After the Undercover System Went Haywire, I Switched to Grinding Suspicion Points

Miyano Akemi's acting was actually quite good, but she couldn't withstand such stimulating words from Usuha Izuki, and her expression changed slightly.

Thanks to that convenient cousin giving her a heads-up, Miyano Akemi knew Usuha Izuki might already know everything, so her reaction now wasn't too dramatic.

Usuha Izuki asked curiously: "Come on, what are your plans?"

Miyano Akemi gripped the mop in her hands, thinking about how to respond without seeming too dismissive when he'd already said so much.

After all, trying to be clever in front of smart people would only make her look like a fool.

"...I don't know." In the end, Miyano Akemi could only answer with confused honesty. "What does Botanist-san think I should do?"

Usuha Izuki encouraged: "You could report to the organization that he's FBI."

Miyano Akemi: "..........."

Considering her position in the organization as Botanist's subordinate, she suspected if she really went to report him, she'd encounter the same situation as Rye had recently, with everyone asking her "Did Botanist tell you to say this?"...

"Just kidding, I know you can't do that." Usuha Izuki leaned against the pile of cushions on the sofa. "Given your sister's... Sherry's status and importance, whatever contribution you make to the organization is unnecessary. You won't be better off than you are now anyway."

Miyano Akemi very much agreed with this, feeling that Usuha Izuki seemed to be seriously helping her analyze the situation. Her expression became more focused as she waited for more.

"So I suggest you stop thinking about it yourself and let Rye convince you how to make you risk trusting him."

Usuha Izuki didn't like making decisions for others, especially regarding such life-changing matters. If people didn't figure out their own lives and regretted it later, it would all become someone else's fault, right?

So Usuha Izuki immediately passed the workload off: "Your current situation is that not leaving the organization is just this—the organization won't do anything to you. Naturally, it should be the FBI who wants to take you away that needs to convince you!"

Admittedly, both Miyano sisters lived under the organization's surveillance without much freedom, but compared to the risk of failing to escape with the FBI, their current lives weren't actually that unbearable.

Except for not being able to see her sister whenever she wanted, which was somewhat regrettable, Miyano Akemi spent most of her time living no differently from ordinary people—going to school normally, even making it all the way to university. She didn't have close friends, but having some superficial friendships was enough to get by. After all these years, she had long adapted.

As for Miyano Shiho, she was directly born and raised in the organization. Although compared to peripheral member Miyano Akemi, she seemed to have seen more of the organization's dark side, when she was an executive, that darkness couldn't harm her. She could even scold Gin, and to avoid affecting experimental progress, Gin could only endure it. During their usual sister chats, Miyano Akemi hadn't sensed any fear from her sister—only complaints about the hassle and surveillance.

This was why Miyano Akemi was so hesitant about the FBI's olive branch—their lives hadn't reached a desperate situation yet.

If they were experimental subjects kidnapped by the organization or something, where failure couldn't make things worse, she would definitely agree.

It could only be said that the organization's control over the Miyano sisters, considering Sherry was a genius, had indeed been thoughtfully arranged.

However, although Usuha Izuki didn't like making decisions for others, he could still offer some advice.

So he kindly added: "But if you refuse, you should also consider that if Rye runs away by himself, whether the organization might overthink your current relationship and implicate you..."

Miyano Akemi nodded seriously: "Thank you, I understand."

Then she immediately went to find Rye and roughly relayed her conversation with Usuha Izuki.

Rye: "...He said that?"

Miyano Akemi: "Yes, is there a problem?"

Rye: "..........."

The biggest problem was—this Usuha Izuki kid acted in front of him but stopped pretending in front of Miyano Akemi, right?!

Vodka said Usuha Izuki lacked maternal love. Originally he thought it was nonsense, but now it looked more and more like it.

No, he couldn't let his guard down. What if Usuha Izuki wanted to influence him through Miyano Akemi...

"So what do you think?" Rye asked.

Miyano Akemi looked at him: "I hope you can help me analyze the pros and cons, or tell me about your plans so I can see if they're reliable."

Rye: "..."

"Sorry, after all it concerns Shiho. I'd be fine, but if Shiho gets involved in defection matters, her losses would be too great..."

Rye sighed: "I understand, but I also need time on my end."

What exactly was Usuha Izuki thinking?

Knowing he was FBI but showing no intention of catching him until now, even providing defection consulting for Miyano Shiho...

Compared to Miyano Akemi, Rye actually wanted to have a proper talk with Usuha Izuki, but thinking about their previous encounters, he felt that seeking him out wouldn't yield results. Better not waste the time.

Instead, Gin had finally returned from America and might have developed some doubts about Usuha Izuki's eye for spotting undercover agents, actually starting to investigate him...

He should arrange the next plans with the most conservative attitude—on the premise that someday soon, Gin would bring people to arrest him without warning, he needed to make decisions quickly.

With Gin back, Vodka naturally returned as well.

After giving himself two days off, Usuha Izuki couldn't wait to call and harass Vodka.

"Vodka, did you watch the news?" Usuha Izuki said in a contemptuous tone. "Plamia was taken down by Japanese police—tell me, with so many people in the organization, how come they can't even match Japanese police? When you arranged for someone to recruit Plamia, did you deliberately choose a useless person?"

