Chapter 72
The mobile search team operates 24 hours a day, so even when people are off work, they still have to drive around and patrol the streets covertly.
Of course, their mealtimes are also different from others.
When we returned to the base, both Usaku Saiki and Ibuki Ai had eaten, but Officer Shima hadn't had a chance to eat anything because he was busy making that damn phone call.
Therefore, when his stomach suddenly started rumbling, the other two people didn't laugh at him.
Ibuki Ran suggested, "Anyway, there's nothing much going on right now, why don't you go get something to eat? Otherwise, how will you get through the night? We'll wait in the car for headquarters' communications, don't worry."
Officer Shimo certainly didn't intend to go hungry until 9 a.m. the next day, but he felt inexplicably uneasy when he heard the words "Don't worry."
He thought carefully about the source of his unease and realized it might be because once he left, only Ibuki Ai and Kanakawa Shinryu would be left in the car.
Imagine these two people together, with no one able to stop them, they are free... Officer Shimo couldn't help but feel a heavy burden on his shoulders.
No, he absolutely cannot let those two people out of his sight at the same time!!!
"I'll order takeout."
Officer Shima didn't even dare leave the car while he got out to buy a bento at a nearby convenience store, fearing that he might see their car drive away through the window while he was paying. When asked, he was told that headquarters had contacted them and they were in a hurry and couldn't spare a moment for him...
I feel like this is very likely to happen!!!
Although it's a bit strange to order takeout while driving, it's clear that this isn't the first time Officer Shimo has ordered takeout in his car. He made the delivery call very skillfully, and when giving the address, he said it was the melon truck at the intersection of xxx.
It's a very conspicuous sign; as long as there's no urgent case, he can stay here until his takeout arrives.
It was already dark, and the dim orange streetlights came on. The three people waited idly in the car for their takeout, chatting casually.
It's said that you shouldn't chat while driving, but long-distance bus drivers need to chat to stay awake. They're on duty 24 hours a day, and a deathly silence on the bus is like going to a funeral, which isn't a good thing. Now that the bus is stopped, they have to chat even more.
"There are still twelve hours until I get off work—"
Ibuki Ran opened the door that was blocking the driver's cab and the back of the truck, and sighed as she leaned on the driver's seat: "If something happens now, we might have to hand it over to someone else before we can solve the case... Ah, I'm not saying I don't trust Hankawa-kun, it's just that I feel not every case can be solved so quickly."
Officer Shimo said coldly, "It's good that you solved the case quickly, but it would be best if there were no cases at all."
Usakabe Saiki was typing away at his email, not joining the chat, but Ibuki Ran enthusiastically tried to pull him into the group chat: "Who is Hanchuan-kun emailing? Is it your first day at work and you're going to share your experience with your friends?"
"...My friend already knows and is coming to confront me." Bo Yezaki typed faster.
This strange answer even intrigued the mentally exhausted Officer Shimo, who asked in bewilderment, "Why are you making such a fuss?"
"That's a question for you, senior," said Bo Yezaiji in a subtle tone. "What did you say to my friend, senior?"
Officer Shima was puzzled: "Where would I find your friend—oh! I know, it's Assistant Instructor Hagiwara, right?"
Having been an elite member of the First Investigation Division, Inspector Shima instantly deduced who the other person was referring to.
So, Assistant Professor Hagiwara is a friend of Shinryu Samikawa!
No wonder he was lying through his teeth, desperately trying to explain himself for Hanakawa Shinryu!
Isn't this considered favoritism?!
Ibuki Ai was very interested in this topic: "Huh? You and your teaching assistant are friends? How did you do that? Teach me!"
Officer Shimo was also very curious.
He initially thought the police academy was trying to shift the blame, which was why they were speaking well of Han Chuan Shenliu. If it was a friend, then that was a different story.
