Chapter 409

After completing the arrest operation, the first thing the special command team had to do was clean themselves up, including Uesugi Muneyuki, each person covered in grime, with Date Nagamune and Kai Toru even having soaked head to toe in sewer water, reeking of an unbearable stench.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police Department dispatched the largest and highest-level escort team in its history, even having the Phantom Guest suspended in midair, escorted by hundreds of SAT officers and over a dozen armored vehicles, with Metropolitan Police elites summoned from across Tokyo taking positions along the route, closely monitoring any potential rescuers.

The highest-standard prisoner transport had already set out, the tense and grim atmosphere at the ruins gradually replaced by a heavy sense of solemn honor, the police line not fully withdrawn but narrowed in scope, SAT and armored vehicles basically withdrawn, leaving regular police to maintain order. Media with long and short lenses still stood in formation, but the clamor had been replaced by a restrained silence.

Uesugi Muneyuki spent over ten minutes cleaning himself up, thinking his suit was probably ruined and wondering if the Metropolitan Police would reimburse him, but the urgent matter was to figure out one thing.

Who exactly is the Ikebukuro Phantom Guest? Why did he do it?

"Muneyuki, what do we do next?" Naturally, the daycare had washing facilities, Eirina washed herself roughly, frowning, with Minami absent, Okada seriously injured, the Tall Beauty temporarily directionless, she instinctively asked.

"We're going to the Metropolitan Police Department." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "Let Okada rest there first, we'll return to the Metropolitan Police Department to see what's going on."

"Alright." Eirina instinctively didn't want to overthink it, and she had a set of clothes and a desk duty uniform prepared at the Metropolitan Police Department, perfect for changing into.

The Tall Beauty had a faint look of excitement on her face, knowing she had once again, under Uesugi Muneyuki's guidance, guarded peace!

"Everyone, please wait a moment." Facing the surging reporters and their microphones, and countless shutters, Uesugi Muneyuki said with a bitter smile: "I'm even more confused than you all are right now; all current information, please wait for the department's investigation and interrogation, please everyone stay calm and don't act rashly, if there's a conclusion, we'll announce it immediately."

The two waited a moment, until Shin'i Kyō and Igarashi had finished cleaning up, the four people got back in the car and immediately headed for the Metropolitan Police Department.

The mystery of the 15-year-old case, finally arrived at the moment of revelation!

Sakuradamon, Chiyoda Ward, Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters, Underground Secret Facility.

Highest security level Special Interrogation Room.

Rather than say this is an interrogation room, it's more like a modern dark dungeon built of steel, bulletproof glass, and electronic surveillance.

The room is located deep underground, surrounded on all sides by thick bulletproof alloy walls, with a one-way bulletproof glass observation window facing another room filled with monitoring screens, the only door controlled by multiple electronic and mechanical locks, requiring three levels of authorization to open.

Fixed in a specially made interrogation chair, the material is cold reinforced polymer. Wrists, ankles, and waist are tightly locked by high-strength restraint straps, the chair itself welded to the floor, beneath his prison uniform, he also wears an anti-self-harm restraint garment.

The room has no blind spots with high-definition cameras, the air purification system running at maximum power, dispersing disinfectant water and the faint sewer odor lingering on the Phantom Guest.

In the corridor outside the door, four fully armed SAT officers stood like statues, holding MP5s.

Inside the control room were Commissioner General Tamaru Juzaburo, Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji, Metropolitan Police Deputy Superintendent Ooyama Ren, Metropolitan Police Commissioner's Secretariat Director Onoda Kimiaki, Metropolitan Police Security Department Chief Shinzou Kamiya, Metropolitan Police Criminal Bureau Director Uchimura Kanji, and Metropolitan Police Public Security Bureau Director Haruko Yoshikazu, all present.

Even the person in charge, Investigation Division 1 Chief Sugishita Ukyo, could only take the lowest seat, squeezing into a small spot, everyone present as if facing a great enemy, every senior bureaucrat in the police organization harboring hatred toward the Ikebukuro Phantom Guest who caused massive losses to the police organization and nearly got them dismissed, wishing to devour his flesh and gnaw his marrow raw!

