The incident began with a story Tanaka-san told Bai Ye about a friend.
Her grandfather, Haruizui Kaze, had designed an escape magic trick, but it went wrong, and he died during the performance.
When Tanaka Kikue was sorting through his belongings, she found a chat room account.
After logging in, she discovered Nishiyama, Himano, and Ara Yoshizumi mocking her grandfather.
The dead cannot be insulted.
This made her furious, and she carefully planned a revenge play.
According to the plan, Ara Yoshizumi should be the next to die.
But Bai Ye's suggestion restricted Tanaka Kikue's actions, saving a life.
Knowing he had survived by sheer luck, Ara Yoshizumi was still terrified.
He somehow found some rope and bound Tanaka Kikue tightly.
Hmm, very rope-like indeed.
Just as he was about to drag the culprit to the police station, he discovered that the bridge down the mountain had collapsed.
The wind was howling, making it impossible to descend the mountain, and their phones had no signal.
After discussing it, they decided to stay at the villa for the night.
The next morning, the Metropolitan Police Department sent a helicopter to the mountaintop to rescue everyone.
Upon inquiry, they learned that Mauri Kogoro had accidentally heard the news of Nishiyama's death on his way back.
He immediately sensed something was wrong and rushed back, only to find the bridge burned down.
He then went down the mountain to seek help from the Metropolitan Police Department, but due to manpower and weather issues, the rescue helicopter didn't arrive until the next day.
Fortunately, in the end, everything was fine, and his precious daughter was unharmed.
Tanaka Kikue was taken away by Detective Megure, and the case was closed.
Suzuki Sonoko was in a bad mood because she missed Kaito Kid.
After returning to Beika City, she brought her best friend, Mauri Ran, and her cousin to a KTV to vent her frustrations.
Bai Ye wasn't familiar with Japanese songs, and they couldn't play any songs from China.
He sat on the sofa as a listener, taking care of the fruit platter.
After sitting for more than an hour, he became unbearably sleepy.
He took the initiative to leave, hailed a taxi, and went home to rest.
…
The next day, the sky was clear, and a gentle breeze was blowing.
“Haah~”
Bai Ye got up, washed up, and went out to the balcony.
He picked up the binoculars he bought from the department store and looked down at the street below, judging the season based on the clothes of the passersby.
Summer and winter are easy to identify, but spring and autumn are a bit trickier.
People wearing short sleeves are in spring, and those with a mix of long and short sleeves are in autumn.
This world's calendar doesn't have seasons, and he doesn't know how others do it. He's clueless.
At 8:40, Suzuki Bai Ye arrived at the pharmaceutical factory.
There was no meeting today, so he went to the cafeteria for breakfast.
When he returned to the guardroom, a fresh copy of the Beika Times was already on the table.
Newspapers are an essential tool for passing the time; usually, the security captain reads them first before giving them to the subordinates.
Besides political news, there's a special section that introduces recent murders.
People die every day in Beika City, providing ample material for the section.
It feels like this section doesn't have much warning value; instead, it's causing more and more people to imitate crimes.
Bai Ye doesn't want to worry about such things, and he stretches comfortably.
A day of coasting begins!
At 4 PM, Gin called.
“Hello?”
“Something happened in the third lab. Take your nightstick and go check it out alone.”
The other party was concise, and he hung up after speaking.
The boss specifically instructed him to go, and he couldn't ask anyone to go with him. Such a pain in the butt.
For the sake of the 900,000 yen monthly salary, Bai Ye gritted his teeth and went to the third lab.
As he passed by Miyano Shiho's room, he looked in through the window.
She quickly noticed him and gave him a polite smile.
Miyano Shiho has been surrounded by books and test tubes since childhood, spending her days in the library and the lab.
Suzuki Bai Ye is one of the few people she can talk to and doesn't particularly dislike.
A square-faced man in a white lab coat greeted him, taking the initiative to say:
“Mr. Suzuki, please follow me.”
“Okay.”
He trailed behind the white coat and blurted out:
“Can I ask what happened?”
The other party glanced back, his eyes filled with a deep meaning:
“Someone got infected with a mutated pathogen. The higher-ups ordered us to capture them alive. We need your help with the capture.”
“…”
My god, it couldn't be someone who went to the black room, could it?
Suzuki Bai Ye has seen corpses with scales and is a little afraid of that place.
Perhaps sensing his anxiety, the white coat comforted him:
“Don't worry, you're not alone in this operation.”
After passing through three long corridors, they arrived at a large door about five meters wide.
Four heavily armed guards wearing masks stood on either side.
“We’re here.”
Bai Ye was surprised and asked about his doubts:
“Don't you guys have guns? What do you need me for?”
“Different tasks. They're responsible for fire suppression, and you're responsible for close-range protection. Put on that first, and then we'll go.”
The white coat asked someone to bring the protective gear and told Bai Ye to put it on.
The steel plates are quite thick, weighing around 30 to 40 kilograms in total.
While it reduces mobility, it significantly increases resistance to attacks.
Since the mission required capturing the infected person alive, they gave him a thick, black, and long iron rod and didn't provide any edged weapons.
“Okay, let's go.”
After the white coat entered the password, the large door in front of them opened with a bang.
The creaking and grinding sound of metal made Bai Ye's heart jump.
This is the depths of the third lab. Be extra careful!
After the door opened, a cold wind rushed in.
Soul-stirring screams and flapping sounds constantly tormented Bai Ye's eardrums.
It sounded like there were many bats, but how could there be such things in the lab?
The guards were on high alert, working in pairs, illuminating the way ahead with flashlights.
The white coat was in the middle, and Suzuki Bai Ye was at the rear.
After searching for seven or eight minutes, they found the target in a room.
This person was dressed in rags, with his head slumped, and had octopus-like tentacles growing on his face.
Dark blue scales tore through the clothes, exposed to the air.
The misaligned limbs and vacant eyes were not at all human, far beyond a simple mutated pathogen infection.
The white coat pulled a face, lowering his voice as he gave the command:
“Open fire!”
The guards raised their submachine guns and poured fire on the infected person's limbs.
Shell casings flew off, fire flashed, and green liquid splattered…
If it wasn't for the need to keep him alive, they could have used more powerful weapons.
“Ong ah~”
The bleeding wounds caused the infected person to let out a low growl with an unknown meaning.
Bai Ye had never seen such a scene before and immediately felt his scalp tingling.
This job is too dangerous. If it doesn't work out, I'll just resign after getting my salary.
900,000 yen is enough for me to live a carefree life for a long time.
Don't let me get the money but not have the chance to spend it, dying here.
At this time, he couldn't afford to be distracted. Bai Ye quickly regained his focus and paid close attention to the infected person's movements.
After all, two fists can't beat four hands, let alone six people.
He had been shot several times in his limbs, leaving him bloody and torn, and he began to show signs of retreat.
The white coat's pupils widened, and he decisively said:
“Cast the net!”
The four guards took out their net guns from their waists and shot, trapping the target.
Seeing the situation was favorable, Bai Ye carefully stepped forward.
He wanted to press the infected person down with his rod, cooperating with the nets to subdue him.
But the moment he made contact, a prompt suddenly rang in his mind.
【Main quest triggered.】