Chapter 723

The atmosphere at the National Police Agency is completely different from the Metropolitan Police Department; very few people here wear police uniforms, the vast majority wear suits, and the tense atmosphere found at the MPD is largely absent.

Lacking a few parts of the blood-and-fire air of street crime, but possessing a few more parts of the heavy authority that overlooks the entire national public security system, Uesugi Muneyuki and the others were guided by a secretary official through the heavily guarded hallway to a small but fully equipped conference room.

Pushing the door open and entering, the atmosphere inside was so heavy it was almost dripping water.

On one side of the long table sat two middle-aged men whose faces bore some resemblance, both carrying the dignity of those who have long occupied high positions.

In the main seat sat Chief Cabinet Secretary Onoda Kimiaki, his brows deeply furrowed, fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on the smooth tabletop; beside him was his own younger brother, Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat Onoda Kimiaki, his expression equally stern, gaze sharp — the simultaneous appearance of these two men itself signified that the situation had touched the core level of national public security.

"Sit." Onoda Kimiaki gestured.

Uesugi Muneyuki and Watanabe Minami exchanged a glance and sat down; Okada Masayoshi, even more so, felt the unusualness in the atmosphere.

Bureaucrats, huh — big matters get small meetings, small matters get big meetings, no matters get all-representative general assemblies.

Making the Chief Cabinet Secretary hold a small meeting — this is absolutely a big deal!

"Dr. Uesugi, and all of you from the Special Mission Unit, please sit." Onoda Kimiaki spoke, his voice carrying obvious fatigue and pressure; he repeated it once more, and only then did the three sit down.

"Have you heard of Honda Atsuhito?" After the Uesugi trio sat properly, Onoda Kimiaki said: "You should have an impression; in the Imperial Palace bombing case, regarding that terrorist organization Red Goldfinch, I mentioned it before — thirty years ago, that former Young Head, an important executive, was named Honda Atsuhito; he has already become the Oyabun (i. e., leader, an intimate term for the head of such an organization) of Red Goldfinch."

Not a question, a statement.

Uesugi Muneyuki's heart gave a jolt.

Red Goldfinch, Hikawa Renewal Army, Imperial Palace bomb, the mysterious infiltrator Takigawa Tsubasa, the Inner World!

He had previously let go the leader and main contact of the Hikawa Renewal Army, Sato Liang — how had a Honda Atsuhito now popped out?

"I know, but that's a cold case from thirty years ago." Uesugi Muneyuki answered cautiously: "Red Goldfinch has been wanted nationwide since the last incident, dead or fled — how has something like this happened again?"

"Cold case?" Onoda Kimiaki gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Just this afternoon, I received a call from Honda Atsuhito." At these words, aside from Onoda Kimiaki who already knew, Watanabe Minami and Okada Masayoshi, though mentally prepared, still had a flicker of shock cross their faces; Uesugi Muneyuki's pupils also contracted slightly.

"He... isn't he supposed to be overseas? South Africa? South America?" Okada Masayoshi couldn't help verifying — this had been the official's most common speculation for years. "We all hope so." Onoda Kimiaki interjected, voice cold and hard yet with a hint of weariness: "But the fact is, he's returned, secretly slipped back into Japan. And he contacted my elder brother — also by coincidence, my brother hasn't changed his contact method in a full 40 years." He looked at Onoda Kimiaki.

"???" Minami's little mouth formed an "O" shape.

The Oyabun of Red Goldfinch and the Chief Cabinet Secretary are old friends?

What kind of situation is this?

The enemy is... in Nagatacho?

"Yes, just as you imagine..." Chief Cabinet Secretary Onoda Kimiaki rubbed his brow, revealing a rare, complex expression belonging to an individual rather than a politician: "Honda Atsuhito and I... in our youth, once spent a very short time together in the same remote cram school; we were... nodding acquaintances, classmates. His extremism and intelligence shown back then left a deep impression on me. But I never in a million years expected he would walk that path, let alone that thirty years later he would use that nickname from my student days — 'Akiu' — known to only a very few, to find me."

"The Chief Cabinet Secretary actually shared a class with a revolutionary warrior?" Uesugi Muneyuki couldn't help retorting.

"That's why I understand those Zenkyoto things so well." Onoda Kimiaki didn't seem interested in explaining to Uesugi Muneyuki: "In any case, we chose different roads — I chose to enter the system, to change the system with my own methods, while he chose to realize his ideals with the most extreme, most cruel means."

He paused, tone heavy: "On the phone, he explicitly stated that this return is to prepare for a 'final performance,' target aimed straight at Nagatacho, even including me. He described in detail his capability to do so one by one — this isn't bluster, Uesugi-kun; you may have seen in the case files the 'Heiwa Bank Serial Bomb Robbery Case' thirty years ago — the exquisite technique, the precise timing, destructive power and control coexisting, it shocked the nation. That was personally deployed and personally commanded by Honda Atsuhito. His exploitation of explosives, building structures, human psychology, and security loopholes is expert-level; he personally admitted that if materials are ready, he alone can 'hand-roll' a device capable of major destruction — you've played CSGO? Just like C4!"

