Infrared Detection
Oh, and there was one more person the FBI looked into while they were at it — a young girl named Sucrose, publicly known as Albedo's research assistant.
Their investigation revealed that she worked in the laboratory under Albedo and had a handful of research achievements to her name, including but not limited to: a potion that increased the nectar production of flowers, a spray that extended the shelf life of fruit, and a whole series of odd little inventions that were, when you actually thought about it, mildly useful.
The FBI clearly attached no importance to this girl, who showed no particular research talent at a glance. They assumed she was simply someone Albedo had picked up to run errands for him, and that her research results were probably things Albedo himself had produced which had simply landed in Sucrose's lap.
All of their attention was fixed on Albedo himself, and they concluded that he must be the one who developed the miraculous Life Potion connected to Kaeya.
As Judy quietly observed Albedo, she caught movement at the edge of her vision — that child, Conan, running up to Albedo's side — and her eyes widened slightly.
Conan had stopped Albedo just as he was about to take Klee and say their goodbyes, putting on his sweetest child's voice. "Albedo-onii-chan, I heard Klee say that Kaeya-onii-chan is leaving. Will we still get to see him? We don't want him to go — we'll all miss Kaeya-onii-chan so much."
The moment the words left his mouth, Conan felt his scalp prickle and his whole body squirm with discomfort.
Watching Conan declare how much he'd miss Kaeya while clearly not meaning a word of it, Albedo had to suppress a smile.
His expression, however, remained mildly impassive. "Of course you'll see him again. Once he's finished with the business at hand, he'll most likely come back to Japan for a visit."
"And what about you, Albedo-onii-chan? When are you leaving Japan? If you go, does that mean Klee has to go with you?" This was the question Conan had actually been driving at — he wanted to know Albedo's movements. "If you two are leaving, could you let us know in advance? We'd like to get together with Klee properly before then."
Judging from what Klee had said before, Kaeya had likely handed the business dealings with the Organization over to Albedo. In other words, once Kaeya left, the person with ties to the Organization would be Albedo.
So if he knew when Albedo was leaving Japan, Conan could infer from the side whether the potion trade between Teyvat and the Organization was still ongoing.
"Sure," Albedo agreed readily. He had guessed a fair bit of Conan's intent, but he didn't mind in the least — Klee would surely be delighted at the prospect of such a gathering, so he granted Conan's request without hesitation.
Hearing Albedo's answer, the children visibly brightened, and their reluctance at the thought of Klee eventually leaving faded a little.
Meanwhile, the appointed time Kir had given Akai Shuichi arrived, and Akai Shuichi drove right on schedule to the designated spot on Raiha Pass.
In a Porsche 356A parked out of range of both Kir's and Akai Shuichi's positions, Gin and Vodka sat in the front seats, watching the feed from the camera on Kir's chest with intense focus — footage of her negotiations with Akai Shuichi.
On the screen, Kir was about to reveal the intelligence she intended to trade to the FBI, and then — at the exact moment the news made Akai Shuichi lower his guard — she would shoot him through the lung.
The instant Gin and Vodka saw the blood trailing from Akai Shuichi's wound, their pupils contracted sharply, expressions tinged with disbelief. The inside of the car fell utterly silent.
But before long, a voice from the back seat shattered the frozen atmosphere.
"That's it? *That's* it?" The speaker sounded equally incredulous, but what came out of his mouth was considerably less charitable. "So Akai Shuichi was this easy to kill all along? Wasn't he supposed to be the Organization's biggest thorn in its side? And the result is... this? He takes a bullet from an enemy and doesn't even try to dodge?"
At that, the Wanderer shook his head, his expression dripping with dissatisfaction. "And here I made a point of coming all this way once I heard Kir was making her move. Tch. I was actually wondering whether I should step in and help if the two of them went at it and Kir got the worst of it. Looks like that was a complete waste of worry."
"How boring. A total waste of time — I got the short end of the stick on this one." With that parting remark, the Wanderer slumped back against the seat in listless boredom.
Vodka shot an aggrieved glance at the Wanderer in the back. The man had been the one to force his way into the car in the first place, and now he was complaining about it? Vodka would never understand why his brother hadn't just thrown him out at the time.
Gin had long since learned to tune out the Wanderer's pointless barbs. Not a trace of his attention shifted from the terminal — he kept watching the live footage, wanting to confirm with his own eyes that Akai Shuichi had truly been shot.
Still, though his eyes never strayed to the back seat, Gin did hear every word the Wanderer said.
And much as he'd found no flaw in the footage, the truth was that the Wanderer had a point: Akai Shuichi had gone down far too easily.
Just to be safe, Gin ordered Kir to fire a second shot — this time into Akai Shuichi's head.
At Gin's instruction, the Wanderer sat up straight again and leaned forward between the seats, peering curiously at the terminal. "Akai Shuichi's probably going to gamble everything on one last play, right? I mean, he's about to die anyway — might as well take one of the Organization's people down with him if he can."
He looked over at Gin. "If Kir ends up in danger even in a situation like this, would you help her, Gin?"
Gin showed not the slightest inclination to answer, and the Wanderer curled his lip and let it drop.
He turned his attention back to the terminal, watching as the footage closed in on Akai Shuichi's body, and couldn't hold his tongue a second time. "Is Kir planning to get up close before she fires? Is her aim really so bad that she can't hit someone's forehead unless the barrel's practically pressed against it? Then how exactly did she manage to hit his lung just now?"
Then the feed showed Kir pressing her gun against Akai Shuichi's forehead — and instead of pulling the trigger, she exchanged a few more words with him.
The Wanderer was beyond exasperated. "Hasn't she ever heard that villains die of talking too much? Kir really isn't afraid Akai Shuichi will lash out with his dying breath, huh... Although, I suppose he didn't, as a matter of fact."
And then — a sharp *crack*. Kir fired, the bullet tearing into Akai Shuichi's head. Gin and Vodka broke into smiles at the sight.
The Wanderer rolled his eyes. Seizing the moment Gin's attention slackened, he snatched the communicator and spoke to Kir on the other end. "Hold on. Open the terminal we gave you earlier — there's an infrared detection function on it. Aim it at Akai Shuichi's corpse. I want to see whether he's actually dead."
Gin moved to take the communicator back from the Wanderer's hand — but at the Wanderer's words, he stopped.
Verifying it with the terminal's infrared detection was, admittedly, the more prudent course.
On the other end of the line, Kir's heart seized the moment she heard the Wanderer's demand. The heat signature of a healthy person and that of someone gravely wounded and near death were inevitably different. If he scanned the body with infrared, the deception would unravel on the spot.
Which meant that Gin would one hundred percent conclude she had betrayed the Organization — and would most likely make sure she never left that mountain alive.
But why?
Kir couldn't fathom why the Wanderer would suddenly make such a demand.
He had known the plan from the very beginning. And besides — regaining the Organization's trust this way while simultaneously securing a line to the FBI — wasn't that exactly what the Syndicate wanted?