Chapter 550

The Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters building and its surrounding districts were sleepless tonight.

The Sakuradamon gate, which should have fallen silent under the night curtain, was now shrouded in a stern and fervent atmosphere; thousands of Toyota Crown patrol cars and support vehicles, drawn from all wards of Tokyo Metropolis and even from neighboring prefectures such as Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba, converged upon this place like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, silent yet swift.

The low rumble of engines and the crackle of radios intertwined into a pre-battle symphony.

On the plaza before the headquarters building, the lights blazed like day.

Rows upon rows of police in deep blue uniforms or black suits stood like a forest of steel; among them were the elite detectives of Investigation Division 1, their eyes sharp as hawks; there were intelligence experts from the Public Security Bureau, their faces hidden in shadow; there were SAT special forces members, fully armed, exuding a cold killing intent; and there were the core personnel gathered from various police stations across Tokyo Metropolis, their faces bearing a sense of mission and resolve, the insignia on their uniforms or the badges on their suits reflecting faint glimmers under the strong light, gathering into constellations.

All police on leave have cancelled their leave; major stations have dispatched squads of capable officers to report to Sakuradamon immediately!

Everyone, come over!

On the highest floor of the Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters building, a large rising sun flag and the Metropolitan Police Department cherry blossom emblem flag fluttered in the searchlight beams; below, a huge red banner was hung, bearing powerful white characters:

"Special Investigation Headquarters for the Serial Major Terrorist Incidents in Minato Ward"

All police officers' gazes were focused on the temporarily erected command platform.

Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji and National Police Agency Director General Tamaru Juzaburo stood shoulder to shoulder; they did not use a microphone, but their voices, transmitted through the public address system, rang clearly in every corner, striking every eardrum.

"Comrades!" Watanabe Eiji's voice was like a drawn sword, cutting through the night's silence: "We have gathered here tonight not for anything else! Only because our nation, our justice, and the citizens we swore to protect are now suffering the most vile, most brutal challenge!"

The thousands of police below remained silent, the atmosphere stern.

Watanabe Eiji's arm swept violently, pointing at the photo of Akimoto Shōta and the burning car wreckage on the screen behind him.

"Just a few hours ago, they trampled the law in front of the entire nation, mocked the police, and took lives in the most cruel way! This is not crime, this is war! A war against all of us!"

Director General Tamaru took over, his voice more solemn yet containing greater power: "The National Police Agency has granted this case the highest priority! All national police are your backing! This war has no forbidden zones, no restrictions! The sole objective—annihilate the enemy!"

"Operation codename, Warhammer!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" SAT members struck the butts of their pistols against the ground, producing a deep, rhythmic boom; immediately, thousands of police, as one, stomped their right feet hard, emitting a roar like mountains collapsing and seas surging:

"Hey!!"

The sound wave shot straight to the clouds, as if it wanted to shake off the gloom hanging over Tokyo.

At this moment, Sakuradamon became a fortress of war; the will and fury of thousands of police fused into one, forming a sword about to pierce the darkness.

Hundreds of thousands of suit-clad units moved about under the complex command system, dense masses of heads wearing police caps and black hair covered the entire plaza, police everywhere, everywhere police!

At the center of the sea of suits and uniforms, the elites of Investigation Division 1 once again gathered here: Kosaka of the First Section, Shiratori of the Second Section, Kashiwagi of the Third Section, Shimano of the Fourth Section, Itami of the Fifth Section, and even Deputy Chief Matsuda of the Thirteenth Section, who was on leave, all rushed over.

The full force was deployed.

Among the suit-clad masses, Deputy Chief Shiratori Sho's face remained grim; he wore a bitter expression as he explained to Superintendent Megure of Investigation Division 1 Management that he needed to go home once to fetch a change of clothes.

When the Japanese police form a "Special Investigation Headquarters" to deal with major vicious cases, they must treat the headquarters as home, with no distinction between day and night, compressing personal time to the limit, everything prioritizing case-solving.

Although theoretically police have a "shift system" to ensure everyone works 24 hours processing information and conducting investigations, when the Special Investigation Headquarters is just established, many officers upon reporting will work continuously for 24 hours or even longer, only truly exhausted and unable to keep their eyes open will they nap briefly on chairs, desks, or floors in the Special Investigation Headquarters.

Japanese police even have a specific term for this: "monkey box," referring to such large communal bunks and extremely crowded, noisy rest lacking private space.

Likewise, once the Special Investigation Headquarters begins, if there is no major breakthrough or case closure, police hardly ever go home; at most they go home to fetch a change of clothes, and even then, the Special Investigation Headquarters more advises that family members bring the clothes rather than the officers going home themselves.

Thus, Japanese police often complain that as guardians of labor law, they spend all day in fact trampling labor law and civil service law.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Superintendent Megure, also working overtime until now, had just called to let his wife bring clothes from home: "Have your girlfriend bring them!"

"Saeka has to participate in mleague tonight, she's free, so I have to go back myself to get them." Shiratori Sho's expression was not pleasant; this couple had argued more than once over who does the housework; as a frontline model and mahjong player, Okada Sayaka actually earns a very considerable income, her take-home pay around 20 million yen per year, whereas Shiratori Sho's take-home pay is only around 7 million yen per year, so it's really hard to say who holds higher status at home.

"Hey, finally finally it's going to ignite!" Kashiwagi Jin was very excited; he loved this kind of big scene and hot-blooded major investigation: "I have Meisa here, let her go home to get a change of clothes! Shiratori, you also learn from Kosaka, Shimano, and me, marry early, tame your wife into obedience, let her support you from behind!"

