Tokyo: I'm really not a killer

"Huh? Is this your friend?" The man with the pompadour broke the silence first.

Hideaki Shiraishi's heart felt as if it had been gripped by an invisible hand, stopping for a moment before pounding wildly against his chest.

It's him……

It's definitely him!

His voice was slightly different during the previous exchange of greetings, but now he seemed unguarded and spoke in his original voice...

Therefore, Hideaki Shiraishi could tell that the man in front of him was the Swamp Man!

Oh no, he even called the police in front of the swamp man!

Hideaki Shiraishi was sweating profusely, like he was urinating.

He could almost see what would happen next: the man in front of him would, just like the rumors said, instantly take the lives of everyone here before they could even react.

The guy with the pompadour, the bubble bath girl, and even himself... everyone will turn into cold corpses, and their blood will stain this ambiguous pinkish-purple room red.

Calm down! You must calm down!

Everyone's life is in his hands!

"Uh...no, not friends...it's just...uh, we met once..." Hideaki Shiraishi stammered.

He had met Yuan Zhensheng in the brothel; if he pretended not to know him, it would only make him more suspicious.

"What?! I thought you were going to plead for this guy!" the man with the pompadour shouted, intending to squeeze some money out of Yuan Zhensheng.

Hideaki Shiraishi wanted to stop him but dared not. If he did, it would mean he recognized the Swamp Man's true identity; if he didn't, the Swamp Man might go berserk and kill everyone there...

He was trembling with fear as he watched the man with the pompadour press his face against the swamp man's, tapping the bamboo bar with his tongue and threatening the swamp man to pay the bubble bath girl for emotional distress, or he would report him for sexual harassment to the police.

"No...please, stop saying that!"

Hideaki Shiraishi wailed inwardly.

He not only sweated, but also urinated a few drops.

Yuan Zhensheng was suspicious. He sized up Shiraishi Hideaki for a long time, then bowed and scraped, admitting his innocence to the man with the pompadour and paying a sum of money for emotional distress.

It seems that the professional massage at the brothel was not the same as the professional massage he had imagined.

The man with the airplane haircut was smug and gave a few verbal warnings, telling Hara Masaki to get lost. Hara Masaki put on his clothes and then pondered whether or not to kill Shiraishi Hideaki.

This guy clearly recognized him.

The acting was terrible, but at least it was acting, and they didn't expose him directly.

His identity as a patrol officer held hidden advantages for him, which he could not easily relinquish. Faced with such a significant risk of leak, after weighing all the factors, he felt it necessary to kill him to cover it up.

"Hey buddy, I have something I'd like to ask you... Can we go out for a smoke together?" Hara Masaki asked Shiraishi Hideaki.

"Ah...this...I..." Hideaki Shiraishi didn't know what to say.

"What are you afraid of! Don't embarrass the Shanjian Group!" The man with the pompadour slapped him on the back and pushed him straight out of the room.

Hara Masaki walked straight down the corridor, and Shiraishi Hideaki had no choice but to follow. The two left the brothel one after the other and walked into a dark alleyway on the side of the street. Hara Masaki asked, "Do you have any cigarettes?"

Hideaki Shiraishi shakily took out the cigarette case, tremblingly pulled out a cigarette, and was about to hand it over when he lost his grip and it fell to the ground.

His heart sank to the bottom.

Done!

It was definitely discovered!

He knows I know, and I know he knows...

In a flash, Hideaki Shiraishi suddenly had an epiphany, his whole being became clear, as if his Ren and Du meridians had been opened in an instant. His heart was no longer flustered, his hands were no longer trembling, and he was full of energy.

He almost forgot why he was looking for the Swamp Man in the first place.

Without a word, Hideaki Shiraishi knelt down with a thud, his knees hitting the concrete pavement heavily, and shouted, "Please take me as your apprentice!"

After saying this, he bent over and kowtowed, placing his hands together in front of his forehead in the standard dogeza posture.

"..."

Yuan Zhensheng never expected him to pull this stunt.

Hideaki Shiraishi lowered his head and continued, "I used to think that power was like Eisuke Sugiyama bullying the weak, or like a yakuza boss with a group of people following him... But you made me realize that true power is not like that."

He raised his head slightly, but his gaze remained respectfully fixed on the ground.

"True power is like yours, capable of deciding life and death in an instant, ignoring all rules and constraints. I... I'm too cowardly. From childhood to adulthood, all I've ever known is how to be beaten and how to endure... I don't want to continue like this!"

"So, I beg you, Mr. Swamp Man... no, Master! Please take me as your disciple! I'm not afraid of hardship, I'm not afraid of danger, I'm willing to learn anything! I know I'm timid, but please give me a chance, let me have the strength to protect myself and my family!"

"I'm not trying to bully anyone, I just want... I want to never be bullied again! I swear this is sincere! If you're willing to teach me, my life is yours, I'll do anything you ask!"

Yuan Zhensheng was silent for a moment, then made a decision in almost two seconds:

"Okay, I'll teach you the first lesson now."

Shiraishi Hideaki was overjoyed. He looked up, about to express his gratitude, when he saw Hara Masaki pull out a dagger from his pocket and say, "As an assassin, before you learn to kill, you must first learn to run away."

"Huh?" Hideaki Shiraishi was taken aback.

"I'll give you ten minutes, ten minutes you begged for by kneeling. After ten minutes, I will do everything in my power to kill you and silence you, without the slightest mercy." Yuan Zhensheng brandished his knife: "If you can live for more than twenty-four hours, I will let you go."

"How...how could this be...I...I will never tell anyone..." Hideaki Shiraishi said in a terrified voice, still kneeling.

"Start the timer now." Yuan Zhensheng raised his wrist and looked at his watch.

"If I wanted to tell anyone... I would have told them already! Please believe me..." Hideaki Shiraishi pleaded, his voice trembling with tears.

Yuan Zhensheng remained unmoved, simply staring at his watch, waiting for time to tick by.

Crying? Crying counts as time too.

Perfect timing! Today's a warm-up to prepare for tomorrow, and it's also a way to relax and have some fun... To be honest, I think it's more fun than going to a brothel for a massage.

Hideaki Shiraishi gradually realized something was wrong; it seemed his cheap master was serious.

He swallowed hard, staggered to his feet, stumbled back two steps, and then turned and ran.

Run!

The farther the better!

But where could he run to? Where could he hide?

Hideaki Shiraishi's first thought was to hide at home, but he quickly dismissed the idea, not wanting to implicate his mother. He then considered hiding in the Yamamoto Group's office, but then remembered the group leader's fate and immediately abandoned the idea...

Why don't you call the police? Go directly to the police for help; maybe you can survive...

This is outrageous! What am I thinking?! This guy is a cop!! Going to the police station to report him is just walking into a trap!

Hideaki Shiraishi could feel time slipping away. Ten minutes wasn't a long time, but it wasn't short either; it wasn't enough for him to run out of Shinjuku.

As he fled in panic, he caught a glimpse of the sewer manhole under repair. For some reason, he suddenly decided to be patient and crawled down the iron ladder without a word.

...Hiding in the sewer for 24 hours shouldn't be a problem, right?