Chapter 111

"Ciao, Vino."

Gongye Shengliang paused while turning the pages of the book, looking puzzled, but still replied politely, "Ciao."

He paused and asked, "Why are you greeting me like this all of a sudden?" And he said hello in Italian.

Bermode closed the door, put her long hair behind her head, and raised her red lips a little: "I just remembered that your code name is also related to Italy. Is it considered as adapting to local customs?"

She spoke in a half-joking and intimate tone, and no matter how absurd the content was, it seemed to have a magical power that made people want to believe it.

"..." Kono Seiryo slowly put the book aside and said it in full, "Ciao, Vermouth."

He naturally didn't think that this was just a whim of Belmode, but he was willing to cooperate.

The blonde woman held her chin up and handed over a document wrapped in brown paper with a smile, "Here, the hotel investigation report. I took out the apology letter in advance, do you want to see it?"

A week had passed since the incident at the rooftop party. It took about five hours for Kono Seiryoshi to wake up after taking the medicine. It was still dark outside, and a few thin rays of light came in. He saw Vermode standing quietly in front of the French window, and he didn't know how long he had been alone.

After leaving the hotel, they went straight back to another villa owned by Belmode. The situation at the base was serious, and he was worried outside. As for the apartment where he was staying temporarily... it was not safe if someone targeted him.

Kono Seiryoshi thanked him, opened the document and glanced at it casually. It was pretty much what he imagined. "Since everyone thinks it was an accident, there's no need to investigate further."

"Accident?" Bermode's voice suddenly dropped. "Do you really think so?"

A sudden circuit failure, a swimming pool without a fence, a hand stretched out in the crowd, when coincidences become too many, even the smartest ones can become failures.

If the target wasn't the Holy Wine, Vermouth might have appreciated this little trick for a while.

"If we know who is behind this, there is no need to investigate." The young man said calmly, his eyes half covered by his drooping eyelashes, and he raised his hand to hold his temple. "Why not just treat it as an accident? It will also let the other party relax their vigilance."

"Vino——" Bermode's heart was shocked, as if a bad premonition was about to come true.

After a long silence, she could only sigh softly, raised her hand to brush away the young man's drooping hair, revealing her beautiful eyes that widened suddenly due to surprise: "Do you know that if this kind of accident happens again, you will not be able to appear here."

Kono Seiryoshi was stunned. He wanted to laugh it off and say “It’s not that exaggerated”, but when he thought that it was Vermode who injected the last dose of medicine into this body himself, it seemed that any explanation would be meaningless.

Just as he turned away awkwardly, Bermode had already taken two steps back, crossed his arms over his chest, and asked jokingly, "Do you want to consider staying here?"

“…”

Gong Ye Shengliang looked at her, blinked, and slowly said: "I'm sorry to bother you these days."

He turned his gaze to the other side. Outside the window, a few birds were perched on the branches of the garden, pecking at each other's feathers.

"I have some things to take care of. I may be away for a while. Sorry."

…

…

Having come to this point, no matter how hard he tried, it would not have much effect. One wrong step led to another, and at the most critical moment, he had no idea what he really wanted to do.

Kono Seiryoshi remembered the mission that he had deliberately neglected for a long time, and poked the system to inquire about the progress.

The light ball seemed to be worried for some reason, and sighed in a very human way, [The progress is '? '.]

Kono Seiryoshi: "Oh, it's a question mark...wait?"

Light Ball: [It changes almost every few hours, ranging from 20% to 70%. Seriously, this world line seems to be messed up.]

Gongye Shengliang was embarrassed and coughed twice with a guilty conscience: "Is it because of, cough, because of me?"

[There are other reasons, such as drifting objects from another world.] The light ball patted his shoulder with its wings and comforted him, [But in the end, it’s all because of you.]

The light ball's confidence swelled, and the entire ball shook proudly: [There is no precedent in the database for messing up the world line. You are worthy of being my contractor!]

"Stop swearing..." Gongye Shengliang covered his face to hide the mask of pain, "Then, what about the mission?"

The exciting BGM that the light ball had added to itself suddenly stopped. It was silent for a moment, and suddenly it lowered its voice mysteriously: [If I keep doing this, can I get away with it?]

"..." Kono Seiryoshi put down his hand and stared at it in silence, "You are the system, right?"

It’s OK to deceive humans, but how come this system can deceive itself? Has AI developed to such a terrifying level?

When his teammate encountered a bug, he sighed, opened the system interface, and estimated the progress one by one in his own way.

When Gong Ye Shengliang was immersed in his work, the light ball kept lingering beside him, and occasionally took a peek. After a long time, seeing that the former was still concentrating on the task interface, the system had to increase the volume and coughed heavily several times.

[Ahem!]

Kono Seiryo paused the screen and looked at it in confusion: "What's wrong? It's been acting weird since just now."

The light ball hesitated for a long time, and the electronic voice seemed to have several knots: [Um, Contractor, I have something I want to confirm.]

[After falling into the water, you asked me a question: Do you still remember this incident?]

