A thunderclap exploded outside.

Dazai Osamu was suddenly shocked, and the poker cards in his hand suddenly fell to the ground.

It was very windy outside. Today was a rare rainstorm. The howling chill brought by the howling wind and rain was kept outside by the glass.

Fortunately, he is now inside the Armed Detective Agency and does not have to worry about the wind blowing the poker cards, otherwise he probably would not be so lucky.

Dazai Osamu quickly picked up the poker cards from the ground and stuffed them back into his pocket without even looking at them. He didn't know if it was his illusion, but the cards seemed to feel softer than when he first got them. A sense of time was transmitted to his hands through this texture.

But Dazai Osamu rarely noticed such a change. He was staring out the window in a trance.

There was another loud thunder, and the lightning illuminated Dazai Osamu's profile and his gloomy expression, making everything shine for a moment in the night, and then quickly hidden by the darkness.

The rain was so heavy that it seemed to have formed a line in the air, a beaded curtain. Although Dazai Osamu was looking into the distance, he could hardly see anything. Even the sign of the store opposite was so blurry.

And Dazai Osamu was still standing in front of the window.

There must be something behind the rain. This thought lingered in his mind and was the reason why he had been standing here.

He clearly felt something, but couldn't see it clearly. Human vision is too simple after all. The world is severely simplified in the eyes of these seemingly advanced mammals. It is like a movie that is cutting frames for a cat.

"Dazai." Someone called him from behind.

Dazai Osamu turned around. Although he was fascinated before, he also felt the human presence.

Without a doubt, it was Ranpo Edogawa.

"You received it too." This is an affirmative sentence.

Dazai Osamu's tone was very firm. Although he had not confirmed it in advance and did not specify what the item was, the two smart people immediately understood what the other meant.

"Looks like an ally." The detective smiled and took out a card from his pocket that looked a little yellowed in the dark.

It's a heart.

"It's really a coincidence that I also have a heart." Dazai Osamu did not take out his own cards because there was no need to do so at this time. He just echoed Edogawa Ranpo's words in a casual tone.

"The colors represent the camps," the detective who always squinted his eyes opened them, his expression became serious for a moment, and then quickly became ambiguous, "This is really more blatantly resisting the hint than the last time."

"This really makes Lord Ranpo unhappy." The detective pouted unhappily, as if he was bored.

"Mr. Ranpo, are you planning to go?" Dazai Osamu did not show much emotion, but just asked casually.

"Are you asking questions even though you already know the answer, Dazai?" Edogawa Ranpo said unhappily, holding his chin and looking somewhere in the void.

No one spoke for a while after Edogawa Ranpo's words fell. Outside the house, there was a roar of wind and rain and thunder, but on the first floor of the Armed Detective Agency, there was silence.

"You can see it, Dazai." Edogawa Ranpo suddenly said.

The person being asked showed no intention of answering immediately.

When lightning once again illuminated the corner where Dazai Osamu was standing, the young man in the light-colored windbreaker suddenly put his hands in his pockets and walked into the detective with a seemingly relaxed attitude.

Dazai Osamu leaned slightly towards Edogawa Ranpo and pressed his fingers to his own lips.

The young man's voice was lowered to a very low pitch, even somewhat out of its original tone:

"secret."

“Tsk.”

This was the sound of Edogawa Ranpo clicking his lips in dissatisfaction. Although Dazai Osamu still did not say it explicitly, they both understood what the other meant.

Although he had guessed this result from the beginning, the detective was still a little bothered by the fact that he was the foundation of the Armed Detective Society's psychic ability.

"It's really disappointing. Even the range of vision has to be divided into different levels." Edogawa Ranpo sat up straight on the sofa. There was a hint of irritation and dissatisfaction between the detective's eyebrows. This feeling of always being excluded was enough to make him feel disgusted.

No one responded to him, but Edogawa Ranpo didn't seem to care that there was another person present who behaved differently than usual.

In the darkness created by the night, Dazai Osamu laughed briefly and shook his head as if in self-mockery.

"This is not a good thing." His voice was so soft that it was almost lost in the sound of the rain, but Dazai was sure that Ranpo Edogawa definitely heard it.

************

"Where are we going?"

In the black business car belonging to the Special Ability Section, Kaiinji Suyou asked in a calm tone.

The car's windows were covered with opaque stickers, so the people inside couldn't see what was outside the window clearly. However, the boy sitting in the back seat didn't seem worried, but just stared straight ahead with an indifferent expression.

Shotaro Kamikawachi carefully glanced in the direction of the rearview mirror, but unexpectedly he met the eyes of Shanghai Yinsi Suyou. The expression and abnormal calmness in the boy's eyes made him shiver involuntarily. He quickly retracted his gaze and concentrated on driving.

Naturally, he was not qualified to answer questions about the Haiyin Temple tour. In the back seat of the spacious car were two well-armed members of the action team, who were responsible for escorting the transfer of the Haiyin Temple tour.

However, it was said that the protected object was transferred, but it was more like an arrest. Kamikawachi Shotaro only complained in his heart. After all, he was just responsible for driving a car, and his clairvoyance was very weak, so he naturally knew nothing about the Kaionji tour.

This was indeed a means of arrest and confinement. Haiyinsi Suyou knew very well how the current situation happened. After all, he was the one who instigated it from the beginning.

The barrage was still present as always.

[??? Brother Hai was arrested???]

[What happened? Why were you suddenly taken to the car?]

[Is this the car of the Special Ability Unit? Why was Brother Hai arrested again?]

[Isn’t it because Natsume Soseki fell from power? But they won’t arrest Hai-ge as well, right?]

[??? What does this have to do with Natsume Soseki?]

[I lost the political struggle, and it's what I deserve. It was a long time ago. The cunning rabbit dies and the running dog is cooked.]

[They really squeezed out all the remaining value. Brother Hai’s family is miserable. They are full of loyal and brave people.]

[But this doesn't have anything to do with the plan mentioned by the Special Ability Division, right?]

[What plan? The one that chooses Hai Ge as the candidate?]

[No way, you are going to attack Brother Hai so soon, please don’t, please don’t attack Brother Hai]

[I think it’s probably because Brother Hai received an invitation to the Ugly Banquet. Didn’t they say that when he was 18 years old, they arrested Brother Hai now to avoid any more trouble.]

Looking at the comments about their destination in the barrage, Haiyin Temple Suyou already had an idea of ​​what he was about to face.

Although he was a little surprised by what happened to Natsume Soseki, it was also something that those people would do.

What he had experienced so far seemed very similar to the first time he came to the Special Ability Unit. He was also being escorted by armed forces and walking in a corridor that seemed to have no end.

The atmosphere here seemed even thicker and more corrupt than the last time, as if it had been carefully pickled by countless conspiracies for decades, brewing a corrupt atmosphere that emanated from the bones.

It was like the carcass of a dead fish drowned in the sea of ​​desire, with a wet and unsettling slippery feeling.

There might be something unusual underneath the Special Ability Division, and it feels like they are just the same.

When the word "similar" appeared in Haiyin Temple Suyou's mind, he was suddenly startled.

"Same kind?" He whispered to himself. Something seemed to be getting closer to him. The blurriness on the foggy glass door seemed to have dissipated a lot.

The world becomes clearer little by little.

He walked slowly deeper into the ground, and a vague calling seemed to be getting closer and closer.