Conan, I'm an actor

In this situation, a young man in white, holding an umbrella and strolling in the rain, seems somewhat out of place.

Looking at his Asian face, and the t-shirt he was wearing with the words "I am an undercover agent" written in katakana, Akai decided to give him a warning.

"Japanese?"

"No, that's not it." Akai replied in a standard Tokyo accent.

"Have you seen a strange man, a Japanese man with long, silver hair and a beard?" Akai didn't care where he was from, as long as he could understand and provide information.

Strangely enough, this was the second foreigner he had met today. Don't these guys read the news?

"Are you looking for that serial killer called Devil Highway?" A white clown mask with a grinning face was revealed under the umbrella; it was extremely crudely made.

Upon seeing the strange mask, Akai instinctively pulled out the pistol from his pocket.

"Don't panic, I'm a tourist from a nearby theater," the young man said in a flustered manner. "I bought this mask at the theater too."

"Ah, I'm looking for that murderer. So, have you seen him?" Akai relaxed his guard slightly, thinking of Broadway, which wasn't far from here. Besides being a theater, it was also a famous tourist attraction, and going there would suit his status as a foreigner.

"No, but I do know another murderer."

"An even more dangerous murderer than him, let me think, what's his name? It should be Mr. Akai. But we usually call him Rye Whiskey."

Akai immediately drew his pistol; Rye Whiskey was his code name within the organization.

Anyone who knows him by that codename and calls him by that codename must be from the organization! Could the [Highway Demon] who attacked him before actually be an assassin from the organization?

Before he could even aim, his view was blocked by a black umbrella. As the umbrella was closed, a shotgun was revealed, its dark muzzle pointed directly at his head.

"You've slowed down quite a bit. Looks like you've neglected your training since you returned to the FBI," the young man said with a smile.

"Are you someone sent by the organization to kill me?" Akai took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

He admitted that he had been careless. People in the organization usually wore black clothes, and he never thought there would be an oddball wearing a white T-shirt with lettering.

The most crucial point is that this guy's clothes have "I am an undercover agent" written on them. Isn't he afraid of being shot by those sensitive members of the organization?

Shuichi Akai stared at the man in front of him, his mind racing as he considered how to escape or take him down with him.

If the opponent is armed with a handgun, he is confident he can survive a close-quarters firefight. Handguns have insufficient stopping power, and the bullets have a slow muzzle velocity; he can easily use his skills to avoid vital organs and then subdue or kill the opponent.

But unfortunately, the opponent was using a shotgun, and at that distance, a single shot would definitely kill him.

All he could do was stall for time, hoping his companions would quickly notice the anomaly.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm a member of the organization, codenamed Jiang Xiaobai, a very young distilled spirit." The white-masked man deflected Akai's pistol with a flick of his wrist. "I'm here simply to retrieve a failed guy. Could you do me a favor?"

“That Highway Demon was one of yours. No, it’s impossible for someone in the organization to be like that.” Akai’s eyes were fixed on the guy who called himself Jiang Xiaobai. “The real Highway Demon has been killed. That guy disguised himself as the Highway Demon and his goal was to eliminate traitors.”

“I don’t know about that. My mission is to retrieve him. As for his mission, I don’t know.” The young man took out a photo from his jacket pocket. “I don’t like fighting and killing. I’m after peaceful transactions. I’m saving him, and you can’t get in my way. In exchange, I’ll give you her address.”

Akai stared intently at the photograph; the woman in the photo was his ex-girlfriend, Judy, who was also an FBI agent.

At this moment, Judy's hands were tied behind her back, her mouth was covered with black tape, and she was looking at the camera with a terrified expression. The situation was clearly not good.

“That guy is important. I don’t need to remind you of how the organization treats losers. Going to such lengths to save someone means that guy is very important to the organization.” Akai raised his pistol and pointed it at the man’s head. “In terms of fair trade, this is unfair.”

“A gambler’s mentality is no good,” Jiang Xiaobai sighed. “I don’t have that much time to argue with you. It’s not a one-for-one trade, but a two-for-one trade, which is fair. If you don’t agree, I’ll detonate the bomb right now, and that woman and the building she’s in will both be reduced to ruins. At the same time, the shotgun blast will disfigure you beyond recognition. Two people will die, plus the victims in that building, and you’ll make a huge profit.”

"You will die."

"Want to give it a try?"

In the pouring rain, the two men stared at each other, guns pointed at one another. Normally, someone would have noticed something amiss and called the police, but today, with the rain and rumors of a murderer lurking in the area, no one noticed anything unusual for a full three minutes.

Just as the young man opposite was about to lose his patience and reach into his shirt pocket, Akai spoke up.

"Okay, but I don't know where he is."

