Kenji Hagiwara led a team to wait for his friends outside, but the only person who showed up was Yuya Kazami.
"Where's Zero?" He looked for his friend in the crowd but couldn't find him.
Yuya Kazami's eyes were a little evasive. As a subordinate of Rei Furuya, he naturally knew the relationship between the police officer in front of him and Superintendent Miyazaki. "Mr. Furuya has something to do and needs to leave first. He will be back soon."
Hagiwara Kenji looked at Kazami Yuya with suspicion. If it was Matsuda Jinpei who was here, he would definitely ask questions to the end. However, it was Hagiwara Kenji who was here. He was meticulous and considerate. Seeing that Kazami was obviously unwilling to say more, he did not continue to ask.
Furuya drove to Ringo Town. The laboratory in Aomori is not far from Ringo Town, about half an hour's drive away.
In the sky, the black curtain was removed, the morning sun slowly rose, and the clouds in the sky were dyed by his brilliance, shining like a brocade.
"Knock, knock, knock." Rei Furutani knocked hard on Yoshikawa Yotaro's door.
"Woof woof woof!" Inside the house, Xiao Huang was roaring at the ignorant guests.
"Who is it? So early in the morning." Yoshikawa Yotaro muttered. He opened the door while slipping on his slippers and rubbing his eyes.
Seeing the blond-haired, dark-skinned young man standing outside the door, he slammed the door shut, and it was obvious that he did not welcome this uninvited guest.
"Mr. Yoshikawa, please open the door. I need your help with something important." Furiya Rei, who was outside the door, looked haggard, with bloodshot eyes and a circle of stubble on his chin. He spoke in a hoarse voice.
Thinking of what Yotaro said when they parted last time, he lowered his head guiltily. He was like a black cat from the underworld, always bringing news of death.
When I opened the door again, Yoshikawa Yotaro was already dressed. He was holding Xiao Huang, with a gloomy face. It was obvious that he was ready. "What's the matter?"
"I brought Miyazaki back." Furiya Rei said with some difficulty, "Is there a cremation place in Ringo Town? I need to take Miyazaki there."
Perhaps because he had experienced too many blows, Yoshikawa Yotaro was much calmer than the previous two times. He limped ahead, holding Xiao Huang's hand, "It's near the cemetery. Follow me."
Furutani Rei picked up a black rectangular cloth bag from the passenger seat. From the looks of it, it looked like there was a person inside.
Yoshikawa Yotaro's nose moved slightly, and he smelled a pungent smell, which was formaldehyde.
The road from Yoshikawa's house to the cemetery was not far. The two were silent all the way and did not speak. Only Xiao Huang hummed at his master from time to time.
"Aren't you going to scold me?" Furiya Rei broke the silence. He hoped that Yoshikawa Yotaro would scold him, and even better, punch him a few times.
"Ren has admired Takuma since he was a child. I am prepared for him to choose the same path as Takuma. And you are already sad enough, aren't you?"
Yoshikawa Yotaro walked in front, and Furuya Rei couldn't see his expression. His voice was so steady and gentle, without any fluctuations, as if it was really as he said, and he was mentally prepared.
Furuya Rei looked down at the black bag in his hand. He seemed to be able to see his friend through the bag. His friend, who was as bright as the morning sun, was lying quietly here. "What was Miyazaki like when he was a child?"
"Ren?" Yoshikawa Yotaro pondered for a long time before finding a suitable word. "It's Chaoyang. He is a good kid like Chaoyang. He is cheerful and generous but never makes people feel uncomfortable. He is very good at taking care of others and can make all kinds of fun things. That's why the children in the town like him the most."
He chuckled, "Because there are so many people looking for Ren to play, Sosuke is jealous. Every time he puts his hands on his hips and shouts that he is Ren's brother and no one is allowed to take him away. Ren is always in a mess. Not only does she have to comfort Sosuke, she also has to comfort the children who are upset by Sosuke."
