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

Why was he able to gain the BOSS's seemingly extraordinary trust?

Why does his behavior always carry a transcendent, seemingly prescient composure?

He's not some promising newcomer who needs Gin's help to get promoted at all!

From the very beginning, he was the sharpest and most secretive fang hidden deep within the organization, the most hidden fang of Karasuma Renya!

He infiltrated Gin's ranks partly to guide Sherry, but perhaps it was also a way for the BOSS to monitor him.

The sealed room fell into a deathly silence, with only the rhythmic low hum of the life support equipment echoing in the background.

Karasuma Renya's aged yet all-knowing gaze calmly enveloped everything.

Gin was so shocked by this fact that he was completely speechless.

Therefore, he has never faced a subordinate that he needs to guard against or control.

Rather, it was someone who, from the very beginning, stood on a different dimension from him, and might even have been looking down on him from a superior position... a peer, or rather, a higher-ranking executive.

Chapter 124: Standing on the Side of Inevitable Victory

Gin's face darkened.

Cointreau...or rather, Mezzo—

The thought of this guy pretending to be a newbie, outwardly obedient but secretly laughing at him, filled him with uncontrollable anger.

I realized I had misjudged him.

Or should we blame it on this guy being too good at pretending?

But the instincts he had developed over years of walking on the edge of a knife allowed him to quickly suppress all his shock and humiliation. He lowered his gaze, no longer looking at Lin Jiashu's face, which now seemed completely unfamiliar, and turned to Karasuma Renya.

"Go do your thing, Gin."

Karasuma Renya's hoarse and cold voice broke the silence, and his aged but still sharp eyes fell on Gin.

"He was right there, beneath my former lair, scurrying about like a mouse, unwilling to give up."

"He thought he had found my weakness, that he could steal my power... How ridiculous."

Karasuma Renya's lips twitched, revealing an almost ferocious arc.

"Remember, Gin."

“An organization can withstand losses, it can lie low, but it cannot tolerate betrayal. Get rid of Rum, and then… stabilize the situation.”

You will get what you deserve.

This is an order, a promise, and a warning.

Faced with a boss who, even in such a weakened state, could still maintain firm control of the situation and even secretly plant spies around him, Gin dared not utter a sound.

"Yes, sir."

Gin lowered his head deeply, all his emotions concealed in the depths of his cold green pupils, leaving only absolute obedience and the murderous intent about to be unleashed.

Without further hesitation, he turned around and walked with firm steps toward the door of the secret room.

Lin Jiashu naturally followed.

The two walked out of the room one after the other, and the heavy metal door closed silently behind them, shutting out Karasuma Renya's decaying aura.

Only the two of them remained in the corridor, their footsteps echoing in the empty space.

"Rum is now nothing more than a frightened bird, surrounded by only remnants of his army, making futile struggles in the underground labyrinth, and no longer poses any real threat."

Lin Jiashu walked beside Gin, his tone as casual as if he were commenting on the weather, "However, for the sake of our friendship, I'll offer you one last little bit of help."

He stopped and turned to Gin, a knowing smile, tinged with calculation and amusement, returning to his face.

"Curaçao".

He uttered the code name softly: "She's mine—always has been. Given Rum's current level of trust and dependence on her, he won't be on guard if I stab him in the back when the time is right."

Gin paused slightly, turned his head, and fixed his gaze firmly on his face.

After a long pause, he let out a short, cold sneer from his nose.

"You really are a master of hiding your true nature, no matter what."

Gin's voice was deep; he had become somewhat numb by now.

He recalled Curaçao's various performances as Rum's confidant, his competence, loyalty, and efficiency, which now seemed like a carefully crafted drama.

Rum thought he had brainwashed the other person, but little did he know that the card had been changed the moment it was dealt to him.

"Since Curaçao is your person."

Gin turned around to face Yoshiki Hayashi, his eyes sharp. "Why make me go through all that trouble? Wouldn't it be cleaner and more efficient to just let her deal with Rum directly?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Jiashu's smile deepened.

Those eyes looked exceptionally deep in the dim corridor light.

"Me?"

He spoke slowly and deliberately, his tone carrying an almost cruel gentleness, "I still really like the action team. Tequila's savagery, Chianti's madness, Vodka's loyalty, and you... your keenness and efficiency in dealing with traitors. In any case, after such a crushing defeat, the action team deserves a chance to regroup and redeem themselves, doesn't it?"

He paused, his gaze seemingly piercing through Gin's suppressed anger and humiliation:

"Moreover, having you personally execute the traitor will solidify your position as 'the organization's sharpest knife,' and it will also show those who are still observing what the consequences of betrayal are. This is beneficial for stabilizing the situation after the purge. Of course..."

His smile now held a hint of pure, mischievous amusement:

"I'd also love to see what kind of expression Rum will have when he's driven to the brink of despair and discovers that the last person he can trust is actually the Grim Reaper I placed by his side. That would be very interesting."

Gin listened in silence, the muscles on his face twitching slightly.

He realized that he had always been a pawn in this guy's hands.

But in this game, he is at least a "rook" capable of personally killing traitors and thereby establishing his authority.

Lin Jiashu, who appears to be his subordinate, is actually the one who plays the game, and it's possible that from the very beginning, even the placement of the chessboard and the rules were within his calculations.

"Humph."

