The mission has been completed long ago. Today is a free day. All we have to do is wait for the return trip.

The next day, he slept until he woke up naturally. When the little sheep Jiang Lai got up, Akai Shuichi was no longer in the room.

Maybe Akai Shuichi went out to see the [Sky and Sea Shuttle], Little Sheep Jiang Lai thought casually. It was better for him that the other party was not in the room, so Jiang Lai could more easily and secretly check whether his equipment after faking his death and falling into the water was intact.

Just in case, after Jiang Lai finished washing up, he first checked the other room for eavesdropping devices and surveillance cameras as usual to ensure an absolutely safe environment before searching for protective gear in the bathroom.

Well... everything is ready. The machinery is fine, and the blood bag is also special. It can be determined that it is human blood, but it is impossible to search and find a person.

While examining, he recalled what happened last night.

Jiang Lai was not sure to what extent that gentleman was involved in Akai's brainwashing, and whether there was a possibility of loosening. So, last night, he used the identity of Little Sheep to naturally call out "Mr. FBI" and tell him what had happened.

After what happened last night, combined with Akai Shuichi's response, Jiang Lai was sure that the other party really couldn't remember anything. Although it seemed that he still had a reaction to the word "FBI", it was probably not a positive reaction.

...a negative reaction like, "I'll kill anyone who calls me that."

It seems that we still need the antidote and the collar code. Jiang Lai thought to himself. The control that gentleman has implanted on Akai Shuichi is too direct and profound, and Xiao Zhao's hint may not be able to solve it.

Unfortunately, the organization suspected and strangled the little sheep earlier than the antidote was developed. Otherwise, perhaps he could use this identity to quietly add drugs to Akai Shuichi.

Jiang Lai shook his head lightly, not thinking about these non-existent ifs. He concentrated on thinking, and re-planned what to do next.

After lunch, the cruise ship was already on its way back.

The weather has been good in the past two days. The bright sun hangs high in the sky, but the light it sheds is not scorching. The moist and cool breeze from the sea makes people feel refreshed.

Hattori Heiji and Conan walked on the deck, the two were still searching for clues in the detective game. This voyage, except for the cafeteria incident yesterday, was relatively smooth.

Both of them still remembered the superb electronic technology displayed by the little sheep Jiang Lai, and they were convinced that the other was a rare technical personnel in the organization.

As the two were walking, Hattori Heiji looked up and happened to see a brown-haired boy also walking in front of him.

"Hey, Kudo, look, it's that boy!" Hattori Heiji pointed forward, his eyes fell on the clue note in his hand again, paused, and said in a raised tone, "Oh, by the way, we can invite him to participate in the detective game together."

"Ah?" Conan was stunned, and he twitched his mouth, "Let's just forget it."

Although the brown-haired boy doesn't look aggressive, he is a member of an organization after all, so we still have to be vigilant.

"You can get more information about the organization from him, and you don't have to go and test that guy called Gin." Hattori Heiji said, "He looks much easier to get along with, right? It's okay, leave it to me."

As soon as he finished speaking, the dark-skinned Osaka detective quickened his pace.

"Wait, Hattori...!" Conan stretched out his hand but failed to grab the other's clothes. When he looked up again, Hattori Heiji had already caught up with the brown-haired boy in front of him and began to greet him with a smile.

Hey, hey... Conan's eyes were half-mooned, he stood still for a few seconds, and then he jogged to catch up.

Jiang Lai didn't expect that Hattori Heiji would take the initiative to approach him, but he still maintained his playful smile and tilted his head and said, "So you want me to play with you, and pay you?"

Hattori Heiji's expression froze, and his self-introduction was stuck in the middle.

After several rounds of awkward conversations about "small amounts of money", Hattori's one-sided awkwardness and Jiang Lai's one-sided happiness, finally the little sheep Jiang Lai nodded and said, "Okay, I happen to be interested in this game too, so I won't charge you today."

He said casually, with his index finger on his chin: "Besides, as a student, you probably don't have much money to earn."

Hattori Heiji: So why are you so obsessed with money? !

After he finished thinking about this, he noticed that the brown-haired boy and Conan were both staring at him, and realized that he had already subconsciously said the sarcasm in his mind.

"In order to go to school with Hongshu, of course I have to save a lot of small change!" The brown-haired boy smiled and said the same thing he said in the restaurant. He half leaned on the railing, his dark eyes looking into the distance, "But..."

The last sentence was spoken in a low voice, and was blown away by the sea breeze, so the two of them did not hear it clearly.

Hattori Heiji was stunned.

Conan's sapphire eyes flashed with doubt and contemplation. He put on a childish look, looked up and said in a childish voice: "What's wrong with Brother Hongshu? Is he sick and needs to spend a lot of money on treatment?"

——This is a more likely guess. The reason is that he cannot go to school and needs money.

