Chapter 408

When the Special Mission Unit's report, carrying the damp, cold stench of the sewers yet scorching hot, came in one by one—"Ikebukuro Phantom Guest—Secured!"—it exploded on the dead-silent command frequency, and the entire Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters command center was as if struck by a spiritual nuclear bomb!

The Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters instantly experienced a frenzy from hell to heaven!

The arrival of that news brought a moment of silence, time seeming to freeze for a second, all eyes locked dead-on on the blinking blue cursor representing the Special Mission Unit on the main screen, that heavenly sound echoing in their ears.

The next second, the flood of ecstasy that had been suppressed for eighteen years and built up over more than an hour of extreme pressure burst through the dam!

"We did it!!! Yada☆ze!!!" The deafening cheers nearly lifted the roof! Inside the command center, the department's administrative police threw their documents hard into the air, papers flying like victory snowflakes!

"Special Mission! Special Mission! Special Mission!" On-site policemen shouted the Special Mission Unit's name with abandon, pounding each other's shoulders, tears and sweat intertwining on their faces—the ultimate catharsis of surviving disaster and avenging great wrongs!

"So strong! Uesugi Shougenshou!"

"Uesugi, you're the best, Dad Duck!!"

"Kai, not easy!"

Watanabe Eiji's tense body jerked violently; he clung desperately to the edge of the control panel to keep from falling, this iron-willed Superintendent General, his eye sockets red, lips trembling violently, wanting to speak but ultimately letting out a long, hard-swallowed sigh.

He slowly raised his right hand, giving a perfectly standard, immensely heavy, yet utterly relieved salute to the blue cursor on the screen—fifteen years of pent-up frustration, endless regret and shame surging up, tears finally breaking through his stoic dam, sliding down silently. He grabbed the microphone, his voice hoarse yet carrying unprecedented power, broadcasting across all channels:

"All members of the Special Mission Unit, well done!"

"The fallen Patrol Officers Shan Shan and Ju Ju—. The wounded Inspector Okada, and the Sato family's spirits, waited fifteen years—we have answered them!"

"Members of the Special Mission Unit, the courage and dedication you displayed in this incident—I, representing the Metropolitan Police Department, extend the highest respect and gratitude!"

"Operation, successful!"

With Watanabe Eiji's formal order, the entire command center officially plunged into an ocean of joy!

The Special Mission Unit's actions not only saved the careers of everyone present, but also saved the prestige and honor of the entire Japanese police organization!

Although two regular officers were sacrificed, although the journey was fraught with setbacks and the Phantom Guest toyed with them, the Traffic Mobile Unit, police, and even SAT all suffered losses, but now it's time for the traditional performance-winning strategies of the three East Asian nations to take effect!

Just say whether the cold case was cracked or not!

Just say whether the culprit was finally caught! And moreover, whether it was a complete capture, head to tail, earning full credit!

Just say whether it was the police's activity and effort that rescued the children in the nursery, preventing them from being taken hostage!

That's enough!

Applause, cheers, and sobs echoed again through the hall! Fifteen years of gloom, over an hour of purgatorial torment, in this moment utterly swept away by the joy of victory! The Metropolitan Police Department's pillar of shame, finally shattered by this feat forged in blood, courage, and tenacity!

Watanabe Eiji roared wildly in victory, beside him, Investigation Division 1 Chief Sugishita Ukyo took off his glasses, covered his head, and let out a deep breath—only then discovering his back was soaked in sweat, while Criminal Investigation Department Chief Uchimura Kanji unconsciously touched his shoulder insignia and the Police Commissioner's badge on his chest.

Huff~ Still here!

Almost didn't make it!

Only Chief Xiao Ye Guan Chang remained calmly composed, this Public Security Bureau veteran not letting down, despite the Special Mission Unit's success in capturing the Phantom Guest easing the originally solemn, pallid face of Onoda Kimiaki considerably, he immediately ordered the Director of Security of the National Police Agency, Shinzou Kamiya: "Immediately dispatch SAT to enter the sewers to support the Special Mission Unit!

Maximum alert! I need this person returned intact to the Metropolitan Police Department!"

"Yes!" Director of Security Shinzou Kamiya of the National Police Agency immediately responded.

Soon, the Odaiba wasteland scene.

The heavy manhole cover was fully opened. Dozens of high-powered searchlights illuminated the manhole as bright as day. Fully armed SAT members held ballistic shields, guns at the ready, sealing the manhole completely.

A Kawasaki BK117 police helicopter hovered low, its massive rotor kicking up wind, blowing so hard people couldn't keep their eyes open. A specially made, fixed-device-equipped high-strength rappel steel cable descended from the cabin, precisely hovering above the manhole.

Under the SAT members' tight vigilance, the Phantom Guest, drenched head to toe in black, foul-smelling sludge, as if dredged from the deepest hell, was hauled up from the manhole by SAT Team Leader Godai and others.

His hands were bound behind his back with high-strength plastic ties (stronger than hands), his feet also bound,

The lingering effects of tear gas and flashbangs left his eyes unfocused, coughing violently, his body twitching involuntarily, completely stripped of resistance.

Then came the Special Mission Unit members, among them Date Nagamune, covered head to toe in sludge, the whole person looking like he'd been fished out of mud, this guy injured, rib cracked by the Phantom Guest's elbow, two SAT members working together to pull him from the sewer, though Date Nagamune himself was quite excited, grinning through gritted teeth from the pain, though the foul stench emanating from him made everyone instinctively step back.

