The officer took out a cigarette box and offered me one. I instinctively reached for it, but in that instant, I remembered that someone living a risky life like mine couldn't accept others' cigarettes under any circumstances.
Because, if drugs were placed in the cigarette, taking a puff would be enough to make one pass out.
So, I put the cigarette back into the box, saying, "Is this British tobacco? I prefer American." Conveniently, I had American cigarettes on me, which is why I said so.
The officer kindly smiled and took one himself. After I retrieved my cigarette, he produced a lighter. As he lit it and approached, I took a few deep drags. In that moment, I felt the officer's smile looked peculiar.
My alertness immediately heightened, and I pushed away his lighter.
But it was at that moment I felt dizzy!
I had been cautious, but not cautious enough!
I hadn't smoked his cigarette, but I had used his lighter. If he had put a potent drug on the lighter's flint, I would still inhale it. I tried to prop myself up, but couldn't. In that instant, I felt everything go dark before losing consciousness.
In Japan, over the past few days, this was the third time I had lost consciousness. It was a humiliation I had never experienced before. As I gradually regained consciousness, I felt an ominous sensation. I didn't even want to open my eyes; I just wanted to remain unconscious.
I heard no sound and felt no light with my eyes closed.
When I finally opened my eyes, all I saw was darkness, as if I were sitting on a very comfortable sofa. When I shifted slightly, suddenly everything became bright.
I knew there must be some device in the sofa. When I moved, someone would know I was awake.
I surveyed the room; it was a very comfortable living room, nothing extraordinary. I coldly chuckled, "Alright, is the show over? Someone should come out now."
As soon as I finished speaking, someone turned the doorknob and walked in.
I remained still, watching the person.
It was a middle-aged man, dressed neatly and sharply. He wasn't Japanese; from my observation, he seemed to be from the Balkans.
At that moment, I felt more relieved than disappointed.
I had involuntarily ended up in a place I didn't know much about. Naturally, it wasn't a good sign, so what was there to be happy about?
However, I knew: this place wasn't under the influence of the "Moon Goddess Society" or a certain country's embassy. Therefore, it was highly likely to be the people who had taken the hard metal box.
I remained seated, calmly and calmly staring at the middle-aged man. He remained silent until he sat down in front of me, then gave me a polite smile and said, "Sir, I suggest we have a civilized conversation." I coldly remarked, "Sure, although the way you brought me here was far from civilized." The middle-aged man smiled apologetically and said, "We don't want you to know who we are or mention coming here to anyone. Your safety is assured."
As the middle-aged man spoke, I quietly pondered.
His words weren't deliberately mysterious, but what group or organization did he belong to? Not to mention the fake police officer; he was indeed a rare talent.
I just nodded and didn't say anything.
The middle-aged man smiled again. "It's very difficult for you to believe this fact, but I have to say it." I sneered, "Just say it."
The middle-aged man said, "My friends and I are irresistible. You don't need to try to resist us or oppose us. You must understand this."
I burst into laughter. "Yes, you are irresistible. That's why I've been brought here by super drugs."
The middle-aged man said solemnly, "I'm not joking!"
I nodded slightly. "I know you're not joking. International law enforcement personnel have been bribed, there were submachine guns, and dozens of people were involved. Is that a joke?"
The middle-aged man's calm demeanor was truly remarkable.
Suddenly, I blurted out a few words, indicating that I already knew his background. It was a mere gamble, but I won.
In theory, the middle-aged man should have been shocked, but he just smiled calmly and said, "Mr. Wei, you're really something. You should be one of us."
I couldn't help but smile at his words. "Sir, don't forget who you are. I know nothing about you. How can you determine that I can be one of you?"
The middle-aged man spread his hands and said, "A few of us just want to make some money cleverly, that's all."
I chuckled, "Such as clever manipulation of tariffs, which we firmly oppose. Or, when someone encounters an insurmountable difficulty, as long as they pay us a suitable price, we can help."
The middle-aged man's words suddenly touched on something I had long considered.
I had heard people talk about it before. There was a highly secretive group in the world, consisting of only seven core members who called themselves the "Seven Gentlemen." They had different nationalities but shared a common trait: they had fought against the enemy underground or on the battlefield during World War II.
These seven individuals were exceptionally clever, brave, and educated, which is why the group's whereabouts were elusive and unpredictable. However, some major smuggling cases, thefts, and even significant international intelligence trading could be attributed to them.
