Natsume Fan Zhi's secret

"You want to put Miss Makima to sleep forever?"

"Meng Fan, you'd better think rationally."

Himeno hadn't expected Meng Fan to suddenly say something like that.

After all, both of them were very important to her.

Himeno respected Miss Makima, and they had known each other for a long time as superior and subordinate.

Although she hadn't known Meng Fan for long, she had come to rely on him heavily.

If the two of them clashed,

Himeno would undoubtedly find herself caught between them.

"I suggest you and Denji do what Miss Makima says. Otherwise, one corpse will become three."

Aki Hayakawa stood up and confronted them.

"Aki, aren't you going to protect your teammates this time?" Meng Fan asked.

"Teammates are just people you weigh the pros and cons of keeping around. Once they have no value left, there's no reason to protect them."

"Aki, you... Power might be a bit of a brat, but do you have to be so heartless?" Denji clenched his fists and shouted at Aki Hayakawa.

"I already told you, you're only an experimental team. Once you're no longer useful, you need to be wiped out."

"If what happened to Power happened to you, I'd do the same."

Aki Hayakawa spoke without a trace of emotion.

His words also cut deep into Denji's heart.

In Denji's eyes, once they became teammates,

everyone should do everything they could to protect one another, no matter what.

"Aki..." Himeno froze, not expecting Aki Hayakawa to be even colder than she was now.

"Bastard! I'm going to teach you a lesson for Power!"

Denji was about to charge forward, but Meng Fan grabbed him. "Calm down, Denji. We're not at that point yet."

Although Denji couldn't vent his anger physically while being held back, his mouth didn't let up. "Aki Hayakawa, a guy like you who treats his teammates as tools is worse than a Devil."

Denji's words stung Aki Hayakawa, too. He froze for a moment before saying, "Keep thinking of a solution. Power doesn't have much time left."

With that, he lit a cigarette and strode out of the office.

"Aki might just be in a bad mood lately. Don't take it to heart. As far as I'm concerned, he's a man who takes his duty to his teammates very seriously."

"Himeno, you misjudged him, and so did I." Denji tugged at his collar, his face full of resentment toward Aki Hayakawa.

It would have been one thing if he simply hadn't helped them think of a solution.

But he had gone and added fuel to the fire.

That really pissed Denji off.

If Meng Fan hadn't stopped him, Denji would definitely have let Aki Hayakawa experience the agony of a kick to the balls.

Meanwhile, Aki Hayakawa stood in the corridor.

He smoked as he stared vacantly at the clouds drifting outside the window.

He seemed to be mulling something over, unable to make up his mind.

"Aki, why are you smoking outside my office?"

Just then, Makima's gentle voice sounded beside him.

"Miss Makima." Aki Hayakawa hurriedly stubbed out his cigarette and turned to greet her.

"For you to suddenly show up here, you must have something to ask me, right?"

"Uh..." After an inward struggle, Aki Hayakawa said, "Yes, Miss Makima. I do have something to ask you."

"It's about Power, isn't it?" Makima saw right through him.

"I hope you can help Power, Miss Makima." Aki Hayakawa deliberately kept his head lowered as he spoke.

Makima didn't answer immediately. Instead, she studied Aki Hayakawa for a while.

She felt that his personality had changed.

This was the first time she had heard him speak up for a fiend.

After all, Aki Hayakawa had deeply loathed Devils ever since they killed his family.

He had even believed that humans could never form emotional bonds with Devils.

Pleading for a fiend now clearly contradicted that.

"I never expected you to come and ask me for help on a fiend's behalf, Aki."

"I don't have any feelings for her. I just... think she's still somewhat useful."

"I'll consider your request, Aki. If there's nothing else, you can head back."

"Thank you, Miss Makima."

Aki Hayakawa breathed an inward sigh of relief and quickly left the corridor.

By then, night had fallen.

There was less than a night left before Power's execution.

Inside the office, Himeno kept making calls.

But she had made practically no progress.

Unable to sit around in the office any longer, Denji had gone out for a walk alone.

He hoped he would get lucky and run into the Poppy Devil while he was out.

"Meng Fan, where are you going?" Himeno asked when she saw him suddenly stand up and head outside.

"I have something to take care of. If Denji comes back, don't let him wander off again. It'll save me having to look for him when I return."

"What are you going to do?"

"You'll know when I get back."

With that, he closed the office door.

Inside the office, Himeno had already guessed that Meng Fan must have found a solution.

Deep down, she believed Meng Fan was a man who worked miracles time and again.

Before long, Meng Fan drove out of the Public Safety Bureau headquarters.

On the road, he called Natsume Fan Zhi.

Natsume Fan Zhi had been waiting for his call the whole time.

He had even been checking his phone every five minutes.

When he saw Meng Fan calling,

Natsume Fan Zhi grinned and swiftly answered. His first words were, "Well? Made up your mind?"

"Tell me where you are. Also, have ten million ready, along with two Devil corpses."

"I already prepared everything for you, because I knew you'd accept. Come to yesterday's dock. I've been waiting here for you."

Some time after ending the call,

Meng Fan drove to the dock.

From a distance, he saw Natsume Fan Zhi's truck parked quietly in the same spot as yesterday.

Honk, honk, honk!

He sounded the horn a few times.

The nearby truck suddenly switched on its headlights.

Meng Fan pulled his Mercedes-Benz up alongside it.

"You got here pretty fast!"

"Running three red lights will do that."

"Follow me. I'll take you to the Poppy Devil."

The truck led the way, with the Mercedes-Benz following behind.

Half an hour later,

the two of them reached the city center.

They parked in a deserted dead-end alley and got out.

"Where's the Poppy Devil?"

"Very close now." Natsume Fan Zhi got out and tossed what he was holding to Meng Fan.

"What's this? A wristband?"

"It's not just a wristband. It's an admission pass. You'll need it to get inside the Nightclub and see the Poppy Devil."

"The Nightclub? The Poppy Devil is at the Nightclub?"

"That's right. The owner of a Nightclub is working with the Poppy Devil. He can provide anything the Poppy Devil wants, and the Poppy Devil can supply the owner with endless amounts of Forbidden Powder."

"Did they make a contract?"

"No contract. The Poppy Devil is a fiend now."

"Natsume Fan Zhi, how do you know so much? Himeno searched for three days and couldn't find a single scrap of information about the Poppy Devil."

Meng Fan asked curiously.

Normally, Natsume Fan Zhi was the sort of person who never knew the answer to anything.

"Don't ask any other questions. Asking too much will only bring trouble for both of us. But trust me, I'd never sell out a friend."

Seeing that Natsume Fan Zhi was keeping his lips sealed,

Meng Fan stopped pressing him about his source and turned toward the cargo compartment. "What Devil corpses did you bring this time?"

"Two corpses that will suit you very well. Once you bring back the Poppy Devil's corpse, you'll find out which two Devils are in the truck."

Natsume Fan Zhi continued to keep him guessing.

He refused to reveal even a scrap of information before the job was done.

"Then let's head into the Nightclub. At this hour, the party inside must already be in full swing."