News of Gin's mission failure spread quickly throughout The Organization, and those who disliked him mocked him mercilessly. However, their amusement did not last long. In the England sector, an increasing number of operations ran into obstacles, and rumors of a traitor within The Organization rapidly intensified.
Before long, Gin rooted out two or three undercover agents, and a few newly promoted codenamed members—such as Tao Siling, Bourbon, and Scotch—rapidly rose through the ranks to fill the resulting vacancies.
Yet the mere death of a few undercover agents did not satisfy Gin. He continued relentlessly searching for the person who had sniped his target that day.
His unusual behavior soon drew the attention of The Organization's upper echelons. Lord Rum fell into deep thought as he looked over the reports sent by his subordinates.
As his power grew, Rum was no longer content with being the number two in The Organization. Yet, in operational matters, Gin had always stood in his way. This stumble by Gin presented him with a new possibility to amass even greater strength.
Thus, he made a decision: he wanted that person under his command. To that end, he specifically sent an order to Bourbon, whom he favored.
...
Rei Furuya stared at the documents in his hands with a peculiar expression.
The files recorded several instances of failed Organization missions.
He could not imagine what kind of person or organization could pull off such feats, but that didn't stop Rei Furuya from thinking they had done a brilliant job.
Of course, he would never show such thoughts. Facing a member of The Organization, Rei Furuya furrowed his brow and wore an expression of sheer disbelief. "How is this possible? Are you joking, Vermouth?"
"I certainly don't joke about things like this." The woman opposite Rei Furuya gracefully held a glass of red wine, taking a casual sip. "Rum has already handed this matter over to you. I hope you won't disappoint him."
Hearing Vermouth's words, Rei Furuya sensed something amiss. He carefully reviewed the investigation report again. "I haven't received any orders from Lord Rum."
"You will receive them shortly."
As Vermouth's voice trailed off, Rei Furuya felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and his eyes widened instantly.
The woman chuckled, wearing a playful smile. She remained silent, seemingly savoring Rei Furuya's shock.
"Just what kind of person are you?" Rei Furuya's heart sank heavily. Unlike Gin's absolute darkness, this woman's actions were filled with contradictions; he simply could not read her.
Vermouth placed her wineglass on the table and propped her chin on one hand—a simple gesture that radiated effortless charm.
"Didn't you already know? I'm Vermouth."
Vermouth, a master of disguise known within The Organization as A Thousand-Faced Witch. No one knew her age, and no one knew her true relationship with the Boss—a woman who carried mystery to the absolute end.
Rei Furuya did not like dealing with such people, because you could never tell what kind of hidden cards they held.
Putting the documents away in his case, Rei Furuya stood up. "I understand. I will head to England soon to investigate this."
"Not you." Vermouth shook a finger. "Us."
"Lord Rum doesn't trust me?"
"No, no, no." Vermouth shook her head mysteriously. "I want to see what Rum's newly rising favorite, Bourbon, is really made of, so I specifically intercepted this assignment. This time, I'm your partner."
Although Vermouth offered an explanation, Rei Furuya did not believe it.
*As expected, The Organization still doesn't trust me,* Rei Furuya thought to himself.
He spread his hands. "Then when do we leave?"
"Now."
"Now?" Confusion flashed across Rei Furuya's face. He had just received the mission; he hadn't bought a plane ticket, nor had he prepared any equipment.
As if reading his thoughts, Vermouth tossed a case toward him, stood up, and pulled open the window. Outside, a pitch-black helicopter was approaching from the distance...
England, on the banks of the Thames.
Several black cars sped down the road, eliciting startled cries from pedestrians.
Mao Akai pressed down on the accelerator, her eyes narrowed. As she passed an intersection, she sharply spun the steering wheel all the way, the tires spinning rapidly and leaving black marks on the pavement.
Seeing her car pulling away, the people who had been chasing her couldn't help rolling down their windows and firing wildly at her vehicle. Unfortunately, the distance was too great; their bullets had no chance of hitting Mao Akai's car.
Amid the shrieks of onlookers, the team trailing Mao Akai had no choice but to turn around and leave before the police arrived.
This was the fifth tail she had shaken off this week.
Ever since she began targeting The Organization, she had already intercepted four of their missions. Naturally, they couldn't sit still and had started investigating. After she carelessly leaked some clues, the organization's scumbags came one after another to block and trap her, yet not a single one managed to stop her.
Even a number of cannon fodder had lost their lives in the process. Seeming to realize she was not some small fry to be dealt with lightly, the assassins sent by The Organization grew increasingly formidable, yet Mao Akai still found ways to escape.
"Keep investigating," Mao Akai murmured with a smirk. Following the clues she left behind, The Organization would surely discover the "traitors" within their stronghold in England.
True to Gin's policy of rather killing an innocent than letting a guilty person slip away, those individuals who held MI6 secrets would undoubtedly be killed. It was pathetic that those people would die without ever knowing why.
"Scarlet, according to information from our undercover agent, The Organization has dispatched A Thousand-Faced Witch to investigate you." Her instructor's voice came through the earpiece plugged into her ear. Mao Akai slammed her foot on the accelerator and glanced in the rearview mirror—there were no longer any tails behind her.
"It looks like our plan succeeded."
"That's right. Therefore, we will cut off contact with you from this point on, until you infiltrate that organization and re-establish contact with us."
"Don't worry, Instructor. I will succeed."
Hearing Mao Akai's nonchalant tone, the elderly man on the other end of the line fell silent for two seconds. In his mind's eye, an image surfaced of a young girl with bruises around her eyes.
It felt like only yesterday that Mary Akai had handed this child over to him, and today, she had already grown into an outstanding operative.
The old man, who had trained countless exceptional agents, suddenly felt a pang of reluctance. "I will wait for your signal until death comes."
"Old man, it won't take that long. I'll contact you in less than a year," Mao Akai's confident voice came through. She didn't believe she would fail. Without waiting for the old man to respond, she hung up the phone.
Steering with one hand, Mao Akai rolled down the window with her other hand, pulled out the SIM card, snapped it in half, and tossed it out of the car.
Right now, she was simply Scarlet Reed, an assassin on the payroll of the mafia group Salvation.