Chapter No. 9 - The Steel Ark Can't Sing

five minutes ago.

--This is the place, right?

Ito Xuanhong gasped and stopped at the deepest part of the cabin. In front of him was a locked stainless steel door, thick and strong.

He inserted the key, and after turning it clockwise for two weeks, the door made a click.

--At last ......

the mystery was close at hand, and the more Ito Xuanhong thought of this, the more he dared not pull the door open.

『Hoo ......』

Ito Xuanhong took a deep breath and confirmed the time one last time: half an hour before arrival.

Then, he tried to turn the handle, the door opened, this heavy door was pulled outward at the same time, emitting a sharp metal scraping sound, visible has been some years.

As the door opened a little, the light inside the house slowly through, whether there is a time bomb inside, and in addition to the time bomb what else, is about to be clear.

But the ear-piercing metallic scraping sound did not excite Ito Xuanhong at all.

--It was as if he was warning me not to open it.

In the midst of these scraping sounds, it seemed that Ito Xuanhong heard a 'tick--'.

Immediately after that, there was a strong light, blasting sound, and heat wave sweeping in.

At the end of the cruise ship, there was a deck that was off the beaten path, because access to it required a key, and ordinary passengers could not come here.

On this deck, there are two people standing at the moment, one is Atlas Brown Bear, and the other is a man carrying a longbow.

Atlas brown bear hands clasped in front of his chest, his body pole is straight, another image of a pillar, and also a special pillar of inverted cone shape.

And the man carrying the longbow was looking at the quartz watch in his hand, as if waiting for something.

Then a slight vibration occurred in the huge cruise ship, not the sway of hitting the sea stream, but a vibration originating from inside the ship, more akin to an explosion.

It was indeed an explosion.

Though slight, fleeting and imperceptible.

The Atlas Brown Bear knew what the man was waiting for, so after the explosion passed, it was conscious enough to report some information.

'Just now, the boy fled to that room after fighting with me.'

Not long ago, when he fought with Ito Xuanhong, he really did not see Ito Xuanhong's true identity, however, after being escaped by Ito Xuanhong, he thought back on what happened and understood roughly.

『At this point in time ......』

The man with the longbow on his back glanced at his watch again.

『That--』

The word sounded more like a sigh with the long trailing tone.

"His luck was far from enough, at a time like this. In other words, he only guessed two of the three riddles, which is a pity - although it was my fault for lying to him about two of the three riddles in the first place.

The man with the longbow walked to the edge of the deck, where a lifeboat was hanging.

"In any case, the fact is that we can't change it, so let's consider it a favor to the lady.

"I'll go first, Atlas."

The man with the longbow deftly climbed over the fence and jumped into the lifeboat.

"Yes, please take care, Mr. Kagurashi."

"I won't be returning to Kyoto anytime soon, so send my regards to Miss Ariane."

"Understood, Kagurashi-san."

The Atlas brown bear bowed to him and then helped him lower the cable that held the lifeboat.

The lifeboat descended a little and finally floated to the surface, and the man called Kagurashi-san started the engine and accelerated away to the dock with the humming of the motor.

On the cruise ship, the passengers were all packed up and waiting in the staterooms for the ship to arrive in port. Some passengers who couldn't wait, even dragged their suitcases up to the deck to witness the moment of arrival in port.

But not everyone was in such a happy mood.

"Have you seen Ziongzong?"

It was almost time to get off the ship, but Ziongzong was still late, and Uesugi Yui was getting anxious.

She thought she would meet Ziongzong when she went back to her room to pack her bags, but in reality, it was the opposite of what she had expected.

"Asahi, didn't Ziongzong say where he was going?

"No. ...... just said he was going to the bathroom."

Katagiri Mai replied in a small voice, blaming herself a bit, thinking that if she had waited for Ziongzong to come back together, it wouldn't have turned out like this.

--It was because he asked that inexplicable question at that time.

--There is one thing I want to ask you, please don't hit me if I offend you.

--『Morphee ...... you like me?

--『Well, it's fine if you don't.'

--『I feel weird about you, so I'm joking, don't mind.

Now that I think about it, these conversations are incredibly suspicious, and Katagiri Mai took it as a bad joke from Ziongzong at the time.

"I'll go out and look again.

But what could be done with regret.

"Well, I'll trouble you."

All he could do now was to act, and Katagiri Mai quickly walked out of the room.

So Uesugi Yui was left alone in the room.

She knew she had been careless, and had made such a mistake when she was about to retire.

Uesugi Yui sat down at the end of the bed with a heavy expression. She had actually noticed Ziongzong's strange behavior, but had not taken it seriously, thinking it was the effect of her first overseas training.

Not even a decent conversation - she didn't know if she trusted this brother too much or was too contemptuous.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door and entered, it was Eiji Hayamizu.

『Still haven't found it.'

Uesugi Yui shook his head helplessly.

"Did you call the cell phone?"

"I did, but I couldn't get through."

"Have you contacted the crew?"

