Chapter 42 – Mundane Renji: I! Ancestor Man!!
"Hey, kid, what did you just say?"
Vodka raised his head in annoyance and looked at Renji. In front of his big brother Gin, this guy actually dared to act so arrogant?
Did he not realize he was being targeted by a sniper?
Looking at the hooded man whose face couldn't be seen clearly, Vodka curled his lip. Just a coward hiding his head and showing his tail!
"Cash for goods, goods for cash. Street rules. Got a problem with that?"
Renji raised his head and looked at Vodka. Beneath the darkness of the hood, his exposed eyes caused Vodka's heart to jolt violently, a chill instantly sweeping through his body.
He felt like the very next second, this guy might just kill him on the spot.
"Big brother!"
Vodka hurriedly turned to look at Gin. Only when he saw his big brother staying as calm as ever did he finally let out a breath of relief. As expected, his big bro was steady.
At the same time, he subconsciously took a step back.
"Alright, we brought what you wanted. The Barrett. Where's our money?"
Gin waved his hand, then gestured for Vodka to pass over the case.
Seeing this, Vodka handed the case to Gin, who opened it, revealing the Barrett sniper rifle Renji had requested.
It was their first deal — it would've been ridiculous to ask for missiles right away. Besides, even Renji wasn't sure if the Black Organization could get something like that.
But now that he thought about it, maybe the Resident Evil world Renji could start working on that.
As that thought passed, Renji placed the prepared money in front of the two.
Previously, the One Piece world Renji had given him 100 kilograms of gold, which he'd exchanged for around five million U.S. dollars. A Barrett wasn't too expensive, so he planned to save most of the money — he'd need it later for buying missiles.
Honestly, the sniper rifle itself was cheap. The real money sink was the ammunition.
"Vodka."
"Yes, big brother!"
Vodka set the case down and then took the money from Renji.
"It's real, big bro."
"Let's go."
Gin nodded and turned to leave.
Although the Black Organization liked tying up loose ends, they didn't kill just anyone. After all, they were only dealing in firearms — it wasn't like this guy was privy to any core secrets. There was no need to kill him. Who knew? They might even do business again in the future.
"Wait. Can you guys get missiles?"
"?"
Gin's expression twitched slightly, and Vodka turned to Renji with a look of pure disbelief.
Bro, seriously!?
You asked for a Barrett the first time. Now you're asking for a missile? What are you gonna ask for next?
They'd originally only planned to offer pistols or low-powered submachine guns to test the waters with Renji.
It was their first deal, after all. They didn't know what kind of person this guy was. If he turned out to be a cop setting them up, trading serious weapons would've been a huge risk.
Luckily, the first trade went smoothly. The guy really did seem to just want a Barrett. But now, immediately asking for missiles? Isn't that a bit greedy?
"What kind of missile?"
Gin actually looked interested.
"Knew it."
This was the Conan world — you really couldn't view it with normal logic. The Black Organization was a group that spanned the globe. Maybe, just maybe, getting a missile wasn't out of reach for them.
Renji had just thrown the question out there as a probe, but now that he saw it might be possible, he wasn't about to be polite.
Back in the One Piece world, he'd said it himself — he needed long-range firepower. It couldn't just be Im who had it. He wanted Im to know that he, too, had the ability to launch a missile and blow up the Holy Land at will!
"Something with long-range strike capability. Big firepower."
"What?! Are you insane?!"
Vodka honestly thought Renji was out of his mind.
What did he need a missile for!?
"If you've got the money, we can get it for you. But at the very least, show us some sincerity, right?"
Missiles weren't easy to get, and the bigger issue was what Renji planned to do with it.
Compared to Vodka, Gin didn't think Renji was crazy.
If this guy was here to trade such stuff, he must have a purpose. Even if Gin didn't know what that purpose was, it was clear Renji wasn't just messing around.
But there was no way they'd just hand over a missile that easily. Who knew if he'd end up turning it on them later?
They'd need more deals first. Besides, they still didn't know who this guy really was — Gin wasn't about to trust him just yet.
