Ke Xue World: The Confrontation between Black and Red

Things have come to this point, and even the purpose of the mission has been easily told to him, so it's impossible for Toru Amuro to pretend that he doesn't understand what Vermouth meant.

There could only be one reason why he was told the content of the mission so readily.

"You want me to help you?"

Unexpectedly, Vermouth shook her head again:

"Do not."

Facing Toru Amuro's gaze, Vermouth gracefully took out a USB flash drive from her sleeve, then lightly moved her fingertips and gently pushed it along the dining table in front of Toru Amuro.

"That's what the master meant."

"I think you won't refuse the gift from that gentleman you just received, Bourbon."

Amuro Toru, who originally wanted to use Karasuma Soshin as an excuse to shirk responsibility, quickly swallowed the words that were about to come out of his throat, and responded readily:

"How could that be? It is my honor to serve that lord."

Seeing Toru Amuro take the USB drive and put it away, Vermouth slowly introduced the causes and consequences of this mission, as well as the detailed content.

A few days ago, the intelligence officer who was responsible for secretly collecting and sorting out the dynamics of the major families and wealthy families in Japan discovered:

Among the many wealthy families in Japan, the Utsunomiya family, which has always been secretive and low-key and is known as a family of priests, has recently been sending people to secretly search for something.

At the same time, a special bounty shrouded in fog and marked with a golden leaf at the end appeared in the underground black market dark web.

Transactions on the underground black market dark web have always been clearly priced.

But above all, there is a special transaction that rarely appears, but once it appears, it can attract countless attention.

Because when a task bounty is issued, a golden leaf will appear at the beginning of the task information as a special mark, so this type of task bounty is affectionately and easily understood by people on the black market and dark web as the - Golden Leaf Bounty.

The special thing is that the task publisher will clearly mark the reward amount after the task in the bounty task.

But this figure is just a minimum reference remuneration.

That is, the person who completes the task can ask the publisher for a numerical reward that is higher than the bounty amount.

According to the unspoken rules of the Gold Leaf Bounty, the person who completes the task can ask the publisher for a bounty up to 10 times the amount offered.

But besides this, there is another option for completers.

That is to choose to request replacement.

That is, making a demand, including but not limited to money, as payment.

The base reward for the gold leaf bounty that appeared this time is 100 million berry golds.

If the highest standard is used for payment, the bounty for this mission will be 10 billion Berry Gold.

As in the past, this time's gold leaf bounty also attracted the attention of countless members of the world.

However, this bounty is different from the previous gold leaf bounties.

The publisher did not clearly specify the bounty requirements that the tasker needed to complete in the bounty content.

Instead, he wrote a series of haiku and waka that were incoherent and unrelated.

Therefore, although countless people were eager for the gold leaf bounty this time, they did not even know the mission requirements and could only look on and stay away.

In the past, the organization would pay attention to this kind of underground bounty, but would not take it too seriously.

After all, the person who can offer a gold leaf bounty must have an extraordinary identity, and the organization will not easily get involved when it is unclear about the other party's background.

However, all this changed when the organization discovered that the person who offered the bounty was the current head of the Utsunomiya family.

Upon learning that the person who issued the bounty was the current ruler of the Utsunomiya family, Karasuma Renya decided on the spot that he would do his best to complete the gold leaf bounty before anyone else.

So, the current mission came into being.

However, Vermouth did not elaborate on the reasoning surrounding the gold leaf bounty.

After talking about the importance of this mission, the organization members who will be involved and the task arrangements.

After tasting most of the dishes on the table, Vermouth put down her chopsticks, picked up the wine jug beside her, first filled the glass in front of her that had been emptied again, and then poured another glass for Amuro Toru.

Finally, he raised his glass and said respectfully to Amuro Toru:

"Okay, now that I have said everything I need to say, I would like to wish you all the best in the upcoming mission and a happy cooperation."

Amuro Toru raised his glass and smiled:

"Pleasant to work with."

At around ten o'clock in the evening, after ending this long invitation, Toru Amuro returned to the safe house he and his young son Tameran shared.

