Gin's eyes darkened.
The girl's clear voice seemed to echo in his ears once more, carrying a hint of coquettishness and a touch of complaint.
"You really can't blame me.. I didn't do it on purpose, it's just that the professor spoke too fast.. I couldn't correct the things I misremembered in time, so I could only write it this way." Shiratori Midori's voice was dejected, like a wilted eggplant.
..
Those clear, hand-written, hand-colored cards.
—Two words: LIVER, LADY; three printed letters: R, B, N; and two hand-drawn letters, I and S.
After he carefully identified them, he discovered a clue.
—Nana made a mistake; one of them wasn't a capital I, but a lowercase l.
—But here lies the problem: all these English letters are capitalized, so why would a lowercase letter appear out of nowhere?
If the uppercase letters symbolize EXIST, then the lowercase letters symbolize REMOVE.
Then the letters that remained were—
..
I——V——E——R——L——A——D——Y——R——B——N——S
Temporarily ignoring the scattered letters, the two words become IVER LADY.
Put the S at the very beginning and add the final lowercase l.
Silver Lady。
In the luxurious room, soft beige light spilled across the space. Gin lowered her head slightly, her emotions momentarily unreadable.
Nor could one see the brilliant radiance within his green eyes.
But then another question arises, if that is truly the case..
What do the remaining letters represent?
And, if the lowercase letters represent REMOVE, then the letter l itself shouldn't exist either.
..
What interrupted his thoughts was Akai Shuichi's call: "Are you okay?"
He probably didn't realize how terrifying he looked right now: his already fair complexion was now deathly pale; his green eyes were as sharp as blades, yet the light within them was scattered, his severely distracted appearance made Akai Shuichi's heart tighten.
It was as if.. he was out of place in this world.
As Akai's voice sounded, the light in Gin's eyes solidified, his expression gradually returned to normal, looking no different from usual.
He glanced slightly toward his Companion, his gaze lingering on him for several seconds before he slowly spoke, "I'm fine."
Upon hearing the reply, the tension in Akai Shuichi's heart finally eased, he breathed a small sigh of relief. However, when his gaze met the silver-haired youth, seeing Gin looking as unshakeable as ever, he still felt a sense of stifled frustration in his heart.
“It's good that you're alright.” The Black-haired youth's voice was somewhat languid as he pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling a wave of dizziness.
This dizziness was caused by blood loss; the wound on his right shoulder was far too deep and had never been treated.
After all this wandering around, combined with prolonged mental tension and having had neither food nor water, although he could still hold on, it was truly hard to say how much longer he could last.
It all depends on when he can escape.
What a coincidence, Gin thinks so too.
..
Being trapped like this again was truly not an option.. Besides, he had many things he needed to verify.
Gin narrowed his eyes slightly as a string of numbers suddenly surfaced in his mind.
It was a string of R Code, a code he had typed in with his own hands.
data
To analyze the "Gift" brought by Takao Haruki, that so-called tax form.
The intersection of black and white.. a combination of numbers and letters..
The time hidden within.
1948-1969
The information left by Shiratori Midori and the so-called Gift from Takao Haruki both skillfully pointed to the same person.
And—
1948 and 1969.. those two pivotal years were far too familiar.
It was so familiar that it forced him to think of that important Solution that linked Kudo Shinichi and the Shinigami Elementary Student.
As his gaze fell upon Snow White, who lay sleeping quietly in the Coffin, the girl before him was stunningly beautiful; however, Gin felt a sudden impulse to shake her violently to wake her up.
But for now, the priority was—
"We have to leave this place first," Gin said.
He felt truly stifled, to the point where even his Voice sounded incredibly dull.
Akai Shuichi blinked, feeling a bit curious as to why Gin's aura had suddenly become so dangerous and unapproachable when he had been perfectly fine just a moment ago. However, having no intention of making a scene, he nodded in agreement with Gin—after all, a bullet was still lodged in his shoulder!
