Isn't it very scientific to use the Death Note to kill people?

Koshimizu Nanatsuki naturally assumed that there was some conflict between Hayashi Yoshiki and Amuro Tooru.

But judging from this, I guess I was just overthinking things.

Time passed quietly in the usual atmosphere.

Amuro Tooru was doing his job as usual.

"Yue Shui, didn't you include the commission fee received on March 17th in your monthly performance report? The data doesn't quite match up."

"Oh, I forgot that, I'll add it now!"

"I've already taken care of it for you, but next time remember to double-check it yourself."

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Amuro."

"Also, you have fieldwork to do today, right? It's at 2:40 PM, don't forget."

"Yes, I remember that."

The firm isn't busy today.

Apart from a few emails, there were no clients with appointments today, except for Nanatsuki Koshimizu, who needed to make a field trip.

After the pretty, short-haired girl left with a smile, Amuro Tooru also got up from his workstation.

He poured the brewed tea into two cups and brought them to the sofa.

"You really know how to use a commission to temporarily distract Koshimizu."

"I didn't lie to her. I just know someone who happens to need to hire a detective."

Amuro Tooru sat down opposite Hayashi Yoshiki. "Let's talk, Hayashi Yoshiki. Or do you prefer the name 'Cointreau'?"

"Under normal circumstances, I would tell you that a name is just a label."

Lin Jiashu looked at him quietly, her eyes remaining unchanged. "But judging from your expression, you're probably more interested in knowing which title I'm on and what stance it represents, right?"

"You've really kept it well hidden."

Amuro Tooru, however, seemed in no hurry to get Hayashi Yoshiki's answer. Instead, he suddenly said with a sigh, "If you hadn't shown up at the factory yesterday, I would still be in the dark... And you knew my identity all along, just quietly watching my performance?"

Lin Jiashu did not respond to this question.

After a brief silence,

Tell me, who exactly are you?

Amuro Tooru seemed unwilling to delay any longer. He stared sharply at Hayashi Yoshiki's face, and under that piercing gaze, it seemed that no one could pretend or lie.

"After you left Gin last night, didn't you call your superiors to confirm? Furuya...senpai."

Lin Jiashu did not nervously meet his eyes.

That gentle gaze was completely different from the dark look that Amuro had seen in the abandoned factory yesterday, which belonged to "Kundo." The "senior" he mentioned made Amuro narrow his eyes.

Yes, he went back yesterday and immediately investigated whether there was any information about Lin Jiashu within the Public Security Bureau.

The answer is no.

But just when he thought he was only imagining things, his boss called.

The person on the phone said that Lin Jiashu's file was not recorded in the electronic database because the level of confidentiality regarding his identity was far higher than usual.

In other words, he is indeed a member of the public security bureau.

But it is precisely because of this that Amuro Tooru cannot understand or even accept it.

“Kundo… one of Gin’s most trusted executives, those perfect assassination missions that gave intelligence agencies around the world headaches, those ‘accidents’ where targets died in absurd ways without any trace of human intervention… all of them were your doing, weren’t they?” He took a step closer, his voice suppressing a storm, “You did so many dirty things for that organization—!”

The tea placed on the table was steaming.

Lin Jiashu showed no remorse on his face, but a subtle and elusive complex emotion flickered deep in his eyes.

"Senior, do you know why Gin trusts me so much?"

He posed a question, but before Amuro could even think about it, he laughed as if he found it funny: "Because he thinks I have a serious homicidal tendency and that I am an antisocial personality disorder patient who uses killing as an expression of his art... Because of this, he has made me see the psychiatrist arranged by the organization several times."

"..."

Amuro Tooru awaits the rest of his story.

“So he trusts me a lot. Whether it’s Gin himself, Vodka, or Rum and the like… to delve into the abyss, one must understand the laws of the abyss.” Yoshiki Hayashi’s voice carried an unsettling calmness, almost that of a martyr. “To gain the trust of someone like Gin, one needs irreplaceable ‘value’ and an undeniable ‘pledge of allegiance’.”

"So, for this pledge of allegiance..." Amuro Tooru's eyes churned with surprise and suppressed rage, "you killed so many people, clearing so many obstacles for that organization—?"

"Hold on."

Lin Jiashu picked up the laptop that had been prepared to be placed next to him earlier.

After turning on the computer, he found the data he had prepared earlier on the hard drive and showed it to Amuro Tooru. It contained on-site reports and lists of citizens who were caught up in a series of accidents and died. Each name on the list had a more detailed introduction to their interpersonal relationships and life.

Rapists, fraudsters, murderers, juvenile delinquents...

The names recorded above perfectly illustrate the saying "everyone is a villain".

Amuro Tooru understood it after only a few quick glances.

Or rather, he already knew that those who died at Jundu's hands were basically the worst and worst people in society.

But even so

"So you mean everything you've done is for justice!?"

"...No, the deaths of these people are probably only just for those they harmed." Lin Jiashu shook his head, then he laughed...it was a helpless laugh filled with silence and bitterness: "But, senior, these people were chosen."

"Selected?"

Amuro Tooru was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Chapter 19: You can't just see the good side of this country!

"Chosen? What does that mean?"

Upon hearing this statement, Amuro Tooru immediately felt a strange, chilling emotion quietly growing within him.

He didn't know what kind of response Lin Jiashu would give next.

However, he was unwilling to dwell on the conjecture that flashed through his mind in an instant.

Lin Jiashu laughed.

His smile was quite complicated. His gaze was fixed on the teacup in front of him, and his eyes seemed unfocused as he looked at the steam rising from it.

"The answer is the first thought that popped into your head, Furuya-senpai."

"Those involved in the accidents planned and created by 'Cointo' were all chosen as consumables to make the codename 'Cointo' more credible within the Black Organization."

