Survival Manual of the Science Fiction World

But Gin is already in jail, and nobody's backing him up, so...

After struggling for a while, he finally managed a couple of sheepish chuckles.

Chu Ming smiled again and patted Vodka on the shoulder with satisfaction: "Alright, let's go in quickly, Big Brother's probably getting impatient~"

Finally free from him, Vodka felt like he'd been granted a pardon and hurried inside.

As soon as he reached the office door, he could hear Gin's cold, murderous laugh, and Vodka hesitated and stopped.

What's wrong? Why is my brother angry? Should he go in now?

Why does Big Brother get angry every time Granbury comes back? It's so difficult to deal with Big Brother's close henchman!

Chapter 203 Bourbon's Tea-like Charm

Chu Ming could feel Gin's murderous aura even in the hall. When he heard Gin call Bourbon to come to the base, he lowered his head and made the sign of the cross for Bourbon.

Poor Bourbon, may God bless you~

Then he went into the room to change his disguise without feeling guilty.

Amuro Tooru walked into the base gate with a puzzled look on his face. He was still working hard to complete the task that Chu Ming had shared with him. After all, once he completed this task, he could go and take down that damned FBI agent!

Why would Gin suddenly contact him?

The moment Amuro Tooru entered the room, his gaze swept over Chu Ming, who was sitting innocently on the sofa, and a sense of unease suddenly arose in his heart.

What did Granbury do now?

Could it be that he sold himself out in the blink of an eye?

"Gin is waiting for you in his office~" Chu Ming waved to him, preparing to lead him inside.

"What have you done now?" Amuro Tooru lowered his voice, intending to find out some information first.

Chu Ming also lowered his voice and quietly leaned closer to Amuro Tooru: "Your gossip has been exposed, Bourbon. You can rest assured now. If you have any inheritance, tell your older brother, and he'll help you spend it."

? ? ? ?

Amuro Tooru abruptly turned his head and stared intently at Chu Ming: "You—"

"Don't look at me. I didn't say it was you who said it. They guessed it themselves. There's nothing I can do about it." Chu Ming shirked responsibility, acting like a scumbag trying to justify himself in front of his wife and daughter.

Amuro Tooru gritted his teeth, just about to say something more, when Chu Ming knocked on the office door and pushed him in before he could react.

?

Amuro Tooru, caught off guard, stumbled into the room and looked up to see Gin sitting in a chair, his eyes filled with murderous intent, while Vermouth leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, looking at him with a half-smile.

Standing next to him was Vodka, who was trying to strike a pose and maintain the same imposing presence as the other two, while Granburg peeked out from the doorway to watch the spectacle.

Even a three-way trial couldn't be better than this! I knew nothing good could come from being involved with Granbury!

"I heard I've been heartbroken?" Gin sneered at Bourbon, his eyes scanning him intently, wondering where to shoot him later.

Vermouth tossed her hair: "I heard I have a warehouse full of corpses as a collection?"

Vodka also put on a serious face and maintained the formation: "I heard I'm a perverted otaku who cries while hugging life-size figures?"

"..."

You told the person in question everything about such bizarre gossip, and you still have the nerve to say that they guessed it themselves?

Putting everything else aside, with Vodka's brain, how could he possibly guess it?

Despite the menacing stares of the group, Bourbon remained calm and composed: "It's just some gossip I've heard. Granbury insisted on hearing it, what could I do? You all know how persistent he is. He's the captain, how could I refuse him? Besides, I've already told him that these are just rumors and shouldn't be taken seriously."

As Amuro Tooru spoke, his expression turned angry: "Instead of talking about me, you should be the ones to deal with Granburch. I'm part of the intelligence team, not someone to tell gossip stories to."

When Granburg was mentioned, the three men, who had been so aggressive, softened their tone slightly. After all, they all knew what kind of person Chu Ming was, and it wasn't impossible that he would threaten Bourbon to force him to gossip.

Chu Ming watched as Amuro Tooru deftly turned the tables on him, shifting all the blame onto him, and quickly stuck his head in even further: "I didn't force him to tell me, he clearly did it on his own initiative—!"

“Yes, I told you on my own initiative.” When Amuro saw Chu Ming leaning forward, he readily took the blame. His sharp eyes were now lowered, and his golden hair seemed to have dimmed a little. He did not defend himself at all.

? ? ? ?

Chu Ming felt completely confused. What's going on? What's going on? Don't be so effeminate!

These days, anyone can steal his spotlight! This is clearly his carefully crafted persona!

Bourbon, you should talk back to Gin! Argue with him!

Chu Ming looked at Bourbon with a disappointed expression that left Amuro Tooru completely puzzled. He was a member of the intelligence team, and unless it was a serious matter like betraying the organization, Gin and the others would never have bypassed Rum to do anything to him.

So even though Gin and the others dragged him here, he wasn't too worried. It was just a bit of gossip. What's wrong with the intelligence agents collecting some hearsay?

He simply wanted to drag Granbury down with him, but why did Granbury show such an expression after being provoked by his words?

However, having already launched into a verbal attack, Amuro Tooru decisively threw out the information Chu Ming had previously gathered to divert attention: "I heard Akai Shuichi is in Japan? I've been investigating his whereabouts recently, and once I find out—"

A fierce hatred and murderous intent flashed in Amuro Tooru's eyes, just like Gin's.

"Hmph, Shuichi Akai."

Vermouth rolled her eyes at Gin, whose mind was filled with fighting and killing the moment he heard the name Shuichi Akai. Sure enough, no man is reliable.

