Chapter 776: , Shocking the Police World with the First Punch!

At the end of May, in Saitama Prefecture, Tokyo, cherry blossoms had fallen and summer had arrived.

The newly appointed Chief of Section 3, Investigation Division 1, Criminal Investigation Department, Metropolitan Police Department, Kameyama Kaoru, stood near the train door on the JR Keihin-Tohoku Line, hands tucked into his trench coat pockets, swaying slightly with the train's motion.

He had just finished the handover of a case at Urawa Keisatsu-chou and was preparing to return to Tokyo.

The train car wasn't crowded; it was two in the afternoon, neither rush hour nor school dismissal time.

To be honest, Kameyama Kaoru never imagined he could return to the Metropolitan Police Department so easily, let alone get promoted.

When he was expelled by the local African government and returned to Japan, he had actually found Itami Kenichi, now Chief of Section 5, Assistant Police Inspector, and inquired whether he could resume work at the Metropolitan Police Department.

At that time, Itami Kenichi's attitude was arrogant: If you want to beg properly, then first do a dogeza!

Kameyama Kaoru had no choice, but after spending over a decade in Africa, he was no longer bound by traditional Japanese logic; seeing the other party's firm stance, he genuinely planned to do a dogeza.

However, in reality, it was not Kameyama Kaoru who performed a dogeza toward Itami Kenichi.

Instead, upon hearing that Kameyama Kaoru truly intended to return, Itami Kenichi immediately went to Deputy Superintendent General Ooyama Ren and performed a dogeza, pleading for Kameyama Kaoru. "Oh nai gai ichi West Mata!"

Itami... truly a loyal and kind soul! Whenever Kameyama Kaoru recalls this, he feels deeply moved.

After that, things went smoothly; Superintendent General Watanabe Eiji quickly approved his reinstatement, even securing special talent and major international contribution exemptions through the Cabinet, and promoted him to Police Inspector.

They say that since this legendary Superintendent General took office, the Metropolitan Police Department has become completely different from before, and indeed, after joining, Kameyama Kaoru felt a refreshing change. Equipment, operations, perfect! Metropolitan Police Department!

Good times, arrive with force!

Kameyama Kaoru zoned out for a moment, but his gaze was still drawn to a man.

He was a thin man in his fifties, wearing a deep gray suit, holding a black briefcase, standing near the seating area in the middle of the train car.

On the surface, he looked no different from other office workers.

But Kameyama Kaoru had been a criminal investigator for fifteen years; some things are ingrained in one's bones as intuition—this man's stance was off. He was standing too far back.

On a crowded train, people usually face the center of the car, look at their phones, or close their eyes to rest.

But this man was almost pressed against the train wall, his body slightly turned toward the seating area, his right hand hanging at his side, gripping the briefcase, and the briefcase's position...

Kameyama Kaoru narrowed his eyes.

The bottom edge of the briefcase was aimed at a female high school student in uniform sitting nearby, about sixteen or seventeen, wearing earphones and looking down at her phone, oblivious to what was happening around her.

As the train swayed slightly, the man adjusted his posture accordingly, and the briefcase moved a bit closer toward the girl's skirt.

Kameyama Kaoru's anger flared up instantly.

He did not act immediately; years of criminal investigation experience told him that catching someone in the act requires solid evidence. He moved two steps in that direction without changing expression, pretending to look at the route map above the door, while his peripheral vision remained fixed on the briefcase.

As the train passed a station, passengers boarded and alighted; in the brief chaos, Kameyama Kaoru clearly saw the man's wrist twitch slightly, and from the briefcase's seam, something black, like a smartphone lens, flashed for a moment.

That was enough!

"Hey, you little brat! What are you doing?! Kora!!!!!"

Kameyama Kaoru's voice wasn't loud, but the unique pressure of a criminal investigator made the man's whole body jolt.