It was just that—
How are we going to get out?
Gin let out a cold sneer, appearing as if his entire being was covered in sharp spikes that would leave anyone who touched him bleeding profusely.
His voice carried a heavy sense of aggression, his sharp, unyielding manner caused flashes of interest to flicker within Akai Shuichi's green eyes.
This is very close to Nai Lake—" Gin spoke as if nonchalantly, his blue-green eyes like a piece of fine jade. He lifted his chin slightly, displaying a sense of reserved arrogance. "Tell me, what would happen if we blew this place up?
Perhaps it was intentional by the owner of the Villa, but as the underground passage reached this point, there was only a thin layer separating it from Nai Lake—the owner of this place was clearly aware of this, so this exceptionally luxurious Room also focused on durability and load-bearing capacity, allowing it to retain its stunning beauty even under layers of pressure.
Now, Gin says he is going to blow them all up.
The Secret Room collapsed, the lake water surged in.. so he intended to swim his way out?
"You're serious." Even for Akai Shuichi, such a crazy idea required second thoughts, his gaze toward Gin held a hint of strangeness.
What on earth has gotten into him?
"Do you think I'm joking?" Gin retorted, a hint of a sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.
He blinked, nonchalantly picked up that pair of white eyeballs, stared at them under the warm Light for a few seconds before turning his head to Akai Shuichi and saying, "If you agree, you won't need to take the dress in your hand."
That was actually good news.
“Why did I even take this dress off in the first place..” The Black-haired youth let out a laughing sigh and decisively threw the dress on the ground, spreading his hands with a smile, "Let's get to it. How many micro bombs do you have left?"
His calm and composed demeanor made it seem as if he were asking, "How much money do you have left?"
He couldn't possibly have been bribed by something as trivial as "no need to bring a Dress"—if he had truly been strongly opposed, he wouldn't have compromised back then—it's just that..
Anyway, the current situation is a dead end regardless..
So, if Gin was going to go crazy, he might as well go crazy along with him.
This openness existed in his expression and was manifested in his every gesture.
Gin stared at him for three seconds, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. This smile was less indifferent than usual, possessing a touch more of unbridled indulgence. Under the beige light, his cold eyes and brows showed a hint of softness.
The spring chill lingers for several days, the mountain scenery of Chuxiang is particularly lush and beautiful.
The silver-haired youth raised an eyebrow slightly. "Enough."
..
Since his debut, he has never suffered such a loss.
And never—no one has ever dared to plot against him like this.
That group of people chasing him was not drawn there because of Takao Haruki; from the very beginning, their target was him.
He really misunderstood Takao Haruki.
What Hell Puppeteer.. that guy is nothing more than a smokescreen.
The true target of that group's operation this time was not Takao Haruki, but he himself.
Or rather, it was his hair.
Moreover, they were able to lure him into this Villa and discover all of this.
Therefore, the opponent's firepower immediately slowed down, allowing the two of them enough time to move through the Villa and eventually find this secret passage.
Do you want him to experience the helplessness of being "meat on a chopping block"?
I'm sorry, you have the wrong person.
Have you ever heard of a fish dying with the net?
Who exactly are the B. W, just how long have they been planning this?
Was attacking him while he was on a mission an intentional act, or was it merely a coincidence?
Regardless, it doesn't matter anymore.
After provoking me, thinking you can walk away unscathed.. it won't be that easy.
Gin finished his final preparations, his expression cold and distant.
Don't you have your heart set on assembling the perfect 'Figure'? How about I destroy all your hard work?
The Silver-haired youth's gaze was cold and heavy, like perennial ice; once touched by the wind, it carried a bone-chilling desolation of early spring.
You want my head—I wonder if you can even handle it!
-----------------------
Author's Note: Ah, right, actually they did it on purpose.
And that figure enthusiast even wanted Gin's hair—the kind including the scalp.
He was simply completely wrong about the level of strength; however, haha.
Gin: Motherfucker
..