Yoshikawa Yotaro's words were not vivid, but from his description, Furuya Rei could see what Miyazaki Ren was like when she was a child, a lively and outgoing child.
"What does Ren look like outside?" Yoshikawa Yotaro paused and waited for a moment before looking at Shigetani Rei. His eyes and nose were red and his face was indescribably sullen. There was no doubt that he was sad.
"He's a bit ky, very enthusiastic idiot." Furiya Rei blinked his eyes, trying to force out the moisture in his eyes, but tears still fell from the corners of his eyes. "He has a big appetite, likes spicy curry, likes to watch the excitement, can do a lot of amazing things, has many shortcomings, but more advantages. He is a very good policeman, very powerful, has saved many people, and has become a superintendent at a young age."
"Is that so?" Yoshikawa Yotaro raised the corners of his lips and said with some pride, "I knew he would continue to be great no matter where he goes."
As they were talking, the two arrived at the cremation site. The worker was a middle-aged man. Like many residents of Ringo Town, he had some physical defects. He had a black eye patch on his right eye, which made him look very fierce.
"Yōtaro, why are you here today?" When the man smiled, the ferocity on his face was neutralized and he looked a lot gentler.
"Uncle Murata, I came to ask you for help. I hope to help cremate a friend."
As Yoshikawa Yotaro finished speaking, Furuya Rei walked up to him, nodded to the man named Murata, and said politely, "Excuse me, Mr. Murata."
Murata glanced at him, then looked at Yoshikawa Yotaro, "Friends? Yotaro, didn't you do anything illegal? You grew up in Ringo Town and have never been out of town. Apart from those two kids, Sosuke and Ren, how could you have any friends?"
Yoshikawa Yotaro pursed his lips and said, "Uncle Murata, I came here to bring Ren with me. He became a policeman like Takuma-kun and died. This is his colleague who came to help him deal with his funeral."
When Murata heard this, he stumbled back and had to hold on to the table beside him to steady himself. His face was filled with a mixture of sadness and shock, but he only said one sentence in the end, "Come with me."
Furukaya Rei opened the black bag and carried Miyazaki Ren out.
Yoshikawa Yotaro and Murata were extremely angry when they saw Miyazaki Ren's incomplete body.
"What's going on!" Yoshikawa Yotaro grabbed Furuya Rei's collar and asked harshly.
"I'm sorry." Furiya Rei didn't explain anything, but just lowered his head and apologized.
"Alright! Yotaro!" Murata shouted to stop Yoshikawa Yotaro's extreme behavior, "He was a policeman, he died at the hands of the enemy, don't take your anger out on innocent people."
Yoshikawa Yotaro let go of Furuya Rei's collar. He could no longer control his emotions. He squatted down, covered his face and cried. Xiao Huang rubbed his head against him worriedly.
"Young man, come and help me tidy up the remains." Murata patted Furiya Rei's shoulder and said.
"Thank you." Furuya Rei followed behind him. When they left the laboratory, he had already put a police uniform on Miyazaki Ren. Now, except for the head, there was nothing unusual about her.
The two of them were silently tidying up Miyazaki Ren's instruments. Yoshikawa Yotaro stood beside them at some point and watched everything quietly.
After the instruments were sorted out, they were sent into the crematorium. Not long after, the once handsome young man turned into a handful of ashes.
Murata found a golden urn and drew many apple trees on it. "I remember that Ren loved eating apples and climbing apple trees since he was a child. I drew some for him, and he should like it."
After placing the ashes in the container, Murata slowly lit a cigarette and said, "You go and send off the lotus. I won't go."
He turned sideways and stopped looking at the two of them. In the sunlight, his back seemed somewhat lonely.
"Ren is loved not only by children in the town but also by adults. Uncle Murata also had a child who was the same age as us and also loved Ren. But he died during the Aomori earthquake because rescue efforts were not made in time," said Yoshikawa Yotaro.
Furuya Rei remained silent. He didn't know who Murata was thinking about at this moment, Miyazaki or his deceased child.
