Chapter 958: Really, it's you!

Late night, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.

The heavy rain that began in the evening had not stopped, and by late night it had intensified further, rainwater striking the asphalt road and splashing up layers of fine mist, the streetlights' glow in the rain curtain becoming blurred orange-yellow halos with edges constantly diffusing.

Setagaya is a detached-house district in Tokyo, with large areas of detached-house residential zones located here, including the home of Police Commissioner Watanabe Eiji in the wealthy Gotokuji area not far away.

By now it was late night, and all the detached houses on this residential street had their lights off, only a few windows here and there still showing warm yellow light behind them, one such window located midway along the street, on the left side of the second floor of a two-story off-white residence.

Inside the house there was no human voice, only the television's sound spreading through the air, like some continuous low-frequency background noise, in the rain night it was hard to hear clearly, the screen showing news about the dark knight's capture, the anchor saying to the camera, "The suspect has confessed in interrogation to the full modus operandi of all five cases," the picture cutting to a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police Department, in the shot no specific name appeared, just a processed announcement from the National Police Agency spokesperson's office.

The background music was the kind used only during major news broadcasts, with a slight sense of urgency, the anchor read out some necessary statements, then the picture cut to the next report, the commentator's voice hanging briefly in the air before disappearing.

It looked like just an ordinary cold rainy night.

The light in the first-floor living room was off, the television screen's glow becoming the room's sole light source, those lights casting on the walls and floor constantly shifting shadows of varying depth.

A figure climbed over the backyard wall and entered, movement very light, almost no splash.

He wore a dark hooded jacket, the brim pulled low, his face completely covered by a mask.

His feet landed on the lawn, the soles of his boots pressing over the soaked grass blades producing only an extremely faint rubbing sound.

His steps continued toward the front door. He pulled a slender tool from his pocket, inserted it into the gap in the door lock, a tool that can release the spring mechanism without damaging the lock core.

The door lock emitted an extremely faint sound, then sprang open inward.

He pushed the door open, slipped inside, gently closed it behind him, tilted his ear to listen for any movement inside, no footsteps, no breathing, only the TV's humming coming from the direction of the living room.

His gaze swept quickly across the entire space in the darkness, then moved toward the staircase, his steps light and steady, each footfall placed on a spot that would make no sound.

The target should be in here!

The owner of this residence was the wife's close friend of the former Yomiuri Giants coach who had been framed by his daughter and ultimately hanged himself.

After this news broke, Fuji TV conducted an investigation, on television screens Fuji TV's Alpha News program ran a special report, the network's leading actress anchor Tei Reiji facing the camera recounted the events, when the news of the Yomiuri Giants coach's death spread nationwide, Fuji TV, in a blatantly immoral pursuit of traffic, dug out the full truth of the matter.

The whole thing originated with her close friend, the coach's wife, who had been her junior high school classmate, the two having shared everything since their Girls' Generation days. One married well, her husband a professional baseball team coach, with high income and social standing.

The other married an ordinary office worker, divorced after just a few years of marriage, moving out with little compensation.

This coach's wife's close friend felt deep down a strong sense of resentment, yet she could only linger around her former close friend's side, acting as a "wingman," "bragging faction," "good girl collector," "Aunt Xue," hoping to suck some blood and gain some advantages from her former close friend, naturally she did obtain some luxury goods and opportunities to attend high-end gatherings.

But the more she did this, the more she felt resentful, and when the two daughters came to ask her what to do after being scolded and drunkenly beaten by their father over the golden branches incident,

this aunt kindly guided them to consult AI, which led to the coach being falsely accused, hanging himself, and the family breaking apart. The hallway lights on the second floor were brighter than those on the first floor, the kind of automatic motion-sensing night lights that glow a soft yellow, not too bright, when someone passes by.

This figure paused at the end of the hallway, his ears catching a faint sound from behind one of the doors—light breathing, even and steady.

He stopped at that door, placed his hand on the doorknob, turned it gently, then pushed the door open.

The light inside the room was much dimmer than in the hallway, he could only vaguely see the bedding on the bed arched into a outline, that was exactly the shape of a person asleep. The figure quickly approached the bedside, his right hand pulled out from his pocket, gripping a black metal rod, the rod having no luster. Right!!! Justice!!!

Bang!!!

The metal rod struck the bedding, yet nothing happened!

