Chapter 108

The news that Saeki had died was like a small stone dropped into a stagnant pool of water. It caused no ripples except for spider-web-like ripples.

Kouno Seira frowned and asked, "Was it Gin who did it?"

Zhihui replied: "No, he had already died quietly under the surveillance camera when he was found."

"Preliminary tests showed no toxins, and there were no fatal wounds on the body. The body is still kept in the base, and the institute is temporarily sealed off. They suspect someone has leaked samples of the drugs they are developing."

The leakage of samples is no small matter, and it is not a panacea for curing illnesses. Moreover, to be able to kill people without leaving any trace in a base with iron walls and copper walls, it must have been lurking for a long time.

Kono Seiryoshi asked, “How many people know about this?”

"Not many, except for the person who found the body and reported it to Rum and Gin."

Rum has always been suspicious, cautious, irritable and quick-tempered. Isn't it just a case of hitting the wall for something like this to happen in the base he is in charge of?

As for Gin... never mind, I hope he stays calm.

Kono Seiryoshi called Shirley and told her not to go to the base or return to the research institute. Although the girl was confused, she heard his serious tone and couldn't help but speak seriously, and agreed to stay at home.

After the call ended, Zhihui lowered her head and asked, "Sir, do you want to dispose of the body?"

Kono Seiyoshi: “…No need.” Wait, why does it sound so much like the destruction of corpses?

After Zhihui's reminder, Gongye Shengliang suddenly realized that he was the biggest suspect.jpg

From Rum's perspective, even though the person who died was just an insignificant traitor, the assassination that took place in the base undoubtedly touched his bottom line. If the cause of death was really related to dangerous drugs, then the murderer must have been well aware of the properties of drugs.

Skilled in the use of drugs, with enough authority to move around the base freely, and daring enough to challenge the authority of Rum and Gin - isn't it just a matter of naming him?

Kono Seiryoshi was not in a good mood. He knew that he had to deal with Rum if he wanted to complete the mission, but he didn't expect that the difficulty of passing the level suddenly increased at the last moment!

This wouldn't work. After much thought, he decided to test the waters with Gin first.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Gin sneered, "Is that mouse still useful to you?"

It was of no use. If Saeki saw his face, he would probably think he had seen a ghost - although now he really had seen a ghost.

However, it was not only Rum who was offended. It would have been fine if the base was burned to ashes, but placing such a large corpse under the surveillance camera, as if afraid of not being discovered, even his obsessive-compulsive disorder for holy wine kicked in.

His tone was very calm, but to others it sounded like a question: "Why did this happen? Do you have any idea?"

Gin's voice turned cold: "We are still investigating."

Kono Seira breathed a sigh of relief. Although Gin had a bad temper, his work level was still very trustworthy.

If he could change his habit of glaring at people and drawing his gun at every turn, he would definitely vote for Gin as the most popular employee of the year.

Seiryo Kono imagined Gin with friendly eyes and a warm heart. The more he thought about it, the more magical it became. When he came to his senses, Gin had already hung up the phone coldly.

Well, it seems that I am very resistant to this award.

He put away his phone and placed the voiceprint controller on the bedside table.

Seira Kono was twisting a puzzle piece in a daze.

Next, there's rum.

…

…

Unlike the leisurely situation on his side, Rum might be really crazy. People in the base were purged one after another, and several traitors who colluded with other organizations were found.

After successfully passing three screenings and gaining Rum's favor for his outstanding performance in the mission, Bourbon went through layers of inspections. After the last metal door was opened, he was taken to a house.

"Lord Rum is waiting for you inside." The person who brought him here said this and retreated respectfully.

Furutani Rei walked into the room, lowered his eyes calmly and looked around. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of the true face of Rum, who had been contacting him via text messages.

The bald man sat on the sofa, holding a cane in his hand. His jaw was very broad, the white of his eyes occupied most of his eye sockets, and his left eye was covered with an eye patch. The other intact eye turned and stared straight at me, looking fierce and cunning.

There were many rumors about Rum in the organization, but none of them matched the one-eyed man in front of him. Rum had never appeared in the base, and even the communication was changed by the machine. In other words, the information that could be obtained was close to zero.

