Conan, I'm an actor

"What!" Vodka's face turned ashen.

“I just found out myself,” Gin said, his face dark. “If you take that drug and survive, you can be young again. If all the test subjects die, great; but if someone survives, and…”

Vodka felt a chill run down his spine. After Sherry "disappeared," they had destroyed all the firsthand drug information.

“The organization does have a backup, but that’s data from several years ago. The half of the data that Shinjo handed over was given to him by Sherry, and it’s the most up-to-date data.” Gin also had a headache. “Even if we wanted to hand over the data and ask them to be lenient, the data doesn’t match.”

“Boss, this is no joke,” Vodka said, forcing a smile. “It concerns lifespan. Those old guys are really willing to fight us to the death. Even if our spies over there are loyal to us, they can’t stop us.”

Gin sighed. It was good enough that those guys didn't switch sides at the last minute; what if the drug's effectiveness was confirmed, and they couldn't get the information they wanted…

Just then, a phone call came in. Gin listened for only a few words, and his expression changed. "Two? How is that possible! Back then, they practically killed one after another with that kind of drinking."

Vodka's heart sank to the bottom with Gin's words. Even with the lowest probability of two successful cases, those people would still choose to fight them to the death.

"Gather everyone in the organization," Gin said through gritted teeth. "Damn it, blow up the ocean buoy before we leave."

"We're still going to blow up ocean buoys at this point?" Vodka said, somewhat annoyed. "If we really have to withdraw, it's better to do it sooner rather than later. If we delay our withdrawal by half a month because of ocean buoys, a lot of people might die."

“That ocean buoy can connect to the surveillance networks of police organizations around the world. With the help of AI, they can quickly find our whereabouts,” Gin said with some helplessness. “If we don’t blow it up, those police and agents will follow us like leeches.”

Vodka imagined the scene and couldn't help but shudder. He immediately ran out to arrange for the destruction of the ocean buoy.

Chapter 286 The Pawn Crossing the River (Part 1)

Gin's reaction was faster than anyone expected. By the time Vermouth realized what was happening, half of the organization's members in the Japanese branch, those with names and code names, had already withdrawn. What remained were pawns with a certain social standing who had to be sacrificed.

Shinjo learned of the news before Vermouth; Gin told him personally.

His mind was completely blank. He had expected Gin to hold out for a while, at least for a few months, to outwit and outmaneuver his opponents. He never imagined that this guy would simply slip away to conserve his strength.

Of course, that's not the worst part. The worst part is that this guy left himself with a mess, and now he's the organization's top leader in Tokyo.

"Congratulations on your promotion within the organization," Karen said with a smile. "Would you like me to throw you a party to celebrate?"

"Alright, Rum's dead, and I've crippled Gin's forces," Shinjo said irritably. "Even if Gin hadn't left, I'd still be the one calling the shots here. He's off easy now, but he's left me with all this mess he can't clean up. If I can't handle it, he'll come after me. This is really..."

"Should we silence them all?" Karen asked, frowning. "Silencing them all seems wasteful. How about we bring them all in?"

“That’s a good idea, but I don’t know if there are any traitors among them.” Xincheng stepped on the ground. “I don’t have the bad habit of bringing all sorts of trash to the base. You make an assessment. Keep those you can control, and just eliminate those you can’t.”

at the same time

Rena Mizunashi strode into the apartment room, glancing back repeatedly as she went, appearing extremely agitated.

Gin's withdrawal from Tokyo was a rare piece of good news for her; as a CIA agent, it was impossible for those officials to harm her.

Even if the organization returns to Japan later, she can explain that her identity as an undercover agent in the organization has not yet been exposed, and it would not be difficult for her to return to the organization as an undercover agent again.

But when she opened the door, she saw the person she hated most and least wanted to see: Cognac.

"Should I call you Rena Mizunashi or Kir?" Shinjo asked with a smile, looking at Rena Mizunashi in front of him.

"Is there some kind of mission from the organization?" Rena Mizunashi just wanted to get rid of this cotton swab guy as soon as possible.

She didn't want to see this guy because she sensed a similar aura about him to Gin. This guy was extremely dangerous.

“The organization’s operations in Japan have run into problems, which means the authorities are very likely to purge the organization’s influence there.” Shinjo crossed his legs. “But from what I’ve observed, you don’t seem worried at all. Do you have something to rely on, Kiel?”

"Would panicking help?" Rena Mizunashi said, forcing herself to speak. "I don't participate in many of the organization's activities, so they might not have noticed me yet."

