Chapter 948

The winter night on Hachijo Island was much quieter than in Tokyo.

The inn's KTV private room was at the end of the second-floor hallway, with average soundproofing, but the advantage was that no one disturbed them.

"If I look at you one more time, I'll faint from anger at you, you not being a fan of IVE rebuilding Rome is a rare dog"

"Don't always put on a face at me, don't think you can make me follow along and chant!"

"You investigate, I investigate, when we meet we just pretend not to see each other"

Maeda Toshihide and Asō Kōta were passionately singing a duet.

Ikeda Erena was secretly enjoying herself, sitting beside Uesugi Muneyuki, holding a paper box of Coconut Tree brand coconut juice, slowly drinking, the straw already flattened by her bite.

Tonight she had deliberately changed into an outfit—a burgundy velvet dress, the neckline opened just right. The hem was slightly shorter than usual, revealing thighs wrapped in dark gray velvet stockings. On her legs she wore a pair of "Passionate Love" series velvet stockings, the type with slight thickness but extremely strong luster, emitting a fine micro-glow in the dim lighting of the KTV private room.

On her feet were a pair of black pointed-toe high heels, the heel about nine centimeters, the lacquer on the uppers reflecting a cold light under the lights. Her hair fell over her shoulders, a few strands hanging above her collarbone.

Erena looked as if she weren't in a remote island inn's KTV, but rather preparing to go to Ginza's high-end club for an important date—unfortunately, this outfit of hers could only be seen privately by Uesugi Muneyuki, and to Maeda Toshihide and Asō Kōta, it was just a glance. However, these two also weren't lacking in women.

"It's you who doesn't know Korean yet pretends to be cool chasing stars to Korea!"

"It's you who loves vanity, wanting to join the Special Mission, overthinking too much!"

"Your education is the weakest, in the Special Mission Division you're the most inferior! Making me use up too many pity pulls in Genshin~" Maeda Toshihide continued singing.

"It's you who used connections to force your way in, hypocrisy exposed"

"It's you whose original iron shatters, absolute boat creaks, blue ultimately not as good as Nintendo!"

"You say it's for the group on your lips, but when someone points it out, you're basically not Baira Duo~" Asō Kōta also sang.

"Great!!! Very spirited!" Uesugi Muneyuki and Ikeda Erena clapped desperately.

And just at this moment, the phone rang.

üの"

The screen showed a bulletin from the Metropolitan Police Department, the content not long, but each word felt like a fine needle pricking the nerves. The Dark Knight killed someone.

A National Diet member, killed by blunt force trauma, the scene left a card, completely consistent with the previous four cases. The Cabinet ordered a time-limited solve, the Metropolitan Police Department mobilized all personnel, Sugishita Ukyo personally led the team. After reading those lines, he turned off the phone screen and placed it on the coffee table.

"Something happened over in Tokyo." His voice wasn't loud, but it just managed to overpower Maeda Toshihide's singing.

Maeda Toshihide put down the microphone, sat on the armrest of the nearby sofa, he had originally wanted to sing the Friedrich Ode next.

Asō Kōta lifted his head from the phone screen, his eyes showing a new person's vigilance and curiosity: "Uesugi Chief, what happened?" "The Dark Knight killed someone. Not like the previous four times where he injured, but directly killed. A National Diet member, named Overbought. The scene had that Knight card." Uesugi Muneyuki picked up that cup of oolong tea and took a sip, "The method is highly consistent with the previous four, including concealment, the scene left no fingerprints, DNA, or shoe prints, any traceable evidence is gone. But his method of killing differs from before—before the four strikes were all precise, causing serious injury but not death. This time, he struck directly at vital areas, with force far exceeding 'punishment'. It looks like the same person, but the behavior pattern has changed. If it's not the same person, then someone is imitating him."

Ikeda Erena leaned against the sofa back, her gaze falling on the turned-off screen on the coffee table: "National Diet member? The Dark Knight's previous targets were ordinary people who escaped legal sanctions, why this time suddenly target a politician?"

Maeda Toshihide leaned over from the sofa armrest: "Could it be that Overbought did something more serious? Something worse than the previous four criminals? If the Dark Knight could find the criminal records of those previous four, he could also find Overbought's. Perhaps he discovered something Overbought did that outsiders don't know, before deciding to kill him, could it be he scripted 《Ultraman Arc》 feeding the Japanese people crazy red stone?" "I can hardly imagine there existing a crime worse than that nurse who fed patients red stone via IV drip, causing three deaths and still multiple people in ICU today." Uesugi Muneyuki fell silent for a moment, shook his head: "Generally speaking, a National Diet member's sins come from large-scale conspiracies, like him embezzling 100 billion yen of Tohoku people's pensions and getting away scot-free, while his daughter still works as a singer domestically in Japan, but compared to that, personal hatred is actually far less significant."