Furiya Rei's expression remained unchanged. It didn't matter whether the man in front of him was real or fake. All he had to do was treat this man as Rum.

The light cast a shadow on the side of his nose. Furiya Ling asked calmly, "What's the matter with you calling me over here, Rum?"

Rum knew his character well, and was not upset by the lack of honorifics in his address. He tapped the floor with his cane, signaling Bourbon to come over.

The topic that broke the silence was not the bloody assassinations that had occurred in the base in recent days, but an event from the past.

"Bourbon, I asked you to relay the contents of a video to me."

Rum's real voice was as rough as a nail scratching on brick. He spoke deliberately slowly, as if to deliberately whet people's appetite: "Do you remember what's inside?"

Of course I remember, I can't forget every frame.

The nails of Fūya Rei's fingers that fell to his sides dug into his palms. The pain kept him awake and rational, and he briefly repeated the content: "I saw the holy wine being tortured."

"Punished?"

Rum seemed to have heard some ridiculous joke, and his sudden sharp laughter pierced his eardrums.

The next moment, the laughter suddenly disappeared, and in the dead silence, his sinister voice was heard: "He deserves it!"

"You left out the most important part, Bourbon, but it's not your fault."

The video was divided into two parts, and Rum needed the part where the holy wine was alone in the confinement room. He had thought about doing it himself, but when he remotely controlled the surveillance camera, he triggered the video self-destruction program.

The most critical data was damaged and could not be repaired. Rum smashed the computer in anger and kept cursing. He had to rearrange his plan and remove the gin to give Bourbon a chance to sneak into the darkroom.

He couldn't get over the hatred in his heart, and his one eye was full of gloom: "The "key" has been destroyed, and the plan can only be postponed. No, we can't delay it any longer..."

Rum suddenly started mumbling something in a mysterious way, and the deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes twitched nervously, just like -

A sudden chill ran down Fūya Rei's back, as if he were possessed.

The crutch hit the floor tile, and the white porcelain tile began to crack from the point of impact. Rum regained consciousness because of the sound, and his twitching face gradually relaxed.

He stared at Furuya Rei, and a smile suddenly spread across his lips. He tried his best to be friendly, but the greedy gleam behind his cloudy single eye made him look frightening and terrifying.

Rum said slowly: "Bourbon, your ability should not stop here."

A click sounded at the same time as his praise, and the muzzle of the loaded gun was less than half a meter away from Furutani Rei's eyes.

He continued, "As long as you find the remaining half of the video, you can replace the holy wine."

"Otherwise, die with him."

…

There was only one person left in the dim room again. Rum tapped the ground lightly with the cane in his hand anxiously. He muttered something in his mouth as if he was counting. His eyes kept glancing at the mobile phone on the table. He did not have the intimidating look he had when facing Bourbon.

After an unknown amount of time, the signal light that had been off finally turned red. His eyes lit up and he couldn't wait to open the cover of the phone. He carefully and respectfully called out "Sir" into the receiver.

The "adult" said something.

The one-eyed man bent his waist and nodded continuously, his posture so humble that it seemed as if the adult was standing right in front of him.

"Yes, I have conveyed those words to Bourbon as you instructed."

"Bourbon was surprised at first, but soon accepted the task happily. To be fair, his ability is not much different from Gin's, so he may be able to complete the task in no time."

"When the time comes..."

At the end of the conversation, the one-eyed man smiled and said goodbye respectfully to the person on the other end of the phone.

"Good luck, Lord Rum."

…

----

When receiving the encrypted message from Rum asking him to meet, Kono Seiryoshi was not moved at all, but instead felt that "it should have been done long ago."

The location is not at the base, but on the top floor of an abandoned steel building.

At the appointed time, he did not go in first, but instead played the video footage around the building. Within two hours, three people walked in one after another, a man and a woman, with different ages and appearances.

Coincidentally, none of them was the same Rum he remembered.

Although the building is abandoned, it is not dilapidated. After the previous owner went bankrupt, it became a run-down building. It seems that it was bought by Rum.