The man turned his head, his face showing typical "caught red-handed" panic, but quickly, he took in Kameyama Kaoru's attire—trench coat, jeans, sneakers, no badge, no uniform.

"Who are you?" the man forced calm, his voice tinged with irritation.

Kameyama Kaoru said nothing, directly grabbing the briefcase. The man instinctively shrank back, but the briefcase was already pulled toward Kameyama Kaoru. "What are you doing?! Robbery!! Someone's robbing!"

The man's shout drew the attention of nearby passengers; the girl with earphones also lifted her head, removed her earphones, and stared blankly at the scene. Kameyama Kaoru ignored him, single-handedly opening the briefcase's clasp. Inside was a fixed smartphone, lens facing outward, pointed at the girl's direction, still in recording mode.

"What is this?" Kameyama Kaoru turned the briefcase around so the man could see it himself.

The man's face instantly turned pale.

Murmuring began among passengers in the car; some pulled out their phones to prepare recording.

"Police! You little brat! Now you're caught red-handed!" Kameyama Kaoru shouted angrily.

"You, you let me explain..." the man's voice began to tremble, but the next second, he seemed to recall something, his expression suddenly shifted from panic to arrogance.

He pulled out a black credential folder from his suit inner pocket and snapped it open with a "pa" sound.

"I am the Police Section Chief of the Ayase Keisatsu-chou, Administrative Division, Metropolitan Police Department! Currently executing a special investigation task! You are interfering with police duties—this is obstruction of official duties!"

The train car fell silent for a second.

Indeed, inside that black credential folder was a police badge, indeed police identification.

Setouchi Makoto, Police Section Chief.

The passengers who had been whispering moments ago immediately fell silent; someone quietly put away their phone. In Japan, defying police is no joke. Seeing the crowd's reaction, the man regained confidence, snatched the briefcase back from Kameyama Kaoru's hand, straightened his tie, and regarded Kameyama Kaoru with that characteristic police condescension.

"Which unit are you from? State your name. I'd like to ask your superiors how they train their subordinates—can't even recognize their own people? I'm conducting a secret surveillance operation! If something goes wrong, who takes responsibility?"

He had used this tactic many times before: caught red-handed on a train, immediately flash police ID, claim "special mission." Ordinary passengers would shut up immediately, even young officers would be intimidated—after all, who wants this trouble? At most, he'd just switch locations and continue "executing the mission," being more careful next time.

But Setouchi Makoto's luck wasn't great today.

Kameyama Kaoru grinned.

It was the smile of a hunter seeing prey walk straight into a trap.

He pulled out his own credential folder from his jeans back pocket, opened it, and brought it close to Setouchi Makoto's eyes.

"Metropolitan Police Department, Criminal Investigation Department, Investigation Division 1, Section 3 Chief, Kameyama Kaoru."

Setouchi Makoto's smile froze on his face.

Investigation Division 1, the core of the Criminal Investigation Department, responsible for major cases—Section 3. Kameyama Kaoru.

The Kameyama Kaoru who, in Metropolitan Police Department legend, faced hundreds of militants alone in Somalia and Gaza, stood firm after taking dozens of bullets? The Kameyama Kaoru for whom the Cabinet specially broke the ten-year reemployment ban?

West Mata!!!

"You just said." Kameyama Kaoru put his credentials back in his pocket, eyes locked on Setouchi Makoto: "You're executing a special investigation task? Investigating what? Investigating what's under that high school girl's skirt?"

Setouchi Makoto's throat moved.

"I... I really am executing task countryside affairs..."

"Fine." Kameyama Kaoru nodded, grabbed Setouchi Makoto's arm: "Then let's go to the police station over there and explain slowly. Let them check what special task the Metropolitan Police Department is conducting in Saitama Prefecture's jurisdiction, who signed the task order, who's the superior, whether it's filed, need me to ask for you?"

Setouchi Makoto's face drained completely of color.

The tram arrived just in time, and Kameyama Kaoru pulled him off.

