Chapter 561

The dense canopy filtered the sunlight into a dim green glow, shining on the old man who stumbled out in front of the abandoned wooden house. He looked to be in his sixties, his frame hunched, his clothes ragged but clean, his salt-and-pepper hair disheveled, his face etched with exhaustion and the wear of time.

Amidst the countless dark muzzles of guns, the cold gleam of armored plates, and the deafening roar of helicopters, he seemed utterly out of place, like an ancient tree on the verge of withering.

What the hell, just an old man on his last legs.

The other party didn't look very old—a 65-year-old Japanese person still has seven or eight tenths of their working life left, precisely the age to dare to fight and strive to make a difference, but reaching that age also means they're not particularly dangerous anymore.

The SAT member who approached first, seeing this, felt his tense nerves relax slightly; the commander, speaking through the megaphone, unconsciously softened his tone, adding a note of admonition: "Old sir? This place is dangerous. We're conducting a special search operation. Please immediately place your hands where we can see them, and walk slowly toward us!"

SAT team leader Godai Yusuke, who was ahead, saw that the person emerging was an old man, and his vigilance greatly eased; he lowered his MP5, lifted his helmet, and said seriously: "Old sir, may I ask if you're lost here?"

It's fine; now that we're here, we can take you back—may I ask if you've seen any suspicious people recently?"

The old man merely looked around at the encircling net with a smile full of mockery.

SAT, mobile unit, prefectural police, Metropolitan Police Department.

MP5, M4A1, sniper rifle, SW small revolver.

Really, too wild!

In his aged, cloudy eyes lay relief; he didn't answer Godai team leader's words, merely admiring the scene before him, enjoying his moment under countless spotlights.

"What the hell, just an old man?" Kai Toru, who had been tense, immediately lowered his hand from his gun holster upon seeing the old man, his body relaxing considerably.

"—His health doesn't seem too good." Ikeda Erena also relaxed considerably; the tall beauty's expression was complex as she softly said: "This is probably also someone with a story, huh!"

"Continue the search." Nango Yui actually wasn't skilled at wilderness searches; a Kyoto University graduate, he wasn't a physically strong field officer, and searching in the primeval forest in leather shoes was truly a hardship for this privileged, wealthy career-track officer.

However, Uesugi Muneyuki in the crowd showed a look of shock.

Because what he saw was not just this!

In his spiritual vision, this old man was already dying—no, should say, he should have been dead long ago!

His body emitted a strong death aura, and many parts of his body were in severe pathological condition; given his physical state, he should by no means still be able to move!

Yet what truly allowed him to survive until now was the intense cursed grudge emanating from this old man's body! As a living person emitting such a strong cursed grudge! And behind this old man, a young woman's formed intense cursed grudge stood behind him, tightly embracing him from behind, using her own power to help the old man maintain his most basic bodily functions, supporting him so he could still stand before everyone!

The double cursed grudges tightly combined, forming a dual circulation system of the living dead, jointly sustaining the old man's life!

Such a strange aura—there's no mistake, it couldn't be anyone else! Uesugi Muneyuki almost instantly confirmed: it's him, he is the person Uesugi Muneyuki sought on this tree sea expedition!

He absolutely has ties to the Sakikawa Restoration Army, absolutely!

Who is this old man, and who is the young woman behind him whose cursed grudge was formed?

Uesugi Muneyuki immediately shouted at Megure Keishi and Ichijo Keishi beside him: "That's right, it's him, it's him! He's the person we're looking for! Don't fire, give the order not to fire!"

"Huh?" Megure Keishi, hearing Uesugi Muneyuki's words, glanced again at the sixty-year-old old man in oily, dirty work clothes, though his hair and body were kept clean, and felt somewhat amused, thinking the Sakikawa Restoration Army was obviously a name thought up by chuunibyou youths, but since Uesugi Chief said so, he took a deep breath and shouted loudly: "Put down your weapons!