Especially with Han Chuan Shenliu's temperament... it's really not easy to make friends with him, let alone a teaching assistant at the police academy. There must be a reason why people can ignore the feeling of danger when standing next to him and befriend him.
At that moment, Officer Shimo's thoughts uncontrollably veered towards mind control and brainwashing...
When he realized what he was thinking, Officer Shima slapped his forehead.
Wake up! No matter how suspicious Hanchuan-kun seems, he's still your colleague! There's a limit to suspicion!
Ibuki Ran glanced at Officer Shima, who had suddenly slapped her, and urged Usui Saiki, "Tell me."
“There’s not much to say,” Bo Yezaki replied lazily. “When I was doing my part, I also saved his and his teammates’ lives.”
Ibuki Ai was shocked: "Is being a police academy assistant instructor this dangerous now?"
“This happened before he became a teaching assistant. He used to be in the explosives disposal unit. There was a bomber who wanted to detonate a bomb remotely. I happened to be passing by and arrested him.”
"Wow!" Ibuki Ai exclaimed enthusiastically, "That's amazing! No wonder he became your friend!"
Only Officer Shimo sensed something was amiss when he heard from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit: "Excuse me... who taught you your bomb disposal skills?"
Bo Yezhai paused for a moment: "It wasn't taught by a second-year graduate student."
Police Officer Shima: "..."
Excellent! This is exactly what they mean by trying to cover something up... isn't it?! That's what Kenji Hagiwara taught us!
At this moment, Officer Shima's hands were itching—he had exchanged contact information with Kenji Hagiwara, intending to discuss the issue of Shinryu Kagawa more, but now he wanted to ask Kenji Hagiwara what was going on!
What's with teaching police academy students how to defuse bombs?!
Just as Officer Shimo was about to suffer a stroke, there was a knock on the door of their melon truck.
Someone outside asked, "Good evening, do you still have melon buns?"
Officer Shimo rolled down the car window and gave an awkward but polite smile: "I'm sorry, we're sold out."
The man seemed a little annoyed: "Why are you still parked here after you've sold out? Seeing you parked here for so long, I thought you were still open for business."
"Uh...we're waiting for our takeout." Officer Shimo's gaze swept over the deliveryman's uniform, a little disappointed that this person wasn't there to deliver his takeout.
When passersby's gaze swept over Officer Shima and landed on Usaku Saiki, who was looking this way from behind, his expression suddenly froze.
Officer Shimo sensed something was wrong. He turned his head and saw the new recruit looking people up and down. His dark red eyes seemed particularly oppressive in the night.
He turned around subtly, blocking their view, and then smiled as he said goodbye to the passerby in the delivery uniform: "Sorry, but you can park here. We'll leave once we get the food."
"Ah, oh... okay." The other person awkwardly took two steps back and got on their bicycle.
After confirming that the deliveryman wasn't the one delivering his food had left, Officer Shima complained, "Don't be so harsh on innocent passersby!"
"I was just observing normally."
Officer Shimo secretly rolled his eyes: "So what did you observe?"
"Um……"
Bo Yezaki bought a lot of skills for the identity of "Han Chuan Shen Liu", such as investigation, psychological profiling, micro-expression and micro-movement analysis, etc., which are useful for undercover work. Although he is no longer an undercover agent, he can still use them as a policeman.
For example, that delivery guy from earlier...
"That guy seems to be scouting the place."
Officer Shimo froze as he closed the window, and his stomach, which had been growling with hunger, seemed to suddenly stop feeling hungry.
As if reminded by those words, the phrase "You've been standing here for so long" flashed through his mind, and he became alert.
But he still asked cautiously, "Are you sure? How did you figure that out?"
"He wasn't hungry at all, nor did he want to buy melon buns. He had been observing us for a long time, and his eyes kept looking into the car when we got close. The chances of a melon cart still selling melons at this time of day are very low, but he insisted on coming up to talk to us. And when he asked us when we were leaving, he was more serious than when he asked if we had any melon buns... Because buying melon buns wasn't his purpose. He probably just wanted to find out why we parked here and when we were leaving, so he must have been doing something here that we disturbed."
