130: Chapter 130 The Situation Gradually Escalating Out of Control

The bloodstains on the high seas of the Pacific Ocean had yet to fade, but the torrent of information on the dark web had already whipped up a monstrous wave.

By the time Gin returned to the Black Organization's base with his battered remnants, the encrypted channels were already in an uproar.

“It was you who pocketed Kudo Yusaku for yourselves!”

“Black Bear,” the leader of the Russian “Black Night” organization, sent a video. The footage showed the Black Organization emblem deliberately left on the control console, accompanied by his furious roar in the background.

“Don't think I don't know about your little schemes! You left that emblem there on purpose to frame us!”

Before Gin could even retort, an encrypted email from the Italian “Cross Society” arrived. Attached were several blurry photos—on the deck of the sea serpent, the tread patterns of the tactical boots worn by Lin Long's special team members were extremely similar to the styles commonly used by the Black Organization.

“Gin, we made it very clear on the high seas: the samples would be distributed fairly, yet you played dirty!”

The sender, “The Godfather,” spoke in a tone as cold as a blade. “Hand over Kudo Yusaku within three days. Otherwise, wait for your armory in Milan to go up in flames.”

Gin stared fixedly at the screen, his knuckles turning white from the force of his grip.

He knew perfectly well that the emblem was a plant, but “Black Night” and the “Cross Society” gave him no chance to explain—in the dark web's bounty system, “securing the sample” was the only hard currency, and any suspicion would be infinitely magnified by greed. More troublesome still, those forces hiding in the shadows had already begun to use the situation as a pretext.

The Southeast Asian “Snake Eye” organization released a statement on the dark web, claiming to have “personally witnessed the Black Organization attacking their peers to monopolize the Kudo sample,” and announced a temporary alliance with “Black Night” and the “Cross Society” to collectively “punish the oath-breakers.”

Meanwhile, South American drug cartels took the opportunity to raid the Black Organization's cocaine warehouses in Brazil, publicly declaring they were “acting on behalf of heaven to take revenge on the contract-breakers.”

Even a fringe department of the CIA got involved, anonymously providing “Black Night” with the coordinates of three Black Organization safe houses in Europe, solidifying the illusion that the “Black Organization had pocketed the samples.”

This was exactly the situation Lin Long wanted.

Inside the monitoring room on the independent island, the screen wall was divided into dozens of feeds:

The Black Organization's Paris base was destroyed by a Cross Society strike team, flames swallowing the entire small building;

Black Night's armory in Saint Petersburg was attacked by unidentified armed forces, with shell casings left at the scene matching the models commonly used by the Black Organization;

A bomb was planted at a Cross Society villa in Sicily, the modus operandi identical to that of Black Night.

“Boss, the ‘framing package’ is showing significant results.”

The captain of the special team stood behind Lin Long, handing over the latest intelligence summary.

“The ‘evidence’ we left on the sea serpent has been interpreted in different versions by various parties. Now, they are firmly convinced that the others played them dirty.”

Lin Long watched the three factions slaughtering each other on the screen, his fingertips lightly tapping on the table.

He had deliberately had the special team wear tactical gear similar to all three parties and left behind ambiguous physical evidence—there was the Black Organization emblem, but also Cross Society cufflinks, and even a custom Black Night dagger was “dropped” in the wreckage of a speedboat.

After fermenting on the dark web, these fragments of information became the sharpest of blades, precisely stabbing into the suspicions of every party.

“Have ‘Ghost’ add more fuel to the fire,”

Lin Long spoke calmly.

“Anonymously send the Cross Society's movement routes to the Black Organization, and then send Black Night's armory inventory to the Cross Society. Tell them that the other side is planning to completely eliminate them and take the samples for themselves.”

“Understood.”

Less than twelve hours after the orders were issued, the situation spiraled completely out of control.

A Black Organization sniper assassinated the number three figure of the Cross Society on the streets of Berlin, with the bullet left at the scene engraved with Black Night's mark;

Black Night raided the Black Organization's bank accounts in Istanbul, transferring massive funds to a secret account of the Cross Society, triggering even more frantic retaliation from both sides. The Cross Society was the most ruthless, directly kidnapping the only son of the Black Night leader, “Black Bear,” demanding “clues about Kudo Yusaku and the samples” in exchange.

