Thus, the youth did not restrain his aura, walking casually as he approached. His silver hair and black clothing formed a striking contrast, drawing at least half of the gazes toward him.
He was not at all grateful for such "enthusiastic" attitudes; his Green eyes swept over them coldly, like a North wind passing through, instantly causing those insolent gazes to withdraw significantly.
Gin lowered his eyes, feeling somewhat satisfied, only to turn around and find his invitation partner staring at him with burning intensity. A faint, intrigued smile appeared on his handsome face.
Caught red-handed, Akai Shuichi did not panic; instead, he calmly observed his Boss, even showing a leisurely smile.
Silver-haired youth: ……
"Long time no see, Boss," Akai Shuichi said with a hint of lightness in his voice, his green eyes shimmering with clear pleasure, looking to be in high spirits.
Gin was in a very bad mood.
I don't think it will take long." He sat down directly, retorting expressionlessly, "At least not long enough to make you lose your patience with Borse.
Those words were a bit harsh.
Considering the consequences caused by that "coincidence" in the UK, as well as Borse's status as one of Gin's capable subordinates, Akai Shuichi was not surprised by Gin's outburst.
Accepting this accusation in its entirety would naturally be akin to wishing for a swift death, but to refute it would inevitably offend this Top Killer, whose level of danger was comparable to that of a highly flammable substance.
The Ace Agent calmly changed the subject, pretending not to understand the hidden meaning in Gin's words: "Borse is a very good partner, but he is truly too silent; sometimes it gets a bit boring."
Gin shot him a sidelong glance, thinking to himself that there should be a limit to one's nonsense; Borse was indeed a man of few words, but was it really that serious?
However, he did not intend to make things difficult for the guy on purpose, so he lightly brushed the topic aside: "Do you need to take a few days off to rest?"
Considering what was about to happen, as well as the so-called Plot that he had almost forgotten in some far corner of his mind, Gin showed a rare moment of kindness.
After all, setting everything else aside, Akai was quite to his liking.
The Black-haired undercover gentleman raised his eyebrows in slight surprise, observing Gin's expression as if searching for something.
Naturally, he discovered nothing.
Gin's expression remained unchanged, his green eyes looking back at him indifferently.
His skin was excessively pale, sometimes even appearing somewhat unhealthy—of course, that was just an appearance; after all, the painful lessons from their previous encounters remained fresh in the Black-haired detective's memory.
The dry weather caused his lips to crack slightly..
Akai slightly raised his index finger from the table, then slowly let it drop again. "Then I shall not stand in your way."
The Silver-haired youth's gaze fell nonchalantly upon his index finger, but Akai controlled his finger, preventing it from trembling under the other man's palpable gaze.
Then he heard Gin's low voice ring out in a swaying manner, sounding as if he were teasing, yet perhaps mocking: "Is he that obedient?"
He replied, not to be outdone, "That depends on who the target is."
Gin gave him a half-smile, a look so full of meaning that it made Akai Shuichi's heart skip a beat.
The silver-haired youth did not care about the latter's thoughts. He tossed a new set of keys to the black-haired youth, once the latter had reached out to catch them, he spoke lazily, "Your new car. The previous one was too damaged. This one is from the Organization, as a reward for this mission.
Akai muttered to himself: Is he really forcing me to buy this?
However, he was not so tactless as to say it outright, instead simply interjected, "My new car is outside."
Gin gave him a cold look, Akai Shuichi couldn't tell if it was an illusion, but he felt that there was a hint of subtle gloating hidden within that gaze.
No." Gin said succinctly. "It's at the Liquor Group.
Akai Shuichi was choked up.
Gin carefully admired his future Nemesis's expression for a moment, then casually added another blow: "Your coffee has gone cold."
Akai Shuichi: …………
..
During this period, Gin's life could almost be described as decadent.
He welcomed a long-awaited vacation once again. He didn't need to carry a Sniper Rifle to take a life with a single shot, nor did he need to pick up a Beretta to kill and cause chaos, there was no need to pilot a Helicopter to strafe buildings.
He only needs to leisurely flip through files and look over intelligence.
And he could spend more time on certain matters.
Regarding this, Gin expressed that he was quite satisfied.
His methods were incomparable to Nana's. In just a few short days, Gin had already researched every minute detail of the letters, even discovering exactly where those non-handwritten letter cards were purchased.
However, it was of no use at all.
Gin's imagination ran wild, yet he still couldn't find any useful clues; everything seemed to have come to a standstill, without any progress.
It seems the key to decryption should lie within the information contained in the letters themselves. —The Silver-haired youth thought this to himself, then carefully hid the letters away.
Days passed peacefully, everything remained calm and quiet.
Gin enjoyed this period of tranquility—after all, a balance between work and rest was essential.
The only ripple occurred with Nana.
While this girl was learning from Kindaichi, the latter unhesitatingly exerted his unique "Detective Aura," forcing the two of them into a murder case.
It was likely a case of Nana wanting to cry but having no tears; up until now, his life had indeed been full of ups and downs, but it was certainly not as intense as Kindaichi's "Aura"!
At this moment, Nana did not yet know that in the near future, several high school detectives would emerge, their Shinigami Aura would be more powerful than anyone else's.
