Chapter 90

Mobile Investigation Team 404, today's driver, Ibuki Ran, leaned on the steering wheel, looking at Kanakawa Shinryu who was making a phone call next to a vending machine not far away, and said with a smile.

"Han Chuan-kun seems to be in a good mood today."

Officer Shima sat in the passenger seat next to him—ever since he was reported to the police as a suspicious person, he had stopped letting Shinryu Kanakawa sit in the passenger seat and instead had people sit in the back of the car.

Hearing Ibuki Ai's words, Officer Shima looked up and asked, "...How can you tell he's in a good mood?"

Isn't he still expressionless? Even with his elite-level observational skills from his past investigations, he couldn't discern anything.

Ibuki Ai: "Intuition."

Officer Shima: “…………”

During a break in the patrol, after making phone calls to Morofushi Kagemitsu and Akai Shuichi, Usuba Saiki returned to the car: "Shall we continue the patrol?"

Before Officer Shima could respond, a new update came through the wireless communication.

[Metropolitan Police Department calling all stations... Report received... An attempted shooting and murder has occurred...]

A shooting has actually occurred. This situation is very serious. Immediately, a call came in from the search and investigation department (404).

Officer Shima, who had looked like he hadn't slept well, instantly perked up: "Alright, everyone, let's get to work!"

Unfortunately, this case involves a great deal of people, and the person involved is on the run, so it cannot be resolved quickly.

The location investigated by Search and Investigation Team 404 was a pharmacy. The victim made no attempt to conceal his gunshot wound and received emergency treatment there. Despite seeing the surveillance footage, he ignored it, seemingly having no other choice but to take drastic measures and disregard everything else.

They took the surveillance footage back and quickly identified the victim.

Touko Aoike had a criminal record and was arrested two years ago—she worked as a waitress at an illegal casino in Ikebukuro worth 1 billion yen, where some high-ranking government officials were even on the guest list, which made headlines at the time.

However, Ms. Qingchi herself can be considered a victim in some ways. She was initially brought there by an acquaintance. After winning a few rounds, she got carried away and ended up not only losing money but also incurring debts. She had to work at the casino to pay off her debts, which led to her being arrested along with the others. However, she was given a one-year suspended sentence, which is why she was able to return to work so quickly.

This time, she seems to be involved in a gang-related case again, which is why the shooting occurred. As a result, the Fourth Division, which is responsible for gang-related matters, has taken over the work. Theoretically, the Mobile Investigation Unit can stop and return to patrol.

But Captain Kikyo kept everyone behind for a meeting.

She briefly introduced Ms. Qingchi's criminal record and experience, and then began to talk about the casino case: "What was caught at the time was just a scapegoat. The mastermind behind it was codenamed 'Worker Bird'... His appearance and identity are unknown. He is said to be a middle-aged entrepreneur."

After a pause, Captain Kikyo said, "Speaking of which, I must thank Hanchuan-kun."

Usakabe Saiki, who had been staring blankly at the surveillance video, snapped out of his reverie: "Hmm?"

"Didn't you send Jiuchong-jun an address the day before yesterday, saying that the person he was looking for was there?" Captain Kikyo said. "We caught that kid and also destroyed a drug trafficking den... Their investor is 'Worker Bird'."

Bo Yezhai: "...What a coincidence."

"It's quite a coincidence. I never expected that child would go to such a dangerous place. Luckily, we found out early..." Captain Kikyo sighed. "Actually, the mastermind who provided the 'circle candy' was also there at the time, but for some reason, he was taken away by the police. They said the police had been watching him for a long time..."

Bo Yezhai: "…………"

Police...

He couldn't help but think of Amuro Tooru that he had seen downstairs in that office building... no, at this moment, he should be called Furuya Rei of the Japanese Public Security Bureau.

What did Rei Furuya say back then? The organization asked him to investigate a hacker they frequently collaborated with, and to recruit him?

So, at that time, he sent an email to the young master of the Nine Realms asking him to come and arrest people, and Furuya Rei called his colleagues from the Public Security Bureau to "recruit" him, right?

...At that time, he didn't feel anything was wrong, but now, thinking back on that scene, it feels so eerie.

The two members of the organization were chatting, but they were actually thinking about getting their police colleagues to come and arrest the person as soon as possible...

No wonder Furuya Rei inexplicably gave him a wave of suspicion points back then; he must have been suspicious of Furuya Rei's purpose in being there, right? But then it disappeared... Damn it! He shouldn't have gone to the nearby supermarket on his way there; he should have kept Furuya Rei guessing what he was doing there!

Rei Furuya, that's really something. When it comes to recruiting talent for the organization, he usually just has Scotland execute people, but Rei Furuya went straight to pack them up and hand them over to the police! How arrogant!

System: [I think you're the more arrogant one...]

Usui Saiki: [Don't argue with me about this. More importantly, I feel like I was taken advantage of by Furuya Rei.]

System: [Huh?]

[Think about it yourself! If Rei Furuya accepts Rum's mission and then disappears right after, wouldn't that seem a bit... off? He hasn't even received his codename yet; this is the time when he needs to perform well and can't afford to make mistakes.]

Bo Yezhaiji analyzed: [Now, because the people of the Nine Heavens originally wanted to catch that fugitive, escalating the operation to drug enforcement, they ended up catching that hacker instead. This is not something a member of his organization could control, so he seems to have no responsibility.]

"Well... he could have come up with other methods without you. After all, the Japanese Public Security Bureau is quite adept at fabricating charges and making illegal arrests, but..."

