Sitting in the interrogation chair, Kaori no longer dared to glare at the black-haired man in front of her with hatred. A faint unease crept into her heart. Not yet fully understanding the organization's methods, fear began to take hold. What frightened her most was that they had already obtained information about her family.
Even though she tried hard to suppress her emotions, the change in her breathing, far more erratic than before, didn't escape Ritsu's notice.
He picked up the dagger from the nearby table and gently pressed the flat of the blade against her face, slowly tracing the contours of her features. Accompanying the motion was his devilish whisper.
"Your little sister is quite cute… makes me want to turn her into a doll. That way, she could stay that adorable forever."
With deliberate gentleness, he untied her hair tie, letting her long hair fall loose. Feigning intimacy, he lifted a strand of her chestnut hair, his tone light and almost cheerful.
"How about I make her into a doll and give her to you?"
This was psychological torture.
And the moment he grasped her weakness, the battle had already been decided.
He leaned down, his face wearing a sympathetic expression as he murmured softly, "Being in a foreign country, you must miss the little sister you cherish the most, right? Don't worry, I'll bring her to you. You'll be together forever, never separated again."
Without sparing another glance at the dazed Kaori, Ritsu casually tossed the dagger back onto the table.
"Kir, I'll leave her to you for now."
"Understood."
Without explaining where he was going, Ritsu walked toward the door at an unhurried pace. He had already broken through Kaori's final psychological defense.
If he disappeared from her sight… that would be the real torment.
Her mind would spiral uncontrollably, imagining whether the "devil" before her had already gone to find her sister, whether he would truly turn her into a doll just as he said.
As he slowly turned the doorknob, Kaori finally broke.
"Don't touch my family! I'll tell you anything, anything you want to know!"
A brief silence fell over the interrogation room. Rena hadn't expected a trained spy to betray her organization so quickly.
"Don't you want to see your sister?"
"What do you want to know? I'll tell you everything I know."
"Oh."
Ritsu dragged over a metal chair and sat in front of her, crossing his legs while holding the unfinished carton of chocolate milk. His tone remained calm.
"You have a contact here, right? Tell me his name."
"…His alias is Nishida Kohei."
Not a familiar name, likely not a code-named member yet. NIS's operational capability seemed rather average. Still, it was useful information.
"What was your mission here?"
"…To assist Nishida with infiltration and gather more intelligence on the organization. After that, they would fake my death and send me back to Seoul to report. A new contact would also be assigned."
A fairly reasonable plan. The only issue was that the agent they sent wasn't very capable, she was exposed before she could even begin operating. Worse, the organization's intelligence division had uncovered her real identity and used her family to break her so easily.
Ritsu had originally planned to demonstrate more interrogation techniques for the observing intelligence division but it seemed unnecessary now.
Since he had obtained what he wanted, this "rat" was no longer useful. According to Gin's instructions, she should be disposed of.
He took out the arsenic trioxide he had prepared in advance, his expression turning cold again.
"You've outlived your usefulness."
Kaori knew she wouldn't survive. At this point, she wanted to die. She had betrayed NIS and even exposed her accomplice, there was nothing left for her but disgrace.
Her head drooped, expression lifeless, like a corpse waiting for death.
Ritsu was about to administer the poison when his phone on the table vibrated. Seeing the caller ID, he picked up, it was Gin.
"Gin, what is it?"
"Don't kill her. Bring her to the research facility."
"The research facility?"
"She still has value. Take her to Laboratory No. 1. The person in charge there will handle it."
"…Understood."
After hanging up, Ritsu put away the poison. He reopened the silver suitcase, turned the oxygen supply back on, and gestured for Rena to help place the woman inside.
As Kaori was forced back into the suitcase, she regained some awareness and frowned.
"Why aren't you killing me?"
"Sometimes, dying isn't that easy." Ritsu sealed her mouth again with tape to prevent her from making noise during transport. Pulling up the suitcase handle, he added, "Kir, you know how to handle interrogations now, right?"
"Yes, I've learned."
"Then Nishida Kohei is yours. Take a few operatives with you, and be careful."
"Understood. I'll complete the mission."
Ritsu dragged the suitcase out, loaded it into the trunk, and drove toward Nishitama City.
Arriving at Meisen Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd., he headed toward Laboratory No. 1. This laboratory was the most special one. During his years in the organization, he had never been granted access before. He hadn't expected to finally see it today.
Laboratory No. 1 was located deep on the second floor. Armed guards stood outside the outermost sliding door. Inside, only the lab's researchers and select code-named members were permitted entry. The researchers working there lived entirely within the lab, they had no freedom whatsoever.
After passing two palm scans and an iris scan, Ritsu finally reached the corridor outside Laboratory No. 1. Looking through the transparent glass, his grip on the suitcase handle tightened unconsciously.
What kind of scene was this?
A researcher in a white protective suit was holding a syringe, injecting a man strapped to an operating table. Within five seconds of the liquid entering his body, the emaciated man began convulsing violently. His limbs twisted at unnatural angles as he tried to break free from the restraints.
The force was immense, six researchers were needed to hold him down. If the man had been more physically robust… it felt like he could have torn the restraints apart.
"…"
'So Laboratory No. 1… was for human experimentation? What kind of drug were they testing?'
With a complicated expression, Ritsu walked to the door and knocked lightly on the glass wall. The researcher in charge of injections picked up a notebook, scribbled a few words, then walked over and pressed it against the glass for him to read.
[Press the red button and place the suitcase onto the conveyor belt. Thank you.]
Noticing the red button below, Ritsu pressed it. A hatch opened, revealing a conveyor system inside. He placed the suitcase onto it and watched as it was carried into the lab. As it entered, a liquid spray coated it, likely disinfectant.
He watched as Kaori was roughly dragged out of the suitcase and immediately injected with an unknown drug, falling into unconsciousness within seconds… a sedative?
He needed to meet with Hiro as soon as possible.
With a grim expression, Ritsu turned and walked away. He hadn't expected such a place to exist deep within the second floor of the research facility.
As for what would become of Kaori, he neither wanted to think about it nor dared to guess.
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Bonus chapter @20 PS