With the help of the cemetery staff, Miyazaki Ren was buried next to his parents, very close to Takuma Amai and Sosuke Mizuo. He was finally reunited with his family. Miyazaki must be very happy.
"I lost my temper just now. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you." Yoshikawa Yotaro apologized to Furuya Rei solemnly.
Fūya Ling shook his head and laughed at himself, "I actually hope you can beat me up."
Yoshikawa Yotaro was stunned for a moment, then suddenly said, "Ren must feel very sorry for you."
Rei Furuya widened his eyes. He didn't understand why Yoshikawa Yotaro suddenly said this.
"You and Ren have a good relationship, right? He seems easy to talk to, but he's actually very stubborn. No one can change his decision, and he definitely doesn't want to see you so sad. That guy is actually a bit like Sosuke. He wants to save face and doesn't want others to see him in a bad way, so he handles everything by himself. I believe even death is no exception."
Yoshikawa Yotaro sighed, "Although I don't know what happened exactly, he is very smart. If you can find him, it should be within his expectations. He entrusted his death to you because he believed that you would handle it well. But he must feel guilty about you, after all, he brought you sadness, so you have to cheer up."
Just as Yoshikawa Yotaro said, Miyazaki Ren had entrusted what to do after her death to Furuya Rei long before. He asked Furuya Rei to hide it from other friends and take him back to Ringo Town. However, the text messages in the past few days made Furuya Rei always hold the hope that Miyazaki Ren was still alive.
In fact, he knew more than a month ago that Miyazaki didn't have much time left.
"Cheer up, don't let him feel guilty and worry about you in the underworld." Yoshikawa Yotaro patted Furuya Rei's shoulder and tightened the dog leash in his hand. "I'm leaving first." He considerately left a private space for Furuya Rei.
Yoshikawa Yotaro took Xiao Huang away, and Furuya Rei sat on the ground, leaning against Miyazaki Ren's tombstone.
He seemed to have thousands of words in his heart, but in the end they just turned into a long sigh. There were still many things in the Metropolitan Police Department that needed him to deal with, and his time was limited.
Furiya Rei brushed off the dust on his body and stroked the tombstone, "Rest in peace, my friend."*
.....
Yoshikawa Yotaro was lying on the bed dejectedly. Seeing the look on Furuya Rei's face, he felt very uncomfortable. After all, his death was fake, while Furuya Rei was really sad.
[Host, are you okay?] The system asked worriedly.
Yoshikawa Yotaro covered his eyes with one hand, "It's okay, I just feel very sorry for Zero."
[This can't be helped. After all, it's for the sake of world integration.] The system consoled him.
Ever since Miyazaki Ren fainted, her consciousness has been transferred to Yoshikawa Yotaro. He has been living a very comfortable life recently because the behavior recording has reduced the number of NPCs he needs to operate, so he can have a good rest.
Over the past month, Yoshikawa Yotaro has been consciously avoiding thinking about Furuya Rei and the others. He was afraid of seeing his friends sad. After having to meet them today, he has been trying his best to comfort his friends while keeping his character not OOC.
[System, what is the heat value?]
[Since the comic has only been updated to the part where you fell into a coma after your first transplant surgery, the popularity is rising now, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. I have also been producing materials recently, and I believe that by the end, it will be popular again.]
[Thank you for your hard work, system. You are truly the cutest and most capable system in the world~] Yoshikawa Yotaro kept throwing compliments at the system, and the system's cup temperature rose by several degrees.
[The host is also great~ I will continue to produce materials~]
.....
Because the nobles he served suddenly became ill these few days, Mikami Machi hasn't been to the laboratory for many days, but has been staying with these dignitaries.
Their physical condition is very bad now. Their consciousness is clear, but their bodies are aging. Their sense of pain has become like brandy, which is super sensitive than ordinary people. Ordinary acupuncture can make them feel the pain of being hit by a knife or an axe.
They lay on the hospital beds with their mouths and eyes crooked, unable to eat and could only be fed through the nose. Later on, some of them could not even breathe and had to be put on ventilators.