"Oh? Is that so? I thought you were on their roster, a rat."

"I could never betray the organization."

"That's good." Shinjo stood up. "Last night, Gin handed over all the affairs in Tokyo to me. From now on, I will be the organization's highest-ranking person in Tokyo."

"I see."

"I came to see you today for two reasons. First, to recognize your face," Shinjo said, stroking his chin. "The other thing is that I looked through the CIA files and found a file on someone named Hondo Eikai. That person looks a lot like you. But since it's not you, then it's fine."

"What if it were me..."

“Then send her to see her brother.” Shinjo shrugged. “This Hondo Eikai and that kid named Hondo Eisuke are both children of a man named Ethan Hondo. This is all Gin’s fault; that guy is indecisive and doesn’t even consider eliminating the root of the problem.”

"According to the organization's rules, shouldn't you just kill me?" Rena Mizunashi lowered her head, and no one could see her expression at that moment.

"That guy named Ethan Bentang died at your hands. I think a daughter couldn't possibly kill her father, which is why I asked this question. Otherwise, you'd be a corpse by now. What's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing," Rena Mizunashi forced a smile.

It seems my unfortunate younger brother has already fallen victim to this guy's evil deeds. However, now is not the best time to strike. I'll wait until I've completely gained this guy's trust before dealing with him.

"Work hard at the TV station, strive for promotion and a raise, and get into the upper echelons of the TV station as soon as possible." Xincheng knocked on the wall. "A TV host can't provide us with much help."

"I understand." Rena Mizunashi squeezed out each word through clenched teeth. If it weren't for her agent's discipline, she would have collapsed by now.

As soon as Shinjo stepped out of her room, she eagerly dialed Hondo Eisuke's number, and then the phone rang in her room.

With a "click," the door, which had been closed, opened again, and Shin-chan stood in the doorway, holding a gun and smiling broadly.

Rena Mizunashi almost immediately reached for her gun, but with a soft gunshot, a bullet lodged in the floor beneath her feet.

"I knew Gin's work wasn't clean. A CIA agent operating right under our noses for so long," Shinjo scoffed. "And he's even been labeled as trustworthy. It's really laughable."

When the moment came, Rena Mizunashi calmed down and said, "If you want to kill me, then shoot."

She had originally planned to infiltrate the organization to avenge her brother, but her plan was exposed before it even began. She truly was a useless piece of trash, incapable of accomplishing anything. The only good news was that this guy named Cognac didn't fire immediately, meaning there was still room for negotiation.

“Fine.” Shinjo pointed the gun at Rena Mizunashi’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

A faint gunshot rang out, but Rena Mizunashi didn't feel any pain. She opened her eyes somewhat blankly.

"Sorry, it was a dud," Shinjo said with a smile. "Let's try again!"

Just then, a girl appeared at the door behind him. "Stop playing around and get away with this. Miss Karen said that your presence here has been exposed, and they're sending people over. It looks like they're after you."

"Alright," Shinjo said, looking at Rena Mizunashi. "If you want to see your brother, come with me. You only get one chance; if you miss it..."

"I'll go with you," Rena Mizunashi said, forcing herself to speak.

She was at the mercy of others, with no other choice.

Shinjo got into the driver's seat. He originally wanted to go directly to the base on Kyuroryo Island, but when he heard Karen's message in his earpiece, he had to go to the research institute on the side and take the Flying Swallow 2 to transfer.

He didn't say a word the whole way, and his face looked terrible.

Chapter 287 The Pawn Crossing the River (Part 2)

In just one day, his status changed from an ordinary person to a wanted criminal who needed to act with caution.

Although the formal arrest warrant has not yet been issued, preparations have already begun to be made against him.

First, there were huge changes within the Metropolitan Police Department. Matsumoto Kiyomasa was directly transferred to another post, and Megure Juzo and a group of officers who were on good terms with him were basically transferred to some less demanding positions. It can be said to be the biggest reshuffle in the Metropolitan Police Department in the past decade.

Then his company was shut down, and even the detective agency in Koshimizu was not spared.

The three had just gotten into the car and hadn't driven far when a silver-gray Toyota appeared in their rearview mirror.

“Your situation doesn’t seem to be much better than mine,” Rena Mizunashi said, looking at Shinjo sitting in the driver’s seat.

Shinjo ignored the woman, glanced at the rearview mirror, and then pressed his earpiece. "Anyone who dares to follow, find out their identities. If they're not acquaintances, take them all out. Also, send some gifts to their hometown and tell them that I'm not that good-for-nothing Gin, but a madman."

