Chapter 269: Glenlivet's Suggestion
The bustling crowds of the mall seemed to melt into a hazy, indistinct background, leaving only the three figures in the photograph standing in sharp relief. They looked as if they were characters pulled from a film, each carrying a world of stories behind their eyes.
"Tsk, tsk... this could be a movie poster," Natsume said, nodding in genuine admiration. "As expected of you, Charlotte. You took a fantastic shot."
"Oh, it's nothing, really." Charlotte scratched her head, a light blush dusting her cheeks. She peered at the image again, her journalistic curiosity piqued. "But Natsume, why did you want me to take this kind of photo?"
A look of keen, mischievous interest lit up Natsume's face. "It's simple. I'm just dying to see Amuro's reaction when he eventually finds out that Shuichi Akai is Okiya Subaru... and then sees this picture." Her smile widened. "And I wonder what he'll do when he learns it was taken by someone from the Teyvat Organization."
[Traveler, your smile right now is straight out of a villain's playbook,] Paimon couldn't help but retort from within her mind.
Natsume bristled internally. How could this be a villain's smile? [This is clearly the innocent and kind smile of a beautiful, heroic protagonist.]
Paimon offered a dry, two-syllable chuckle and said nothing more.
On the other side of the street, nestled in a sniper's perch, Chianti stared through her rifle's scope. The mall entrance was perfectly framed in her crosshairs, and just as she readjusted her aim, a familiar figure walked out. She immediately keyed her comms.
"Found the ghost, Gin! Right next to your car!" Her voice was a high-strung wire of impatience, practically begging for the order to fire. "Give the word!"
"Hah. Is that Shuichi Akai's ghost?" Glenlivet, lounging in the passenger seat of the black Porsche, heard Chianti's crackling report. He turned, his gaze drifting lazily toward the car window.
He shielded his eyes with one hand, peering intently at the figure on the sidewalk. After a moment, he spotted the target.
"He certainly looks a lot like Shuichi Akai," Glenlivet mused, his tone dismissive. "But I don't think it's him. It's probably just someone with a similar face."
Hearing this, both Kir and Vodka stared at him in stunned silence. They had never expected to hear anything remotely helpful from Glenlivet's mouth, let alone something that seemed to be defending Kir. Was he... speaking up for her?
The thought was so absurd that even Gin, whose focus had been locked on Kir with suffocating intensity, shifted his attention. He cast a strange, questioning glance at the man beside him.
"What are you looking at me for?" Glenlivet snapped, settling back into his seat. He caught Vodka's bewildered expression and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You don't actually think I'm trying to make excuses for Kir, do you?"
Vodka blinked. "Uh... you're not?"
"Of course not! Use that lump of rock you call a brain and think for a second," Glenlivet's voice was laced with impatience, as if he found the very question insulting. "The probability of that man being Shuichi Akai is already laughably low."
He saw Vodka open his mouth to argue and cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Don't tell me you're about to suggest he got amnesia from a car accident. This isn't some cheap television drama. With an explosion of that magnitude, what are the odds he'd escape without a missing arm or leg, but with a convenient case of amnesia?"
Glenlivet's lips twisted into a cruel smirk. "If you ask me, this whole trip was a waste of time. We should operate on the principle of 'better to kill the innocent than let the guilty escape.'Since Kir is under suspicion, we might as well just finish her off. Then, we find a few people to take out that lookalike. Problem solved. We are a criminal organization, aren't we? I don't think we need to trouble ourselves with'evidence'."
A cold dread washed over Kir. She stared at Glenlivet, her expression a maelstrom of shock and disbelief. She had known he wouldn't defend her out of kindness, but she never imagined he would be so ruthless as to openly incite Gin to execute her. Was this man even human?
Besides, if she remembered correctly, they had a cooperation agreement...
Fortunately, Gin was composed enough not to be swayed by Glenlivet's bloodthirsty suggestion. He shot the younger man a look that could freeze fire. "Shut up."
"You're just too indecisive, Gin," Glenlivet complained, crossing his arms and leaning back against the leather seat with a sigh of deep dissatisfaction.
Kir's mind reeled. She never thought she would live to see the day someone called the infamous Gin "indecisive."
Just then, the deep growl of a motorcycle engine cut through the tension. Vermouth pulled up alongside Gin's window, her helmet tucked under her arm. She leaned in, her voice a low, conspiratorial murmur. The "Shuichi Akai" at the mall entrance, she explained, was actually Bourbon in disguise. The entire operation had been approved by the Boss himself.
"After all," Vermouth sighed, a hint of amusement in her tone, "the Boss is a cautious man. He always believes in playing it safe."
"That's more than cautious; it's paranoid," Glenlivet's voice was an eerie, bored drawl. He rested an arm on the edge of the open window, his gaze fixed on "Scarred Akai," who had now noticed their car and was staring back. "The Boss is so wary of that one man, you'd think he's afraid Akai will claw his way back from the grave."
He truly couldn't comprehend it. Why would the leader of a massive, transnational criminal syndicate be so terrified of a single person? It was utterly lacking in style.
In the end, the day's operation concluded with a quiet, anticlimactic fizzle.
Gin ignored the confused and frustrated questions crackling from Chianti's earpiece and gave a single, cold order: "Retreat."
And for the time being, Kir was cleared of the suspicion that she had betrayed the organization.
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