Chapter 187 Be good, open the door...
"Hey, Gao Ming, are you sure I don't need to come along?"
Yamato Kansuke watched as Morofushi Takaaki put on his coat and prepared to leave the police station, and said with some unease, "In this kind of weather, someone who specifically asks to see you before providing any clues seems quite suspicious."
Morofushi Takaaki fastened the buttons on his overcoat and said with a slightly relaxed tone, "That case happened so many years ago, it's already quite rare that someone is still willing to provide clues. Since they are willing to trust me, I naturally have to show the same sincerity. Besides, Kobayashi-kun will be with me, so I won't be going alone."
“But…” Yamato Kansuke naturally hoped that the case could make a breakthrough, but he was a little unsure about his childhood friend’s fighting ability.
“Alright, it’s almost time for the appointment, I should get going.” Morofushi Takaaki walked out of the room, nodded to Officer Kobayashi who was also ready, and then turned to Yamato Kansuke and said, “There’s a blizzard tonight, and there are still some residents in the northern mountains. Just in case, we need an inspector from the station to be in charge.” After saying that, he looked at Uehara Yui who was standing next to him.
Uehara Yui immediately understood what Morofushi Takami meant and assured him, "Don't worry, Agan will be absolutely fine. Leave this to us!"
"Hey, Yui..."
Morofushi Takaaki chuckled softly and then went out with Officer Kobayashi.
Yamato Kansuke reluctantly walked back to his desk, his brow still furrowed.
Yui Uehara, seeing Yamato Kansuke's continued behavior, asked with some confusion, "It's not like no one provides clues to the bureau normally, and we've seen worse weather before, so why are you taking this so seriously this time?"
Yamato Kansuke looked at the conference room where Morofushi Takaaki had just been and whispered, "Normally it's fine, but you saw it just now, right? Takaaki's expression seemed very serious after he received that call from Tokyo. He had just hung up here when the emergency call providing the clue came in, specifically asking him to go. I thought it was too much of a coincidence, so I wanted to go and take a look."
"Do you think there might be danger this time?" Uehara Yui pondered for a moment. "However, these two things aren't necessarily related. If Gao Mingjun really felt there was any danger, he wouldn't have stubbornly refused to protect us. Besides, we can contact him and Kobayashi at any time."
Yamato Kansuke only felt that the two events were somewhat coincidental, and he wasn't 100% certain that something bad would happen. In addition, because of the weather, the Ministry of Transportation needed manpower, so he didn't dwell on it for too long. He simply said, "In any case, we still need to ensure that communications here are smooth. Is Ikegami still there? Have him go to the communications department and check on the situation at the signal tower..."
Yui Uehara nodded, picked up the phone and dialed two numbers when Officer Ikegami ran over by himself, looking rather anxious.
"What's wrong, Ikegami?" Yamato Kansuke asked quickly. "Is there a problem with the signal coverage?"
"Inspector Yamato!" Officer Ikegami was about to casually report to Inspector Morofushi Takaaki, but finding him absent, he turned to Yamato Kansuke and said, "The signal towers in the mountains are severely affected by the blizzard; we can barely receive any signals from there. But based on the last bit of signal we received, it seems someone in the mountains is trying to send a message to our alarm system!"
"Could it be a distress signal?!" Yui Uehara immediately stood up and asked, "Are there still people in the mountains? But I remember that before issuing the emergency warning, we confirmed that all the locals had already come down the mountain to take refuge, right?"
“So, I’m wondering if it’s possible that some people from out of town didn’t notice our warnings and went up the mountain,” Officer Ikegami said.
“That’s certainly possible.” Yamato Kansuke glanced at the heavy snowfall outside the window and said, “Since there might still be people in the mountains, let’s go check it out. Yui, notify the Ministry of Transportation and the hospital in advance…”
This unexpected news put the police officers on standby at the police station to work.
Number 234, who had been watching this area, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this and immediately withdrew the power to maintain the signal tower, which was on the verge of going out of service, and informed Morofushi Kagemitsu of the situation at the police station.
Morofushi Kagemitsu glanced at the time and estimated that Zero would be free in about half an hour, so he asked Number 234 to use a gadget to send back the message that the support was in place.
[Anti-fraud expert #234: I don't know where he'll put it, so I'll remind him on vibration first. Hopefully, Shinichi Kudo's acting is good enough to fool Rum.]
It's a bit too pessimistic of us to pin our hopes on a high school student.
If Rum has indeed figured something out, or if he has learned from some source about the low-probability side effects that may occur after taking APTX-4869, we cannot let him spread this deadly information.
[Anti-fraud King #234: ...So you still want to arrest him. But, putting aside the fact that the organization's main suspects are all here, just the fact that Rum disappeared here means Zero will definitely be put in a solitary confinement for interrogation.]
