Cooperation

The city in the dead of night was permeated with a bone-chilling cold; though the streets remained brightly lit, they were so empty they felt deathly silent.

There was an indescribable, bittersweet quality to this loneliness wrapped in such prosperity.

A black sedan drove down the road in solitude, Ayanokōji Atsuomi leaning against the window, quietly watching the city's nightscape.

Having just left school, Atsuomi's thoughts had not yet fully shifted away from Narimori.

He was still pondering the mysterious organization Narimori had spoken of.

"Sir, ever since we turned that corner, this car has been following us."

Hearing the driver's words, Atsuomi glanced casually at the rear. Seeing only an ordinary-looking gray-white sedan, he said with complete indifference.

"Probably just some idiot with road rage. Shake him off."

With that, Atsuomi closed his eyes, immersing himself back in his own thoughts.

He had great confidence in his driver's skills; surely, it wouldn't take long to resolve this matter.

"S... Sir."

Soon, the driver's voice sounded again, and Atsuomi easily detected the tremor in it.

He opened his eyes once more. With his thoughts interrupted time and again, Atsuomi was already growing impatient. "What is it now..."

Before he could finish, Atsuomi was astonished to find that the vehicle he was riding in had been surrounded.

What had started as just one car following them had, in the time he had his eyes closed, turned into four vehicles boxing him in from every direction.

The four cars controlled their speed with precision, constantly compressing the space available to Atsuomi's vehicle.

There was no doubt about it: they intended to seize him.

"Oh? Gangsters, or something else?"

"Do they know who they're messing with?"

There was no panic in Atsuomi's heart, only a sense of profound curiosity. He truly wanted to know who these idiots were.

With just one phone call, he could make these fools regret their actions.

Just as Atsuomi reached for his phone, the driver's trembling voice came again. He had clearly lost the ability to organize his thoughts; his words were fragmented and incoherent.

Atsuomi could only barely distill the meaning the driver was trying to convey.

"Sir... the license plates on these cars... they have the letter Y."

"United States Forces Japan!"

Atsuomi instinctively arrived at this conclusion. As a politician, it was impossible for him not to know the status of the US military in this country.

"But why use private military vehicles for something like this? They could have met me openly."

Watching the vehicles outside, Atsuomi was filled with confusion.

"Sir... they are signaling for us to follow."

"Oh? Then let's follow and see what they want." Atsuomi finally perked up and said coolly.

The motorcade wove through the city, and it was obvious they had been aimlessly wandering for quite some time.

Finally, the convoy entered a US military base.

In an instant, a barrage of searchlights shone mercilessly onto Atsuomi's car.

Atsuomi did not rush to get out; he simply closed his eyes and waited quietly for the other party to make contact.

Sure enough, under the glare of the searchlights, a burly soldier walked over with a rifle and knocked on the window.

"Tell your commanding officer to come here," the driver said in fluent English.

The soldier smiled slightly at these words, signaled his companions over, and began to violently break the door open.

The driver's threatening shouts were completely drowned out by the chaotic noise. Before long, the driver was dragged out of the car, and the soldiers began beating him without a word of explanation.

Facing the driver's screams, Atsuomi remained unmoved. Trying to force my hand this way to gain the upper hand in negotiations?

Do they think I'm some small-time player?

Just as Atsuomi was guessing their intentions, the surrounding searchlights suddenly extinguished in unison, and a massive roar echoed from the sky—undoubtedly the sound of a helicopter.

Atsuomi opened his eyes and looked up to see a Chinook helicopter slowly descending.

As the cabin door opened, Anderson stepped out with a leisurely gait. Atsuomi still did not exit the car; he watched Anderson without a word or a change in expression.

The latter was in no hurry to speak either. Instead, he gave a slight wave of his right hand, and the soldiers beating the driver immediately stopped and stepped away.

A red laser dot suddenly appeared on the driver's lower leg.

Without any warning, a "thwip" sound rang out, and the driver's lower leg exploded, blood and flesh splattering in every direction.

The screams were incessant, but no one paid them any mind. Two more red dots appeared, aiming at the foreheads of the driver and Atsuomi respectively.

"Do you know who I am? You dare kill me?" Atsuomi was the first to lose his composure; he rolled down the window and spoke in a heavy tone.

"Of course I do, Mr. Ayanokōji Atsuomi."

Anderson replied casually, "But do you know how many enemies your style of doing things has made for you?"

"They would be more than happy to carve up your assets once you're dead."

"So, you were sent by my enemies to kill me? I don't believe they have the power to mobilize the U.S. military."

Ayanokouji Atsuomi clearly hadn't been completely broken by the threat of death; he remained rational and said calmly, "Who exactly are you, and what do you want with me?"

"The Web!"

"Surely you have already heard about us from Sakayanagi Narimori."

"So, Mr. Ayanokouji, are you willing to cooperate with us?" Anderson spoke confidently, showing no concern that the other party might refuse.

"Is this how you go about cooperating with people?"

"Aren't you afraid that I might feign agreement, only to break the contract once I leave? I am confident that I hold some influence in this country."

Faced with Atsuomi's warning, Anderson appeared completely indifferent and said, "You will definitely agree to cooperate with us, and you will not break the contract."

"Oh?"

Atsuomi let out a sound of confusion; he was now even more curious about what this person before him wanted to cooperate on.

"Do you want to become the supreme leader of this country?" Anderson asked with a smile.

Inside the base, Snow Spider and Wolf Spider were closely monitoring everything.

"I really don't get it. Shouldn't missions like this usually be carried out by higher-level personnel? Why are we the ones doing it this time?"

Wolf Spider held a glass of red wine, looking at Snow Spider, who was sitting in a chair, and asked with confusion.

"It seems something has happened on Kato's side, so this investment mission has been temporarily handed over to us."

"As support, he specifically granted us permission to utilize the power of Eighteen. Mobilizing the U.S. military stationed in Japan this time was his doing."

"Can you imagine it, Wolf Spider? If this investment succeeds, the supreme leader of this country will become our new umbrella—The Nineteenth Umbrella!"

Snow Spider said excitedly.