Ji Minghuan controlled Unit Two and, alongside Ayase Origami, arrived at Shibaura Pier. They boarded the "Water Bus," taking the Tokyo Waterfront Line, on a journey to Qinghai Pier that lasted about 25 minutes.
He stood on the open deck, folded his arms on the railing, and gazed at the sea, lost in thought.
The ship gradually moved away from the Harbor District. In Ji Minghuan’s view, the Tokyo Tower was reduced to a slender orange pole, and the Mori Building’s glass facade in Roppongi Hills reflected cold light. Seagulls flew from afar on a cold sea breeze, ruffling Ji Minghuan’s hair.
Under the morning sun, the seawater glimred, and from afar, the magnificent outline of Mount Fuji could faintly be seen.
After an undetermined amount of ti, the ship sailed into Tokyo Bay, nearing the Rainbow Bridge.
Ji Minghuan turned his head and gazed at the bridge pier in the distance, observing one or two seagulls perching on the rusty maintenance ladder.
Suddenly, he recalled the reasons why Bloodline and Bai Tanlang joined the brigade and turned to ask Ayase Origami beside him:
"Why did you join the brigade?"
"I’m not interested in answering... but if it’s a question from a kitten to its owner, that’s another matter." Ayase Origami replied nonchalantly, the sea reflected in her pupils.
Ji Minghuan thought to himself, are you guys ever going to stop, then, expressionless, he called out:
"ow."
It must be said, even the sound seed "expressionless."
Ayase Origami was slightly taken aback, turning to glance at Xia Pingzhou, despite her comnt being just a casual joke, surprised that this stoic newcor actually played along.
A faint smile suddenly blossod on the face of this pale, expressionless girl.
If one didn’t know she was a mber of the White Crow Travel Brigade, a notorious criminal, one might think she was just a normal Japanese girl with that smile.
"Number 12, are you perhaps... a shy man?" She wrote on paper, the words dancing in mid-air.
The surrounding passengers gasped upon seeing this; Japanese locals shouted "Sugoi," and the man from Italy whistled, exclaiming "Bravo" in admiration, thinking this kimono girl was performing magic;
Soone attempted to lift their phone to take a picture, only to find the lens covered in pure white. Turning the phone, they discovered a thin layer of paper stuck to the cara that wouldn’t co off.
"You still haven’t answered my question." Ji Minghuan asked quietly, his black hair billowing high in the sea breeze.
Ayase Origami thought for a mont and said, "Staying with the family was boring, like a puppet. Everything was arranged, and you could see life’s end at a glance."
"And then?"
The boat passed right beneath the Tokyo Bay Rainbow Bridge, its shadow covering the faces of all the passengers. The girl’s pale cheeks were shrouded in shadow, and she said:
"The leader approached and said... ’Being a villain is more interesting than being a puppet, isn’t it?’"
"Your answer?"
"I accepted. So Takayama joined the White Crow Travel Brigade with ."
The sound of the waves drowned out their quiet conversation.
As they chatted, the water bus arrived at Qinghai Pier.
Amidst the calls of seagulls, they disembarked and found themselves at a café near Tokyo Bay. Overlooking the place, the café was elegantly decorated—the tables and chairs were made of mahogany, the walls adorned with paintings, and a prominent business certificate hung on display.
There weren’t many custors inside, just one or two tables occupied. However, there were only four tables in total, so any more would have been cramped.
"This café used to be Takayama’s. After joining the brigade, he left it to a junior. Every ti a brigade mission ends, he cos back here. It’s safe, no mob would co looking." Ayase Origami introduced expressionlessly.
Ji Minghuan nodded, glanced at the café patrons, and his expression subtly changed.
Among them, he spotted a familiar figure and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, silently mouthing the na in his mind:
"Li Qingping?"
Indeed... the figure seated inside the café was Li Qingping, across from whom sat a young foreigner.
The youth had long, golden hair, eyes as blue as the sea, wearing a white casual shirt made of expensive fabric.
If his guess was correct, this golden-haired youth should be the Second Prince of the Whale Terrarium, the person Li Qingping is currently protecting—should anything go wrong with the Second Prince at this auction, his close friend might be on his knees going back.
At that mont, Li Qingping seed sowhat distracted.
He hadn’t touched the coffee on the table, focusing intently on composing a ssage on his phone: typing and deleting several tis in hesitation within the dialogue box, before finally sending it off.
"You really know how to pick a place... Just say if you want your bro dead, alright?"
Ji Minghuan thought to himself, while syncing his consciousness with Unit One "Black Cocoon."
Upon opening his eyes, a notification sound chid, and picking up the phone beside his pillow, it was indeed a WeChat ssage from Li Qingping—what he had been contemplating over at the café to send to Gu Wenyu.
[Li Qingping: Are you awake? Didn’t you say yesterday you’d bring you to et my foreign friend, coming to the café?]
"This coffee might kill a person..." Ji Minghuan couldn’t help but sigh.
In truth, he initially planned to et Li Qingping out of boredom, and as an opportunity to see what the "Second Prince" looked like.
This way, he wouldn’t mistake the person at the auction—if by then, Li Qingping needed soone to help him watch over the Second Prince to make a bold move, Ji Minghuan would step in to kidnap the Second Prince, and let Big Bro Red Dragon perform.
Since the objective was achieved, to ensure nothing happens to Unit One, Ji Minghuan decided there was no need for Gu Wenyu to wade into this muddy water.
There’s no way he’d use "restraint belt detection" to check the mbers’ ability values, right?
That would likely result in Black Cocoon’s hand being broken by Ayase Origami the mont it was asured, or the entire person dragged into the shadows and executed by Oda Takashige.
After much consideration, he chose to decisively stand up Li Qingping.
[Gu Wenyu: Suddenly feeling a bit sleepy, goodnight.]
[Li Qingping: Saying goodnight in the morning? Standing up your bro again, huh? You’ve got so nerve.]
[Gu Wenyu: Don’t you have your foreign friend? Coming to Japan without telling , now you’re calling bro, huh.]
[Li Qingping: Didn’t you not tell either?]
[Gu Wenyu: We’re in the sa boat.]
"Sit, order whatever you like." Ayase Origami’s voice brought Ji Minghuan’s focus back to Unit Two, "It’s on the house."
She glanced sideways at Oda Takashige, who was pretending to be the boss at the counter.
Following her gaze, Ji Minghuan controlled Xia Pingzhou to look over.
By now, Oda Takashige had already changed out of his ninja outfit into casual wear. His massive two-ter physique was conspicuous even while sitting on a short stool, so Ji Minghuan imdiately recognized him as the ninja from before.
With his chiseled face devoid of expression, he winked at Ji Minghuan and then resud reading his newspaper.
Ji Minghuan inwardly marveled that despite Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Bay Rainbow Bridge being several kiloters apart, Oda Takashige arrived faster than the water bus they took, and even changed clothes by their next eting. Indeed, there were no ordinary characters within the brigade.
"Is this what they call a ninja?"
He gained a new perspective on this Number 4 mber, reminding himself to have Su Zimai be wary of Oda Takashige before the auction, to avoid being unwittingly dragged into the shadows and dying without realizing how.
At this mont, Li Qingping and the Second Prince at the table next to Ji Minghuan were comfortably chatting over coffee.
"Where’s your friend?" The blonde young man sipped his coffee, looking up to ask Li Qingping.
"He’s already said goodnight this morning, standing up his bro again?"
With that thought, Ji Minghuan took a sip of his sweetened coffee, no longer observing the two from the corner of his eye.
Reviews
All reviews (0)