Before deciding to go, Seiryoshi Kono thought about it and edited a timed text message, with Gin as the recipient.

It's funny, when he first came, he just wanted to stay as far away from Gin as possible, but now he can only cooperate with Gin.

The light ball was very worried: [Do you really want to go? I feel like Rum definitely has bad intentions.]

"I will meet him sooner or later." Kono Seiryoshi stood in front of the building and looked up.

The clouds are thick tonight, and the lead-gray buildings with steel frames stand upright against the sky. The flashing navigation lights of airplanes can be vaguely seen behind the clouds.

There was no need to anxiously ask the system like he did when he first arrived. He had almost made up his mind - if Rum was loyal to the organization, then even if they really regarded him as the murderer, they would not kill him.

The reverse is another matter.

"Chihui, you stay here and follow the plan."

Before entering the elevator, Kono Seiryoshi spoke to his subordinates. The maid, who had changed out of her uniform and was dressed in black, nodded at him. After the elevator door closed, a black shadow disappeared into the empty building.

The elevator slowly rose, and the lights on the top floor came on. When the metal door slowly opened to both sides, Kono Seiryoshi was speechless for a moment.

Completely different from the exterior of the building, the top floor has been transformed into the style of a church, with stained windows on three sides and an olive-shaped vault with a pointed top.

Unlike the gentle and quiet churches often seen in landscape photos, there is no afternoon sunlight scattering in through the stained glass windows at this moment. Instead, there are candles that have been burning for who knows how long.

The elevator opened, and the wind blew towards the candle flames, causing the halo of light reflected on the stained glass windows to sway and fade. The long and dim light spots seemed like someone waving at them.

There were no rows of seats in the church. The carpet extended from his feet to the central altar, where a statue-like figure stood with its back to him.

Hearing the sound of the elevator shaft, the man's back moved and he slowly turned around.

Revealing a face covered with scars and unrecognizable.

...Rum?

Kono Seiryoshi stood there without moving, and the feeling he had when he first saw the cursed mask came back to his mind.

But the mask was dead, and the creepy face was alive, with a layer of dark white film covering the left eyeball. Some muscle was pulled, and a crack appeared in the middle of the lip, as if smiling at him.

—If that can still be called a laugh.

[Black Organization Officer——Rum (Black)]

The candlelight flickered on his face, and behind him was a graceful rose window. The contrast was so strong that it made one vomit.

Kono Seiryoshi covered his lips and bit his thumb hard with his canine teeth to block the gasp that was about to escape.

...What does it feel like?

Is this guy really Rum?

"Rum" walked towards him step by step, stopped about two meters away, and once again showed a smile that was impossible to look at directly.

"Long time no see," the gentle voice was like thunder, "Yuki."

——

——————————

——■■■■ ■■

Suddenly, the sound of electric current snaked into his ears and his brain felt briefly dizzy. Gongye Shengliang grabbed the elevator door frame tightly, and his fingertips turned white from exerting force to avoid falling down.

Even Vermouth, who had known the Holy Wine for many years, only called him "vino", which was slightly different from his code name.

Only one person knew his real name, and he saw with his own eyes that person stop breathing, and his body is still hidden in a nursing home in Tottori.

It was unknown how long it had been before Gong Ye Shengliang heard his own hoarse voice that was difficult to distinguish: "Where's Rum?"

"Rum?" The man pronounced the code name in a strange way, as if he was amused. "Isn't it right in front of you?"

It is unknown what criteria the system uses to determine the results, but it appears to be a simpler and more brutal approach.

"I know you destroyed the remaining experimental data. It doesn't matter. They are no longer useful."

"Hand over the last 'key', good boy, and I will forgive you for what happened."

Before he died, Karasuma Renya listened to the doctor's advice and copied his brain wave frequency into another person. The experiment was too risky and the requirements were too harsh. He wanted to choose the experimental subject as the host, but those dolls were too fragile and could not survive the painful fusion period.

Karasuma Renya had no choice but to choose his most loyal subordinates. At that time, Rum was already obsessed with the future he described and was enthusiastically dedicated to it.

Immortality is only a means, but once it is achieved, it will prove that humans are capable of reaching the realm of gods.

