Chapter 12 Twelve Ghosts Behind the Scenes

[What kind of reason is needed for this? There may be a motive for a person to kill another person, but in an emergency, you won't think so much about saving someone, right? ]

Even when Shuichi Akai's car stopped beside him, Vermouth, who was still wearing the disguise mask, had not recovered from the confusion he had just felt when he heard these words.

There were only a few cars passing by on the street late at night. Fine raindrops flew in from under the eaves, landing on her cheeks, bringing a bit of midsummer night's coolness through the mask.

Vermouth looked up at the starless sky and was silent for a long while before turning to look at the long-haired man sitting quietly in the car.

"You're here earlier than agreed, Ley." She stood up and got into the car without hesitation. After the door was closed, Vermouth seemed to have returned to her normal self as the Thousand-Faced Witch. She took off her mask and smiled faintly, saying, "What's wrong? Did something happen in Bourbon?"

"Don't call me by that name." Akai Shuichi frowned, pinched out the cigarette between his fingertips, and nodded indifferently to confirm Bermode's casual guess, "Bourbon left before our people got there, and then he also got rid of the people who were responsible for tracking him."

When Shuichi Akai entered the organization as an undercover agent, four years had passed since Bermode initiated cooperation with the FBI. They were almost certain that Bermode really wanted to surrender, so although his superiors did not let him take the initiative to contact Bermode and reveal his undercover identity, they also told him that if something unexpected happened and his identity was exposed, he could seek some help from her.

Because of this, even though Shuichi Akai himself did not have much trust in Vermouth because of the grudge between his girlfriend Judy before joining the organization and Vermouth's ability to act and deceive people, he can now almost put aside those prejudices.

He didn't really believe that the news was leaked from Bermode, but that didn't mean that others didn't believe it.

Of course, Bermode could guess this.

"Heh." The blonde witch sneered, lifted the hair by her ear, and said as if she had expected it, "So I have become the object of your suspicion for the time being, right?"

This kind of thing is not uncommon in the past eight years. Fortunately, Bermode doesn't care at all whether the FBI trusts him or not.

All she wanted from the FBI was to witness the organization's accelerated destruction process. As for whether she would be detained by the FBI or not, as long as she could stay alive, it didn't matter to her.

She now had a reason to live.

The smile on Bermode's face was wiped away by her: "Anyway, I have finished my part tonight. If I want Bourbon not to doubt my identity, the only thing I have to do now is to send me back to the sub-base."

"Although I don't know who leaked the operation tonight..." She said with a gloating tone, "but it seems that your original plan to take down the Manhattan sub-base may be aborted."

That's true. Under the current circumstances, if the sub-base is destroyed as planned, and Vermouth himself successfully escapes from the FBI's siege, then with Bourbon's smart mind, who is currently on the run, it will not be difficult for him to connect the information to Vermouth.

Even now, Bourbon might have begun to suspect that he was being hunted by the FBI because of Belmode.

Just as Shuichi Akai was about to speak, the cell phone in Vermouth's pocket suddenly rang.

The two stopped talking, the latter frowned and answered the strange number.

"who?"

She was on loudspeaker, so Akai Shuichi, who was in the driver's seat, heard the familiar male voice across from her: "It's so sad, Bermode, it seems you're still alive."

It's the sound of bourbon.

Bermode's eyes darkened, and he replied in a slightly weak tone: "Are you here just to mock me, Bourbon?"

"Of course not." Bourbon said nonchalantly, "I came to see why you haven't caught the traitor yet - remember someone said before that he would finish the mission and contact me before twelve o'clock."

"But from the sound of your voice, the mission has clearly failed."

Bourbon chuckled and said, "This news will make me even more regretful, right? We don't want to make such a fuss."

Sure enough, Bourbon has begun to suspect her!

Bermodes was not panicked at all. She spoke calmly: "Don't forget, Bourbon, you and I are on this mission together. It will not be good for you if I fail."

"Yes." Bourbon replied faintly, "But there seems to be a rat in the sub-base, and my whereabouts were exposed to the FBI... What do you think?"

"Thoughts - do you need me, a wounded soldier, to pick you up now, just because of your guess?" Bermode smiled softly and said lazily, "Bourbon, when did you and Gin learn his suspicion?"

"Based on my guess alone, there is really no way I can ask you to come to support us."

Bourbon's voice was a little distorted over the phone. He read out a codename in a frivolous tone, and then asked with a cold smile: "Then, is this enough?"

When Shuichi Akai heard the code name he had never heard of before, he glanced at Vermouth subconsciously and then froze.

The smile of the Thousand-Faced Witch disappeared, and a tear rolled down her face, which had been abandoned by time and always covered by various emotional masks.

The tears hit the back of the witch's hand and seemed to be hot, so hot that they instantly woke her up from the thirteen years of memories that flashed through her mind in that second.

Shuichi Akai realized that what Bourbon held in his hands might be more important to Vermouth than cooperation with the FBI.

And that code name is: Kahlua.

—

"It's really disappointing that you can't resist being hit at all." Akae Nazuki hung on Amuro Toru's shoulder and said in a complaining tone.