This made these nobles feel extremely sad. For the first time, they discovered that death could be a beautiful thing.
It took Mikami-san a long time to ease their pain a little, and as the person in charge, he almost lived in a nursing home.
On this day, his children came back from abroad. Like Mikami, they chose to become doctors. The two children are more like their grandmother than Mikami. They are kind-hearted and have not yet entered society, but they still have a heart to save the world.
This makes Mikami Machi very happy. He has become a scum, and the children are not as good as him. Now he has enough ability to clear the obstacles ahead for his children. The children only need to stick to their original intentions and become excellent doctors.
After breakfast, Machi Mikami said goodbye to his wife and children one by one, but not long after he left the house, his car was forced to stop.
"Police, Mikami-san, we now suspect that you are related to a large transnational criminal organization. Come with us."
Mikami Machi was startled. He tried to calm himself down. "Officer, you must be mistaken. How could I be associated with any criminal organization? I am the attending physician of that prince and minister. I am in a hurry to go to the hospital. If I am late, those big shots will blame me..."
The policeman gave him a mocking smile, "Mr. Mikami, you may not have read today's news. If they are the people you mentioned, they would have been declared dead this morning. I'm afraid you don't have the ability to blame us. Now please come with me."
Death?! Mikami Machi took out his phone in astonishment and wanted to verify the news, but the police did not stop him.
The news on social media shattered Mikami Maji's last fantasy. Those big shots were indeed dead. Thinking that he was suddenly allowed to go home to see his wife and children, Mikami Maji quickly guessed who the murderer was.
The bigwigs who had become younger used to fight for power with the younger generations in their families. Now that they have become old again, the younger generations naturally want to transfer themselves away to get rid of these elders who have become rivals.
"Okay, Mikami, now you have confirmed whether the news is true or not, come with us." The police took away Mikami's cell phone and handcuffed him.
Inside the interrogation room of the National Police Agency.
Mikami Machi sat on a wooden chair, facing two policemen, one with blond hair and dark skin, very handsome, but with a gloomy expression on his face, looking very difficult to deal with. The other had a short black haircut and wore glasses, looking a little tired.
"Name." asked the male police officer with a crew cut.
"Machi Mikami."
"gender."
"male."
"Age."
“52.”
After some routine questioning, the blond-haired, dark-skinned police officer next to him spoke up, "Suspect Mikami Makichi, what is your relationship with the deceased Miyazaki Ren?"
Hearing this familiar name coming out of the police officer's mouth, Mikami Machi's heart skipped a beat. He had been having nightmares for many days since Miyazaki Ren's death. This name had become the rotten meat in his heart, festering and rotting, reminding him all the time what a rotten person he was.
"Miyazaki Ren? I don't know what you are talking about, officer." He didn't know that the laboratory had been destroyed, so he tried to make a cunning excuse.
"The police destroyed an illegal laboratory deep in the Aomori forest yesterday. There are a lot of evidence videos inside. Do you want me to play them one by one for Mr. Mikami?" the black-skinned police officer said aggressively, and he slammed the table hard as he spoke.
As he spoke, the veins on his forehead bulged, and Mikami could clearly see two palm prints left on the table by the handsome police officer.
"I don't know what the police officer is saying." Machi Mikami swallowed fearfully, but still chose to hold on. The organization's style was very cruel. If he confessed, he would definitely be killed by them, and he didn't want to die.
There couldn't possibly be any surveillance video in a place like a laboratory. At most, there would be surveillance of people entering and leaving. In Mikami Machi's opinion, the police must be deceiving him.
Machi Mikami guessed correctly that the police did not have any solid evidence, only the surveillance video of them entering and leaving the laboratory.
"Since Mr. Mikami doesn't know him, I'm afraid I'll have to summon people around you to verify whether Mr. Mikami had any contact with the deceased. How about I start with your family?" The dark-skinned police officer smiled, but his eyes and words were so cold.
"Kazami, inform and send a message to Mikami-san's family."
"It's Mr. Furuya."
