Not a detective

Page 124

"Yes, I searched for a long time and confirmed that you were not there."

"Could I really have been shipwrecked...? But why am I the only one who drowned? I can swim."

"It shouldn't be that kind of problem. It's possible that the mastermind behind it also couldn't brainwash you, just like I was an unexpected factor. I just don't know if you were kidnapped."

"So that's it..."

...

While eating fried noodles, Asakawa Riku told Hoshino everything that had happened on the island, including every detail.

Xingyu found it unbelievable, and his expression was quite interesting.

The feeling of this conversation made Asakawa Riku feel like he was on a detective assignment, with himself as the client and the other party as an assistant listening to the details.

Unfortunately, they are not at the agency right now, and the detective, who is so clever that her personality is annoying, is not here either.

If she were here, wouldn't she be able to grasp the core elements of the incident more quickly?

As Asakawa Riku continued speaking, her face turned pale when she heard about the villagers who suddenly went berserk at the Red Stingray Festival and how she was then surrounded and attacked.

"Are you...are you okay?"

She looked over with concern.

"It's nothing. After that, time reversed, and I returned to today's point in time, and my wounds healed."

Asakawa Riku had just finished eating. He wiped his mouth and hands with a tissue, then lifted his shirt: "Look?"

His intention was to show the other person that his chest had not been pierced by a harpoon, but the girl in front of him blushed instantly.

"I...I know, you don't need to show me..."

Asakawa Riku didn't expect this guy to have a shy side, so he didn't continue showing it and put it down.

"But, if time were reversed... why would this happen?"

Xingyu covered her burning cheeks with her hands and forcibly changed the subject.

Asakawa Riku took the plates to the kitchen to wash the dishes. In the moment his back was to Hoshino, he didn't actually know whether his decision was right or wrong.

Telling others about your experiences and the secret of time travel is an extremely imprudent and dangerous act.

In particular, Hoshimi Kouyu is a prime suspect.

First, she lent him the book "Summer of the Red Stingrays." Before that, Asakawa Riku had no idea about the story of Red Stingray Village, and the source was related to her.

Secondly, in the previous incident, Xingyu completely disappeared from the story. She may have been kidnapped, but she could also have been the mastermind behind it all.

Even knowing that the other person might be a suspect, Asakawa Riku still decided to share the truth with her.

Perhaps it was because of this bowl of noodles, perhaps because of the conversation on the deck, or perhaps even earlier, when the two shook hands and rediscovered each other in the firm.

These things made Asakawa Riku decide to trust her; he needed a companion, a companion with whom he could discuss countermeasures.

So he answered sincerely:

"I don't know either. It was completely beyond my imagination. The moment I died, it was as if a save function was triggered."

It's like the death loop in many works, or the save/load mechanism in games.

But Riku Asakawa doesn't have such superpowers, or rather, he "shouldn't," because he can't be sure that he has never truly faced a near-death experience since childhood.

If the condition for activating his superpower is that it can only be triggered upon death to rewind time, then this is his first use of it.

"No matter what, this inversion saved my life. I'm alive again, and I won't give up this precious opportunity."

He still remembers the intense resentment he felt before his last death; there were so many questions that remained unanswered, and so many people he couldn't save.

He is very grateful to have another chance to turn things around.

"Well then, without further ado, if what you're saying is true, let's end it all right from the start... Asakawa-kun."

Xingyu stood up, her expression very serious, indicating that she completely trusted his words.

Asakawa Riku smiled, turning off the kitchen tap with confidence. Compared to last time, the pre-battle supplies were much better this time.

"What a coincidence, that's what I was thinking too."

...

After making ample preparations, the two quickly left the restaurant. It was just past 8 o'clock, the perfect time.

According to Asakawa Riku's previous memory, the shipwreck occurred in the middle of the night, when he was asleep and unaware of it.

There are still four hours until midnight, plenty of time, and everything will be fine.

Asakawa Riku's original plan was to stay up all night, patrolling the deck and cabins, looking for suspicious individuals who might have tampered with the ship.

If the mastermind is discovered, subdue them on the spot before they have a chance to cause trouble.

Even if he's unlucky and fails to catch the mastermind, he can still immediately warn all his classmates and help them escape to the lifeboats in the event of a shipwreck.

If we can rescue all the students and prevent them from being brainwashed and kidnapped to the island, we can thwart the mastermind's plan, and that will be enough.

But now he's not fighting alone; he's joined by Hoshimi Kou's help.

And this guy's personality was even more assertive than Asakawa Riku had imagined.

she says:

"Asakawa-kun, we can't just sit here and wait to die; we must take the initiative."

So, Asakawa Riku followed her and walked to a dormitory room, which seemed to be the room she had been assigned on the cruise ship.

"It's alright, I live here all by myself, come in."

"Oh...right, your class happens to have an odd number of students, so you were alone on the bus too."

"Yes, it seems that the teacher specially reserved a single room for me as compensation."

"The teacher is a very nice person."

With the invitation, Asakawa Riku went inside. Of course, it didn't feel like a "girl's room," since everyone was only staying there temporarily.

Aside from Hoshino's suitcase, the room seemed no different from the others, except that there was only one bed in the room.

Summer of the Crimson Ray: Chapter Twenty - The Bomb

Xingyu took out her laptop from her bag, plugged it in, and turned on the screen.

Asakawa Riku couldn't help but ask, "Isn't there no signal here, and no internet either?"

He remembered that after boarding the ship, he couldn't make calls on his phone, nor could he access the internet; he couldn't search for anything.

Xingyu took out a small silver USB drive and inserted it into the computer.

"I can use the Shinonome family's satellite to log into the internet; this is what I mentioned before as the 'All-Seeing Eye'."

