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Jiang Xia parked beneath the Clock Tower.

After a while, Gin and Vodka finally arrived.

Through the Car Front Window, Jiang Xia looked at Gin and felt that his boss's Killing Intent seemed to have grown stronger.

But compared to that, what Jiang Xia cared about more at the moment was that Gin actually had a cute Q-version New Ghost clinging to him.

...It was not a Paper Shikigami, but a rare Ghost Fetus.

And unlike Xiao Bai, this New Ghost was a normally sized Ghost Fetus—about the size of two cupped hands, like a transparent little throw pillow.

"..."

Jiang Xia unconsciously straightened up, desperately wanting to yank the Q-version New Ghost off Gin and hold it himself.

But at a time like this, approaching too quickly might get him riddled with bullets by the wary Gin.

Thinking about Gin's usual workload in this body, Jiang Xia could only temporarily suppress his longing and absentmindedly help Vodka move the stolen Suitcase and bags into Gin's vehicle.

This time, Gin was not driving a Porsche, but a black Commercial Vehicle—perfectly suited for hauling corpses or cash.

After seeing the two finish moving the luggage, Gin gestured toward the back row of the vehicle. "Get in."

Jiang Xia nodded and casually glanced at his Ghost.

The New Ghost happened to be looking at Jiang Xia too. After meeting his gaze for a moment, the cute Q-version Ghost tremulously Reach Out a tiny hand toward him. It looked far easier to lure away than the Ghost Infant had been.

Jiang Xia: "..." Well, that was normal enough.

Although becoming a Ghost Fetus made one look much more chibi-like.

Jiang Xia could still recognize her from the New Ghost's general appearance—this seemed to be Miyano Akemi.

After Jiang Xia got into the vehicle, Gin opened the door and sat in the driver's seat.

Vodka, who usually acted as the driver, instead opened the rear door and sat in the same row as Jiang Xia.

After the Commercial Vehicle had driven some distance, Gin rolled down the window and fired several shots into the Fuel Tank of the cargo truck Jiang Xia had driven over.

Amid the Explosion Sound, Vodka also drew his Gun and aimed it at Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia: "..." Why was Vodka the one holding the Gun this time? Vodka's identity card was nowhere near as good as Gin's...

But compared to that matter.

Jiang Xia's attention was focused more on his lower leg.

—Miyano Akemi's soul seemed extremely afraid of Gin.

After Jiang Xia got in, she slowly shuffled over to his feet and looked up at him. Then she tentatively Reach Out, wrapping her arms around Jiang Xia's calf like a koala.

After clinging tightly to him, she watched nervously for a moment. Only when she saw that Jiang Xia did not reject her did she secretly let out a breath of relief.

Jiang Xia looked down, wanting badly to give her a good rub and quickly sign a Contract to lure the Ghost home... Unfortunately, it was not the right time yet.

He raised his head.

Facing Vodka's Gun, Jiang Xia looked like an Old Employee who had been stabbed in the back by his company as he asked in confusion, "I completed the mission. I wasn't caught on camera."

"You don't get to decide that. We'll verify it ourselves. Hands up!" Vodka pushed up his sunglasses, which flashed with a Pika of reflected light.

Then, as though performing a magic trick, he pulled out a black hood and swished it over Jiang Xia's head.

As Jiang Xia watched his vision go dark, he said, "Um, are you kidnapping—"

Vodka cut him off with great authority on behalf of his Big Brother. "No talking! Submit to the investigation."

Jiang Xia: "..." Why did you sound even more like a cop than Amuro Tooru...

Vodka knew nothing of the "slander" in Jiang Xia's mind.

He lowered his Gun, took a Laptop from the bag, and opened it across his knees.

Then he frisked Jiang Xia, pulling out a pile of miscellaneous items such as cigarette packs, small Knives, and Lighters, as well as Two Phones.

Vodka gave the miscellaneous items a simple inspection and found nothing wrong, so he tossed them aside. He focused on checking the phones.

He connected Jiang Xia's phone to the Computer, brought up all the Call Records and chat logs, and began recovering data.

Gin did indeed intend to kill Jiang Xia and Destroy Corpses and Erase Traces. Then the organization could tell Sherry that Jiang Xia had unfortunately been blinded by money, killed Miyano Akemi, and fled with the cash.

Under such circumstances, compared with making a move midway, it was naturally more convenient to bring Jiang Xia to the corpse disposal site, kill him there, and burn him immediately.

Furthermore, Jiang Xia was suspected of having ties to the Miyano Sisters, while Miyano Akemi was connected to Akai Shuichi.

Thinking of this, Gin made a conjecture based on the most extreme possibility—Miyano Akemi's sudden courage to "leave the organization with her sister" might have come from finding support outside, such as locating the vanished Akai Shuichi.

But so far, the organization had never discovered any connection between Akai Shuichi and Miyano Akemi.

So tonight, after Gin discovered the suspicious target—namely Jiang Xia—he could not help linking the two matters together.

...Perhaps Jiang Xia was the intermediary between Akai Shuichi and Miyano Akemi.

Though Jiang Xia and Miyano Akemi were both Peripheral Members, Jiang Xia did not have an impressive younger sister, and no one in the organization was monitoring him.

In other words, even if Jiang Xia went out arm in arm with Akai Shuichi, as long as they did not happen to run into an organization member along the way, the organization would not notice anything amiss.

Gin therefore made a bold assumption: perhaps Akai Shuichi had contacted Jiang Xia, who then contacted Miyano Akemi—for example, tampering with the courier packaging while processing returns to convey messages discreetly.

As for why Jiang Xia would help them...

Gin could not think of an answer for the moment and could only attribute it to seduction by beauty.

...Gin also admitted that the possibility of this scenario he had imagined was extremely low.

Forget "having contact with Akai Shuichi"—in truth, even the basic deduction that "Jiang Xia had helped Miyano Akemi with the robbery" was merely speculation without factual basis.

But it could not be denied that such a possibility did exist.

And an opportunity to catch Akai Shuichi...

Even if there was only a one-in-a-thousand chance, it was worth trying.

Besides, there was little cost to this—if he was wrong, they would only lose one suspicious Peripheral Member. In addition, they could pin the blame on Jiang Xia and prevent Sherry from turning against the organization over her sister's death.