The moment he touches heaven, his will will be infinitely magnified. At that time, whether it is "replacing everything with one person" or "letting all mankind return to collective unconsciousness" is all up to him.

Come to think of it, he had no such plan originally. So when did everything become irreversible?

His incomplete vision condensed into a point, reflecting a vague outline.

The white-haired, red-eyed young man's pupils dilated slightly, but he showed no other reaction. Just like countless other experimental subjects in the past, he was not angry at all.

"Of course, it's all because of you."

The man let out a vague laugh, "You are different from the others, Yuki."

He took a step closer, staring at her with his white eyes like a wolf, and spoke word by word, "Just like the mask, you shouldn't be in this world."

This kind of gaze was too familiar. At that moment, the system, the mission, and the world line were all forgotten, and Kono Seiryoshi vaguely thought of the past.

Those who were trapped in the container in the laboratory and behind the glass also looked at him in this way.

...Shouldn't he exist?

Seeing those beautiful eyes suddenly tremble, the man wanted to say more, but his smile suddenly froze.

He slowly lowered his head, and when he saw the gradually wet marks on his abdomen, he seemed to have seen something very interesting, and his shoulders shook continuously, "Ha, hahahahaha..."

He staggered back a few steps, holding his stomach, and said with his last bit of strength, "It won't end like this."

The body fell straight back, with a twisted smile still on its unrecognizable face, and hit the ground with a thud.

Blood oozed from beneath his body, staining the carpet.

A sharp and piercing warning sounded in my mind again. Rum's death caused the mission progress to inevitably plummet again.

The system called out to him anxiously: [Contractor! Have you really made up your mind? Rum cannot die at this time!]

"……I know."

Gong Ye Shengliang held the gun, his arms shaking due to the recoil, but he still pointed the gun at the person lying on the ground.

Bang, bang, bang.

By the third shot, "Rum" was completely dead.

But he seemed unaware of it, as if his eyes were shrouded in a black mist, and he continued to pull the trigger mechanically.

Bang.

The cold wind shook the candlelight again, and the rose window reflected the shadow of another person.

It was not until his empty gun was snatched away and thrown aside that Gongye Shengliang's eyes showed a bit of confusion.

The silver-haired man who had arrived at some point grabbed his wrist, glanced at the body on the ground, and said in a cold voice, "Is this rum?"

He felt the pain in his arm belatedly, and his wrist, which was pinched, became red and swollen. Gongye Shengliang turned his eyes away and did not look at him or the body on the ground.

I could hear rapid breathing in my ears and I seemed to hear what Gin was saying, but I couldn't make out the specifics.

Something hard was pressed into his hand.

It's Gin's.

"If you want to go crazy, go crazy all at once." The silver-haired man looked down at him and said coldly, "Go on."

“…”

Gongye Shengliang realized his own mistake and didn't have the energy to argue with him. He whispered, "...let go."

Gin turned a deaf ear to him and grabbed his hand and inserted it into his body. The struggling force quickly disappeared along with the sound of the gun.

It was even like giving instructions, specifically choosing the location where the blow would be fatal.

When the bullets were all used up, Gin replaced the magazine with a new one, and narrowed his eyes: "Is it enough this time?"

“…”

Kono Seiryoshi found it a little difficult to understand him.

After thinking about it, I simply decided not to understand it.

He walked around Gin, walking slowly, enduring the burning pain in his heart with every step, and grabbed a corner of the white silk cloth on the altar and pulled it off with force!

The cross, candles, and kettles all fell to the ground with a clang, and like a signal, there was a sudden sound of a heavy object falling outside a stained glass window.

The mission is not over yet, he muttered to himself.

The secret door slowly opened, and the one-eyed man hiding under the stained glass window looked at the pale young man walking towards him step by step, and felt a fear he had never felt before.

He wanted to escape, but found the only exit was blocked by a ghostly shadow. He suddenly realized something and turned around abruptly.

The man saw the corpse on the ground. In his bloodshot eyes, the young man didn't care. A smile suddenly appeared in the depths of his bloodshot eyes.

"From now on, you are Rum."