Chapter 718: Uesugi Muneyuki's Counterattack!

"Damn it! Why are you yelling?" When Miss Minami learned that the Special Command Unit had started fighting, she rushed over. "Ida and Maeda had only just arrived at the Special Command Unit, and their relationship was already bad. Today, they both came early, and Ida insulted Maeda, saying he got in through connections and was a navy fool. Maeda couldn't take it and fired back, calling Ida an army fool. Then they started arguing over their respective idols. Maeda mocked Ida, saying his favorite, Akasaka 46's second girl, was a stinky chicken. Ida got angry, saying Moriya was a good girl, then mocked Maeda for liking the Takarazuka girl, calling her a stinky chicken too. Maeda got angry, and they came to blows!" Fifty-ish, who had been watching nearby, ran alongside Miss Minami, panting as he explained.

"Is that it?" Miss Minami's face darkened, and Eirina quickly followed close behind her.

"Not only that, later Superintendent Sumiko Ozawa from Public Safety Division One arrived and directly said both of their idols were stinky chickens." Fifty-ish continued.

Miss Minami's high heels clicked loudly—pat-pat, pat-pat—as she stormed forward, her face twisted with fury.

By the time she arrived, Ida and Maeda had already been separated, but they were still at each other's throats. Maeda Toshihide couldn't help but roar: "Ida Chosuke! I'm not doing this for anything else—I just want to crush your arrogance! Don't think just because you joined a year earlier you're all that! In one-on-one combat, I'm not afraid of you! In hand-to-hand fighting, I'm even stronger!"

Ida Chosuke also snapped: "Fine! Next time we run into something like the Ikebukuro ghost incident, we'll each bring our own people and chase him down! Let's see who captures Shumito Sakuma alive, and who gets shot dead by him!"

Tsugawa Shoichi, the public safety officer holding Ida back, was already struggling not to laugh, desperately suppressing a chuckle.

"You think you're worthy? Dog! You're just Akane Moriya's dog! Stinky chicken with a dog—meant to be forever!" This was what Maeda Toshihide couldn't stand—Ida shouting ferociously, but what had he actually done? The injured and the protected were handled by Section Chief Okada, the arrest team led by Uesugi Sōsetsu, the one who knocked out the ghost client was Ikeda Eirina, and the one who tackled and pinned the person down was Kai Kyō!

"Damn it! Then whose dog are you?" Miss Minami arrived just in time and shouted in anger.

"I'm Ayaka Kamishiro's dog!" Maeda Toshihide blurted out instinctively—but then realized the real boss had arrived!

This was the true mistress of the Special Command Unit, the future head of the Special Command Division, and the one who had already fully absorbed Uesugi Chief into her sphere!

"Officer..." Maeda Toshihide instantly lost all his former bravado.

"Damn it all! I don't have subordinates like you! You've only been here a few days and already caused a mess! You've done nothing but stir up trouble!" Miss Minami snarled: "If there's a next time, don't blame me for not giving your grandfather face—I'll send you straight back, package and all!"

"Ugh..." Maeda Toshihide immediately lowered his head.

Beside him, Ida Chosuke couldn't help but cover his mouth and smirk.

"And you! Ida, you're just as bad! Do you think your grandfather, Ida Sōrei, has so much face that you can't be fired?" Miss Minami continued: "Go ahead and try! I can assign you right now to the Traffic Division of the Metropolitan Police Department as a police academy instructor—no one could complain!" "... Enough already~" Ida Chosuke flinched, startled, and quickly apologized.

If this continues, he's doomed! Grandfather Sōrei will pull out that mental injection rod and break his leg! And Akane-chan over there...

"Also, who said just now that both of them are stinky chickens?" Miss Minami said coldly.

Inside the Special Command Unit, everything went quiet. Everyone unconsciously turned to look at Superintendent Sumiko Ozawa from Public Safety, who still acted as if it had nothing to do with her, arms crossed high. "What? You dare say it but won't own it?" Seeing her like this, Miss Minami flew into a rage.

Hearing the officer say that, Sumiko Ozawa finally spoke unnaturally: "I said it, sir."

"Good, you've got guts!" Miss Minami snapped: "Then I ask you—what are you, exactly? Do you think being a public safety officer and having studied at MIT gives you the right to belittle and insult other women? Is being an idol a crime? Or drug-related? You call them stinky chickens—so what are you?"

"If this gets out, the Metropolitan Police can fire you outright! Let me tell you—I'm the one in charge of the Special Command Division! Not Uesugi Sōsetsu! He's just my husband and chief advisor. Personnel, budget, and transfer authority—all of it is in my hands!"

"I..." Faced with Miss Minami's questioning, Superintendent Ozawa finally lowered her head and apologized: "Sorry, I got a bit carried away."

"I know you're one of those high-educated MIT elite women, high-status professionals, and maybe you don't care much about their argument—but that's no excuse to insult people! No exceptions!" Miss Minami said coldly: "Does not having a university degree mean you lose your human rights? What do you think society is? Still the shogunate era? If it truly were, the ones who should be kneeling would be you!"

