Chapter 26: The Death of Suzuki

"Hah... It's not even that delicious."

S muttered under her breath as she swallowed the last bite of her ramen.

Jin glanced at her bowl, the corners of his mouth twitching, choosing to remain silent.

K, with a fatal lack of self-preservation, chimed in, "What are you talking about? You've already eaten two bowls, how can you have the nerve to say it's not that delicious?!"

S raised an eyebrow, turned her gaze toward K, and interlocked her fingers, causing a series of loud cracking sounds to echo from her knuckles.

If such a sound had come from a burly man, it would have exuded sheer intimidation. But no matter how much S embodied the persona of an imperious queen, her slightly chubby cheeks—even when she tried her hardest to feign displeasure—only struck Jin as somewhat adorable.

Wait... adorable...

Jin twitched his mouth again. That word seemed completely incompatible with someone like S.

Waving his hand dismissively, K hurriedly changed the subject and began asking the female shopkeeper about the situation here.

"Umm... are you talking about Sato?" the shopkeeper asked uncertainly.

Just as she was about to elaborate, a sudden clatter erupted from behind, sounding like bowls and plates smashing against the floor.

"Sato! What on earth are you doing?!" the chef's furious voice boomed from the back.

Immediately following that came Sato's voice, stammering, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"Go clean it up, you idiot!"

"Honestly..." the shopkeeper sighed helplessly. "This is already the fifth time he's dropped something today..."

"Sato, little Sato, come here... a customer is looking for you!"

Sato hurried over in a panic, causing K to pause and ask in surprise,

"Are you really Sato? Weren't you... called Suzuki?"

Sato blinked, looking bewildered. "No... my name is Sato..."

K and Jin exchanged glances, both seeing the confusion reflected in each other's eyes.

Shortly after, the three of them went out to search for other extraterrestrials from the Alpha Centauri system who had come to Earth.

A car washer, a factory worker, a delivery dispatcher...

These aliens from the Alpha Centauri system held various identities and disguises on Earth, yet they all shared the exact same face, possessed exceptionally slender physiques, and appeared thoroughly fragile, practically the definition of helpless and frail.

As twilight descended, Jin and S waited by the riverside for quite a while before K, who had split up to search separately, finally trotted over.

"It seems they really don't know anything..."

"Same here..."

"Everyone has the exact same face..." K shook his head helplessly. "I honestly have no idea how these aliens tell each other apart..."

Sucking on a piece of chocolate, S sneered, "And furthermore... they're all equally weak. That fragile, feeble look of theirs is enough to piss anyone off."

K smiled and shook his head. "Looks like our impression of aliens needs to change..."

"Well, there are all sorts of aliens out there..."

"These guys can't even return to their home planet if they wanted to, struggling to survive on an unfamiliar Earth with such frail bodies," Jin said, smiling and shaking his head.

With a peculiar expression, K remarked, "Pitying aliens—this is a first for me..."

"Still... are you sure they really have no contact with one another?"

"I don't think they were lying," K said, pacing back and forth. "They came to live on Earth, a place without enemies, simply because they genuinely yearn for peace, don't they?"

S spread her hands. "Even so, we can't just submit this as our investigation report to headquarters. We have to figure out the true identity of that newly arrived alien on Earth and log him into the DEUS agency's records."

Jin looked at the setting sun and said, "In that case, let's call it a day. I need to go pick up my younger sister, and we can continue the investigation tomorrow."

"Mm..." K nodded, stretching his arms. "See you tomorrow... I've got a new babe to tend to..."

Watching Jin walk away briskly, S paused in thought, took a piece of chocolate from her tin box to suck on, and turned around to gaze at the beautiful sunset.

As if having made up her mind, she began walking toward the spot where Jin had parked his car. Yet for some reason, the closer she got, the faster her heart pounded, and a glimmer of anticipation flickered in her eyes.

However, just as she was about to reach it, the car started up and drove away, silhouetted against the setting sun.

"......"

"Ahhhh..." The shy expression that had lingered on S's face vanished instantly. Her delicate brows arched upward in fury as she stamped her foot. "I finally worked up the courage... and he actually dares to..."

"Just you wait until tomorrow, I'll teach you a proper lesson, you jerk!!!"

***

Night fell, and an unrecorded spaceship skillfully bypassed the surveillance satellites' detection, hovering quietly above a forest.

Accompanied by a flash of light, a menacing figure emerged from the glow.

Suzuki was busy tidying up the shop when the manager adjusted his apron and said, "Suzuki-kun, while wanting to earn extra money is fine, you mustn't overwork yourself. I'll be heading home first. I'll leave the shop in your care for the night."

Suzuki bowed deeply. "Understood... Thank you, and good work today."

Leaning forward to peer outside and confirming that the manager had indeed left, Suzuki walked over to a secluded corner, pulled a sleek, rounded communicator from his pocket, and spoke in a low voice:

"The item we are looking for is indeed on this planet, but it seems to be shielded by something."

"Screee..."

Sensing a fluctuation in the frequency, the menacing silhouette abruptly appeared right outside the shop's front door.

"Understood... I will," Suzuki replied respectfully into the communicator.

Just then, a sound echoed from outside as something dropped to the floor. The gloomy expression on Suzuki's face vanished in an instant, replaced by a completely harmless demeanor as he called out, "Who's there...?"

Taking a few steps forward, however, he found that there was absolutely no one in sight.

Scratching his head in confusion, Suzuki turned to walk away, but his expression froze into a mask of sheer terror and shock in a split second.

A thick, menacing arm shot out, grabbing him tightly by the throat and lifting him effortlessly off the ground.

The pressure from the hand intensified, gradually hoisting Suzuki up to eye level with the intruder.

It was a ferocious extraterrestrial, its head shaped like that of a fly, resembling a flattened ellipse with white compound eyes stretching toward its shoulders, looking both bizarre and terrifying.

As the grip tightened, white foam began to spill from Suzuki's mouth, and all signs of life faded from his body.

With a casual flick of the arm, the slender corpse slumped limply onto the floor.