Chapter 104 was a bloody and brutal affair.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: Wait, let me catch my breath. How come two of them disappeared all at once this time?]
[Anti-Fraud Guru #66: Besides, this one is even categorized under "Latest News," which doesn't seem right.]
[Anti-fraud expert #11: Yeah, I see Shiho Miyano also has a fate line entangled with her; one day is too rushed.]
When the topic of fate lines comes up, Morofushi Kagemitsu immediately thinks of Vermouth.
After all, before the news broke, Anti-Fraud King had said that this woman seemed to be planning to stir up a bloodbath!
Moreover, her own fate is quite unique; she has a history of disrupting the Anti-Fraud King's predictions. Furthermore, she made some unusual moves yesterday, and two days later the Miyano sisters ran into trouble, which seems very much like her retaliating against the two sisters.
Considering the efficiency of this operation, if she truly is the mastermind, she has garnered far more support than anticipated. Regardless of the FBI's overall capabilities, the fact that they were able to find a weakness within Shuichi Akai's ranks indicates the situation is far from simple.
The silver-haired killer... that probably refers to Gin. I didn't expect him to fly all the way from Japan to America. That's quite a feat.
Several anti-fraud alpacas also agreed, and they began to share the intelligence they had gathered the previous night.
[Anti-fraud expert #11: Vermouth has been frequently attending banquets these past two months, and about 70% of the time she's accompanied by a sniper. It's possible this is an order from her organization, but her demeanor makes it seem like she's searching for a target.]
[Anti-fraud expert #205: We can't get her call logs, but judging from the communications of Pisco and other easily traceable codename members, the number of people she's been in contact with is rapidly increasing, which is quite different from her previous elusive behavior. Two weeks ago, she even had dinner with Commissioner Smith at the Beard Club in Queens.]
[Anti-Fraud Guru #198: Calvados has been transferred back from Europe and is currently staying in the United States, near Vermouth's residence. He visited the organization's research center in Vermont a couple of days ago.]
...
These were all relatively detailed movements, and the anti-fraud team had selected the more valuable intelligence items after screening them. Morofushi Hiromitsu looked through them one by one, and when he noticed the intelligence about the FBI, he felt that something was even more wrong.
From the organization's perspective, Shuichi Akai was sent undercover into the FBI. If they wanted to obtain any information or achieve any objective, they would most likely send him to probe first. However, based on Shuichi Akai's reaction yesterday, it was as if this was not the case.
Is she trying to use the FBI to deal with the Miyano sisters?
[Anti-fraud expert #66: ...Wait, don't you guys think there's another possibility? This seems more like what happened with Akiyama Nao. I'm quite familiar with #19's story-making habits...]
[Anti-Fraud Guru #19: Um, actually I have a slight feeling about it too. Once I use a lot of rhetorical devices, it's basically saying that there's definitely more to this than meets the eye.]
There's more to this than meets the eye. Could Vermouth be the mastermind behind this turn of events?
[Anti-fraud expert #19: We just met her yesterday and are very wary of her. If this matter were really related to her, I couldn't possibly have kept quiet about it.]
[Anti-fraud expert #148: But her unusual behavior is indeed obvious to all.]
Number 19, Number 66, do you mean that she might indeed be planning something, but the Miyano sisters' actions might have nothing to do with her?
[Anti-fraud expert #66: Yes, that's why I mentioned Nao Akiyama.]
Morofushi Kagemitsu did not fixate on a single possibility. Seeing that No. 19 had proposed a new direction, he continued to analyze along this line of thought.
Thinking about it carefully now, the story clearly states that Shiho Miyano's drug achieved certain results, which does not quite match the actual situation.
As for the "important unfinished project," as far as he knew, the girl had just finished her studies and wasn't close to the organization, even resistant to it. In her current state, getting involved in an important project... perhaps was possible, but certainly not so soon.
Furthermore, if she were to achieve some significant breakthrough in the near future, Shuichi Akai would have a way to contact her, and it's unlikely that he would remain completely silent.
[Anti-fraud expert #214: That makes sense. She has the confidence to resist through a "strike," which doesn't seem like something that's going to happen now.]
[Anti-fraud expert #19: Hmm... Not much information about Miyano Akemi has been revealed, but judging from Gin's words, she betrayed the organization. However, we just checked her communication channels and there was absolutely no indication of this.]
In that case, it really does seem more and more like something that will happen in the future.
Number 66, not bad, quite perceptive!
Zhu Fujingguang took the initiative to poke the fluffy head of alpaca number 66.
[Anti-fraud expert #66: Hehe, it's alright, it's alright. Actually, I just thought it was weird that guy on the 19th used the word "young" to describe a kid, that's why I noticed it.]
