Chapter 950

The Metropolitan Police Department's inspection of Overbought's residence began the next morning.

Unlike the Japanese police's usual cursory "once-over" for many cases, this time, involving a National Diet member, it was a true "searching mountains and seas" — every inch of floor was sprayed with reagent, every wall seam was probed with a needle, every piece of furniture was moved and returned to its original position. The Forensic Identification Division split into three teams working in rotation: one team handled the living room and bedroom, one the kitchen and bathroom, and one the stairwell and hallway. Their experience from the first four Dark Knight cases told them that the perpetrator almost left no traces, but "almost none" did not mean "completely none."

The living room carpet was completely lifted, face up, and scanned inch by inch with a strong-beam flashlight.

No footprints, no fibers, no residual foreign matter.

The sofa's back cushions were opened, the filling inspected, and nothing abnormal found.

The coffee table's underside was turned over, and forensic staff swabbed every corner with cotton swabs, attempting to extract any possible trace evidence from those overlooked gaps.

The report stated "not detected."

The bedroom mattress was lifted, the bed frame disassembled, and the interior space of the bed frame inspected.

No hidden items found, no bloodstains found, no signs of movement found.

The clothes in the wardrobe were inspected one by one, pockets turned out, zippers opened, and nothing not belonging to Rang Ben himself was found. The bathroom sink and drain were disassembled, and the internal pipe residue inspected.

No abnormalities found.

The hallway walls were tapped to check for possible hollow areas. No hidden spaces found.

Each stair tread was inspected one by one for loose boards or hidden compartments. No abnormalities found. Windows were checked, locks intact, window frames showed no signs of prying.

The door lock also showed no signs of damage, no signs of forced entry. The perpetrator did not break in from outside; he walked in normally. Or, did Rang Ben himself open the door?

Technical staff also conducted a meticulous sweep of the surrounding area.

Every tree, every utility pole, every trash bin, and every possible hiding spot within a 500-meter radius was inspected, with no suspicious items found. Surveillance cameras captured blurry footage — a shadow of a person in a dark coat appearing near Rang Ben's residence before and after the incident.

The footage quality was poor, the angle unfavorable, the face unclear, the build indistinct, only a vague outline visible.

The gait, step frequency, and physical characteristics of that outline closely matched the shadow seen in the surveillance footage of the previous four cases. Walking speed, arm swing amplitude, head tilt angle — nearly identical.

Technical staff placed the two clips side by side for comparison, enlarged, overlaid, and analyzed frame by frame.

Lacking sufficient clarity in details, lacking identifiable facial features for comparison, relying solely on this footage, it cannot be determined whether it is the same person or someone deliberately imitating.

"This guy has very strong counter-investigation capabilities." The Forensic Science Laboratory stared at it for half a day, then finally concluded.

The Special Investigation Headquarters office lit up after nightfall.

The fatigue from the daytime search seeped out from everyone's shoulder blades and spinal gaps, as if something was slowly rising from beneath the skin, making the seated posture in chairs increasingly resemble one that required deliberate maintenance.

Kameyama Kaoru sat beside the folding table with a bowl of freshly brewed instant noodles, the chopstick tip lightly stirring the soup noodles a few times, then he picked up a bite, blew on it twice, and brought it to his mouth.

"Slurp~~~

"So fragrant, is it the shrimp flavor of Cup Noodles?" a nearby officer chuckled.

"It doesn't matter what it is." After swallowing, Kameyama Kaoru set his chopsticks on the bowl's rim, thought for a moment, and still couldn't help saying: "Ukyo-san, why do National Diet members get such good treatment? Official residence, secretary, official car, various subsidies — isn't this wasting taxpayers' money? They take that money, then still embezzle, still take bribes, still keep mistresses. What exactly is this?" Kouka Shinichirou sat opposite him, a large portion of fried pork cutlet bento in front of him, he lifted the lid to glance, then put it back: "Do you know why National Diet members have these benefits? Not because we should encourage corruption, but so that those who don't want to be corrupt can avoid corruption. A member who doesn't take corporate money — how does he live? His salary isn't too high, but he needs to maintain a dignified life, attend various occasions, needs someone to handle paperwork. Without these benefits, honest people couldn't survive. Corrupt ones would thrive. With these benefits, at least those who want to be honest can live honestly. This money isn't to reward corruption — it's to protect the innocent." "Hey, participating in politics should just be free, right? Since you're all mouth about serving the people, seeking welfare for all, then don't take a salary!" Kameyama Kaoru said indifferently: "And what about political donations?"