"Please ask them to investigate Overbought's crime, exactly what he did." Uesugi Muneyuki said.

After saying that, he immediately called the chief of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Unit, Kirekawa.

"Alright, I'll investigate and report back to you." Kirekawa agreed readily: "As a condition, when you investigate and find something, remember to hand it over to us."

Kirekawa Akira is about to succeed West River Noble Teaching as Tokyo Chief Prosecutor, he still needs to push for performance.

"Alright." Uesugi Muneyuki spoke concisely.

A National Diet member, in front of Uesugi and the prosecutors, is like three melons and two dates, just arranged like that.

Maeda Toshihide's facial muscles twitched once.

Grandfather, I love you!

And not far from him, Asō Kōta had already clenched his fists.

Now he finally got to see the darkness of the Uesugi family!

This is truly, truly dark light!

I also want, I also want to become light! Become light! Fly higher!

Please let me become your partner! Uesugi-san!!!

The next day at noon, that is, when Sugishita Ukyo et al. finished checking around noon, a sedan drove to the Special Investigation Headquarters.

Criminal Investigation Department Chief Uchimura Kanji quickly walked in.

His steps were hurried, his collar slightly askew, his tie knot also loosened.

The Criminal Investigation Department Chief stopped at the main seat of the long table, put down his coffee cup, the cup bottom hitting the desk surface making a sound heavier than usual.

He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, his voice carrying an uncontainable fire: "This case is no longer just a criminal case. Nagatacho is watching us. That slain National Diet member, although he had many controversies in life, after all he was an incumbent National Diet member. The killer being able to enter his residence and kill him shows the killer is no longer bound by any rules. If you cannot solve this quickly, we will face not just public opinion pressure. The Cabinet has clearly stated, if the Metropolitan Police Department cannot solve this quickly, senior personnel will face reshuffling." His gaze swept from Sugishita Ukyo's face to Kouka Shinichirou's face, then to Kameyama Kaoru's face, finally landing on the whiteboard: "Dark Knight activities have already lasted two years. Previously, because there was no killing, and the public often sympathized with his actions, the Metropolitan Police Department did not fully investigate. But this time, he killed someone. He killed a National Diet member. He killed an incumbent member of the legislative body. This has already touched the bottom line of this country, we must spare no expense to catch him."

Sugishita Ukyo turned from beside the whiteboard: "Department Chief Uchimura, if the killer truly is the Dark Knight, we indeed need to speed up. But if the killer is not the Dark Knight, then we want to catch another person. Someone using the Dark Knight's name, his methods, to conceal their own movements. He may have observed the Dark Knight for a long time, familiar with his crime patterns, yet not knowing how to control force. This might be his first crime, or it might not be his last."

Uchimura Kanji's gaze moved from Sugishita Ukyo's face, landing on that whiteboard: "I don't care whether it's the Dark Knight himself or an imitator, we must catch him. We cannot let anyone escape justice in the case of a National Diet member's murder, nor let the public think the Metropolitan Police Department can't even catch an imitator."

"I tell you, Sugishita Ukyo, from now on, spare no expense!"

After saying that, Department Chief Uchimura stormed out angrily, leaving everyone looking at each other.

Really a good leader, no resources given, no information disclosed, time-limited solve, still passing the buck.

Kashiwagi Jin couldn't help but roll his eyes, thinking Department Chief Uchimura in front of Uesugi was never like this before.

And time passed until the afternoon, when the Investigation Division 2 finally organized some materials and sent them to the Special Investigation Headquarters.

It was Overbought's personal data page, listing his resume and political career.

During his political career there were indeed not a few controversies, such as using connections to seek benefits for specific enterprises, also once exposed by media for having abnormal relations with a certain woman, plus some rumors about him using authority during his term to arrange positions for relatives, but none involved criminal crime.

Even for a National Diet member, these are not considered major issues.

This made Sugishita Ukyo et al. even more confused.

He had never killed anyone, never directly harmed anyone, and even lacked clear victims like the previous few victims.

He was merely an ordinary politician who had mixed in political circles for decades, bearing all the common ailments of political figures. Such a person, why would he become the Dark Knight's target?