"Yes, they're also helping to look for it."

"Well, actually ......"

Eiji Hayamizu was hesitant to say what he had just heard.

"What's wrong?"

"Actually, I just heard the crew say that one of the lifeboats is missing, so I don't think something happened, right?

"It's not possible."

Uesugi Yui laughed, as if she thought it was a funny joke.

"How is it possible, Speedy, that Ziongzong is the kind of idiot who needs to send out a lifeboat?

"『Although this guy is always wobbly and looks unreliable, he is always reliable when it counts ...... So that's why he must just be hiding somewhere on the boat, trying to gloat and watch us in a hurry, that's for sure.

Eiji Hayamizu watched helplessly as Uesugi Yui talked to herself. He wanted to say that Ziongzong was not the kind of boy who teased others for fun, but when he saw Uesugi Yui in such a dejected state, he could not bear to dismiss her again.

"Let's help him collect his luggage first, he'll be able to catch up.

"......"

After collecting the luggage, all that was left was to wait.

The time passed by minute by minute, without realizing it, has gone most of the time.

In the film and television literature, the last second is always the time of the hero's appearance, but the reality is not so.

In the last second, only the low sound of the ship, as well as to inform the crew off the ship.

Later, the cruise ship arrived in port, they had no choice but to disembark first, waiting for Ziongzong to appear at customs.

However, until all the passengers got off the ship, they did not see Ziongzong.

Everyone was silent, the training had not yet begun, and then there was a member missing, which was ......

unacceptable.

One by one, the passengers went through customs, and the number of people went from lively to bustling, and finally there was no one left but their Kyudo group.

"We can't wait like this, let's start with ......'

Mayumi Araki came forward, she was responsible for the loss of the students, but the most important thing now was to calm them down first.

『Hey--』

In the distance, someone seemed to be shouting.

"Hey - this - side -"

Indeed, there was someone shouting in the distance, and everyone looked at the source of the voice in unison.

"Hello... slow... ah..."

Ziongzong was standing at the customs exit, smiling and waving at the group.

According to the itinerary, Kyudo will have lunch in Shanghai and then take the train to Xiamen.

Everyone was sitting around a table and eating a good lunch, except for one person - Ziongzong, who was expelled due to his bad behavior that made everyone worry for nothing, and had to eat miserably with a bowl of noodles next to him.

"I'm sorry to hear that.

During the meal, Ito Tomono tried to plead for Ziongzong.

"What, do you want to eat noodles too?

The result was a threatening refusal from Uesugi Yui.

It seems that there is no room for negotiation, Uesugi Yui is really angry.

Ziongzong just laughs aside, not feeling how bitter his treatment is.

He is thankful to have survived until now.

Although Ziongzong is indeed in the mindset of defusing the time bomb to save the entire cruise ship to act, but in the end the nature of things are not a small difference from what he had expected.

This "not a small difference" nearly killed Ziongzong.

He felt that, in the final analysis, it was his own mistake.

The time bomb placed by the man with the bow on his back was not very powerful, not to mention sinking the cruise ship, even the stainless steel door could not hurt a bit.

But it is more than enough to kill.

Just like the potassium cyanate drink, the ghostly riddles handed to Ziongzong by the man with the back bow were all related to Ziongzong's life, except that the former riddle was a well-intentioned help, while the second riddle was a nasty inducement to Ziongzong's death.

That time bomb was set up to lure Ziongzong to defuse and to blow up Ziongzong to death.

So even if it was misunderstood, Ziongzong wasn't going to tell the truth, not only would it not help, but it would only add to the mess.

Who would believe that the classmate next to him was a hero who needed to go alone to defuse the bomb to save the cruise ship?

Ziongzong didn't believe it either.

It was a bargain to let them worry like this and just punish them with a lunch.

After the meal, everyone was lounging in the train station, and Uesugi Yui walked up to Ziongzong unobtrusively while everyone else was talking.

She thought it was time to talk a little, though she hadn't decided on the content.

"Hey, just now, did you have enough to eat?

This careless concern really made Ziongzong grateful, but at the same time, Ziongzong did not forget to lament Uesugi Yui's excellent political talent - candles and whips, no, carrots and sticks used in the right way.

"Well, that's enough."

That was a lie, of course, a bowl of bubble noodles was just a pastime for Ziongzong's stomach, but it was also the truth, because Ziongzong had no time for appetite, and there was something else that was stirring inside him that had not yet been resolved.

『Nah, sister Wei, we still have one hour and seventeen minutes before the departure ......』

Upon hearing Ziongzong's words, Uesugi Yui's face immediately changed.

"What are you trying to do again."

"Well ...... go out, go around?"

Ziongzong, of course, will not say the actual purpose, in the face of Uesugi Yui's vigor, the originally thought of declarative excuses, unknowingly became a question at the end.

"How long will it take."

To Ziongzong's surprise, Uesugi Yui did not immediately reject his application.

"One hour."

"I can only give you fifty minutes."

