Gin vs. Matsuda

Right, besides Gin, there was also...

At that thought, Miyano Akemi's gaze drifted to the side and landed on Vodka.

She unconsciously bit her finger, unable to suppress the faint greed hidden beneath her ladylike exterior.

Vodka suddenly shuddered.

He stiffened his muscular face and warily looked toward Jiang Xia, then immediately regretted it—Uzo had not been looking at him at all just now. He had merely been staring blankly at the two Men in Black in the arena. But now that Vodka had turned his head, Uzo noticed the movement and immediately looked over.

"..."

Vodka gazed innocently at the sky. He was wearing sunglasses, and these excellent lenses barely let through any light even under the blazing sun, much less in this midnight factory... There was no way Uzo could have noticed him sneaking glances earlier. He just had to pretend nothing had happened and... Huh?! Why were you coming over here?!

Jiang Xia walked over to his side.

Vodka instinctively glanced at the car beside him from the corner of his eye, confirming his escape route... But he only confirmed it. He did not dare actually slip into the car and floor the gas, though he very much wanted to.

Vodka vaguely remembered reading in the Wilderness Survival Manual that when encountering certain predators, one must not flee in haste. One had to bravely meet their gaze, because that way one died with more digni—no, because it could make the other party feel somewhat threatened. Running away, on the other hand, was equivalent to admitting one was prey and would only lead to a quicker death... For some reason, Vodka suddenly recalled this useless bit of knowledge and felt that it actually made some sense.

...No matter what, he was still a senior member of the organization.