Hearing this hint that he was an undercover agent made Vodka angry: "Aren't you done yet? Even if we sent you to convince Plamia, could you guarantee she'd definitely join?"

"Isn't it because you knew I would succeed that you refused my help?"

"...I'm still a bit busy. If there's anything, let's talk later."

After struggling to brush off Usuha Izuki's call, Vodka really felt like he'd narrowly escaped death.

Gin, who was reviewing materials, glanced at him.

Vodka summarized and reported: "Botanist is making snide remarks because of Plamia's death and attempting to frame me as an undercover agent again."

This summary sounded so routine that Gin withdrew his gaze and continued working.

Plamia had indeed caused some trouble for the organization, but they stopped in time without huge losses. The organization had also bombed several of her safe houses, trying to destroy any potentially leaked materials together.

This period was also enough for the organization to perform some operations to minimize the impact of leaked information.

For the organization, people like Plamia who refused recruitment and dared to resist weren't many, but they did exist. Since she was dead, the organization withdrew Plamia's bounty. As for further reactions, there were none.

She was already dead—what was there to worry about?

Moreover, Plamia's body didn't fall into other forces' hands but into Japanese police hands. The organization had people inside, so if Plamia had really left behind any intelligence about the organization, their people would relay the message promptly.

That made it even less necessary for executives of Gin's level to pay attention.

Since Samukawa Shinryu happened to be resigning at this time, plus he never liked public commendations and his image wasn't suitable, the Metropolitan Police simply attributed the credit to the entire police force, added some artistic processing, downplayed individual contributions, so the news propaganda had nothing to do with Samukawa Shinryu. The organization's undercover agents in the police also didn't think this aspect was worth reporting, so when mentioning the name Samukawa Shinryu to Gin and Vodka now, they had no impression at all.

System sighed: [Was this also within your calculations, Usuha?]

He thought it was just finding an opportunity to resign, but now it seemed he'd also calculated the Metropolitan Police's reaction...

Although Usuha Izuki had a good idea, he was also worried about accidents. Now that he'd tested Vodka's side and confirmed the organization really had no further thoughts about Plamia, he put Plamia out of his mind.

Compared to Plamia, there were more important things to watch.

One was Akai Shuichi's reaction and arrangements for the Miyano sisters, the other was his own resignation issue.

The former would probably take some time—after all, Akai Shuichi came undercover and definitely wouldn't be content leaving empty-handed. He'd definitely choose a good opportunity. He could help advise on that.

So he'd handle the latter first.

He'd been out of contact for three days—about time to make a sound.

So Usuha Izuki reinserted his SIM card and turned on his phone.

Although many people had his contact information, few dared to call or email him, so there wasn't a situation where turning on the phone would crash it immediately. Basically Inspector Megure and a few colleagues had called him three or four times, each sending about one email on average.

Hagiwara Kenji was also restrained—one email per day telling him to contact them when he turned on his phone, though he called more, probably testing when he'd turn it on.

Matsuda Jinpei didn't call much but sent many emails. Opening them, they were all complaints about his running away behavior, asking if it was necessary to completely disappear just to resign.

Of course it was necessary. If not for believing everyone had calmed down after three days, Usuha Izuki would want to continue staying out of contact. He didn't like being persuaded.

Usuha Izuki was checking emails when Hagiwara Kenji's call suddenly came. He instinctively answered.

Hagiwara Kenji seemed to have gotten used to calls going to voicemail these past few days. Suddenly getting through, he was stunned for a while without speaking.

Usuha Izuki spoke first: "Kenji?"

"Little Shinryu..." Hagiwara Kenji came to his senses, and even he couldn't help being sarcastic: "Finally turned on your phone?"

"Mm, what's up? If it's about persuading me not to resign, I'll hang up first."

Although somewhat annoyed, Hagiwara Kenji could roughly understand Samukawa Shinryu's thinking—afraid of trouble, not wanting to argue with his friend, so he made a clean cut. Just like directly resigning because he didn't want to get up early, he didn't give people any room to negotiate.

To avoid misunderstandings, Hagiwara Kenji quickly told Usuha Izuki about the plan the Metropolitan Police had discussed: "...That's how it is. I think it shows quite a bit of sincerity. Won't you reconsider? Or if there are other difficulties, they can all be discussed."

Usuha Izuki was quite surprised to hear this. He hadn't expected the Metropolitan Police to make so many concessions, which made him hesitate... He really couldn't think of any reason to refuse right away. He could still continue freeloading cases and going to crime scenes to farm suspicion value, and his schedule would be more flexible...

But he couldn't make decisions this quickly, so he said quite reservedly: "I understand. I'll think about it."

Hearing he didn't refuse outright meant there was hope. Hagiwara Kenji also breathed a sigh of relief—otherwise with Inspector Megure pressuring him daily, his head would go bald: "How long do you need to think about it?"

"Three days." Usuha Izuki gave a moderate timeframe.

"No problem." Hagiwara Kenji said, "Don't turn off your phone these days either. I've convinced everyone—no one will bother you."

Although Hagiwara Kenji could convince people around him not to bother him, he couldn't convince others.

While Usuha Izuki was still considering whether to return to the Metropolitan Police as this advisor, he received a strange phone call.

"Samukawa-kun, hello. I heard you recently resigned from the Metropolitan Police... Would you consider joining us here?"