Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 538, Get out of the way, it's going to explode again!!!
The Metropolitan Police Department headquarters building stood solemnly under the scorching sun, its air conditioning units humming and injecting a meager amount of coolness into the sweltering air. Inside the chief's office on the upper floors, however, was an unusually quiet atmosphere.

Eiji Watanabe, the Superintendent General of Police hailed by the media as "the pinnacle of the Japanese police force in the last forty years," "a criminal's nightmare," and "the anchor of Tokyo Bay," has just finished enjoying a sumptuous lunch.

This is a bento box made by his wife, Michiko Watanabe. It is indeed plentiful and delicious. Michiko Watanabe has always been known as the "Queen of the Culinary World" in high society, so Eiji Watanabe naturally couldn't enjoy it all.

Previously, the couple had occasional disagreements, mainly because Watanabe Eiji's career path seemed to end at around the Superintendent General level, which Michiko felt was unsatisfying as she felt her husband's career hadn't reached its full potential. However, in the past two years, with Watanabe Eiji's incredible success in his career, their relationship has become much closer. Watanabe Michiko's biggest worry—the overused surname "Watanabe"—was also resolved when she married Uesugi Muneyuki. Although the Watanabe couple will not change their surname, their next generation will be Uesugi Muneyuki and Uesugi Minami.

Watanabe Uesugi has succeeded!

With a successful career, a harmonious family, and his daughter's marriage settled, Watanabe Eiji was in excellent spirits. Over fifty years old, he had thick, glossy black hair. Although not exceptionally handsome, he possessed a dignified and imposing face, with a tall and straight posture. His sharp eyes had seen through countless schemes and conspiracies.

At this moment, however, there was a rare hint of contentment in those eyes.

The Superintendent General of Police just jokingly said at a routine meeting: "The weather is clear and the city is peaceful today. This is proof of our hard work in maintaining public order. You can all breathe a little easier."

"Yes, yes, our police organization overcomes all difficulties and is invincible!" A chorus of praise erupted at the routine meeting.

Criminal Investigation Department Chief Kanji Uchimura exclaimed excitedly, "What an honor and what a blessing it is to be born in the glorious era of Inspector Watanabe!"

“Yes, happiness, happiness!” A large group of police superintendents nodded in agreement.

With everyone in high spirits, our Metropolitan Police Department is thriving!

They all owed Watanabe Eiji a favor, especially regarding the bulletproof vest incident. If Watanabe Eiji hadn't acted quickly and decisively, who knows how many more people would have fallen from grace. Even so, the personnel storm within the Metropolitan Police Department is still ongoing, with over a hundred police officers dismissed, 500 punished, and nearly 2000 forced to resign.

This level of personnel reshuffling may not gradually subside until the end of the year.

At the routine meeting, Eiji Watanabe also made it clear that he would never cling to his position or seek to continue serving as Superintendent General of Police. He would step down after serving two terms as Superintendent General of Police.

This was like a reassurance to everyone in the Metropolitan Police Department. You have to understand that this was already the third and a half years that Eiji Watanabe had served. Many of the older officers couldn't wait to enjoy the position of Superintendent General and chose to retire at the end of the year, leaving the system to find new employment in other local government organizations, companies, or corporations.

Of course, for Eiji Watanabe, it wouldn't be considered breaking his promise to become the Commissioner General of the Department of Police instead of the Superintendent General, right?
At this moment, he was standing next to the expensive leather sofa in the center of the office, like a discerning artist, carefully smoothing out the last wrinkle on the sofa cushions, and then taking out a neatly folded thin blanket (knitted by Mrs. Michiko herself) from the cabinet and carefully spreading it on the sofa.

For him, this brief fifty-minute lunch break is the secret to maintaining sharp thinking throughout the day, and he cannot be disturbed.

"Hmm..." He examined his "masterpiece" with satisfaction, preparing to take off his suit jacket and enjoy this moment of peace.

Cover yourself with a blanket and a thin quilt, and drift off to sleep feeling warm and cozy!
"boom!"

The office door was practically kicked open. His secretary, pale as a sheet, rushed in without even calling out a report, the tablet computer in her hand trembling and drawing messy lines in the air.

"General Manager! Something terrible has happened! Hong Kong..."

Eiji Watanabe's brows furrowed instantly, and that trace of ease vanished like smoke blown away by the wind.

He remained in the position of about to take off his coat, his voice steady yet carrying an undeniable air of authority: "Calm down! The sky isn't falling. Explain yourself, what happened in the port area? Was it another gas explosion? Or a large-scale traffic accident?"

We can't let another Royal Palace Bomber appear, can we?
Eiji Watanabe couldn't help but complain: Where did all these bomb men come from?
A thorough search of the Imperial Palace lasted for more than two weeks. The Japanese Public Security Bureau, the Imperial Household Agency, and the Imperial Palace Police Headquarters left no stone unturned, finally confirming that there were indeed no suspicious persons or hidden objects inside or near the Imperial Palace.

Security at the Imperial Palace has also been strengthened.

"No, no!" The secretary stammered, handing him a tablet computer that was playing a shaky but clear video from the scene—a young man who appeared to be insane, lifting his hoodie to reveal explosives covering his body and a flashing collar, crying out, "Daddy, save me."

"Suspected to be... suspected to be Shota Akimoto, son of Foreign Minister Shinichiro Akimoto! Covered in ANFO explosives and IEDs, he appeared in public in the center of TNEC Plaza, completely emotionally broken, threatening to detonate at any moment!"