Among them, that Fake elementary student who escaped death was a master of the craft, encountering hundreds of cases all by himself within just half a year, even causing his Companion to be caught up in the chaos and suffer through multiple kidnappings.
Each and every one of these cases was enough to break anyone's heart and bring tears to anyone's eyes. Compared to the Shinigami Aura, Kindaichi's Detective Aura is still a bit lacking in power!
Out of a desire to protect the Black-haired girl, Gin cared quite a bit about this "Bad incident" which, in his eyes, was nothing at all. However, after observing for a while and finding that the "Detective Little Brother" whom Takao Haruki frequently mentioned was doing quite well, that Nana had also gained a lot from it, the Killer had failed to make a significant splash, so he did not dwell on it much.
Otherwise, he really wouldn't mind acting as a Messenger of justice for once, avenging the deceased.
Kimie's SMS messages kept coming in one after another, but a quick glance from Gin showed they were nothing of importance.
It was just that the youth named Niwang Yaji seemed to be getting closer and closer to Nana, which left Gin feeling somewhat displeased.
He truly didn't mind Nana being in a relationship—and besides, being in a relationship could divert the little girl's attention, preventing him from obsessing over trivial matters every day; he even quite supported Nana in having several relationships to experience life and gain experience.
But the relationship between Dan Nani and Niwang no longer seemed like just a casual romance.
This made Gin somewhat displeased.
However, one thing is one thing; before Niwang could pose any real threat, Gin was not yet prepared to go so far as to break up a pair of lovers.
Youth!
Gin felt a strange sense of nostalgia, wondering what he had been doing back when he was young.
*Ahem.*
..
Borse successfully stayed in Italy.
Heine has some connections in Italy as well—although he has been away from home for many years, he still had many friends from when he lived in Italy.
It was merely a matter of returning a small favor, so those "friends" weren't so superficial as to let that get in the way.
However, Borse was on vacation in Italy, Rye had returned to Japan, leaving the Europe Department short-staffed. Consequently, Gin naturally had to dispatch several of his Subordinates there—in fact, considering the strength of the two groups, Gin felt that the Europe Department was getting the short end of the stick.
He looked at his group of subordinates, rubbed his furrowed brow, decisively made a phone call to Cavendish to ask if he had any suitable New Cadre lately.
“Or even Cadres undergoing personnel changes would work,” the Silver-haired youth added, his voice sounding slightly distorted as it traveled through the signal to the other end.
Sure, I'll keep an eye out for you." Cavendish agreed quite readily. He had always been smooth and tactful in his dealings, so he naturally wouldn't refuse such a simple request to do someone a favor. "I'll send you a list in a moment.
Gin sent a brief, curt syllable in response.
Cavendish was highly efficient; in less than three hours, he had sent a reply via email.
The email interface appeared on the Screen, emitting a faint light, with the black text on white paper appearing exceptionally clear.
Gin saw Kiel's name at first glance.
Considering Kiel's identity, a sudden urge to complain welled up in Gin's heart; however, thinking of his ability, the Silver-haired youth couldn't help but feel a sense of temptation.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he gave up on the idea with a sense of regret.
Although he was more than happy to engage in a battle of wits and courage with talented people—and perhaps even enslave them to work for him in the process—he currently had too many private matters to attend to and simply could not spare the time. Therefore, after careful consideration, he reluctantly gave up on Kiel and decided to select several bottles of genuine liquor instead.
Reject counterfeits, starting now.
He swiped down with his Finger, the Screen displayed the next person's profile.
As he considered the arrangement of his subordinates, he filtered through everyone's information in his mind. As he was calculating, his gaze suddenly froze.
Korn.
Chianti.
Gin's gaze darkened as he carefully scanned the introductions of the two, a hint of contemplation flashing through his Green eyes.
—Unexpectedly, it's a perfect fit.
Closing the mobile phone, Gin made a decisive decision.
..
Rye's return did not bring any major changes to the Japan Department, as he was still on leave at this moment.
Based on the speechless expression of someone during their last conversation, Gin was in a great mood, he even showed mercy by granting the Black-haired youth paid leave.
And the agreement between Scotland and Gin was proceeding quietly.
It must be said that this guy's strength is truly impressive—no wonder he could stand out in an organization filled with undercover agents (strike that).
In the current situation, he was essentially fighting a solitary battle, yet he could still play a group of idiots like fools—for a moment, Gin actually didn't know whether he should feel sorry for Scotland or feel sympathy for the Black Organization.
Or perhaps he should feel some sympathy for himself..
This plan is of great significance, the Black Organization's security measures are exceptionally well-implemented.
Of course, for someone of Gin's level, the difference between these security measures and ordinary Intelligence was merely that one had a lock on the door, while the other didn't even have a chain.
The former was a bit more troublesome, but he could pick the lock with just a piece of wire.
And so, the Silver-haired youth casually took the Black Organization's intelligence and passed it along.
Gin leisurely sent him several pieces of encrypted intelligence while adding some filtered water to his Owl's water bowl.
He still felt a sense of regret.
As his admiration for Scotland grew, so did his sense of regret.