"Okay, fifty minutes then."

"The clock starts now."

"Well, then I'll be back soon."

Ziongzong turned around and left as time was running out.

"Wait, where's your phone?"

But Uesugi Yui pulled him back.

"Cell phone?"

Ziongzong reached into his pants pocket out of habit, but found it empty.

"Uh ...... seems to have dropped it?

I don't know when it disappeared.

"Oh, forget it, you must be punctual."

"I'll be back in 50 minutes, trust me, when did I ever say I wouldn't keep my word?"

"Don't do that, it's not cool to say that in a movie."

Uesugi Yui is right, not everything can be done in the past and continue to be done in the future.

"Here, this is my cell phone.

She took out her phone and handed it to Ziongzong.

『This is not good ......』

『Take it!

Since it was decided, Uesugi Yui wouldn't go back on her decision, so she shoved the phone into Ziongzong's hand without saying a word.

"If you break it or lose it, I'll hate you for the rest of my life.

--That's right ...... you are the one who learns the lines in the movie.

In this way, this borrowed phone became the reason why Ziongzong had to return safely.

It's a pity that this is only a one-sided wish of Uesugi Yui.

Ziongzong returned to the vicinity of the pier.

He certainly did not come back to see the sea view, after carefully avoiding the eyes of others, he entered a warehouse with a hidden door.

The warehouse is only the top floor glass windows cast light, the overall very dim.

As it is in the interval between use and non-use, no one is in charge, negligent management, by Ziongzong exploited the opportunity to use for the time being.

Likeable or not, sad or not, in short, this is a very common situation in Ziongzong's homeland.

Ziongzong closed the door of the warehouse without a sound, turned on the chandelier, in one wall of the warehouse, there is a man, limbs are fixed to the container, can not move.

This man, the man with the bow on his back, the bow that he always carried with him, was now placed on the floor.

"How does it feel to be imprisoned?

Ziongzong walked up to him and looked up at him expressionlessly.

The man didn't say anything, just stared at Ziongzong with a stoic gaze.

This was the first time Ziongzong had the opportunity to take a closer look. He looked about thirty-five years old or so, with a very strong body, and even through his do-rags you could faintly see the contoured lines of his muscles. Unlike his style of work, this man's features are very upright, eyebrows, if you put on a suit, even as Minister of Defense is not the least bit inferior.

Such a decent man, but the design Ziongzong failed, but trapped here can not move.

At least in Ziongzong's opinion, it is so.

"I'm not in a hurry, I've freed up a whole week for you, so I can take my time.

Ziongzong expected that the other party would not simply open up, and made an appearance of having plenty of room.

However, of course, this was a lie, and Ziongzong only had half an hour left after the time back to the train station.

"Then, let's get started."

"I purposely didn't seal your mouth, but you don't seem to have any intention to talk?

The man responded to Ziongzong's provocation with silence.

"I was expecting to see an expression of surprise on your face, but I can't help it if your face is so paralyzed.

"But in your heart, you must be surprised, saying, "Ah, why is this little kid not dead, shouldn't he be implicated in the explosion - right?

The man remained silent, as if he was completely deaf to what Ziongzong was saying.

Ziongzong was getting a little impatient.

--I'm already underweight, and I've lost three kilograms because of it, so if I don't get something from you, I'll look like a fool.

"The most annoying thing to me is a sullen and difficult uncle like you.

Ziongzong pulled a chair and sat down facing the man.

"There's a lot of time, but it's not good to waste it like this, so let's speed things up a bit.

"「I should call you uncle out of courtesy.

Ziongzong said as he watched the man's expression change.

"『After all, I have known Ito-san for a while.

He only had this bottom card left, which could only be called a bottom card, not an ace that would definitely take effect.

"「I think you wouldn't be unaware that it's about your daughter, right?

When the words came to this point, the man finally reacted, although it was only a flash of shocked expression, but Ziongzong did not miss it.

This important reaction fully confirmed Ziongzong's suspicions, so he shook out a bigger package.

"『I wonder if it's still satisfactory to call you uncle, Mr. Ito-Kami-Arashi?

Ziongzong finally broke through the other party's psychological defense, the man showed an incredulous expression, the frown between the eyebrows gathered into a 'Chuan' character.

Ziongzong was doubly pleased with this, this bewildering man, his identity, is finally determined.

Ito Kagurashi, the little-known Kyudo master, Ito Tomono's father.

"So, let's get down to business, Mr. Kagurashi."

Ziongzong pushed open the lid of the wooden box beside him and pulled out a gasoline-powered electric chain saw, commonly known as a chainsaw, which he had found "something interesting" after entering the warehouse.

"『Mr. God Arashi, the so-called gentleman playing chess, is only able to count each other's pieces, but not against the player.'

He, step by step, approached.

"『Although you succeeded in misleading me, you also misunderstood one thing ...... Do you think the player will fall to the board, Mr. Kagurashi?

Ziongzong smiled, and turned the chainsaw toward Ito Kagurashi's face.