Chapter 204: Silencing
Because the head of the Kurokawa family had only died a few days prior, and the family was currently undergoing property transfer, the atmosphere within the household was extremely tense.
To prevent any direct confrontations, the Kurokawa family members had tacitly agreed not to stay at home recently, each finding a hotel to stay in, only appearing during property division negotiations.
This provided great convenience for Moriya Teiji, as the Kurokawa residence currently only had a few servants.
Since the masters were not home at this hour, the servants had no one to attend to and had naturally all returned to their rooms to sleep.
Moriya Teiji entered as if the place were empty, picking the lock and quickly arriving at the first-floor hall.
The Kurokawa residence had a floor area of over 600 square meters, not counting the front and back gardens.
Each floor was over 600 square meters, with three floors in total, totaling nearly 2,000 square meters.
Due to the large building area, the mansion's load-bearing columns were naturally very substantial and numerous.
When Moriya Teiji designed it, he'd included seven sturdy load-bearing columns.
Originally, there were supposed to be eight, but due to his outstanding design skills, he'd managed to reduce it by one.
At the time, he'd been quite pleased with himself. After all, architects who could reduce load-bearing columns to improve the overall aesthetics of a building were extremely rare.
Now, seven load-bearing columns—they were completely asymmetrical!
He expertly located all the load-bearing columns. He'd calculated the yield of the time bombs, and each plastic explosive was just enough to destroy one column.
The relationship between load-bearing columns and a house was like the relationship between a person and their spine. Once all the load-bearing columns were destroyed, the villa would be reduced to rubble.
"This should do it," Moriya Teiji muttered, glancing at his handiwork.
After confirming everything was in order, he pressed the countdown switches on the time bombs one by one.
The timer started ticking—ten minutes to go!
Ten minutes from now, this asymmetrical building he'd created in his early years would vanish into thin air.
As for the servants and maids still living in the villa, he could only offer his apologies. It was their misfortune to be employed by the Kurokawa family.
The night sky was cloudless.
The scattered stars twinkled with mysterious brilliance.
The crescent moon shone brightly, illuminating the dark streets.
Moriya Teiji glanced coldly at the timer in his hand—five minutes until the explosion!
He opened his car door directly. He was going to other locations next. He planned to set off three explosions tonight—the Kurokawa family was just the first target.
Originally, he'd planned to burn down the Kurokawa residence a few days ago, but the continuous rain had made it impossible to ignite.
He could only wait until now. Once he had the explosives, he would employ explosive aesthetics.
Moriya Teiji was about to step into the driver's seat when he suddenly noticed a pair of legs on the footrest.
Looking up, he found someone already sitting in the driver's seat.
The man in black looked very imposing, with broad shoulders, and was wearing sunglasses even at this hour. He was clearly not someone to be trifled with.
At this moment, the stranger was looking at him with great interest, as if sizing up a lamb for slaughter.
"Who are you?"
Moriya Teiji had a bad feeling.
He stammered, then instantly realized that whoever this person was, being in his car meant they'd discovered the explosives in the trunk.
The trunk was filled with plastic explosives he'd hastily completed that day, and the car reeked of ammonium nitrate. He hadn't expected anyone to discover it, so he hadn't taken any precautions to conceal it. Any perceptive person would have noticed.
"I'm here to make a deal."
Vodka scratched his head, somewhat puzzled by the architect's surprise, but after a couple of seconds, he understood.
His previous transaction had been with Tequila. Now that it was someone else, the guy was bound to be wary.
"A deal...?" Moriya Teiji's forehead creased with confusion, but he didn't dare ask further.
The stranger had already pulled out a pistol and pressed it against his forehead.
"Whatever you want, I can give you," Moriya Teiji forced himself to suppress his fear and slowly said, "If you want money, I have one billion yen in cash at home, hidden in a safe."
Why would a deal involve a pistol to the forehead? Extortion should be stated directly, not disguised as some transaction. Has society progressed to the point where even extortion requires more professional and polite language?!
Moriya Teiji cursed his bad luck. Even planting explosives resulted in encountering an armed extortionist. It must be a problem with feng shui. He'd long wanted to make some changes—he'd go back and make his family's grave site symmetrical.
"One billion?" Vodka's eyes lit up. Not only could he obtain the explosives, but he could also get his hands on one billion yen?
One billion yen was definitely not a small amount.
Especially after losing Shirakage Pharmaceuticals, rebuilding the base would cost substantial money. If he could bring back one billion, his aniki would be very pleased.
Seeing there was a chance, Moriya Teiji adjusted his symmetrical mustache and forced a smile. "That's right, I'm a well-known architect in Japan. One billion yen is nothing to me.
As long as you let me go, I'll give you the money tomorrow.
No—as long as you let me go, I'll have someone deliver the money right away."