The Shinonome family's...satellite?

Good heavens, this was the first time Asakawa Riku had ever heard such an unfamiliar combination of terms, and he had to gain a new understanding of the power of the zaibatsu.

"Wait a mininute."

Xingyu started typing on the keyboard.

Through the questioning, he learned that Xingyu was actually a very skilled tech expert in private, or in layman's terms, a "hacker." No wonder she could gather so much intelligence for the detective without making a sound; it wasn't just the wealth and intelligence network of the Dongyun family, but also her own computer skills, which were enough for her to break through most firewalls in the world.

Asakawa Riku remembered that when he first saw her, he thought she was a clumsy person, but he didn't expect that was also a disguise.

The real Hoshimi Kohana might be a very capable "maid".

He dared not disturb them, and watched intently from the side, holding his breath.

"Okay."

Just over ten minutes later, she clapped her hands and laughed triumphantly: "I sent a text message to the young lady and also copied the police. Now they should know about the potential safety hazards on this ship. If we don't report that we're safe at this address tomorrow, then something must have happened, and they will come to rescue us."

Asakawa Riku checked her wording; she hadn't mentioned the "time reversal" information from before, but simply said that something was wrong with the ship.

This is essentially a timed insurance policy; if things really get out of hand, there's room for external intervention and rescue. If the crisis warning isn't lifted by tomorrow, Shinonome Suetsuki will definitely take relevant measures, and the police may also contact professionals from the Inspection Department. At that point, there will be more reinforcements, and she won't be fighting alone anymore.

This good news greatly relieved him, as he was finally able to contact the outside world and no longer felt so isolated and helpless at sea.

"Thanks to you."

Asakawa Riku had absolutely no idea what the code on the screen looked like. He knew that without Hoshino's help, he wouldn't have been able to do this by himself.

Xingyu didn't sit still; she immediately opened several new pages and continued working: "Now, I'm going to check the information about this suspicious ship."

They were shocked by the sudden information they found when they investigated.

There are eight crew members on the ship. After entering their information, it was found that only the captain, Tamura Yasuo, had experience as a captain. The other seven crew members, let alone the first and second mates, did not even have basic crew qualifications and certificates. They were completely unemployed and some even had criminal records, having been released from prison for six months to a year.

The ship's origins are also quite unusual. It was involved in a maritime accident, was registered for scrapping by the Maritime Safety Administration, and was secretly repaired and is still in use.

The ship's route cannot be found on official navigation charts because they secretly turned off its positioning equipment.

Only satellite positioning could confirm the latitude and longitude. They were already in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Asakawa Riku silently noted down the coordinates.

The strange ship repairs, the suspicious movements, and the obviously problematic crew—everything is suspicious.

"This group must have planned it all along. They approached the school and offered Hawaiian cruises at incredibly low prices. They probably also bribed high-ranking officials to make them overlook security checks."

Xingyu sighed and sent all these doubts as attachments to the email addresses she had just received.

Asakawa Riku's gaze slowly turned cold. He had shifted his suspicions about the mastermind to the "crew members." These guys were definitely not clean.

What's lacking now is simply to turn doubt into conclusive evidence of guilt.

However, he didn't have to wait long before Xingyu found the "evidence".

"It's...it's a bomb."

She said in a trembling voice.

Not only were his eyes trembling as he looked at the screen, but his hand holding the mouse was also trembling.

Using the analytical instruments on the satellite, Xingyu remotely detected the cruise ship at sea and discovered something extraordinary in the scanned structural diagram.

From bow to stern, besides human figures and engines, there are some unidentified objects emitting heat. After AI analysis, there is a very high probability that they are timed bombs.

Further investigation revealed that there were a total of five bombs, with a combined yield that could completely destroy the entire ship without harming the people inside.

This allows them to fake a shipwreck and a sinking, while simultaneously kidnapping the students without anyone noticing.

They were all first-timers on board, so the only people who would have had the opportunity to tamper with the ship were probably the crew members...

"So, they are the masterminds behind this."

Asakawa Riku stood up, his fists clenched, seemingly filled with murderous intent.

Xingyu stopped him, saying, "Wait a minute, these bombs are remotely controlled by electronic devices, which means I should be able to deactivate them remotely."

"really?"

Although Asakawa Riku was furious, he did not lose his composure. Hoshino's plan was indeed more prudent. If they rushed over while the bomb was still active, they might alert the enemy and, in desperation, detonate the bomb. That would be a huge loss. It would be better to let her neutralize the threat remotely first, and then everything would be much easier.

So he sat down again and waited patiently: "How long will it take?"

"Hmm..." Xingyu calculated for a moment and estimated, "At this pace, it will probably take about half an hour?"

"That's really reliable. Thank you for your help."

Asakawa Riku glanced at the time; there were still several hours until midnight. Based on his previous experience, the ship sank after he fell asleep.

Therefore, the period before this is a "safe period" during which the bomb will definitely not explode, and the bomb can be defused at will.

Xingyu began to navigate the incomprehensible webpage. Networking and computer technology were her domain, and he had no room to interfere; he could only entrust his trust to his partner.

Once the bomb was defused, Asakawa Riku knew it was time for him to make his appearance.

At that point, he would barge into the cockpit and crew quarters and confront these guys face to face.

Catch and eliminate all the masterminds behind this.

Riku Asakawa was filled with determination.

Summer of the Crimson Ray: Chapter Twenty-One: The Surprise Attack

Half an hour later, Riku Asakawa arrived at the wheelhouse at the bow of the ship.

He glanced inside and saw that all eight crew members were inside. To ensure safe navigation at night, the bridge was pitch black, and they were whispering to each other, as if they were plotting something.