Chapter 947

The news that National Diet Member Rang Benkezoku had been beaten to death hit Nagatacho like a giant stone thrown into a lake. Once the Cabinet's order was issued, the Metropolitan Police Department sprang into action like a machine suddenly cranked to maximum power, all its gears beginning to turn at high speed in the same instant.

Another dead person!

Another dead Diet member!!

TMD, is Japan Africa? Dying top leaders all day long!

We must investigate thoroughly!

And this also gained unanimous agreement in Nagatacho; on this issue, whether left-wing or right-wing, whether ruling party or opposition, whether Kansai or Kanto, whether representatives of religious corporations or agricultural cooperatives, or even spokespersons for emerging IT industries in major cities, all agreed. Open the door!!! Release Uesugi!!!

Prime Minister Oowada's angry roar echoed from Nagatacho to Sakuradamon.

However, Uesugi was not there.

"Uesugi Muneyuki is currently on Hachijo Island, and due to the winter low-pressure storm, he will delay his return to Tokyo by two days." Watanabe Eiji reported to the Cabinet. "Why was he sent to Hachijo Island?" Chief Cabinet Secretary Onoda Kimiaki said impatiently.

"Because he had no assignment at the time, and there happened to be a case there involving his forensic expertise..." Watanabe Eiji already knew how to explain it.

"From now on, for such trivial little matters, do not casually deploy the Special Mission Division." Chairman Nanko Taro of the National Public Safety Commission said coldly: "This will prevent us from expecting Uesugi Muneyuki's performance when we need it! Budget matters are easy to discuss."

"Yes." Watanabe Eiji sat down.

"Director General Kamishiro!" The Cabinet members all turned their gaze toward Shinzou Kamiya.

Superintendent General Shinzou Kamiya immediately stood up: "We are mobilizing the maximum possible manpower! We must solve the case as soon as possible!"

"Very good!"

Early the next morning, the area around Rang Benkezoku's residence in Meguro Ward had already been completely sealed off.

The Metropolitan Police Department's yellow police tape was laid in three layers, extending from the alley entrance all the way to the back door, with police officers drawn from surrounding stations, hands behind their backs, densely distributed at every point.

Dozens of police cars were parked on both sides of the road, their roof lights not flashing, but the mere presence of the vehicles themselves served as a silent declaration. Vehicles from the Forensic Identification Division were lined up in a row, with technicians in white protective suits coming and going, each person emerging holding an evidence bag, the contents inside sealed, numbered, and boxed.

Bulletproof vests, helmets, sidearms, police radios, law enforcement recorders—every piece of equipment had been carefully inspected to ensure it would not malfunction when needed.

A temporary command tent was set up on the open ground at the intersection, several folding tables pushed together, with maps, photos, and timeline charts spread on top. Outside the tent, officers tasked with maintaining order kept reporters at bay, blocking those who tried to approach from several dozen meters away.

Someone shouted, "Please let us interview," "Please reveal some progress," but no one responded; only more officers lined up, stretching from the intersection to the alley mouth, standing every few meters, like weaving an invisible net from above that enclosed the entire area, letting nothing leak out.

An antique Fiat Gallo entered the scene.

Investigation Division 1 Chief Sugishita Ukyo arrived.

With Uesugi Muneyuki absent, Sugishita Ukyo was the person the Metropolitan Police Department could rely on most… but also one of the most dangerous.

Shinzou Kamiya had once complained, saying how Watanabe Eiji had left him nothing but gods?

Uesugi Muneyuki, Jin Kashiwagi of the First Section, Kaoru Kameyama of the Third Section, and Chief Sugishita Ukyo—each one individually possessed strong abilities, but were disobedient and prone to explosion!

How many times had the Sakuradamon Headquarters been blown up in rotation by the troubles these few people caused?

But Chief Sugishita Ukyo had his own standards and considerations.

"Division Chief!"

"To the Division Chief, salute!"

"Good morning." Sugishita Ukyo bent over and ducked under the police tape, walking into the entrance of that apartment building when Kaoru Kameyama was already waiting in the first-floor lobby. He wore a classic motorcycle jacket, collar standing up, holding a notebook already flipped to the folded edge.

Seeing Sugishita Ukyo walk in, he closed the notebook and gave him a slight nod: "Mr. Sugishita, the scene has already undergone preliminary inspection. It's very clean. The perpetrator left no fingerprints, footprints, hair, or bodily fluids. Just like the previous four times, no trace at all."

Sugishita Ukyo said nothing, walking toward the stairwell entrance.

Kaoru Kameyama followed behind him, their footsteps echoing one after another in the empty hallway.

The door to Rang Benkezoku's room stood open, with Forensic Identification Division personnel still inside conducting final sampling.

Sugishita Ukyo paused at the doorway, observing the layout of the observation room.

