Chapter 229 : Execute Death Penalty
Jujutsu World.
Gojo Satoru brought Little Sheep Jiang Lai all the way back to Tokyo.
Since they had already received the payment from the higher-ups, Gojo Satoru decided to get the meeting over with quickly and brought Little Sheep Jiang Lai directly to Tokyo's jujutsu higher-ups' headquarters.
Gojo Satoru had contacted an auxiliary supervisor in advance, so there were already designated personnel waiting outside the jujutsu higher-ups' headquarters to receive them.
When the white-haired man got out of the car, the reception staff approached with a smiling mask: "Gojo-sensei, you've arrived."
"Mm." Gojo Satoru's exquisite face showed no particular expression. He didn't even remove his sunglasses, just simply raised his chin, which counted as a response.
This was a very casual response, carrying a certain indifferent arrogance.
After all, Gojo Satoru had never been one to follow rules and regulations. Compared to various etiquette, he cared more about his own leisurely happiness.
Most of the time, Gojo Satoru was the strongest who did as he pleased, acting entirely based on his preferences and mood, like an arrogant, difficult-to-serve big cat.
However, when he was with Jiang Lai, Gojo Satoru showed the equality of friendship.
Though there was teasing, jokes, and pranks, at key moments he could always provide unique care and respect in a timely manner, just like in the dream world when topics related to [Birth] came up.
Because of this, Jiang Lai didn't have much feeling about Gojo Satoru's so-called "arrogant willfulness" and "difficult to get along with."
He even thought Gojo Satoru was quite nice, and the evaluations from people around him calling him "annoying" were completely unreasonable.
At this moment, seeing Gojo Satoru's attitude toward the higher-ups' people, Jiang Lai didn't think anything was wrong either.
After all, Gojo Satoru had always hated the rotten oranges. These guys had secretly colluded with the Supervisory Committee and done many bad things, so it was very normal for Satoru to have a bad attitude toward these people.
The staff sent by the higher-ups were already accustomed to Gojo Satoru's daily attitude. The smile mask on his face didn't change as he spoke: "Please follow me, Gojo-sensei. We have been waiting for you for a long time."
Gojo Satoru raised his eyebrow slightly. His feet remained planted in place without moving at all. He just raised his hand to rest on Little Sheep Jiang Lai beside him and smiled:
"Only waiting for me for a long time? It seems my good student isn't needed here. Good, then let's go back to school, Watanabe."
With the Six Eyes' ability to see through everything, Gojo Satoru naturally noticed the reception staff's deliberate ignoring of the brown-haired boy, so he very directly brought the contradiction into the open.
If they were going to deliberately ignore him, then they simply wouldn't meet at all.
The staff member sent by the higher-ups was stunned by these words, then quickly responded: "Ah, no no no, the higher-ups also want to meet this young jujutsu sorcerer, since he was also an eyewitness at the scene."
He turned around, facing Little Sheep Jiang Lai with a beaming smile: "We have also been waiting for you for a long time, Watanabe-kun. I sincerely apologize for the earlier neglect."
Although Jiang Lai didn't have the Six Eyes, having undergone Detective Conan training, he possessed excellent micro-expression analysis abilities and had naturally seen through this higher-ups staff member's attitude long ago.
Even this current apology was very insincere. Hidden beneath the smile was contempt for himself.
Little Sheep Jiang Lai blinked, his expression natural. He pulled out an electronic calculator from somewhere and began tapping away:
"Oh, no need to apologize. Just a little compensation will do. Um, let me simply calculate the attitude neglect fee, time delay fee, mental distress fee..."
The staff member sent by the higher-ups broke out in sweat on his forehead, and his smile became somewhat stiff.
He had deliberately ignored the other person earlier precisely because this guy's livestream and subsequent fee collection had caused the higher-ups a lot of trouble, making him, as a loyal supporter of the higher-ups, very annoyed.
It's just that with Gojo Satoru right beside them, he couldn't do anything overtly bullying. So he could only show contempt in his attitude.
Who knew the Six Eyes would actually care about such details, and this brown-haired boy would start this routine again...!
Now seeing the brown-haired boy starting to tap the calculator again, the staff member sent by the higher-ups instinctively felt pressure.
Not another money-swindling session!!
As they say, "once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of rope," at this moment the higher-ups' related personnel had developed something like "once swindled by a sheep, ten years afraid of calculators."
"It's windy outside, please come in quickly." The staff member sent by the higher-ups hurriedly gestured, half-bowing very politely.
At this point he restrained his earlier subtle targeting and made a genuine invitation: "The meeting waiting room has been prepared, with various desserts, snacks, and fruit provided."
"Oh! Then I'll eat desserts first~" Little Sheep Jiang Lai's face bore the innocent smile belonging to a youth, and he smoothly put away his calculator.
He had only intended to scare these people, not actually waste words extracting small amounts of money here. Currently, the money the higher-ups had sent was already sufficient to serve as decisive battle preparation funds.
Gojo Satoru yawned, putting on his usual carefree appearance, and led Little Sheep Jiang Lai inside.
They passed through a corridor, and directly ahead was the entrance to a large conference room through luxurious double doors.
However, the meeting hadn't officially started yet, so the staff member sent by the higher-ups guided the two to a rest room on the side.
