Chapter 946: , I'm pregnant!

PS: Alright, the Emperor's heatstroke is finally over. Starting today, we resume two updates per day!

In the Special Missions Division office, the lights were dimmed slightly, with only a few desk lamps still on.

Miss Mibu soon received the message to standby at her post. She knew it was because Muneshige Souetsu hadn't returned yet, so she gestured for everyone not to be so tense and to relax first.

The Special Missions Division was waiting for Muneshige to return before taking action, so instead of being tense, it was better to rest properly and wait for his return to deploy in better condition.

Of course, if the Metropolitan Police Department could solve the case before Muneshige returns, that would be ideal.

But……can Director Jinshi pull it off?. jpg

Miss Mibu secretly revealed a very malicious smile.

After assuming office as Commissioner General, Jinshi Souichirou found it somewhat difficult to adapt.

First, he was unaccustomed to the Criminal Affairs Bureau having held the commissioner position for too long. Second, he was used to staying in the dark, so stepping into broad daylight felt uncomfortable. Third, his weak control over the Special Missions Division and the First Investigative Division also made him ill at ease.

As for the Special Missions Division, setting that aside for now, Shimodaira Ukyo came in and immediately stirred up a major incident.

Namely, this guy uncovered a "heavenly descent" (a Japanese term referring to post-retirement reemployment in lower-tier enterprises) system within the Police Agency's Security Bureau, i. e., the Public Security Police, through a case.

According to the latest Japanese regulations, personnel involved in confidential police systems are prohibited from engaging in any security-related work or holding executive positions in defense-related enterprises for at least two years after retirement or resignation.

Consequently, the Public Security system reached a secret agreement with an aviation logistics company.

After senior officials in the Public Security system reach mandatory retirement age, they immediately take positions at this aviation logistics company.

Meanwhile, senior executives from this aviation logistics company go on to work at security firms founded by retired Public Security Police senior officials. If they have not served two years at the aviation logistics company, Public Security Police officials go to the security company; otherwise, aviation company executives return to the aviation company. Through this exchange, senior police officials achieve seamless transitions with unchanged benefits. Of course, in reality, this is far more complex, involving multiple other companies in a rotational scheme, but here we describe it in the simplest way.

And Shimodaira Ukyo blew up this system right upon his arrival, through an employee suicide case.

The retired senior officials of Public Security were instantly enraged. They flocked to Commissioner Jinshi, demanding: "Are you still insisting on maintaining the 'heavenly descent' line of Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Onoda and former Security Bureau Chief Kudo? Will the 'political-business revolving door' continue?"

Commissioner Jinshi Souichirou was flustered and overwhelmed, but he couldn't say Shimodaira Ukyo was wrong. He could only grin and bear it, swallowing his anger in silence.

As for the Special Missions Division, it's an old problem: Commissioner Jinshi can't really direct them effectively. Moreover, Muneshige Souetsu and Shimodaira Ukyo are both tough nuts. They have ability, but we can't let them investigate everything. They keep digging and end up heading toward Sakurada Gate and Nagatacho! Jinshi isn't Onoda or Watanabe Eiji—he can't make them stop!

Meanwhile, several people were scattered around the office corners: Nango Tadashi was scrolling on his phone, Okada Masayoshi was reading an internal Metropolitan Police Department publication, and a few Public Security officers had turned into nicotine-addicted cats, sneaking smoke breaks. Only Yamada Nanase was diligently organizing documents, classifying them, waiting for calls, and adjusting the TV volume to avoid it being too loud or too soft.

Anyone could do this task, but she truly is the most conscientious.

Kai Kyō leaned against the wall by the window, arms crossed over his chest.

His gaze didn't fix on any specific object, but rested in the gaps between the dimmed lights, as if pondering something.

Just then, his phone vibrated.

You can't escape it—forgotten in the rivers and lakes of the world, yet unforgettable, like a fleeting glance of a startled swan.

"Unable to escape the aging of youth~ unable to find love and hatred entwined, since there's no fate to seek a peaceful rest~"

He lowered his eyes to glance at the screen: "Fuefuki Etsuko."