You shattered this tranquility! You nearly got our entire police organization's leadership to resign en masse!

The atmosphere was heavy as lead, thinking of the two fallen officers, even the usually uninvolved Police Commissioner Tamaru Juzaburo, who had been sidelined by Onoda Kanbocho, looked grim, but he said nothing, merely staring at this beast trapped in the steel jungle, his expression even showing a hint of faint fear.

The Phantom Guest's condition was much better than when captured, but his face remained pale, eyes sunken, fatigued from flashbangs and tear gas, yet his gaze had returned to that unsettling coldness and emptiness, like two bottomless dry wells, he sat silently, unresponsive to the restraints and high-tech surveillance around him, as if merely sitting in the lounge of an ocean freighter.

The interrogation was conducted personally by Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji, after all, Watanabe Eiji had been the Special Investigation Headquarters Chief responsible for the Toshima ward massacre case back then, serving as Investigation Division 1 Chief at the time.

"Name?" Watanabe Eiji looked at the Phantom Guest before him, he had a typical Japanese appearance, unremarkable, if not for all that had happened, no one would have thought this person single-handedly created the Toshima ward fire gate case! Moreover, he had evaded capture all along, shooting two police officers in succession, and with the Metropolitan Police Department deploying SAT and helicopters, he once drove the police organization to the brink of collapse!

"———Sakuma Kaito." The Ikebukuro Phantom Guest finally spoke his name.

"Age?"

"40 years old."

"Occupation?"

"Marine Engineer, Hokkaido Northern Ocean Transportation Co., Ltd."

The Phantom Guest, or rather Sakuma Kaito, answered very concisely, even mechanically, he did not conceal his background.

"Sakuma Kaito?" Watanabe Eiji immediately signaled his subordinate to check.

However, the Metropolitan Police Department found no information about "Sakuma Kaito" in all driver's license records and criminal databases, and the staff information from Hokkaido Northern Ocean Transportation Co., Ltd. also yielded no identification of this person.

But the police soon discovered that there was a marine engineer named "Nakamura Kai" whose information closely resembled that of Sakuma Kaito before them.

Facing Watanabe Eiji's questioning, Sakuma Kaito said wearily, with a faint smile: "That's right, I am Nakamura Kai, I've used many names, I once called myself Nakamura Kai, also Lin Haiyi, also Dà Shànghǎi rén, but my real name is Sakuma Kaito."

Hokkaido Northern Ocean Transportation Co., Ltd., mainly operating the Southeast Asia—South America—Africa route, is a small, aging cargo ship company.

Facing the Phantom Guest's answer, the Metropolitan Police Department did not believe it, in fact, the Organized Crime Division officers had already been fully deployed, monitoring nearly all major violent groups in Tokyo, as long as they waited for Sakuma Kaito to confess and link to a violent group, the Organized Crime Division officers planned to directly break in with explosive-proof police vehicles and arrest everyone.

"Where did your gun come from? Why did you kill the Sato family!" Watanabe Eiji first signaled his subordinate to immediately investigate based on existing information, while continuing to ask.

"———Headache, can't remember." Sakuma Kaito remained silent for a while, then said: "Forgot."

"Forgot??? You TMD what the hell are you joking!!! Criminal Bureau Director Uchimura Kanji roared and slapped the table: "Tell the truth! Otherwise no good juice for you! Eight fangs tooth road!!! No way no way no way!!!"

"Director!" Investigation Division 1 Chief Sugishita Ukyo hurriedly embraced him: "This person was hit multiple times by flashbangs and tear gas! He might genuinely not be able to recall right now!"

"I know! Don't you dare remind me!!!" Uchimura Bucho shoved Sugishita Ukyo aside, unable to quell his anger.

This bastard, he nearly shot my Police Commissioner badge clean off with two bullets!

Watanabe Eiji frowned tightly, at this moment, two people squeezed in from outside.

They were the Forensic Medic from the Identification Division, Chūdō, and Uesugi Muneyuki's assistant, Ishihara Mikoto!

"Everyone, the report is out!" Mikoto, wearing a white coat, flesh-colored stockings, and high heels, held up the report: "This person corroded his fingerprints with acid! So the fingerprints we obtained only partially match those from the Toshima ward case!"