So, this timeframe will be quite long.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #11: If we're trying to guess when this happened... the story says she secretly hid the poison she developed in a pendant on her body, and the title also mentions this pendant... "Limited Edition Summer Championship Football Pendant," perhaps that will be our breakthrough.]
[Anti-fraud expert #205: Based on the history of his electronic devices, Shiho Miyano does show some interest in soccer, watching some matches and her favorite team being Osaka. If that's the case, this soccer keychain is very likely a limited edition Osaka team item.]
[Anti-fraud expert #66: The latest football tournaments this year have already started, and although the finals haven't even been reached yet, Osaka has already been eliminated.]
[Anti-Fraud Guru #11: Then it should be next year, right?]
next year?
That's a bit too far off. Even Ms. Akiyama only managed to get it a few days ahead of schedule due to a bug.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #198: Hmm... It's probably because we've upgraded, or because what happens tomorrow will have a huge impact on the future, that's why we're stuck in this timeframe.]
Morofushi Kagemitsu and the alpacas were somewhat silent. The fact that the event was taking place a year or even further into the future gave them more time to prepare, but with those few people with special fates stirring things up, there was also more uncertainty.
[Anti-fraud expert #214: So what should we do tomorrow? Could it be that this meeting alerted the organization to something? Or perhaps Vermouth has gotten some leverage over us?]
Morofushi Kagemitsu frowned. In truth, he didn't want to miss tomorrow's rendezvous either. Both the coded box and the experimental data might contain secrets about the organization, and judging from the anti-fraud team's reaction, it might also be related to them...
[Anti-fraud King No. 19: I don't think anything will happen. If our meeting really caused problems for the Miyano sisters, the preview wouldn't just feature the two of them and Gin.]
[Anti-fraud expert #11: I think so too. It's better to prioritize dealing with those two things for now.]
[Anti-fraud expert #214: That works, but we still need to keep an eye on Vermouth and keep an eye on her movements, just in case.]
That's natural.
Morofushi Hiromitsu had no objection to this point. He took out his phone and sent a text message to Akai Shuichi, suggesting that he avoid the mysterious Vermouth. He also sent her the schedule of having dinner with Commissioner Smith separately, so that the FBI would be somewhat prepared.
[Anti-fraud expert #148: Sigh, that's the downside of being abroad. Without the police providing support, many things are harder to investigate.]
There are also relatively many restrictions, and we can't let the police know many of our secrets.
However, having said that, I've been in the US for a few days now. How's the matter with the Public Security Bureau in Tottori coming to an end?
[Anti-fraud expert #214: Everyone's watching. I see Mr. Jin Quan has made up quite a few names in his notebook. The information department has already screened out a wave of suspicious individuals.]
[Anti-fraud expert #66: Moreover, the police were quite generous; not only did they get the "household registration" for number 19 sorted out, but they also gave us a "buy one get one free" deal, so now we have another empty identity.]
[Anti-fraud expert #148: However, apart from #19 who has to go to work, it seems none of us need to use this pseudonym anymore.]
Let's keep it for now. Who knows where the organization might recruit new people from? Besides, the identity given by the police will definitely be monitored closely, so it's always better to be cautious.
[Anti-Fraud Guru #19: We have no objections, and we already have virtual avatars.]
[Anti-Fraud Guru #26: Yeah, the new alpaca skin is definitely prettier!]
Zhu Fujingguang looked at the several shiny alpacas spinning around with satisfaction, hesitated to speak, and then hesitated again, but still didn't say anything that would be detrimental to unity.
That's fine, as long as they're happy.
Morofushi Kagemitsu checked on Mr. Cook's condition through the Anti-Fraud Bureau and was relieved to find that he was still alive and well.
After a quick breakfast, under the guidance of the anti-fraud expert, he blurred the information about "destiny" from the US, calculated the time difference with Japan, and sent a situation report to the public security team and Zero.
The police wouldn't mention the part involving experiments; as for Zero, he carefully chose his words, trying to avoid any ambiguity in his expression.
Since they suspected that Vermouth was likely brewing an unknown storm, Morofushi Hiromitsu rearranged his schedule, canceling an unimportant meeting that evening and monitoring the situation in Times Square to prepare for the rendezvous the next morning.
[Anti-fraud expert #11: The local specialty pigeons are still available, but they're not as plump and white as before, and there are fewer of them. Are they really being caught and stewed?]
[Anti-fraud expert #26: That's because someone fed these pigeons laxatives last year, so they were restricted. The scene back then, wow~]
The alpacas flew around like pigeons, their wings sparkling, which made Morofushi Kagemitsu feel subtly like an innocent bystander who had been caught in the crossfire.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
