Chapter 1027

Uesugi Muneyuki finished reading and placed the document on the desk.

His finger tapped once on each of the entries "Goa" and "Macau-born Portuguese", then he looked up at Kashiwagi Jin, Okada Masayoshi, and Nango Yui: "Only these two."

"Why???" Kashiwagi Jin was utterly confused.

"It's simple, because the latter two are very difficult to obtain Japanese visas for." Uesugi Muneyuki complained: "It's already hard for South Africans to enter Japan, and the Caribbean is nearly impossible. Japanese passports allow visa-free entry to 190 countries, but the reverse—countries allowing visa-free entry into Japan—is not that many."

"In other words, the most likely possibility is Indian nationals or people from the German-Australian Special Administrative Region?" Nango Yui stroked her chin, deep in thought.

"Yes, but precisely because of that, the Macau-born Portuguese of the Oceania Alliance can also be ruled out." Uesugi Muneyuki said.

Kashiwagi Jin was puzzled: "Why? From a genetic composition standpoint, the ancestral admixture pattern of Macau-born Portuguese indeed matches the features of this data—Portuguese, Chinese, Malay, Indian, African, multi-generational mixing!"

"The reason is simple." Uesugi Muneyuki interrupted Old Ren impatiently: "Because Oceania Alliance people wouldn't come to Japan to work as dispatch workers, Kashiwagi, you don't really think the country across the sea is still in the state of twenty or thirty years ago, do you? Especially the Oceania Alliance?"

— Kashiwagi Jin scratched his head slightly embarrassed.

To Japanese people, the world is broadly divided into two: "Japan" and "overseas."

What Japanese people actually care most about when looking outward are really just those few countries: first the United States, then South Korea and Russia, and only then other countries.

"You need to understand the actual situation of the Oceania Alliance. Oceania Alliance residents automatically acquire Portuguese citizenship at birth, hold Portuguese passports, and can freely enter and exit the EU. What level is the social welfare of the Oceania Alliance? The Oceania government dispenses cash to permanent residents every year, ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands of Australian dollars, continuously for over a decade. The median per capita income in the Oceania Alliance exceeds twenty-three thousand alliance units, ranking among the highest in Asia. Oceania Alliance people coming to Japan for tourism, shopping, eating sushi is entirely plausible. But coming to Japan to work as dispatch labor? Moving boxes in warehouses at Nagoya Port, bunking in dispatch dormitories in industrial zones? Impossible."

Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but complain: "In fact, local casinos in the Oceania Alliance have plenty of positions specifically reserved for locals, these jobs not only offer excellent five-insurance-two-gold benefits and sometimes don't even require full five-day workweeks, yet locals still refuse to take them, so in the end it's Southeast Asians doing the work."

"Moreover, the immigration policy of the Oceania Alliance is nearly the most closed in the world. If you want to immigrate there, basically there's only one path: marry a local Oceania Alliance person. Besides that, the Oceania Alliance almost only welcomes Nobel Prize winners and Olympic gold medalists. Their attitude toward introducing foreign labor is to write unwelcome on their faces. Foreign workers in the Oceania Alliance must be sponsored by employers, can only work in specific positions, cannot change jobs, cannot bring family, cannot apply for permanent residency. An Oceania Alliance person giving up local high welfare and stable income to come to Japan to work as dispatch labor? This probability is infinitesimally close to zero." Uesugi Muneyuki sneered: "Still thinking it's Japan in the 80s or 90s? When will this dream ever wake?"

Okada Masayoshi laughed somewhat embarrassedly.

Was it really that good back then?

But — I feel it's not bad now either, I haven't experienced any major depression or bubble burst since I was born

contraction reduction ah, you don't tell me this ah, I also don't understand ah.

Okada Masayoshi's deepest memory of past eras is still seeing Sakai Noriko's advertisement in the television station during his childhood.

"Matsushita Electric"

Uesugi Muneyuki said nothing more, he fell into deep thought.

When he traveled in his past life, he could clearly feel that HK's attitude toward foreigners, especially mainlanders, was not friendly, while conversely, Oceania Alliance people were especially enthusiastic toward tourists.

