Chapter 727

"Arsenal~vs Barcelona~vs Bayern Munich~My factory has collapsed~"

In the suite, the television screen silently flickered with late-night football footage, light and shadow dancing across Uesugi Muneyuki's slightly fatigued face. On screen, Lewandowski scored five goals in nine minutes, Bayern Munich head coach Mourinho wore a delighted expression as he covered his face with his hands, while Barcelona legend Cristiano Ronaldo slumped dejectedly on the opposing side, and Brazilian football king Messi sat in the stands with a shocked expression. This is football!

He wasn't actually watching football; he just needed an environment that wasn't overly quiet to organize his thoughts.

Marie was placed under protective isolation, Nango Yui went out to buy things, and with Marie checking into the APA Hotel, the Metropolitan Police Department's plainclothes officers and security personnel began to gradually take up residence.

There was no way around it—making a big fuss would easily raise alarm, especially since the Red Goldfinch had already noticed and was monitoring Marie's presence, making advance preparation impossible.

But beneath the temporary calm, that lingering sense of unease continued to coil and spin.

It feels so quiet.

Outside, there were no Red Goldfinch members, the Sigh River Renewal Army had disbanded, and Akimoto Yasushi was frantically scrambling due to the public opinion stirred up by Uesugi Muneyuki, leaving him covered in filth, while Kansai's New God had temporarily taken no further action.

I also need to push myself!

I'm also putting in the effort, warrior!

"Thud-thud."

A light knocking sound rang out, very rhythmic.

Uesugi Muneyuki rose to his feet, peered through the peephole, and saw Minami and Eirina standing outside. Minami had already changed out of her police uniform, wearing an ivory-trimmed retro gentle floral velvet long dress paired with a fluffy overcoat outside, sweet and endearing, holding a convenience store plastic bag in her hand; Eirina followed behind her, also holding a paper bag, dressed today in a fur-trimmed sheep velvet dress and velvet-faced high boots, paired with thick flesh-toned stockings whose surface bore a slight pearl luster.

They've come?

He opened the door.

"Muneyuki, still not resting? We happened to pass by, so we brought you and Nango-kun some late-night snacks." Minami Ojou-sama's voice was deliberately light and cheerful, but the worry in her eyes was plain to see.

Eirina also smiled at him, her smile carrying concern.

"Come in." Uesugi Muneyuki stepped aside to let them enter, casually closing the door behind them: "Why are you coming over so late? Didn't I tell you not to worry too much? With me and Nango, that's enough!"

"How could I not worry?" Minami Ojou-sama placed the plastic bag on the small coffee table: "This is a major matter that even the Cabinet has gotten involved in!" Uesugi Muneyuki glanced at what Minami Ojou-sama had bought.

Hmm, Nezha Immortal Drink, traditional Chinese medicine milk tea freshly squeezed fruit juice, Kenwootin, and home-style scallion oil pancakes.

Yeah, online everyone's just talking big, but when you actually get your hands on it yourself, who wouldn't love a burst of Nezha Immortal Drink and traditional Chinese medicine milk tea, followed by a piece of delicious, meaty "Major Historical Opportunity" home-style scallion oil pancake?

"Ah~ Home is home, home is family, happiness flavor top-notch, we sing we dance, joyful life spreads to ten thousand households!" The television was also playing an advertisement for Home is Home.

The whole world is learning Home is Home, Major Historical Opportunity is becoming increasingly internationalized."

Uesugi Muneyuki picked up a scallion oil pancake, tore open the packaging, and took a bite without much appetite: "Nango was asked by Miss Hayase to go downstairs and buy some feminine supplies, namely sanitary pads—one pack for daytime use, one for nighttime use. I don't really understand this stuff……so I just let him go."

He said it casually, but inside he was calculating the time—Nango Yui had been gone for a while now; even if he'd just gone to the convenience store next door, factoring in the time to go up and down the stairs, he should have been back by now.

"Sanitary pads? You don't get it—does Nango understand either?" Minami blinked, then realization dawned, a flicker of understanding and amusement crossing her face, but she immediately furrowed her brows: "How long has he been gone?"

"Probably……over twenty minutes or so?" Uesugi Muneyuki glanced at his watch, his brows gradually knitting together.

Given the efficiency and sense of responsibility of Nango Yui, an elite from Kyoto University's Career Track, he absolutely would not be delayed this long during work hours, especially while guarding an important witness, due to any personal matter.

Could it be something between him and Marie……no, that's not right—Nango Yui isn't that kind of person.

And given Marie's current situation, it's also unlikely……if in this environment both Nango and Marie could still have the heart for that, then Uesugi could freely transfer the title of Metropolitan Police Pervert to him.

