Chapter 653

On the last Monday of November, the morning air was bitterly cold. When the door of the Special Mission Unit office at the Metropolitan Police Department was pushed open, a wind unlike any other—mixed with a subtle warm fragrance and a crisp, capable aura—swept in with the return of the two protagonists, quietly stirring the previously dull space.

After a week of honeymoon leave, the Metropolitan Police Department's great savior has returned!

Uesugi Minami stepped in first.

Minami Ojou-sama had changed back into the Metropolitan Police Department's winter desk-duty uniform, but the familiar navy-blue uniform suit on her produced a stunning effect.

The well-tailored pencil skirt outlined her waist and hip curves, which had become even more alluring after marriage, with the hem stopping exactly two inches above her knees—compliant with regulations while maximally displaying her straight, well-proportioned legs wrapped in translucent deep-gray stockings.

The stockings were extremely sheer, showing a fine matte sheen under the office ceiling lights, faintly revealing the luster of the skin beneath; on her gray-silk feet were a pair of five-centimeter black suede pointed-toe high heels, with slender heels that produced a steady, sensual rhythm with each step.

Her long hair was tied into a slightly loose bun at the back of her head, with a few strands falling at the sides of her neck, adding a touch of lazy charm.

Most striking was her complexion and demeanor. Her lovely, sweet face seemed to have been carefully nourished, her skin glowing with a healthy pink flush, and the corners of her eyes and brows retained a trace of lingering, deeply loved allure that had not yet faded.

Minami's gaze remained sharp and bright, but deep within lay a woman's soft contentment and firm resolve.

When she walked, her waist seemed softer than before; when she sat down, she would unconsciously press her stocking-clad legs together, and when she occasionally adjusted her sitting posture, the slim heels would lightly tap the floor, revealing an unconscious, newlywed wife's soft, boneless languor.

Her entire aura shifted subtly from the pure sharpness of the former "Management Officer" to a more commanding presence blended with feminine charm—the "Newlywed Wife and Superior."

What Minami experienced over these seven days needs no elaboration; although Uesugi Muneyuki had already been as gentle and restrained as possible, Minami, being Minami, still couldn't fully resist, and she slept an entire day for two days at the inn.

Naturally following was Uesugi Muneyuki.

He remained his calm, composed self, his black suit neatly pressed and crisp, but observant people could notice that the long-standing gloom and fatigue of a forensic examiner between his brows had somewhat faded, replaced by a tranquil, post-satisfaction relaxation.

His gaze would occasionally fall on his wife's back ahead, especially when Minami, due to a slight wobble in her high heel, reached out to steady herself on the doorframe, at which point the corner of his mouth would twitch with an almost imperceptible, tender, and knowing smile.

They had returned to Sakata Bridge the day before; Minami's legs were so weak she could barely walk, but fortunately Eirina came to take over, letting Minami rest for a day, otherwise she might have had to be carried into the office by him today.

"Management Officer! Chief Medical Examiner! Welcome back!" the Special Mission Unit members all rose, smiling. Congratulations on your marriage echoed around, and Nanxiang Yui deliberately said in a related accent: "Newlywed bliss, happiness for the whole family!"

"Congratulations to both of you!" "Happy newlywed life!" Kai Toru's voice was the loudest, and he even whistled, only to be jabbed in the ribs by Date Nagamune beside him: "No need to ask—it's obvious these past few days you've given the Chief and Management Officer their happiness."

"Hehehe~" Date's words drew laughter from everyone, and the Special Mission Unit, inside and out, filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Uesugi Minami smiled, her gaze sweeping over her subordinates; that smile carried the sweetness of newlywed bliss and the sharpness of returning to the battlefield: "Thank you all. The leave is over—it's time to refocus." Her voice was slightly softer than usual but still clear and strong.

Uesugi Muneyuki also gave a slight nod: "You've all worked hard during this time. The backlog of work—and the new case—we'll handle as soon as possible."

The pleasantries ended quickly, and the atmosphere instantly shifted into work mode.

Okada Masayoshi and Date Nagamune had already prepared, swiftly reporting the "Mitaka Assassination Case" and the intelligence obtained from Kurashiki Tetsuya to the two in detail.

What is the Sakikawa Restoration Army?

Uesugi Muneyuki furrowed his brow.

These people are truly persistent ghosts; we still need to find a way to eliminate them.

【Ōsumikawa, come out, let's get to work!】

Uesugi Muneyuki summoned Ōsumikawa Minoru, gesturing for him to look together.

