Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator - Page 272
"Has it been dealt with?" Mark Spencer asked.
"Not yet. That's not something I'm responsible for."
Aoyagi Binguang said casually. He watched Mark Spencer sit back on the sofa opposite him and pull the gift box bag on the other side of the sofa over.
He opened the gift bag, took out a small box the size of a palm, and handed it to Mark Spencer, who took it with a confused look on his face.
"This is for you." Aoyagi Binguang said, "It's a gift from Goldwasser."
Mark Spencer suddenly realized.
Because of his special status, Goldwasser and some members of the organization did occasionally give him gifts. Americans are used to opening gifts in person after receiving them, but he opened the box directly.
There lay a tie clip quietly inside.
Chapter 321: Black and Black in the Bureau (Part )
The tie clip is plain and ordinary, without any gemstones or brand patterns, and looks like it was bought casually from a roadside men's clothing store.
"...?"
Mark Spencer looked at this shabby gift and looked at Aoyagi Akimitsu in confusion.
Aoyagi Binguang didn't think there was anything wrong with the gift and continued, "Last time we met, I saw you adjusted your tie and it made it even crooked. This tie clip suits you very well."
No, that’s not the point at all. The question is...is this thing really given by Goldwasser?
Mark Spencer was well aware of Goldwasser's wealth. That was the family of that gentleman's mother, and they had been accumulating wealth in North America over the years. It was no exaggeration to say that they could play with gems as if they were marbles.
However, questioning the gift was particularly rude, so he closed the box and reluctantly responded, "I like it very much. Thank him for me."
Aoyagi Binguang seemed to want to say something, but at this moment he suddenly looked up at the clock on the wall, uttered a soft "hmm", and then stood up.
"I have to get to Osaka, so I won't stay any longer."
Mark Spencer knew Aoyagi Binguang's current job and did not try to persuade him to stay: "Be careful on the road, and pay attention to the surveillance when you go out."
"Don't worry, the surveillance cameras can't capture me."
Qing Liu Bingguang smiled friendly, walked to the door, and when he was about to push it open, he suddenly turned around and said, "By the way, are you going back to the United States soon?"
Mark Spencer was still observing the small gift box—he was wondering if it was made of some rare metal—and he replied, "I've already booked a flight for this afternoon. Hunter made such a big fuss this time, I have to go back."
He directly told everyone his whereabouts, and his words were full of dissatisfaction.
"Faster than I thought." Aoyagi Binguang was a little surprised.
Mark Spencer felt that his tone was strange and couldn't help turning his head to look at him. Qing Liu Bingguang met his gaze with a gentle smile on his face. He reminded:
"The Metropolitan Police Department has taken away Hunter and Yoshino's bodies. I have taken away the evidence they stored and replaced it with a confession. Considering the serious impact of this case, the Japanese police should hold a press conference this afternoon."
"I reminded you last time I came here with Scotland that for the sake of friendly relations between the two sides, you'd better attend."
"..."
Mark Spencer recalled the scene when they last met, and his brows slightly frowned. He glanced at the young man in front of him and didn't see anything unusual on that face.
"understood."
He finally gave a positive answer to his friend's son.
……
Aoyagi Akimitsu left.
The office was completely quiet, with Mark Spencer sitting alone. He had sent his bodyguards out early in the morning to check several residences for signs of intrusion.
——This was the message sent by Aoyagi Akimitsu before he came here in the morning, saying that the person behind this incident hated the US military and might be unfavorable to him.
Mark Spencer looked over and over the contents of the small box, but in the end he couldn't figure out what was special about it, so he put it on the coffee table in front of him, picked up his tea and took a sip.
The half-cold tea slid down his throat, he put down the teacup and looked towards the place where Aoyagi Binkou had sat before.
On the sofa opposite, the album containing the experimental photos was closed and placed next to the armrest; the chessboard on the table was folded, and the lid of one of the chess boxes was not closed, revealing the black underneath.
"..."
Mark Spencer looked at the black color in a trance.
Speaking of Go and experiments, seven years ago, when Hunter returned to the battlefield and barged into the office to ask for an explanation, he and Goldwasser were playing Go...
……
The temporary command post on the battlefield was far less spacious and luxurious than his original office.
Mark Spencer watched Hunter being dragged away by the patrol soldiers. He did not turn around and continue communicating with the person on the other side until he could no longer hear any sound.
"I'm sorry, it's a rare opportunity for you to come here, but I let you see such an embarrassing scene. I will punish him later."
The man sitting opposite him was dressed in a suit, which was out of place in the entire base. As a mixed-race Asian, his facial features were soft and he spoke in a gentle and polite manner. At first glance, he seemed like an ordinary middle-aged man who was innocent and harmless.
A harmless, ordinary middle-aged man, Goldwasser, who was visiting a nearby country for worship, said nonchalantly, "You don't have to be too harsh. It's normal to be angry about something like this and want to seek an explanation."
Mark Spencer snorted, he looked at the chessboard, and his originally relaxed brows gradually tightened.
The chess pieces on the board in front of him were mainly distributed in one corner. It was obvious that the game had just begun. However, after just a few moves, he already felt that he was going to lose.
