Chapter 1025

Hirate exploded.

It really exploded!

Her chest cavity burst open from within, and the rotted flesh and dark red blood were squeezed out by an invisible pressure, spraying in all directions.

Uesugi Muneyuki was shoved backward by the shockwave, stumbling and hitting his lower back against the edge of another table.

Even with the Peacock Bright King blocking it, Hirate's bone fragments mixed with blood splattered onto his trench coat's front, cuffs, and face, and the air instantly filled with a strong, mixed stench of decay and blood.

Corpse stench!

Corpse stench 999!

The storage cabinet door in the corner was shaken open, and the equipment inside clattered to the floor.

One of the fluorescent tubes on the ceiling exploded, glass shards raining down from above; that dark shape, after bursting, suddenly contracted like a flame drained of air, collapsing inward into a tiny point of light, then vanished.

Everything fell silent.

I'm awesome!

Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but fly into a rage and curse.

I came to help you!

Who the hell likes watching your jokes? Are we close or something?

You the hell don't think I like you, do you? Are you sick?! Took too much LSD and think you gotta kill someone, so you came to kill me, right?

Fine, I declare you're the real Seven Seas nana7mi! The killer's the real brittle shark!

Damn, died and still got me dirty, this outfit of mine is expensive!

Uesugi Muneyuki leaned on the table to stand straight, both angry and anxious.

If all corpses were like Hirate's, how would our Special Mission Division even operate?

Mmm, it hurts so bad!

Uesugi Muneyuki touched his forehead and found a thin cut from glass, blood trickling down from his brow bone.

And his grudges were laughing hysterically.

Especially the Village Flower Palace, laughing so hard it slid down the wall.

His trench coat and shirt were soaked with dark, already-blackening fragments and liquid, his leather shoes also splattered, facing

Nothing remained on that table in front—Hirate's corpse had already turned into scattered fragments and blood pools on the table, floor, and walls, mixed with unrecognizable decaying tissue.

【Oh my, hahaha, someone's here, hahaha~ I'm awesome~ hahaha~ Uesugi, you too today, hahaha~】Hironaka Mariko laughed so hard she twisted into a pretzel, truly a pretzel.

【This explosion is great, better than Akimoto Daijin's son's Toyota Century!】Ōsumikawa was also extremely satisfied.

【How do you usually bully Hirate? Why does she hate you so much?】Miyahara Toru asked strangely: 【In the entertainment circle, can it still be like this? Just a female idol————

【Normal, you get along with female idols because you don't directly compete, but my relationship with Hirate is bad because the little cherry blossom cultivated by me and the White Hemp Senior Student directly stole her resources and niche.】Uesugi Muneyuki was furious and flustered, about to say something.

【Someone's here!】Hironaka Mariko suddenly said.

The metal door was violently pushed open from outside.

Okada Masayoshi and Ikeda Erena rushed in simultaneously, followed by two officers from the Nagoya branch.

They saw the room in disarray—black corpse fluid splattered on the walls, debris on the floor, exploded light tubes, and Uesugi Muneyuki standing beside the table, covered in blood and grime.

Ikeda Erena's face turned pale in seconds; she stepped forward, mouth open but no sound came out.

The Nagoya officers were terrified: "Uesugi Chief? What happened? Corpse?!"

Uesugi Muneyuki lowered his eyes to look at his trench coat stained with blood and fragments, thinking for a while.

Damn, Mikoto-nee isn't here, otherwise she'd immediately find a reasonable excuse.

Fortunately, Uesugi Muneyuki holds high rank and power; after thinking long, he said: "The corpse's interior had large amounts of gas produced by anaerobic bacteria proliferation. Previous storage temperature was unstable, internal pressure accumulated to critical point and then it burst on its own. This occasionally happens in corpses that were long-frozen then suddenly warmed. Not human-caused."

Really?

Okada Masayoshi glanced at him, something moving in his gaze, but he didn't press further.

Really?

Erena also felt strange; before, Uesugi Muneyuki had autopsied thousands of corpses, yet never seen anything like this!

"Really, purely, utterly without dispute." Uesugi Muneyuki just nodded, then turned to the Nagoya officers behind him: "Notify the Forensic Identification Division to come clean up. For now, don't report details externally; changes in corpse condition will affect subsequent judicial proceedings. Reports will be jointly handled by Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters and Aichi Prefecture Headquarters. Also, your outdated morgue equipment here needs updating—still using '80s stuff till now?"

The two officers exchanged glances, expressions complex but didn't dare ask more, then turned and hurried away.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it—that's what the Americans taught us.

But you're Uesugi Muneyuki, and you're absolutely right!

Ikeda Erena stepped forward, pulled a pack of tissues from her shirt pocket, handed it to him, and said softly: "Muneyuki—

—your face."

