169.

15:40

Okawa Department Store has seven floors above ground and two floors underground. On the opening day, nearly 50,000 people visited the store, with sales reaching millions of US dollars. It is the second most comprehensive building in Beika-cho after Beika Department Store.

The afternoon sun was blazing, and only a faint smell of dust could be smelled in the air. The large refrigerated freezer on the roof was making bursts of noise, becoming the only sound on the rooftop.

The area around here is full of commercial areas with many high-rise buildings. Dachuan Department Store is not the tallest, nor is it the most remote. Most people who are seeking death would not even consider it as their final destination.

But at this moment, a thin figure stood on the edge of the roof.

The haggard-looking man had an unshaven beard and wore a thick, bulky black coat, which was a torture to wear in the August temperature, but he kept shivering as if he had a cold.

Oigawa Arata held the phone tightly in his hand, and his sticky sweat rubbed out a thin layer of stains on the outside of the phone, which he quickly wiped off with his sleeve.

He took a deep breath and raised his head, looking left and right, and with some fear, he wanted to overlook the scenery below. However, the moment he held the railing, he took a step back as if he had been electrocuted. The sweat on his forehead slid down his cheeks and dripped onto his clothes and the back of his hands.

This tangled hesitation repeated three times. When he put his hand on the railing again, a crisp ring tone suddenly came from the cell phone.

Oigawa Shinkansen's body trembled violently, and he could hardly hold the slippery phone. The black phone bounced around in his left and right hands like a hot potato before he picked it up.

"This is Oigawa Arata. I've arrived at the designated location." His voice was weak and trembling, without any of the high spirits of a successful entrepreneur. "How far are you going to go? Didn't you promise me that you wouldn't attack my family?"

“…”

"I've taken out all my money!" he roared. "There's nothing left!"

"Oh... I can't help it if you don't believe me." The man laughed at himself, a glimmer of despair and ruthlessness flashed in his eyes, "Then I have nothing to say."

"I really regret meeting you, devils, you are all a bunch of devils!"

As the phone was hung up, Oigawa Shin's desperate roar finally only echoed on the rooftop and did not reach the ears of the person he wanted to scold.

Quickly, he raised his hand high and slammed the phone to the ground.

There was a crisp shattering sound, and parts of the phone scattered all over the floor, just like what the man was about to do.

Oigawa Shinichi held the zipper of his coat with one hand and walked towards the edge of the rooftop hesitantly, his eyes always fixed on the screen not far away.

Standing on the rooftop of the Okawa Department Store, all you can see is the screen.

Now it is the territory of his competitor. It should have belonged to him, but because of his bankruptcy, it changed hands in a short time.

And today, he was going to celebrate his daughter's eighth birthday on every screen around here, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Will his competitors give him this opportunity?

Thinking back to when he made this request when signing the contract, but was sneered at by the other party, Oigawa Arata felt the flame of hatred burning in his heart.

And the black organization that led him to this state...

His clenched hands loosened powerlessly once again, and Oigawa Shin suddenly realized that even for the safety of his wife and daughter, he could not tell the police the truth.

"I'm so incompetent, I might as well die..." he murmured, "Wait a little longer——"

If his daughter's appearance had not appeared on the screen, he wouldn't mind giving that heartless guy another "big gift".

"You are... Mr. Ooi, right?"

At this moment, a clear voice suddenly came from behind. Oigawa Shin suddenly turned around and found that a young man wearing short sleeves and a duckbill cap was standing next to the elevator on the rooftop.

The other person held the backpack strap in front of his chest with one hand and looked at him hesitantly.

Oigawa Arata didn't have time to chat with anyone. He just glanced at them and turned away indifferently, continuing to watch the screen: "The shopping is downstairs."

"Excuse me, what are you waiting for?" Chiyotani Toru did not leave as he wished, but took two steps forward, "Can I join you?"

His whole body exposed to the scorching sun, the black-haired young man tightened his grip on the belt, still with a faint smile on his face, as he gradually approached Oigawa Arata.

"Don't come over here!" Oigawa Arata turned his head suddenly and took a step back. He tensed up and said nervously, "You can't stop me, and you can't stop them!"

The expression on Chiyodani Toru's face disappeared. He pursed his lips, stood still, and raised his hand to give people a sense of security: "Please don't get excited. If it's about money, as long as you are alive, there will be a day for you to make a comeback."