If he detonates the bomb, the FBI's attention will definitely be drawn to the explosion, and no one will care about the gunfire.

He didn't know how skilled the person in front of him was, but someone who could be assigned by the organization to rescue people shouldn't be too bad in terms of skill. He wasn't confident he could kill the other person here.

“You don’t need to worry about that, I’ll handle it myself.” Jiang Xiaobai put away his shotgun, flipped the photo over, and handed it to him. “By the way, next time we meet, I’m going to settle old scores with you, Moroboshi Dai.”

Akai was taken aback. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he said nothing. After glancing at the address on the back of the photo, he quickly ran towards his destination.

After Akai left, Jiang Xiaobai took off his mask and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "That was close. I almost gave myself away. I'll never do anything so dangerous again. Next, I need to find Vermouth. Let me think of a way to fool her."

A dozen minutes later, at the entrance of an abandoned factory

The young man stood at the factory gate, a tactical flashlight appearing in his hand. The moment the flashlight was turned on, it shone on a man inside the factory wearing a brown vest, who had been shot in the abdomen, and a pistol pointed at him.

“I advise you not to shoot. Shuichi Akai and the FBI are nearby. A pistol without a silencer will attract them all,” Jiang Xiaobai said into the darkness of the factory. “Besides, at this distance, you have no way to kill me, Vermouth.”

"Come in," a hoarse voice said in the darkness.

Upon hearing the code name Vermouth, the silver-haired killer finally put down his pistol.

"What a sorry sight, to be driven to this state by a traitor. It's a pity I didn't bring a camera; if I had taken a picture of you like this, I could probably sell it for a high price within the organization." Jiang Xiaobai removed his mask, revealing a handsome face. "Do you need treatment?"

“A complete stranger, who are you? Who sent you?” The silver-haired killer ripped off his mask, revealing a head of flowing hair. “Give me the first-aid kit, I’ll do it myself.”

"Code name, Jiang Xiaobai, just a nobody. Sorry, I didn't bring a first-aid kit." Jiang Xiaobai took two packs of gauze from his pocket. "That's all I have, along with some Yunnan Baiyao. Would you mind making do with these?"

Vermouth took a deep breath to calm herself. She felt that if she continued talking to this guy, her wound would burst from anger. After unwrapping the bandages, she said to Jiang Xiaobai, "Get out!"

"An old woman still being shy, really..." Jiang Xiaobai looked at the pistol Vermouth was aiming at him, and helplessly raised his hands. "I'll just go out."

Only after watching his figure disappear from the factory gate did Vermouth remove her hand from the pistol.

There are too many suspicious points about this rescuer. Although the organization might give male distillers nicknames, they are usually distillers from Europe and America. She had seen Jiang Xiaobai in Chinese restaurants; although it is a distilled spirit and a strong liquor, it is not produced in Europe or America.

The assassination of Shuichi Akai was her own decision, and very few people knew about it, unless this guy was a confidant secretly trained by the BOSS, but given the BOSS's condition, that possibility was extremely low. Moreover, judging from how he addressed her just now, he seemed to know her secret of not aging.

Ten minutes later, Vermouth, now bandaged, appeared at the factory gate. At that moment, she showed no signs of injury whatsoever.

A car drove out from the alley next door, and sitting in the driver's seat was Jiang Xiaobai.

Without hesitation, Vermouth got into the passenger seat, and the two quickly left the abandoned factory and drove onto the highway.

“We can be both God and the Devil. Since we are trying to raise the dead against the stream of time.” Jiang Xiaobai suddenly drew a gun with his right hand and pointed it at Vermouth’s head. “Don’t move, kidnapping.”

New York Chapter: Jiang Xiaobai Side Story (Part 2)

"You'd better drive carefully, or who will die is anyone's guess," Vermouth said calmly, a silver pistol in her hand pointed directly at Jiang Xiaobai's head.

From the moment she got in the car, she was wary of this unfamiliar member of the organization. If he hadn't been stunned by that sentence, he wouldn't have even had a chance to draw his gun.

"This is really troublesome. You're not very valuable now that you're dead," Jiang Xiaobai said, frowning.

"How did you know I would assassinate Shuichi Akai today?" Vermouth asked, staring at Jiang Xiaobai.

"So that's where you found out? All you have to do is bribe the theater staff and have them tell me when you're leaving. Isn't that a simple thing, big star?" Sweat began to bead on Jiang Xiaobai's forehead. Maintaining a steady drive under these conditions was quite difficult.

How much did you see?

"From the moment you dealt with that highway demon, including when you were injured by Akai, when you were chased by that kid from the Kudo family, and when you were saved by that little girl."

Vermouth's lips twitched slightly. Is this guy a ghost? Is his tracking technology that advanced?