Before Rena Mizunashi could figure out who this was directed at, two cars in her rearview mirror and another car at the intersection ahead exploded. These cars were like tin cans; someone had simply opened the roofs of them.

The accident quickly attracted the attention of the nearby police, who soon began to cordon off the scene. Meanwhile, Shinjo took advantage of the chaos to bring Koshimizu and Rena Mizunashi to the research institute.

As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the research institute, he saw four or five cars blocking the entrance, seemingly preparing to stop the cars for inspection. Xincheng slammed on the brakes and stopped the car. At the same time, the sound of a drone came from the sky.

The plainclothes police officers looked up at the sky in a daze. When they saw the drone and the explosives it was carrying, it was too late to take cover. As the explosion rang out, several car wrecks and seven or eight corpses appeared at the entrance of the research institute.

When Koshimizu saw this, she wanted to get out of the car to vomit, but she couldn't open the car door no matter what she did.

"Just spit it into the bag, Karen. Open the door to the underground parking garage, we'll go in from there." Shinjo handed Koshimizu a plastic bag, then turned around and drove towards the research institute's underground parking lot.

As soon as Xincheng drove his car into the research institute, the alarm went off. Those guys were clearly trying to force their way in. A section of the wall quickly collapsed, and an armored vehicle rammed through it and drove in.

Soon after, a drone swooped down from high altitude and carried the armored vehicle and its occupants away.

Rena Mizunashi and Koshimizu were quickly picked up by Curaçao and Yusuke Sakata and put on the plane. Shinjo quickly went to the power distribution room in the basement of the research institute and turned on a red-painted switch on one side.

At such close range, the stealth effect of optical camouflage was greatly reduced. The agents couldn't hide their astonishment when they saw the semi-transparent plane taking off vertically from the research institute. Before they could even react, orange-red flames erupted from the research institute, completely engulfing them and the surrounding streets.

On the plane, Xincheng sat silently in the pilot's seat with a gloomy expression.

"What exactly did you do that made them make such a fuss?" Rena Mizunashi felt a little tired.

Even when Gin was in charge, he wouldn't dare to be this crazy. Is this guy really not afraid that those guys will get angry and eventually flip the table? She now regrets following this guy. Maybe dying in the apartment would be a quick and painless death.

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll eject you right now. There's no parachute in the seat you're sitting on," Shinjo said expressionlessly.

If those people hadn't turned on him so quickly, he wouldn't have been in such a hurry to retrieve his pieces. He just didn't know how Amuro Tooru was doing; he hadn't been able to contact him since last night.

In a police interrogation room

Amuro Tooru was somewhat exhausted; the rapid changes in the situation had left him struggling to cope.

He was brought here while he was still sleeping last night. It was called questioning, but it was actually interrogation. They questioned him about everything related to the new city, with the most questions focused on that mysterious research institute.

Just then, the interrogation room door opened.

Amuro Tooru was also taken aback when he saw Kazama in front of him. He was being sidelined. Logically speaking, people close to him like Kazama should be isolated. He shouldn't be here.

"The higher-ups said we should continue to make contact with Mr. Shinjo." Kazama's expression was somewhat unnatural.

"Did they suffer a loss?" Amuro Tooru was taken aback, then a possibility came to mind: "They probably went and messed with that research institute."

"Yes," Kazama said somewhat embarrassedly, "and quite a few people died."

"Didn't I say that research institute has a defense system? Forcibly..."

"They thought that once the power was cut off, the defense system inside would fail." Kazama was also a bit troubled. "Then they tested it a few times, rushed in, and then stayed inside."

Amuro Tooru's face darkened completely. Such a stupid teammate was a rare sight these days. The higher-ups' change of attitude—not only releasing him but also adopting a so-called conciliatory approach towards Shinjo—suggested that many people had died and they wanted to sit down and have a proper talk.

However, he didn't really want to take on this mess, especially after learning that these guys were after the research data on the drug.

Kazama looked somewhat embarrassed, unsure how to respond, given that what those higher-ups had done was rather unethical.

"Go back and tell those guys up there that I'm comfortable here and don't want to move for the time being," Amuro Tooru said.

“Mr. Furuya, but…”

Kazama hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to relay the message, and just stood there. If this reached the ears of the higher-ups, Mr. Furuya might be sidelined for life. He didn't want Mr. Furuya to be sidelined for life, nor did he want to be sidelined himself.