Of course I wouldn't let Zero get into that situation.
While keeping track of the police car's speed in the mountain rescue, Morofushi Kagemitsu contacted some informants that Black Guest had cultivated in Nagano over the years. He had already noticed that one of them was a forest ranger who had also gone into the mountains for this operation.
There were only a few of them going up the mountain, but once they came down, there were many more people around, and he couldn't say for sure what might happen.
[Anti-fraud expert #234: ...I'm still stuck in the time-space rift, so I can't read your thoughts like #205 and the others. Just tell me what you're planning to do, are you going to use someone else to do your dirty work?]
To be precise, it should be described as framing someone.
Morofushi Kagemitsu readily provided an answer. He planned to use the seven-year-old cold case to lure out the suspect—Imanishi Shoichi—and incidentally drag Rum into the mess.
[Anti-fraud expert #234: So that case really is related to an organization?! But we still can't find the killer's trail. Even if you release information online saying you have decisive evidence, that person might not necessarily take the bait.]
That person might not see it, but Kitada Yu, who has been keeping a close eye on the organization all these years, will definitely notice. Even if he doesn't, Akiyama Nao will kindly remind him of it.
With Kitada Yu's whereabouts under control, many problems can be easily solved. Since he played a significant role in this case back then, when Rum gets into trouble and the blame can't be shifted to the murderer, Kitada Yu can take the fall for that person.
[Anti-fraud King No. 234: It doesn't matter which one of them, as long as someone can divert the organization's suspicions. The only concern is that after what happened with Akiyama Nao, Kitada Yu won't hold much weight in the organization's eyes.]
Yes, it will happen. As long as Zero knows about this, he will definitely be able to control these details.
Morofushi Kagemitsu was quite confident in his childhood friend's abilities.
[Anti-fraud expert #234: ...Aren't you going to notify the police?]
For Zero's safety, it's best to keep the police out of Nagano for the next couple of days.
He responded to number 234 and also sent instructions to the forest ranger.
Avoiding any involvement with the police was also so that I could figure out a mystery:
When Kitada Yu returns to his original path, will the events predetermined by fate be affected?
[Anti-fraud King No. 234: The original trajectory... So, the reason you asked me to recall your memories from six years ago when you first triggered the spacetime fluctuation in the park was to confirm the fates of those affected by Takei Hisashi's job change?]
yes.
At the time, I was somewhat relieved that Takei Hisashi hadn't died, indirectly buying Hagiwara some time to save his own life, so I didn't report the bomb's return. However, I checked his file again later and found that he still liked to suppress events unfavorable to him, and even these actions had connected him with Kitada Yu. So I changed my mind.
However, considering that Takei-kun has provided us with important clues, I can assure you that he will not die at the hands of the organization.
[Anti-fraud expert #234: Hmm, jail suits him better. Thinking back, when you were dropped off at that train station, that newspaper with "bomb" written on it was slapped in your face—wasn't that a hint for the mission?]
...I just thought of that myself.
Without these discoveries, I wouldn't have risked taking action against Rum here.
[Anti-fraud expert #234: Sigh, it's just a bit of a pity. If I could have gained a little more of Zero's trust, maybe he would have been willing to let me put some things on his phone, and we wouldn't be facing this situation where so much intelligence is inconvenient to transmit.]
For a materialist warrior like Zero, once you appear before him with my face on your back, there's basically no chance of turning the tables.
[Anti-fraud expert #234: ...Excuse my bluntness, but when you show your face to him, the person controlling that body is yourself. It's like you've been resurrected in front of him. What do you think he'll think?]
Zhu Fujingguang remained silent.
He adjusted his posture in front of the mirror, preparing for the important meeting to come, and trying to prevent the complex emotions that appeared in Zero from being replicated in his brother.
Number 234 sounded like he wanted to "tap" like the other anti-fraud officers, but then he remembered that this was his true form, so he had to forgive himself and even gave a brief update on the latest news.
[Anti-fraud expert #234: ...Akiyama Nao messaged me saying she spotted Kitada Yu at the convenience store next to the hospital.]
Morofushi Kagemitsu indicated that he understood and picked up the face cream to extend his disguise time.
[Anti-fraud expert #234: Zero hasn't sent any more messages, which means there shouldn't be any surprises on the mountain... Wait, Zero sent another Morse code message!]
What is it?!
[Anti-fraud expert #234: It seems... there have been deaths? Ah, so it seems death was still unavoidable...]
Morofushi Kagemitsu wanted to ask more questions, but then he heard a knock on the door:
"Dong dong, dong dong dong, dong dong dong dong."
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