The bedding on the bed was lifted, inside there was no one, only a pillow!

And just then, something suddenly appeared at the edge of his vision from the side!

What the hell! Is the intel fake?!?

Ikeda Erena in a comfortable-motion small suit and trousers flashed out from behind the door, her movement as fast as going from rest to top speed without any transition in acceleration, making no extra sound.

The tall beauty policewoman's right hand instantly grabbed the figure's wrist holding the rod, her left hand pressed the outside of his elbow joint, simultaneously her body sank, her waist driving her shoulders, the whole person like a tightly compressed spring suddenly released!

"Osu!!!"

In that instant, her center of gravity had already fully shifted beneath him, as if using her entire body's strength to brace a fulcrum beneath his center of gravity.

The figure's feet left the ground, his body traced an arc in midair, he was slammed hard onto the floor, the sound of his back hitting the wooden floor especially clear in the quiet room.

"Ahhhhh!" a pained groan sounded beneath the mask!

"You bastard, why..."

The figure tried to roll over and stand up, but Ikeda Erena gave him no chance.

Her knee pressed down on his right shoulder, her left hand held his nape, her right hand had already reverse-gripped his wrist holding the rod. The whole sequence flowed in one breath, force precise, the pressure point just right.

A short grunt came from the figure's throat, but was forcibly suppressed, Ikeda Erena did not pause, at the moment he tried to wriggle free from beneath her, she had already adjusted her center of gravity, lifting her knee from his right shoulder, simultaneously releasing her grip on his wrist and turning it into a punch aimed at his jaw. Right punch!

This strike was short and concentrated, the fist precisely hit the target, the figure's head jerked back slightly, his body's movement showing obvious relaxation.

He stepped back half a step, his body balance unstable, wanting to readjust his posture.

But Ikeda Erena gave him no chance. Her knife-hand strike came from the side toward his neck, force not large, but precisely landing on the nerve line located mid-sternocleidomastoid muscle, close to the outer side of the carotid sinus, the figure had no choice but to barely dodge, stumbling awkwardly in another direction in frantic flight!

And in the direction he was fleeing, at the end of the hallway stood another person.

Uesugi Muneyuki stood at the junction of the hallway and bedroom entrance, wearing a dark gray sweater, no outer garment, sleeves rolled to mid-forearm, revealing defined forearm lines.

"Happy Halloween, Batman!" Uesugi Muneyuki raised his right hand, palm edge facing the opponent's chest.

His body showed no obvious wind-up, only his shoulders slightly pulled back, then he pushed forward.

Vajra Cutter!

His whole body's power focused on the outer edge of his palm, then through the fabric of that dark hooded jacket, landing on the mid-sternum position of the opponent. This strike carried no rotation or cutting, just a pure, linear-conducted impact force! One strike landed on the opponent's chest!

Thud! Clap!

The figure's body flew backward, his back hitting the cabinet behind him, the cabinet tipped to one side, its upper clutter scattered everywhere, then he did not stop, continuing to roll backward two circles, knocking over the sofa, before coming to rest in the corner.

He still wanted to get up, but could not move, only able to curl his body, lie on his side among the scattered items, hand pressed on his chest, as if trying to restore normal breathing, but the dark red spreading rapidly across the mask was absolutely not watermelon juice.

"Ugh..." this guy could only grab the ground with both hands, still wanting to escape.

"Didn't expect this, huh? We meet again, this time I won't let you get away, Dark Knight!" Ikeda Erena finally got her satisfaction, she proudly stood with hands on hips, thinking she had been holding back her anger, suddenly she began shaking violently, the earth moving and mountains trembling, on the tall beauty's face appeared a satisfied flush.

"Enough, Master." Uesugi Muneyuki gestured for Ikeda Erena to stop hitting, hitting people is wrong!

He slowly approached this guy's face, made eye contact with Ikeda Erena, nodded: "Now, let us see your true face!"

Uesugi Muneyuki walked to his side, squatted down, hesitated a moment, took two deep breaths, then still reached out his hand.

The person's body did not struggle, merely maintained that curled posture, as if waiting for that moment to arrive.

The mask was slowly pulled down.

The warm yellow night lighting shone on that face.

Uesugi Muneyuki's eyes flickered several times, gradually becoming much more complex.

"It really is you!"