He took a deep breath in his heart, and while making his move, he asked, "Did you bring your son with you this time?"
The second after Goldwasser made his move, he picked up a chess piece and placed it somewhere, accompanied by the crisp sound of the piece dropping, and sighed: "One is looking for a job, and the other is working. Neither of them has time."
"Forget about Artemis. It is indeed very important to find your first job after graduation. Anatoly would rather stay in the laboratory than go out with me on Sundays... I should have known not to let him study pharmacy."
He looked genuinely disappointed.
Mark Spencer tried hard to pick a question that would not offend anyone, and soon thought of a rumor in Japan: "Rum seems to be looking for them?"
"It seems so." Goldwasser sighed again, "Alas, it's not good to be an old bachelor. You raise someone else's son and you have to worry about other people's sons every day. Jealousy is terrible."
"..."
Many people in the organization believe that Goldwasser is like a poisonous snake. This not only means that he acts viciously, but more because he likes to poke the other party where it hurts when he opens his mouth.
Sometimes even his own sons are not spared.
Mark Spencer, who is also unmarried, felt his knees ache. He picked up another chess piece and continued the topic of Rum: "He has carried out a lot of actions in Japan in recent years, and sometimes he went too far, which seems to have attracted the attention of Japanese officials."
Goldwasser corrected: "It has nothing to do with him. There was an undercover agent from the Japanese Public Security Bureau in our organization before. He was quite capable. I even brought him to the United States specially."
I was able to get a “not bad” from the person in front of me, but it was a pity that he was an undercover agent. Mark Spencer asked: “What happened to that person?”
"It seems like Artemis has fed me to the wolves." Goldwasser said after thinking for a moment.
Mark Spencer's brow twitched.
He looked at Goldwasser's face carefully. There was no emotion in his green eyes. He seemed to have no problem with dealing with the undercover agent and his son doing such a thing.
"you……"
The commander began to speak, then suddenly paused and changed the subject: "Artemis is cruel and doesn't bother to hide it. When he goes undercover in the future, he might be exposed for this."
"No," Goldwasser said, "the child is actually very..."
He also paused, as if thinking of a suitable metaphor: "Similar to a researcher... You should have seen the researchers in the laboratory, right? I remember that Mamm is over there now."
"At work, they experiment on animals, but outside of work, they don't intentionally abuse animals. Some people even keep pets and love them. Artemis is like that."
Mark Spencer frowned, and it took him a moment to understand what Goldwasser meant.
Artemis is cruel when organizing missions because that is his job, but outside of work, he can get along with people normally and his attitude can be described as friendly.
And this friendliness is not fake, he is willing to be friendly to others from the bottom of his heart. Sincerity is always the best cover.
"He'd make a good undercover," Goldwasser said.
“…But humans and animals are different, right?”
Once they get used to taking human lives at will, they will despise the lives of people they have no grudges against, or even those who have done them a favor. This kind of contempt cannot be concealed at all. Animals cannot feel it, but people can catch it, especially when he is going to an intelligence agency.
"I'm just metaphorical."
Goldwasser looked helpless and said, "Why are you so serious?" He added, "Besides, what's the difference between humans and animals? Aren't all the people in the labs now humans? What's the difference between them and animals?"
The room fell into complete silence at that moment, with only the sound of chess pieces falling still being heard from time to time.
I don't know how much time passed, maybe a few minutes, maybe half an hour, Mark Spencer dropped the chess piece in his hand.
"I lost."
Goldwasser looked at the small pile of white chess pieces he had eaten and smiled sincerely - at least more sincerely than when he sighed that his son refused to accompany him.
Mark Spencer was not surprised by this outcome. He had this premonition at the beginning. He packed up the chess pieces and did not mention Artemis again.
He turned the topic back to Rum: "What are you going to do with Rum?"
Rum has been active in Japan in recent years, but they all know that his real target is in North America, and he has never been reconciled to being driven away.
"He's the second in command. What can I do? Send my men to Japan to beat him up, or dig out his artificial eyes and feed them to the bears?" Goldwasser looked at him.
"You can go one step further," Mark Spencer said. "You can push him out completely."
Goldwasser laughed: "Would you like to help me? We are friends."
Mark Spencer simply shook his head: "No, Goldwasser, the only person I can be loyal to and help is that gentleman - you know, I rely on him to get to where I am today."
"Really?" Goldwasser said helplessly, "What a pity."
……
After attending the afternoon press conference, Mark Spencer had to take the evening flight back to Washington.
There was a 14-hour time difference between the two places, and it took him 12 hours to fly directly, so when he arrived at Dulles Airport, the sky outside was also pitch black.
His bodyguard sat next to him, and the driver was a strange soldier sent from a military base. He occasionally looked at him in the rearview mirror along the way and seemed very curious about what was happening in Japan.
Mark Spencer leaned back in the back seat and pressed his fingers to his temple.
The bodyguard beside him whispered, "Mr. Spencer, are you feeling unwell?"
The former commander shook his head and said nothing more.
His bodyguard knew a little about the organization, but there were many things he couldn't tell him.
For example, when he was resting on the plane just now, he actually dreamed about what happened seven years ago.