This was a spacious living room, with sofa, coffee table, TV stand, and floor-to-ceiling windows, the layout simple.

Rang Benkezoku lay on the ground, face up, arms spread, skull deformed, blood seeping from the back of the head, forming on the floor a dark red, petal-like shape spreading outward.

Forensic officer Takeshi Higashiyama was spraying reagent on the ground, searching for microscopic traces invisible to the naked eye. "The direct cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head, skull fracture, intracranial hemorrhage. After he fell, the perpetrator continued to strike multiple times. No lethal weapon was used; the weapon may be a blunt object, such as a wooden or metal stick. Time of death is approximately between 10 and 11 p. m. last night, matching the time neighbors heard shouting." Sugishita Ukyo crouched down, his gaze falling on the card placed on the coffee table.

Black cardstock, with a knight's helmet outline printed in the center, its edge traced with a gold thread.

No other traces nearby, as if carefully placed, like a seal proving "This is my doing."

Sugishita Ukyo observed for a while, without reaching out to touch: "You just said the first four incidents were all serious injuries, but this one resulted in death. What do you think, why did this one end in death?"

"Well… I think it's a matter of not controlling the force. In the first four scenes, I carefully compared them. The Dark Knight's strike positions were extremely precise, like someone trained, knowing where to hit to cause pain but not death. But this time, the position was off, with several blows landing near the occipital bone and temples, and the force control was clearly poor. It's as if another person had done it, or someone unfamiliar with this method. The perpetrator's emotional state may also have been very different—not like calmly administering punishment, but more like venting anger." Takeshi Higashiyama said, then scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, gesturing for you to let him off: "As for the rest, I certainly can't match Mr. Uesugi; I can only think of this much."

"No, this is just right." Sugishita Ukyo smiled, indicating no need to say more.

Jin Kashiwagi squeezed in from behind: "Huh huh, strange, huh, Division Chief."

"Hmm?" Kaoru Kameyama disliked looking at Jin Kashiwagi's playboy face, just as Jin Kashiwagi did not want to look at Kaoru Kameyama's hardworking grassroots face. Kaoru Kameyama had only been in the Metropolitan Police Department a few months and had already successfully soured relations with Jin Kashiwagi.

"I think, if the Dark Knight were a person of principle, method, and ability, he would not have maintained a 'no-kill' record for the first four incidents, only to kill the target on the fifth due to a 'mistake.' A single mistake would be enough to overturn the image he had carefully maintained. He is not the type to allow himself to make mistakes." Jin Kashiwagi said to Sugishita Ukyo: "The image the Dark Knight had shown so far was that of a high-intelligence criminal, but this time…"

Kaoru Kameyama turned his notebook to a new page: "In other words, this case might not have been done by the Dark Knight? Could it be someone imitating him? Using the Dark Knight's name to do what they want?"

Sugishita Ukyo raised one finger: "That is one possibility."

"Another possibility is that the Dark Knight truly did not kill anyone in the first four actions, but in the fifth action, he genuinely intended to kill. 'The first four targets were criminals escaping legal punishment, but this target is Diet Member Rang Benkezoku. Compared to those murderers from the first four, the nature is different. The Dark Knight may not consider Rang Benkezoku's crimes sufficient to deserve death, so he decided to eliminate him directly. What he wanted to kill was not a criminal escaping punishment, but a person he believed did not deserve to live.'

"So I can't figure it out: if a nurse who mixed feces into drops to kill three people and caused multiple organ failures, still in ICU resuscitation today, is not deserving of death, then what crime does Rang Benkezoku have that warrants his killing? Did he write the script for 'Omega Ultraman'?" Jin Kashiwagi snapped. "Section Two is already investigating it." Kaoru Kameyama crossed his arms: "What's troublesome is that this involves a Diet Member, making Section Two's job difficult; the fastest solution is to mobilize the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's Special Investigation Unit..."

"The Special Investigation Unit won't listen to our requests unless Uesugi speaks up." Jin Kashiwagi snorted coldly.

…" Sugishita Ukyo frowned.

As Investigation Division 1 Chief, his authority does not match that of Uesugi Minami, especially after Onoda Kimiaki's death; although the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's Special Investigation Unit originally did not buy into the Metropolitan Police Department's accounts, the existence of someone who could make the Special Investigation Unit comply would be quite conspicuous.

Never mind, this was never mine to begin with.

Likewise, there is the matter of the Management Officer Kouka.

If everyone remembers, Kouka Shinichirou was previously the First Section Chief and also one of the aces of the First Division, later promoted to Management Officer, but this management official, already in his fifties, has the greatest trait of being obedient and politically savvy.