This was because after each job, they would provide the client with a detailed account of what happened. Most of their clients were unscrupulous individuals.
These seven were universally recognized as mysterious and powerful figures. Now, the middle-aged man in front of me, in terms of demeanor and speech, had clearly received a high level of education. Naturally, without a doubt, he was a member of the "Seven Gentlemen Party."
I thought for a moment but didn't reveal his identity. Nevertheless, I felt much more reassured. Because these seven individuals were known for their integrity, if they wanted to kill, you couldn't avoid it. If they said they wouldn't kill, then your safety was assured.
Now, the only question in my mind is: why did they bring me here?
The middle-aged man looked at me, and the room fell silent.
After a while, the middle-aged man said, "Do you understand now?"
I smiled and said, "I understand some of it."
The middle-aged man stood up and said, "You must be wondering why I brought you here."
I replied, "I didn't ask. You were waiting for me to ask."
The middle-aged man extended his hand and said, "We should eliminate hostility between us. My name is Meixida." I remained seated, just shook his hand and said, "I know you're a Greek underground hero, a prince, right?"
The records of the "Seven Gentlemen Party" were not only in the hands of the police but had also been reported by many newspapers. So when he mentioned his name, I knew he was the famous Greek noble, Prince Meixida.
Meixida said, "I didn't expect to be famous!" He sat back down and said, "We have been entrusted by someone, a person carrying an extremely sacred mission for humanity. We must help him fulfill his ideals."
I immediately asked, "What does that have to do with me?"
Meixida said, "It does because you've been causing him trouble constantly, doing many things against him. We ask you to stop harassing him and leave him alone."
Meixida's language was still very refined and gentle, but his tone was firm.
Now, I was in their hands, so there was no question of opposing Meixida's words. Besides, I had no idea who he was talking about. I couldn't recall troubling someone with a "great human task."
I looked at him and said, "You may have some misunderstandings."
Meixida said, "No, you have taken some things from him using less than honorable means, and some of them are highly confidential about a major country!"
I exclaimed, "Oh," in surprise.
I already knew who he was referring to. The person he mentioned was Fang Tian! Yes, I had caused Fang Tian a lot of trouble. But Fang Tian had nearly caused my death twice!
I still needed to find Fang Tian because of Dr. Zaki's death and what happened to Ji Zi; he couldn't escape from it!
When I last met Fang Tian and parted ways, I had asked him to come find me, but he didn't come. Instead, he somehow got in touch with the famous "Seven Gentlemen Party"!
I chuckled and said, "I remembered who your client is." Meixida said, "So, can we establish a gentlemen's agreement?"
I shook my head and said, "No."
Meixida sighed and said, "We've been paying a lot of attention to you for a long time. We also admire you a lot, but you insist on putting yourself in an adversarial position with us..."
He shook his head with infinite regret.
I shrugged and said, "If I have to be in an adversarial position with you, I'm also very sorry. But first, I want to ask, how much do you know about your client?"
Meixida's expression became very excited, and he said, "His identity is beyond doubt. He is the greatest scientist of our time and the actual leader of a certain great nation's conquest of Saturn plan."
I asked further, "What else do you know?"
Meixida said, "Isn't that enough? Such a figure entrusting us with tasks is a great honor. We must do everything possible to accomplish the task."
As I heard this, my heart suddenly surged, and I immediately asked, "So, was seizing that hard metal box also at his request?" Meixida said, "Yes."
I asked, "What story did he make up?"
Meixida asked, "What do you mean by story?"
I said, "For example, what's inside the box, and why does he want it back? Sir, I hope you'll tell me the truth."
Meixida's expression began to show suspicion, and he said, "He said it was a confidential device stolen by a traitor from his organization and sold to another hostile country."
I remained silent for a long time, feeling a whirlwind of thoughts in my mind.
Mr. Nelson's inference confirmed that Fang Tian and the hard metal box were indeed related.
And my own inference was about to be confirmed: since Fang Tian had such a close relationship with the "extraterrestrial objects," was he really an "extraterrestrial"?
Meixida was still waiting for my answer. After a while, I said, "I want to negotiate directly with your client, and there must be no third party present!"
Meixida said, "That's acceptable, but we never make requests lightly, and once a request is made, we never retract it. I hope you understand." I just said, "Please ask him to come."
