Chapter 864

The moment the sharp Zwilling kitchen knife stabbed into Onoda's abdomen, the look of surprise on Onoda's face had not yet faded.

A stream of hot liquid gushed from his abdomen, flowing along the groove of the blade outward, soaking his shirt, vest, and suit jacket, seeping all the way down to the edge of his belt buckle.

"Mmm, huh, uh-uh-uh~" Onoda was momentarily unable to speak, thinking to himself, Has this guy gone mad?

I am a career-track officer, about to become Superintendent General imminently.

You are merely a non-career-track officer; by convention, as a mascot you should serve 12–18 months as Police Commissioner before mandatory retirement… Your record is littered with black marks, I merely carried out the punishment you deserved, and upgrading to the Police Agency itself is an extremely bold and radical decision… Therefore, this mascot position must be vacated, to make way for a new, clean idol capable of becoming a non-career-track figure…

Onoda's face bore an expression of "How could it be you?" surprise and a "Why now?" bewilderment.

He raised his right hand to grab Miyake's wrist, his fingers touching Miyake's sleeve, but that touch carried no strength, like wind blowing past a sleeve—"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Eight ga ya lou! Eight ga mono! You trash! Return my life to me! Return the stable life I was meant to have! I was supposed to retire in ten months! I had already prepared to become Managing Director at Snow Wind Shipping Security Company! Now everything is over, everything is completely over ah ah ah!!!" Miyake Department Chief roared like a madman, he shoved the sharp Zwilling kitchen knife deep into Onoda's body, then pulled it out, and stabbed viciously again!

"Pfft!"

"Ugh!" Onoda Kimiaki instinctively reached for the car door handle, the first attempt missed, his fingers scraping across the door, fingernails scratching the paint and emitting a sharp sound.

The second attempt succeeded; he used the car door as a support, trying to steady his body.

But his knees had already begun to weaken, the muscles in his thighs trembling violently, as if something were being sucked out from deep within his body. He tried to call for help, his mouth opened, but no sound came from his throat.

So he slammed his palm hard against the car door, leaving a dark red bloodprint on the metal surface.

The sound was not loud, swallowed largely by the vast emptiness of the underground parking garage; he slapped again, this time with somewhat more force, his palm striking the door with a dull thud, the vehicle's vibration triggering the alarm system, headlights flashing, the horn emitting a rhythmic, piercing wail. "!!!" The alarm's roar seemed to reach Miyake Department Chief's soul; he lowered his head to glance at Onoda's condition, dropped the knife, and immediately rose to flee.

"……Guh, ah……Why has it come to this, why?" Onoda finally found the strength to speak, he clutched his abdomen and slammed the car door hard once more.

Just a little, just a little more was needed.

All connections had been secured, profit distribution nearly settled, Watanabe Eiji had yielded, the external environment was unprecedentedly favorable, the populace largely approved, as long as this opportunity could be seized to pass the bill, the Police Agency……Police Agency……

The day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow I will be Superintendent General, why now?

Why?

Why now?

The alarm of the Toyota Century blared incessantly, while the attendant of the National Police Agency's underground parking lot arrived only after several minutes.

An old man in a gray uniform stepped out from the elevator entrance, holding a bunch of keys in his hand, muttering something.

He first heard the Toyota Century's horn blaring continuously, cursed, "Who the hell parked in someone else's spot again?", then saw a pair of leather shoes.

National Police Agency Secretary-General Onoda Kimiaki lay in a pool of blood.

"Not good! Not good! Someone come, come come come come come!" the attendant screamed.

The first to arrive was the on-duty guard from the National Police Agency headquarters.

These people ran down from the security duty room on the first floor, the elevator was too slow, he came down the stairs.

The sound of leather shoes on the steps was dense like a machine gun; as he rushed into the underground parking garage, he saw Onoda Kimiaki still leaning against the Toyota Century's car door, his body having slid down a segment, sitting on the ground, his back against the door, head bowed, he instinctively drew his sidearm, but did not know whom to shoot.

Soon, the radio immediately blared throughout the entire National Police Agency, everyone rushing toward this location.

Including Investigation Division 1 Chief Sugishita Ukyo, who at this moment had not yet left, but had instead found the Counselor of Public Security, Kobe Takeru, to discuss matters concerning the military police and the Police Agency; Kobe Takeru gently told him that the Public Security Police led by Security Bureau Chief Shinzou Kamiya of the Police Agency Security Bureau fully supported this plan, and the criminal division's Watanabe Eiji had also already compromised, making change to this very difficult.

Is this your righteous cause? Onoda?

Then the radio sounded.

Secretary-General?!

When Sugishita Ukyo emerged from the elevator, the underground parking garage was already packed with people.

"Secretary-General? Secretary-General!!!"

He pushed through the crowd, walked to the side of the Toyota Century, initially unable to believe: "Secretary-General! Pull yourself together, Secretary-General!" "Disaster, possibly the liver was pierced!" the nearby Public Security Police shouted.

"Call an ambulance! Call an ambulance!" someone yelled.

"Seal the scene! There's an assassin! Someone assassinated Onoda!"

"Our side has lost, our side has lost!"

"Don't draw your gun, don't use firearms!" "Seize the assassin, don't let him escape!"

"Call Uesugi! Call Uesugi over here, damn it!" "Damn it! Uesugi is a forensic pathologist, not an ICU!"

Around him chaos reigned, but Sugishita Ukyo seemed oblivious, he merely gripped Onoda's left hand tightly: "Secretary-General! Hold on! The ambulance is already on the way! Secretary-General!"