"Fine. Let's stay in touch for future deals. Here's my card. If you run into any tough situations, come find me. But you'll have to pay. Whether I help or not — payment is mandatory. Not one cent less!"
With that, Renji tossed the card to Vodka, grabbed the Barrett, and left.
As Renji's figure disappeared down a narrow alley, Vodka muttered in dissatisfaction, "Big bro, that guy's way too arrogant. Why didn't we just have Chianti take the shot and end that bastard right there?"
Vodka had never seen someone so full of themselves.
And to top it off, he dared to act all high-and-mighty right to their faces. What did he mean, 'whether I help or not, you still gotta pay'?
Besides…
They had Colonel Gin! What the hell did they need him for!?
"Heh. Give me that guy's card."
Gin grinned, clearly intrigued.
The guy looked like he wanted to work with them.
And he also seemed to know a thing or two about their organization. Gin wasn't sure what his endgame was, but he didn't mind working with him for a while.
The Black Organization might seem big, but Gin knew well — there were plenty of undercover agents among them. If Renji could handle a few jobs for him, he wouldn't have to risk exposing things to other factions.
"Big bro, you're not seriously planning to work with that guy, are you? We can handle things ourselves! And besides, that guy might be with another organization. We've been under heavy surveillance lately!"
Vodka spoke with concern.
"Don't worry. We'll know once we test him. Besides, there are things that people in the organization can't do — we really are being watched right now."
Though Gin didn't particularly care — in his eyes, if someone was watching them, he'd just kill them — missions often ran into unexpected problems. If someone outside the organization could be used for certain tasks, and if all it cost was money, that seemed like a pretty good deal to him.
After all, the other party also wanted to buy arms from them. Give and take — they wouldn't be losing much.
Thinking this, he picked up the card and dialed the number on it. "Hello. It's me."
Once the call connected, Gin got straight to the point.
"What is it?"
"I have a job for you. Retrieve something for me. One million dollars."
"What is it?"
"A gemstone called the Tear of the Queen."
"No."
"?"
What?
Didn't you just say to contact you if I needed something?
And now I do, and you're already saying no?
Can you do it or not?
"Stealing a jewel would tarnish my reputation. I want more money."
Are you kidding me?
On the other end of the line, Renji was speechless. He'd thought Gin wanted him to kill or rob someone, and it turned out he wanted him to be a thief? He still had a reputation to uphold, okay? Carrying around the label of 'jewel thief' wasn't his style.
If Gin wanted him to stoop that low, then he'd better pay up.
Unlike the One Piece world Renji who just handed him gold directly, Renji found it much more satisfying to earn money himself.
Gin was silent for a moment, then said, "Two million."
"Deal."
After hanging up, Gin curled his lips into a grin, suddenly finding the situation quite amusing.
"Big bro, why steal a useless gem like that?"
Did they even need it? Vodka asked in confusion.
"The Pandora Gem might have changed names by now. We can't ignore any gemstone. Plus, it's a good chance to test his skills. That gem is currently being targeted by Kaitō Kid, the Cat's Eye sisters, and Lupin III. If he's capable, he'll be able to get it. That would make future cooperation easier. If he can't even handle those three thieves, then he's not worth our time."
Gin explained calmly. To him, this was just a smokescreen.
The Pandora Gem wasn't just something their organization was after — many others were looking for it too.
The so-called 'Stone of Destiny' that could grant eternal life.
As one of the boss's most trusted men, Gin naturally knew that their boss had always been chasing after immortality. The whole point of researching APTX 4869 was immortality, wasn't it?
"You're amazing, Big bro! As expected of you!"
After hearing Gin's explanation, Vodka's eyes lit up. He blamed himself for not thinking of it sooner.
If Renji failed, they wouldn't need to give him the two million, and they could cut off ties with someone who had no real skills.
But if he succeeded, then the two million would be money well spent on making a useful friend.
"Let's go, Chianti, Korn."
Gin spoke into his earpiece and then got into the vintage car, leaving the area.
Before arriving here, he had already arranged for Chianti and Korn to stay in position. If anything had gone wrong, they would have sniped Renji on the spot.