His cohabiting girlfriend.

"Hey, Etsuko? I'm at work right now—what's up?" Kai Kyō said, his tone slightly impatient.

The silence on the other end lasted longer than usual.

Then came Fuefuki Etsuko's soft voice, tinged with hesitation, as if searching for the right words: "Kyō… I…"

"What's wrong? Weren't you supposed to fly to Hong Kong today?" Kai Kyō asked.

"I… I felt unwell when I was about to take off today, so someone replaced me. I… went to the hospital for a checkup. I'm pregnant." Fuefuki Etsuko whispered.

"WHAT???" Kai Kyō's body shot upright from leaning against the wall, his shoulders seeming to be pushed open from within in that instant.

Everyone stared at him.

Kai Kyō felt the gazes upon him. His mouth opened, then closed: "What did you say? Etsuko, can you say that again?" "I'm pregnant. I'm already almost three months along."

Kai Kyō stood rooted in place, his feet feeling as if nailed to the floor.

"You… you're sure? Really?"

"The hospital has confirmed it. I… I called you because I wanted to tell you this. I don't know how to say it to you." Kai Kyō's fingers tightened on the edge of his phone case, then loosened: "I understand. Wait for me. I'm coming right away. Where are you now? At the hospital? Or somewhere else?"

"At the hospital."

"Okay, I'll be there right away."

Kai Kyō hung up and hurried toward Mibu's workstation.

His steps were faster than usual, his stride longer: "Section Chief, I'd like to take leave. I need to go to the hospital. Etsuko… she just told me she's pregnant. I need to go be with her."

"Congratulations, Kai!" Okada Masayoshi and Nango Tadashi had already come over to congratulate: "You're going to be a dad?"

"Congratulations, congratulations!" Guan Chenggeng also said seriously: "You're still unmarried, right? Don't worry—we're all professional legal practitioners, and we'll help you!"

"I, I'll fold little paper stars for you guys!" Yamada Nanase said weakly.

Mibu looked up at Kai, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment, then she nodded: "Go ahead. Nothing major will happen here for now. If anything urgent comes up, I'll let you know."

Kai Kyō didn't say thank you—just nodded, turned, and quickly walked out of the office.

His footsteps echoed down the hall, growing fainter and lighter, until they vanished with the sound of the elevator doors closing.

When Kai Kyō reached the hospital room where Fuefuki Etsuko was staying, her eyes were still slightly red, but the obvious tear marks had faded.

She lay in bed, her hair loosely scattered. Kai Kyō sat beside her, less than a fist's distance between them: "What did the doctor say? Is your health okay? Anything I should watch out for?"

"The doctor said everything is normal for now. Just need to rest during the first three months and avoid overexertion. I… I've already taken leave from work. My flight schedule is temporarily suspended."

Kai Kyō nodded: "Then rest well. If you need anything, tell me. You don't have to carry it all alone."

"Um… there's actually something…" Fuefuki Etsuko lowered her gaze to her fingers, her voice even softer than before, as if afraid that speaking might break something: "I… I have another request. I know this might be inconvenient, but… I hope your father can come. He's the child's grandfather. I want him to know about this."

Kai Kyō's fingers tightened slightly on his knee.

That person.

Why bring him up now?

But… it seems we can't avoid mentioning it… he and Etsuko aren't even married yet.

That person's shadow has always lingered.

Kai Hōshū, Deputy Minister for Justice, his father.

There was someone who always sat behind that desk, always looking at him with that stern gaze, always waiting for him to make a mistake so he could say, "I knew it would turn out like this." He didn't know how to tell his father about this, nor did he know how his father would respond.

"I... will try my best. I'll go find him. Whether he's willing to come, I can't guarantee. But I can go talk to him." Kai Toru finally lowered his head.

Debuki Etsuko lifted her head to look at him, her eyes shimmering with watery light: "Thank you. Whether he comes or not, I understand." These two unmarried men and women both sighed.

