in2ebook Chapter 1327 American-Style Fake Smile
Chapter 1327 American-Style Fake Smile
Chapter 1327 American-Style Fake Smile
"Oh, our busy man has arrived!"
As soon as Tang Ze sat down, he heard the elegant old lady sitting opposite him say this.
Tang Ze paused in adjusting his posture, looked down at his khaki suit, and then at the other person's face, which looked to be at least fifty years old, feeling rather helpless.
"Are you having some troubles lately, Chris? I feel like the image you're using—" He put on a slightly sarcastic and critical expression, scanning Vermouth up and down.
He was truly speechless about this issue.
As someone whose real age is highly questionable and who is constantly plagued by the effects of medication, and who is also a beautiful woman, Vermouth is clearly very sensitive about people talking about her age. However, ever since she discovered the complicated rumors about Goro Akechi being a wealthy woman, every time she goes out to see Kumail, as long as there are no restrictions, she dresses to appear older and older.
She clearly didn't want to talk about getting old, but just to add fuel to his scandals, she insisted on playing the role of a middle-aged or elderly woman every time. Her perseverance is truly admirable.
"What? Is my appearance not good?" Vermouth sat up straight, straightening her smooth and elegant kimono, the ginkgo leaf brooch on her chest shining brightly.
That's right, Vermouth was using the same old woman who had run into the Junior Detective Club when she was shopping with Tang Ze before the incident with Binga.
This image actually shows Vermouth's friendliness to some extent, after all, she received the purchase voucher from Ai Haibara.
Knowing full well that the other party was Sherry, and considering that Kumail couldn't harm Sherry, doing this was already demonstrating her willingness to cease hostilities. Whether it was a delaying tactic or not, the attitude had been shown.
Nowadays, wearing the brooch is perfectly acceptable in terms of etiquette, since it was Kumail's card that was used that time as a reward for Vermouth helping Bourbon and Kumail get a discount from the finance department. But paired with this image, it just looks a bit strange.
Too lazy to play any coded language with her, Tang Ze raised his hand and ordered himself a coffee, getting down to business.
"I've already shown my sincerity. So, are you satisfied with my results?" Tang Ze picked up a silver spoon and stirred the liquid in his coffee cup, getting straight to the point.
To deal with Rum, the power of a third party is crucial.
This third party wasn't someone completely unrelated to the organization. Considering Rum's suspicious nature, Tang Ze probably couldn't find anyone he could truly trust.
If Tang Ze tries to use Bourbon and Kumail as entry points to design his plan, Rum will immediately become alert and quickly realize that his men are planning a rebellion.
Vermouth, as someone who has no factional background within the organization and whose position is very special, is a very suitable candidate.
"I admit you've given me quite a few surprises." Vermouth held the teacup by the handle with great ladylike grace, lifting it to conceal her smiling lips. "Honestly, you're the first person I've ever met who could keep Gin a secret so perfectly."
She knew, of course, that Kumail's special abilities must have played a role in this, but that didn't stop her from giving it a high rating.
There have been many people in the organization who seem to have some ability, but Kumail became a key person to be cultivated simply because he showed a tendency to take initiative and achieve clear results. However, no matter how well those people performed, they could not escape Gin's eyes.
Now that they know about the existence of special powers, does Gin really have no way to counter them? That wouldn't be like Gin.
Even so, Kumail still managed to deceive everyone, just as he had concealed the whereabouts of Coolguy and that woman. He actually completed the high-difficulty challenge of rescuing someone right under Gin's nose and successfully controlled Curaçao, easily accomplishing what Rum had tried for so long but failed to do.
Is it fair to say that it is part of the Silver Bullet? In a way, this codename seems to have already come true.
"However, I'll have to be more careful next time I do a mission with you," Vermouth said half-jokingly. "Your abilities are terrifying; you'd better not show them off too much."
Tang Ze did not refute her statement, but simply continued drinking his coffee and maintaining his smile.
He knew in which direction Vermouth was channeling his abilities.
Aside from the organization's default assumptions about mental instability, emotional control, and disturbance, both Vermouth and Gin speculated that Kumail also possessed the ability to create illusions, and they both believed that his method was not to create illusions themselves, but to influence the minds of witnesses to induce collective hallucinations in others.