"Don't come closer, there's corpse stench." Uesugi Muneyuki took the tissue, wiped the blood from his forehead, then balled up the bloody tissue and threw it into the corner trash can.

He looked down at the blood and grime on himself: "Let me take a shower first."

This Hirate thing is a bit strange.

The Hirate corpse explosion incident was covered up; outwardly, Uesugi Muneyuki only said he was away on hard labor and needed to wash up.

Meanwhile, Kashiwagi Jin and others were already itching to start searching.

The shower room on the fifth floor of the Nagoya building is small and quiet, only the sound of hot water from the showerhead hitting the tiles.

Uesugi Muneyuki stood under the water flow, letting the hot water wash the residue from his hair and face into the drain.

His trench coat and shirt had already been bagged as evidence and sent for cleaning; Ikeda Erena brought from her luggage a spare dark blue uniform jacket and a clean white T-shirt, placing them on the chair by the shower room door.

Hot water poured from above, running down the small cut on his forehead, stinging like a needle's brief sharp prick.

He didn't bother with it, since the wound healed quickly.

Hirate Sarina.

Uesugi Muneyuki thought her soul had left nothing behind—no death flashback, no last words, no image of her final moments alive.

She exploded.

She chose to blast everything to pieces, leaving nothing of herself behind.

This means her grudge energy far exceeded his expectations.

An ordinary deceased soul would not possess such energy; normally only those who died in extreme agony, filled at the moment of death with extreme anger and unwillingness, could gather enough spiritual force after death to form a grudge.

But even a grudge usually cannot resist his approach.

He wears the Great Virtue Wisdom King, the Military Deva Wisdom King, and the Vajra Yaksha Wisdom King, and also bears the blessing of Arimura Hana. Ordinary vengeful spirits before him would be suppressed, would fear his tile-throwing, would obey him, or at least dare not confront him directly.

Hirate Sarina exploded.

She not only resisted him, but in her resistance she blasted her own corpse to pieces, erasing everything remaining of her from this world.

She left him nothing, no soul fragments for questioning, no breath traces to track the killer, no physical remains to serve as evidence.

She just wanted to blow herself up.

【First, Hirate definitely made contact with the Inner World, otherwise she could not have possessed this power.】Uesugi Muneyuki first said to Arimura Hana: 【Second, she must have seen something of the Inner World, otherwise she would not have made this choice.

【Makes sense, humans can never imagine what they have never seen.】Village Flower Palace agreed.

【And I think Hirate has some understanding of the Inner World but not enough, which is why she is so arrogant and so overconfident.】Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head with a bitter smile: 【The so-called full bucket makes no sound, half bucket sloshes, that's the principle.】

【You mean she might feel betrayed?】Arimura Hana said.

Uesugi Muneyuki pressed his forehead against the shower room's ceramic tile wall, letting hot water flow down from the back of his neck.

Her anger was not just directed at him alone; she was angry at the whole world that made her this way—the idol industry, media, fans, Tangqian Yang, those who couldn't see her while she lived, those who after her death treated her as material.

She did not want to be touched by anyone again, did not want to be used by anyone again, did not want to be "investigated" by anyone again.

Even if that person's purpose was to find her killer. She no longer trusted any living person.

So, Hirate, besides feeling anger toward him, also felt anger toward everyone.

Uesugi Muneyuki turned off the faucet.

He stood in the shower room, water droplets dripping from his body, pooling into a small puddle on the tile floor, reached for the towel on the chair to dry himself, put on that deep blue uniform jacket and white T-shirt.

He glanced at the mirror; the wound on his forehead was no longer bleeding, leaving a thin red line, like the third eye of the Horse Head Wisdom King.

Horse Head Wisdom King, awesome!

I'm so handsome!

In the hallway, Okada Masayoshi was leaning against the wall waiting for him.

Seeing Uesugi Muneyuki come out, he straightened up, his expression more solemn than usual: "Nagoya Headquarters received a call from Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters. They said they require an explanation regarding the corpse storage procedure. Headquarters Chief Shimada is being reprimanded upstairs. I heard Commissioner Watanabe personally made the call."

"Pfft." Ikeda Erena couldn't help but laugh.

Uesugi Muneyuki gave a slight nod, offering no comment on this matter.

He walked two steps toward the elevator, then stopped, suddenly remembering something, turned around: "Okada, trouble arranging this—I want to order an autopsy on Nagase Ren."

Okada Masayoshi's expression paused for a moment: "Inspector Nagase's corpse? I think Nagoya Headquarters might not be willing. After all, he is a headquarters officer, and he just died not long ago. The family side—" "I know." Uesugi Muneyuki interrupted him: "But I need him. His corpse and cause of death are equally important. Tell his family this is a formal request from Tokyo Headquarters. If Nagoya refuses to cooperate, I will have Commissioner Watanabe call Headquarters Chief Shimada directly."