He once helped conceal some matters of Komiyama, the principal of the University of Tokyo, in the University of Tokyo Professor Spouse Murder Case, and he once, following instructions from Public Security Police, turned over all evidence, thus coming to blows with Jin Kashiwagi, which made Superintendent General Kamiya trust him more and elevated his position.

After all, if you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will.

And for non-professional groups like Kouka, the Department Head Miya is his ultimate goal—aiming to secure the sole Police Commissioner slot for non-professional groups around ages 58 to 62, then retire within 12 to 18 months.

Management Officer Kouka Shinichirou walked briskly from the hallway.

He wore a dark blue suit, his tie tied perfectly, his briefcase tucked under his arm, his stride carrying the unique rhythm of efficiency-first that comes after years at the Metropolitan Police Department: "Sugishita-san, Kameyama-san, the Criminal Investigation Department Chief is already urging us on. The Cabinet has given a three-day limit; we must give a preliminary conclusion within three days. Department Chief Uchimura Kanji demands we spare no expense, solve the case as quickly as possible."

"You may have already noticed, this case is indeed quite different from the previous four. In the past four years, the Dark Knight has only punished those who escaped legal sanction, but he has never crossed the line into killing. This is his first murder. If it is the same person, then it means his behavior pattern has undergone some kind of qualitative change. If it is not the same person, then the very existence of this imitator is itself another problem that needs to be solved. Either way, we must find the answers as quickly as possible."

Sugishita Ukyo neither nodded nor shook his head: "I will report to Department Chief Uchimura later. Management Officer Kouka, I have already finished examining the scene. The Forensic Identification Division should still need some time to organize those materials. When the time comes, I will work together with Kameyama to synthesize a more complete inference based on those materials. Before that, I need to confirm a few things. Has the surveillance footage been retrieved? Have the cameras at all entrances and exits, all street-corner cameras within a five-hundred-meter radius, captured any suspicious persons? And what about Rang Ben's social network—his phone records, emails, LINE chat logs—have they been investigated?"

Kouka Shinichirou's pen paused on the paper: "The surveillance is already being retrieved. But the camera coverage on this street is not high; there is only one public camera at the alley entrance, and its angle is not good. We will expand the range to see if any other cameras have captured some clues. Rang Ben's social network is also under investigation, but he is a National Diet Member, and he comes into contact with too many people. We are currently screening; it may take some time before we can organize all the clues clearly."

Sugishita Ukyo did not press further: "Then let's start with these. If there is any discovery, contact us at any time. Also, immediately send a copy of the materials to Uesugi Chief on Hachijo Island so he can take a look."

"I sent it last night, but there was no reply." Management Officer Kouka said.

"You sent it and didn't report to the Division Chief?" Kameyama Kaoru keenly perceived the difference.

"He will see it." Sugishita Ukyo nodded, Kameyama Kaoru followed behind him, Kouka Shinichirou remained in place, head down, writing something in his notebook. Damn it, Uesugi is not here, I can't fuse with him!

Kashiwagi Jin then sighed, and immediately ignited a greater fighting spirit.

"You bastard, what are you doing now?"

Time rewinds to last night.

"What? Because of the low-pressure storm, we can't go out to sea lately?" Uesugi Muneyuki encountered something unexpected at the large jetty.

"Yes, maybe we need to wait two days; going out to sea now is not safe." The boatman said embarrassedly.

"Then we'll just stay here for two days!" Eirina immediately said eagerly: "And, isn't accommodation and such reimbursed by headquarters?"

"Cough, cough, although it is reimbursed by headquarters, you actually don't need to say that out loud, Master." Uesugi Muneyuki coughed twice, only able to nod: "Well then."

"Great!!!" Maeda Toshihide and Asō Kōta cheered from behind.

Thus, one hour later, the hotel KTV private room.

"Another quiet night, one person browsing the internet in a luxury mansion, I admit this sense of déjà vu is strong, like a Paradox Interactive player, huh" Maeda Toshihide sang.

"I heard you're still looking for your seedling, searching here and there is just wasted effort, you might as well stop hiding east and west and join my pink Godai team." Asō showed no weakness. "Turns out you live in a place like this~" "Don't randomly touch and dirty my house~"

"Duplex high-rise overlooking the sea and facing the river~" "The suffering of the rich is something you can't imagine~"

"Have a cup of tea, chat for a while, Delta Force kicks off!"

"Stop pretending, between you and me~"

Uesugi Muneyuki and Eirina sat on one side, clapping for the two guys, and just at that moment, his phone lit up.

"Eh? Whose message is it?" Eirina is always interested in everything about Uesugi Muneyuki.

"Don't worry, it's definitely nothing big." Uesugi Muneyuki said casually: "It's totally impossible that I just left Tokyo two days ago, and something like a super big case where a National Diet Member's Toyota Century was blown up by a bomb would happen in the inner districts, right?"

"No way!"