Beika Aquarium is located in a relatively remote area from residential zones.
This area is commercial land, and most of the shops here profit from the foot traffic drawn by the aquarium. However, at this time, with the aquarium already closed, the surrounding shops have also shut down.
Late night—
The silent, empty streets were left with only the sound of cold air being delivered from a few vending machines. At this hour, nearly eleven o'clock, not even a single car could be seen on the roads; only the pale light of streetlights illuminated the cold asphalt surface of the night.
"The rat's here."
On the rooftop of a building not far away, Vodka, who was observing from above, said playfully.
In front of his view, a man in a blue jacket could be seen walking with a cigarette in his mouth. He walked straight to the second alley next to the aquarium and then stopped at the alley entrance.
That was Kishio Hironobu, the little rat the Organization ordered to be dealt with.
"The other protagonist hasn't appeared yet. What's the time?"
"Five more minutes until eleven, Aniki."
"Heh."
Gin stood with his hands in his pockets, his gaze cold as he looked down at the target on the distant street.
However, there was also an impatient person joining this operation, who at this moment was even urgently calling Gin's phone directly.
"Is it done yet? I say, why don't you just let me blow that little rat's head off and finish the job!"
"No, only shoot after you receive my order."
"Huh?"
The woman on the other end of the phone immediately became dissatisfied.
But Gin lacked the patience to appease this madwoman. He hung up the phone directly before she could say anything more.
"Compared to Chianti, Korn is much more reliable..."
Vodka muttered softly.
Gin did not respond.
He hadn't directly informed Chianti about this operation, only had her come and stand by as insurance—Kishio Hironobu was just a minor character not fit for the big stage, but his personal qualities were certainly better than those of an untrained ordinary person. Therefore, Chianti was arranged here just in case Hayashi Yoshiki failed and let the rat slip away.
"Aniki, it's almost 11 o'clock."
"Keep waiting."
Gin was expressionless.
Vodka obediently said nothing, just holding his camera ready at all times.
Now, they just waited for Hayashi Yoshiki to make his move. This camera would capture his crime, thereby controlling the outwardly brilliant new mystery novelist.
However, it wasn't until the time reached 23:04 that Hayashi Yoshiki's figure still hadn't appeared. Below, Kishio Hironobu, unaware that his death was imminent, was also frequently checking the time on his phone.
Killing intent gradually emerged in Gin's eyes.
"I didn't expect such an idiot to dare defy orders..."
His voice was chilling as he picked up his phone.
Last night, when Hayashi Yoshiki left Daikoku Building, Gin had already arranged for another low-level member to follow and monitor him, just to prevent him from foolishly choosing to betray the Organization.
However, Gin usually didn't say much to his subordinates; the order was just to keep an eye on Hayashi Yoshiki and report if he showed any signs of leaving Beika City.
At this moment, Gin's killing intent was incredibly fierce.
He ordered Vodka to send a message to the outer personnel dispatched to monitor Hayashi Yoshiki's movements, while he personally called Hayashi Yoshiki.
Unexpectedly, the call was answered immediately—
"Hello?"
"You're bolder than I thought, novelist." Gin's tone was bone-chilling with killing intent.
"Good evening, Mr. Gin."
The voice from the other end still carried an incredible sense of tranquility.
Gin heard the other party seem to chuckle.
"Because killing someone exactly at 11 o'clock would be too conspicuous, could you please wait a moment?"
"Let me check the time? 11:05:21..."
"Almost there."
"37, 36, 35, 34..."
The clear voice on the other end of the phone suddenly began counting down.
Gin slightly narrowed his eyes.
He suddenly turned to look at Vodka, and as the latter looked somewhat confused, Gin carefully felt and confirmed that there should be no abnormalities around them, while simultaneously covering the receiver of the phone in his hand—
"Ask Chianti if there's anything unusual in the surroundings."
"Ah, okay!"
Vodka immediately complied.
The precise countdown on the phone continued.
Soon, Gin received Chianti's response that she found nothing. After ignoring her repeated request to open fire, he suddenly heard her say that a fast-moving dump truck was approaching from the three o'clock direction.
Gin immediately turned to look.
"20, 19, 18, 17, 16...10, 9, 8, 7..."
Under the gentle countdown, the lights of the rapidly moving dump truck illuminated the night road as if it were daytime.
Kishio Hironobu, waiting under the streetlight at the alley entrance, was drawn by the sound and looked up. He saw the dump truck, which was originally driving on a normal road, suddenly shake its front wheels, breaking and trembling, causing the vehicle to lose balance and swerve. The blinding lights shone entirely on him!
Kishio Hironobu screamed and hurriedly retreated to the side, and the driver, who was a bit drowsy, was startled, violently steering the unbalanced dump truck to the side, narrowly brushing past Kishio Hironobu and violently crashing into the nearby streetlight—
Did he fail?
Gin, who had witnessed the entire scene, just felt bored, then suddenly realized that sound was still coming from his phone—the countdown wasn't over yet!?
"...4...3...2...1..."
Kishio Hironobu, having escaped death, was sitting on the ground about to breathe a sigh of relief when he didn't notice that the nearby crashed streetlight had violently snapped the wire bundle at the alley entrance and the iron frame supporting the aquarium's neon sign above. This caused the neon sign box above to lose its support, sparking dazzling flashes of light and teetering under the pull of the wires—
"0—"
The moment the voice fell—
The swaying light box, dragging crackling wires, along with the broken iron frame, smashed down on Kishio Hironobu, who hadn't had time to stand up—
"..."
Silence visited this rooftop.
No more sound came from the phone, and Gin, with wide eyes, looked at Kishio Hironobu buried there, unable to speak for a moment.
After a while,
"Mr. Gin."
"Hello?"
The voice from the phone still brimmed with calmness.
But Gin's mood was difficult to calm down. He meticulously reviewed the incredible accident that occurred right under his nose.
If it were said to be the result of meticulous calculation, he could naturally accept it, but could calculations really be so precise, down to the second?
He unconsciously bared his teeth.
His dark green pupils burst with excited and joyful light.
"...Truly unexpected."
"Aniki, I have a reply."
Vodka, who had also witnessed the entire scene, was somewhat unnerved. The sudden text message made him jolt, and he quickly handed it to Gin.
The moment he saw the content of the text message, Gin's pupils suddenly constricted.
"Mr. Gin, the target has been in his apartment since 7 PM and hasn't gone out."
Hasn't gone out...
How was it done?
As he realized that the talent he had discovered this time was far more outstanding than he had imagined, Gin's grip on his phone tightened slightly.
Interesting!
"Oh, by the way, may I ask? When the target was crushed to death, was he landing on his chest?"
The commotion on the ground in the distance disturbed the residents of the surrounding area.
As curious people stepped out of their houses or peered from windows to check the situation, on this top floor where only the wind whistled, Hayashi Yoshiki's voice clearly reached Gin and Vodka's ears.
"No, he landed on his back."
Vodka subconsciously replied—because Kishio Hironobu hadn't managed to stand up before being crushed, he saw it clearly.
And it was only after hearing this reply that the previously gentle voice from the phone suddenly turned annoyed: "Tch!"