Moriya Teiji had a strong survival instinct. Seeing that Vodka's expression changed when he mentioned "tomorrow," he immediately corrected himself.
"As long as you don't tell anyone about my activities, consider this money a gift from me. I'll also offer two hundred million yen as hush money."
It's clearly inappropriate to hand over all the money to such a dangerous criminal.
You have to give them a taste first, then the reward—this two hundred million yen is the reward. Otherwise, they might turn on you after receiving the first sum, and then complaining to the King of Hell will be useless.
"Password!"
The voice came from behind Moriya Teiji, making him tremble slightly.
There was another person?
He didn't dare turn around, raising his hands silently. These people weren't going to let him go, and he couldn't possibly tell them the password.
Asking for the password—their intentions were obvious. He'd seen this kind of scenario many times in dramas.
They weren't planning to let him go. They intended to kill him and then retrieve the money themselves.
That wouldn't do.
Moreover, the explosion should be less than three minutes away. If he could stall for those three minutes, the shockwave from the explosion would definitely create an opening in their encirclement, and that would be his best chance to escape.
As for blowing up other unsatisfactory buildings, survival was his priority. He could deal with the explosives later. If he lost his life, he couldn't do anything else.
After so many years of patience, he felt he could endure a little longer.
"Looks like you're not planning to cooperate obediently!" Vodka chuckled, his finger slowly moving to the trigger.
"Don't move, let's talk." Moriya Teiji held his hands out in front of his chest, glancing toward the villa.
Why hasn't it exploded yet?
He suddenly felt a pang of regret, wishing he hadn't set the bomb's timer for so long. Every second now felt like torture.
Being held at gunpoint was a first for him.
"What are you waiting for, Moriya-san?" the person behind him said softly, a hint of mockery in their voice.
"N-nothing."
Moriya Teiji stammered, his heart sinking. They'd clearly been watching him for a while.
He suddenly remembered the hole he'd stepped into when he stole the explosives yesterday. He'd thought about it on the way back—he'd taken the same route in and out of the sewers, so why had he stepped into a hole on the way out?
Perhaps...
Moreover, the amount of explosives stolen was questionable.
He'd only stolen one box, but the report said nearly half of the stored explosives had been stolen.
He'd initially thought the people at the munitions depot were exaggerating the quantity to embezzle the explosives, but now it seemed he'd been watched the entire time. While he was unconscious, these two had probably stolen the rest.
However, he still couldn't understand it.
He hadn't given himself away, and all the investigations were done alone, so how could his plans have been leaked?
The only possible problem was the riddle at the tea party.
Only the answer to that riddle connected to the munitions depot. Could these two have been there too?
However, Natsukawa wouldn't let him think about it any longer.
"Vodka, make your move." Natsukawa glanced at the time and urged, "We don't have time to waste with him. The bomb is probably about to detonate."
"Die!"
Moriya Teiji clearly wasn't one to accept his fate. Taking advantage of the large man in sunglasses looking behind him, he lunged to the side.
If he was fast enough, he could get around the front of the car and then around the corner.
He'd scouted the escape route and knew this area very well. Once he got around the corner, he could slip through a gap someone had left for their dog, and then he was confident he could escape.
However, while Vodka might be a bit naive, he still had the skills of a professional operative. The moment Moriya Teiji made his move, Vodka reacted and fired.
"Pfft!"
The muzzle flash was quickly suppressed by the silencer, leaving trails of gray smoke.
A bloody hole appeared near Moriya Teiji's eye. His body suddenly lost all strength, his lunging motion halted abruptly, and he slumped against the hood of the car.
In his dying moments, he thought he might still be saved. After all, most people wouldn't have time to react to his sudden movement.
Unfortunately, he was facing a professional assassin.
Natsukawa looked around and, finding no movement, said with relief, "Go to the trunk and move everything out. I'll dispose of the body."
Vodka nodded, moving the explosives while pondering the one billion yen Moriya Teiji had mentioned.
He was quite tempted. If it weren't for Tequila's insistence on eliminating Moriya Teiji, and Moriya's attempt to resist, Vodka would definitely have taken him back to extract the safe's combination.
A few minutes later, a burst of flames shot into the sky, and the explosion caused lights in the surrounding villas to flicker on.
Less than five minutes later, sirens blared, and first responders arrived at the scene.
By then, Natsukawa and Vodka had already driven away.
Moriya Teiji's body was placed in the car he'd driven. Natsukawa, using a previously installed remote control device, had arranged for Moriya Teiji and his crime to be discovered together—a fitting end.
"Why didn't we find out the safe's combination? We could have taken him back to the base."
Vodka was a little bothered. He felt Tequila was deliberately undermining him.
If they'd brought the money back, his aniki would definitely have praised or rewarded him. Wasn't this Tequila sabotaging him?
When his aniki only had him as a subordinate, this never happened.
(End of Chapter)
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