Chapter 658

The interrogation of Kurashi took place the following afternoon.

The lighting in the Metropolitan Police Department interrogation room was pale and harsh, reflecting the cold gleam of the metal table onto Kurashi Junxiong's face.

He wore handcuffs, seated in a fixed chair, the injuries from his arrest having been simply treated, but once the madness in his eyes had faded, what remained was a certain hollow stubbornness and icy mockery.

Since his arrest, aside from the initial cursing and mockery, he had spoken almost not a word, like a silent stone.

The chief interrogator was Kashiwagi Jin, his questions direct and sharp, attempting to find a breakthrough from Kurashi Junxiong's past experiences,

his acquaintance process with the "Sakikawa Restoration Army," weapons sources, and so on.

But Kurashi merely occasionally lifted his eyelids to glance at him, the corner of his mouth bearing a faint, elusive arc, as if he were appreciating a boring performance.

Uesugi Muneyuki sat in the observation room, watching the confrontation inside through the one-way glass.

He held in his hand the continually updated relationship chart, his gaze falling on the possible target list of the "Sakikawa Restoration Army." Based on existing clues—one Akiyama Zhongzhong (already cleared), his political allies, and the stray phrases Kurashi Junxiong had inadvertently let slip—this side of the Special Mission Unit speculated the next high-value target to be another former National Diet member belonging to the "Chiba Three Person Crowd" alongside Akiyama Zhongzhong, namely Eye Black Fortunate Great.

This person was likewise retired, but his influence remained, his rhetoric even more extreme than Akiyama's.

The time was about right.

Uesugi Muneyuki stood up and walked into the interrogation room.

Kashiwagi Jin glanced at him, gave a slight nod, and yielded the chief interrogator's position.

Uesugi Muneyuki sat down opposite Kurashi Junxiong, without immediately speaking, merely gazing at him calmly.

The air seemed to solidify for a few seconds.

"Kurashi Junxiong," Uesugi Muneyuki's voice was not loud, yet carried a penetrating clarity: "If you won't speak, we also know what you lot intend to do next."

Kurashi Junxiong's eyeballs twitched minutely, looking toward Uesugi Muneyuki, still silent.

"Eye Black Fortunate Great, former United States House of Representatives member, old friend of Akiyama Zhongzhong, the last one of the conservative Chiba Three Person Crowd." Uesugi Muneyuki spoke slowly, his gaze fixed on Kurashi's expression, "Residing in the high-grade elder care community of Chiba City Beautiful Beach Ward, every Wednesday afternoon he takes his granddaughter for a walk in the nearby park. Security is laxer than Akiyama's. He is your next target on the list, correct?"

A muscle on Kurashi Junxiong's face twitched imperceptibly, a flicker of extreme, fleeting astonishment crossing the depths of his eyes, immediately covered by deeper mockery.

He neither admitted nor denied.

Uesugi Muneyuki caught that fleeting astonishment, his conviction in his judgment strengthening. He leaned forward slightly, his tone taking on a hint of oppression: "Your plan has already been exposed; your two accomplices, the Fujisaki Brothers, are now like stray dogs, wanted nationwide, and that Sakamoto Ryoma" won't be able to hide much longer. Continued resistance is meaningless. Hand over Sakamoto's hiding place, reveal your full plan, and perhaps you might still grasp a thread of life in court. This is your last chance.

Upon hearing this, Kurashi Junxiong suddenly began to laugh lowly, his laughter dry and strange.

He lifted his head, staring directly at Uesugi Muneyuki, his eyes bloodshot, now filled with something unsettling, almost pitying mockery.

"Uesugi Muneyuki————Chief Medical Examiner, one of the 'double walls' of the Metropolitan Police Department————Legendary Forensic Doctor————is that all?"

Ah, is that all?"

Kurashi Junxiong's voice was hoarse, he said word by word: "You are truly clever, able to find our lair from so little dust. You are also truly confident, thinking that catching me means catching everything."

He paused for a moment, the corner of his mouth splitting into a near-fiendish grin.

"But ah, Doctor Uesugi, you can only laugh like this right now."

This sentence was like a cold poisonous sting, causing the air in the interrogation room to suddenly plummet in temperature.

Kashiwagi Jin's brows knotted tightly.

Uesugi Muneyuki's expression remained unchanged, but his heart sank sharply.

The tone, wording, even that eerie sense of pity—something felt off. This was not the reaction a prisoner should have when his plot is exposed, his accomplices are on the run, and he himself is imprisoned. His mockery seemed to point toward some deeper, more unknown—certainty?

"What do you mean?" Kashiwagi Jin shouted sternly.

But Kurashi Junxiong had already closed his mouth again, returning to that unyielding stance impervious to oil or salt, merely the unsettling smile at the corner of his mouth lingering long without fading.

"Hehe, hehehehehehe."

"Uesugi Muneyuki, I ask you."

"How many floors must a sack of rice be carried?"

Uesugi Muneyuki: "??????"

"The answer is, a sack of rice must be carried to the second floor!" Kurashi Junxiong's eyes flashed with madness and endless venom, he stared fixedly at Uesugi Muneyuki, wishing he could kill him with his gaze.

Feel this, imprisoned, ten thousand years of, rage!

Even the coldest person has family! Even the wisest person has a weak point!