So everyone's simplest judgment was: Oceania Alliance people good, HK people bad.

But actually, he only later understood what was going on.

In fact, it's just that unless you marry a local, mainlanders are nearly impossible to immigrate to the Oceania Alliance, they won't come to steal jobs, won't come to steal women, won't stay long-term, instead they can fiercely explode gold coins, clothing, food, parents—belonging to that, so naturally they are very friendly and enthusiastic toward tourists.

The so-called "one meeting, one lifetime" is precisely this principle.

Whereas HK people are completely different, they truly feel the threat from mainlanders, in fact from the 80s and 90s onward, nearly half of HK men marrying are mainland women, then masses of people specifically go to HK to give birth to children to obtain HK household registration, people from the north will come in to seize their jobs, depress their wages, siphon off their profits, affect their resources.

You should know, a dishwashing job in HK earns over twenty thousand HKD a month easily, regular work monthly salaries are all above thirty thousand HKD, but converted, wanting to find a proper job in the north paying over ten or twenty thousand soft girl currency is very difficult.

So the less exclusionary, the more exclusionary in practice.

The more exclusionary, the less exclusionary in practice.

Exclusion paradox belongs to that.

Uesugi Muneyuki thought Australia is actually like this too, these years Australia's hukou value has risen from an average of 1000

ten thousand yen to over 30 million yen, in many places still frenziedly chasing it, and if male then only work visas and talent introduction, needing corporate guarantee and after five years of work calculating points, even more extremely only able to take investment immigration.

The earliest investment of 50—100 million Australian dollars could suffice, now they've made Australia have some conditions all the way up to 500 million Australian dollars.

As for females, as long as they marry locals they automatically acquire Australian citizenship.

Can everyone understand why some places require betrothal gifts not to be missing a single cent, while others just instantly give it away for free?

So, sometimes people truly cannot understand each other.

After a while of random thoughts, Uesugi Muneyuki moved his finger from the "Oceania Alliance-born Portuguese" line to the first line "Goa Portuguese-Indian mixed".

He tapped that entry: "After ruling out the Oceania Alliance, what remains is Goa. Goa, India, former Portuguese colony, Portuguese and local Indians long-term intermarriage forming a Catholic community. This community's population scale is much larger than Macau-born Portuguese, and its immigration network is much broader than the Oceania Alliance's."

"And what has Japan been doing recently? Actively recruiting labor from South and Southeast Asia. The government has relaxed restrictions on laborers from India,

Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc., large numbers of skill interns and settlers entering Japan's manufacturing, logistics, and construction industries. Nagoya Port, as one of Japan's largest international trade ports, has surrounding South Asian dispatch workers numbering in the thousands."

He flipped the report to the last page, where AncestryDNA's given ancestral DNA possible portrait was displayed.

India has historically been conquered by many ethnic groups, as mentioned earlier, the Maurya Dynasty, Kushan Empire, Delhi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, British India, then plus the wave of Portuguese Goa mixed blood!

It is entirely possible that during the survey, multiple ancestral admixtures would appear on the body!

Uesugi Muneyuki said this, and everyone felt it made sense!

Indeed, why didn't we think of that?

Not bad, Uesugi-san!

Ikeda Erena looked at Uesugi Muneyuki with eyes full of admiration.

Ikeda Erena looked at Uesugi Muneyuki with eyes full of boundless admiration.

Of course, there's also another reason: that place in India might still preserve ancient Inner World cultivation laws, because that place is both traditional and chaotic, thus possibly leaving behind vast remnants of the Inner World.

He closed the report and placed it on the desk: "So, the investigation direction is locked: Indian nationality, Goa-born or ancestral Goa, Portuguese-Indian mixed background, male, age between twenty-five and forty-five, having engaged in dispatch work in Nagoya Port or surrounding industrial zones, with at least two short-term employment records. The spelling of the name appears in more than one version of the registration records!"