"There's no chance." Oigawa Arata smiled tiredly, "Kid, you don't understand, you really don't understand, so don't stop me——"

"Do you want to jump off the building?" The black-haired young man seemed to see his determination to die, and asked directly without beating around the bush, "Jump from this building you manage?"

Oigawa Shin was speechless for a moment. Even though he had this thought in his mind, he couldn't utter those few words for a while.

"Your daughter and wife are still at home, right? What will they do?" Chiyoya Tetsu sighed and thought for him, "If they knew you did this, they would probably feel sad."

Oigawa Shin turned his head away, not looking at the pair of clear black eyes filled with concern, and said, "I have already arranged it."

"Your keychain is very cute." Chiyodani Toru said gently, "Is it Miss Ooi Yui's? She drew it herself, right?"

"It was given to you personally as a birthday present, calling you daddy sweetly."

Doraemon's keychain is mottled and even though some of the paint has fallen off, the owner still carries it with him lovingly.

Oigawa Shinkun trembled all over, and a look of pity flashed across his eyes.

Chiyodani Toru pressed on with his victory. The information he had just found on the elevator now became a good hand, and he dealt it all out without giving the opponent any time to breathe.

"Today is her birthday, right? What a coincidence, it seems to be my birthday today as well..."

Time passed minute by minute, the sun was still scorching hot, shining on the concrete floor, as if white smoke was rising, and the sweat dripping on the ground evaporated into the air in a few minutes.

The black-haired young man pressed the hang-up button again and put the phone in his pocket. His face looked a little pale, his lips were pale, and he was sweating profusely.

From beginning to end, he never stopped his lobbying.

Using the well-behaved girl as the entry point and supplemented by various psychologically appealing rhetoric, Oigawa Arata, who loved his daughter dearly, was finally persuaded. He held the Doraemon pendant in his hand and revealed a slightly bitter smile.

"Thank you, Chiyoya-kun," he said, "but there are reasons I cannot tell you. When this is over, I will personally go to the police to explain the situation."

Success!

The black-haired young man showed the gentle smile he had when they first met, and he said softly, "Then Mr. Ooi, shall we go down first?"

Oigawa Arata nodded with some relief, but did not leave with him immediately. Instead, he unzipped his heavy coat.

"Before I leave, I need to do one more thing," he said. "I have really gone to extremes these past few days and have done a lot of bad things."

As the zipper was unzipped, the long black strip wrapped in his thick clothes gradually appeared.

"I have placed four bombs in the office building next door," Oigawa Shin said calmly, "If the screen doesn't light up at four o'clock today, the bombs will explode on time."

The heavy coat fell to the ground, and the beast tied to the man bared its fangs.

"But at the same time, I will also press the detonator in my hand and detonate the bomb on my body." He smiled bitterly, "This building is so high... I still don't have the courage to jump."

Chiyotani Toru's face changed and he took out his cell phone: "Which building is it? Mr. Ooi, please tell me the exact location of the bomb."

"That one." Oigawa Shin pointed to the building next to him where the screen could be seen and comforted him, "Don't worry, I can shut down all of them with this controller. After all, I'm not a devil who doesn't leave them a way out."

"Then Mr. Ooi, please turn off the controller first!"

Chiyodani Toru tapped his fingers rapidly on the screen. Even though the timer could be turned off, it was still dangerous to leave the bomb in the building, so it had to be dismantled as soon as possible to prevent someone from accidentally touching it.

Coincidentally, his colleague who could defuse bombs was also here, so he could call the police.

…

At this moment, Matsuda Jinpei, who was shopping in the underground mall, received a text message on his mobile phone with only a short line of words.

"There are four bombs of unknown type in the Huaxin Corporation next door. They are expected to explode at 4:00 pm (maybe temporarily). Please call the police as soon as possible and assist in the dismantling. - Chiyotani Toru."

Matsuda Jinpei read the contents of the text message word by word, his face twisted, and even the curly hair on his head seemed to explode with energy. He shouted and shook his phone, angrily saying: "What is this? What has he done again!"

"I just called him but he didn't answer. Now this is happening!"

Fūya Rei quickly snatched the phone from him, scanned it quickly, and put the phone back in his hand, saying quickly: "So where is Toru now? How did he know this information!"