Following him came Eirina, Igarashi, and Kai Toru, Igarashi just giggling foolishly, Shin'i Kyō similarly covered in filth, exhausted, but his spine ramrod straight, gripping the rope binding the Phantom Guest tightly, light in his eyes!

He knew he had achieved merit, achieved great merit!

Did you see that, Father! I can also speak up! I can also achieve great merit! Even if I'm non-professional, even if I persist in frontline combat, I can still demonstrate my worth!

He knew his father, the Vice-Minister of Justice, was surely watching, so he deliberately smirked arrogantly at the camera.

Eirina stood faithfully to the side, vigilantly watching the prisoner.

Lastly, Uesugi Muneyuki crawled out of the sewer, his face like a star's, eyes like distant skies, gazing at the finally captured Phantom Guest, he said to the arriving SAT and Commander Superintendent Ichijo: "This time, we really can't let him escape again, Ichijo San, Godai San!"

"Ab-so-lute-ly im-pos-sible!" Superintendent Ichijo gritted his teeth, 56 SAT members against 1 Phantom Guest, with the advantage in my favor, yet he almost got away again! And one SAT member took a hit to the thigh.

If it weren't for the Special Mission Unit capturing him, SAT would become a laughingstock worldwide, pinned to the shame pillar of the special police world!

SAT members swiftly fastened the custom restraint vest on the Phantom Guest, securing him firmly to the rappel steel cable's suspension plate, no delay, the helicopter winch engaged!

The steel cable tightened, the Phantom Guest's filthy body like a hooked rotting fish, under countless cameras and gazes, slowly, humiliatingly lifted from the depths that had swallowed him, rising toward the hovering helicopter, the searchlight beam like a stage spotlight, illuminating this "triumphal" scene with crystal clarity—this is the most public trial of the demon, and the most direct proclamation of police victory!

Meanwhile, the ground was already laid with a heavenly net and earthly trap! Dozens of Type96 armored vehicles roared, machine gun turrets vigilantly turning, dozens of SAT members and mobile police forming walls of people. The road to the Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters was completely cleared, implementing the highest-level traffic control. One helicopter provided aerial escort, another carrying the Phantom Guest had its cabin door tightly shut, inside besides the pilot, four fully armed SAT members, guns locked on the Phantom Guest

members!

The helicopter formation and ground armored vehicle convoy, forming the escort, with specifications and killing intent rare since the Showa era, screamed across Tokyo Bay's skies and the cleared streets!

The destination was only one: the underground highest-security interrogation center of the Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters, en route all locations, Metropolitan Police Department elites drafted from all over Tokyo Metropolis controlling the way, this is a zero-tolerance operation, a total blockade of the Phantom Guest!

At this moment, NHK and several major TV stations simultaneously broadcast this scene, a tsunami-like response arriving instantly!

When the Phantom Guest was lifted from the manhole by helicopter, and that steel-torrent-like prisoner transport convoy footage was broadcast nationwide via media, Japanese society plunged into an unprecedented shock frenzy!

NHK anchor, voice breaking with excitement: "A historic moment! The perpetrator of the 15-year-old Toshima ward familicide case, the Ikebukuro Phantom Guest, has been apprehended!"

Fuji TV went further, directly suspending all programs, displaying a huge headline: "Sever Tokyo's Darkness! Uesugi's Resolve! Special Mission Unit Remaining Members Enter Sewers Unafraid of Filth to Drag Out 'Toshima's Phantom' from Underground!"

Tobu Television anchor near-shouting: "Section Chief Okada wounded, Shougenshou Uesugi voluntarily entered the sewers relying on his forensic ability to find people, plus Special Mission Unit's Kai San, Ikeda San, Igarashi San, Date San! Each gave their all, facing an armed Phantom Guest covered in filth to secure a live capture! Great Special Mission Unit, omnipotent Special Mission Unit, they once again guarded Tokyo Metropolis's peace!"

"Of course, we cannot forget the two fallen officers, precisely because of their sacrifice and dedication do we have today's peaceful life!"

"They all are our heroes, and also their own heroes!"

Offices, izakayas, and homes across Japan, watching this, finally erupted in earth-shaking cheers and applause after extreme repression! Office workers on trains disregarded image, arms raised in shouts! Social networks completely crashed!

"#IkebukuroPhantomGuestArrested", "#SpecialMissionUnitStrikesAgain", "#UesugiShougenshou'sSecondLockdown", "#ShanShanJuJuRestInPeace", "#InspectorOkadaSpeedyRecovery" etc. topped the charts, followed by countless thank-yous to police!

And countless exclamation marks. The previously pervasive panic replaced by a tremendous, near-collapse sense of safety, catharsis, and sincere respect for the police.

The noose fell to the ground, the ghost was captured, and Tokyo on February 23rd, the Emperor's Birthday, after enduring the longest darkness, finally welcomed a ray of dawn stained with blood yet incomparably solid.

From this day on, Uesugi Muneyuki's name was promoted among the nationals with even greater pride, because every single person witnessed it with their own eyes in the nationwide live broadcast; even in later years, when the story of this epic great pursuit in Tokyo was artistically beautified and exaggerated, every national unanimously believed that on that day, the Dragon of Echigo Uesugi Kenshin and his descendant, the Legendary Forensic Doctor Uesugi Muneyuki, fought side by side.

Bishamonten manifests! Demons, disperse!