Countless details were piecing together in Bo Yezaki's mind: "The deliveryman has no vested interest in the car parked here. On the contrary, if he wears a deliveryman's uniform and walks through the streets, even if he appears frequently, the probability of him being noticed is very low. Passersby will only label him as 'that deliveryman' rather than who he is..."
He knows this too well. His real-life persona is dressed so flamboyantly for this purpose. Most people will only remember his strange outfit and won't pay much attention to his appearance. When he changes into simple clothes, 90% of people who have only met him once or twice won't recognize him.
Even for people like Vodka and Morofushi Kagemitsu who are relatively familiar with him, if he changed his clothes, hair color and style, wore contact lenses, and spoke in a more composed manner, their first reaction would probably be that they had encountered someone who looked like him...
Hairstylists claim that a new hairstyle can transform a person, and they're not exaggerating.
Bo Yezaki was too lazy to explain step by step, and said directly: "I suggest checking if there have been any unsolved theft cases recently. It may be a gang crime. Someone is responsible for scouting locations—or they may have actually registered as a deliveryman but not accepted orders—while someone else is responsible for committing the crime."
Ibuki Ran exclaimed, "Wow! That's amazing! You discovered so much in just a short time?"
"Most of it is just speculation. If you just misunderstood or misunderstood..." Officer Shimo said but actually went to get the communicator.
"Let's see what he does next."
Usoppei pondered: "They will most likely choose to eliminate unstable factors and commit the crime while everyone's attention is focused elsewhere."
"What do you mean?" Officer Shimo was a little confused, but he had already picked up the communicator to ask headquarters about the recent theft cases. After all, he thought that although Kanakawa Shinryu was suspicious, he was indeed smart, and he was now also a little suspicious of that person.
However, before he could even make the call, headquarters called first.
"One search unit calling four search units: Near the intersection of xxxx Road, xxxx Street, xx District, someone reported seeing a suspicious vehicle. It looks like a vehicle selling melon buns. The person who reported it said that the people in the vehicle might be members of a yakuza group. The license plate number is..."
Ibuki Ai: "...Huh? Isn't this where we are right now? It sounds a lot like our car..."
Usoppei remained calm: "That guy is eliminating destabilizing factors. It seems we have indeed affected the theft gang's work."
Officer Shima: "...Search 404 here. The suspicious vehicle mentioned by the complainant is our car."
All he wanted now was to bring that suspicious guy back and question him.
—Why are you, a thief, calling the police?! Why do we have to act according to Han Chuan Shenliu's predictions?! Don't you have a brain?!
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It's getting late. I'll add more chapters for everyone after I take a nap.
I'm having such a terrible time. To prepare for my colonoscopy and gastroscopy, I ate only plain porridge for breakfast the day before yesterday, and then didn't eat anything that evening. Yesterday, after the colonoscopy and gastroscopy, they also removed a polyp. The doctor told me not to eat for 24 hours, otherwise I might have a major hemorrhage. Last night I was so hungry I drank some rice water from the porridge. This morning, I woke up feeling dizzy and groggy, and managed to drink some porridge, but then I fainted this afternoon. I don't know if it's low blood sugar or if the anesthesia hasn't worn off... I feel so weak all over.
Ignoring the doctor's orders, I ate a ton of steamed egg custard, soy milk, bread, and butterfly pastries as soon as I woke up, and I'm still so hungry... When can I have barbecue? I really want to eat meat.
.
Ibuki: Go eat.
Han Chuan: Go eat.
Zhimo: No, if this group is gone, I'm doomed!
.
Hanchuan: balabalabala
Zhimo: Although I have a vague feeling, I also feel that this guy wouldn't speak without reason. Let's ask headquarters.
Headquarters: You've been reported.
Shima:? ? ?
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