Ambush

A week had passed since the indiscriminate subway massacre that shocked the nation, and the high-ranking officials of the subway company and the Transportation Bureau had collectively performed dogeza apologies at a press conference.

As for dismissals?

Well, they fired most of the security staff and the supervisor allegedly in charge of security.

Because there had been a few incidents over the past two years, the Tokyo of this alternate world did have subway security, though it was all manual checks, not present at every station, and even at stations that had it, not everyone was checked.

Now that a heinous case involving over a dozen injuries and twenty deaths had occurred, it was necessary to purge and replace the entire security team and introduce scanning equipment; opportunities to line one's pockets while earning the praise of taxpayers were rare.

Although the actual murder weapon was a pair of hands, there was little footage of the slaughter, and the mobile phones left at the scene had been systematically destroyed. If anyone tried to investigate, they would be pushed to the subway company, who would push them to the Transportation Bureau, who would push them to the Metropolitan Police Department. After such a runaround, most people had no choice but to accept their fate.

Buried beneath this major news, an official media outlet issued a brief report about a natural gas pipeline explosion at the Metropolitan Police Department that resulted in several casualties, which, unsurprisingly, failed to stir even a ripple.

After a week of investigation, the task force had locked onto the Holy Infant Society and obtained a list of most of its members, keeping those they could find under 24-hour surveillance. The arrest operation was set for today.

In Yashio City, according to intelligence, most of the known members had traveled two days ago to a hot spring hotel there. The president, Nakai Hayato, had rented a conference room and several guest rooms under the guise of a company retreat, leading the task force to speculate that they might be conducting some sort of activity.

Currently, even the Holy Infant Cult members who did not attend this gathering were under surveillance by the task force; with a single order, they could collectively arrest everyone within five minutes.

But the problem was that President Nakai Hayato and the members who came for the event had only appeared on the first day. Later, hotel staff had only seen Nakai Hayato once, when he informed them not to disturb the rooms he had booked for the next few days.

Noguchi Yuji speculated that they had either already fled or were in the middle of some kind of ritual.

"Commence operation!"

On the floor where the Holy Infant Society members were staying, large groups of heavily armed personnel suddenly burst out of several rooms, their firepower sufficient as they completely surrounded the target rooms.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo—whether at offices, street-side shops, or homes—large numbers of armed personnel emerged from hidden locations, moving with swift and brutal efficiency to arrest the Holy Infant Society suspects.

"Get down! Get down!"

"Hands behind your head!"

"Target 25 apprehended."

"Target 34 apprehended."

"Target 40 resisted; after warnings were ignored, they were neutralized on the spot."

Information poured in, and the unit inside the hotel completed their breach of the guest rooms.

"Room 616, no targets."

"Room 617, no targets."

"Room 618, there is a letter on the desk."

A letter?

Room 618 was supposedly the room of the Holy Infant Society president.

This meant the other party had known about the task force's arrest plan all along, and had even had time to lure their main force to Yashio City.

"Tell me, what does the letter say?" Noguchi Yuji had a bad premonition and couldn't wait to open it himself.

A few seconds passed before the voice came through: "Odagiri Masanobu. It's a person's name written on it."

Noguchi Yuji's mouth hung slightly open.

That was the name of the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department.

"Contact Chief Odagiri."

Kuroki Niizumi, standing beside him, dialed the number, but after a long while, it still wouldn't connect. She shook her head at Noguchi Yuji.

Noguchi Yuji took a deep breath and began contacting personnel at headquarters, but he already sensed in his heart that it was likely too late.

Ten minutes earlier.

On the highway heading toward Nagatacho, inside an inconspicuous black sedan, Odagiri Masanobu was closing his eyes to rest. He was so exhausted he felt he could fall asleep at any moment; if not for the fear of losing his train of thought for the upcoming report, he would have fought to catch a nap.

The massive subway case, the attack on the Metropolitan Police Department, dealing with inquiries from various high-ranking officials—this week's workload was five to eight times his usual, nearly killing an old man on the verge of retirement.

But at the same time, there was a glimmer of anticipation.

Would he be able to witness the birth of an event that changed the course of human history in the final chapter of his life?

If it triggered a technological explosion, perhaps his own lifespan could be extended, allowing him to enjoy a longer retirement.

It was just a pity his daughter was a lifelong singleton. He hadn't thought much of it before, but the older he got, the more he regretted it. Yet, there was nothing he could say; it was her life, after all. Perhaps he could adopt an orphan.

"Chief, a car has been following us for a long time," the driver's words interrupted Odagiri's thoughts, pulling him back to reality.

"Then hurry to the Prime Minister's Office." Odagiri trusted the subordinates he had selected. Since the driver said someone was following them, he must have already tried measures like taking detours to confirm it before reporting. This was why he was so well-liked by his subordinates.

"Yes." The driver nodded.

There were two other detectives in the car. Hearing this, they took out their firearms and bulletproof briefcases, ready to handle any emergency.

Just then, the car behind signaled to pass. The driver hesitated for a moment, then slowed down, choosing to let them overtake.

The car behind quickly pulled past the black sedan and accelerated, rushing forward as if in a hurry.

But just as the driver breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he had misjudged the situation, the driver of the lead car suddenly opened the door while in motion and leaped out. With incredible force—boom—he slammed into the hood of the black sedan.

The car lost control instantly. The driver tried to steer toward the side to scrape against the guardrail and slow down, but the next moment, a hand shattered the windshield, and five fingers plunged directly into the driver's face. The driver let out a shrill scream, and the man yanked backward, easily decapitating the driver. The headless corpse slumped over as blood sprayed from the carotid artery, drenching the roof of the car.

After spinning a few times on the highway, the car finally came to a stop.

Everything that just happened unfolded in the blink of an eye; the detective in the passenger seat didn't even have time to raise his gun before his skull was shattered by another punch, his remaining limbs twitching slightly.

Odagiri in the back seat hadn't seen what happened in the front at all before he was tackled and shielded by the other detective in the back.

When the car came to a stop, that detective stood up to check the situation, only to be met with a scene of bloody carnage.

Just as he was about to look at the front seat, a loud bang erupted as the window of the door beside him was smashed. Before he could turn his head, a large hand grabbed the back of his clothes, and with an irresistible Super Strength, the one-meter-seventy-something man was yanked straight out of the car window in a seated forward-fold position.

The crisp sound of bones snapping drowned out his scream.

The assailant raised a foot, intending to stomp on the head of the half-dead man, but after glancing at Odagiri, who had just sat up inside the car, he seemed to be struck by a desire to toy with him.

He effortlessly ripped the car door off its hinges, allowing Odagiri to see the situation clearly.

"It's you."