... Sorry, Ida-san, Maeda-san." Superintendent Ozawa finally apologized to both of them.

Watching this scene unfold in the Special Command Unit, Miss Minami let out a quiet sigh.

The more people there are, the more scattered the heart becomes—factions form, and teams become hard to lead.

But soon, Miss Minami's fighting spirit ignited into a blazing fire.

With Uesugi in hand, I have the world—if you can't sweep one room, how can you sweep the world? If I can't even manage one Special Command Division, how will I ever become Commissioner? I'm going to be the queen of the police world, mark my words!

Sōsetsu will handle the front-end issues, and I—oh no, not I, but Meiō, Lady Minami of the Ōdokoro—will take care of clearing away all his rear worries. At the same time, in NHK's studio, NHK and Fuji TV's joint special interview program "Focus Insight" was underway.

The studio lights were soft yet powerfully penetrating, casting Uesugi Sōsetsu's profile in sharp relief.

He still wore his signature dark suit, white shirt collar fastened precisely, his gaze behind the lenses calm as an ancient well—different from the playful "detective" persona he had on Fuji TV's "Hand of God." Now he looked more like an invited expert coming in for pathological analysis.

The interview moved to the segment on "The Social Impact and Reflection of the Yamagata Case."

NHK's female host, Miyabi Etō, in a white women's mini-skirt, had bright eyes and white teeth, but her tone was heavy as she asked: "Dr. Uesugi, the perpetrator, Ebashira Gōji, a middle-aged man, his personal tragedy is heartbreaking, but this case also exposed many social problems. Some believe that certain mechanisms behind the glamorous idol industry may be unconsciously breeding similar distorted emotions."

Uesugi Sōsetsu didn't answer immediately. He slightly adjusted his posture—this small movement made everyone in the studio hold their breath. His voice, transmitted through high-quality audio equipment, was clear and calm, reaching the live studio and households across the nation:

"First, it must be clear: Ms. Miki Nishino is an undisputed victim. Her misfortune has nothing to do with 48Group or 46Group itself, nor is it the fault of any member. Blaming the victim or the group is putting the cart before the horse."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Facing the camera, Uesugi Sōsetsu first drew a clear line, then his words cut in like a precision scalpel:

"However, as a forensic pathologist who has long observed societal fringe cases and group psychology, I must point out: any closed, highly competitive system deeply tied to massive economic interests and emotional investment, if lacking effective guidance and healthy values, may breed distorted cognition and extreme emotions at its margins."

He paused, his gaze seeming to pierce the lens, looking deeper—as if locking eyes with someone across space: "The general election of idols, as an event that directly quantifies fans' 'love,' monetizes it, and forcibly ties it to idols' personal futures and group resources, is essentially a highly commercialized, meticulously designed ritual of 'emotional mobilization' and 'resource redistribution.'"

"While it creates enormous economic benefits and buzz, it inevitably amplifies fan anxiety, comparison, opposition, and even fosters a distorted mindset where 'winning or losing is life or death.'"

The studio fell so silent you could hear a pin drop—even veteran NHK host Miyabi Etō widened her eyes slightly.

This analysis was too direct, too sharp—completely beyond the usual safety bounds of such interviews.

It also fits Uesugi Sōsetsu's nature—he has always spoken this bluntly.

"Over time, in this high-pressure crucible of the general election, everything becomes corrupted." Uesugi continued in his cold, near-cruel tone: "'Support' may mutate into 'possessiveness,' 'competition' may degenerate into 'hatred,' and 'cheering' may twist into 'relentless obsession until the goal is reached.'"

"The two suspects initially suspected by Yamagata Prefectural Police—one a fanatical fan, the other a fan turned extreme anti-fan—certainly had personal and social factors, but extreme thought patterns like 'either/or,' 'winner takes all,' and 'input must be rewarded,' which mirror the atmosphere cultivated by the general election, cannot be said to have no connection. They provide a seemingly 'reasonable' outlet and target for hatred for those already prone to obsession."

"Although I've proven their innocence, the fact that they were suspected at all is undoubtedly for a reason."

He locked eyes with the camera and delivered the line destined to send shockwaves through Japan:

"Considering the massive social trauma this case caused, and the current public scrutiny of how the idol industry operates—especially mechanisms that may intensify irrational fan competition—I believe, from the perspective of easing tensions, restoring trust, and guiding healthy industry development, at least this year's general election selection should perhaps not proceed as originally planned. This is not punishment, but a necessary 'cooling-off' and 'reflection' period."

"Boom!"

That statement hit like a deep-sea bomb dropped into a calm lake—when it aired on the live broadcast, it detonated across Japanese society. The legendary forensic expert, the key figure in solving the mysterious death of Yamagata Prefecture's idol Binike, and Tokyo University's academic authority, Uesugi Sōsetsu, declared that the 48Group general election should be suspended?!