"But, according to the blood and DNA samples we took, we confirmed he is Type A blood! Moreover, his DNA completely matches the DNA left at the Toshima ward massacre scene!"

"Oh oh oh oh!!!" Upon hearing this, the evidence was as solid as a mountain!

A burst of exhilarated cheers erupted in the control room, along with sighs of relief.

It's him! It really is him!!!

The one who made the Metropolitan Police Department suffer 15 years of shame, who left countless clues yet still couldn't be caught, who made the Metropolitan Police Department go every year to lay flowers and apologize, whose shadow had covered Sakuradamon for 15 years, finally dissipated at this moment!

It really is him!!!

Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji only felt his nose sour, the years of pent-up frustration finally turning into a sweet sensation in his chest, making him slightly dizzy, barely managing to control himself.

Sato Kenichi————Biwako————Shōta, plus Riko, I finally found him!

But it's already been 15 years! A full 15 years!

However, as the perpetrator, Sakuma Kaito showed no self-awareness, when Watanabe Eiji pressed for details of the Toshima ward case, he uniformly replied with "forgot, don't remember."

The interrogation temporarily reached a stalemate.

The Metropolitan Police Department considered that Sakuma might have been overloaded by flashbangs and tear gas, his brain still dazed, or perhaps knowing he would certainly be sentenced to death, he simply chose to deny everything stubbornly, for a moment not knowing how to break through his psychological defenses.

Just as the interrogation reached a stalemate, the control room door was shoved open somewhat violently!

Prosecutor Shinbayashi Kensatsu-kan of the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office entered with two prosecutor's assistants, his face stern.

The District Prosecutors Have Arrived!

The prosecution side clearly felt anxious about the police "monopolizing" such an important suspect, worried that key evidence or testimony might be overlooked.

The district prosecutors originally pushed aside the guarding police with arrogance, but upon seeing the police commissioner and superintendent general present, Prosecutor Shinbayashi Kensatsu-kan gave a slight bow, his tone carrying undeniable authority: "Commissioner, Superintendent General,

This case has extremely high social attention. We need to promptly establish prosecution facts. We need on-site supervision and timely advice."

Watanabe Eiji's face darkened—just one hour in, and the prosecution had already intervened?

The prosecution's forcible intervention in the early stage of interrogation is a challenge to the police's investigative leadership, and more likely to disrupt the interrogation pace!

These people came to share the credit!

Moreover, this matter has already stirred up a storm across the city, causing an uproar; the district prosecutors could not fail to notice.

"Prosecutor Lin, considering the suspect's condition and interrogation stage———" Watanabe Eiji spoke in a low voice.

"The interrogation of the 'Toshima Ward Phantom' cannot afford leisurely delay!" Prosecutor Shinbayashi Kensatsu-kan's gaze was sharp: "Citizens await answers! Victims await answers!"

Inside the control room, the atmosphere instantly tensed; the police's anger (especially thinking of the martyred Yamayuki Kikuchi and the injured Okada) and the prosecution's pressure for quick results collided silently.

At this delicate stalemate, the "Ikebukuro Phantom Guest" Sakuma Kaito in the interrogation room seemed to sense the undercurrent in the control room through some intuition, or perhaps he was simply tired of Watanabe Eiji's routine questions.

He slowly raised his head; those hollow eyes, for the first time, had a clear focus—through the one-way glass, as if directly looking toward the control room.

His lips moved, his voice hoarse yet clear, transmitted via microphone to the control room.

"The person who discovered me, that, the legendary forensic doctor, Forensic Examiner Uesugi Muneyuki—where is he?"

"Let him come see me."

"You police aren't wanting to know—about the Sato family? Aren't you wanting to know, about my affairs?"

"Call Uesugi! Call Uesugi Muneyuki over—I want to see him!"

"Let me see him, and I will tell you everything!"

Inside the control room, silence fell instantly; everyone turned to look at Watanabe Eiji.

Superintendent General Watanabe's brows knitted tightly; after a moment's thought, amid the expectant gazes of all present, he immediately ordered.

"Call Uesugi! Call Uesugi!!!"