Four years later. New York, Fifth Avenue, Manhattan.
Inside the towering skyscraper bearing the logo of the Rhodes Group, a highly trained security team was conducting a rigorous sweep of every floor.
Ten minutes ago, the main entrance alarm had been triggered, signaling that a suspicious individual—not an employee of the group—had slipped inside.
The security personnel had to slow down the surveillance footage several times over just to catch a glimpse of a blurry shadow. Even then, they were unable to determine the intruder's identity or current location. To dare to barge in so brazenly in broad daylight was the height of audacity.
After they reported the news to their boss, David Rhodes, he issued a death order: the intruder must not be allowed to enter the records room.
Consequently, they evacuated all non-essential personnel and locked down the building, attempting to "catch a turtle in a jar." Several bodyguards, hired at great expense by David Rhodes, stood sentry by the records room. All were professionally military-trained, guaranteeing that any suspicious figure entering their line of sight would be shot on sight.
The fully armed guards surrounded the third-floor records room like an impenetrable iron tower. Strangely, however, they had found no trace of the intruder, as if he had vanished into thin air.
Had the intruder retreated after seeing the difficulty?
Regardless, with so many eyes watching, it was impossible for anyone to succeed. The lead guard, a large man, felt quite secure looking at the tightly locked door behind him.
However, inside the records room...
Gojo Satoru stood before a computer, the faint fluorescent glow illuminating his face.
His stature was taller than it had been four years ago, and his features had gradually shed their youthful greenness. Beneath the blindfold was a high nose bridge and hydrated, thin lips. His shoulders had broadened, and the muscular lines of his body were more pronounced—not exaggerated, but exuding a perfect sense of power.
Overall, he looked like a thoroughly reliable adult male.
He casually brushed his fingers over the keyboard, recalling the password Pinga had provided, and typed it in. After successfully accessing the computer and confirming the target files, he copied everything onto a USB drive.
The owner of the Rhodes Group was a profiteer who navigated between major powers and celebrities, performing many sordid deeds to curry favor with big shots. This computer contained scandals involving high-ranking politicians linked to Rhodes; if the Organization secured this information, they could extract immense profit.
However, because he had only entered the password without simultaneous facial recognition, the internal alarm was triggered. A violent roar erupted within the room, and red emergency lights flashed everywhere.
"The intruder is inside?!"
The guards outside were startled and immediately burst through the door.
"Don't move!! You're surrounded!"
Gojo Satoru, however, merely complained.
"You guys sure have a lot of alarms here."
As he spoke, he tossed the USB drive into the air with one hand and caught it steadily the next, playing a game of catch in front of the group of armed men.
"In my opinion, instead of spending money on these gadgets, you should hire a few more competent guards."
The men's faces flushed with rage. The leader roared, "Open fire! The boss said kill on sight!!"
Amidst the hail of bullets, Gojo Satoru didn't even bother to activate his passive technique. He dodged the bullets with elegant movements, and with a backhand motion, he pulled out a Mossberg MC2c pistol purchased from the System Mall. With precise shots, he incapacitated half the men within seconds.
Seeing the situation turn dire, the survivors immediately signaled for reinforcements.
"Don't get cocky! Our reinforcements are coming!!"
The man in black wearing the blindfold let out an "Ah," but his response was a complete non sequitur: "Thinking about it, it would be a real shame to just leave like this."
"Huh?!"
"Do you... want to see a fireworks show?"
"What fireworks? What the hell are you—"
"I'll take your silence as a yes." Gojo Satoru began a slow countdown: "Five, four, three..."
Realizing what his words implied, the guard suddenly ran out like a madman, as if Death itself were chasing him.
"Two..."
Seeing him flee, the others ignored their injuries and followed suit. Then came the final declaration:
"One."
The corners of Gojo Satoru's mouth curled up slightly. With his left hand in his pocket and a wave of his right, a wave of energy surged. The walls of the entire records room began to crack and shatter with a loud crunch, until a gaping hole was revealed.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue (苍)."
In an instant, thick smoke filled the air.
BOOM!!
Explosive flames roared, as brilliant as scattered fireworks, consuming a third of the Rhodes Group building.
Given the crimes David Rhodes had committed, blowing up part of his building was a bargain. As for the man himself... given the political scandals involved, news would likely soon break of him "committing suicide" by shooting himself eight times in the back.
Gojo Satoru pulled out his phone and sent a message.
[Data obtained. How are things on your end? — Kaiser]
A reply came shortly after.
[Just finished. Everything went smoothly. — Curaçao]
Gojo Satoru tucked his phone away and teleported to an escape passage downstairs. He pulled a change of clothes from his backpack to replace his black suit, let his hair down, and put on sunglasses. He stepped out looking like a completely different person.
In the distance, the soaring flames and the arriving police sirens complemented each other perfectly.
"Oh my god, what happened?!"
"Did the Rhodes Group building explode?"
"Good riddance, I've hated those guys for a long time."
"Lord!! Save your people!"
"Move, move, I need a selfie with the scene!"
Gojo Satoru squeezed through the chaotic crowd. No one knew that the perpetrator of the explosion had just brushed past them. Over the past few years, his mission success rate had remained a perfect 100%.
Missions such as disposing of law-breaking Organization traitors, assassinating corrupt entrepreneurs and politicians, or infiltrating illegal strongholds to steal secrets...
Because he was very picky with his selections, he hadn't done a massive number of missions. But the fact that he never failed was enough for the Boss to let go of his previous grudges.
Two years ago, the Boss had suggested he return to Mexico to retake command. In truth, the branch hadn't flourished as much since Caesar left, but with Salerelo and the others there, no major turmoil had occurred. The charities he had left behind were also being managed well by Sake.
Furthermore, to keep fleecing Impression Points from Pinga and Curacao, Gojo Satoru primarily stayed in the United States. Once he had finally mastered the long-distance teleportation technique, he could travel freely between the two locations. During his free time, he had returned to the Mexico branch a few times to suppress restless factions and clean out troublesome elements.
Through his tireless efforts over the four years, he had gathered nearly 10,000 Impression Points from Pinga and Curacao.
10,000 from two people might not seem like much, but the System determined values based on a character's "screentime" or relevance. For characters who originally exited the story after a single movie, this was an excellent haul.
Adding in the points from Vodka, the Boss (who only ever appeared via phone), and Rum (who looked different every time they met throughout the seasons)... his current total was nearly 70,000 points. At this rate, he would likely max out his Black Organization Impression Points by the start of the "Conan Era."
Gojo Satoru gave himself a mental "yay."
At that moment, a group of FBI agents arrived late at the base of the Rhodes Group building. They had also come to investigate the political scandals tied to David Rhodes, only to witness the explosion firsthand.
A man with deep-set eyes and curly black hair took a drag of his cigarette, staring at the half-destroyed Rhodes Group logo.
"What a mess. We're late." Beside him, a blonde woman with delicate features sighed at the scene. "It looks like... we'll have to find some witnesses to see if anyone saw the bomber."
The blonde woman was Jodie Starling, and the black-haired man was Akai Shuichi, who had already joined the FBI.
"The bomber, huh..." he murmured.
An entity like the Rhodes Group was a likely target for "that Organization." Then, he thought of a certain file he had once seen, and certain thoughts came rushing in like a tide.
"What's wrong, Shu?" Jodie raised an eyebrow, asking her boyfriend.
"...Nothing, Jodie."