Maybe Hiroki is also a computer genius like the brown-haired boy? Conan thought to himself.

But the brown-haired boy did not answer. He smiled brilliantly again, tapped his right palm with his left hand and said, "Okay, let's start our detective game! According to the agreement, if I win, you have to sign an IOU for 5 million yen!"

Hattori Heiji: "Wait?? When did we make this agreement?"

The little sheep Jiang Lai winked playfully: "Isn't that what I just said?" The brown-haired boy shook his finger, "For me, a unilateral agreement counts! Okay, now the gambling has officially begun!"

Hattori Heiji & Conan: Don't make a decision so quickly, no one agrees!

Little Sheep Jiang Lai: Overbearing terms, effective immediately.jpg

The little sheep Jiang Lai, Hattori Heiji and Conan had a great time playing a detective game on the deck throughout the afternoon.

Among them, facing the secret temptations and questions from Hattori Heiji and Conan, Jiang Lai made appropriate disclosures according to the situation. At the same time, when revealing information, he deliberately showed a casual and natural attitude to avoid arousing suspicion from the two.

Jiang Lai: My acting skills are getting better and better, and it is not easy to leak information (shaking head.jpg)

As the sun sets, the cruise ship is enveloped in an orange-red hue, casting a layer of illusory color. The little sheep Jiang Lai feels the vibration of his phone. He sees a message from Akai Shuichi, saying that they are preparing to gather and disembark.

Ah...it's almost time.

Jiang Lai solemnly put the phone back into his inner pocket near his chest.

Hattori Heiji and Conan in front are still searching along the clues. Once the detective's interest is aroused, inspiration comes in an endless stream.

Little Sheep Jiang Lai did not intend to let the two detectives witness the tragic sniper scene that would follow. Even though the two had experienced many bloody murder scenes, he did not want that scene to impact them.

After all, they are still two high school students.

To be honest, he never thought there would be so many acquaintances on the ship! !

So, Jiang Lai smiled playfully like a little sheep and said, "You guys keep looking forward, I'll go to the other side and we'll meet in the lobby later! Hehe, I'm sure I'll be one step ahead of you~"

"Okay--" Hattori Heiji responded casually. He was thinking about the clues of the last line of code.

Conan lowered his head and looked at the code again. According to Shang Shang Xing's hint, the final clue should be around here. It seems that the other party's answer to Shang Shang Xing was wrong.

"Ah! I understand what the last line means!" Hattori Heiji's eyes lit up after thinking hard. He pulled Conan to the iron pillar in front and groped for the last note from underneath.

"I found it!" Conan's eyes were also full of smiles, with the unique joy of a detective solving a case.

"Let's go, it seems we are one step ahead of him." Hattori Heiji grinned and then touched his chin, "Oh, by the way, we haven't asked his name yet."

After the initial self-introduction was interrupted, the name was never mentioned again!

"I'll introduce myself formally next time we meet."

The detectives thought.

In fact, Toru Amuro had already seen the figure of Little Lamb Ice Wine, but he did not go to join in. He just watched the brown-haired boy and the two detectives laughing from afar, with a gentle curve at the corner of his lips.

Watanabe made new friends. He thought that when everything was over and he left the organization, he would make more friends of the same age when he went to school.

Toru Amuro leaned against a corner of the railing. He caught a glimpse of the little sheep Jiang Lai looking at his mobile phone, noticed that he said something to his two new friends, and then turned and left.

What's wrong? Is it time to gather for the mission?

A reasonable guess emerged in his mind, but his sixth sense was inexplicably swaying with a shadow of uneasiness. Amuro Toru's lowered hands curled up slightly, and after hesitating for a moment, he lowered the brim of his casual hat and raised his feet to follow.

...Let's follow from a distance and take a look, Amuro Toru thought.

Little Sheep Jiang Lai followed the instructions in the email and walked to the other side of the deck. Akai Shuichi was already standing there, the tall figure of the black-haired man shrouded in shadow.

"Here I come." The little sheep Jiang Lai smiled and trotted away. He had already caught a glimpse of the [Shuttle Platform Between Heaven and Sea] next to him.

It is here. The final gallows.

Thinking this in his heart, the little sheep Jiang Lai did not show any expression on the surface. He was still jumping around and looking happy and unrestrained.

Shuichi Akai looked down at his watch. It wasn't time yet, but it would be soon.

"I didn't expect to get off the boat so soon." Little sheep Jiang Lai chattered, "It's quite fun on this boat. I just participated in the detective game. It was super interesting. I must recommend it to Hongshu next time!" He shared the happy things with a childish and upbeat voice.

The man with long black hair had an indifferent expression. He listened casually to the boy's words without responding.

Little Sheep Jiang Lai explained the entire background of the detective game, and finally said: "This story seems to be a tragedy. But there is also chicken soup at the end, which means: [Everything has a price, so don't regret what you have done]."