“And, Director, look at this!!!” The secretary placed a tablet in front of him.

"This is the bomb that Horikawa Nen was carrying during the Imperial Palace incident!"

"This is the bomb that's on Akimoto Shota right now!"

The two pictures are side by side, showing almost identical setups, detonators, and cables. The only difference is that Horikawa Nian is holding a detonator, while Akimoto Shota has a collar around his neck with a bright red light on it.

A deathly silence fell over the office. Only the continuous hum of the air conditioner unit outside the window made the silence all the more eerie.

Eiji Watanabe remained in that half-undone-coat position for a full three seconds. A slight twitch appeared in his weathered face, a face that had solved countless major cases. Then, slowly, extremely slowly, he pulled his arm back into his suit sleeve, as if each movement carried the weight of a thousand pounds.

He reached out, took the tablet, and stared intently at the desperate, moving bomb on the screen.

"Nani?! Nani?!" The Superintendent General of Police was stunned for a few seconds before slowly realizing what he meant.

The Imperial Palace case...is it still not over?
Horikawa Nen, is this just the beginning?
“…Heh.” A very soft, almost inaudible sigh, filled with endless self-mockery and dark humor, escaped from Eiji Watanabe’s lips.

Why is my life so miserable?

"Nothing happened in the capital...that's good?" He repeated what he had said less than ten minutes earlier, his voice low, as if he were chewing on a bitter fruit: "...It seems I won't be able to take my afternoon nap."

Something terrible has happened! A major disaster has occurred!!!

He suddenly looked up, his eyes instantly sharp as a hawk's, all the remaining slackness swept away, replaced by the calmness and decisiveness unique to a seasoned commander. He grabbed the internal communicator from the secretary's hand and pressed the button to connect directly to the police department.

"This is Watanabe! Initiate the highest level of emergency response immediately! Code name 'The Crucible'! Repeat, code name 'The Crucible'!"

His voice boomed like thunder, echoing throughout the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters.

Almost at the same time Watanabe gave the order, the entire Metropolitan Police Department was instantly awakened like a sleeping behemoth and began to operate at top efficiency!
The doors to the emergency response center were opened, and the command center at headquarters was instantly illuminated. A huge electronic screen switched between real-time footage of the scene, a map of the port area, and detailed information about Shota Akimoto and his family.

Personnel from various departments rushed in to prepare to activate various emergency mechanisms, waking up the entire response center.

As the ace team for handling hostage situations and terrorist attacks, the SAT members, fully armed and riding in disguised vehicles, roared out of the base and headed straight for the port area!
The large number of mobile team members received orders to quickly assemble, rush to the bus, and prepare to depart!
The First Investigation Division will be led by its chief, Sugishita Ukyo, along with a large group of elite detectives to the scene!
The explosives disposal team is preparing to deploy and is currently retrieving various equipment from the warehouse!
Meanwhile, Tomonobu Togasaki, the section chief of the Public Relations Division of the General Affairs Department of the Metropolitan Police Department, also received orders: the Public Relations Division must immediately enter a state of war to prepare for the impending flood of domestic and foreign media, while monitoring online public opinion to prevent the spread of panic!

When Uesugi Muneyuki rushed back to the Special Missions Unit, he saw everyone there preparing to depart. Minami was also heading to the scene herself. Upon seeing him, Minami immediately exclaimed, "Something's happened! Muneyuki! The Foreign Minister's son, Akimoto Shota, has been kidnapped! He's in the port's plaza, strapped with an ANFO bomb!"

"What?" Uesugi Muneyuki was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized what he meant: "You mean... the same kind of bomb as that Horikawa guy?"

“Yes! And this time it wasn’t remotely detonated. This time the IED was a collar device. According to Akimoto Shota himself, if anyone gets within ten meters of him, the red light on the collar will flash. Once the red light flashes more than fifty times, it will explode! We don’t know what the culprit wants to do with Akimoto Shota yet, but as witnesses to the Imperial Palace case, we, the Special Missions Unit, must go.” Nango Yui explained calmly, as if facing a formidable enemy, and tossed a bulletproof vest to Uesugi Muneyuki: “Chief Uesugi, put this on.”

"This? It must be very hot to wear, right?" Uesugi Muneyuki frowned.

“Uesugi-san, please wear it. This matter is a bit unusual.” Date Chomune said, his voice trembling slightly. “Just now, we received special permission from the Superintendent General of Police from the police department.”

"We need to bring guns on this mission!"

Uesugi Muneyuki narrowed his eyes and immediately noticed that all the Special Missions Unit members, including Minami, Okada, and Nango Kai, were carrying firearms, with Date even sporting a conspicuous M9.

Only Uesugi Muneyuki and Ishihara Mikoto did not have gun licenses.

Uesugi Muneyuki would never allow his sister Mikoto to get close to danger, so he was the only one who needed to wear a bulletproof vest.

Things seem a bit complicated... Could it be that higher-ups in the police force know some other inside information?

Uesugi Muneyuki wanted to ask more questions, but Minami, seeing that everyone was almost ready, immediately gave the order.

Special Missions Unit! Deploy!

"Yes!" came a resounding reply from the Special Missions Department.

And so, armored vehicles, buses, police cars, and sedans all sped towards the port area! They were moving at full speed towards the young man crying under the scorching sun, his body strapped with explosives!
A race against time, terror, and political pressure has begun.

(End of this chapter)