"—Able to complete any task properly."

"An antisocial personality disorder patient who would even kill intentionally outside of missions, eager to escalate things—wouldn't anyone suspect such a person of being an undercover agent?"

Amuro Tooru's pupils dilated slightly.

His first reaction upon hearing this was disbelief, followed by an absurd and utterly furious outburst.

"What are you kidding!?"

boom!

Amuro Tooru slammed his hands on the coffee table and leaned forward abruptly, his voice filled with intense indignation as he questioned Hayashi Yoshiki, his blue eyes fixed on Hayashi's somber expression. "Just infiltrating that organization, does it really warrant going to this extent?!"

"Furuya-senpai, how many years have you been infiltrating the organization?"

Lin Jiashu looked into his angry eyes, asked the question, and said without waiting for his answer, "It's been more than three years, but I've only been in the organization for less than a year."

"...Yes, you're quite proud of using other people's lives to pave the way for you and solidify your undercover identity, aren't you?"

Amuro Tooru suddenly grabbed Hayashi Yoshiki's collar.

He abruptly pulled Lin Jiashu in front of him, staring intently at him, as if trying to see his smugness and pleasure in those eyes.

However, it did not.

Lin Jiashu's eyes held only a calmness akin to that of a martyr.

But only for a moment, when he noticed the bitterness and sorrow that flashed in those eyes, Amuro Tooru's grip faltered.

However, he still refused to relax.

"APTX4869, this must be the first time Furuya-senpai has heard of this codename, right?"

"...What is that?" Amuro Tooru's voice was filled with suppressed anger.

"The organization had been working on an experimental drug, the precursor to which was the 'miraculous' 'mysterious drug that could bring the dead back to life'—'Silver Bullet'—developed by the Miyano couple."

Upon hearing the news about the Miyano couple, Amuro Tooru's breath caught in his throat.

The reason he chose to enter the police academy was so that he could become a police officer and search for the missing Elena Miyano.

“APTX4869 was developed by their daughter, Shiho Miyano, who inherited her parents’ research. Initially, it was a lethal drug that could cause the user to die quickly without any detectable toxins or cause of death… However, under extremely harsh accidental effects, APTX4869 can restore the user’s body to the state of a child.”

Hayashi Yoshiki's words caused Amuro Tooru's pupils to shrink abruptly.

He immediately thought of Conan, who had recently caught his attention.

Conan Edogawa... Shinichi Kudo...

His previous curiosity about Conan led him to conduct considerable investigation, not to mention the time Conan retaliated with a soccer ball after the Mysterious Train incident—

Amuro Tooru, who had vaguely connected the two people's identities back then, was still somewhat incredulous until just now.

So this is the truth of the matter!?

It was so shocking that Amuro Tooru remained silent for a long time, only unconsciously loosening his grip on Hayashi Yoshiki's collar.

But Hayashi Yoshiki's words did not end there.

"Furuya-senpai, your dedication to the Public Security Service and your tireless efforts for this country are admirable in their purity. But we should both know that behind the glamorous veil of the state apparatus, there is not always light."

Lin Jiashu's voice lowered.

Amuro Tooru, who was gradually realizing what he was about to say, began to show an expression of disbelief. His hand had already released Hayashi Yoshiki's collar, and he subconsciously... leaned back as if he were about to lose all strength.

He stared intently at Lin Jiashu's face, waiting for the other to blurt out confirmation of his guess.

"Leaving aside the fact that the Black Organization possesses certain biotechnologies, neurotoxins, and information manipulation techniques have already surpassed the level of the open world... Just consider the value of the anti-aging technology brought about by APTX4869, do you understand? These fruits are an absolutely irresistible temptation for some people in positions of power and in the shadows."

"That's why they need a 'Cointreau'."

"senior……"

"It's not enough for you to infiltrate the organization and secretly gather intelligence."

“They need someone to climb up the ranks faster and reach a higher position in that organization, and for that they are willing to select more ‘sinners’ as expendable resources to pave the way for me until I get everything they want… Of course, I believe the ultimate goal is to destroy this organization overflowing with evil.”

"But we can both understand how many sins are hidden under the guise of national interests."

"This is not a fairy tale after all."

"You can't just see the good side of this country and ignore its filth."

At this point, Lin Jiashu laughed again.

On that incredibly beautiful face, he wore a somewhat sad smile.

"...Actually, when I was in the elevator of Tokyo Tower and faced with the bomb left by the bomber, I hesitated until the very last second about whether or not to defuse it."

"I'm really tempted."

"I thought that if I died in the explosion, all the sins that had passed through my hands would vanish into thin air."

Amuro Tooru remained silent.

He did not refute it.

The filth of politics, the deals of power, the sordid dealings of the state in the shadows... these were no secrets to him, an undercover agent who had walked in the dark for many years; they were, in fact, part of his environment.

He had always felt that he had long since accepted the grayness of this world, so what bothered him was not the darkness revealed by Hayashi Yoshiki, but rather...

Amuro Tooru, who had slumped back onto the opposite sofa, suddenly looked up.

His eyes were fixed on Lin Jiashu's calm and gentle face, a suppressed, unvented frustration churning within them: "You think I don't know?!" His voice suddenly rose, filled with suppressed anger, but it wasn't directed at the darkness Lin Jiashu was referring to at all. "I know there's darkness in this country! I know that while we're risking our lives, some people at the top are even making dirty deals with our enemies! I also know that some 'sacrifices' are necessary and insignificant in the eyes of certain powerful figures!"

He slammed his hands on the table and took a sudden step forward, almost closing in on Lin Jiashu: "I can understand all of this! I can even accept it as a matter of course!"

Meeting Lin Jiashu's astonished gaze, he took a deep breath, as if to suppress the inexplicable knot in his chest.