Zhu Fu Jingguang's lips trembled slightly, he frowned, and the flower bouquet wrapping paper in his hand made a crisp sound when it was squeezed: "If he left this building, he should have told us. Since he didn't tell us before, he should still be in the building."

"And he knew the time and location of the explosion. Either he overheard someone talking, or he was right next to the criminal." Hagiwara Kenji quickly analyzed, "He told me this morning that he was going to buy a book. The bookstore is on the sixth floor, right?"

"It's been so long now, he would have bought all the books long ago. We can't be sure. Should we check the surveillance?"

Date Kou took a deep breath and said, "Kenji, you and Matsuda go to the police and go to Huaxin Corporation to help defuse the bomb. Rei will check the surveillance. I will start from the first floor, and Jingguang will start from the top floor and work downwards."

"We cannot ensure that he is safe when we send the message, so we must be cautious!"

At this point, the few of them were no longer in the mood to joke. Even though they had initially jokingly complained that Chiyodani Toru was prone to encountering danger whenever he went out, and that he had really bad luck, when they really encountered danger, they were filled with only worry and anxiety.

Without much conversation, several people dropped their baskets and rushed towards the exit. Zhu Fu Jingguang took a last look at the sunflower in his hand, put it on the counter next to him, and quickly ran towards the elevator.

…

15:45

rooftop.

Everything seemed to be back on track. The two people relaxed and stood in the sun, looking a bit like friends chatting.

After sending the text message, Chiyodani Toru looked up at him, as if he wanted to know more information.

"Your actions are indeed a bit extreme, but if you stop now, you can still get a lighter punishment."

Oigawa picked up his coat and took out the controller from his pocket, saying, "Compared to my methods, the organization I made a deal with..."

"call out--"

The inaudible sound attracted no attention amid the noise of the huge refrigerator.

A cold light suddenly shot towards this side from the distant building, and the sniper scope reflected a dazzling light in the sunlight.

"not good!"

The young man's voice even broke a little, accompanied by surprise, but he reacted quickly and leaped forward at the same time -

Oigawa Arata only felt the world spinning around him, and his back rubbed against the hot ground, causing a burning pain. The bomb between the two of them did not explode, but a red light flashed at the tip.

"This!" He just uttered a word in panic, but was frightened by the scene in front of him and turned pale.

The black-haired young man who was lying on him was biting his lower lip tightly, with his right hand supporting the hot ground, keeping a certain distance from the bomb in front of his chest, and the other hand was slightly bent and convulsing.

His cuffs and upper arms were quickly stained red with blood. The blood, which exceeded the cloth's absorption limit, dripped onto the ground drop by drop due to gravity, stirring up the dust on the concrete floor and wrapping it up and pressing it into dots.

The originally gray police academy uniform took on a deep black color after being stained with blood, which was even more eye-catching than the original blood color.

The young man seemed to have rarely seen such a fight. There was a panic in his black eyes that he could hardly suppress, and his young face was twitching uncontrollably due to the pain.

The cold sweat on his forehead became more dense, wetting all the black hair around it, but when he met the gaze of Oigawa Shinmochi, Chiyodani Toru still forced a smile.

"I'm fine." He took a deep breath and tried to stand up with one hand. "It was a sniper... Mr. Ooi, someone wanted to assassinate you, but that's not the problem now. I'll go get the bomb controller first."

Just now, Oigawa Arata had taken out the controller, but with this jump, the controller in his hand slipped out and landed right next to the iron gate near the rooftop exit, only a few steps away from the elevator inside the gate.

"Don't move, I'll pick it up!"

Oigawa Shin gasped violently and tried to support himself by his hands to sit up. The fear of being on the verge of life and death completely activated his desire to survive, but his dignity as an elder prevented him from being protected by the young man.

After the conversation just now, he clearly learned that this young man whose smile was as green as the willows in spring was only twenty years old, and today was his first birthday as an adult.

"Stop it."

The next second, the young man, who had half stood up, used his intact right hand to push him down without question. His eyes were calm, as if everything was within his expectations: "You are the target of the sniper. Secondly, Mr. Oi, you have a bomb tied to your body."

If the bullet hits the bomb, the consequences are self-evident.

