As Everyone Knows, I Never Lie

Guchuan: Vodka, the police are coming to arrest you. There were cameras all along the route you took after firing that shot and running away. It's only a matter of time before they catch you.

Vodka sat in an abandoned warehouse, gasping for breath. His bright pink suit had become utterly tattered.

He was filthy from head to toe, and his leg bore a wound where it had been sliced open by sheet metal during his escape.

And the first thing he saw upon turning on his phone was a mocking message from his teammate.

Vodka: You were the one who told me to shoot someone. You said you'd help me deal with the police.

Vodka was deeply displeased. This bastard had been the one who made him kill someone—and had even made him wear such an eye-catching pink suit.

Guchuan: You believed everything I said? Vodka, you really are stupid. Truly.

A flash of anger crossed Vodka's face.

That damn brat was unbearable!

Vodka: If the police catch me, Gin won't let you off.

Vodka warily watched his surroundings. All he could do was threaten Guchuan into helping him. Otherwise, he was really going to prison.

Given his boss's temperament, any member who went to prison was a traitor in his eyes, whether or not they had revealed anything about the organization. And traitors could only die.

He just wondered whether Vodka himself had even a little special privilege.

Guchuan: Little Vodka, who do you think is more important—you or me?

Of course I'm more important! Vodka thought indignantly.

He had followed his boss for many years, rotten to the core from the start. How could Guchuan, some guy who had joined halfway through, compare to him?

Guchuan: My best record is killing twenty targets in five days. What about you?

Vodka fell silent.

Guchuan: With Gin's cold-blooded personality, you don't seriously think he'd get rid of a capable member like me for your sake, do you?

Guchuan kept twisting the knife, and Vodka's heart sank to the bottom.

Could it be that after following Gin across Japan for so long, Vodka was finally going to be done in by the despicable Guchuan?

Vodka: I'll report you!

Vodka let out his final roar of rage.

Guchuan: Hehe, who would believe a criminal? And no one would investigate the only son of a high-ranking official just because of a criminal's nonsense.

Vodka fell into despair. He hated himself for believing Guchuan's bullshit.

Guchuan: Want me to save you?

Seeing that message, Vodka felt as though he had grabbed hold of a lifeline.

Vodka: Save me!

Guchuan: I won't save someone who has nothing to do with me.

Vodka: We're both members of the organization. How could we have nothing to do with each other?

Guchuan: You're with the organization. What does that have to do with me? You don't seriously think that I, someone who has always hated evil, would feel any sense of belonging toward a criminal organization, do you?

Vodka's face twitched. Guchuan was such a disgusting bastard, full of nothing but lies.

Vodka: Then what do I have to do for you to save me?

Guchuan: Little Vodka, stop being Gin's dog and become my underling!

Vodka wanted to beat Guchuan to death through the screen.

You despicable bastard. You want to steal me away from Boss Gin? Dream on!

But when he thought of his current predicament, Vodka felt he could temporarily submit to the enemy.

Vodka: Boss Guchuan! Save me!

Guchuan: You know that isn't all I want to hear.

Vodka struggled. Of course he knew what that vicious bastard Guchuan wanted to hear.

Guchuan: Hurry up. Those cops have already started checking the surveillance footage.

Vodka: Will you really help me?

Guchuan: As everyone knows, I never lie.

Vodka nearly ground his teeth to pieces. That son of a bitch.

Vodka: From now on, I, Vodka, will no longer be Gin's dog. I will follow Boss Guchuan forever!

Guchuan: Very good. I, Guchuan, treat my underlings like family. I'm very different from that cold-blooded Gin.

Guchuan: I've already saved this email. I'll send someone to pick you up soon.

Vodka sneered disdainfully. Internal organization emails automatically self-destructed one minute after being sent, leaving no trace behind at all.

Vodka didn't believe Guchuan had technicians more capable than the organization's.

Little Guchuan, hadn't you still been played by me, Vodka, in the end? You rookie who just joined the organization still had a lot to learn.

"Waaah~ waaah~ waaah~"

The sound of police sirens caught Vodka completely off guard.

Wait, hadn't Guchuan said he would smooth things over for him? He couldn't have turned around and reported him, could he?

"Hurry up and play the videotape. Let's see where that vicious criminal ran off to," Inspector Megure ordered.

"Yes!" An old police officer with a resolute face prepared to insert the videotape into the computer.

But his grip slipped, and he accidentally dropped the videotape into the water beside him. When he frantically pulled it out, he tripped again and smashed the tape to pieces.

"What are you doing?!" Inspector Megure watched the entire unbelievable process of the videotape being destroyed.

"I'm sorry, Inspector Megure! I really didn't do it on purpose!" The old officer lowered his head, his face full of shame.

Inspector Megure picked up the completely shattered videotape, unable to tell whether the man had done it deliberately.

"Why are you hugging your phone and playing with it the moment you get home?" Little Ai set the food on the table and impatiently nagged him like an old mother whose son was always on his phone.

"I took time off for you, so you should take time off for me too," Guchuan said.

"Hehe. I've barely ever seen you go to work," Little Ai snarked.

Guchuan sat down, respectfully placed a chopstickful of greens into Little Ai's bowl first, then began wolfing down his food.

"Come to think of it, it's pretty strange. Every time I took leave, my supervisor took leave too."

"You two really are birds of a feather," Little Ai said flatly.

That awful Guchuan always managed to meet people just as awful as himself.

That awful detective, and now an equally awful supervisor.

"That Choso Fuji has it pretty rough too. I took leave five times, and it seemed like five of his relatives died already," Guchuan continued complaining to Little Ai.

That Choso Fuji was practically cursed by the stars. His relatives just loved dying for no reason.

Guchuan even wanted Conan to go film an episode at Choso Fuji's house while he was home, just to see how many people would die.

"Then he really is cursed by the stars." Little Ai's mood suddenly darkened.

"What are you doing?!"

Little Ai fiercely clamped her chopsticks around Guchuan's chopsticks as they reached toward her bowl.

"I want meat!" Guchuan looked solemn as he began a battle of wills with Little Ai, determined to claim the meat in her bowl.

Little Ai gritted her teeth. This awful, stupid guy.

"Go take some from the plate!"

"I like the meat in your bowl. The meat in your bowl smells better!"

"But I've already bitten this piece!"

"Hehehehehehe~"