Jiangxia Tongzhi felt that there was nothing wrong with his actions. In fact, he could explain his reasoning quite clearly.
Unfortunately, he still didn't quite grasp the logic of this world.
—In the Organization's eyes, blowing up an expensive marine-themed amusement complex—something that could've become the next tourist hotspot—wasn't that big a deal. Even if the explosion was just to eliminate one relatively unimportant person.
So...
The Organization didn't appreciate Jiangxia's painstaking efforts to "stay out of the spotlight, reduce his sense of presence, and avoid getting suspected by the police."
...
After the serial murder case wrapped up, Gin received word from Jiangxia that Katsuyoshi Asahi was dead.
The next day, during a routine weapons trade, Gin glanced at the newspaper, out of habit.
Then, with a bit of surprise, he noticed something unusual—this time, the one who solved the case wasn't Ouzo, but some no-name amateur detective he'd never heard of.
And judging from the detective's reasoning, he didn't even realize Ouzo had nudged the case along from the shadows. The guy pinned the entire incident on the killer who had "accidentally drowned in the sea."
Gin's eyes lingered on the article. In terms of secrecy, Ouzo was as reliable as ever. That wasn't a concern.
But this serial murder case had caught the public's attention—it was the perfect opportunity to boost one's reputation. Yet Ouzo didn't say a word. He just sat silently by the sea, doing nothing...
This wasn't right. In fact, it was very not right.
In Gin's opinion, Ouzo should never have passed up a chance like this. Ouzo himself had once said that he "wasn't some naturally gifted detective with an event magnet physique. To achieve his goals, he had to take way more detours than others."
In other words, Ouzo's habit of stirring people up and inciting murderous intent wasn't just a twisted hobby—it was also a career move. More crimes meant more cases to "solve," and more cases meant more clout.
But now, in such a juicy case, Ouzo said nothing. So it wasn't that he chose not to speak up—something must have gone wrong.
Vodka, being a loyal Gin observer and designated driver, had been keeping an eye on Gin's reactions the whole ride—especially when anything involved Ouzo.
He glanced at the newspaper, noticed Gin's interest, and helpfully offered some gossip:
"Among the survivors of the incident, there were a few media types who just love to talk. According to their blog posts, Ouzo seemed really out of it after the explosion. Apparently a car in the restaurant got swept up by the waves and almost hit him. That might've rattled him."
Vodka took this chance to sneak in his own... contribution:
"I mean, he knew how dangerous those exploding ocean buildings were, but he still insisted on going in for the realism and the thrill… Brother, people like that are too unstable. What if, one day, Ouzo suddenly feels that life's boring and pulls a suicidal stunt during an important mission? The losses would be huge."
What was even scarier: Ouzo was already the type to think about killing people while in a normal mood. If he ever really wanted to die, there's no way he'd go quietly. On the contrary, current-day Ouzo would probably drag half the street down with him—starting, for example, with Vodka.
Vodka had managed to survive this long by making a point to never step on the landmines of dangerous elements like Ouzo. He'd done his homework on Jiangxia early on, and kept a careful eye on him ever since.
And yet, despite all that caution, Vodka still felt like he was being targeted.
—If he remembered right, every time Ouzo sat beside Gin, he'd occasionally shoot Vodka this strange look. Like he was eyeing his spot.
As Vodka nervously wiped off some cold sweat, he couldn't help but overthink it:
That "position" probably wasn't literal. Ouzo must've been thinking, "If I were Gin's number one sidekick instead of this meathead, I'd have the freedom to pick and choose my murder targets instead of being micromanaged like this."
Gin hadn't noticed. Vodka hadn't either, at first.
But every time Ouzo gave him that look, Vodka felt like his life expectancy dropped a bit.
…Honestly, if Gin didn't stop grooming Ouzo soon, and the two kept interacting like this, Vodka was convinced that one day Gin would casually shoot his loyal driver in the head and not even feel bad about it.
...
Gin frowned at Vodka's commentary.
Sure, he'd heard about Ouzo before. But as far as Gin was concerned, whenever they interacted, Ouzo seemed perfectly fine—emotionally stable, communicative, not pessimistic. Heck, the guy was even in a good mood most of the time...
In short, aside from some not-entirely-legal hobbies, Ouzo seemed totally normal.
But now this whole undersea murder incident was raising some red flags.
What Vodka said... made sense.
Still, Gin believed that beyond the mission loss, losing Ouzo himself would be a massive waste for the Organization.
—Given Ouzo's potential and efficiency, if he just built up a bit more credibility and fame, he could easily infiltrate political circles within a few years.
At that point, if the Organization needed to off some VIP, they wouldn't need to craft some intricate plan over several months.
Gin imagined Ouzo wrapping up a high-level assassination with just a few lines of persuasive conversation.
And then he imagined the alternative: all that training, all that effort, only for Ouzo to abruptly off himself before reaching his prime...
Just the mental math of that made Gin's temples throb.
...
Since a problem had been identified, it had to be dealt with ASAP.
Gin thought for a moment, then recalled how Sherry used to give Jiangxia tonics before she defected.
Suddenly, something clicked: "Didn't Ouzo have a psychiatrist?"
Vodka: "…"
A moment of awkward silence.
Then, under Gin's increasingly suspicious gaze, Vodka muttered, "…He did."
Gin: "…?"
Vodka realized his earlier attempts to fan the flames had failed. A little disappointed, he continued being a good little gossip mill:
"The doctor shot a cop in broad daylight a while ago—got caught red-handed. When he tried to escape, it was Ouzo who 'accidentally' intercepted him. I heard the guy got kicked until he was unrecognizable…"
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 15/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*