Oigawa Arata lay on the ground in a daze, as if he had been cast under a spell. The young man's tone was so firm that in this desperate situation he actually felt a slight sense of dependence on him.

She's still a child...

"I am also a policeman." He raised his lips slightly, threw his cap aside, and wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead. "Leave this matter to me."

The guardrail of the rooftop is only half a person's height, and the height of the building seems a little insufficient when contrasted with the buildings next to it. As long as the sniper finds the right angle, the bullet will still have a chance to shoot through his heart even if he crawls forward.

Then there is no need to shrink back.

The young man took a deep breath and put the tip of his tongue against his upper palate. The gunshot wound on his arm aroused waves of pain, which attacked him together with the scorching sunlight, mixing in his flesh and blood to create an extremely stimulating feeling.

It's like dancing on the edge of a knife; if you're not careful you'll fall into the abyss.

Adrenaline seemed to be secreted in large quantities, and even his heartbeat accelerated involuntarily. He knelt on one knee and rushed towards the black controller like a swift cheetah.

And after he was exposed to the sunlight, another silent sniper bullet was fired.

The young man seemed to sense something and quickly rolled to the side, like a glutinous rice ball dropped into powdered sugar. The dust stuck to his hair and wounds, dyeing his entire body gray.

The bullet collided with the ground and a streak of fire burst out, as if it would burn the blood on the ground in the next second.

"Chiyodani-kun!" Oigawa Arata's panicked voice came to my ears, "The bomb on my chest has been timed and the controller was accidentally touched just now, and it can't be turned off!"

This is just adding insult to injury and pouring fuel on the fire.

Chiyodani Toru's nimble figure froze for a moment. Another bullet shot towards him, but it seemed to be deliberately deflected and he dodged it again at the critical moment.

"Why?" A question with a slight throbbing pain escaped from his lips.

It seemed as if it was wondering how the controller could be activated so easily, and it also seemed as if it was doubting the sniper's deliberately evasive aim.

He subconsciously turned his eyes to the side, but all he could see was the glaring sunlight and the glaring light pollution reflected from the glass.

The sniper hiding in the dark was like a cunning hyena, playing with its prey before killing it, and even his aura was malicious.

Chiyodani Toru took a deep breath, letting the hot wind enter his chest to cool his overloaded body temperature, and then he bent down.

Finally, the blood-stained hand grasped the broken controller. The light on it flickered, but it couldn't stop no matter how hard he pressed.

"Mr. Ooi!" He squatted on the ground, holding the controller tightly, and shouted, "Take off the bomb on your body quickly!"

Oigawa Arata shook his head in fear, his eyes filled with despair: "It's useless, I'm already locked... If the controller fails, I can only wait to die."

"Chiyotani-kun, please leave here! Even if I go down to find the police now, it will be useless and will affect other people."

"It seems that my fate is over." He closed his eyes tiredly.

"Stop talking nonsense."

The wound on his arm was not bandaged in time, and was even torn further because of the attempt to avoid rolling.

Chiyodani Toru's face had turned pale due to excessive blood loss, but he regained his composure once again, as if he was already accustomed to the rapid transitions between extreme emotions.

He casually tossed the controller aside and repeated the process once more.

"Mr. Ooi, I'm a police officer."

"No police officer would abandon citizens and walk away alone."

His black eyes seemed to be burning with flames under the reflection of the sunlight, becoming particularly dazzling. His calm tone seemed like he was just describing his career, without causing any ripples.

If it weren't for this life-and-death crisis, Oigawa Arata would even have felt like Chiyotani Toru was talking in class.

But at this moment, behind him was an open iron gate, and a transparent elevator not far inside the iron gate. The elevator reflected the sunlight and fell on him. The young man seemed like a god of war born from the light.

He struggled to stand up and casually opened the iron gate behind him. With a "click", the iron gate was completely locked, directly blocking the possibility of anyone leaving the rooftop.

"Wait!" Oigawa Arata's words got stuck in his throat and he didn't finish.

His mouth opened and closed, with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

The moment Chiyodani Toru closed the iron gate, he saw a young man rising up from the bottom of the elevator.

After witnessing the situation on the rooftop, the young man showed fear on his face and hammered the glass wall of the elevator with his hands, as if he wanted to rush in directly.

But his face was soon blocked by the dark iron door, isolating him at both ends.