Chapter 20: I'll Appear Before You Right Away
After parting with the Miyano sisters, Gojo Satoru headed straight to the stronghold where Tsuki and Yuki were located, informing them of the Organization's intention to collaborate.
Under the cursed corpses' absolute loyalty and efficient execution, things progressed remarkably smoothly.
In less than forty-eight hours, a detailed document was delivered to Gin via a special channel. Attached with it was a transaction procedure for information regarding a certain company president's secret overseas account—exactly the information the Organization currently needed.
When Gin received this file, his brows pulled together under his silver hair.
Caesar's efficiency was far higher than he had anticipated.
Was that information broker really persuaded so easily? Or... did Caesar actually know him beforehand? Or perhaps there was some undisclosed connection?
However, Gin quickly convinced himself otherwise.
Gojo Satoru was the Boss's adoptive son and the head of a prestigious clan after all. Secretly managing some personal network and influence was entirely beyond reproach.
As long as the outcome benefited the Organization, the process didn't matter.
"Deal made, keep observing."
He handed down the order to the subordinate responsible for passing messages, leaving the matter behind him.
That evening, in the study of the Gojo residence.
The white-haired youth clad in a yukata leaned back in a spacious armchair. A thick stack of financial reports for the family's businesses was spread across the desk, dense with numbers, yet his reading speed was exceptionally fast.
Just as he finished annotating a report, his private phone screen beside him lit up.
"Hmm? Shuichi?"
Gojo Satoru raised an eyebrow slightly and opened the message.
"Satoru, due to a recent job transfer, I have left the US and headed to another country for a long-term mission. The distance is far, communication will be inconvenient, and I may face unpredictable dangers, so please refrain from actively contacting me for now."
It finally came as expected.
A knowing smile touched the corner of Gojo Satoru's lips.
All his recent casual messages "pestering" Shuichi hadn't gone to waste. Beyond maintaining their friendly relationship, it was also meant to test Akai Shuichi's movements.
After all, according to the timeline of the original story, right after Sherry's return to Japan was precisely when undercover agents used their respective talents to infiltrate the Organization.
Looking at it now, this exceptional FBI agent had quietly landed in Japan and begun thorough preparations to infiltrate the distillery.
Gojo Satoru tapped his fingers on the screen, replying almost instantly with an appropriately clueless tone.
"Ehh? So suddenly? It's not like I'm scared of danger anyway. If anything comes up, you can just tell me directly—maybe I can even help out."
Inside a non-descript rented apartment somewhere in Tokyo.
Akai Shuichi looked at the reply popping up on the screen, a complex expression flashing across his cold, sharp face.
The room's lights weren't turned on; only the cool screen light illuminated his defined profile, along with Miyano Akemi's photograph resting on the desk.
He knew the risk of this undercover plan was extremely high, no different from dancing on a razor's edge. But how could one catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger's lair?
He also admitted that keeping in touch with "Satoru" initially was indeed meant to use the other's special ability as a helping hand on his path to destroying the Black Organization. But through these past few years of contact, aside from the other's occasional wild train of thought that left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Akai Shuichi realized that "Satoru" seemed to have truly treated him as a real friend.
He hadn't just provided valuable clues regarding the Black Organization multiple times, but had even acted from the shadows to help the FBI disrupt several criminal operations. He also chatted with him regularly in daily life, actively sending blessings during holidays.
This pure kindness caught Akai Shuichi off guard, while also stirring up a touch of guilt deep down.
Was it really necessary to drag him into this muddy water, turning him into a target standing directly against that massive dark organization? Even if "Satoru" possessed immense strength, what if he encountered ability users within the Organization, like "Caesar"... What would the outcome be then?
The one holding a grudge against the Organization was himself alone after all.
Akai Shuichi didn't consider himself a moral paragon; he could use any means to achieve his goals. But this time, he hesitated.
His fingertips paused briefly over the keyboard before he ultimately typed out a refusal.
"Thank you, Satoru. I appreciate your kind intentions, but the situation this time is different. I'll contact you again once things settle down on my end."
Seeing this message, Gojo Satoru was actually a bit surprised.
Deciding to infiltrate the Organization was naturally something better known to as few people as possible, so Akai Shuichi keeping it from him was completely normal. But judging from his tone, it seemed like he didn't want to drag him into danger?
"Alright, since you say so, I won't ask further. But if you really run into some huge crisis, you must find a way to let me know—who knows, maybe I'll appear before you right away."
[Ding! Impression value from plot character Akai Shuichi increases by 200 points!]
Looking at this somewhat childish reply, Akai Shuichi's tight lips relaxed for a brief moment.
"Alright, I got it."
Ending this brotherly exchange, Gojo Satoru leaned back into his chair, quietly drifting into thought.
