Chapter 34: Silencing the Witness

Inside Gin’s car, after Vodka finished his account.

“The one-billion-yen heist?” Molay exhaled a puff of smoke toward the window. “A cleanup job?”

“Just three expendable pawns,” Gin said. He finished one cigarette and pulled out the pack again. “They didn't have to die, originally. It’s a pity…”

*I can only smoke like this because I possess a materialized soul; what gives you the right to smoke like that, you iron-lunged freak?* Molay glanced at Gin. “A pity about what?”

“A pity that a certain woman doesn't know what’s good for her.” Gin lit his cigarette, unwilling to divulge further details.

Vodka, driving the car, suddenly thought of something. He turned his head and asked, “Big Brother, if we just finish her off like this, won’t that woman’s sister be upset? After all, she’s an important scientist for the Organization, the inventor of that drug…”

*That drug?* Molay kept his guard up.

“She won’t know.” Gin observed Molay through the corner of his eye in the rearview mirror, finding no abnormal reaction.

“Speaking of which, that drug…” Vodka started to ramble.

Molay perked up his ears.

“Shut up.” Gin’s expression turned icy.

Molay let his ears droop.

*No choice, I’ll have to ask "that woman" myself later…* Molay kept his face blank.

Shortly after.

Molay tossed a lipstick onto the ground, cleared the scene of any traces, and returned to Gin’s car.

One of the participants in this case had been shot dead in his sleep.

“Just like that?” Molay raised an eyebrow.

“That’s the same shade of lipstick as the one worn by the woman who was one of the robbers.” Gin looked out the window, bored. “The Tokyo police—as long as you give them a reason to present to the public, they’ll close the case.”

“Just disguise it as internal strife. Not that many people care about the truth.”

“Ah… I’ve heard a thing or two.” Molay chuckled softly. “I heard that one day, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s First Investigation Division held a critique meeting.”

“Inspector Megure stood on the podium and said, ‘Regarding this case, those who believe the Tokyo police are capable of finding the truth, please stand to the left. Those who believe the Tokyo police are incapable of finding the truth, stand to the right.’”

“The crowd dispersed, and only one person stood in the middle. Inspector Megure asked, ‘And what do you think?’”

Gin glanced at Molay.

“That man looked up and said, ‘I publicly claim that the Tokyo police are capable of finding the truth, but I know that in reality, they can’t.’”

“Inspector Megure on the podium was shocked: ‘Commissioner, why are you standing down there?!’”

“Pff—cough, cough… hmm.” Vodka, driving the car, couldn't hold it in; he let out a laugh and then forcibly suppressed it.

Gin turned his head to look out the window. “…Boring.”

“We’re almost at that woman’s apartment. If we let her get away…”

Yet, even as he said this, Gin himself felt such a thing was impossible.

Given that woman’s temperament, would she really abandon everything and flee just to save her sister? Or, with Molay’s skills, would he actually let her slip away?

Therefore, he was only offering a mild warning.

…

Beneath Akemi Miyano’s apartment, inside an unremarkable car.

“I just don’t get it. With one billion yen, where can’t you go?!”

The man in the driver’s seat wore an expression of disbelief. “Is your sister really that important? That’s a billion, a billion!”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Akemi Miyano’s expression was resolute.

The two sisters had lost their parents at a young age and had grown up supporting each other; the depth of their bond was unimaginable to outsiders.

“Then I’ll just take three hundred million, alright?” The man’s fists clenched and then relaxed. “Just tell them I took three hundred million and ran. Can’t you hand the rest over to the Organization? At worst, I’ll let them hunt me down! I don’t believe it—as long as I can get away…”

“No.” Akemi Miyano shook her head.

“Are you deaf, woman?! Just say I took the money and fled…”

“No.” Akemi Miyano shook her head. “Not a single yen less.”

“For my sister…” She bit her lip. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a car in her rearview mirror.

“Stop arguing.” Her heart began to pound wildly. She lowered her body, stopping the agitated man. “Look at the rearview mirror.”

“…Is that… that person’s car?” Cold sweat broke out on the man’s back, and he hurriedly ducked his head. “Why would they come here?”

Molay stepped out of the car.

“…That man!” Akemi Miyano lowered her voice. “I know him.”

“Do you remember when the Organization acquired a batch of Maple Leaf gold coins?”

She forced herself to remain calm. “I heard rumors that during that incident, he killed the six people surrounding him all by himself, and even fought Gin to a draw, which is why he was recruited into the Organization.”

“I heard that too. It seems they say that during his assessment mission, he slaughtered an entire action team from the ‘Zoo’ all by himself…” The man was now quite nervous. “So what do we…”

“Run.” Akemi Miyano’s hands were trembling. Her expression was one of grief and indignation. “Since they intend to silence me, it means they have no intention of letting either of us sisters go.”

“In that case… I have to escape. They won’t do anything to her because they value my sister’s intellect.”

“Once I get away, I will definitely save her.”

The man, however, had no interest in the sisters’ bond; he was busy mapping out an escape route in his head.

He looked up to sneak a peek at the rearview mirror and saw the silver-haired man walking toward them.

Gritting his teeth, the man sprang into action, started the car, and floored the accelerator, darting away.

“Tch.” Seeing this, Molay spat, then rushed back into his car. “Chase!”

“What’s going on?!” Vodka started the car and followed in close pursuit, though he was a bit confused by the situation.

“I just felt that car looked a bit suspicious, so I was about to go check it out.” He lit a cigarette. “Turns out there was someone inside. When the driver got up, I saw him in the rearview mirror.”

“The remaining two targets are inside.”

Gin’s expression turned gloomy.

The complications in the plan annoyed him, though he never believed things would go smoothly anyway.

“They’ve gathered together to die, which saves us a trip.”

Gin reached for the gun inside his coat.

“Hold on tight.”

Vodka’s voice turned steady, and the car suddenly accelerated.

“So fast?” Molay was a bit surprised. Wasn’t this an antique model?

“It’s been modified.” Vodka grinned. “Otherwise, how could it qualify to be Big Brother’s beloved car?”

However, the car ahead was using the maze of Tokyo’s streets, winding around constantly. Vodka was about to pull alongside it when the driver suddenly decelerated and drifted into a side alley. If it weren’t for Vodka’s own driving skills, he would have been shaken off long ago.

“…That guy used to be a race car driver.” Vodka noticed Molay’s gaze, his expression a bit awkward.

“Don’t let them reach the bridge.”

Gin, who had been silent, spoke up. “They are definitely going to try to escape toward that bridge not far ahead. Once they cross the bridge, they’ll be close to the downtown area, and it won’t be easy to clean up if things get too chaotic.”

“Use that straightaway. Accelerate and catch up to them.”

Vodka nodded.

During the previous maneuvering, he had already realized the performance of the other man’s car was inferior to Big Brother’s modified Porsche 356A.

*If I let them get away…* He gritted his teeth.

Ahead, in the car carrying Akemi Miyano.

“That bridge ahead—once we cross it, we’ll be near the downtown district.” The man gritted his teeth. “They won’t dare to follow us there.”

“Hold on tight!”