Chapter 13 Thirteen Ghosts Behind

[aka, are there really three ghosts behind this Amuro Toru? ]

When the usually silent [Book] finally couldn't help but ask this question, three days had passed since they left Manhattan.

When he asked the question, Akae Nazuki was hanging behind Amuro Toru, humming a song in boredom. Hearing the words, he did not stop humming the notes at all. He did not feel any pressure at all and gave his own confident answer in his mind: [Definitely - no.]

[Didn't you instill the background information of this world in me before I came here? Then you should know better that I am the only unscientific person in the world.] He blinked and showed a sympathetic expression to the book from an angle that Amuro Toru couldn't see. [By the way, it seems that you haven't been aware of yourself for a few years.]

It was the dominant consciousness after the fusion of the two worlds, and he had thought of sacrificing him to save the world, but he was actually so 'naive'? During the time he stayed with Mr. Dazai and him, [Shu] didn't learn any of their essence.

The Savior pretended to be heartbroken.

I never thought that Chi Jiang Na Yue could be such a bastard. I just felt like something in my heart was broken, and I was stunned.

There are no other ghosts in this world, of course. Otherwise, with that crime rate, Chijiang Nayue wouldn't have to go out on the streets. After all, there are so many people dying outside that it might be even more crowded than at home.

[I just wanted to do an experiment.] The voice in Akae's head was careless, as if it was not an important experiment. The emphasis of the words in her head fell on the second half of the sentence, [Besides, the cold Bourbon, the tolerant and gentle Amuro Toru, and the serious Furuya Rei, any of these identities... it's very interesting to see their expression management fail.]

[Book] Now there is no doubt that the latter is the real reason.

Akae Nayue didn't continue talking. He noticed that Amuro Toru's pace began to slow down.

He loosened his arms and swung off Amuro Toru's back.

Three days ago, the phone call brought Belmode to respond as Chijiang Nayue had expected, and the rest of the development was also in his plan.

The FBI cannot reveal the relationship between Bermode and them for the time being, so in order to cover up the fact that Bourbon 'happened' to be hunted by the FBI at this sensitive time, their only choice is to play along - without actually revealing that the target of the two Chevrolets was Bourbon.

Bermode could have guided Bourbon's thinking towards 'the FBI was hunting down a local organization but encountered you by accident'.

That's right, the FBI eventually changed its target from Bourbon and the organization's sub-base to that greedy local organization.

All we can say is that the local organization walked into the trap and saved Amuro from disaster - of course, this was the return gift that Akae Nayue prepared for them.

The FBI was not much better off: they had to change their action plan at the last minute and cooperate with Bermode's support operation, so they could only watch Bourbon leave under their noses.

Even because of the lack of undercover time, the FBI paid a heavy price even though it took advantage of the window period when local organizations were hunting down Bourbon to turn the enemy upside down.

Chijiang Nayue was delighted to hear this.

One of these two parties wants to take advantage of the situation and capture or kill Toru Amuro; the other party not only kidnapped Sharon from this world, but also wants to kidnap Toru Amuro as well.

You deserve it.

Thus saith the Saviour.

After receiving Bourbon that day, Vermouth, who had already calmed down, did not show any signs of being anxious about the code name, but tried his best to reduce his excessive concern about the code name.

Vermouth didn't seem to want Bourbon to know about her relationship with Kalua.

Toru Amuro was not in a hurry. From the fact that Vermouth was willing to give up his original action for a code name and come to him to find out the truth despite the risk of being suspected by the FBI again, he could see how important the spirit behind him was to Vermouth.

He thought about the burning speech of the god he heard at the theater door, and couldn't help wondering if the god that Vermode was talking about was Kalua, the Akajō Moon from eight years ago.

Anyway, this information is currently in his hands, so he has the initiative. As long as Vermouth continues to care about him to this extent, Toru Amuro will not have to worry about being plotted against by Vermouth again.

They are now barely able to achieve a balance of power.

Therefore, after spending three days dealing with the organization's suspicions about the failure of the mission to "eliminate the traitor Lei", Toru Amuro temporarily stopped pursuing the matter of Vermode and instead turned his attention back to the intelligence related to Akae Nazuki that he had asked his subordinates to investigate before leaving the country.

The coffee shop in front of him was the meeting point between him and his subordinates this time.

The reason why Toru Amuro slowed down his pace was not only because he had reached his destination, but also because he was hesitating whether to let Akae Nazuki come over and listen together.

Although he asked Yuya Kazami to look up the boy's background information, he might not be able to find out much since it was already known that the boy was related to the organization, but he was a little worried that this information would touch upon the boy's unspeakable secret.