They followed her for so long and moved her to multiple locations, so why didn't she notice? It's one thing if she didn't notice, but how come those FBI guys didn't notice either? Especially that guy Shuichi Akai.

"One last question, how did you know that quote?"

“This face isn’t a disguise,” the young man shrugged. “It’s real rejuvenation, turning fifty years old into twenty.”

"Silver bullet?"

"Bingo!"

"Weren't all the drug records destroyed?"

“There will always be some left over. For example, here is some information.” Jiang Xiaobai pointed to his brain. “Miyano Elena once showed me some drug information, and I just memorized it.”

Vermouth's face remained expressionless, but the finger that instinctively reached for the trigger betrayed her inner thoughts; she had gained yet another reason to kill this guy.

She just didn't really want to kill him right now. Although he was suspicious, it was a fact that he had saved her life. She wasn't a cold-blooded and ruthless tool like Gin.

"What is the purpose of kidnapping me?"

"How many questions did you ask just now? The last one, haha, a woman's mouth is a liar's tongue. I told you all this just to confirm some things with you, and now it seems my guess was correct. As for my purpose, sorry, we're just ordinary superiors and subordinates, and even in parallel departments, why would I tell you all this?" Jiang Xiaobai slammed on the brakes. "After all, I also believe in mysticism!"

At the same time, one hand held down Vermouth's gun-wielding hand, while the other hand gripped her shoulder, and with a sharp crack, Vermouth's left hand dislocated.

“You…” Vermouth tried to resist, but she was restrained in her seat by the seatbelt and could not move her legs.

Her only free hand was also held down by the other party. She instinctively wanted to fire, but Jiang Xiaobai guided her to look behind him. After seeing the scenery outside the car window, she could only say viciously, "Despicable!"

The highway patrol station was right outside the window. She still had gunshot wounds, and firing now would be tantamount to walking into a trap.

“A wounded person should act like a wounded person. Since you don’t want to be quiet, then I’ll have to make you quiet.” Jiang Xiaobai opened the car’s storage space with one hand, took out a strip of pills, took one out, and put it directly into Vermouth’s mouth.

Vermouth, naturally, resisted fiercely against taking the pills of unknown origin, refusing to eat them even at the cost of her life. The commotion they made inside the car quickly attracted the attention of the police, and an officer crossed the street to check on them.

"What a hassle." Looking at the pills in his palm that were no longer edible, Jiang Xiaobai tossed them aside and quickly dislocated Vermouth's other arm.

Before Vermouth could finish her sentence, she was silenced by a mouth covering her mouth, and her eyes widened instantly.

Before she could react, Jiang Xiaobai's tongue had already pushed a pill into her mouth and down her esophagus.

Just then, a police officer put his hand behind his back and knocked on the car window, but he stopped immediately after seeing what was inside.

"Hey, buddy, you ruined my plans." Jiang Xiaobai rolled down the car window and said angrily, "She's a super shy girl. I don't know when I'll get another chance like this."

At this moment, Vermouth hid behind Jiang Xiaobai, like a shy little girl. Hearing Jiang Xiaobai's words, she wished she could strangle him to death.

If it weren't for the fact that her "celebrity face" is so easily recognizable, she would definitely bite this guy right now.

“I’m sorry, sir, but this is the entrance to the police station. If you have any specific needs, I think a hotel might be more suitable, as you won’t be bothered by the highway patrol.”

"Thank you for reminding me."

After seeing off the police officers who came to question him, Jiang Xiaobai started the car again and drove along the planned escape route.

What did you give me to eat?

"Don't look at me like that. This is my first kiss. Your first kiss should have been gone a long time ago. I'm the one who lost out." Jiang Xiaobai sighed, and after noticing Vermouth's murderous gaze, he immediately changed his tune, saying, "It's just a pill to calm you down. If you do anything strenuous in your current state and reopen the wound, I'll have to abandon you. Ordinary hospitals can't treat gunshot wounds, and I don't want to go back to the organization's base, since I'm planning to defect."

"You're planning to become a traitor?" Vermouth was amused and annoyed; she had never seen such an arrogant traitor before.

“I told you from the beginning that I wanted to be a traitor.” Jiang Xiaobai tugged at his T-shirt with the written message. “Look, it’s written right there.”

"why?"

“Knowing the organization’s core secrets and having no backing, if I don’t run now, am I supposed to wait to be dealt with by you guys? Boss probably doesn’t want others to know the effects of that drug, and you probably do too, otherwise you wouldn’t have prepared the identity of Chris Vineyard.” Jiang Xiaobai’s fingers tapped the steering wheel. “Even if I take this secret to Rum, that guy Rum will just shoot me and then act like nothing happened.”