This time, the staff member sent by the higher-ups didn't make any extra moves or comments. Probably scared by the earlier incident, he properly did his job and withdrew.
Gojo Satoru unceremoniously claimed the entire sofa, lying across it with his long legs stretched out comfortably.
He lounged lazily on the soft sofa like a balcony cat taking a nap.
Jiang Lai sat on a nearby stool. This position was closer to the small table, convenient for taking some snacks, desserts, fruit, and such to eat.
His current body was that of a human youth, so naturally he would have normal human sensations like hunger. It was mid-afternoon now, and Jiang Lai was indeed a little hungry.
However, just as he was about to pick up a pastry from the table, Gojo Satoru lying on the sofa spoke up: "The rotten oranges' pastries here are terrible. Better not eat their stuff. When we get back, I'll let you try my favorites~"
Hearing Gojo Satoru's words, Jiang Lai stopped his outstretched hand. He raised his eyes to see the white-haired man lying on the sofa with a calm expression, his blue eyes glancing over.
The lying Gojo Satoru had already removed his sunglasses, which now rested on his chest. Those glass-bead-like azure eyes were openly exposed.
His words weren't particularly special, but Jiang Lai heard the underlying wariness he held toward the higher-ups.
Although the higher-ups probably wouldn't be stupid enough to put poison in the food, who could be one hundred percent certain? The Supervisory Committee and rotten oranges never did things openly and aboveboard... Being cautious was always good.
Since this was the higher-ups' territory, there were likely listening devices around. For the sake of concealment, they couldn't speak directly about anything, and their every word and action still had to match their personas.
So Jiang Lai withdrew his hand and put on a very expectant expression, his eyes sparkling brightly: "Great! I hate eating dry pastries. I'll wait to eat Gojo-sensei's when we get back! By the way, can the leftovers be converted to double cash, Gojo-sensei?"
"Hah? I should be charging you money instead. Mine are all super expensive limited editions." Gojo Satoru grumbled, casually picking up a nearby book and covering his face with it. "I don't have time to play with you, little brat. Play by yourself. This super invincible handsome guy needs to rest a while~~"
The more you say, the more mistakes you make. Since they couldn't chat freely at the higher-ups' place, they might as well not chat at all for now.
Jiang Lai understood the meaning behind Gojo Satoru's actions and words, so he cooperatively pouted and added: "I don't have time to play with you, bad old man. Go sleep by yourself. I'm going to play with my phone."
Jiang Lai naturally opened his phone and logged into his social chat software. Seeing various screenshots his Detective Conan friends had sent him, a soothing smile arose in his heart.
Although separated by dimensional walls, the Detective Conan world had always been a pillar of support behind him, providing subtle help from different angles like gentle rain nourishing everything.
Now, seeing that most forum users had already accepted the fact that "Brain-kun's operations have flaws, and most ordinary jujutsu sorcerers should have realized something," and glimpsing those warm, earnest blessings and encouragements in the screenshots, Jiang Lai couldn't help but curve his lips into a shallow smile.
He sent an emoji in the group (thumbs up dog.jpg) and a touched, shy emoticon. Then he was both accepted and teased by his Detective Conan friends.
Jiang Lai happily chatted with them for a few sentences. Then, the door to this rest room was knocked three times rhythmically.
The responsible staff member came to notify them that the meeting was about to begin, and asked both of them to enter the conference.
Gojo Satoru lifted the book covering his face, agilely leaped up, and led Little Sheep to the large conference room next door with leisurely steps.
The staff members on either side pushed open the conference room doors. As the heavy doors slowly opened, the scene inside the conference room came into view:
The interior wasn't a traditional conference table. Two chairs were placed in the center, surrounded by a circle of unfamiliar higher-up elders sitting at a higher level.
"..." Jiang Lai still had a bright, sunny smile on his face, but his eyes showed no particular emotion.
His gaze swept over the structure before him. The rotten oranges' feudal sense of superiority practically hit him in the face.
This design didn't look like an equal meeting, but more like listening to subordinates' work reports, or trying criminals.
Gojo Satoru was familiar with this structure. He didn't even glance at the two lonely chairs in front of him, standing upright in the center with both hands in his pockets, speaking casually: "Alright, whatever nonsense you have, say it quickly. I'm rushing back to eat limited edition desserts."
"...Outrageous!" One of the higher-ups slammed the table hard, looking fierce.
But Gojo Satoru didn't even lift his eyelids. The corner of his mouth raised slightly: "What, you want to come down and have a match with me?"
That person immediately fell silent.
An elder standing at the highest level in the front coughed once. He appeared to be the representative among the higher-ups present.
His expression was peaceful as he slowly said: "Calling you back this time has two purposes. First, we want to hear the specific details of the Mount Shichi incident from you two witnesses, so we can handle the aftermath and issue subsequent regulations."
"The other purpose concerns a job you personally took on before, Gojo."
"Oh?" Gojo Satoru raised an eyebrow.
Before him, the higher-up's voice was low and slow, but the content that fell was weighty as a thousand pounds: "Currently, eighteen of Ryomen Sukuna's fingers have been collected. The whereabouts of the other two are unknown."
"For the safety of the jujutsu world, we've decided to send you to execute the death penalty on the vessel Itadori Yuji."