If Fushimi Roku wasn't mistaken, they were using their phones to suggest things to each other.

The problem was that he and Minamoto Tamako lost consciousness in the basement, and there was a girl with the surname Nishino present... So why did he wake up in his own home, beside a corpse, with a phone in his hand?

Where did Uesugi Shion and Taira Sakurako go?

What happened in between?

The phone showed that twelve hours had passed since he lost consciousness, which meant a whole day had gone by.

Fushimi Roku wasn't the least bit sleepy. He bent over to inspect the body: the fatal wound was on the neck, the cut was smooth, and it was a single decisive blow — it felt like his own handiwork.

What happened in between could be investigated later. The most important thing now was dealing with the body.

Fushimi Roku acted decisively, casually hanging up the phone. He returned to his room to get some tape, wrapping it several times around Miyazaki Shizuka's neck, and then around her mouth and nose to prevent the body from bleeding out further.

Then he pulled out a suitcase, folded the body to fit inside it, washed the floor with a mop, wiped the blood off the walls, removed small blood spots from the sofa, sprayed air freshener around the area, all to quickly handle the crime scene.

After finishing, he took a shower, dragged the suitcase downstairs, and boldly boarded the train.

The body was still warm, without any stench, and the suitcase was well sealed, preventing others from smelling the blood.

Fushimi Roku rode all the way to Secret Realm Station, a remote place with few people, found a secluded thicket, and buried the suitcase there.

This was only the first phase of wrapping things up; there was a second phase to follow.

Fushimi Roku took the train back to the city, sneaked into Miyazaki Shizuka's home, forged a resignation letter in her handwriting, claiming she was feeling unwell and wanted to travel to relax.

He slipped the resignation letter into the apartment's mailbox. It would be sent to Arima Toshio's clinic soon.

After writing the letter, Fushimi Roku went to a nearby convenience store, bought some chemical detergents and drain cleaner, mixed them at home and sprayed them on places stained with blood to hinder any luminol reactions.

Finally, Fushimi Roku used evidence forgery techniques to alter train ticket records to create an alibi — the altered timestamps matched the train's departure time and train number, and he wouldn't make such a small mistake.

After completing these tasks, Fushimi Roku ordered a live fish and a live chicken, killing them in the kitchen, making the whole house reek.

He did this as a precaution, thinking that Minamoto Tamako's keen sense of smell might detect something, so he needed to cover it with similar odors.

He was finally done.

Fushimi Roku exhaled a long breath, planning to deal with Minamoto Tamako first, and wait for the heat to pass before heading back to the suburbs to thoroughly dispose of the body.

Just burying a body in the soil could easily be dug up by animals — like foxes or stray dogs — that can smell things even three to four meters underground.

Also, it could be washed away by rain, discovered by passersby, or unearthed by construction workers... Many accidents could occur, and it's best to dissolve the body completely to leave no trouble behind.

Fushimi Roku took out his phone, not dialing, instead mentally organizing his words, adjusting his mindset to avoid showing any cracks before Minamoto Tamako.

Ring ring—

The ringing suddenly came, not from the mobile, but from the landline phone.

Fushimi Roku glanced over — it was an unfamiliar number. He casually picked up the phone, and from the earpiece came a familiar voice: "Good evening, Mr. Onigiri."

Fushimi Roku had forgotten about the foolish nickname he had picked for himself until it reminded him of the alias he had used when gambling his life with Uesugi Shion — at the time, Uesugi Shion was called Fox Princess, and he was called Onigiri.

He recognized the voice; it was indeed Uesugi Shion herself. This person hadn't spoken for a long time.

At the time, he suspected Uesugi Shion was pretending to be mad, and it seemed now that he was right: this person was truly shameless, on par with the Tokugawa Family, akin to a ninja turtle that would even call someone 'dad'.

"What do you want?" Fushimi Roku had a bad premonition, but he didn't show weakness, sarcastically asking, "Not calling me dad now?"