When I pushed open the door, I saw Zhu Fu Jingguang performing routine inspection and maintenance on his gun in the brightly lit living room.

On the square low table, disassembled gun parts and maintenance supplies were scattered around.

At this moment, the air in the living room was filled with a slightly faint but somewhat pungent smell, which was the smell of gun maintenance lubricant.

But Zhu Fu Jingguang still smelled a very faint smell of alcohol on You Xunran.

So after completing the maintenance work on the gun in hand, reassembling the disassembled parts and putting them away, Zhu Fu Jingguang got up and went to the kitchen to cook a small pot of sobering soup.

After taking a shower and changing into home clothes, Amuro Toru took a sip of the steaming hot hangover soup and instantly relaxed.

Then, without waiting for Zhu Fu Jingguang to ask, he told him everything about his meeting with Vermouth tonight and a joint mission specially assigned by the boss of the organization.

And begins his reasoning:

“At the end of July this year, during the three-day tulip party held at Harukajuku in Kyoto, there was a top auction that was not open to the public.

The participants are either senior police officers, wealthy families or business tycoons.

One of the auction items is a piece of parchment that is suspected to record the true burial location of the Red Leaf Treasure. "

“The Utsunomiya family is a famous priest family in the Kansai region with a great reputation. Although the entire family acts low-key, they have considerable connections and influence in both the political and business circles.

I specifically checked and found that the Utsunomiya family sent their heir to attend the tulip party in July. "

“So, I suspect that the person who took the photo of the treasure parchment that night was the heir of the Utsunomiya family.

And that treasure map has special meaning to the Utsunomiya family, so after it was stolen, the Utsunomiya family not only sent people to search for it secretly, but also offered a special gold leaf reward on the dark web."

As for the purpose of the organization, it is very likely that they want to use the lost treasure map and the person who stole the treasure map to reach a cooperation or negotiate conditions with the Utsunomiya family.

As Toru Amuro spoke, he opened the laptop he had just taken out from the bedroom after taking a shower and changing clothes.

After successfully logging onto the dark web, the first thing you see is the eye-catching gold leaf bounty at the top of the list.

Looking at the nearly a thousand words of haiku and waka in the bounty content, Toru Amuro, who originally wanted to see if there were any important clues in the bounty content, suddenly became stuck.

No, who would publish a bounty like this?

Do you have to guess a riddle first to complete the bounty?

Forget about guessing. After all, some publishers don't like people with strong limbs and simple minds. They want to find someone with brains to complete the task he gives.

But using ancient haiku and waka, which modern people rarely come into contact with, as riddles, and such a long list of them, does it mean they want to pick a writer to complete the task, or not let anyone get this sky-high bounty at all?

Toru Amuro looked at the contents on the bounty page after trying countless decoding methods but to no avail.

My eyes are dry from staring, but I still can't find a solution.

During this time, Zhu Fu Jingguang once glanced at her secretly, but then he naturally withdrew his gaze and stared at his mobile phone intently, not even glancing at You Xunran whose eyes were a little straight.

Just pretend that you didn't see anything just now.

Apart from those close to him, few people know about it.

Even someone as talented as Morobushi Kagemitsu could not help falling asleep when he was a child when he took classical literature appreciation courses such as haiku and waka.

After using all his brain cells but getting nothing in the end, Toru Amuro blinked his dry eyes in frustration, and finally had to admit that he really couldn't solve the puzzle.

Realizing that his knowledge still needs to be expanded, Toru Amuro decided to find an opportunity to make up for this shortcoming in the future.

But at the same time, he was also confused:

The Utsunomiya family probably did this not just to make things difficult for others.

So, it's out of defense?

Or do you want to use this to convey a message to a specific person?

While thinking, a doubtful voice suddenly sounded:

"Zero, I remember your mission is to find the person who carries the sheepskin treasure map, right?"

Amuro Toru looked up and saw that Morobushi Keimitsu had a dazed look on his face, and replied:

"Yes, I am responsible for confirming the personnel, and the rest will be handled by other members."

"Then your mission this time is really extremely difficult."