Kazami Yuya stood up, as if he was going to pass on the message. Before he pushed open the door, he seemed to remember something and turned to Mikami Machi and said, "By the way, Mr. Mikami, among the people we arrested today, there is also a man named Karasuma Renya, who seems to be the person in charge of that laboratory. It might be better for you to confess voluntarily than for us to find out anything from him."
As he said this he pushed the door open and was about to leave.
Mikami Machi's defenses completely collapsed. He grabbed his thin hair in annoyance and said, "Don't, don't go! I confess everything. I beg you not to drag my family into this. They know nothing and they are innocent!"
Furiya Rei sneered and crossed his arms, "Then Miyazaki Ren is not innocent? He had a bright future, but in the end he didn't even have a complete corpse."
Mikami Machi raised his head, tears streaming down his face. "That was a good kid. I'm sorry for him. As a doctor, I'm really unqualified. Please punish me. I can do anything, but my family and my children still admire me as their father. Please help me hide it from them. I can say anything. They still want to be a doctor. Please don't break their dreams."
Seeing him crying bitterly, Furiya Rei suddenly remembered that afternoon in the police academy many years ago, when Miyazaki Ren stood on the podium and spoke eloquently about caring about the psychological state of the prisoners' families and preventing them from following the same path as their fathers.
If it was Miyazaki, he would probably agree, because that guy is the softest-hearted one, "Kazaki, please come back."
"Yes." After hearing this, Yuya Kazami returned to his seat.
Machi Mikami breathed a sigh of relief. He slumped down in a chair and began to tell what he knew about what had happened.
"Around May this year, at the request of those bigwigs, I went to the laboratory and started research on time reversal. They took the drugs provided by that organization, but they could only prolong lifespan, not restore youth, so our main research is how to restore youth.
Around June, the adults began to show abnormalities in their bodies and they aged faster. Later research found that it might be caused by the previous medication. Then the organization sent Brandy, which was Miyazaki Ren's code name.
After examination, it was found that there was nothing wrong with Brandy's body, and there were even special factors in his cerebrospinal fluid. These factors were what the big shots had been pursuing.
The bigwigs reached a deal with Karasuma Renya, recalled Miyazaki Ren, and started the cerebrospinal fluid transplant, and I participated in the operation as the chief surgeon. "
At this point, Mikami Machi wailed in pain, with regret and fear on his face. "Those guys are not human. They believed the rumor that anesthesia might damage the brain. They were worried that it would affect the quality of cerebrospinal fluid, so they asked me to extract Miyazaki Ren's cerebrospinal fluid without anesthesia."
Mikami covered her face and sobbed. "Miyazaki is a very smart and polite kid. He respects me very much. He believes that I can cure his disease and calls me Doctor Mikami. Unfortunately, I am a coward. I dare not disobey their orders. I can only perform a lumbar puncture to extract cerebrospinal fluid without anesthesia."
"That child must have felt a lot of pain. His pain perception is many times more sensitive than that of an average person. So after the extraction, he fainted."
"Pa pa pa." Mikami Machi raised his hand and slapped himself several times. In an instant, his face turned red and swollen.
Yuya Kazami felt the cold air around him and secretly glanced at his boss. Furukaya Rei's teeth were clenching, and it was not difficult to tell that he must be extremely angry at the moment.
"The transplant of cerebrospinal fluid really worked. The big shot became younger, but he was still not satisfied and wanted to become even younger." Mikami shuddered. "He said that the cerebrospinal fluid is located in the ventricles of the brain and asked me to open the skull and extract the cerebrospinal fluid directly."
"Bang——" The interrogation table was knocked down by Fōtani Rei's palm.
"Mr. Furuya!" Kazami Yuya hurriedly pulled his boss, he was afraid that Furuya Zero would beat Mikami Machi to a cripple in a rage.
Furiya Rei's chest rose and fell violently, and after a while he managed to utter, "Keep going!"