When he heard the electronic sound of the system, Kono Seiryoshi stopped what he was doing.

The feeling of the cool water in his lungs was not pleasant; in fact, he guessed that he lost consciousness not long after.

It's just that because it was so uncomfortable, the time seemed to be stretched several times longer.

Since the onset of blindness, he rarely lowered his pain sensitivity. He had only a few senses to work with, and they kept failing, so even when he was frozen almost unconscious, his pain sensitivity remained at normal levels.

Under the circumstances at the time, the only thing he could rely on was the system, so his subconscious call was reasonable.

Gong Ye Shengliang slowly recalled, there were only vague waves in his mind, and he couldn't grasp the line no matter what.

He shook his head: "I think I said something... Sorry, I forgot."

Yu! Osmanthus!

But since I've forgotten it, it doesn't seem to be important.

['Disguise'.]

The system suddenly asked, "You asked me if my disguise would be washed away by water."

“…”

Kono Seiryoshi was stunned.

Through the light screen in front of him, his vision was occupied by another cold ice-blue color.

The cold pool water poured in without any explanation, and the back was enlarged to reveal a pair of eyes looking down.

After a full minute, he slowly came back to his senses, uttered an "ah", and subconsciously curled his lips: "I remember now, the disguise was not damaged, and it was not wiped off by the towel."

"……but."

It seemed a bit cold, so he bent his knees, compressed his chest tightly, and whispered between his breaths, "It doesn't matter anymore."

…

…

That night.

There is an antique bronze kerosene lamp hanging at the door of the bar hidden at the end of the alley. The brightness is not high, just enough for people to see the words on the sign.

The moment Zhu Fu Jingguang pushed the door open and walked in, several gazes were instantly focused on him, some of which were filled with hostility and evil intentions, but gradually dispersed after they saw the guitar bag on his back.

This place is remote, and the bar looks as plain as the alley, blending into the night like a colorless bar. No one passing by would associate it with the notorious criminal organization.

Before walking into the bar, Morobushi Jingguang noticed the surveillance at the alley entrance.

In order to avoid being exposed, the bases for such private transactions are generally chosen to be places without cameras.

Now, not only is the surveillance working properly, but the atmosphere in the bar is also unusually depressing. There are not many customers inside, but they have cleverly blocked the entrance and exit, even the seats under the ventilation ducts.

Behind the wall clock, in the wine cabinet, and on the photo wall, he was not sure if there were any surveillance cameras.

Morofushi Jingguang tensed his muscles, ignored the thorny gazes behind him, and walked straight to the bar opposite the entrance.

With a bang, the bartender knocked the shaken shaker on the table. Like a signal, the dead silence in the bar instantly melted away, and the sounds of conversation and playing gradually rang out.

Passing through the seemingly messy arrangement of tables and chairs, the person sitting on the high stool had already noticed Morofushi Jingguang's arrival and was looking at him leisurely.

"..." Zhu Fu Jingguang smiled and nodded to the bartender. He naturally pulled out the chair next to the young man and asked in a low voice: "Did something go wrong at the previous connection point? This place... doesn't seem to be very convenient."

The Holy Wine held the foot of the saucer-shaped cup in his hand, but did not drink it. He raised his head slightly when he heard this.

The warm yellow light outlines the young man's delicate features. His jade-like complexion is reflected with a bit of warmth, and a faint tenderness is faintly visible between his brows.

But when he raised his eyes, his deep pupils showed no emotion, and he was surprised to find that all the gentle expressions were an illusion.

"Other places are too risky for me." Shengjiu raised his lips slightly and said in a light voice, "At least it's safe here."

Zhu Fu Jingguang was silent for a few seconds before he asked slowly, "Are you feeling better? After all, it's still winter—"

Before he finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of the young man beside him frowning.

Morofu Jingguang stopped talking immediately: "...I'm sorry."

"It's nothing, don't be nervous." Shengjiu tapped the table with his knuckles, and the bartender immediately put down the shaker and came over.

"Would you like anything to drink?" he asked Zhu Fu Jingguang.

The black-haired young man's eyes swept across the wine glass in his hand. The rim of the glass was decorated with a string of incense, two pieces of ice were placed in the clear green liquid, and a layer of light frost covered the wall of the glass.

"…You choose."

Shengjiu was not surprised, as if he had expected it, and symbolically asked for his opinion: "How about Penicillin?"

Morofushi Kagemitsu nodded.

While waiting, no one spoke first.

It didn't take long before the prepared cocktail was placed in front of Zhufu Jingguang.

Compared to popular alcoholic beverages, Penicillin is strong and stimulating, so it is relatively popular. But the bartender in this bar is obviously very skilled. When the ice cubes are gently shaken, the unique smoky flavor of Scottish whiskey permeates the nose.

Scotch, Penicillin.

Zhu Fu Jingguang stared quietly at the glass of wine mixed with his own code name for more than ten seconds, took a sip, and drank it all in one gulp before the spicy ginger juice and the strong smell of wine dissolved between his lips and teeth.

This was obviously not the way to go about wine tasting, but he certainly didn't have much time or patience.

