Chapter 363

"So, Father-in-law, Director of the Secretariat, what do you think I should do now?"

In the upscale restaurant "C" (Ijimi) in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, Uesugi Muneyuki held a cup of sake and asked Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji and Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat Onoda Kimiaki beside him.

"This is indeed a difficult problem, hmm~" Onoda Kimiaki, wearing a standard three-piece suit, had the rich aroma of sea bream tempura, white miso soup, and the fresh sweetness of seasonal fugu hot pot filling the air, with the charcoal in the brazier making faint crackling sounds: "The main issue is that you actually have a minor living with you, hmm~"

"Onoda is right; I already heard about Asuka's situation from Minami. Muneyuki, frankly speaking, you handled this poorly, but considering Asuka's position and that she has lost all her relatives, if you also abandon her, her fate will be self-destruction." Watanabe Eiji nodded, the Superintendent General not blaming Uesugi Muneyuki for his problem: "This might actually cause greater trouble, as Weekly Bunshun always finds reasons to attack someone, though this time it's a bit strange, Muneyuki—this is actually using tactics against political opponents on you."

"What's the big deal? Whether it's the Ikeda matter or your case, Muneyuki-kun, fundamentally, they're using them to attack our police system." Onoda's tone was quite disdainful: "In the end, Muneyuki-kun is just someone responsible for autopsies; no matter how much hatred,

it's impossible to specifically target him alone. The true force behind Weekly Bunshun that genuinely hates and wants to retaliate against is me and Eiji."

"Exactly." Watanabe Eiji nodded: "Regarding the Kabukicho incident, we stirred many people's interests, and the Public Security investigation results led to, after many years, a genuine National Diet member receiving criminal charges, not just a secretary taking the blame."

"Of course, even if they want to retaliate against our police system, even if they meet secretly in a restaurant, they will never admit their self-proclaimed target is our police organization; they will only admit it's personal hatred toward you, hmm~" Onoda Yoshio said meaningfully: "Muneyuki-kun, I once served as Director of Public Security and Chief of the Security Department; you should know that expressing dissatisfaction with the police system toward other politicians under any circumstances is extremely dangerous—do you understand my meaning? So they can only hate you."

"I understand." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded, which is equivalent to privately expressing dissatisfaction with the National Security Agency in a certain country, with MI6 in the UK, with the FBI and CIA in the US, and with Mossad in Israel.

I think you want to die.

Politicians' moral boundaries are very flexible, their positions very pliable, and their stances very treacherous.

"Earlier they wanted to use the Ikeda incident to attack our police, but I had anticipated it; otherwise, why would I have agreed to Vice Minister Kaiji letting his son join the Special Mission Unit? After all, that's his only weakness." Watanabe Eiji held his wine cup and pondered: "Minister of Justice Daikanyama Umihito is someone without conviction and unwilling to offend the police system, so now it's your turn to be dealt with, Muneyuki."

"The biggest problem now is that Saito Asuka is indeed a minor." Onoda Kimiaki furrowed his brow, his deep eye sockets containing a pair of sharp, small eyes constantly moving: "You know our country's laws were long dominated by left-wingers, and the laws they enacted always overprotect so-called 'vulnerable groups'; once the prosecution decides to indict, your trouble will be great, Muneyuki-kun."

"I'm not afraid of prosecution!" Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but say: "I possess extremely strict legal closed-loop evidence! Every action of mine has been logged and archived! I ensure every action of mine is legal!"

"That's useless." Onoda Kimiaki chuckled twice, the Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat shaking his head repeatedly: "Muneyuki-kun, you're not a graduate of the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law, so you don't know—Japan's minimum age of sexual consent—"

"I know, Japan's minimum age of sexual consent is 16!" Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help but say: "She's already 17!

Moreover, Mikoto is her legal guardian and has received approval from the Family Court!"

"No, you simply don't understand." Onoda rudely interrupted Uesugi Muneyuki: "In Japan, false accusations involving minors are too easy."

"As long as a minor reports an adult's sexual assault, in the US it requires an evidence chain and testimony, in Germany it requires trauma assessment and substantive evidence, but in Japan it doesn't—just one sentence can send you to prison."

"Suppose a minor reports you for sexual assault out of fun and curiosity, and you indeed had private contact with her—what's the chance of prosecution? 97%!"

"Suppose a third party unrelated to you learns you cohabit with a minor and reports you, even if only a statement with no evidence, just knowing you live together—what's the chance of prosecution? 90%.

,

"Suppose the minor denies during police interrogation—what's the chance of prosecution? 73%."

"Suppose during investigation, the guardian and minor simultaneously clarify and deny on the spot that any sexual assault occurred—what's the chance of prosecution? 32%."

Onoda Kimiaki sneered and shook his head: "Even the famous Osaka teacher false accusation case was purely students disliking this teacher who cared about their studies, so they deliberately framed him; even if the student later realized what they did, recanted in court, wept tearfully admitting it was out of personal grudge, DNA test negative, the student's statement about the time of assault showed the teacher was in Okinawa on vacation with solid alibi and the school's 24-hour surveillance footage.