Put down your weapons, don't fire! SAT, come down, let our people go negotiate! "

SAT and the mobile unit further relaxed their vigilance, slowly retreating; at this moment, Investigation Division One, First Section Chief Kosaka Shinichiro, seeing an opportunity, immediately stepped forward to try negotiating with the old man, pulling out his police handbook: "Old sir, hello, don't be nervous, I'm Soutatsu—ah, no, I'm Superintendent Kosaka Shinichiro of Investigation Division One, First Section, Metropolitan Police Department. We mean no harm; please don't see us as enemies. Think of your family—I don't know why you came here, but please don't lightly give up your life. If you have difficulties, please tell us—."

"Family——?" Who knows, upon hearing that, the middle-aged man suddenly lifted his head; those originally cloudy eyes instantly burst forth with a terrifying light, mixed with endless pain and madness!

"You made me think of family?! Good! I'll let you see! I'll let you see right now!!"

He let out a hoarse roar, using movements incongruous with his age, violently tearing open his tattered coat and the shirt beneath!

Hiss—

Exposed before everyone's eyes were tight bundles of grayish-white ANFO explosives strapped to his emaciated frame! The rough explosive blocks contrasted horrifically with his loose skin, and the dense wiring resembled snakes coiled around his body.

This scene before them shocked all the detectives and surrounding people to the core!

"Ugh!"

"Retreat! Everyone retreat!"

"He has a bomb!"

"It's a bomb! It's a bomb ah ah ah!"

The originally approaching First Section Chief Kosaka Shinichiro felt his heart stop; almost instinctively, he stumbled backward, seeking cover; the surrounding SAT snipers' eyes behind their scopes widened instantly, fingers pressing hard against the triggers.

The scene's atmosphere shifted from a slightly sympathetic standoff to an instant freezing point, filled with the extreme danger of imminent explosion!

"See?! This is my family'! They accompany me, waiting to send those bastards who deserve hell on their way!" Hearing the word family, the old man went mad, his withered fingers slapping the explosives on his body, his voice trembling with sobs yet filled with a chilling ecstasy: "My name is Ōsumikawa Minoru! Investigate! Investigate properly! Investigate what happened to my family, what was done to my daughter! Family? Hahahahaha ah hahahahahahahahahaha! Family?"

"Police? Hahahaha, what damn cops? Have a problem, go to the cops, I'm coming for you, damn it!"

"Correct, the bomb is mine. ANFO, from purifying raw materials to mixing and loading, I did it all myself here, by hand!" The old man's gaze swept around, his face flushed, eyes like lightning; he bravely thrust forward his neither thick nor mighty chest, as if boasting of his great achievement: "See your expression? It must mean my bomb succeeded, right? Hahahahaha ah hahahahahahahahahaha!"

As he admitted his crime, the surrounding hundred-plus police again tensed up; they never imagined that this seemingly dying old man was actually the terrorist who personally crafted ANFO explosives!

Hand-rolling ANFO bombs, you serious?

Superintendent Kosaka Shinichiro felt his face burning; he had rushed forward to claim credit and show his approachable nature, only to have the old man—oh no, this self-styled Ōsumikawa Minoru—give him zero face, not only ignoring his words but also openly admitting the explosives were his doing?

Kosaka felt he now looked like a dumb donkey in everyone's eyes.

Damn, with so many police superiors present—the section chiefs are watching the scene via special signals, and even Watanabe Director and Onoda Kanchoukanbou are paying attention!

How dare you!

Kosaka, flushed with anger: "Ōsumikawa! Why are you doing this?! Manufacturing explosives, killing the Foreign Minister's son—do you know what that means?!"

"Didn't I say it? You deaf, TMD? You said to come to you if we had problems? Then go investigate! Didn't I already tell you my name? Go investigate! You lot, running dogs, trash snacks! How? Scared? To catch me, you brought this many people? Really—when I needed your help back then, why didn't you mobilize this many?!"