The dark web's bounty interface became a battlefield for mutual mudslinging. Black Night uploaded evidence of the Black Organization's human trafficking; the Cross Society exposed Black Night's transaction records with terrorist organizations; and the Black Organization released the Cross Society's money-laundering bank statements. What was originally a hunt for Kudo Yusaku had turned into a public execution of the three major powers.

And those forces that had originally been watching from the sidelines began to join the fray one after another.

A secret department of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department intercepted fake intelligence (actually forged by Lin Long's team) that the “Black Organization has a secret lab in Tokyo.” They immediately launched a raid with the FBI. Although they didn't find the lab, they accidentally dismantled one of the Black Organization's intelligence hubs;

The British MI6 leaked information about the Cross Society's dealings with Iranian arms dealers to the United States, triggering a global Interpol manhunt for the Cross Society;

The Russian FSB went even further, directly deploying troops under the guise of “combating terrorist organizations” to seize three of Black Night's strongholds in Siberia.

The entire underworld was like a bomb had been dropped into it, turning into a boiling pot of chaos.

In the interrogation room on the independent island, Kudo Yusaku watched the chaotic situation on the monitoring screens with a complex expression.

Lin Long sat opposite him, unhurriedly brewing tea, the steam blurring his expression.

“You did this.” Kudo Yusaku's tone was not a question, but a statement of fact.

“I merely let them ‘believe’ what they were already willing to believe.”

Lin Long pushed a cup of tea toward him, the tea's aroma diluting the oppressive atmosphere in the room.

“Greed and suspicion are the best weapons. You see, without us having to lift a finger, they will exhaust themselves to death.”

Kudo Yusaku fell silent.

He had to admit that Lin Long's methods were far more effective than his own “negotiation plan”—while the three powers tore at each other, no one remembered “Kudo Yusaku” or that sample anymore. Their attention was entirely filled with hatred and revenge, like beasts caught in a quagmire, sinking deeper the more they struggled.

“What do you want from me?”

Kudo Yusaku looked up, staring straight into Lin Long's eyes. He knew there was no such thing as a free lunch; Lin Long wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to bring them here just to “help.”

“I want Conan's complete blood sample, and Dr. Agasa's antidote research data.”

Lin Long didn't beat around the bush. “I have no interest in ‘rejuvenation’ technology, but I need to know the principles behind that drug's formula—as far as I know, what the Black Organization is researching is not just shrinking, but ‘immortality’.”

Kudo Yusaku's pupils constricted sharply. He had only told a few people about this; how could Lin Long know?

“You needn't be surprised.”

Lin Long seemed to see through his thoughts. “My intelligence network is broader than you imagine. Rather than letting such dangerous technology fall into the hands of madmen, it's better to give it to me. At least I won't use it to harm the world.”

Just then, a new image suddenly appeared on the monitoring screen:

The Black Organization's second-in-command, “Rum,” released a video claiming he had intelligence that “Kudo Yusaku is being hidden in Sicily by the Cross Society,” and announced a total war against the Cross Society;

The Cross Society immediately counterattacked, saying Kudo Yusaku was in the hands of Black Night, calling for all forces to besiege the Black Night headquarters.

A new round of slaughter had begun again.

Lin Long looked at the screen, a cold, sharp curve hooking the corners of his mouth.

This chaos he had provoked would last for a long time—long enough for him to thoroughly study the secrets of the drug, and long enough for those forces entrenched in the darkness to exhaust one another to exhaustion.

As for the Kudo couple, they would stay on this island until the storm outside subsided.

Of course, that was just Lin Long's rhetoric; he knew very well that as long as the samples and data were in his hands, Kudo Yusaku would never truly leave.

Sunlight from outside spilled into the interrogation room, illuminating the dust motes in the air.

Out on the sea, the freighter named the “sea serpent” had long been abandoned, drifting with the current on the high seas like a forgotten footnote, witnessing this chaotic battle triggered by greed.

And the mastermind hidden behind the scenes sat with his teacup, calmly watching the farce he had personally directed, waiting for the final curtain call.