Vermouth's wariness was perfectly reasonable, because in their view, Kumail was the kind of person who could suddenly become a hair geller at any moment, and then suddenly start acting out things like, "When did you get the illusion that I didn't use Mirror Image?"
Regardless of the success of the deception, it did make Gin increasingly paranoid, as evidenced by his insistence on using various instruments to film the scene during the Curaçao incident.
Kumail may establish a branch of the distillery, and Gin is wearing a body camera while on duty. This is an extreme case of a home swap.
Letting them misunderstand like this isn't a bad thing, and Tang Ze won't take the initiative to correct her. He simply goes along with her words: "That's why I said my plan is flawless. Now the only obstacle is your cooperation, Chris."
"—You seem to be confident not only in yourself, but also in me." Vermouth put down her teacup, a smile returning to her lips. "You're trying to convince me to teach someone I once wanted to kill, and to make me trust her completely. You know, that's just a pipe dream."
"You'll believe me." Tang Ze raised his eyelids, a subtle golden light flickering in his eyes. "I even managed that in such an extreme situation, didn't I?"
As he spoke, he made a gun shape with his hand and tapped his temple, successfully making Vermouth's smile fade a bit.
"Your example is a bit too extreme," Vermouth declined, not wanting to have that kind of experience.
"I don't mind doing a few drills first. However, you might not be willing to cooperate. Or would you like me to have him give you a demonstration?" Tang Ze shrugged, completely disregarding how hellish his description sounded.
"————Then there's no need." Vermouth's eyes twitched, and the wrinkles created on her disguise mask twisted a few times.
Clearly, Kumail is implying how he managed to save "Tang Zezhao," who was shot in the head in front of the camera.
Considering this was the first time Kumail had truly managed to fool Gin, it was indeed a problem.
But hearing Kumail's overly gleeful tone, she was afraid that if she didn't refuse immediately, Kumail would really drag her over and perform for her the whole process of blowing the innocent Tang Zezhao's head off and then saving him.
—If you want to abuse people, go do it yourself. Don't use others as an excuse, okay?
"Really? That's a real shame." Tang Ze forced a smile. "After Curaçao's test, I feel like I've become much more proficient."
"Such a precious opportunity should be reserved for those who need it," Vermouth said, raising her hand in polite refusal.
While they were hurting each other, a figure quickly crossed the crowd on the sidewalk and chased after them.
"Shuichi, show——!"
Upon hearing the trembling call, Tang Ze paused for a moment and turned to look in the direction from which the sound came.
Then I saw a very familiar figure running forward, calling out this name as he ran, looking left and right with a bewildered expression.
Without a doubt, this is Judy.
Tang Ze glanced at Vermouth, whose smile had brightened again, and secretly pulled up the map.
This is both to confirm the location of the tarot cards and, more importantly, to make use of the map's original function: to guide the way.
Today's meeting place was chosen by Vermouth. Tang Ze, who was already very familiar with the surrounding neighborhood, included this place in his activity range and subconsciously ignored its relative location.
This café is not far from Shibuya Chuo-dori, in other words, not far from the FBI's largest base in Tokyo, which was also Shuichi Akai's model shop at the time.
"You've already started?" Tang Ze glanced at her, having guessed what Vermouth was up to for some amusement.
"You reacted quickly." Vermouth smiled and picked up her teacup again, as if she had won a round.
Jodie harbored doubts about Shuichi Akai's death.
This doubt stems from observations of Tang Ze's condition, from affirmation of Akai Shuichi's abilities, and most likely from the extremely harsh work environment that would arise without Akai Shuichi.
In short, among the FBI agents currently active in Tokyo, Jodie Foster is the one who most suspects that Shuichi Akai is still alive.
So under what circumstances would Judy completely disregard her image and run around in the street calling out this name that shouldn't be mentioned?
Of course, Bourbon and Vermouth's plan has already begun.
A careful examination of the details of their plan reveals that Amuro Tooru's tactics were truly despicable and ruthless.