He blinked his eyes. "I think so too. Don't do things that you will regret. Even if you do it for some uncontrollable reasons, don't regret it in the future." He put his hands in his pockets. "...Instead of grieving the irreversible past, it is better to look forward to the future that can be changed. What do you think, Lei?"

However, Shuichi Akai's focus was still on the time on his watch, and he simply responded to the lamb ice wine's call.

"What? Lei isn't listening at all." The brown-haired boy put his hands on his hips angrily, showing some childish temper. "I'm angry. I don't want to talk to Lei anymore!"

Akai Shuichi looked forward with his dark green eyes. He said, "Do you want to take a photo?"

In front of us is the Sky and Sea Shuttle Platform. There are few people taking photos there at this time. Because the cruise ship is about to reach the end point, everyone starts to go back to the house to pack up and prepare to leave later; or lie on the pull rod with friends and family to enjoy the rare sunset over the sea.

"Hey? Take a photo?" Little Lamb Ice Wine smiled expectantly, but when he saw Akai Shuichi standing beside him, he forced himself to stop smiling and put on a serious expression, "Well... I'll accept your apology with reluctance. If you take a nice photo for me, I'll forgive you!"

It's not an apology, Akai Shuichi thought. But he just said calmly, "Okay, I'll take a picture for you." He took out his cell phone and switched to the camera page.

The brown-haired boy cheered and raised his foot to move forward.

The sun was about to set, and the afterglow burst out from the thick clouds, like a fish swimming in the sky, rolling with golden phosphorescence. The orange-red color gave the brown-haired boy a warm and cozy effect, hazy and illusory.

Akai Shuichi's heart skipped a beat again. He opened his mouth to say something, but felt a little confused.

This is so strange. He touched the black collar around his neck and felt much more at ease.

——I am the most loyal wolfhound of the boss, I am the sharp sword of the organization, I will eliminate the traitors at all costs and defend the absolute interests of the organization.

However, the brown-haired boy with his back to him seemed to sense something, stopped walking, looked back and asked: "...What do you want to say to me?"

Lei suddenly felt that the other party might know everything.

His temples began to throb again, with some needle-like pain. Akai Shuichi still had a blank expression on his face, and his voice was calm: "Go quickly, we will get off the ship soon."

"..." The brown-haired boy paused for a moment, then continued to smile playfully and stick out his tongue, "I know, it has to be a nice photo, I want to send it to Hongshu!" He trotted to the front and boarded the [Shuttle Platform of Heaven and Sea].

The sea breeze blew up the brown curly hair of Little Lamb Ice Wine. The background without the guardrail was the setting sun that was about to sink into the sea. A deep red sun slowly fell, blurring the boundary between the sky and the sea, dyeing the entire sea a fiery red, making the boy standing in the middle look even smaller, but giving the whole scene an inexplicable sense of tragedy and grandeur.

Shuichi Akai glanced at his watch again; the time was almost up.

He held up his phone and posed for a photo, but he was just pretending.

Shuichi Akai looked at the brown-haired boy in front of him from the camera frame. He had a brilliant smile on his face and his eyes were shining with bright lights. He waved his hand, as if he could even hold the sunset in his sleeves.

Youth is sunny, playful, and fragile.

Shuichi Akai silently counted his own heartbeats to keep time.

【3】，

【2】，

【1——】

【0】.

As the silent countdown came to an end, a sniper shot from a distance accurately pierced the boy's forehead!

Blood spurted out instantly!

The lifeless body staggered, like a puppet with its strings cut, and fell backwards due to inertia.

He fell at the same speed as the setting sun in the background, but disappeared faster than the sun, sinking into the ocean like discarded garbage.

There were shrill, crackling screams all around, along with the noisy sound of people walking around. The crowd, who had not expected such a scene to happen, was clamoring and in chaos.

In this chaos, it seemed that only Akai Shuichi, who was standing in the shadows, was still keeping a calm expression. He indifferently lowered his raised arm, and his eyes suddenly caught sight of the extra photo in the lower left corner.

...was it the photo button that I pressed just now due to my shaking hands?

Shuichi Akai narrowed his eyes and clicked on the photo.

The afterglow of the setting sun painted a brilliant sunset glow of gold and red. The boy's smile was a little shy and excited. His waving movements were exaggerated yet natural. The sea stretched infinitely behind him, just like his seemingly future.

——It was the lamb ice wine before it was hit by the bullet.

There was no trace of emotion in Shuichi Akai's dark green eyes, and there would be no such useless things stored in his phone.

Maybe my hands were shaking when I took this photo just now. At this moment, Akai Shuichi pressed the delete button very steadily.

He jumped back to his mobile email and calmly and rationally edited and sent: [Traitor elimination confirmed, mission accomplished.]