Zhu Fu Jingguang's voice was a little shaky. He turned the screen of his mobile phone to Amuro Toru and sighed:

"No wonder the higher-ups assigned you to this mission."

Toru Amuro felt that his childhood friend's expression and tone were a little strange.

So he lowered his head and looked at the phone screen that You Xunran turned to him.

After scanning the content on the screen, Toru Amuro immediately grabbed the phone and stared at the two lines of text and a picture.

After a long time, he looked up and said with gritted teeth:

"Belmod."

On the lit mobile phone screen was a detailed introduction released by the Ooka Foundation on the time of the treasure hunt competition, entry requirements, treasure hunt rules and precautions.

Among them, there are a few lines that read like this.

In order to provide participants with a better treasure hunting experience, the Ooka Foundation prepared a sheepskin treasure map for each participant, which was made using ancient methods and drawn based on the rumors of the red leaf treasure.

There is also a picture attached below, which shows an old parchment with a bunch of line patterns, scattered ancient words, and short sentences that look like haiku or waka.

Looking at the yellowed and old parchment, and then looking at the number of participants in this treasure hunt competition, Toru Amuro finally realized that Vermouth had set a trap for him again.

The reason why Vermouth told him everything he knew during dinner, without reservation, and answered all the questions without any riddles, was not because of any other reason, but simply because someone had secretly set a big trap for him.

Fortunately, Toru Amuro had previously thought that the reason why Vermouth described the mission content in such detail this time was because this was a joint mission assigned by the leader of the organization.

Secondly, he is now a senior code member and one of the core members of the organization, and is qualified to know the complete plan content.

Now that I think about it, Vermouth is still the same Vermouth.

He was asked to find the person who had the real treasure map from among more than thirty living people who were holding the same parchment.

Not to mention seven days, even if a zero was added at the end, he would still feel it was too little.

Thinking of this, Toru Amuro became more angry. He took out his cell phone and called Vermouth directly.

After staying in a hotel near the restaurant and taking a comfortable bath, Vermouth looked at the incoming call number with the corners of her lips slightly raised.

Sitting on the sofa wearing soft and comfortable slippers, Vermouth placed her cell phone on the small coffee table in front of the sofa and pressed the answer and speaker buttons.

She wiped her hair gently with a dry towel and asked cheerfully:

"Ala~ We just separated not long ago, and you called me again so soon.

I didn't expect that you missed me so much that you couldn't even wait for a few days."

Amuro Toru sneered:

"I just realized that you, Vermouth, have assigned me a good task."

Vermouth was puzzled at first.

"Hmm~ Is there something wrong with your mission?"

Then he seemed to think of something:

"Oh, there is indeed some information I forgot to tell you."

"According to the information we received, the parchment carried by the target was made and preserved using a special method."

"It is said that when this parchment is heated over an open flame, a brightly colored maple leaf pattern will appear on the parchment."

"Really? You want me to use fire to test the parchment on every participant in the treasure hunt?

I'm afraid seven days is a bit short."

Listening to Bourbon's sarcastic remarks on the other end of the phone, Vermouth's smile widened.

"Well, I believe that with your ability, Bourbon, it shouldn't be difficult to do."

Faced with the compliment handed to him by Vermouth, the angry Bourbon chose to throw it aside and stepped on it twice.

"Oh, I'm just an ordinary code member. How can I compare to Lord Vermouth, the deputy leader of the intelligence team and the most favored gentleman in the organization? You really think too highly of me."

"I'm afraid I'm not up to the task. Lady Vermouth should find someone else."

Vermouth's eyes flickered slightly. She didn't expect that Amuro Toru would directly say that he wanted to quit, so she asked:

"That's what the master meant. Aren't you afraid of being blamed by the master?"

"If the mission fails, won't I be blamed as well? Since I'm going to be blamed sooner or later, why should I bother working so hard?

Is it possible that Mr. will just get rid of me just because I choose not to go?"

As Toru Amuro spoke confidently, Vermouth in the hotel laughed happily, and it took a while for her to stop laughing.