I'm in Conan, I'm not a gangster

Chapter 691 Deterrence (2nd Update)
In the VIP ward area of ​​Mihana General Hospital, the air was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant, mixed with a faint hint of blood and fear.

President Kitamura lay on the hospital bed, his face pale from blood loss and pain.

His knees had just undergone emergency surgery. Under local anesthesia, doctors carefully removed the two bullets that had nearly shattered his kneecaps and cleaned and repaired the wounds.

Although the anesthesia had not completely worn off, the dull pain continued to remind him of the nightmarish experience he had not long ago.

After the surgery, he was wheeled by a nurse to a private rest room for postoperative observation.

As the effects of the anesthetic wore off, the intense pain and overwhelming sense of humiliation made him extremely agitated.

Just then, there was a knock on the door of the ward, and Inspector Megure walked in with Inspector Wataru Takagi.

“Mr. Kitamura.” Inspector Megure showed his badge, his expression serious. “We received a notification from the hospital that you were the victim of a vicious attack. Could you please describe what happened and the characteristics of the attacker? This is crucial to solving the case.”

Upon hearing this, President Kitamura's suppressed anger was instantly ignited, as if he had found an outlet for it.

He tried to sit up abruptly, but the movement aggravated the wound on his leg, causing him to grimace in pain, which only fueled his rage.

He practically roared, using the most exaggerated and furious words he could muster: "That bastard! That madman wearing a bandit mask!"

"He suddenly appeared in my car! With a gun! He opened fire without saying a word! My leg! My knee! What are you police doing?! How can you let such a ruthless criminal run rampant in Tokyo?!"

He waved his arms excitedly, spitting as he spoke, repeatedly emphasizing the brutality of the attackers and the horror of their weapons. However, he provided almost no useful information about the attackers, such as their height, build, or accent, only repeating "mask," "gun," and "terrifying."

Inspector Megure felt a headache coming on as he listened to the emotionally charged but substantive narration.

He patiently reassured him, "Mr. Kitamura, please calm down and take care of yourself. We will do our best to investigate this matter. Please rest well first, and we will retrieve all the surveillance footage from the parking lot and surrounding roads to see if we can find any clues."

After seeing Inspector Megure off, President Kitamura lay back down, panting, his wound throbbing with pain from the excitement.

Only then did his assistant dare to cautiously slip into the ward, his face still showing lingering fear.

"President," the assistant's voice trembled slightly, "that... President Kinoshita, the one who drove the van, he also just came out of the operating room... his condition is even worse than yours."

"He was not only shot in the knee, but his head also seemed to have hit it several times when the car overturned. His entire head was wrapped in bandages, and I heard he also suffered a concussion..."

Upon hearing this, President Kitamura realized that he wasn't the most unlucky one after all. His resentment inexplicably dissipated a little, and he even developed a ridiculous sense of "comparing who's worse off" psychological balance.

Seeing that his expression had softened slightly, the assistant hesitated before getting to the point, lowering his voice to ask, "President, about... that factory pollution lawsuit tomorrow... do we really have to withdraw the lawsuit and pay compensation as that thug suggested?"

These words instantly struck a nerve with President Kitamura, who immediately burst out, "Baka! Withdraw the lawsuit? Pay compensation? No way!"

"This time we were caught off guard and that bastard managed to sneak up on us! Tomorrow I'll hire some top-notch bodyguards at exorbitant prices to protect me in layers! I want to see if he still has the guts to get close to me! He thinks he can make me, Kitamura Ichiro, bow down? No way!"

The assistant looked worried and tried to persuade him, "But boss... that guy is 'Bandit Azu'! He's notorious throughout the underworld, a real killer! If we stubbornly resist and really anger him, next time it might not just be a knee strike..."

"Bullshit!" President Kitamura shouted, his neck stiff and his voice trembling with fear. "That's definitely a copycat! Just trying to scare people! If it were that legendary 'ruthless bandit Azu,' he would have blasted me with a rocket launcher the moment we met. Would I still be here talking to you? Impossible!" The assistant smiled wryly and tried to persuade him from a different angle: "President, even if the lawsuit is settled, it's only a matter of tens of millions of yen."

“But if you hire a top-notch bodyguard team, the daily expenses will be enormous, and in the long run, they will probably be much higher than the compensation.”

"I think... maybe we should just pay the money to avoid further trouble, take a step back and let things be peaceful?"

"Is this about money?!" President Kitamura slammed his fist on the edge of the bed, his voice trembling with emotion. "This is about face! It's about my reputation in the industry! If I back down and pay up today because of a gun, all my colleagues in Tokyo will laugh at me tomorrow! How am I supposed to face the world after that?!"

The assistant opened his mouth, as if to say something more, when he suddenly heard an unusual commotion coming from the corridor outside the ward. It seemed that a new patient had been brought in, along with the hurried footsteps and whispers of doctors and nurses.

Feeling uneasy, the assistant said to President Kitamura, "President, I'll go out and see what's going on."

A dozen minutes later, the assistant returned. This time, his face was even paler than before, his eyes were filled with genuine fear, and his voice trembled as he spoke: "President...it's terrible! I just went out to inquire...just now, several more important figures were brought in!"

"That real estate tycoon, Mr. Kanakawa! The director of Beika General Hospital! And that famous law professor from Tokyo University, Mr. Yamada!"

"They...they all had gunshot wounds to the knee! They were brought in by that...that 'ruthless bandit Azu'! And, I heard, they were all asked to immediately withdraw their ongoing cases!"

"What?!" President Kitamura gasped, his anger and arrogance freezing instantly, then vanishing like the receding tide, replaced by a chilling aura that penetrated to the bone: "Kinchuan?! That Kinchuan who supposedly keeps many yakuza members under his command and has connections in both the underworld and the legitimate world? He... he was also..."

"It's absolutely true!" The assistant's voice trembled with tears. "President, even someone like Mr. Jin Chuan has fallen... Are we... are we still going to stubbornly hold on? This isn't just a matter of saving face, this is... this is a matter of life and death!"

President Kitamura fell completely silent, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead. All his remaining hopes were shattered at that moment.

If he previously thought the attacker might be a copycat or only dared to pick on someone as easy as him, now that even a real tough guy like Jin Chuan has been sent to the hospital in the same way, it is enough to prove how terrifying and reckless the attacker is!

He swallowed hard, instantly realizing that his life was far more important than his pride and a few tens of millions of yen.

It's not worth risking your life to oppress a few ordinary people!
Besides, even Jinchuan has admitted defeat, so it doesn't seem so shameful for Kitamura Ichiro to admit defeat as well...

Fear ultimately prevailed over arrogance.

He took a deep breath, as if using all his strength, and said with difficulty to his assistant, "Okay...okay...you...you go do it now! Don't wait until tomorrow! Contact the other party's lawyer immediately, negotiate to withdraw the lawsuit, and compensate them according to the highest standard stipulated by law...no, a little more than the highest standard! Immediately! Go right now! Make sure the other party feels our sincerity!"

Hearing that the president had finally relented, the assistant was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, "Yes! Yes! President! I'll go right away! I'll get it done right away!"

After saying that, he practically ran out of the ward, afraid that if he was even a second late, that white demon would reappear at the ward door.

President Kitamura lay alone in the hospital bed, listening to the faint sound of sirens outside the window and the noise in the corridor, looking at his legs which were covered with thick plaster casts.

For the first time, he felt that legal procedures, though slow, could sometimes be much gentler than certain unconventional forms of justice.

(End of this chapter)