If Uesugi-san were here, it would be nice, Kai Xiangren couldn't help but think, his father would acknowledge him.

I have made contributions for the Special Mission, I have shed blood for the Special Duty Flow!

If Uesugi is willing to help, I wouldn't have to face my father directly.

The Political Official's office of the Ministry of Justice is on the sixth floor of a gray building in Kasumigaseki. The hallway is carpeted with dark gray carpet, the walls are light beige, and the wall lamps emit a warm yellow light.

Kai Mineaki sat behind his desk, looking at a document, a pair of silver-framed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose, his hair already mostly gray-white, but combed meticulously, not a single stray strand sticking up.

His tie was tied tightly, the cuffs of his shirt fastened securely. He looked at his son standing at the doorway, without putting down the document in his hand, nor saying "Please come in": "Is Debuki Etsuko pregnant?"

"You're surveilling me?" Kai Toru strode forward to stand before his father.

"In the Ministry of Justice's Administrative Official system, there is an unwritten rule: any family member of a Political Official — including their children, their children's spouses, and their children's children — once they enter the public healthcare system, relevant information will be recorded in a 'special attention' manner." Kai Mineaki lifted his chin, speaking casually: "No matter how I say it, I am already a Political Official, humph," while you have only ever been an Assistant Police Inspector — can you even serve one term as Police Superintendent before your retirement?

Kai Toru's fist clenched slightly at his side: "So you already knew. Then do you know what I want to come and tell you?" "You're not here to tell me I'm going to be a grandfather, are you?" Kai Mineaki again lowered his head: "Are you coming to ask for money? There's 3 million in the cabinet... or are you asking me to help contact the hospital? Actually, going through the Special Mission side would be faster — Uesugi is at Tokyo University Affiliated Hospital..."

"Not that!" Kai Toru said angrily: "It's Etsuko! She said she wants to see you!"

"?!" Kai Mineaki put down the document, took off his glasses, and placed them on the desk surface.

His gaze finally lifted from the document, fell upon Kai Toru's face, and paused for a moment: "What? Did she really say that?" Kai Toru stood before the desk, his mouth opening and closing again, emitting a short sound, as if he wanted to say something but swallowed it back: "So... will you go?"

Kai Mineaki did not answer immediately. He leaned back in the chair, his gaze as if honed by decades of experience, able to see through to what anyone standing across the desk was truly thinking: "Do you want me to go?"

Kai Toru's gaze did not waver; he remained silent for a long time, finally bending his waist, bowing before his father: "I hope you will go... for her, for that child... we, we are not yet married, precisely when she is prone to overthinking... I, I am also becoming a father for the first time, I don't know..."

Kai Mineaki's mouth corner twitched slightly, a very small movement, as if touched by something extremely subtle: "You have never before said such things to me. You know I won't buy this."

"I know. But I'm not saying nice things just to please you. I'm speaking the truth. This child needs a grandfather. She needs a complete family. If you are willing to come, it will be a help to her, to the child, and to me."

Kai Mineaki regarded his son anew with an astonished gaze.

Indeed, this brat, being able to stay by Uesugi Muneyuki's side, has somehow, to some extent, also made some progress... I mean, perhaps... after all, it's only just a little bit, just a little bit... progress?

No, this is merely making him not seem quite so wicked.

Hmph~ only someone like Uesugi, who possesses such breadth of mind, could bring you back even a little toward propriety.

You, you're still far from it!

"Since you've come to me like this." Kai Mineaki rose from his chair, walked around the desk, picked up the jacket draped over the chair back: "Then let's go. What are we waiting for?"

Kai Toru finally let out a breath, he still wanted to say something, but seeing his father already head out without looking back, he quickly cursed "Stupid old man," and chased after him, running out.

Father and son said not a single word all the way.

In the hospital parking lot, Kai Mineaki parked the car.

When Kai Mineaki appeared in the ward accompanied by Kai Toru, Debuki Etsuko's eyes lit up.

Kai Mineaki walked up to her and stopped: "How are you? Your complexion looks good, right?"