Mikami Machi shuddered. "Because Miyazaki Renya had fainted before and had not woken up, the craniotomy and extraction were done while he was in a coma. After that, other bigwigs underwent surgery one by one. It should be Shiraishi who secretly extracted some of Karasuma Renya's fluid. You can ask Shiraishi for the details. Later, the bigwigs seemed to have reached a deal with officials from a certain country, requiring them to extract the last of Miyazaki's cerebrospinal fluid. This time, I was still the lead surgeon."
"That night, probably due to a last-minute lucidity, he suddenly woke up. He knew he was going to die, and asked me to play him a song. He never woke up again afterwards."
"What song?"
"Takeda no Komori. His mother probably sang this song to him when he was little. My mother also sang this song to me. I was very sad at the time, so I went out to smoke a cigarette. When I went back in, he was dead. After his death, the higher-ups ordered him to be dissected. The bigwigs wanted to replicate the miracles that happened to him, and his organs and brain tissue were given to various researchers.
A few days ago, those big shots suddenly aged again, and his pain became the same as Miyazaki Ren. I was urgently called back and didn't go to the laboratory. Then I was brought here by you. Officer, this is really all I know. I am willing to plead guilty and identify others. Please don't publicize this matter. I don't want to implicate my family. "
"What was Miyazaki like before he died? Did he say anything?" asked Furuya Rei in a deep voice.
Mikami Maki also noticed that he had a special relationship with Miyazaki Ren. Was the child actually an undercover agent sent by the police? No wonder he was different from the others in the organization. "He was very quiet and even smiled a little. He must be happy."
"Are you happy?" Furiya Ling stood up, "Kazami, please take notes. I'm going to go out for a while."
Furiya Ling lit a cigarette. He didn't like smoking, but only when he was in a bad mood would he light up a cigarette and watch them burn quietly.
He thought his friend's incomplete body was enough to make him angry, but he didn't expect that group of scum would torture him like this. Lumbar puncture after anesthesia is already a torture for many people, so what about Miyazaki who is not anesthetized and is sensitive to pain?
It is hard to imagine what kind of pain he was going through at that time.
Thinking of this, Furiya Rei could no longer control himself. He hammered the wall angrily, and his palm was immediately covered in blood. Miyazaki must have felt much more pain at that time.
"Mr. Furuya, please stop this behavior."
"Who?!" Fūya Reikan looked around but didn't see any figure.
"My name is Noah's Ark. I am an artificial intelligence. You can take out your phone to communicate with me."
Furiya Rei took out his cell phone doubtfully, and on the screen was a cute boy who looked somewhat like Miyazaki's neighbor Kenmura Hiroki.
"Noah's Ark? Have you been sending text messages on behalf of Miyazaki these days?" Furuya Rei was already aware of his friend Yuyue's talent for research and invention, and he quickly accepted the existence of Noah's Ark.
"Yes, before he left, Brother Miyazaki still couldn't let you go. He felt that it was too cruel to let you do all this. Brother Miyazaki always wanted to say sorry to you. If he saw you like this now, he would definitely feel very guilty."
"Is that so?" This was the second time he had heard similar words today, and Furiya Rei chuckled, "What a worrier you are. I got what he said. Really, if you want to blame yourself, just stay alive."
Noah's Ark did not speak. Having only been born for a few years, he could not fully understand the complex emotions of human beings. It is a miracle that he has reached this point today.
"Did he tell you anything else?"
"All he had to do was ask me to send him regular text messages to keep it a secret from a few other gentlemen."
"I understand. Noah's Ark, except for me, don't let anyone else discover your existence!" Fūya Rei warned seriously.
"Mr. Furuya is such a gentle person, just like Miyazaki-nii." Noah's Ark sighed. In fact, he has always been very careful. Today, he saw Furuya Rei's almost self-harming behavior through surveillance, and he was also worried about Miyazaki Ren before her death, so he spoke out to stop him.
"Really?" Furuya Ling murmured to himself, "I would rather he was a selfish guy, so that he can survive."
His voice became smaller and smaller, and finally turned into a complex sigh and dissipated into the air.