[But this time, the ladder I offered to the people of the Nine Heavens, they actually used it, didn't they?]

system:【……】

Usoppei was heartbroken: "He didn't even say thank you to me!"

How else do you expect them to thank you...?

I'll ask him for it myself when I have time.

The system hypocritically lit a candle for Furuya Zero, then began to anticipate the value of doubt.

Usakabe Saiki continued listening to Captain Kikyo's explanation and interpretation of the case.

"'Ku-Niao' is still an investor in the Chen-Jing Group. Although Section 4 says it's an internal struggle within the Suminoe Group, it's too early to make such a conclusion... Anyway, this is my personal request. I hope everyone can ignore Section 4 and continue the investigation to confirm whether there are any traces of 'Ku-Niao' behind it."

Ibuki Ai asked in confusion, "Investors?"

"Yes, the Chenjing Group used to be very poor, but with the investment from 'Gongniao,' they suddenly became wealthy and used this to expand their influence..."

Usakabe Saiki secretly muttered: [I roughly understand now. According to Rei Furuya's intelligence, this "Worker Bird" is probably a member of the organization, using the organization's money to invest in and bribe smaller groups to handle minor matters that don't require the organization's involvement and to make money. The hacker has a partnership with "Worker Bird," and "Worker Bird," finding the hacker useful, recommended him to the organization. Rum also found him useful but didn't trust outsourcing, so he had Rei Furuya recruit him. As a result, Rei Furuya directly sent him to the Public Security Bureau… Rum should become the Public Security Bureau's talent recruitment manager.]

Unfortunately, that hacker is uncooperative or doesn't know anything, otherwise, they would have revealed the information about 'Worker Bird' by now, after two days.

Indeed, it seems the organization is actually quite good at maintaining secrecy, it's just a pity about me.

system:【……】

Usakabe Saiki was watching the surveillance footage on repeat absentmindedly, his mind wandering, until Officer Shima called him, bringing him back to his senses.

"Let's go, what are you looking at?"

“She’s watching the security camera, isn’t she?” Ibuki Ai said. “I was also quite interested in the security camera footage just now. It’s quite a sight to see 100 million yen in cash in a box… But did you guys see the look in her eyes when she looked at the camera? It was like she was provoking her, right?”

Usoya Saiki pondered, "I'm more concerned about the amount of blood she's bleeding, the location of the bullet, and how the wound was treated... In about five hours, she will definitely bleed to death. If we or the people chasing her don't find her before then, someone will open her suitcase after she dies, and if they find a large amount of cash, it could cause social unrest, especially if the Suminoe Group that's chasing her arrives at that time. They'll definitely open fire as a deterrent, and if it goes off accidentally... we can book tomorrow's headlines."

Everyone: "…………"

Don't say such unlucky things!!! Why are you focusing on what kind of chaos this will cause?! Does thinking about these things make you happy?!

Captain Kikyo's lips twitched as she said, "There's no need to look that far ahead for now. Let's focus on finding Miss Aoike as soon as possible... I'm counting on you all."

“Then I request to act alone,” said Usakata Saiki. “I want to go to the Suminoe Group to gather some information; it’s not convenient to have the police with me.”

Everyone fell silent once again: "…………"

Officer Shima: "...You're a police officer too, can you stop subconsciously excluding yourself? If you want to gather information, just have the squad leader ask someone in Section Four. You don't need to go, do you?"

Section Four, the Organized Crime Countermeasures Section, specializes in dealing with triads. In order to obtain some intelligence sources, they will specifically recruit some fierce-looking detectives and send them to infiltrate some organizations that need to be closely monitored. However, most of them are just nominally infiltrating these groups, acting as low-level henchmen, and only knowing the general movements.

The level of danger is completely different from that of police infiltration and investigation aimed at destroying organizations.

"IMHO."

The young man with deep red hair said calmly, "The information obtained by the members of Section Four may not be as fast or as much as mine."

Everyone: "…………"

What's going on? Even though the Fourth Section infiltrates for much longer, this guy might only be gone for a few hours, but there's a strange feeling that he actually could do it...

Ibuki Ai couldn't help but ask, "So, you're actually more suited to Section 4. It feels like if we sent you undercover, you could quickly rise to a higher position..."

Captain Kikyo moved her lips, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself.

Sometimes, what's too suitable becomes unsuitable! Those in power might worry about letting a tiger return to the mountains!

The news will then be about how an undercover police officer from the Metropolitan Police Department became the head of the XX Group, what made him abandon the Metropolitan Police Department and choose the XX Group, and then there will be a wave of conspiracy theories and smears against the police.

Han Chuan Shenliu said casually, "I also think I'm very suitable, so I'll give it a try this time."

Everyone: "…………"

At this moment, Officer Shima couldn't help but recall the answer that Shinryu Kagawa had given during his police academy interview.

Do you think you're well-suited for infiltrating the underworld, or do you think you're well-suited for joining the criminal underworld?

You better explain yourself clearly!!!

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I'm late, I'll be adding more tonight... Just got back from the hospital, have a follow-up appointment in a couple of days... Ugh, I'm so stressed!

.

Han Chuan: It's not convenient to have police officers with me.

Han Chuan: I also think I'm very suitable.

Police Officer Shima:………………

Sometimes knowing too much isn't a good thing.

.

Rei Furuya: We need to get my colleagues in the police force to find a way to catch this hacker.

Thin Leaf: We need to tell Ninefold to catch this brat right away.

The two met: organizing blah blah blah...