Debuki Etsuko quickly bowed: "Thank you very much for coming. Truly, thank you very much. Thanks to you, all indicators are normal." "That's really great." Kai Mineaki forced out a faint smile, he truly disliked smiling in front of his son.

The three people sat down in the ward.

Then, there was nothing to say.

Finally, it was Kai Toru who spoke first: "I might not be able to stay too long, the Special Mission Division is on standby."

"Is that the case of the Dark Knight?" Kai Mineaki reluctantly responded.

"Hmm, recently the TV has been continuously broadcasting this news. I'm a bit afraid, if that person really is acting on Heaven's Will, then what use is the law? If everyone can judge according to their own standards whether others deserve punishment, then this world would become very frightening." Debuki Etsuko took out her phone, displaying the news inside for the father and son to see.

"Your thoughts represent those of many ordinary people. The lag and imperfection of the law indeed make some people feel unjust. But the law's imperfection is not a reason to make up for it with private punishment. You break this rule, and someone will break the next rule in the same way. The final result is not justice being served, but violence replacing justice." Kai Mineaki said subconsciously.

"But if the law truly fails to protect good people at times, then what should those victims do? Should they continue waiting for the law to slowly improve?" Kai Toru immediately said.

"Legal progress... indeed slow. But if you sit at home waiting, you will never wait for any result. You must go push, go strive, go make the law better. Private punishment is abandonment. It is abandoning the effort to improve the law, abandoning faith in society. You think you are punishing bad people, but in fact you are merely giving yourself a 'I did something' psychological comfort." Kai Mineaki immediately rebuked: "Still this naive, you." "That's still better than you doing nothing!" Kai Toru immediately said.

"You simply don't understand the Ministry of Justice." Kai Mineaki sneered.

Seeing father and son about to argue again, Debuki Etsuko quickly said: "Then if the Dark Knight continues like this, what will he become? Will he keep doing this? Or will he one day stop?"

Kai Mineaki shook his head: "He will keep doing this until he is caught or killed. Because the logic of private punishers is self-reinforcing — each time he does it, he feels he has more reason to do the next. The illusion of justice will grow deeper and deeper like a drug addiction."

Kai Toru's gaze fell on the rim of the teacup, where a ring of water droplets was slowly condensing: "If one day the Dark Knight is caught, how will you view him? Will you see him as a righteous person? Or as a criminal?"

Kai Mineaki's gaze paused on Kai Toru's face for a moment: "If he truly acted only for those victims, then in some aspects... he indeed has more initiative than those who only know how to sit in offices and stamp documents. But the crux of the problem is, if there truly were a better way, able to resolve those who evade legal sanctions more quickly and fairly, then private punishment would not arise. Private punishment is the law's mirror, reflecting what the law cannot do."

"Is it Batman?" Debuki Etsuko said: "It seems, Batman is just like that."

"Batman is merely a comic, DC set many rules for endless serialization — Batman cannot die, the story cannot end, popular villains cannot die, conspiracies cannot be interrupted, Gotham must remain in chaos and crime for new stories to be told, Wayne Enterprises one moment is a colossus covering the sky with one hand, the next moment it can't even support a city councilor, becoming worthless snacks, so Batman ultimately became like Sisyphus, a clown — not his faith that ruined him, but this commercial comic IP serialization model that ruined him." Kai Mineaki sneered: "But even so, screenwriters have a consensus: Batman still adheres to the utmost extent to the American Puritan standard of the living saint — that is, not killing."

"Just as, no matter what version of Superman, they emphasize his foster parents' upbringing."

"But this Dark Knight, he has killed." Kai Mineaki said: "He has no excuse to deprive others of life, especially in this country where the death penalty is becoming increasingly difficult to sentence and increasingly cautious."

"And, has he even considered what this act of killing represents, that it will summon..." Saying this, Kai Mineaki said very calmly: "... an ultimate hunter of all murderers."

Kai Toru and Debuki Etsuko also nodded subconsciously at the same time.

Yes, he will summon someone.

Uesugi Muneyuki!