Chapter 37: Gin’s Near-Death Experience

Gin, the ace of the Organization’s action squad, is an operative who acts with absolute decisiveness. Among the many codenamed members of the Organization, Gin is the most dangerous and terrifying of them all.

This is because Gin possesses every skill he requires, having mastered each to an exceptional degree. He is, in every sense, an all-rounder who acts with lightning speed and never stops until his target is eliminated. Imagine a killer who can master and skillfully employ everything from handguns to vehicle-mounted cannons, from cars to submarines; a man with no moral constraints who might appear at any moment, anywhere, to deliver a lethal blow.

How terrifying is that?

Consequently, in Rei Furuya’s danger assessment, Gin occupies the highest tier. Even Rye Whiskey, whom he detests, ranks below Gin in terms of danger. At the very least, Rye Whiskey still possesses a certain moral bottom line; compared to a man like Gin, who treats murder as a moral wasteland and will stop at nothing, the two cannot be evaluated by the same standard.

Therefore, when faced with this mission issued by the investigator—a mission that carried a high risk of exposing his undercover identity—Rei Furuya accepted it immediately. There was no other reason: if he could take out Gin in Beika Town, his entire undercover operation would be worth the price.

Bang!

The distinct roar of a large-caliber sniper rifle reached Rei Furuya’s ears. His gaze swept across the living room, confirming the grim reality that, aside from Yuya Kazami, who had taken the Asai family to hide on the second floor, the Public Security officers who had been lying in wait were all dead. Now, the peripheral members of the Black Organization were rapidly closing in on the shattered windows.

Rei Furuya reached up and rubbed his ears, trying to recover his hearing. He knew for certain that if he were to grab one of the peripheral members to use as a human shield, Gin would, without the slightest hesitation, put a bullet through both him and the subordinate, turning them into a mass of mangled flesh. Therefore, once he made his move, he had to constantly switch positions and routes to ensure Gin’s sniper rifle could not track him.

A distribution map of the area around the Asai residence had already appeared on his phone before the operation began. Thus, by tracking the source of the gunshots, Rei Furuya could determine the various sniper nests Gin had occupied. He had already calculated where Gin would choose to set up next. However, he could not be certain Gin would appear there; after all, he was not familiar with Gin’s specific sniping habits, only making judgments based on a short, observable pattern.

Click, clatter, click.

The sound of leather boots crunching on glass and the slightly muffled thud of footsteps after jumping over a wall reached him. Rei Furuya’s heart was pounding rapidly, but his hand, gripping his pistol, remained steady. It was time to strike; he could not afford a single mistake. At the very least, he could not die before the investigator’s reinforcements arrived!

Tap, tap, tap.

The peripheral members of the Black Organization were walking toward the stairs with hurried footsteps. Now that Gin had confirmed all the Public Security officers inside the building who had fired back were dead, they did not need to be cautious. They wanted to capture their targets and leave quickly, lest the Japanese Public Security reinforcements arrive and cause complications.

However, just as the leading men reached the stairs, the peripheral member at the very back felt that something was wrong. He felt as if someone in the shadows was watching him.

Who is it?

He turned his head toward the shadows, where a standard police-issue handgun was already raised.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Successive bullets instantly tore into his heart. With a thud, the two peripheral members of the Black Organization walking at the rear fell dead. The peripheral members guarding the interior immediately swung their guns toward the shadows. Yet, the figure was too fast—a mere blur, impossible to track clearly. Their own guns could not keep up with the speed at which that figure moved!

The peripheral members who had reached the middle of the staircase heard the gunfire. They exchanged glances, and two of them turned around, intending to head back to the first floor to investigate. But suddenly, a figure lunged out from the second-floor landing.

He fired continuously. In the cramped environment of the stairwell, the peripheral members had no room to dodge. The two who had turned around were struck and killed instantly. The leading member was hit directly in the abdomen and arm, also losing his ability to fight. The final member was tackled to the small platform in the middle of the stairs by that same figure.

"You bastards... what do you take human life for!"

Yuya Kazami gritted his teeth, wrestling with the peripheral member. The glasses he had been wearing were long gone. The serious, elite demeanor he usually projected was nowhere to be seen; all that remained were his eyes, burning with a terrifying redness. The hatred in them was impossible to conceal!

Thump, thump, thump!

The corpses of the Black Organization members who had been shot while turning back tumbled down the stairs. Vodka, acting as the spotter, frowned and said, "Boss, there are still Public Security officers inside putting up a desperate fight! There’s one on the middle landing of the stairs, and another..."

"Stop talking."

Gin’s voice was cold. The image of that defiant Japanese Public Security officer had already appeared in his scope. Although he hadn't caught the man's face or head, having the torso within his sights was enough. With a large-caliber sniper rifle, hitting the torso was just as lethal as a headshot! Whether it was a headshot or not was merely the difference between dying quickly and dying slowly.

Just as Gin’s finger rested on the trigger, preparing to fire, a flash of light glinted off his scope. Instantly, acting purely on reflex, Gin snatched up his rifle and aimed it toward the source of the glare.

And then, he saw him...

The man who was also holding a sniper rifle, dressed in black, pointing his weapon directly at him!

"So, you’ve come?"

Gin had no time to adjust further; he pulled the trigger. Immediately after, he jerked his head to the side.

Crack!

A sniper bullet instantly struck the scope of the rifle in Gin’s hands. Shards of broken glass grazed Gin’s face, leaving behind streaks of blood. He dove to the side without a second thought, dodging the next bullet. Vodka, the moment he sensed something was wrong, had already scrambled to find cover!

He shouted, "Boss! Is it Yan Shuangying? Has he arrived?"

Gin did not respond to Vodka’s question. He quickly adjusted his position, intending to draw his sidearm for a counter-snipe, but then he heard the wail of sirens approaching from the distance!

Gin’s expression darkened instantly. He pulled out his communicator and said, "Retreat!"

The other peripheral members guarding the interior of the Asai residence had also heard the sirens. Following Gin’s order, they gathered their gear and withdrew without a word.

Inside the Asai house, Rei Furuya leaned against his cover, clutching his arm where a stray bullet had grazed him, and let out a sigh of relief. Through the communicator of a fallen peripheral member, he had heard the command to "Retreat."

Tap, tap, tap.

A bruised and battered Yuya Kazami carefully descended the stairs. "Amuro-san, are you alright?"

"Cough, cough... I won't be dying just yet," Rei Furuya replied.

He looked up at the spot where the Organization’s members had vanished. Recalling the sound of the gunshot he had just heard—one that had rung out almost simultaneously with Gin’s—he whispered to himself.

"The sound of a new sniper rifle? Was that the one Yan Shuangying took earlier? Or... did someone else arrive?"