The National Museum was in complete chaos!
Alarms blared, the exits were immediately sealed, and everyone was forbidden from leaving the museum pending a search!
The moment Tojo Shinji and several museum officials saw that the Bodhisattva Statue had been stolen, they knew the Republic was surely involved. They immediately ordered all Republic citizens in the museum to be gathered in one place and searched by museum staff. Even if nothing suspicious was found, they had to be handed over to the Japanese police; accomplices could not be ruled out. There were indeed quite a few Republic citizens in the museum, and when they heard that the staff were ignoring everyone else and searching only them, every one of them became furious. But Tojo Shinji could not worry about that now. A museum theft was a major case that would shock the entire nation. If the item could not be recovered and the suspect could not be caught, he too would face the danger of being dismissed from public office.
"Let go! Damn it! Didn't you hear me?"
"What are you doing? Do you have a search warrant? What right do you have to search me?"
"You little Japanese bastard! You dare lay a hand on my wife?"
More than a dozen Republic tourists refused to be searched, but the staff had long since received orders from above and immediately resorted to force.
If they had been locals, the staff might have shown some restraint. After all, causing a dispute would be troublesome, and it might even lead to a lawsuit.
But they had no such concerns with Republic citizens. They were tourists anyway, and there was a language barrier. Did they expect them to sue? They would be leaving in a few days regardless! Catching the suspect was what