Bourbon insisted that Shuichi Akai was not dead, and then, to confirm this, he brought in Vermouth to fabricate an image of Scar Akai with a scarred face, as if he had narrowly escaped from a car accident, to test the FBI agents.
Leaving aside the previous methods of handling the situation, this time, since it has been confirmed that Gin is the person most directly responsible for Shuichi Akai's death, the resistance that Tooru Amuro needs to overcome is enormous.
So, in order to persuade Gin and Rum to accept the plan, he took advantage of their ignorance of the details of the plan and brazenly produced some images that seemed to show Shuichi Akai, as important evidence for applying for funding, to prove that his guess was not fabricated.
As for how he obtained these images, he had Vermouth disguise him as Scar Akai and then walked up to the camera.
Well, all I can say is that Amuro Tooru truly lives up to his reputation as a master of expense reimbursement who has been deeply involved in this field for many years; he has truly reached the pinnacle in terms of falsifying accounts.
If the organization collapses and his current department is disbanded, it seems Amuro Tooru would be suitable to be an accountant, and he wouldn't be easily killed, making him an invincible figure.
While the two disguise users were quietly enjoying themselves, Judy, who didn't believe she had misjudged the figure, completely lost sight of it.
She stood there, looking around blankly, panting from the intense exercise, while the light still drifted erratically and restlessly.
Was that just a hallucination? Or is it because I've been missing Shuichi all day, so I can't help but let my mind wander whenever I see even the slightest resemblance in a profile?
"Hey, hey! Judy, what's wrong? My car wasn't parked in this direction—"
James, who couldn't keep up with the young woman's explosive speed, was a few steps slower, but finally caught up with Judy, who had stopped, and grabbed her shoulder to stop her from running around anymore.
Speaking of James, his mood was also very desolate.
His most capable and productive subordinate has died, and the others left behind are not only far inferior to his capable assistants, but their slightly better mental state also seems to be problematic. He really doesn't know how to get started.
This isn't the first time Judy has run away and disappeared. She was such a smart and capable beauty, but now she's like an overly emotional golden retriever, charging around like that the moment she's not watching. It's driving me crazy.
"What's wrong, Judy? Did you see some key figure?" The naive Carmel, who had followed, was also looking around. "Could it be one of those people?"
"No, no, I just, um, got lost—" Judy looked at their faces, the words swirling in her throat before coming out in a different direction, "I'm sorry, this place is a little too familiar to me, I'm used to it."
She was referring to the frequent trips to Shibuya Street when Shuichi Akai was still around. James glanced at the street sign ahead and sighed.
Since she's said that, there's really no way to argue with her.
So James had no choice but to steer the conversation back to what had happened before.
"I came to ask how much cash you have on you. I wasn't paying attention to the shops over there, and I only realized my card wasn't accepted there when I went to pay," James said, giving Carmel an annoyed glare.
"Uh, I don't have much cash on me either—" Cameron chuckled awkwardly, feigning ignorance.
They went out shopping like ordinary tourists today because his birthday was coming up soon. Considering that he didn't even have anyone to celebrate with in a foreign country, James said he would pick out a few gifts for him to show his concern.
Now that this has happened, even if Cameron had yen on him, he wouldn't have taken it out.
Buying yourself a gift out of your own pocket? Do you expect your boss to reimburse you afterwards? What a joke!
If James hadn't actually taken out his card to try and pay, Carmelo would have thought this was some kind of peculiar little trick to show concern without spending money.
"Oh? Is that so? I've also run out of money. I was planning to find a bank to withdraw some today, but my wallet is empty now—why don't you guys go back and wait while I go find a bank to withdraw some money?" Judy naturally changed the subject, pointing in another direction on the street.
Having spent some time in Shibuya, she naturally knew exactly where to find banks that accepted her card type.
"Okay, I'm really sorry—"
Judy, who outwardly appeared to be fine, turned her back, her bright smile vanishing.
Her intuition told her that she should not easily reveal anything about Shuichi Akai to anyone, not even reliable partners like James or Carmel.
"Look, this is what an American fake smile looks like," Tang Ze summarized to Vermouth from a distance.
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