in2ebook Chapter 1328 Scarred Akai
Chapter 1328 Scarred Akai
Chapter 1328 Scarred Akai
"You have so much money to save?" Looking at Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya's bulging money bag, Genta Kojima exclaimed with genuine astonishment, "Is it New Year's money?"
"Not entirely, there's also the money I received as birthday gifts. I even opened a separate account to deposit it!"
Genta Kojima looked at the banknotes of varying denominations that he had taken out and couldn't help but curl his lip.
For elementary school students who usually carry various denominations of steel, such large-denomination banknotes are still too advanced.
"It's such a waste to save so much money. It's a huge sum!"
"That's what you call being down-to-earth! Besides, I'm the one using this account, so if I save up enough, I can buy expensive things or do other things."
As Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya spoke, he inserted banknotes into the ATM, asking Professor Agasa next to him to help operate it and confirm the balance.
"Genta, how do you usually spend your New Year's money?" Yoshida Ayumi asked curiously.
"I gave it all to my mom! She said that since it's just small stuff, I should save it for when I want to buy something more expensive!" Kojima Genta said without even thinking.
"So what did you buy?" Ai Haibara couldn't help but chuckle, having already guessed what had happened.
"Now that you mention it—" Genta Kojima's expression changed. "That's right, whenever I suggest buying something, my mom keeps saying this is too extravagant, that's unnecessary—"
Simply put, in the end, they all became parents.
"It's also possible that it's saved for you just in case? Like if you get sick or something—" Dr. Agasa, who knew all too well what kind of thought process these straightforward brats had, quickly changed the subject.
"So it's still like a savings account, isn't it?" Ayumi Yoshida chuckled. "If Mitsuhiko keeps it in the bank, at least the bank won't take his money and not return it, right?"
Upon hearing Ayumi Yoshida's words, Genta Kojima's face turned completely green.
He clenched his fist: "I...I—I'm going to take back everything I've lost over the years!"
When Tang Ze walked into the bank lobby, he heard this unusually difficult declaration.
He glanced in the direction of the children, and after confirming that everyone was there, he couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.
With Judy around, Amuro Tooru around, and this bunch of brats around, they've really hit the jackpot this time.
Anticipating what might happen soon, Tang Ze ignored the children's movements and instead tightened his black trench coat while looking around.
Since he wanted to be there to join in the fun as soon as possible, it wasn't appropriate for him to be too conspicuous. So, before coming over, Tang Ze quickly changed into a black trench coat with a stand-up collar and then activated his aura concealment.
This significantly reduced the recognizability of Goro Akechi's face, and no one noticed him even after he walked out of the crowded ATM queue.
Judy stood in the queue, watching the users in front of her who were asked by the staff to put away their phones, her expression quite somber and serious.
She was thinking about Shuichi Akai.
Despite their efforts to gather information from various sources, the conclusion they reached was that Shuichi Akai was dead, and it was even highly likely that Rena Mizunashi was responsible. While Jodie was devastated, she still harbored doubts about this answer.
The Shuichi Akai she knew shouldn't be a man who died so easily.
Even if he did it intentionally, wanting to take the opportunity to elevate Rena Mizunashi and let her take over his failed undercover plan and climb to a high position in the organization, this reason still couldn't completely convince Jodie.
From a capability perspective, believing that Shuichi Akai will be the next Gin is a very insightful view from within the organization.
Like Gin, Shuichi Akai is highly capable, quick-witted, suspicious, and cautious.
He was willing to entrust his back to people he trusted, such as Judy himself, or people like Don Ze who were destined to stand with him, but he would always have reservations and doubts, and would never entrust his true mission to others.
The discovery of Rena Mizunashi's connection with the CIA was an accident. How could Shuichi Akai really give up his life and let an undercover agent he didn't know well take over his mission?
Not to mention, he is not entirely without channels within the organization now. Tang Ze is not to be ignored. He has a thousand ways to regain information from the organization because Tang Ze's identity is more in-depth and trusted by the organization than his previous one, and he is able to touch the core.
After much thought, Judy could only come to one conclusion from these contradictory phenomena.
What Shuichi Akai really wants to get rid of is probably the FBI.