【Those kids, still not giving up?】Ōsumikawa sighed, then suddenly said: 【It's my fault they ended up like this.】

【Then we'd better just make sure they obediently go to prison.】Uesugi Muneyuki said no more: 【Otherwise, if this continues, even students and so-called revolutionaries will be sentenced to death, and Japan still retains the death penalty to this day!】

【I understand.】Ōsumikawa Minoru sighed: 【They, too, are just like me—angry at society's injustice.】

Uesugi Muneyuki and Ōsumikawa Minoru's gazes, like the most precise electron microscopes, slowly swept over the documents spread before them on the desk.

Crime scene photos, initial ballistic report, the Forensic Identification Division's environmental sample analysis list, and Kurashiki Tetsuya's contradictory and painful confession transcript.

The Special Mission Unit and Investigation Division 1's days of routine checks had hit a muddle, but he knew the truth often hides in the minutest, most easily overlooked corners.

His fingertip paused on the document from the Forensic Identification Division regarding the "Microenvironmental Particle Collection and Analysis Summary" from inside Akiyama Tadashige's sedan (non-direct impact area).

This report had not been highlighted in prior discussions because no related hair, fiber, or obvious abnormal substance was found.

The report listed multiple common urban dust components extracted from the car cabin carpet, air vent grille, front passenger seat seam, etc.: silicates, calcium carbonate, rubber wear particles, pollen, small amounts of common textile fibers—

"Mikoto-nee." Uesugi Muneyuki asked the forensic beauty organizing materials nearby: "What is this?"

Ishihara Mikoto today still wore her classic white coat, underneath having changed into a vintage European floral-patterned snow-spun semi-transparent shirt for winter, and below into a slightly heavier soft feather-wool long skirt, paired with a pair of 100D thick black velvet stockings and a commuting OL-style lace-up high heel; she approached after hearing Uesugi Muneyuki's words: "Collected from the edge of the carpet beneath the driver's seat, non-bloodstain area."

"The Forensics Division detected abnormal micro-components here: strontium (Sr) and chromium (Cr) compound particles, irregular in shape, diameter under 10 micrometers, some attached to larger silicate-aluminate bases. Preliminary spectral analysis shows their elemental ratio differs from common building dust or road dust. Exact compound forms require further mass spectrometry confirmation, but they have been ruled out as originating from the victim's clothing, vehicle interior, or common in-car items." Ishihara Mikoto said.

Strontium and chromium compound particles? Extremely small diameter, attached to dust? Found beneath the driver's seat, not the direct impact point?

【Mr. Ōsumikawa, could this possibly be due to Tokyo's industrial pollution?】Uesugi Muneyuki asked.

【No.】Ōsumikawa Minoru shook his head: 【Diameter under 10 micrometers, and partially attached」to other dust particles. This indicates they are unlikely to be recent random drifts from an open environment—those would be more dispersed, with more independent particles. This adhesion state is more like secondary transfer」from a source」containing such particles via friction, vibration, or contact. Moreover, they landed in the relatively enclosed, low-airflow area beneath the driver's seat.】

【So this particle might come from the perpetrator?】Uesugi Muneyuki reacted quickly.

【Strontium and chromium compounds come in many types. But in non-high-temperature smelting, non-special chemical production ordinary environments, appearing as mixed micro-particles—strontium compounds, such as strontium nitrate or carbonate, are used to make red fireworks or signal flares. Chromates are commonly used in certain anti-rust primers, wood preservatives (formerly copper chrom arsenate, but now largely phased out), or—】Ōsumikawa Minoru said while thinking: 【in old electronic components, certain specific battery types, or experimental materials. A place that stored chemicals, electronic waste, or underwent simple metal processing or paint handling, an abandoned site, could easily retain such strontium and chromium compound micro-particles.

If members of the Sakikawa Restoration Army」frequently operated there, their clothing and shoe soles would easily pick up these hard-to-remove trace residues, and when contacting the interior of Akiyama's vehicle (e. g., leaning on the car door during an ambush, reaching into the window, or personal items scraping), they would transfer them in.】

【Cool!】Uesugi Muneyuki smiled and nodded.

【————————Honestly, I feel strange having gone from a glorious Showa Chemical engineer to a Bakufu Mokku, Chōtei Yingquan, Hanshu Sokkinjin—this feeling is really weird.】Ōsumikawa Minoru complained.

【Everyone feels the same. When I first assisted police with cases, I also felt strange.】Uesugi Muneyuki smiled.