"In the end, that teacher was still detained for eighteen full months, lost his job, his wife divorced, his daughter committed suicide, and received only 3.2 million yen in compensation—less than 70% of legal fees."

"So, for you, Muneyuki-kun, even if all your legal means are complete—work qualifications, review, adoption procedures all documented, guardian and involved party doubly deny firmly, even if you have 24-hour full surveillance, even if you retained all call records, there's still about a 15% chance of prosecution, because prosecutors can claim you bribed the guardian,

threatened the involved party, bought off police and third-party institutions, and even controlled government departments, the National Diet, the Cabinet, and even the Imperial Household Agency."

Did Ben Hayes Uesugi's right hand control all of Japan, right?

Uesugi Muneyuki gave a bitter smile—what ultimate darkness.

"The Japanese judiciary is a meat grinder that, once started, is hard to stop; the only way out is not to become its raw material."

Onoda coldly snorted: "This is the result of entrusting legislative power to so-called left-wingers; postwar left-wing legislators were too progressive, too protective of vulnerable groups."

"Once indicted, you'll be arrested, pre-trial detention lasts about eleven months, and even if you can prove innocence in the end, things are irreparable." Watanabe Eiji also nodded and spoke coldly: "You are the face of our Metropolitan Police Department and the actual achiever of all major accomplishments in recent years; if you fall, the department's prior achievements will also be tarnished, and more importantly, legislation on Kabukicho host clubs and the Ikeda bill will never pass, and our police's counteroffensive will be extremely fierce—most Diet members are fence-sitters, unwilling to go against the wind."

"Japan has about 700 Diet members, among whom 200 are too old—so old they can only nap during meetings; 200 are too young and immature, sometimes still pure idealists, utterly unaware of how politics works; of the remaining 300, 100 are mere puppets, another 100 only want to ruthlessly line their pockets, and truly only about 100 genuinely want to do something for this country." Onoda said.

"Maybe 100, maybe only 80." Watanabe Eiji told a cold joke.

"Maybe 50, can't be more." Uesugi Muneyuki shook his head repeatedly.

"Yes, theoretically speaking, after revision, the age of sexual consent rose from 13 to 16; Saito and the guardian could double-deny and invoke police and prosecutorial invasion of privacy and child welfare as grounds, through listing extremely meticulous legal evidence chains, making it impossible for police and prosecutors to indict—but Muneyuki-kun, you overlooked a crucial point."

Onoda Kimiaki stared fixedly at Uesugi Muneyuki: "Between you and Asuka, there exists an employment relationship and financial transactions."

"This directly affects all previously existing evidence chains; once any matter involves financial transactions and employment relations,

prosecutors can use this as an excuse to forcibly detain you pending investigation, even if all money flows through transparent channels, even if you can prove domestic service was notarized by a third party and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, but Weekly Bunshun can still, within the closed loop of being under eighteen and having an employment relationship, destroy all your preparations at once."

"This is also why I had Daikanyama Ren remind you to come see me and Eiji—I must know,

if we go all out to protect you, how confident are we?"

Onoda Kimiaki and Watanabe Eiji both looked at Uesugi Muneyuki; Watanabe Eiji fell silent for a few seconds, then solemnly said: "Muneyuki, regarding this matter, do you have the guts to fight Weekly Bunshun to the very end? Do you have the courage to withstand their sudden table-flipping, their insistence that you definitely have an improper relationship with Asuka, and prove your innocence to the bitter end?"

At this moment, Uesugi Muneyuki was already drenched in sweat, his mind involuntarily recalling what Mai Xuejie had said to him.

He had already considered and prepared for all possible outcomes, had prepared complete evidence chains and all legal evidence in advance, had arranged Mikoto-nee's adoption and various third-party supervision to avoid trouble, but he ultimately isn't a legal professional, underestimated Japan's legal "progressiveness" and "left-wing nature."

The opponent treats him as a politician to deal with! And they found the key legal loophole of employment relationship and being over 16 but under 18!

What a terrifying opponent—their backers must absolutely have experts!

Subsequently, he revealed a resolute gaze.

The next day, Weekly Bunshun's news broke, and the storm surrounding Uesugi Muneyuki immediately erupted!

Japanese social media #Uesugi Slave Forensic Examiner tag clicks → 120,000 times in one hour!

Yahoo News poll: 1 Whether to approve Uesugi Muneyuki's employment of minor domestic housekeeper → Unforgivable 92

%!

The Metropolitan Police Department's Police Affairs Department Supervision Room received 140 complaint calls within three hours! Compared to previous hourly averages, this increased by a full 140 times!

Public anger toward Uesugi Muneyuki completely exploded!

Uesugi Muneyuki, crashed!!!