His complete death certificate was entirely left to them. Rena Mizunashi was handed over to the FBI as her successor. The reason Kumail wasn't chosen was because, until the very end, he never revealed to the FBI that Kumail was Tang Ze, or Tang Ze's true identity and abilities.
Moreover, with Tang Ze involved, no matter how you look at it, he wouldn't die so hastily. No matter how convincingly it was packaged, Judy wouldn't believe it or accept it.
But why is that? FBI, what went wrong that made Shuichi lose trust in them?
As Judy's mind raced, the line moved forward slowly, causing her to miss the fact that several people at the back of the line quickly put on balaclavas and took out dangerous items from their bags.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The hooded men each held a gun, including pistols and even semi-automatic rifles, providing considerable firepower.
The moment the gun was fired, everyone's attention was drawn to it, and screams and scrambling for cover erupted, creating chaos.
"Seal off all entrances and exits, and lower the roller shutters!" The robbers' target was very clear; their guns were pointed directly at the staff and crowd near the entrance. "Everyone, gather together! Now!"
"What...what happened?!"
At the back of the bank corridor, the children standing in front of the restroom looked at each other and instinctively gathered around Conan.
The sound of the gunshot was so loud that it didn't sound like an ordinary sound at all.
Conan, who was adjusting his mask, suddenly sharpened his gaze.
Gunshots, that must be gunshots.
The fact that the gunshots occurred in such a sensitive area as a bank makes their meaning quite clear.
Ai Haibara and Professor Agasa left the bank to buy digestive medicine for Genta, who had an upset stomach. Now, besides Conan, there were only three children left in the bank.
"Yuanta, stay in the stall and don't move! You two, go hide in the toilet too, I'm going to check the situation!"
He quickly walked down the corridor, bypassed the office area at the back of the bank, and hid behind the greenery at the corner, carefully observing the situation in the lobby.
The kidnappers were rudely yelling at the crowd, urging everyone to move as they demanded, and then squatting on the ground to keep watch.
At this time, there were about thirty or forty people in the bank lobby, including the staff.
Faced with five armed robbers, not everyone was willing to obey orders. Soon, a strong adult male squatted down and pretended to comply. Then, he noticed that the robbers guarding his direction had shifted their gaze to another direction. He stood up, intending to take advantage of the blind spot to seize the gun and break the current stalemate.
As soon as he stood up, a bullet shot from another direction pierced his arm.
Blood splattered, and the man quickly clutched his arm, screaming as he collapsed. The people around him let out a series of screams.
Knowing that the other party has a gun and watching them use a gun to injure someone right in front of you create completely different levels of panic.
"We're not here to joke around! You all saw that, right?! If you don't want to suffer, you'd better hurry up!"
Conan, standing behind the greenery, suddenly furrowed his brow.
The composition of these five people seems to have been carefully considered and researched.
One person was responsible for patrolling the area, while the other four occupied advantageous positions from different angles. The resulting crossfire network could completely cover the not-so-large area of the bank, making it easy to suppress any resistance.
More importantly, they were too decisive in firing their guns.
Generally speaking, bank robbers tend to fire as few shots as possible.
Fearless warriors who dare to charge into the gun are ultimately a minority. Unless forced to open fire, many bank robbers tend to use low-intensity tactics.
Robbery is about making money, and it's best to do it without killing anyone. After all, robbers aren't stupid; they know the difference in intensity between a robbery and a murder.
The fact that this group opened fire so decisively shows they are not afraid to kill, which makes the potential damage they could cause exceptionally high.
Thinking of this, Conan frowned deeply.
Judging from this, the robbers might be well-trained or have made thorough preparations beforehand. Hiding in the bathroom might not be a safe option; they'd need to find a way for the children to escape, like climbing out the window.
As he was thinking this, the robbers in the room, having confirmed that the roller shutter door was closed, issued the next command.
"Sit separately! Those who know each other, sit together. Those who came alone, sit on the other side. Hurry up!" The robber, carrying a semi-automatic rifle, waved his gun like a shepherd, driving the panicked crowd. "Don't try to fool us. We just saw what happened inside the bank. If we catch you making any moves, we won't be polite!"