The conference room fell dead silent, only the faint sound of the air conditioning blowing.

Watanabe Minami's hand under the table quietly clenched, fingertips turning white.

The Special Mission Unit exists to solve cases, not to face this kind of terrorist in a real-life CSGO!

Making this Young Lady with her physical ability and firearms skill serve as command... rating would very likely drop below 0.5, damn it! But... she knew that with the Special Mission Unit's upgrade, encountering these things was unavoidable.

"However..." Onoda Kimiaki's words turned, a sharp light flashing in his eyes: "His contacting me this time wasn't just to declare terror; toward this old schoolmate of mine, Honda showed a little... perhaps brought by age, perhaps forced by helplessness... a little 'regret'? He probably already understood, understood that this simple terror cannot change society, that bloody revolution is merely a self-satisfying illusion." "Meaning, he came to you... with a request?" Okada Masayoshi immediately understood something.

"Yes, he proposed a condition." Onoda Kimiaki nodded: "Honda Atsuhito has an only daughter, named Marie... born from a Young Lady of a Tokyo noble family before he fled; when he fled, Marie was only one year old."

"Young Lady?" Uesugi Muneyuki frowned: "With a terrorist?"

"Yes, because of premarital pregnancy, this Young Lady was driven out of her home, alone raising one-year-old Marie, struggling to make a living working alone." Onoda Kimiaki continued: "You think this strange? But it's not strange — as I said, back then being a 'revolutionary warrior' was a very coooool, very stylish persona; just like you as a legendary forensic doctor, you have innate attraction to the opposite sex." Hearing this, Minami Ojou-sama's face reddened slightly and she didn't speak, while Uesugi Muneyuki understood.

Got it — rugby captain and cheerleader girl! Street skateboard boy and campus good girl!

Traditional small-town exam-grinders indeed have max sex appeal pull; in contrast, a group of baseball players aiming for Koshien swinging youth and sweat and vitality on the field — that sexual tension isn't something the former can compare to.

Another example is football head coaches — most of them have cheating experience; Mourinho even brought his mistress to report to the club — precisely because the head coach's domineering, sole-supreme aura on the field is very attractive to women.

"In short, Honda Atsuhito claims he is now controlled or coerced by a group of young extremists calling themselves his 'successors' or 'fanatical fans'; these people use his daughter Marie's life safety as leverage, forcing him to plan and carry out new, larger-scale terror activities." "He cannot trust those people, nor can he go to the police. So he proposed a deal to us — specifically, to my elder brother: if we can ensure his daughter Marie's absolute safety before he completes his 'mission,' and help her completely escape those people's surveillance and threats, he will unilaterally cease all terror activities, and furthermore... may provide intelligence on those new-generation extremists." Onoda Kimiaki said. "This is too absurd! How can you believe a terrorist's words?" Minami couldn't help speaking out, her voice carrying urgency and worry that Uesugi Muneyuki might be dragged in: "And why must it be Muneyuki? Our police system completely can..."

"Uesugi Management Official! Listen to us finish!" Onoda Kimiaki raised a hand, stopping her: "The problem lies here. According to our country's principles and laws, government departments, the police system, absolutely cannot openly trade or compromise with terrorists. This is the bottom line, and also what the other side anticipated — Honda Atsuhito dared contact me precisely because he knew our official channels would be tied hand and foot."

The Chief Cabinet Secretary looked at Uesugi Muneyuki, gaze deep: "But, University of Tokyo Doctor of Forensic Medicine, Metropolitan Police Department's Chief Medical Examiner, under the guise of 'academic research,' 'victim family psychological intervention assistance,' or any other unofficial, non-officially-promised 'personal capacity,' to contact and arrange protection for an ordinary citizen possibly threatened by a criminal organization... the operational leeway and interpretive room there is much greater." "Especially when this doctor possesses extremely high credibility and initiative in both police and academic circles, and moreover, he knows very well how to deal with 'women'!"

Pervert of the Metropolitan Police, right?

Minami Ojou-sama rolled her eyes; Okada Masayoshi held back a laugh.

Onoda Kimiaki added: "We currently have no clear idea to what stage those 'successors' Honda Atsuhito speaks of have advanced their plan, how many dangerous items they've manufactured, or what the specific targets are. Time may be extremely tight. Conventional investigation and alert scope are too large, easy to startle the snake."

"And protecting Marie, obtaining Honda Atsuhito's cooperation, may be a shortcut with relatively lower current risk that could directly dismantle the core threat. Of course, all this must be conducted in absolute secrecy, leaving no official record whatsoever."

Everyone's gazes converged on Uesugi Muneyuki.

"Uesugi Muneyuki, you are our trump card, and the only hope for handling such a complex situation! This heavy responsibility falls to none but you! All 23 wards, 26 cities, 5 towns, 8 villages of Tokyo Metropolis rest on your shoulders! The four words 'all under heaven's common people' — only you taking responsibility lives up to everyone's expectations! We need you!!!"