"I'm the only one who attacked, right?" Amuro Toru said helplessly as he piled up the fallen followers together. "Even though it's summer now, it's still very cold for you to hang on me like this."

"Let me hang up for a while. It's boring to wander around alone." Chi Jiang Na Yue said like a rogue.

Maybe it was an illusion, but Toru Amuro always felt that this guy seemed to have become closer to him when he didn't react. The door that had just been opened a crack seemed to be half open?

This allowed him to see the true nature of the strange spirit behind him, Chijiang Nayue. Compared to the original false closeness, he certainly accepted the current Chijiang Nayue more.

However, he doesn't want to experience the pain of raising a child in advance...

Akae Nazuki pretended not to notice the inner struggle of Amuro Toru, and reluctantly gave up the best opportunity to take advantage of the situation. She turned around and floated to the pile of followers, where she sat cross-legged and propped her face with one hand.

The stalkers on this street were the three they had seen before, but there were many spies of the local organization hiding in the dark to support them. Even though Akae Nazuki saw it when he met them, Amuro Toru was no match for them and almost got injured when he was dealing with the last few people.

Seeing the wound on the young man's face that was so small that it was almost scabbed, Chi Jiang Na Yue narrowed her eyes unhappily.

Ah, I really want to destroy this organization right now.

Didn't he say that he wanted to bring Toru Amuro back home safe and sound? Really, there are always some oranges in this world whose brain capacity is too low, so that even Akae Nazuki can't predict their desperate actions - even God can't read the thoughts of paramecium.

"This is enough for now." He said to Amuro Toru with regret, "If the number is larger, you will be targeted by the forces in Chinatown. This is just right now, and it will not attract the attention of any party."

From now on, Toru Amuro can sit back and watch the fight between the two tigers in relative peace.

Amuro Toru just breathed a sigh of relief, and then he saw the boy opposite him suddenly ruffle his hair, then raised his face and said with a gloomy expression: "As expected, you are still very unhappy!"

To be honest, this sentence almost made Toru Amuro, who was familiar with the organization's members, jump up - he had never realized so clearly that Akae Nazuki was really a member of the organization.

Amuro Toru couldn't help but become alert: "What?"

"I say, let's not lie down anymore." The boy changed their original plan with just a few words. He straightened his lips and said slowly, "Mr. Amuro, now, pick a cell phone and call Bermode."

"Tell Bermode my code name." Chijiang Nayue came down from the hill with a calm demeanor, "Let's play something bigger and destroy this Orange Organization in the hands of the FBI in advance."

He originally didn't intend to let Vermouth be stimulated by his code name before the matter was over. He knew how painful it would be for the person who truly loved him, so he planned to keep it a secret until the end and then give Vermouth a surprise.

But it seems like it would be a good idea to let her prepare first so that we can kill two birds with one stone, right?

…

After Toru Amuro sent their location address to Bermode, he hung up the phone.

Toru Amuro could tell that Vermouth was really shaken after hearing that name, and it was just a code name!

He was now even more curious about what happened between Chijiang Nayue and Bermode.

"It looks like you have something to ask." The spirit boy behind him said with a brisk smile, "Well, I promised before that I can basically tell you whatever you want to know."

There are indeed many things I want to know, including when exactly did Chijiang Nayue become a ghost? It can't be that she turned into this right after she died, right? She obviously doesn't know what happened in the past eight years, it's like... she was asleep for eight years.

And how exactly are they 'bound'?

But in the end, Toru Amuro didn't ask any of these questions.

"Are you the only one who is following me?" He swallowed and asked in a dry voice a question that he had deliberately ignored since last night.

……oops?

Chi Jiang Na Yue, who was floating on the side, smiled in a mysterious tone: "I thought you would never ask the question."

When Toru Amuro heard the answer, his expression suddenly changed. He was shocked: "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is..." The black-haired boy deliberately lowered his voice, revealing a lifeless look, and deliberately stretched out his voice with a curled mouth, "Don't you feel that you will be very cold when you sleep at night, and your shoulders will always be heavy?"

After saying that, he changed his face and returned to his usual sunny and bright appearance. He spread his hands with a hint of schadenfreude and stuck out his tongue: "After all, I am really crowded in your house."

Toru Amuro seemed to have been hit head-on with a stick, and he stood there in a daze.

Over there, Akajiang Nayue was still clearing her throat in a serious manner, pointing her slender fingers at Amuro Toru's back and giving him instructions.

"One, two, three... You are such a playboy." The little devil looked up at the sky and said sadly, "Isn't it enough to have me as your backer, Mr. Amuro?"

Before Toru Amuro could react to this huge bombshell, his brain controlled his facial features and revealed a distorted expression as if he had eaten a lemon.

Wait a minute, why haven’t I ever heard Chijiang Nayue mention this before?

Perhaps his expression was clearly asking this question. The boy opposite him paused and said in a matter-of-fact tone: "Because you didn't ask me."

For some reason, Toru Amuro actually felt his shoulders getting heavier at this moment—even though he didn't even see the three other ghosts behind him that Akae Nanazuki mentioned.

Now that he has finally escaped from the FBI and local organizations, Mr. Undercover wants to bang his head against a pillar.