"Then, it's highly likely he carries a typical Portuguese surname, anyway Portuguese people just have those few names, anyway it's nothing but Fernandes, Ferreira, D「Souza, Rodrigues, Pereira, Gomes and the like—these spellings are numerous, and again very prone to errors when Portuguese is transliterated to English then to katakana, so everyone can't find it!"

Uesugi Muneyuki solemnly said: "At the same time, his residency status might have shifted from skill intern to settler, or he holds another type of long-term visa. Check all dispatch companies' employment records at Nagoya Port, check the port entry/exit system, check surrounding resident registration books, cross-reference."

"Then, he most likely has a typical Portuguese surname—after all, Portuguese people only use those few names, basically Fernandes, Ferreira, D'Souza, Rodrigues, Pereira, Gomes, and the like. There are many such names, and they are easily misspelled when converting from Portuguese to English and then to katakana, so no one can find him!"

Uesugi Muneyuki said solemnly: "At the same time, his residence status may have changed from technical intern trainee to long-term resident, or he may hold another type of long-term visa. Check the employment records of all dispatch companies at Nagoya Port, check the port entry-exit registration system, check the surrounding resident registry, and cross-reference."

Subsequently, everyone felt that the two dark clouds looming over the Hirate case desk had finally been dispelled!

Okada Masayoshi excitedly stood up immediately: "I'll arrange it right away. Let the investigation team of Aichi Ken Hombu reorganize, focus on screening registration records of Indian workers!"

He turned and walked toward the door, passing Maeda Toshihide and Asō Kōta beside him, patting Maeda's shoulder: "Hey, Maeda"

Okada Masayoshi stood up excitedly immediately: "I'll arrange it right away. Have the inspection team at Aichi Prefecture headquarters regroup and focus on screening the registration records of Indian workers!"

He turned and walked toward the door, patting Maeda's shoulder as he passed Maeda Toshihide and Asō Kōta: "Hey, Maeda

Tian! Asō! Go retrieve all the Indian leads that were previously excluded. Not a single one may be missed.

Yes! Maeda Toshihide and Asō Kōta both responded excitedly.

With a direction, it's different now!

Kashiwagi Jin even took off from the spot, his fists clenched tight, raised high, his face instantly flushing red!

Never such a wonderful opening! Cheer for me, applaud for me, 0————OK?!

Goa. Portuguese-Indian mixed blood. This direction is far more precise than all previous ones. The Pakistani and Nepali leads investigated by Aichi Prefecture earlier were all off. AncestryDNA's reverse tracing really works!

It seems American technology isn't completely useless either!

Uesugi Muneyuki silently glanced at Lao Ren.

————Alright, I'll handle it from now on! Lao Ren felt a bit embarrassed, having interacted with Uesugi Muneyuki for a long time, he naturally understood what this gaze meant: "I will contact the INTERPOL India National Central Bureau to request assistance in checking whether there are any missing persons or exit records matching the conditions in Goa."

"I'll handle contacting the Nagoya Port Immigration Office to retrieve all Indian residency status change records from the past three years." Superintendent Shiratori Sho also immediately said.

Hah, this guy, immediately picked the safest job for himself.

Uesugi Muneyuki didn't say anything either.

Everyone's busy, being busy is good!

The entire Special Investigation Headquarters staff seemed to have been rewound like a spring and started moving.

Phone sounds, keyboard taps, footsteps echoed back and forth between the hallway and office area.

Maeda Toshihide and Asō Kōta had already rushed to the doorway of the archives room at the end of the hallway, beginning to search through the several boxes of Indian worker registration materials that had been set aside. Nanxiang Yui sat back at the computer, her fingers flying across the keyboard, database interfaces popping up one after another on the screen.

The large groups of police sent from the Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters had already grown accustomed to it—when Uesugi Muneyuki acts, they know whether there's something or not; they just need to wait, then obey, and follow the direction he gives to investigate thoroughly!

How dare they lay hands on our national idol—this is no ordinary Indian, we must strike hard!

Not finding the direction is Uesugi's problem, but not catching the person is ours!

Nagoya's police were somewhat disheartened.

Why couldn't we think of this much?

Detective Nagase, you died so tragically!