As if hearing Sugishita Ukyo's voice, Onoda Kimiaki's head twitched slightly, the light that should have already faded in his eyes reconverged, as if focusing to recognize this old friend he had known for decades, whose ideals never aligned yet who always respected and compromised with each other.

"Secretary-General?" Sugishita Ukyo exclaimed in surprise, he clumsily covered Onoda's wound with his palm: "Hold on a bit……"

"Ukyo, truly strange." At that moment, a twitch crossed Onoda Kimiaki's mouth corner: "I always thought I would die at your hands in the end."

"Secretary-General! Even now, at this time, what are you still saying?"

"Fortunately, Ukyo, in the end we did not become enemies." Onoda Kimiaki sighed long and deep, even with a hint of a smile: "Only, your world henceforth will have no me, how will this troublemaker of yours fare in the police system……Ukyo, what path will you take……only heaven knows……""Secretary-General!" Sugishita Ukyo did not know what to say, he could only shout Onoda's title: "Don't speak anymore!" but Onoda Kimiaki's pupils began to slowly dissipate.

The last glimmer in his eyes gazed at the ceiling, at the fluorescent light of the underground garage, at the distant red and blue lights of police sirens, he felt unwilling, yet he had already realized something.

My ambition, ends here.

When the news reached the Superintendent General's office, Watanabe Eiji had not yet left work, still reviewing next week's schedule.

The day after tomorrow, just the day after tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a day off, the day after tomorrow, Watanabe Eiji will formally assume the post of National Police Agency Director General! This is far earlier than the planned April of next year, so early that he has not yet fully prepared.

No choice, who let a series of events unfold? The Metropolitan Police Department siege incident, involving a case from eleven years ago, involving the former violent group's explosion and the Self-Defense Forces' rogue action, and then involving the grand plan to upgrade the Police Agency to the Police Agency.

Yesterday's all honors, have become distant memories"

Toiling hard, having lived half my life, tonight I again stride into wind and rain"

I cannot drift with the tide, for my beloved kin"

No matter how bitter or difficult, I must remain strong, only for those expectant gazes~

This National Police Agency Director General of mine is destined to arise amidst a great historical turning point……

At this very moment, the Superintendent General's dedicated attendant burst in without knocking, face as white as paper: "Not good! Director General! Not good!" "Director General, the National Police Agency reports……Onoda Secretary-General, assaulted in the underground parking lot, now en route to the hospital!" "What?!" Watanabe Eiji froze.

The steel pen in his hand clattered onto the desk, ink blotting a patch, the Superintendent General nearly instantly seized the desk phone, dialing at breakneck speed: "Sōsetsu! Minami! Hurry back! Hurry back hurry back hurry back!"

"Onoda has been stabbed! Come with me to the hospital quickly!"

"Hurry up!!!"

Uesugi Muneyuki and Uesugi Minami were sitting in Eirina's car at this time, already on the way home preparing to return, and upon hearing this news they immediately returned to the Metropolitan Police Department, and together with Watanabe Eiji's Toyota Century they turned on their emergency lights and rushed all the way to the hospital.

The ambulance arrived first, the stretcher had already been pushed inside, the red light in the resuscitation room was on, and a nurse stood outside the door, her expression that of someone who had worked in the emergency room for many years, the kind of calm that says, "I've seen too many people die here but I won't tell you."

Watanabe Eiji stood at the door of the resuscitation room, staring at the tightly closed door and the red light on it, like an eye that would never close. His fingers twitched slightly at the seam of his trousers.

Uesugi Muneyuki stood one step behind him, silent.

The entire hallway was filled with police, many of the Public Security Police had their hands on their guns.

"Who did it?" Watanabe Eiji asked Superintendent General Shinzou Kamiya of the Security Bureau, his expression inscrutable, head lowered, unreadable.

"Miyake. Former Livelihood Safety Director. Stabbed with a knife." Director Shinzou Kamiya was clearly thrown into mental turmoil by this situation.

"Miyake?!" Watanabe Eiji instantly understood what had happened.

He actually disagreed with Onoda's handling of Miyake; in fact, a perfectly dignified reason could have been given—either medical retirement or early retirement due to personal reasons—after all, retirement pensions aren't paid by Onoda, they're state funds.

But Onoda didn't care, and theoretically there is only one "mascot" figure among non-career-track officers who reach the rank of Police Commissioner; Onoda is using this act to deter Japan's over 300,000 non-career-track police officers.

What I give you is yours; what I don't give you, you cannot seize!

Uesugi Muneyuki was also left numb-scalped by today's series of major news; he and Minami Ojou-sama exchanged a glance, and subconsciously he grasped Minami's delicate, springy little hand.

Onoda is dead! Then where does this grand plan go from here? What will the future of the Japanese Police become?

Indeed, several Public Security Police at the scene couldn't help themselves; they knelt at the door and wailed loudly.

Secretariat Director! You cannot die! You must still lead us to reforge the glory of Public Security! You must still lead us to achieve the great plan of upgrading the Police Agency to a Police Province! Your grand blueprint, the promise of national normalization and a new military-police system, has not yet been established, and the Lonely Fortress Dew Great Police Pattern you envisioned remains unfinished—how can you collapse here? How can you just let go of the mortal world like this?

Secretariat Director!!!

And as if responding to their cries, the red light in the resuscitation room went out.

The Director of the Commissioner's Secretariat of the National Police Agency, just one day away from becoming Superintendent General, leader of the Public Security faction, the man who plotted countless covert plans and the grand goal of elevating the National Police Agency to a Police Province, Onoda Kimiaki, is dead.