Gin ultimately let out a cold, ambiguous snort and said nothing more. He turned and continued walking towards the exit, the hem of his black trench coat drawing a resolute arc behind him.

Saying anything more is pointless.

Now, the only thing he needs to do, and the only thing he wants to do, is to find that rat scurrying around underground and crush it in the most cruel way.

Lin Jiashu stood there watching his departing figure, the smile on her face gradually fading, transforming into a deep, unfathomable calm.

He raised his left hand, the lens of his wristwatch reflecting the cold moonlight seeping in from the exit at the end of the corridor.

He returned to the room that reeked of decay.

As soon as I stepped inside, a woman's voice came from ahead:

"If I hadn't known the plan beforehand, I almost would have been fooled by you."

A gentle smile appeared on Lin Jiashu's face.

He looked at Vermouth, who was sitting in that chair, having shed her disguise and revealed her true self.

And some details in the room seem to have changed—for example, the smell of disinfectant and some instruments have completely disappeared, as if deceiving people.

"It's all thanks to your disguise and acting skills, Vermouth. Without your lifelike imitation and that deep-seated awe for that gentleman, Gin wouldn't have been so easily convinced."

His praise sounded sincere, but Vermouth remained noncommittal.

It all went so well.

Everything, everything, was going according to his plan.

From the moment he was kidnapped by Rum and forced to leak information, to tonight's storm sweeping through the organization, and then to the perfect double act in front of Gin just now... everything really was like precisely meshed gears, operating exactly according to his predetermined trajectory.

She stood on the side destined for victory.

This should have brought a great sense of security, but looking into Lin Jiashu's deep eyes that seemed to devour all light, beneath this sense of security, one also felt that this man was too terrifying.

"Let's go."

Lin Jiashu didn't mention that he had used some hypnotic techniques to disrupt Gin's perception. He suppressed his smile and his expression became more serious: "It's time to wrap things up."

Vermouth nodded silently and got up to follow.

The two left the room.

He walked down the dusty corridor and then reached out to open one of the inconspicuous rooms.

There was nothing inside except a stroller.

Inside the stroller, an infant wrapped in soft swaddling clothes had its eyes open. But those eyes were not those of a pure, innocent baby; instead, they were filled with an almost overflowing rage, a savage fury, and the madness and humiliation of being driven to the brink of despair, all accumulated over decades.

—Karasuma Renya, the real Karasuma Renya.

Vermouth stood in the doorway, watching this scene, her heart involuntarily tightening.

She subconsciously looked away, but couldn't help being drawn back.

"why?"

She suddenly spoke, her voice a little hoarse, breaking the suffocating silence outside the room, "How are you so sure he... is here?"

Lin Jiashu did not turn around; his gaze remained fixed on Karasuma Renya's angry eyes, as if he were admiring an interesting work of art.

He answered softly:

"It's very simple. From Karasuma Renya's perspective, when his most trusted bodyguard, Mezo, is no longer able to protect him, and may even be dead, who in the organization would he most likely and most urgently choose to become his new bodyguard?"

Vermouth barely needed to think: "Gin."

Gin's loyalty to the organization is beyond question—both she and Karasuma Renya himself believe this.

Moreover, given Gin's abilities and resources, he is perfectly suited to be appointed to a critical mission during this special period.

"So, that's right."

Lin Jiashu finally turned his head and gave Vermouth a faint smile.

"Gin's own communication equipment was basically destroyed in the factory crash due to the pulse effect of the Vespania ore."

"The situation is similar for the other core members of the action group. During the time they were evacuated to the safe house, receiving treatment and catching their breath, Gin, who was disturbed by my words, would definitely try to find out from Karasuma Renya himself whether what I said was true or false."

"At that time, the only equipment he had available, besides the cell phones on the medical staff in the safe house, was the cell phone I left for him in the evacuation vehicle."

“There’s nothing wrong with those phones, but I’ve tampered with them a little – once Gin uses them to receive messages, any emails sent to his phone will be synced to my monitoring terminal.”

Vermouth understood.

In order to gather guards, Karasuma Renya summoned Gin to protect him, which also attracted Junto... or rather, Hayashi Yoshiki, this dangerous wolf.

"Of course."

Lin Jiashu added, "Having Rum's Curaçao with him in the underground passage is another safety net. After all, I can't say for sure whether he'll continue to hide underground and be led around by Mezo. Double insurance is always safer."

"..."

Vermouth fell completely silent, speechless.

Lin Jiashu stopped looking at her and turned his attention back to Karasuma Renya in the stroller.

He slowly reached out his hand, his fingertips almost touching the baby's cheek, which was trembling slightly with anger, but stopped just a hair's breadth away.

From the moment they started talking, they couldn't hide it from Karasuma Renya.

A faint, incomprehensible gurgling sound escaped his throat, and his aged eyes stared intently at Lin Jiashu, burning with a resentment and curse that even the waters of the Three Rivers and Five Lakes could not extinguish.

Lin Jiashu met his gaze, and a gentle yet icy smile slowly bloomed on her face.

"How frail."

He commented.

But he wouldn't underestimate his opponent because of this—a condensation of half a century's worth of greed, suspicion, and desire for control, whose essence remained unchanged even though his body had shrunk.

"What do you plan to do with him?" Vermouth asked.

“He has some things I need.”

—That is, the organization itself.