Akai Shuichi's movements were even faster than he anticipated. Judging from his wording and reactions, within a week at most, he would officially start making contact with Miyano Akemi and kick off his infiltration plan.
If nothing went wrong, Akai Shuichi would probably staged a traffic accident while Miyano Akemi was driving, subsequently falling in love with her to enter the Organization.
However, what if the person guiding "Rye" into the Organization wasn't Miss Akemi, but him, Caesar... How would that play out?
Just thinking about it felt pretty entertaining.
Not only could he sustainably farm even more impression value, but he could also smoothly fix the stomach-aching romance line between Akai, Akemi, and Jodie, keeping manga readers from arguing endlessly—this was definitely doing good deeds and accumulating endless merit.
Yep, it definitely wasn't because he had a wicked sense of humor and wanted to deliberately mess with Shuichi's romantic luck.
Thus, over the next few days, Gojo Satoru's underground intelligence system operated with high efficiency.
Among all his subordinates, "Wataru" was an extremely special existence as the only cursed corpse possessing an animal form.
Perhaps naturally endowed with the mission of patrol and surveillance, it had awakened an innate technique accurately named "Crow Word." It was an ability that allowed mental communication with crow flocks, and to a certain extent, influenced and commanded crows within a specific range. Crows affected by this technique became Wataru's eyes, sharing vision, passing information, and even carrying out complex tasks like tracking, fixed-point observation, and delivering tiny items.
This shared quite a few similarities with the "Black Bird Manipulation" that Mei Mei excelled at in the jujutsu world. Although there was still a gap in terms of quantity controlled, precision cap, and offensive means, it could already be considered a bug-level reconnaissance tool.
Take Tsuki's "Paper Shikigami," which allowed paper figures to sneak quietly near targets for close-range visual and auditory monitoring, specializing particularly in indoor settings, crowded areas, or scenarios needing static concealment. Meanwhile, the crow flock commanded by Wataru made up for the paper figures' shortcomings in long-distance fast movement, high-altitude overview, and handling sudden outdoor tracking.
In Japan, crows were already common creatures in cities. Appearing in flocks wouldn't draw suspicion either, and their natural flying advantage could cover wide areas for broad dynamic scanning.
That way, combining "Crow Word" with "Paper Shikigami" created an invisible surveillance net capable of covering key areas across all of Tokyo.
Before long, the cover identity Akai Shuichi used in Japan, his current hiding spot, and his daily activity route were all compiled into a clear report delivered right to Gojo Satoru. At the same time, Miyano Akemi's recent itinerary was brought under monitoring as well.
...
Outside the window was a dense blackness, while lights within the residence lit up sparsely like crushed gold sunk in ink.
Gojo Satoru sat cross-legged under the hallway, holding a delicate lacquer dish filled with special grains and dried meat.
"Goo—"
A shadow swept across the courtyard like a sharp arrow, landing lightly on his extended arm.
The raven tucked away its broad black wings, using its beak to gently preen the smooth, glossy feathers on its chest, its eyes staring unblinkingly at the food dish in Gojo Satoru's hand.
"Good work, Wataru."
Gojo Satoru offered the food in front of it with a smile: "Covered a lot of ground these past few days, didn't you? Come, have something nice."
Wataru gave a low call as a reply, then gracefully lowered its head to peck at the food.
Watching it focus on eating, the white-haired youth raised his other hand naturally, lightly stroking Wataru's glossy black head. His fingertips smoothed along the direction of feather growth, making its throat produce a satisfied purring sound.
"Come to think of it... doesn't the old man also like keeping crows?"
Gojo Satoru suddenly found it a bit funny.
The one using crows as a emblem was clearly the Organization, yet he, a watered-down member, ended up becoming the "mastermind" controlling Tokyo's crow flock. It was practically a bigger villain flex than Karasuma Renya himself.
He might as well just take down the old man when the time came, directly replacing him as the boss of the distillery, and lead the world with a single call.
Besides, if he could see Gin gritting his teeth, calling him "Boss" with utter reluctance...
"Hmm, that's actually not bad at all?"
Meanwhile, on a dim street somewhere in Tokyo, a black Porsche 356A sat quietly by the roadside.
"Achoo—!" A sneeze, not overly loud but sharp enough, shattered the silence inside the car.
Vodka, who was munching on a convenience store rice ball in the driver's seat, flinched violently, hurriedly swallowing his food with effort as he looked nervously at the silver-haired man beside him: "Did Boss catch a cold? Should I turn down the air conditioning a bit?"
Gin pressed his knuckles between his brows: "It's fine."
He just felt an inexplicable chill running down his back.
"Feels like someone is thinking about something extremely rude..."