Uesugi Shion ignored him, speaking to herself: "Touch the back of your neck."

"I won't."

Despite what he said, Fushimi Roku honestly put his hand on the back of his neck, rubbed back and forth for a moment, and discovered a small bump, resembling a hard lump beneath the skin.

"Whatever," Uesugi Shion said, "You now have a micro remote-controlled bomb in your neck, powerful enough to blow your head off."

She paused to ensure Fushimi Roku hadn't hung up, and continued, "Also, in the living room's TV indicator light, there's a hidden micro camera. Originally installed by someone else, but now commandeered by me… your entire process of disposing of the corpse is all recorded, ironclad evidence."

Fushimi Roku, out of habit, reminded her: "It's useless; this is illegal recording and cannot be presented as evidence in court."

He picked up a water-based pen from the table, holding the handset with his shoulder. He went to the living room TV, bent down, broke the indicator light glass, and stuck the pen tip inside.

"You know it's useless," Uesugi Shion said, "The recordings have been backed up already; ruining the surveillance camera now is meaningless."

Fushimi Roku's mind spun briefly as he grasped the situation.

Uesugi Shion had been feigning madness, lurking in his home, waiting for a suitable opportunity. Normally, he was quite vigilant, sleeping lightly, making his own food or buying bento boxes, never accepting anything from Uesugi Shion... until he was hypnotized by Miyazaki Shizuka, along with Minamoto Tamako, both falling unconscious.

Uesugi Shion seized on this golden opportunity to deal with Miyazaki Shizuka, set up the scene, and had the phone call between him and Minamoto Tamako remain active under hypnosis until they awakened.

But how did Uesugi Shion know they were hypnotized in the basement?

Fushimi Roku, holding the handset between shoulder and cheek, stalled for time with useless words like 'what do you want' while checking his phone, disassembling it into pieces without finding any bugs or trackers. He then checked the landline's call log, discovering something peculiar.

Eleven hours ago, the home landline dialed Minamoto Tamako's flip phone, presumably Taira Sakurako called Minamoto Tamako, inadvertently exposing the hypnosis situation.

Tsk, this is troublesome.

Uesugi Shion's tone couldn't conceal her excitement; despite her attempts to sound calm, her voice couldn't help but tremble slightly:

"I want to bet with you once more."

Fushimi Roku walked into the kitchen, took out a fruit knife, went to the bathroom with the handset and casually asked: "Bet again? Haven't you already lost?"

"Exactly because I lost, I have to win it back!"

After saying this, Uesugi Shion reminded him: "You better not try to forcibly remove the bomb, or I'll immediately press the detonator..."

"Then go ahead," Fushimi Roku interrupted.

He put the handset on the sink, slightly turned, used the fruit knife to slice open his skin, and dug out the 'iron pellet' inside — the thing didn't explode, although it was still ticking, and the indicator was blinking red.

Fushimi Roku picked up the handset, went back to his room to find the first aid kit, and wrapped the wound with gauze.

"Are you so sure I won't press the detonator?" Uesugi Shion's voice carried suppressed anger.

"That's right."

Fushimi Roku understood, Uesugi Shion pretended to be mad and fooled everyone, putting up with so much just to win another round and make a comeback, allowing herself to raise her head with pride.

If he died now, it would be worse for Uesugi Shion, akin to a game boss being beat down the entire match, having stacked two thousand levels of Q, ready to emerge, and then the opponent suddenly surrendered.

Now that he regained a little initiative, he inquired back: "So, tell me, how do you plan to bet?"

"If you win, I'll destroy the videotape and release Taira Sakurako back; if I win, you all die." Uesugi Shion's voice was cold, laced with a hint of bloodlust.

Fushimi Roku didn't say it was unfair; he knew it was pointless and directly pursued: "How's the bet going?"

"I planted TNT bombs in crowded places throughout Tokyo, whether you find them yourself or use official power, as long as you find all the bombs, you win..."

"If you lose, don't feel too bad, at least a few hundred people will accompany you in burial."

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