"Kashiwagi-san is still as usual, so fond of case work! Really, in terms of diligence, I lose to you." Deputy Chief Shimano of the Fourth Section, usually unsmiling, could only respond sternly at this time: "No more words, this time, also please give me more guidance."

"Huh? What about the Special Missions Section? Where is Uesugi-san?" Detective Kosaka of the First Section, who had been somewhat unnatural with Kashiwagi Jin since being struck last time, while Kashiwagi Jin could pretend nothing happened, but he could not, so he changed the topic: "Without Chief Uesugi here, I always feel a bit uneasy in my heart."

"The Special Missions Section is different from us!" Deputy Chief Itami of the Fifth Section could not help but complain: "They are a special department, special budget, special treatment, special allowance, special efficiency, special competence, otherwise how would they be called 'Special Missions'?"

"Nonsense, Chief Uesugi is a forensic elite from Tokyo University, good steel should be used on the blade, he cannot possibly be like others on the front line as investigation tools, the Special Missions Section has also been working continuously for over ten hours; if Chief Uesugi is exhausted to the point of dizziness and blurred vision, it would actually hinder case-solving." Superintendent Megure glared at Itami: "The Special Missions Section is now resting in the business suites of the nearby APA Hotel; their meals will be specially prepared and delivered by the cafeteria; tomorrow morning, once the test results from Tokyo University and the analysis results from the Forensic Research Institute come out, he will come here to join us."

"How nice, I also want to stay in an APA business suite, I also want to enjoy having meals specially delivered by someone!" a subordinate police officer shouted.

"It's simple, you need to be like Chief Uesugi: as long as there is a corpse, the case must be solved, any case he personally takes over never exceeds two weeks, and you also need to have the daughter of the Superintendent General as your fiancée, with aristocratic background, able to get Tokyo University to specially send a doctoral invitation, more importantly, you need to be able to persuade the Cabinet to pass an official Diet bill, allocating 500 million yen annually in special missions budget." Superintendent Megure said with a skin-deep smile: "That way, you can openly stay at the APA Hotel, with a daily food budget of 8000 yen, dedicated car service, and an entire Special Missions Section attending to your service."

"Damn, why am I not a Special Missions Section member, I could also talk, I could also be Chief Uesugi's driver!"

At this, everyone present could not help but chuckle.

"You, still want to join the Special Missions Section? Do you know what kind of people are in the Special Missions Section?"

Besides the Ikeda that Chief Uesugi insists on bringing and the Ishihara he forcibly designated, the other members are either rich or noble, collectively second-generation elites!

"Alright, the jokes stop here." Just then, Section Chief Sugishita Ukyo of Investigation Division 1 appeared, he spoke sternly: "Chief Uesugi's thinking and judgment are what our Metropolitan Police Department needs most; we need Chief Uesugi to work in optimal condition, letting him continue to fight while fatigued is not good; what we must do is, tomorrow morning, hand over all our gains to him."

"Now that elites from all police stations and surrounding prefectural headquarters have arrived, our First Division must demonstrate our capabilities!"

"All members of the First Division, fight for the glory of Investigation Division 1!"

"Hai ya!!!" Kashiwagi Jin shouted as loud as he could.

……………………

In stark contrast to the headquarters' hot-blooded scene, was an APA Business Hotel a few streets away.

The Special Missions Section, relying on its special status and special budget, did not crowd together with the vast Special Investigation Headquarters, but chose this more concealed, more quiet temporary base, convenient for conducting core reasoning and secret operations without interference.

Inside the suite, the air was permeated with the scent of coffee and fatigue; documents were scattered on the coffee table and carpet.

Uesugi Muneyuki sat on the comfortable leather sofa in the suite, wearily rubbing his eyes.

Just moments ago, in the Forensic Science Division of the Metropolitan Police Department, together with Ishihara Mikoto, he had conducted autopsies on four corpses.

In the residual trachea and bronchi of Akimoto Shōta's corpse, almost no combustion products from this explosion were detected, whereas the other three, especially the driver, had large amounts of inhaled soot in their respiratory tracts.

This matches his position directly above the blast center, where his vital activities ceased instantly due to overpressure and high temperature at the moment of explosion, before he could inhale subsequent combustion products.

Combining forensic pathological examination with physical evidence analysis, the injury patterns of all victims uniformly point to the blast source being located under the vehicle.

Akimoto Shōta's corpse shows no obvious inhalation of combustion products, consistent with his instantaneous death at the blast center directly above.

Therefore, without doubt, the bomb was pre-placed, and the female officer Ishihara Kumiko was clearly used.

However, this case still has many unknowns, but Uesugi Muneyuki can currently only wait for the test results from Tokyo University, the overnight interrogation of Ishihara Kumiko by the Metropolitan Police Department, and the investigation results from the Public Security Police side on the travel itinerary of Minister Akimoto's Toyota Century.

Kansai New God, that hidden mysterious person, and the red goldfinch—whether they are related to this incident, or what role they played in it; and why our this minister adult was fitted with a bomb; why he suffered such brutal retaliation; and where the ANFO explosive, identical to that in the Imperial Palace case, came from.

Case development, increasing complexity.

At that moment, he heard footsteps, and a strong scent of bath gel came rushing toward him.

"Muneyuki~"

Uesugi Muneyuki subconsciously lifted his head, and the man's gaze suddenly brightened.

Ohoho?!

(Chapter End)