him and winked at him, "Let's finish the things here first. Pasetto's progress is much faster than ours."

He opened the trunk of the car, took out a box, took out several button-sized micro bombs, and handed them to Maruno Ryouta.

"This is a remote-controlled bomb. The remote control is here." Haruto Nishimi took out the remote control and shook it in his hand, then threw it to Ryouta Maruno.

"Brother, take these bombs back. Although they are small, they are actually quite powerful. Just press this button and bang, it will be easy to complete the task, right?"

Maruno Ryota felt that the thing in his hand was a little hot.

"This bomb, it, it won't suddenly explode by itself, right?" Maruno Shunta swallowed and asked on behalf of his brother.

"No." Xi Haiqingdou said lazily, "These are not unstable test products. They have been specially tested. Don't worry, the situation you are worried about will not happen."

"And it's very durable. As long as you don't use more than 20 kilograms of force to dismantle it, it won't be easily damaged. It can still be used if thrown into water. Of course, it won't work if thrown into fire - that will also explode immediately."

Lei looked at him suspiciously: "Why did you bring this?"

"Oh, I forgot... I think I took it with me after I got tested right before I came here. It's not that big anyway. The organization will reimburse me for it."

Xi Haiqingdou scratched his hair and said casually, "So, that's it? In an hour, we will wait outside with Maruno-kun for your good news?"

Maruno Ryouta took them one by one, with some doubt in his eyes: "I said, there are other people with special abilities around the president, I can't guarantee it..."

"It doesn't matter. Even if he survives, you can lead him to the path you mentioned, and we will take action."

Xi Hai Qing Dou smiled and said, "You have to believe in our strength. After all, this could be your next home, right?"

After hearing this, Maruno Ryota finally made up his mind and nodded.

Only after he left, watching his back gradually disappear, did Zhu Fujingguang suddenly frown and ask, "Jun Du, what on earth do you mean by 'next home'?"

Does it sound like he wants to recruit this person into the organization? But it doesn't seem like that?

Saikai Haruto did not answer immediately, but glanced at Maruno Shunta, and then gave Lei a look.

Lei understood, stretched out his hand and chopped directly at the neck of the defenseless Maruno Shunta, and then reached out to catch him as he fainted.

"Ah, actually, I just happened to be in a good mood and told my brother-in-law that we were members of the Hong Kong underworld's special operations force. I didn't expect him to actually believe it." Xi Haiqingdou frowned and smiled innocently.

"Brother-kun thought we were a special unit sent by the Gang Black to wipe out the president of the Takase Society. Seeing that the Takase Society seemed to be on the verge of collapse, he wanted to switch to the Gang Black. So I told him that if it went well, he could say a few good words to him in front of the boss."

"Why did you make this up?" Zhu Fu Jingguang was stunned and didn't react for a moment.

"Because it's fun...?" Ah, you didn't believe it, did you? Of course, it was to make the people of the Takase Society think that it was the Hong Kong gangsters who did it from the beginning. If they want revenge later, they will of course go after them. Anyway, none of this has anything to do with us." Sai Hai Haruto said casually.

"Speaking of which, although my brother seems to be very smart... I didn't expect him to be as deceitful as my younger brother. They are indeed brothers."

Lei, who truly believed it for a moment, remained silent.

——In fact, this really sounded like the reason that the Cointreau he knew would give. He even suspected that this might be the real reason... The ones that followed were just excuses he made up.

After all, for him, this was not the first time Cointreau had done this.

...What a cruel move. No matter whether Takase is dead or alive, he will never guess their real "organization". I don't know what Cointreau did to trick people into that? It seems that he has no doubts about Cointreau's words at all.

Zhu Fu Jingguang took a deep breath inwardly and silently increased his vigilance against "Jun Du" a little more.

Vodka breathed a sigh of relief: "So, Cointreau, you were just acting, and your memory is not wrong, right? You don't have any special abilities, right?"

"Of course not." Xi Haiqingdou rolled his eyes. "How do I look like I have a memory disorder? How many times have I reminded you? If I had super powers, the first thing I would do is to find out how many bottles of Beretta Gin has, how much money he has, and his bank card password."

"Besides, people with special abilities are 'Yokohama specialties'. Do you think I look like one? It's just some detailed observations and some reasonable inferences, plus a little bit of rhetoric and a little bit of gambling... But I'm lucky, and I won every bet this time." [1]

Vodka touched his head and chuckled twice: "Ah, my brain is too slow, I didn't see it."

"Oh, I didn't expect you to be able to see it completely."

But it didn't cause him any extra trouble, so that's not a big deal.

"Let's go and find a suitable place."

Haruto Nishimi signaled Vodka to take the unconscious Maruno Shunta with him, then turned around and swung the corner of his large black windbreaker in a perfect arc in the air.

"Next, just be prepared to wait quietly for the final curtain call."