Wait……could it be?

A faint ominous premonition, like a cold snake, suddenly shot up his spine.

Minami and Eirina exchanged glances, both seeing the alertness in each other's eyes.

"Should we call him?" Eirina whispered the suggestion.

Actually, she had a slight desire to come over and get intimate with Uesugi Muneyuki.

Uesugi Muneyuki immediately pulled out his phone, found Nango Yui's number, and dialed it.

"Beep……beep……beep……"

The monotonous waiting tone echoed in the quiet suite—one ring, two rings, three rings……until it automatically switched to voicemail.

No one answered.

Call again, still the same.

Uesugi Muneyuki's face instantly darkened, the lingering fatigue from before vanishing completely, his eyes sharp as a blade, and Minami and Eirina also sprang to their feet.

"Something's happened!" The three nearly shouted in unison: "West Mata!!!"

Without hesitation, Uesugi Muneyuki flung open the door, Minami and Eirina close behind, the three of them bursting out like arrows from a bow, sprinting down the corridor toward Marie's suite at the other end! The thick carpet absorbed the footfalls, but their ragged breathing and tense atmosphere permeated the air. Marie's room door was tightly shut.

Uesugi Muneyuki gestured for Minami and Eirina to guard left and right behind him, then stepped forward, first pressing his ear flat against the door to listen—absolute silence.

He raised his hand and pressed the doorbell, then pounded hard on the door: "Miss Hayase! Nango! Open the door!"

No response.

Uesugi Muneyuki's heart instantly sank to the bottom of the valley; he no longer hesitated, pulled out the backup access card given by the hotel from his pocket, and violently swiped it against the sensor zone! With a soft "click," the door lock's green light flashed.

Uesugi Muneyuki turned the handle and shoved the door open!

The living room was empty, lights blazing bright, the bedroom door stood open, inside equally empty and bare.

The bathroom door was also open, no one inside.

Marie Hayase has vanished!

As a legendary forensic doctor, Uesugi Muneyuki's face instantly turned ashen, simultaneously flooded with a fury at being utterly deceived!

Myself, as a legendary forensic doctor and an Otherworld Ability user, actually became careless enough to let someone vanish right under my eyelids without noticing? Damn it! Damn it!

And on the floor, near the genkan, Nango Yui lay on his side, eyes tightly shut, face pallid, with obvious bruising at the nape of his neck, scattered around him a convenience store plastic bag, inside which the sanitary pads and a rolled-out coffee can were especially glaring.

"Nango!" Minami cried out, rushing forward, kneeling to check his pulse and breathing: "He's still alive! But unconscious, head suffered a heavy blow‖"

Eirina immediately scanned the room, quickly checking the windows, found them tightly shut and locked, glass intact, bathroom, wardrobe—no signs of forced entry or struggle anywhere, except where Nango Yui had collapsed.

"Did Marie leave on her own? Or was she coerced?" Her voice tightened.

Uesugi Muneyuki gave no reply, his face ashen, his temples throbbing violently. The protection target vanished right under our noses, the colleague responsible for protection ambushed and knocked unconscious! This is utter failure! It's serious dereliction of duty!

I was careless! I didn't dodge!

After debating the classics with Nango Yui for a while, I forgot one principle!

Critical weapons cannot replace the critique of weapons! In certain circumstances, if the other side knocks you unconscious, it still counts as a win!

And Minami Ojou-sama had already taken out her walkie-talkie, her voice urgent and clear as she informed the person in charge of the Metropolitan Police Department plainclothes squad who should by now have been gradually infiltrating the hotel and strengthening external security, Superintendent Ichijo: "Emergency! Protection target missing! Inspector Nangō ambushed and unconscious! Immediately seal off all hotel entrances and exits! Check all surveillance! Search every floor and corner! Quickly!"

The deliberate calm the hotel had maintained was completely shattered. Faint footsteps, low commands, and the crackle of walkie-talkies came from the hallways and stairwells, the atmosphere instantly turning grim and tense.

The news was transmitted almost at light speed back to Nagatacho and the National Police Agency.

In less than half an hour, the basement of the APA Hotel was surrounded by more black official sedans, the atmosphere so heavy it felt suffocating.

Cabinet Secretary Onoda Kimiaki himself rushed over, his face so dark it seemed water could drip from it, flanked by his brother Onoda Kimiaki, the Director of the National Police Agency Secretariat, and a host of senior officers, he strode straight into the hotel and arrived at the floor where the incident occurred.

In the temporarily requisitioned small meeting room of the hotel, the air pressure was terrifyingly low.