"Damn Japanese police, damn Japan, damn marriage!" The old man flung open his arms, and a tighter, more terrifying ANFO explosive device, previously strapped to him, now hung from his body down to the ground: "I've long anticipated this day, hahahahaha ah hahahahahahahahahaha! "

"Retreat, retreat!" The on-scene supreme commander, Megure Keishi and Ichijo Keishi, their voices trembling uncontrollably, immediately signaled everyone to retreat: "Ōsumikawa Minoru, Ōsumikawa Minoru——ōsumikawa minoru, Oinoru! Requesting backup!"

Amid his roar, the on-scene commander, while nervously maintaining the standoff, immediately radioed this name and key information back to headquarters.

Headquarters' Watanabe Eiji and Onoda Kimiaki immediately received the news; Watanabe glanced at Onoda, gesturing: "Still your Public Security's business? Again your Public Security's business?"

Onoda Kimiaki wiped sweat from his forehead, immediately gesturing for the National Police Agency Security Bureau to pull all relevant files!

Could it be, again our Public Security's problem?

TMD, Akimoto Minister, our Public Security is the shield defending the nation, not a dog wiping your ass all day!

And as the specific name came to light, a blood-soaked past was unveiled.

Ōsumikawa Minoru, former senior R&D engineer at Showa Chemical, specializing in inorganic chemistry and industrial explosives application. He once had an enviable life: graduated from Tokyo Institute of Technology, entered a renowned chemical company, had stable income and a happy family—gentle wife and adorable daughter Ōsumikawa Rina.

Everything began to collapse two years ago. His daughter Rina, who had just entered university, was targeted by a group of mystery people at a meticulously planned social gathering and subjected to brutal turn-based sexual assault.

Daughter Rina suffered trauma to body and mind, her spirit teetering on the verge of collapse.

However, the path to seeking justice was extraordinarily difficult. Just as Osumikawa Minoru swore to win justice for his daughter, his wife, in front of a "mediator" sent by the other side, secretly accepted the "hush money" they offered

-500,000 USD in cash, then the wife persuaded and lured daughter Rina into withdrawing the report and signing a promise letter, after which she immediately abandoned her mentally deranged daughter and her conviction-steeled husband, fled overseas with the money, and has been untraceable ever since.

Osumikawa Minoru and daughter Rina only then discovered the wife's betrayal; they tried to continue the investigation, but the police refused to reopen the case on the grounds that "mediation had already been accepted" and "a settlement agreement had already been signed."

This double betrayal became the final straw that broke the camel's back. The already fragile daughter Rina, upon learning of her mother's actions, completely lost the will to live.

On a drizzling early morning, she walked alone into this Aokigahara Forest which she had once felt was "very beautiful and also very sad," and never came back.

In just a few months, Osumikawa Minoru lost his daughter, lost his family, and lost all trust in law and humanity.

The company, citing his unstable state and "complicated family background," persuaded him to leave.

Overnight, the now-penniless Osumikawa disappeared just like that, and from then on no one ever saw him again.

It turned out this engineer had come to the Tree Sea; he followed his daughter to this place, and with his chemical engineering expertise, hand-crafted ANFO bombs!

And when the documents reached the frontline, reached Uesugi Muneyuki's hands, as he looked at the photo of Osumikawa Minoru's daughter Osumikawa Rina in the documents, he subconsciously picked up his smartphone screen, aimed it at Osumikawa's back, at that cursed grudge tightly clinging to this person who should have been dead.

Under Spirit Vision enhancement, that cursed grudge faintly revealed its original prototype.

Indeed it was Osumikawa's daughter, Rina.

Indeed it was her.

Uesugi Muneyuki's gaze flickered; he fell silently speechless, and the Aizen Myoo Dharma Image also softened considerably.

Osumikawa Rina, so your cursed grudge has always accompanied your seriously ill father, never leaving.