Everyone has the right to keep their own secrets, which is why Toru Amuro never asked Akae Nazuki how much he remembered about his death. Similarly, Akae Nazuki never asked Toru Amuro who his "dead friend" was.

In some aspects, the man and the spirit behind him still maintain a high degree of tacit understanding.

Like now, even if they all know that they want to find out why Akae Nazuki is bound to Amuro Toru, or want Akae Nazuki to restore her memory, this information must be obtained.

But even intelligence expert Toru Amuro feels that he is not thick-skinned enough to discuss someone's privacy and past in front of them.

"Don't worry about that." It was Akae Nazuki who first saw what Amuro Toru was thinking and said, "Just think of it as helping me recover my memory. I have no objection. Mr. Amuro, as a 'mature adult', don't think too much about it. You weren't like this before, were you?"

He pinched his fingers and gestured: "Even if I am not yet an adult legally, I am still a member of the organization. I am not as fragile as you think."

The black-haired boy buried the lower half of his face in the black and white scarf that was out of season. His red eyes scanned the store lazily, then stopped at a certain place and raised his eyebrows slightly: "...But, it seems that this matter is not so smooth."

Amuro Toru was stunned for a moment, then calmly looked in the direction the spirit was looking behind him.

"I think that person is not your subordinate in any way, Mr. Amuro." Akae Nazuki complained, "Unless my reasoning is wrong, you are actually the top official in the police department..."

The corners of Amuro Toru's mouth twitched. After he looked over, he understood what Akae Nayue meant.

No wonder, he was wondering why the meeting was chosen at such a sensitive time and in a coffee shop where it was easy for something to be exposed... The person sitting at the seat where they had agreed to hand over the intelligence document bag was his subordinate Yuya Kazami.

That person is clearly Kuroda Heibei, who has apparently resigned long ago but is actually still serving as the behind-the-scenes director of Team Zero. He is also the superior of Toru Amuro during his undercover period.

In short, he is his boss.

Why is Director Kuroda here? Amuro Toru is even more puzzled.

When he looked over, Kuroda Hei noticed his gaze sharply, but he did not hide their relationship as he did in the past when exchanging information. Instead, he continued to sit there openly with two cups of coffee on the table.

Apparently, Kuroda Bei invited Amuro to sit at the same table.

"Well, the customers in this cafe who are like little cats are actually informants of the Public Security Bureau." Having seen through everything, Akae Natsuki turned back to his lazy look, tugging at the corner of Amuro Toru's clothes and slowly moving it back to its original position on his shoulder, "And the store is also owned by the Public Security Bureau, right? That's why that uncle is so fearless."

What he didn't say but Toru Amuro could guess was that judging from the situation, the information about 'Akae Nazuki' was more complicated than Toru Amuro had originally imagined.

After getting confirmation of the little devil's safety, Amuro Toru was relieved. He stopped lingering at the door and walked to Kuroda Heibei naturally, as if the person he had an appointment with had not changed. He smiled embarrassedly and said, "Sorry, I'm late."

Just do the whole thing.

Director Kuroda, who was dressed in black and had a fierce face and looked more like a member of the organization than the current Toru Amuro, nodded calmly, and Toru Amuro sat down opposite him.

"No, you're just in time." While speaking, Kuroda Heiwei hinted to Amuro Toru that the signal jammer had been turned on, making the undercover agent completely at ease about the subsequent conversation.

After confirming that the surroundings were temporarily safe, Kuroda Hei's face sank, and he said to Amuro Toru in a low voice: "No matter where you got that name, don't investigate any further about him."

Toru Amuro was stunned. He didn't expect Director Kuroda to talk to him about this matter so bluntly.

Logically, he should have followed the instructions and stopped there.

But Toru Amuro knew that he could not stop, either for Akae Nazuki or for himself.

So he asked the question he shouldn't have asked: "Why?"

"The parents of that child were your predecessors." Amuro Toru heard Kuroda Hei's voice, which was still heavy even after he softened it. "They died eight years ago."

...what?

"I don't know how much you found out."

Kuroda Hei's eyes were complicated: "But it's best not to continue. Your identity is not suitable for knowing too much information about them."

Eight years ago, it was this time again.

Toru Amuro's brain worked very quickly, and he suddenly thought of: the boss died eight years ago, Akae Nazuki and his parents also died eight years ago, and the irreconcilable conflict between Vermouth and Rum also happened eight years ago.

These information are definitely not completely independent, there must be some kind of relationship between them.

He suddenly became even more curious.

——About the secret from eight years ago.