Nango Yui had already been urgently sent to the cooperative hospital for treatment, while Uesugi Muneyuki, Uesugi Minami, and Ikeda Erena stood to one side, the Onoda brothers sat in the main seats, and around them were stern-faced senior officials from the National Police Agency and the Metropolitan Police Department.

"What the hell is going on?!" Onoda Kimiaki slammed his palm on the table, the tremendous sound making everyone's hearts jerk.

His usual politician's smoothness and composure had vanished, replaced by an anger and panic nearly bursting forth: "A key witness under tight protection, right under your noses, in a hotel boasting tight security, has vanished! The elite officer responsible for protection has been knocked unconscious! Doctor Uesugi! Is this the result of your 'full responsibility' and 'highest-level protection'?! Incompetent! Utterly incompetent!"

His roar echoed in the room.

The face of National Police Agency Secretariat Director Onoda Kimiaki was equally grim, but more of an icy blue-black, his gaze scraping over Uesugi Muneyuki like a blade: "To enjoy the fief's emolument yet fail in loyalty to the lord—if you cannot exert yourself in court and countryside, that is your incompetence! Uesugi!"

Uesugi Muneyuki straightened his spine, bearing this torrent of anger and blame.

He offered no excuse, no deflection, but with a clear, dry voice, stated as objectively as possible the course of events: Marie called requesting sanitary napkins, Nango Yui went to buy them, then disappeared, calls went unanswered, they sensed abnormality and rushed over, found Nango Yui unconscious, Marie missing. He also mentioned the possibility of blind spots or interference in the hotel surveillance, and the chance of an inside job.

"Sanitary nap……ha!" Onoda Kimiaki nearly laughed from anger, but that laugh was full of chill: "Such a simple 'lure the tiger from the mountain'! No, it might not even qualify as that! You just exploited your……your negligence and……are you two idiots? Why not have the hotel front desk or staff buy it? Why did you have to personally go? Is your brain dog food? Or did lust move you……" He couldn't find the right words, his chest heaving violently.

Minami Ojou-sama couldn't help but want to speak up to explain for her husband, but was stopped by a glance from Uesugi Muneyuki.

Now any explanation would be pale and futile.

In this suffocating standoff and blame-filled atmosphere, Onoda Kimiaki's private secure phone rang sharply.

He glanced at the caller ID, his face growing even uglier, took a deep breath, barely suppressed his anger, and walked to the window to answer.

The voice coming through the phone made this cabinet veteran, accustomed to storms, clench his fingers tightly, his knuckles whitening.

It was Honda Atsuhito.

His voice came through the airwaves, icy, urgent, carrying the hoarse madness of one driven to the brink: "Akiu……they've sent me news. Marie……is in their hands."

Onoda Kimiaki's heart sank sharply.

"Listen, I have no time to waste on you." Honda Atsuhito spoke extremely fast: "They showed me evidence. Marie is indeed under their control, they gave me a new 'mission'. Bomb attack, target somewhere in Tokyo Metropolis, scale……will be far greater than thirty years ago. Time, set for three days from now."

"Three days?!" Onoda Kimiaki gasped.

"Yes, three days! Seventy-two hours!" Honda Atsuhito's voice was filled with suppressed anguish and brutality: "If within three days I cannot see Marie safe and sound, returned to a place completely under your control and beyond their reach, then, to save my daughter's life, I will have no choice but to press the detonator. Akiu, you know me—I say what I do."

"Wait! Honda! We can……"

"No 'can'!" Honda Atsuhito brutally cut him off: "I am not negotiating with you! I am informing you! You have only three days! Find Marie, rescue her, prove you can protect her, let her utterly escape those madmen! Otherwise, in three days' time, Tokyo will have a 'fireworks' display you absolutely do not want to see!"

And as if responding to Honda Atsuhito's words, the moment he hung up, brilliant fireworks rose precisely from Odaiba in the distance. Only a busy signal remained.

Onoda Kimiaki clung to his phone, frozen by the window, his back in the meeting room's light appearing somewhat hunched.

A few seconds later, he slowly turned around, the shock on his face replaced by a deeper, more terrifying gravity—a expression mixed with immense pressure, fear, and the resolve to burn one's boats.

He looked at everyone in the meeting room, his gaze finally settling on Tsuchi Sugi Sōsetsu, whose face was equally grim, his voice hoarse, each word deliberate, like a sledgehammer:

"You all heard. Seventy-two hours. Three-day deadline."

"Within three days, we must find and rescue Hayase Marie!"

"Otherwise, Uesugi Muneyuki, and Uesugi Minami, you two just get lost to Hokkaido to be your ill-fated lovebirds!" "I say what I do!"