He noticed that when he drank the glass of wine, the eyes of the Holy Wine seemed to flicker in the unclear corner.

The young man opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing. He lowered his head and took a sip of the wine in his glass.

He exhaled softly and took the initiative to mention the purpose of today's meeting: "I want to give you a task."

"The required information has been sent to your mailbox. You just need to follow it. There will be many benefits after it is completed."

The mission he continued to talk about was in complete conflict with the Metropolitan Police Department's mission in terms of timing.

Morofushi Jingguang clenched his lowered hands, then suddenly loosened them. When he raised his head again, his expression had changed to worry and caution: "Isn't this schedule too tight? Besides, if I follow the mission, I will have to leave Japan for a long time."

"What about you, Vin?"

"Me?" Shengjiu smiled, his voice unusually relaxed.

He shook the wine glass in his hand, his eyes fixed on the tiny water droplets around the edge, "Of course, back to the original place."

The original place - does it mean the American base?

Before Morofushi Jingguang could think about it carefully, a brisk voice came from his side again.

"That's it for today, Scotch."

"--goodbye."

…

…

The guests in the bar had already left. The last one was about to ask for another drink with a burp, but when he turned around, he was met with a pair of cold green eyes looking down at him.

The drunkenness was suddenly awakened, he stood up tremblingly, forced a smile, and greeted the rare guest: "Gin..."

The tall man with long silver hair ignored him and walked inside without looking around.

Gin's black windbreaker was tinged with frost, and with his expressionless face, the temperature in the bar seemed to have dropped by several degrees.

Anyone with eyes wouldn't dare to touch him at this moment. The music stopped abruptly and the bartender closed the door dutifully before leaving.

It has been hinted to this extent, but some people just can't receive it.

The high stool had no backrest. Kono Seiryoshi supported his chin with one hand, while his other free hand was slowly moving between the cups on the table. Upon closer inspection, the largest shaker was actually filled with honey water.

The movements were unsteady, and at least half of the wine spilled. He didn't care about the recipe, and just added it randomly into the glass according to his preference. The expensive red wine that should have been savored carefully became a substitute for honey water. The novel and bold mixing method would make anyone who knows wine feel painful.

He was oblivious, so absorbed in his adult version of the house game that he didn't even notice someone approaching.

It was not until the wine opener was impatiently snatched away that he held the air in his hand and pointed it at the bottle for a long time in vain, and then he realized dully that something seemed to be wrong.

No matter which world he was in, Kono Seiryo rarely drank, and the few times he drank, he basically fell asleep immediately. But this time, he injected a small amount of alcohol into a large amount of honey water to stay awake.

Well, not too sober.

Gongye Shengliang squinted his eyes and tried to make out the dark outline in front of him. Before he could figure out what was going on, the dark figure clamped his chin unceremoniously: "How much did you drink?"

He frowned as he felt the pinch hurt, and pushed the other person's hand with the gun coils away. His mind was awakened for a moment, and he called out the black shadow's name: "... Kurosawa."

Of course I didn't push it, but the hand froze and pulled away on its own.

Gongye Shengliang ignored him and pointed to the wine cabinet in front of him, a little disappointed: "I wanted to order a glass of holy wine, but there are no cookies here*."

He spoke clearly, pronounced each word clearly, and answered questions irrelevantly.

The whole person seemed to have degenerated into a childish child. When speaking, he had to turn around, hold the edge of the chair to prevent himself from falling, and stubbornly look the other person in the eye.

Gin didn't know what he was expecting.

Are you expecting him to join in the condemnation, “Why don’t you sell cookies in this bar?”

Kono Seiryoshi didn't get the point, and didn't realize that the "shining eyes" he thought he was seeing were actually a necklace sticking out of his collar.

Gin tucked the necklace back into his collar with an expressionless face.

Having lost his coordinates, he froze, rubbed his eyes, and then opened them again, "How strange! Why am I here?"

Gin sighed, not wanting to waste any more time with a drunkard, and wanted to pick him up by the collar.

He had just extended his hand, but he didn't expect that the other party would suddenly react so violently that he staggered back two steps and accidentally knocked over the ice bucket.

The ice inside had been there for some time and had mostly melted. The cold water poured over my arms, and the wet areas felt piercingly cold.

Gongye Shengliang shuddered and his face suddenly turned pale.

He saw the mess on the bar and who was standing in front of him.

I remembered "why I am here".

The only spot on the messy table that was spared was the glass of wine he had ordered when he sat down. At first he didn't dare to drink it, and then he didn't want to drink it.

The old ice was not easy to melt, and even the decorative incense sticks were still in their original positions, as if they had not moved at all.

Gin noticed his gaze and frowned: "You were drinking this before?"

"……Um."

Kono Seiryoshi walked over slowly, picked up the wine glass, and suddenly wanted to pour it out, but stopped the thought when he was about to pour it into the ice bucket.

He wasn't very interested in alcohol and ordered this cocktail simply because of its name.

"Last Word"

The "last words" that emerged from the ashes.