On the platform, two patrol officers from Kawaguchi Keisatsu-chou happened to pass by, saw this scene, and immediately gathered around.

"What's going on?"

"I am Kameyama Kaoru of Investigation Division 1, Metropolitan Police Department." Kameyama Kaoru showed his badge, then handed the briefcase to one of the patrol officers: "This guy was taking upskirt photos of high school girls on the tram. He even claimed he was a police officer executing a special mission. Please take him back and interrogate him properly." Setouchi Makoto still wanted to say something, but Kameyama Kaoru leaned in close to his ear and lowered his voice: "Do you know what the people in Division One hate most? They hate those who abuse their police identity to do sordid things the most. If you had honestly taken upskirt photos and got caught, at most it would be an obscenity charge. But you impersonated an officer performing duty—this is an insult to the police profession."

"You don't deserve to use this notebook, nor to wear this uniform!"

"Wait for the sanctions of justice!"

Setouchi Makoto was escorted away by two Wuyu County patrol officers.

Kameyama Kaoru originally thought this was just an incidental mishap.

Now he is a detective, apprehending murderers, robbers, arsonists.

Upskirt cases like this fall under the Life Safety Division, and Japanese police have high autonomy—without coordination from the National Police Agency, the Metropolitan Police Department cannot interfere in local police affairs. He handed the suspect over to Kawaguchi Keisatsu-chou, made a simple record, and returned to Tokyo.

New officials always make three fires upon taking office~

But on the morning of the third day, his phone rang.

"Is this Kameyama Kaoru, Section Chief of Division Three, Investigation Division One, Metropolitan Police Department? I am from the Organized Crime Division of Kawaguchi Police Headquarters..."

Kameyama Kaoru was stunned.

Organized Crime Division? Isn't that the department handling major cases like organized crime and drug trafficking? Why are they looking for him?

"Regarding the upskirt suspect you sent yesterday, Setouchi Makoto, we have encountered some issues on our end."

"What issues?"

The person on the other end of the phone fell silent for two seconds.

"We applied for a search warrant yesterday following procedure and went to his apartment in Tokyo Ayase. Section Chief, no matter what the situation, you had better come over—this is very serious!"

When Kameyama Kaoru arrived at Kawaguchi Police Headquarters, it was already ten o'clock in the morning. He was somewhat fatigued, had just parked his car, and saw police coming to greet him—apparently they wanted to keep a low profile.

He was directly taken to the meeting room of the Organized Crime Division.

Smoke lingered in the meeting room, several plainclothes detectives gathered around a computer, their expressions grim.

Dozens of printed photos were scattered on the desk.

"Section Chief Kameyama." A man in his forties, face full of fatigue, approached and introduced himself as Section Chief, surname Yamada: "Take a look at this." He handed a stack of photos to Kameyama Kaoru.

At first, they were indeed some upskirt photos—on the tram, at gathering places, inside shopping malls, in toilets.

These were all normal.

However, when Kameyama Kaoru thought to ask whether these were enough for conviction, the police on site instead handed him other photos.

The first photo was of a young woman's face.

This young woman had her eyes closed, her skin pale, her lips purple, and a clear ligature mark on her neck.

What does this mean? Kameyama Kaoru immediately made a habitual judgment: "Could this guy also be involved in a murder case?! This..."

"No..." another detective handed over another photo.

Still the same woman, her upper body naked, with livor mortis on her chest.

"???" Kameyama Kaoru still did not understand.

Then came the third photo, the fourth...

Afterwards, Kawaguchi Police retrieved Setouchi's resume, which showed that Setouchi had worked in the Forensic Identification Division of Utsunomiya Keisatsu-chou, Konan Keisatsu-chou, and other places in Kanagawa Prefecture for a period of thirteen years.

Kameyama Kaoru was stunned, then his pupils suddenly widened: "Wait, you mean..."

"Wait, could it be?!!!!"