Meixida walked out gracefully.
I waited nervously in the room. As I thought about meeting someone who might be from another planet, I couldn't suppress the strange feeling.
About five minutes later, the door was slowly pushed open, and Fang
Tian appeared, standing at the door.
His face still had that strange pallor.
I looked at him, and he looked at me, and we stared at each other for about a minute. Then he closed the door and slowly walked forward, sitting opposite me.
We stared at each other for a moment, and I was the first to speak again, "Fang Tian, I didn't expect you to be so despicable." Fang Tian was startled, and I immediately said, "Where is Ji Zi?"
Fang Tian's pale face turned even bluer as he said, "Why should I see you? I'm here to ask about her whereabouts!"
I was stunned for a moment. I had always thought that Fang Tian was responsible for Dr. Zaki's death and Ji Zi's disappearance. But now, judging by his demeanor, it clearly wasn't him. If it wasn't him, then suspicion shifted to the Moon God Society. Shortly after leaving Dr. Zaki's house, I was ambushed by members of the Moon God Society.
After a brief moment of hesitation, I waved my hand and said, "Let's not discuss this issue for now." Fang Tian seemed about to protest, but I lowered my voice, "Fang Tian, where are you from? Which planet?"
I had never imagined that a single sentence could have such a profound impact on someone!
Fang Tian was initially stunned, then his face turned blue. However, he seemed to gasp for breath like a fish out of water, his breaths coming in rapid succession. He jumped up, then sat back down, his eyes bulging as if I were facing a dying man.
At that moment, seeing Fang Tian's reaction to my question, I realized that my speculation, strange as it was, might not be far from the truth: he truly was from another planet!
Speculating about such bizarre matters was one thing; having it confirmed was another.
My heart was also greatly shocked, and I'm sure my expression wasn't pleasant either. Neither of us spoke.
After a minute or two, I heard Fang Tian emit a series of urgent sounds. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but suddenly, he lunged towards me fiercely.
I dodged to the side, and he fell onto the sofa I had been sitting on, both him and the sofa crashing to the ground. I took a step forward, and Fang Tian, still on the ground, rolled over and pulled out a small pistol, aiming it at me.
I was startled and quickly said, "Fang Tian, don't be foolish, don't..."
But before I could finish my sentence, I swiftly dropped to the ground. Fang Tian hadn't actually fired yet, but from the look on his face, I was sure he was about to, so I quickly dropped to the ground.
Indeed, as soon as I dropped, a bullet whizzed past above my head. I quickly rolled forward, pushing the sofa forcefully forward.
As the sofa flew forward, two more shots rang out.
The gunshots in the room were particularly thrilling, and I hadn't yet checked to see if the sofa I had thrown had hit Fang Tian when the door burst open with a bang. Two men with machine guns rushed in, shouting loudly, "What's going on?"
I stood up and saw that Fang Tian had been hit by the sofa I threw and had fallen to the ground, leaning against the wall and gasping for breath. His pistol had also fallen to the ground.
I said in a deep voice, "What are you doing here? Didn't Mr. Meixida promise me and Mr. Fang a private meeting?"
The two men glanced at each other, then backed away. I went to the door, closed it, and looked at Fang Tian. "Are you hurt?"
Fang Tian struggled to stand up, reaching for the gun again, but I was quicker. I flicked my middle finger, flicking a coin, which landed on the small pistol with a clang just as Fang Tian was about to pick it up.
Fang Tian's body bent, and he didn't immediately get up. He staggered, and I hurried over to support him.
His face turned even bluer. He looked up at me, then immediately turned his head, covering his face with his hands, stepping back, and sitting down on the ground, murmuring, "It's over! It's over."
I paced back and forth beside him and said, "Fang Tian, do you think I want to harm you? Or do you think I want to seek revenge on you?"
Fang Tian just kept shaking his head and repeating, "It's over! It's over." I could see his mind was in a state of extreme agitation, almost on the verge of collapse. I knew it would be difficult to persuade him at that moment, so I just smiled and said, "I'm leaving."
Upon hearing this, Fang Tian jumped up again and said, "Don't go."
I sighed and said, "Fang Tian, I understand how you feel. You must feel like everyone here is an enemy, and no one can be your friend, right?"
Fang Tian remained silent, just staring at me.
