The taste of justice

Wasn't this just Zhao Gang in a white coat?

He was even more despicable than Zhao Gang.

Zhao Gang only bullied his family. This Zhang Wei was using his professional knowledge to kill people legally.

Kannazuki pulled his hat brim lower and turned toward the elevator.

Target confirmed.

The cardiac surgery director's office was on the twelfth floor.

Kannazuki reached the twelfth floor. The office door stood ajar.

Voices drifted out from inside.

"Uncle, are those poor bastards still making a fuss? Should we have security throw them out?"

It was a young man's voice, tinged with impatience.

"Let them make a fuss. They'll quiet down in a few days. I've already spoken to the people handling the medical malpractice assessment. It was a complication. Nothing to do with us."

An elderly but commanding voice answered.

"Heh, you always know what to do, Uncle. Oh, about the kickbacks on those imported stents..."

"Enough. We'll talk at the usual place tonight."

Kannazuki stood outside the door and peered through the gap, getting a clear look at the people inside.

The man sitting behind the desk was Zhang Wei, wearing his gold-rimmed glasses.

He sat with his legs crossed, twirling a pen in his hand, a smug smile on his face.

That face was exactly the same as the one in the news photograph.

Only more animated, and even more nauseating.

Kannazuki took out his phone and pretended to reply to a message, while actually taking a photograph through the gap in the door.

Then he turned and left.

He went into a deserted stairwell.

Kannazuki took out the black notebook.

He opened it to the third page.

The tip of his pen hovered above it.

How should I write it this time?

Simply paralyzing his heart would let him off too easily.

People like him cared most about reputation, status, and money.

Then let him lose all of it.

A ruthless glint flashed through Kannazuki's eyes.

[Zhang Wei.]

[Cause of death: publicly confesses in the hospital lobby to every detail of soliciting bribes and delaying treatment, resulting in a patient's death, then kneels before livestream cameras to apologize to the family, after which...]

Kannazuki paused.

What should happen afterward?

Jump off the building?

No, that would cause trouble for the hospital.

[He then suffers a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and dies despite resuscitation attempts.]

Let an expert in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease die of a cerebral hemorrhage.

That would be the ultimate irony.

Kannazuki closed the notebook and checked the time.

Three o'clock sharp.

"The show's about to begin."

He did not leave the hospital. Instead, he went to the crowded first-floor lobby.

He found a spot with a clear view, bought a cup of coffee from a vending machine, and waited quietly.

Ten minutes later.

The elevator doors opened.

Zhang Wei stepped out in his white coat, looking hurried.

He had been heading for the parking lot, but as he reached the center of the lobby, he suddenly stopped.

His eyes went blank, as though some invisible force had taken control of his body.

People bustled through the lobby.

The deceased patient's family was still crying in a corner.

Zhang Wei walked straight toward the mother and son.

Everyone nearby froze.

"Isn't that Director Zhang?"

"What's he doing? Trying to throw them out again?"

Zhang Wei walked up to the woman, then dropped with a thud.

Both knees hit the floor.

The impact was so loud that the entire lobby fell silent.

Everyone stared at the scene in disbelief.

Someone took out a phone and started recording.

Zhang Wei raised his head and spoke loudly into the countless cameras:

"I am guilty!"

"I'm a monster!"

"I took kickbacks from pharmaceutical sales reps. I resented the patient for not giving me a cash gift, so I deliberately delayed the surgery..."

The entire lobby erupted.

Kannazuki stood beside the railing on the second floor, watching the absurd yet real scene below.

He took a sip of coffee.

Beneath the bitterness was a faint, lingering sweetness.

"This is the taste of justice."

But just then.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kannazuki suddenly caught sight of something at another entrance to the lobby.

The detective captain named Chen Lei was rushing in with his men.

Clearly, the police had also received a report of a disturbance here.

The moment Chen Lei came through the doors, he saw Zhang Wei kneeling in repentance.

He froze for a moment, then his expression changed drastically.

"Something's wrong!"

Chen Lei shouted, "Quick! Restrain him! Get a doctor!"

As a veteran detective, he keenly sensed that Zhang Wei's condition was abnormal.

It did not look like genuine remorse. It was more like... possession.

Or was he under the influence of some drug?

Chen Lei rushed toward Zhang Wei.

But it was already too late.

As Zhang Wei uttered his final word, his body abruptly stiffened. Then blood spurted from his mouth and nose, and he collapsed heavily to the floor.

"Cerebral hemorrhage! Start resuscitation!"

The lobby descended into chaos.

Kannazuki set down his empty paper cup, lowered his hat brim, and slipped into the panicked crowd, leaving the scene without a sound.

But what he did not know was this.

Amid the chaos, Chen Lei suddenly looked up, his piercing gaze sweeping across the second-floor railing.

A moment earlier, he thought he had felt someone watching from there.

Cold and aloof, as though watching a puppet show.

By then.

Kannazuki was already riding his electric scooter into the crowded streets.

Melodious classical music flowed through his earphones.

He did not know that a net was spreading behind him.

All he knew was this.

He had already written the third name in the notebook.

And this was only the beginning.