Hello? I'm Looking for Fake Alcohol

As the saying went, a hacker who didn't want to be a driver wasn't a good underling. So besides being a driver, Vodka was also a hacker.

The data recovery progressed quickly, and the relevant information from Jiang Xia's phone gradually appeared on the screen.

After browsing for a moment, Vodka leaned toward the front and quietly told Gin, "There are no records of him contacting them proactively, and no news from Akai Shuichi either."

As he spoke, he turned the screen around for Gin to see.

Gin actually glanced back at it—clearly, the organization had no concept of things like "safe driving."

Judging from the data on the screen, both Miyano Akemi and Sherry had sent Jiang Xia messages.

Sometimes, they reminded him to go to the hospital. Sometimes, they had made new medicinal supplements and wanted to bring them for him to take.

For some reason, although Jiang Xia was young, his phone model was even older than theirs and didn't have a blocking function.

However, judging from the chat history, Jiang Xia had never replied to any messages from the Miyano Sisters. He seemed to dislike this kind of private contact.

Even now, Vodka still naïvely believed that Brother Gin wanted to kill Jiang Xia entirely because Jiang Xia was a traitor.

But now, Jiang Xia's chat records looked fine.

So Vodka felt that perhaps they could let him go.

Gin suddenly frowned. "What's with those garbled messages?"

"Garbled messages?" Vodka froze and looked back at the screen.

There really were several garbled entries mixed into the call logs and emails. Vodka hadn't bothered to crack them—judging from the general format, weren't these just messages Big Brother had sent Jiang Xia?

"Idiot. I'm not talking about the ones I sent." Gin gave a cold snort. "May 14th, August 3rd, September 27th... I didn't leave those records."

"Oh!" Vodka suddenly understood.

Then he was abruptly shocked. "C-Could these be messages from Akai Shuichi?!"

Jiang Xia: "...?"

Akai Shuichi? What Akai Shuichi?

Wasn't it too early for Akai Shuichi to appear?

Even if he had appeared, what did that have to do with Jiang Xia?

Still, speaking of which... people said Akai Shuichi was a lot like Gin. If they also shared the talent of being surrounded by Killing Intent...

While Jiang Xia's attention secretly drifted elsewhere—

Vodka pulled himself together, selected those records, and began a round of rapid tapping as he started a Conan Logic trace.

Then, while waiting to track down "Akai Shuichi's" location, he looked at Jiang Xia and asked in confusion, "May 14th, August 3rd, September 27th—who did you contact?"

Jiang Xia: "...?"

Though he had no idea what was going on, who would remember that kind of thing for no reason? He wasn't Gin, constantly surrounded by Undercover Agents, and didn't need to be cautious to that extent.

Still, Jiang Xia remembered that among his contacts, there were only a few people who acted so sneaky that they had to encrypt even a single message.

Which meant the suspicious garbled messages Gin was referring to were probably...

A phone Ring Tone suddenly sounded in the car.

Gin's pupils contracted as he abruptly looked at Jiang Xia's phone, which was connected to the Computer. His gaze was grave, as though he were staring at the enemy of his life.

Vodka wiped the sweat from his cheek and said guiltily, "Big Brother, I think the other side noticed my tracking program..."

Gin sat up straight and gave a cold smile, excitement at the prospect of hooking a Big Fish rising in his heart.

An encrypted Phone Number was suspicious enough on its own.

And he trusted Vodka's hacking skills. Yet such an outstanding trace had been noticed by the other side in mere seconds...

If the person on the other end was Akai, then that would explain it.

With that thought, Gin glanced at Jiang Xia in the back seat through the Rearview Mirror, his gaze chilling.

But unfortunately, a layer of black cloth prevented him from meeting Jiang Xia's eyes, weakening the threat somewhat.

Gin felt a little regretful.

He looked away and said to Jiang Xia, "Arrange to meet him at the Oil Refinery in Block 4 of Nishiyama Town. Watch your wording—you should know what you should and shouldn't say."

Jiang Xia: "...Fine."

He was so cooperative that the two Men in Black in the car instead fell silent, worried that Jiang Xia was planning some trick.

Gin: "..." But the earlier trace had definitely alerted "Akai Shuichi" on the other end of the phone.

If they failed to answer the call again, the other party might give up on contacting Jiang Xia and hide away... Better to answer it now and make an attempt.

Vodka picked up the phone, brought it close to Jiang Xia, answered the call, and turned on Speakerphone.

After the call connected, the person on the other end said nothing, as if observing them in secret.

Vodka waited several seconds without getting any useful information, and he couldn't track the other side's signal at all.

Vodka: "..." Heh, as expected of Akai Shuichi. He really knew how to keep his cool.

He secretly poked Jiang Xia, urging him to say something quickly. Otherwise, "Akai Shuichi" might hang up.

Jiang Xia felt a little ticklish and dodged his hand, giving a perfunctory, "Hello?"

Gin and Vodka held their breaths and listened.

A moment later, a puzzled voice came from the other end of the phone. "What are you doing?"

Gin froze.

It wasn't Akai Shuichi.

But... it sounded a little familiar?