I shook my head and said, "You're wrong. If you had understood me during our university days, you would have had a friend by now." Perhaps my tone was very sincere, for the blueness on Fang Tian's face gradually faded.
He looked at me with a very hesitant look and said, "You? Would you be my friend?"
I said, "You should trust me. So far, I am the only one who knows your true identity. If you're willing, I can keep this secret forever."
Fang Tian nervously rubbed his hands together and said, "You... What do you know?"
I smiled and said, "I know you're from another planet, not an advanced human from Earth."
Fang Tian's body began to tremble again. "How... How did you find out?" he asked.
"I suspected it back in university, when I noticed the strange color of your blood," I said.
Fang Tian sat down dejectedly. "You don't know that in Japan, I was commissioned to investigate you," I added.
Fang Tian looked even more surprised and asked, "Commissioned by whom? Investigating what?"
"Commissioned by your workplace to investigate why you installed a single-person cabin in the powerful rocket prepared to launch to Saturn," I said, patting my forehead suddenly.
I shouldn't have asked him where he was from. From the fact that he installed a single-person cabin in the rocket preparing to launch to Saturn, it was clear he was from Saturn!
I looked up at Fang Tian, who was also looking at me, and said, "They... Do they already know everything about me?"
"I don't think they know; they're just curious why you haven't made your actions public," I said.
Fang Tian took a step forward suddenly, gripping my hand tightly. "Aberthly, you have to help me. You must help me," he said urgently. I patted his hand on my back and said, "Of course, I will help you, but first, I need to know everything about you."
Fang Tian hesitated for a moment and said, "Perhaps we should leave here first. You must understand, my affairs... I don't want anyone to know. To protect my identity, I have done everything I can."
I nodded and said, "Indeed, you have attempted to kill me several times."
A strange expression appeared on Fang Tian's face as he said, "You think murder is a great sin, but I don't feel such a heavy sense of guilt because your lifespans are so short. Dying a few years earlier doesn't make much of a difference."
As I heard Fang Tian speak like this, I was suddenly stunned, immediately recalling Engineer Kimura's words.
Engineer Kimura had said that people from other planets perceive time based on the orbital period of their home planets around the sun as one year. Fang Tian was highly likely from Saturn. Saturn's orbital period is twenty times longer than Earth's, meaning that an 80-year-old on Earth would only be four years old in his eyes.
So, how many "Earth years" had Fang Tian already experienced? My mind began to wander again, and I felt that extraordinary feeling of fantasy in my heart.
Fang Tian said, "Wait here for me. We'll leave together."
I agreed, and Fang Tian walked out.
Lost in thought for a moment, I saw Fang Tian push open the door and say, "We can go now." We left the building together without encountering anyone.
Outside, I realized we were still in the urban area of Tokyo.
Thinking of a series of fantastical encounters, a series of unbelievable events, finally finding a clue, naturally made me very happy. I believe Mr. Nelson could never have dreamed that the outcome would turn out like this.
But at the same time, my mind was also very disturbed because Fang Tian was indeed from another planet, which was an unbelievable fact. This was something that couldn't help but disturb one's mind.
We walked silently, and Fang Tian spoke first, saying, "Abertly, I want to go home. I miss home too much. A person who longs to go home so much, even if sometimes he behaves excessively, should be forgiven, don't you think so?"
I sighed and said, "Of course, I understand you want to go back to..."
I paused intentionally to let him continue.
Fang Tian said, "Golok Menglers. It means eternal existence, which is the planet you call Saturn."
I took a deep breath and said, "I had already anticipated that."
Fang Tian continued, "You are different. As soon as I arrived on Earth, I noticed that Earthlings' brainwaves are very weak and easily controlled, but you are an exception."
"Fortunately, I am an exception," I replied.
Fang Tian suddenly grasped my hand nervously and said, "You won't reveal my secret, will you?"
I deliberately said, "Even if I did, what would you fear?"
Fang Tian's face turned blue again as he said, "No! No! That would be too terrifying. If Earthlings knew I came from Saturn, not only would I not be able to return to Saturn, but I wouldn't even be able to pass as a normal Earthling. Earthlings are in a crazy era of space exploration. I would not be seen as a person but rather as a subject for study."
I patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, haven't I promised not to disclose the secret?"
Fang Tian sighed, and we walked silently for a while until we reached the entrance of a park. There weren't many people in the park. I pointed inside and said, "Shall we go in and talk?"