But they also immediately started getting busy, since with a direction, the case becomes manageable!

Even Kashiwagi Misa and Yamada Nanase got busy—Kashiwagi Misa began arranging personnel, assigning police to teams, placing the right people in the right places, and signing numerous weapons permits.

As for Yamada Nanase, she also began getting busy.

Busy serving tea and water, printing documents, delivering reports.

And let's not say, this widow, quite well-known in the Japanese police circles, truly possesses a unique charm—she wears a standard Metropolitan Police Department summer short-sleeved duty shirt and short-sleeved skirt, thin flesh-toned stockings wrapping her well-proportioned calves and full thighs, her black hair tied into a ponytail, her face bearing a smile that's three parts healing and seven parts soft and cute, speaking in a soft Kansai dialect, almost no police officer bears her any ill will.

This guy is especially good at blending in.

Uesugi Muneyuki sat beside his desk, watching Yamada Nanase's busy back, motionless.

His gaze fell upon the AncestryDNA report on the desk, his finger lightly tapping twice on the edge of the line reading "Goa."

He recalled the moment Hirate Sarina exploded in the mortuary.

That intensity of anger, that power to shatter her own remains.

Tile-throwing!

A dispatched worker from Goa, if merely an ordinary human, could not possibly achieve such violence in front of an idol on the verge of spiritual awakening.

That person must have something else on them.

Something not belonging to the Outer World. But those things don't need to be written in the report for now.

He only needs to first find that person, find that person's name, face, and whereabouts.

As for the rest.

Uesugi Muneyuki's mouth corner revealed a smile.

My hand is too full! Keke!

Though said to start immediately, in reality, the Japanese police's efficiency is not high.

The search operation was fully deployed that evening.

The Aichi Prefecture Police Headquarters' investigation team was reorganized into six groups, each responsible for one area's dispatch company employment records and port entry/exit data.

Nanxiang Yui sat at the computer, turning the AncestryDNA-provided screening conditions into a search template, imported into the Nagoya Port Immigration Office's residency status database.

Kashiwagi Jin made three international long-distance calls, contacting the INTERPOL India National Central Bureau; they said they would assist in querying Goa's exit records, but feedback would take one to two days.

Shiratori Sho took two people to the Nagoya Port Immigration Office, preparing to retrieve overnight all registration change files for Indian laborers from the past three years.

The office area was brightly lit, footsteps constantly echoing in the hallway.

Uesugi Muneyuki sat at his temporary workstation, waiting for results, when he felt a chill at the back of his neck.

"Ah!!!"

It was Ikeda Erena, who had bought two cups of Starbucks iced coffee and deliberately placed them behind his neck!

"Master!" Uesugi Muneyuki was both annoyed and amused.

"Muneyuki, don't rush—you've already given the direction, the rest is up to us." Ikeda Erena raised her head domineeringly, then shouted: "Let me personally beat him down!"

"The other party is very likely not just one person." Uesugi Muneyuki smiled and nodded: "But it's fine, we have plenty of people!"

"Anyway, I want to strike personally! Although I don't like Hirate as much as you do, this is really excessive!" Ikeda Erena threw a punch, the sound of breaking air making the nearby male officers turn pale: "Justice! Will surely be realized!"

"Indeed." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded.

He indeed doesn't like Hirate, he was even blown up by her, his clothes were ruined, but matter is matter, person is person, he judges matters, not people.

Hirate's death like this is truly suffocating and tragic—he has the duty to uphold justice for Hirate, to give the nation an explanation, to give this tragedy justice!

"However, I just saw Date constantly fiddling with something." Ikeda Erena gestured for Uesugi Muneyuki to look at the corner.

Date Nagamune had been staring at his phone all day today.

Uesugi Muneyuki noticed Date Nagamune making a call in the hallway, voice kept low, likely calling Moriya Akane—he hadn't mentioned his girlfriend much today, but Uesugi Muneyuki noticed that during free moments he would open his phone to glance at Moriya Akane's message, then quickly lock the screen.

This kid is really head over heels for the Second Young Lady.

How much bride price is he planning to give?