She waved to Chu Ming outside the door, beckoning him in, then pulled out a few sheets of paper from the cabinet and handed them to Amuro Tooru: "I'll investigate Akai Shuichi's matter. There's a deal in Tottori Prefecture that Granbury was supposed to go alone. Since you're free, why don't you go and help Granbury out?"

Free time? Where is he free? Amuro Tooru took the documents with annoyance. He had been busy with Granbury's tasks non-stop lately. How could he have a moment of leisure?

[PS: The book has a new cover, which is also purely hand-drawn... I guess. Let me zoom in so you can see (?ω?)]

Granbury's exquisite artwork.jpg

Chapter 204 Investigate Bourbon

Seeing that he had just been brought back to the base by Vermouth, and was about to be sent on a mission again, Chu Ming was not happy at all.

"How about we let Bourbon do the mission alone? I think he can handle it on his own. I can investigate Shuichi Akai!"

Gin slowly stubbed out his cigarette, scoffing at Chu Ming's suggestion.

"Why don't you go alone?"

Chu Ming leaned close to Amuro Tooru to look at the mission details, then shook his head vigorously upon hearing this: "Then let's go together."

"Recently, a new type of white powdery drug has become popular on the black market. Users experience a short-term surge of energy and intense euphoria, remaining tireless even through the night. Two reckless peripheral members became addicted after using it during long surveillance missions. The investigation report from the experimental team is out; it causes neurotoxicity, damages the heart and kidneys, and can even lead to brain tissue death—"

"I remember the organization explicitly forbids contact with drugs." Chu Ming frowned. After all, for those of them who lived on the edge, contact with drugs was tantamount to suicide.

"Ha, there are always some clueless and short-sighted people. Takeda Shinichi and Negishi Kazuda from the Spider Mansion in Tottori Prefecture are the source of the goods. Before you kill them, remember to ask where the goods come from. Is it still Myanmar?"

Bourbon had just finished reading the mission details and nodded upon hearing this.

Although he has been incredibly busy lately, the organization's efforts to combat drugs are a good thing for the country, and no matter how busy he is, he will make time to go.

Chu Ming dusted off his clothes: "Okay, Bourbon and I will gather some relevant intelligence this afternoon, and we'll set off tonight. Bourbon can drive all night, so we should arrive around noon tomorrow."

Amuro Tooru stared at Chu Ming, who calmly uttered the words of an evil capitalist, his eyes flashing like knives.

Chu Ming didn't see Bourbon's death stare at all; on the contrary, Gin disagreed with Chu Ming's statement.

“You’re going to complete a mission. You can rent a car for him to drive when you come back, but you should still fly there.”

"..."

Amuro Tooru watched as Gin blatantly helped his underling bully him, and couldn't help but let out a cold laugh, drawing out his displeasure.

“You should remember I’m an intelligence officer, not a driver? Your team transferred me here just to drive? That doesn’t seem to comply with organizational regulations—”

Chu Ming said impatiently, "Bourbon, you're so long-winded. I'll go investigate this afternoon, and you go buy the tickets. We'll take a plane. You could have just told me about it. Why are you nagging and arguing like this? Are you even a man? Tsk, your intelligence team is such a hassle."

???

Seeing Chu Ming turning the tables on him, Amuro Tooru felt like he couldn't catch his breath. When would this teaming up end? Ever since teaming up with Granburch, he was either doing missions or on his way to doing missions, and he was constantly being blamed by him and embarrassed along with him. The intelligence he had gathered was less than what he had when he was in the intelligence group.

However, Gin had promised him that he would introduce him to the BOSS after the team-up period ended. He had been undercover for so long and had finally found a way to meet the BOSS. No matter how difficult it was, he would persevere.

Although his thoughts were churning inside, he didn't show any weakness on the surface and still looked furious.

"Alright, Granburg, don't be so blunt. Be more tactful next time. The members of the intelligence team are all quite perceptive, they might misunderstand~" Vermouth said with a smile, trying to smooth things over.

Of course, this attempt to smooth things over would have been worse than not doing it at all; it was simply adding fuel to the fire.

At least Bourbon could hear the sarcasm in her tone.

Before he could retort, Chu Ming grabbed his shoulder and pulled him outside: "Alright, alright, what can I do? You're a sensitive intelligence agent, so I, as your older brother, will let you have your way. Come on, I'll take you on a mission—"

Watching Bourbon and Chu Ming disappear through the doorway, Gin lit another cigarette after a long while, the smoke rising in wisps, his gaze towards the doorway unreadable.

"Vermouth, check Bourbon."

Vermouth, who had been leaning against the wall, idly twirling her fingers in her long hair, looked up at the question: "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with him? Did Sweetheart say that?"

Gin, cigarette dangling from his lips, stood ramrod straight: "No, but I smelled something off about him—"

"..." Vermouth subtly curled her lip. "Without any decent evidence or explanation, we can't interrogate Bourbon. After all, he's one of Rum's confidants."

"That's why I asked you to investigate. Where did Rum bring him into the organization from in the first place?"

“About five years ago, Bourbon was brought in by Rum as an intelligence dealer. At that time, Rum already had Curaçao by his side, so he was placed directly in the training camp of the outer members. Later, he met Scotland in the training camp. Both of them were good at fighting and were given important positions and codenames after completing several missions perfectly. Rye also rose to prominence around the same time. The three of them were once in the same team. Later, Scotland died and Rye defected. Rum then transferred him to the intelligence group.”

Gin stood up and walked outside, his cold voice carried on the wind.

“One squad, two undercover agents, so the remaining one might also be a big problem. Go investigate first, and report back to me with any information. But if Bourbon makes any moves, Granbury won't be a pushover.”

Chapter 205 The gap is quite large