【Totally not the same, you shogunate lackey!】

【Likewise, you terrorist accomplice!】

"The perpetrator is extremely careful, having disposed of shell casings and obvious footprints, but it's nearly impossible to completely avoid this microscopic-level secondary material transfer. Especially, if their hideout itself is a pollution source」. Uesugi Muneyuki shared his findings with the Special Mission Unit members.

Kai Toru's eyes lit up: "So the key isn't directly finding the gun or perpetrator, but using this micro-evidence to reverse-locate their lair? A possible abandoned industrial site with specific strontium-chromium compound residue?"

"Yes." Uesugi Muneyuki nodded: "The Forensics Division needs to immediately conduct more precise mass spectrometry and crystal structure analysis on these particles to determine their exact compound form. At the same time, we must survey Tokyo and surrounding areas for historical factories, warehouses, or lab sites that may have used such substances, especially those already abandoned, easy to hide, and possibly linked to Kurashiki."

Clear, calm, and logically rigorous reasoning, like a scalpel, precisely cut through layers of mist.

Okada Masayoshi and Date Nagamune's eyes lit up.

"As expected of Uesugi-san!" Nanxiang Yui exclaimed excitedly.

Uesugi Minami had already listened with her eyes shining.

She immediately ordered: "Contact the Scientific Investigation Research Laboratory at once, requesting priority for the most precise composition and morphology analysis of the vehicle's strontium-chromium micro-particles—I need to know what type of industrial product or residual environment they most likely come from. Okada, Nanxiang, you coordinate the investigation, focusing on similar abandoned chemical plants, paint factories, electronic component assembly workshops, or old fireworks workshops, or any warehouse that historically handled related materials. Meanwhile, cross-reference with Kurashiki Tetsuya's familial relations network."

She stood up, her legs beneath the deep-gray stockings straightening slightly from excitement and focus, the high heels clicking crisply on the floor: "Contact Kashiwagi Keichō's side, the Joint Action Team on standby. Once analysis results and site survey overlap point in a direction, act immediately!"

"Understood!" A unified response rang out in the office, and the atmosphere was instantly ignited.

Uesugi Muneyuki's analysis was like casting a beam of cold light based on rigorous scientific logic into a dark maze—he did not rely on mysterious intuition, but interpreted the chemical code leading to the enemy's lair from the most easily overlooked, icy trace data.

The gun smoke had already dissipated, but beyond the gun smoke, those invisible trace elements were silently revealing the killer's comings and goings.

This is why Uesugi Muneyuki wants to recruit Ōsumikawa!

Having such a professional Shōwa-era veteran engineer is incredibly useful!

Everyone split up and worked busily all day, and the preliminary urgent feedback from the Scientific Investigation Research Laboratory has already arrived.

Further analysis of the particles showed that chromium mainly exists in the form of strontium chromate (SrC04). Strontium chromate is a bright yellow pigment that was once widely used in certain industrial paints, anti-rust primers, and the warning sign coatings of old railways or specific machinery.

"Yellow—warning coating—railway equipment—" Uesugi Muneyuki mused, immediately feeding this information back to the tense Okada Masayoshi, who was conducting the investigation: "Any findings?"

"Found it!" Okada Masayoshi searched carefully and soon had a discovery!

"Kurashiki Tetsuya owns several apartments in Jōsō-shi, Ibaraki-ken, one of which is on the edge of Jōsō City, near the old freight railway spur, where there is an abandoned Kantō Shōgata Kikai Shūri Kōjō that had long been disused. The factory had previously undertaken small-scale machinery maintenance and spray painting work for nearby railway sections. The factory owner died ten years ago, and with no heirs to inherit it, the plant has lain vacant."

At this moment, all the clues' arrows pointed clearly to that abandoned repair factory, rusted over and sealed with dust-sealed memories, and to the nearby apartments!

"Target locked!" Uesugi Minami's voice rang out sharp and decisive: "Action!"

"The end has come for the Sakikawa Restoration Army!" Uesugi Muneyuki also nodded coldly: "Okada, Date, Kai, Igarashi, and—"

Seeing Eirina's sparkling eyes, and considering that the Sakikawa Restoration Army might also have women, he finally relented: "Ikeda, you come with us too."

"By the way, notify Kashiwagi over there."

"Yes!"

"Considering that the enemy is extremely likely to be holding handguns, this deployment will uniformly carry firearms, and I permit you to fire only in the absolutely necessary minimum circumstances!" Uesugi Minami added: "Also, this is an inter-prefectural pursuit—notify Public Security there, requesting they provide inter-prefectural assistance!"

"This time, we must net that far-left element completely!"

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