Uesugi Muneyuki chuckled and shook his head, thinking that while the Date Clan could surely keep other matters confidential, this case was one they absolutely couldn't keep secret—he must already be discussing it with the Second Young Lady.

But then again, it's normal—this is Nagoya, where keeping something secret for a long time is nearly impossible.

For example—

Sure enough, around seven-thirty in the evening, a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue jacket with the Toyota Group emblem pinned to his chest appeared at the entrance of the Special Investigation Division office.

Behind him followed a group of people, each holding four or five neatly stacked lacquerware food boxes, the lids stamped with the Toyota logo.

The middle-aged man gave a slight bow to the nearest officer and said: "The Toyota Group has brought dinner for everyone from the Special Mission Division and the Metropolitan Police Department!"

"Mina-san, thank you for your hard work!"

Dozens of food boxes were placed one by one on the long table at the back of the office area.

When the box lids were opened, a warm steam mixed with the aromas of grilled eel, miso-fried pork cutlet, tempura, and miso-simmered udon filled the entire room.

The food was served in exquisite lacquerware dishes, each item arranged as if freshly brought from a high-end dining pavilion.

Nagoya's signature dishes were nearly all present—miso-simmered udon, eel rice, shrimp tempura, miso-skewer fried, red bean toast, and even several boxes of neatly packaged Nagoya specialty snacks.

The officers flipping through files all looked up in unison, their gazes lingering on the food boxes for two seconds before someone began to swallow.

Uesugi Muneyuki walked up to the long table, lowered his head, and took a glance. The other food boxes were uniform in style, but the one closest to him on that side was noticeably larger.

The food box on that side was clearly bigger than the others.

Makunouchi three-tier bento.

He reached out and lifted the first layer: six neatly arranged slices of grilled eel, glazed with a shiny sauce, the eel's fat glistening faintly under the light.

Second layer: Nagoya-style miso-fried pork cutlet, cut into even-width strips, garnished with a small dollop of yellow mustard and a few slices of pickled radish.

Third layer: tempura platter—one or two large shrimp, several slices of eggplant, several slices of pumpkin, and a small bunch of ginkgo nuts, the batter thin and crisp, resting on a sheet of oil-absorbing white paper.

Before he could even take a bite, Uesugi Muneyuki's phone rang.

"Good evening, Mr. Uesugi, this is Toyoda Akio."

Uesugi Muneyuki put the food box lid back, stood upright, and held the phone to his ear: "Hello, Mr. Toyoda, this is Uesugi Muneyuki."

"I'm deeply honored to hear you've taken over the Hirate case today—truly a privilege! Thank you for your hard work. Are you getting used to the local cuisine here in Nagoya?"

"Mr. Toyoda, too kind. I've received the bento—it's quite lavish."

"All good. I called not only to greet you but also to ask about the case's progress." Toyoda Akio's tone

was gentle: "I received some information this afternoon. I heard the police are currently focusing on Indian laborers—is that correct?"

Uesugi Muneyuki almost couldn't help laughing out loud.

Damn, with this kind of pressure, it's no surprise Watanabe Eiji would commit suicide.

Moreover, Toyoda knows police internal affairs inside out.

It's terrifying.

"As of now, the case is still under further investigation, Mr. Toyoda. The police haven't locked onto any specific suspect yet." Uesugi Muneyuki said: "We've got a tentative lead, but it's not convenient to disclose—

Toyoda Akio on the other end of the line also fell silent for a moment, seemingly unsurprised by this answer: "I understand. Mr. Uesugi, I respect the police's investigative pace. I called just to say one thing: the 500 million yen reward I posted remains valid. Anyone who provides useful clues can claim this reward. If the police need any assistance from the Toyota side during the investigation, please contact me anytime. We have a complete employee file system at our logistics company in Nagoya Port, and if you need to check records of dispatched workers, we can cooperate."

The call ended.

Uesugi Muneyuki put down the phone, his expression turning more amused.

He spent four hundred million yen to buy the penthouse.

Wow, the money's coming back so fast?

Hey, the rich get richer—ain't that the truth!