Okada Masayoshi looked at him for two seconds, then nodded, took out his phone and began dialing.

You said it!

Nagase Ren's corpse is stored in a slightly better-conditioned cold room at Nagoya Headquarters.

When Uesugi Muneyuki entered alone the next morning, Nagoya authorities had already cleared the scene as he requested.

Nagoya Police Department originally did not want Uesugi Muneyuki to perform the autopsy.

But they said it doesn't count.

The room contained only Uesugi Muneyuki and the corpse covered in white cloth on the table.

Nagase Ren's corpse was preserved much better than Hirate Sarina's; after all, he was a police officer, received standard post-mortem procedures, and had no abnormalities.

Uesugi Muneyuki walked up to the table.

"Open your eyes, Inspector Nagase Ren, I am Uesugi Muneyuki."

"I came because of you!"

This time, there was no resistance.

The residual breath of Nagase Ren in the air was steady and clear.

Green light filled the room, Nagase Ren's voice appeared in his consciousness, carrying a hint of relief followed by calm: "Mr. Uesugi. You finally came."

"Hmm."

"Hirate's matter—I'm so sorry!"

Uesugi fell silent for a beat. "You did what you could."

"I know." Nagase Ren's voice held a trace of extremely faint smile, very light, like dust stirred by wind through an empty room: "In those last few days I checked every lead I could. Tangqian Yang and Hirate Sarina's relationship, LSD source, DNA comparison—I went as far as I could. The rest, I had no time for."

Nagase Ren briefly summarized everything about himself, including Nagoya Headquarters urging him to admit fault, and that five years later he could still take the promotion exam.

"Do you think Tangqian Yang is the killer?"

"No." Nagase Ren's answer was crisp: "I had someone check his communication records and bank flow. He liked Hirate Sarina, very much. That liking might be unhealthy, might involve strong control, but he had no motive to harm her. He gave her resources, gave her money, helped her cover up, but he did not kill her. He might not even know she took LSD, he thought she was just stressed and throwing tantrums. He never knew she would leave alone that night."

Uesugi Muneyuki nodded, comparing this information with his own earlier judgment based on Tangqian Yang's reaction: "And the DNA? That sample mixed with seven ancestral sources."

"No match. Not in the database. I tried every possible channel. That person's identity, I could never confirm." Nagase Ren's voice full of relief: "Mr. Uesugi, I have no regrets. My choices were my own.

I did all I could. The rest—is left to you."

"Delayed justice is no justice, heaven and earth have righteous energy, mixed and assigned to forms, below then rivers and mountains, above then sun and stars, to end like this in confusion, I cannot accept! Three years ago I passed the career track exam, that year I was twenty-five, at that moment I swore at Sakuradamon to serve the people! Three years later I still think this way!"

"But alas, I must stop here, Uesugi-san—please carry my wish forward, go down, give the people an explanation, give justice an explanation, give me an explanation, if my one life could exchange for heavenly principle bright and clear filling the universe, then—just do it!"

"May your military fortune prosper!"

Nagase Ren's dead soul bowed deeply.

Uesugi Muneyuki slightly lowered his head, bowing similarly toward the table.

What a tough guy!

What a pity—after the millennium, such hot-blooded Japanese men are becoming fewer and fewer!

Your blood will not be shed in vain!

The National Police Agency has decided to posthumously promote you to Superintendent! This time, no need to wait five years!

You will be a Superintendent tomorrow!

He turned and walked out of the cold storage room, and when he pulled open the door, the hallway lighting was bright enough to be somewhat dazzling.

Okada Masayoshi stood outside the door, holding a mobile phone in his hand, his face bearing an indescribable expression: "Commissioner Watanabe's call.

Headquarters Chief Shimada has been reprimanded, and the Commissioner has something to say to you."

He handed over the mobile phone.

Uesugi Muneyuki took it and placed it to his ear.

Watanabe Eiji's voice came from the handset, carrying an extra layer of subtle low pitch compared to usual: "Muneyuki, Nagoya

side, how is the situation? What do you plan to do?"

Uesugi Muneyuki pressed the phone to his ear and walked along the hallway toward the elevator.

His stride was neither fast nor slow, his voice steady as if reporting a routine examination result: "Follow procedure. Let Nagoya bear the responsibility for the improper handling of the corpse. What I need has already been obtained."

"Who is the best for Y-DNA mapping?"

"Of course, it's the Americans!" Uesugi Muneyuki's eyes flashed with light: "Perhaps the Americans can tell me the truth!"