Blanks... Hearing this term, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka immediately understood why she didn't shoot.
Compared to live ammunition, blank cartridges only emit high-pressure gas from the muzzle after gunpowder combustion, used solely for the sound and light effects produced during shooting, commonly used in film and training, with no lethal effect on the target.
Although blank cartridges pose a risk of injury to people at extremely close range, the harm is limited.
Unless the gun is pressed against the opponent's temple, utilizing the instantaneous high temperature and shockwave overpressure generated by gunpowder combustion to inflict close-range damage on the body's vulnerable parts, it cannot kill a person.
Ikishima Midari also knew that the blank cartridges in her handgun were not fatal, so when she broke in with the gun, she bluffed, deliberately pretending that the bullets in her hand were live ammunition.
To make the act more convincing, she even intentionally missed two shots.
Her acting was too good; the Professor was completely fooled, trembling and distraught as he carried out her tasks, and even Ayanokoji was deceived by her.
However, Hagen, this thug, discovered something unusual from her words.
If Ikishima Midari's gun was loaded with live ammunition, why would she ask the Professor for the key? She could have just taken it from Nakamura.
Don't say it's because the other person was covered in blood and she didn't want to search them. In such a critical moment, enduring the disgust to get the key would have been much simpler than pointing a gun at them now, wouldn't it?
In this research institute, the blank ammunition reserves were the largest. Even if the two of them were completely out of their minds, they wouldn't give her live ammunition.
Therefore, there was a very high possibility that the gun in Ikishima Midari's hand was loaded with blanks.
Hagen decided to take a gamble.
The fact was just as he had guessed: Ikishima Midari knew the gun contained blanks and dared not shoot at all...
Hagen was inwardly pleased and no longer entangled with Ayanokoji. His hands, like iron tongs, gripped Ayanokoji's arms and, with force, directly threw him flying.
Now, with no obstacles in front of Hagen, he approached Ikishima Midari with a ferocious grin.
He got closer and closer to Ikishima Midari. Her hands trembled, but she never fired the gun.
Just as he thought Ikishima Midari had lost her will to fight and reached out to snatch the gun, Ikishima Midari fired—
The handgun accurately hit his palm, and instantly, his left hand was scorched red by the gunpowder!
In pain, he withdrew his left hand and reached out with his other hand to grab Ikishima Midari.
Ikishima Midari agilely stepped back to evade his grasp, then aimed at his head again and pulled the trigger!
Ikishima Midari wasn't hesitating, because she also knew that the bullets in her hand were useless beyond two meters.
However, Ikishima Midari's aim at this moment was truly poor. This shot didn't hit his head but instead struck his shoulder.
Ikishima Midari only fired two shots, and before she could pull the trigger again, her wrist was seized by Hagen, and the gun was directly snatched away!
She still tried to reach for the gun, but Hagen directly seized her wrist, swung her forcefully a few meters away, and she crashed into Ayanokoji nearby.
His shoulder and left hand were hit by the blank cartridges, experiencing a strong burning sensation, becoming bloody and charred on the outside, tender on the inside, but these were just superficial injuries. It was still far from enough to take him down.
Hagen walked towards the two with the revolver. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka endured the intense pain and stood up, shielding Ikishima Midari.
Hagen raised the gun, just about to vent his anger and shoot Ayanokoji, when the Professor tentatively poked his head out, trembling: "Hagen, what happened...?"
He lowered the gun, his face calm: "Professor, I've taken care of everything."
"That's great! As expected, at times like this, we still have to rely on you! You truly are someone who used to be in the military!" The Professor let out a huge sigh of relief and jumped out from behind the table.
The Professor looked at Ikishima Midari, who was lying on the ground, a flicker of resentment in his eyes. To be tricked into a frenzy with blank cartridges, this woman was truly hateful.
However, he also calmed down, suppressing his anger, and said to Hagen: "Go get some rope and tie them up."
Then, with a cold face, he said to Ayanokoji: "Kiyotaka, if you don't want to be killed, don't resist anymore. My patience is limited. If you resist again, I'm not sure what I'll do."
Seeing Hagen approaching with the rope, Ayanokoji hesitated for a moment but still did not resist, allowing him to tie his and Ikishima Midari's hands behind their backs with the rope.
"Hagen, are you alright?" The Professor finally relaxed and looked at Hagen.
"I'm fine." He shook his head.
Ikishima Midari's aim was truly poor, and coupled with the limited damage of blank cartridges, although the two shots hit his shoulder and palm, they did not damage his tendons or bones at all; these were just superficial injuries.
"Those two shouldn't be dead. I'll go rescue them." Saying this, Hagen handed the handgun to the Professor and left the room.
With both of them tied up, he wasn't worried that the Professor would be harmed.
The Professor had now regained his composure, looking at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was tied up and completely unable to resist, shaking his head and sighing in regret.
"Kiyotaka, this is all your own doing. Why did you refuse my request? As long as you agreed to appear in court, you would have gained your freedom and wouldn't have needed to come to this point. If it were your older brother, he would definitely have agreed..."
"Heh heh... you should just keep those words to yourself."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sneered: "If he were here, he would definitely refuse too. No one would agree to such an outrageous request, and you probably never expected him to accept it anyway. Perhaps you would have secretly killed him when you kidnapped him, wouldn't you?"
"My older brother holds a significant position in Father's plan. By killing him, you could solve everything once and for all and never have to worry about Father vying for the prime minister's position again."
"Professor, the reason you're telling me so much is just because I don't have that kind of utilitarian value. Even if you kill me, it won't affect Father's plan at all. So, put away your hypocritical facade."
The professor's face gradually turned grim: "Kiyotaka, is that how you think of me?"
Having already torn off the mask with him, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not show him any mercy.
"Professor, do you think you're doing something righteous? The reason you said you wanted to oppose my father wasn't because you couldn't stand his methods and wanted to uphold justice, but because he stopped investing in you, right?
You resented him for cutting off your research path, for stopping your dream of winning a Nobel Prize, and for using your research achievements to realize his own ambitions.
You speak so grandly, but in reality, your institute, isn't it all established with the help of others? After leaving my father, you probably attached yourself to another faction. And then, taking your research data, you continued your research into cultivating artificial geniuses, didn't you?
Do you really think your new masters will strongly support your research now? They only see you as having utilitarian value, capable of opposing my father. Once my father is taken down, you, like me, will lose your utilitarian value and be kicked aside!"
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