"Kameyama-kun, party operations require funding." Sugishita Ukyo said calmly: "You don't really think our party, like other countries, can run without funding, do you?"

"Yes, the ultimate problem in human history is where party operational funding comes from." Beriki Jin said beside him: "You think it's all Prussia? Essentially, the army owning an entire country? Or like some countries where the concepts of state, nation, government, and party have already merged and been bound together, directly allocating a portion of national revenue as party operational funds?"

"Beriki-kun is right, party operations require funding." Sugishita Ukyo held his red tea, smiled: "We Japanese cannot, like some countries, simply allocate a portion of national tax revenue to sustain party operations — that would put the cart before the horse and give the ruling party absolute advantage, like Singapore, so after countless explorations, political donations have become one of the not-too-bad options. Surely we can't rely on each member paying party dues? You can't have the horse run and also expect it not to eat grass."

Kameyama Kaoru's chopsticks froze mid-air: "Then what do you think — does the Dark Knight also think this way? That Rang Ben doesn't deserve those benefits, so he killed him?"

Kouka Shinichirou pushed that cup of cool tea aside: "Possible. If he really thinks that, then his killing intent toward Rang Ben isn't just about his personal crimes, but about the entire system he represents. He didn't kill a person — he killed part of that system." "But that doesn't make sense either." Sugishita Ukyo still shook his head: "If he wanted to strike at the system, he has better targets."

However, saying this, Sugishita Ukyo suddenly paused.

"Wait, Kameyama-kun, you just said National Diet members' benefits are too high. Kouka-kun said these benefits are so honest people don't have to be corrupt. Putting these two together, I thought of something. If a person could have avoided corruption but still chose it, then he becomes the Dark Knight's target. He doesn't kill those forced into corruption — he kills those who could have avoided it but chose corruption." "The key issue in this case might lie in those three words: 'not corrupt.'"

Kouka Shinichirou's finger paused on the tabletop: "Section Chief, what do you mean?"

"We may have missed something." Sugishita Ukyo set down his red tea: "Possibly some things we took for granted, some things we thought didn't need questioning or thinking, that we overlooked."

"We might need to wait for someone to return. Some details need his input before we can speak. Uesugi Muneyuki should already be on his way." That night, the storm over Hachijo Island finally ceased.

The next morning, Uesugi Muneyuki stood on the jetty, wearing a deep gray coat, its hem flapping in the sea breeze. The ferry's whistle sounded in the morning light, he lifted his suitcase, stepped down the gangway onto the deck. Ikeda Erena walked behind him, Maeda Toshihide and Asō Kōta following last.

By midday, Uesugi Muneyuki was already standing before the autopsy table in the Metropolitan Police Department's Forensic Medicine Teaching Room, facing Rang Ben's corpse.

He had just finished reading the entire scene report, piecing those fragments together in his mind into a preliminary outline.

Now he needed the final piece of the puzzle — the body itself.

He put on gloves, picked up the scalpel, bent over, and began the examination.

"The cause of death is indeed blunt-force trauma causing cranial injury. But before striking, the perpetrator first restrained Rang Ben's movement, rendering him unable to resist. This matches the method of the first four Dark Knight cases, indicating the perpetrator is indeed experienced. However, one detail differs — the force control of the fatal blow, unlike before. The first four strikes were precise in position, moderate in force. This time, one strike clearly missed the target, causing more severe damage. This does not look like a precisely calculated action. More like a blow from loss of emotional control. Possibly the same person, but in a different state."

Well, then next is……

Uesugi Muneyuki raised his right hand, Qinghui Stone light burst forth.

Death Soul Contract, open!!!

And at the moment Uesugi Muneyuki opened the Death Soul Contract, a mourning, bluish-green specter fiercely clung to his thigh.

"Uesugi-san! Is it you! Really you!?"

"Uesugi Chief, I'm wronged ah ah ah!!!"