The Asuka you guaranteed with all your honor, glory, and forensic skill is about to be gone!

He suddenly began to anticipate Uesugi Muneyuki's expression upon learning the news.

What expression will Uesugi Muneyuki, hailed as the legendary forensic doctor and the last line of defense of the Metropolitan Police Department, show upon learning Asuka is already dead?

Kurashi discovered he himself was eagerly anticipating, immensely anticipating!

Slope Origin Mister, I understand!

This is the meaning of assassinating Asuka, to make this corrupt, decadent world feel pain!

I have comprehended!

——

At the same time, half past three in the afternoon, the weak winter sunlight lazily fell upon the quiet streets of Bunkyo Ward.

The historically significant brick-red school gate of Tsukuba University High School slowly opened, students who had finished a day's studies surged out like a tide, youthful clamor instantly filling the surroundings.

School's out!

The school gate wide open, the Homecoming Club and senior students either went home directly, or prepared to go to private schools after school for further study, preparing for university entrance exams.

As previously mentioned, Japan's education system is essentially a non-exam-oriented exam-oriented education; generally speaking, by senior year, if the goal is to get into a good university, senior students must quit clubs, go to private schools after school, and then possibly study until ten o'clock at night before being able to sleep, and on weekends they must still take out a day to attend cram school.

For Japanese students, this already counts as "doing one's utmost"! After all, they want to get into a good university, and they can only do it this way.

But if one does not intend to get into a good university, then one must seize the time to enjoy the last of high school life—after all, for Japanese people, university coursework is often so heavy that they still need to work part-time to supplement tuition and living expenses (once in university, Japanese parents generally will not fully cover all tuition and living expenses during the university period).

This is the last leisure time, and it must not be wasted.

However, the students leaving school did not notice that two pairs of eyes lay hidden near the school gate, having not enjoyed this last leisure time.

In an inconspicuous grey old Toyota sedan parked about fifty meters from the school gate, Fujisaki Tatsuya and Fujisaki Kenji stared fixedly at the exit. Both had done simple disguises—wearing baseball caps and masks, dressed in ordinary down jackets, appearing like parents picking up children or idlers.

"Are you sure it's her? Saito Asuka?" Fujisaki Tatsuya asked softly, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the cold grip of the Glock 19 hidden in his jacket's inner pocket.

Since the escape began, this gun had almost become a part of his body.

"No doubt, Kenji pulled the school yearbook and photos from social media." Fujisaki Kenji pointed to a secretly taken side profile in his hand, then pointed toward the school gate direction, "Look, she's out."

Among the crowd, a petite figure stood out particularly. Saito Asuka wore the school's standard dark blue Western-style winter uniform, over which she donned a thick deep gray ox-horn-button overcoat, her neck wrapped in a milky white thick wool scarf that nearly covered half her face.

But the exposed part was already exquisite enough to make one hold their breath—a palm-sized small face, skin fair to the point of near transparency, a pair of almond eyes large and bright, dense eyelashes, now slightly drooping, carrying the quiet aloofness unique to a lone girl.

Her lower body was a knee-length dark blue pleated skirt; below the hem, a pair of slender legs tightly wrapped in thick, opaque black silk stockings, lines beautiful and straight. Black round-toed little leather shoes stepped on the leaf-covered sidewalk, emitting light pattering sounds. The thick stockings did not fully conceal the girl's leg contours' soft outline; instead, against the bleak winter backdrop, they traced a fragile yet stubborn beauty.

Hailed as the "Chosen Girl," her visage and demeanor, even in this elite-filled high school, were like fireflies in the dark night, easily drawing others' gazes and firmly locking onto the two malicious stares inside the car.

"It's her————" Fujisaki Kenji licked his chapped lips, eyes flashing with pathological excitement: "Saka本先生 said she was a decoration meticulously cultivated by the old world's privileged elite," a dodder flower clinging to a rotten tree." Eliminating her carries immense symbolic significance! Moreover————she has deep ties with Uesugi Muneyuki and Watanabe Minami; striking them also avenges Junxiong Brother!"

Fujisaki Tatsuya's breathing also grew heavy.

The grievance over his father's "suicide," the inhumane treatment in juvenile detention, blind obedience to the distorted ideals of the "Sakikawa Restoration Army," and anger over Warehouse Stone Junxiong's arrest—all emotions mixed into fierce killing intent.

"Ready. When she reaches that alley ahead where fewer people are, we act. Use the silencer—quick, precise, brutal—then withdraw via the preset route. Police attention will surely be on Junxiong Brother; they'd never expect us to dare return to Tokyo Metropolitan Area, let alone strike at the school gate!"

Saito Asuka knew nothing of this.

She slightly raised her scarf to block the evening chill, mentally calculating whether to go straight home to Sakata Bridge or first stop by the bookstore for the newly arrived fashion magazine.

She habitually walked on the relatively deserted wall-side, her silhouette stretching long and thin in the slanting sunlight.

The gray Toyota slowly started, like a ghost, neither far nor near, following the girl in thick black silk stockings with light steps.

Inside the car, Fujisaki Tatsuya's hand had firmly gripped the gun's handle, disengaged the safety.

A deadly killing intent silently coalesced on the most ordinary street during after-school hours.

Assassinate Asuka!

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