The gun in his hand looked particularly intimidating, and the crowd began to move slowly under his threat.
Judy crouched at the edge of the crowd, watching the woman beside her sob softly with her hands buried in her palms in fear. She moved slowly, observing the crowd.
Organizing people into different groups is a rare practice among kidnappers.
It seems this group has a well-thought-out plan to carry out. Before we can determine their destructive power, it's best to wait and see.
Thinking this, she slowly moved into the group of people who had come alone, and her gaze suddenly fell on the person next to her.
The man wore a black baseball cap pulled low over his shoulders, and a scarf covered more than half of his face. Therefore, Judy only noticed his profile when she got closer.
Upon closer inspection, the face beneath the hat brim was quite terrifying.
Twisted, dark red scars covered his side profile, large patches of scarring still showing through the bright red flesh, as if they hadn't healed long ago or weren't fully healed yet. They rose and fell with his breath, quite eerie.
However, his intact left side of his face, and the strands of hair hanging down from the edge of his hat, looked so familiar.
Without a doubt, this is Shuichi Akai's face.
Judy's fingertips went numb as she looked at the horrific scars, clearly caused by burns and bullet holes.
She desperately wanted to grab the man, call his name, and check on his condition.
The horrific burn marks seemed to indicate what he had experienced in that sunken car; he needed medical care, protection, and a stable environment.
But reason kept reminding her how fanciful and dangerous all of this was.
If Shuichi Akai did not voluntarily abandon his identity, but was truly seriously injured in the accident to the point that he was unable to contact them, he should not be in this state.
If he was seriously injured, how was he treated? During the time he disappeared, where did he live and how did he survive?
Why didn't you contact them for support? Did you lose your memory, or did you encounter some other extreme situation? For example, were you controlled or threatened by the enemy and unable to contact the outside world?
By considering these points of doubt, it is easy to conclude that even in the most fortunate circumstances, Shuichi Akai should not have appeared so nonchalantly on the streets of Shibuya, entered a bank, and quietly crouched among a group of armed robbers.
This is very likely a trap, a threat, a bait to lure the FBI agents into their own trap.
She had many thoughts in her mind, but looking at the miserable state of that face and the unfamiliar yet wary gaze cast from under the brim of the baseball cap, she was still struggling to control her surging emotions.
What if he really is Shuichi? What if Shuichi really needs help?
After much deliberation, she composed herself and decided to send messages to James and Carmel before going up to grab the man and identify him.
Encountering this person was an unexpected situation. She could act on her emotions and take the risk, but before doing so, she had to inform her colleagues of the risks and possible situations so they would know what was going on.
In this way, even if one is exposed and suffers misfortune, at least it can serve as a warning to others and prevent them from repeating the same mistake.
However, just as she took out her phone and quickly started dialing blindly, the sharp-eyed kidnapper noticed the situation and pointed his gun at her, shouting at her.
"What are you doing! Trying to call the police? Put your phone in your bag!"
Conan, crouching behind the greenery, didn't notice the scarred version of Shuichi Akai beside her because of the distance, but he did notice that the robber's gun was pointed at Jodie herself.
Judy might be editing something important on her phone. If the robbers saw it, it could cause a bigger uproar than if they actually killed someone.
Conan frowned and quickly searched for usable items, hoping to make some other noise to distract the kidnappers.
Just as his head was about to peek out from the shade of the greenery, a hand reached out from behind, covered his mouth, and pulled him back behind the wall.
Almost simultaneously, the robber standing diagonally across the corner glanced over the corner, confirmed that everything was normal, and continued to look at the crowd and other surveillance equipment.
Conan was briefly startled, looked up at the person who had pulled him back, and then saw a completely black outfit.
Even though he couldn't see the other person's face from his angle, Conan still recognized him.
This is Goro Akechi.
No, considering his current appearance, perhaps he should be called Kumail.
"Shh." Without letting go, Tang Ze rolled his eyes downwards, staring at Conan, whose eyes were wide open. "Be quiet."
I don't want things to escalate too much, that would be too troublesome.
We hadn't even had our fill of fun yet, and now we're being interrupted?
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