At this moment, the atmosphere inside a quiet bar was suffocating. The only customers were some regulars, and it was these very regulars who made the atmosphere even more stifling.
"So, what's going on?"
Gin was radiating an extraordinary chill.
The entire bar fell silent.
Everyone was confused, for they had only just learned that one of the organization's strongholds had been raided by the police.
"Gin, you know, we don't know much about the organization's strongholds. Especially those related to that woman."
Chianti, who was usually reckless and sharp-tongued, sounded much more restrained now.
Everyone could see that Gin was on the verge of exploding. If anyone dared to joke right now, Gin would not hesitate to pull the trigger.
"Among us cadre members, only you and Vodka are usually allowed to go to that woman's stronghold. No one else would track you, right?"
"Since that stronghold had a problem, why not start investigating from the people who knew about it?"
Chianti's words were logical.
Any suspicion needed evidence. Within the entire organization, only Gin and Vodka were directly in contact with Shiho. Who else had the right to know her exact location?
The killing intent radiating from Gin lessened slightly.
The location of the stronghold was not something easy to guess. Whenever someone targeted Shiho, the stronghold would immediately be relocated. She had stayed in more than a dozen different safe houses scattered across various cities.
This was both to conceal her whereabouts and to keep the organization's most secretive research hidden in the shadows.
Almost every half month, Shiho's residence would change. Under such circumstances, it was nearly impossible for anyone to pinpoint her location.
Yet, despite such careful concealment, her stronghold was still exposed. What was worse, it happened right after she had just been moved.
Of course, there were other members in the organization who knew Shiho's location. But each of them was an important figure, such as Rum, the second-in-command, and that mysterious woman.
Of the two, one had no motive to harm Shiho, while the other had the motive but no opportunity.
Shiho was far too important.
No one in the organization understood her importance better than Gin.
That drug had passed through countless hands, but all research had stagnated, as if everyone was heading in the wrong direction. Only Shiho was different.
Once she took over the project, the deadlock ended and the research advanced again.
Gin didn't know why.
But ever since then, Shiho's value to the organization had risen to the highest level.
If she weren't so vital, given her sister's betrayal and Shiho's subtle cooperation with her, Gin would have already put a bullet in the heads of the two sisters.
That was why this blunder enraged him so much.
The stronghold was raided. The research data was taken by the police. Even the researchers had vanished.
Since becoming a core member of the organization, he had never made such a disastrous mistake.
And worst of all, he was the last to know. The absurdity of it all made his blood boil.
Now, the research data was in enemy hands, the researchers were in police custody, and the stronghold was cordoned off by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
Gin exhaled slowly. He was, after all, a killer who lived by calmness. Faced with this maddening situation, his first move was to contact the intelligence division.
He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
"Bourbon, what's going on with this police operation?"
"I beg you, don't treat me like your personal intelligence network, alright?"
"I don't have time to listen to your complaints."
"Tch, you're as boring as ever. Fine. I haven't received any intel about this operation either. Everything happened too suddenly. No warning signs at all."
"But I did manage to gather some information."
"Speak."
"According to what I received, the police's action team suffered severe injuries this time. Almost the entire forty-person unit was wounded. Two people were impaled—by hands. Five others had their heads smashed—also by fists."
"Don't doubt this intel. My sources are solid. Also, all 214 guards from that stronghold were collected by the police and sent to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Many researchers have already been escorted there as well. I suspect they're conducting research on the bodies."
Gin's brows knitted tightly.
He immediately grasped Bourbon's implication. Those guards had clearly been drugged.
And the drugs had boosted their physical abilities to an absurd degree, strong enough to pierce bodies and shatter skulls with bare hands.
Gin didn't believe those action team members weren't wearing bulletproof vests.
Either the vests were pierced directly, or the guards struck the unprotected areas.
No matter which, the result was unbelievable.
But what mattered most wasn't whether it was absurd, but the key piece of information Gin picked up.
"Someone used the police as pawns."
"Obviously. But this time, the police aren't focusing on the third party. Their attention has been completely drawn to our stronghold."
"Additionally, I received word that the police obtained research data on a certain drug."
Gin's face twitched. He found it hard to comprehend why so many enemies had suddenly turned their guns on the organization.
Not only had they been handed to the police by an unknown third party, but the police were now concentrating all efforts on them.
Things had taken the worst possible turn.
"Can it be retrieved?"
"That's a joke. No one knows whose hands the data is in now. But I'd say a portion of it will be circulated to every Inspector."
"What's going on?"
"Remember the list of people killed by that drug? That was in the stolen data too. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is preparing to conduct a full investigation into that list. You understand what that means?"
"…Damn it!"
Gin, who was usually composed enough to keep his emotions in check, was about to lose control this time.
(To be continued.)
***
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