At the bar—
"You're back?"
"Yeah."
Gin nodded and sat down next to Vermouth, ordering a drink from the bartender.
"So, what do you think of that guy?"
"Not bad. Someone we can work with. But we'll have to test his abilities first."
"He's got skills, that's for sure. I mean, he managed to find us with that method."
It really was unheard of. They thought they were pretty well-hidden, but the way he'd tracked them down had even piqued Gin's interest.
"So, are we not bringing him into the organization? Seems like a tech expert."
"We'll see."
Gin shook his head and didn't say more.
"Tch, boring. I'm leaving."
With that, Vermouth stood up, clearly uninterested. She hadn't come back this time just to see Gin.
[Mundane Renji]: "So? How is it? How does it feel?"
After getting the Barrett, he passed it along to the One Piece world Renji.
[One Piece Renji]: "Nice. It's way stronger than the guns in this world. And it can also carry Haki. If that's the case, we can probably bring over other pistols and rifles too. But it feels like they'd be easy to replicate."
Even without Vegapunk, once the World Government figured them out, they'd probably be able to reproduce them.
[Naruto Renji]: "So what are you gonna do?"
[One Piece Renji]: "Keep them hidden. Good weapons like this aren't for regular pirates."
Too easy for someone to steal. So he'd decided — these were only for officer-level subordinates. At least for now, he wouldn't give the World Government any chance to reverse-engineer them.
[Mundane Renji]: "Actually, we've got missiles too, but I haven't had the chance to get them yet. Those guys are still on guard. Speaking of which, couldn't I just go steal one?"
As he said that, he suddenly realized something...
He realized he didn't need to make trades at all.
With his current physique, all he needed was to train up his Hachiman Tonko.
On the first day, he observed whether there were any other superpowered individuals in this world — for the sake of world peace!
On the second day, after confirming that no one could kill him, he directly became the Homeland Man.
On the third day — I don't eat beef!
[Resident Evil Renji]: "Totally doable, but your side probably won't be able to enjoy a peaceful daily life anymore. Over here, once the world descends into chaos, I'll see if I can get you guys something!"
The daily life world was still relatively peaceful. But once the Resident Evil outbreak fully exploded on his end, and all kinds of things started showing up, it'd be pure chaos. By then, grabbing a little boy would be the least of his concerns.
[Mundane Renji]: "That makes sense too. I guess I can just earn some money and buy it."
[One Piece Renji]: "No problem, I'll grab you some gold from the City of Gold."
Want money? Easy.
There's tons of gold in the City of Gold. Just head to Skypiea and casually take some.
[Mundane Renji]: "You don't get it. I just like the sense of accomplishment that comes from earning it myself. Mostly, there's nothing else to do here. It's just… too peaceful!"
[Mundane Renji]: "But I also noticed some things here that seem unusual. Let me check things out first before saying more!"
At first, he thought he was doomed — because he was in Beika.
But now, he felt like he'd struck gold — because he was in Beika.
So he planned to find something fun to do.
After quitting his job at the convenience store, he clearly couldn't go back to part-time work in his current state.
So he decided to open a Yorozuya — an all-purpose odd jobs office — to help people solve all kinds of problems. Making money was one part of it, but more than that, it was about entertaining himself.
As for school, he'd already prepared to take a long-term leave of absence.
Because he discovered that this world might contain more than just the logic-defying Conan-verse — there were other things worth investigating.
"Mituko, you've been looking really pale lately."
"Re-really, Kawakami?"
Mituko looked up with a forced smile at Kawakami.
Lately, she felt like her life had gone through a complete upheaval.
But this change wasn't something she wanted. In fact, because of it, her life had become a complete mess.
Mituko looked around in confusion — everything around her felt unreal.
'Dear gods… if it's possible… please save me.'
She whispered silently in her heart.
"Of course you have, Mituko. Just look at those dark circles under your eyes!"
D-dark circles?
In the mirror Kawakami held, she saw her own weary face. She really had been exhausted lately...
Also, should we set up a bonus update rule? Let me know, big guys!
(End of Chapter)
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