Tokyo: I'm really not a killer

Yoshioka Akio was extremely disappointed, but he still forced a smile and expressed his gratitude to his boss.

Seeing him like this, Yamamoto Koji also felt depressed, so he simply skipped work under the pretext of going out on a field trip and took Yoshioka Akio to an izakaya for drinks.

The two sat down in a corner of the bar. As usual, Yamamoto Koji ordered shochu and snacks, and also ordered a bottle of sake for Yoshioka Akio.

After a few drinks, Yamamoto Koji looked at Yoshioka Akio's expression, which seemed to want to cry but was holding it in, and couldn't help but sigh, slamming his glass down on the table.

"Mingnan," he spoke, his voice less slick than usual, carrying a hint of weariness and seriousness, "Do you feel particularly stifled? Do you feel this police uniform is meaningless?"

Akio Yoshio's hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly, and he gave a muffled "hmm," feeling as if a heavy stone was lodged in his chest.

"You feel like your efforts are useless, right? You go through all the trouble to investigate, but then one sentence from above stops you from doing anything, and all your hard work and achievements are gone, and you might even get a disciplinary action."

Yamamoto Koji poured himself a drink and continued, "When I first became a detective, I was the same way. I thought that hard work would pay off, and that wearing this uniform would allow me to uncover the truth and help the weak and oppressed."

He paused, took a sip of his drink, and said, "Later I realized that in the police force, sometimes the truth isn't that important. What's important is balance, stability, and not causing trouble for the higher-ups... If you investigate someone you shouldn't, suspension is the least of your worries."

Akio Yoshioka looked up, his eyes a little red: "Boss, who exactly suspended me?"

Yamamoto Koji glanced at him: "Do you think the person who suspended you is a suspect?"

"Yes, it's very suspicious!" said Akio Yoshioka.

"Actually, I also think..." Yamamoto Koji paused, then sighed and said, "But don't even think about it, that's not someone we can afford to mess with. Besides, the person who was killed was a yakuza boss, he deserved to die."

He did not intend to tell his subordinates about Shinomiya Masakazu's affairs, so as not to cause them unnecessary trouble.

"Did Miki Akiyama and her husband also deserve to die?" Akio Yoshioka pressed.

"What else? One is a woman who cheated her husband and then murdered him, the other is a human trafficker. It's really not worth getting worked up over people like that... Sometimes you should learn to let go. As long as you don't get involved, life will become better." Yamamoto Koji started preaching the art of slacking off again.

"I think that mastermind deserves to die too." Yoshioka Akio, drunk, started speaking without thinking: "I hope he dies suddenly tomorrow."

"Hahahaha!" Yamamoto Koji laughed loudly.

He liked to spout nonsense when he was drunk, and immediately chimed in with Yoshioka Akio, saying bad things about that guy and cursing the mastermind to be assassinated by an assassin.

As Yoshioka Akio got more and more excited, he vented all his pent-up frustrations under the influence of alcohol: "So what if you have power? We all only have one head and two arms; we'll still die if we get shot!"

"Hey, right!" Yamamoto Koji clapped his hands and asked teasingly, "If you were the assassin, how would you plan to take that guy out?"

"We'd climb through his window and shoot him in the head in the middle of the night," Akio Yoshioka said viciously.

"How could that be? Powerful and influential people all live in villas, surrounded by bodyguards patrolling 24 hours a day." Yamamoto Koji shook his head.

"Then let's ambush him in his office," Akio Yoshioka began to think.

"Your office is in the Capitol? Are you going to break into the Capitol and kill someone?" Yamamoto Koji sneered.

"This won't work, that won't work, can't people with power and influence just die?" Yoshioka Akio said, very annoyed.

"That's right, it's all gangsters fighting to the death. Which political figure has ever gotten into trouble? Even the gang leaders have to pay donations to them every year!" Yamamoto Koji said.

"Maybe the swamp man can," Yoshioka Akio suddenly said.

Yamamoto Koji's smile faded, and his expression turned serious. A few casual remarks were fine, but he was afraid Yoshioka Akio might take them seriously.

He put down his glass and stared at Yoshioka Akio: "Don't have such thoughts, it's dangerous."

"Why?" Akio Yoshioka felt it was unfair.

Why is it that some people's lives are more precious when they are all the same?

Yamamoto Koji leaned forward slightly, lowered his voice, and spoke with a warning tone:

"There are historical examples of political figures being assassinated. Take, for instance, the Inejiro Asanuma incident in the 1960s. The Socialist Party chairman was assassinated in public during a speech; how much of a shock did that cause?"

"That's not just about one person dying; it's about the tearing apart and upheaval of the entire society."

"If Swamp Man actually assassinates a political figure, even if he succeeds, do you think the matter will end there? On the contrary, that would be the beginning of a disaster."

"The police will spare no effort and use all available manpower and resources to launch a nationwide manhunt, and may even establish a special investigation headquarters to use the power of public security to dig the person out of the ground... At that time, the entire Tokyo underworld will be affected."

"Political assassinations break a tacit understanding and can lead to frenzied retaliation and even bloodier purges. If you kill one person today, someone else might retaliate in a more extreme way tomorrow, creating a never-ending cycle of revenge."

"Once such a heinous incident occurs, the atmosphere of the entire society will change, becoming more oppressive and suspicious. In such a situation, any means might be used."

"We can turn a blind eye to Swamp Man killing gangsters, and even welcome it. But if he dares to assassinate a political figure, then he is a public enemy, a terrorist who must be brought to justice... Don't take that kind of person as a role model."

Akio Yoshio lowered his head and listened to Koji Yamamoto's words. The resentment in his heart deflated like a punctured balloon, replaced by a sense of powerlessness.

"I understand, boss."

His voice was low and hoarse from drinking, "I just... I just feel so humiliated. I found clues, I worked so hard... but in the end it's like I did nothing at all, and I'm even suspended."

"You're right, I was too naive. No matter how powerful that Swamp Man is, he's only good at stirring up trouble in the underworld; politics is a completely different matter..."

Yamamoto Koji patted his subordinate on the shoulder, offered a few words of comfort, and steered the conversation elsewhere, such as where he planned to relax during his suspension. Yoshioka Akio, already quite drunk, blurted out without thinking that he wanted to go to a brothel to "release his rocket launcher."

The two got more and more into their conversation and decided to set off that night. However, they ended up collapsing on the roadside after drinking too much and were found by patrol officers who took them back to their dormitory.

The farce ended so abruptly.

……

Meanwhile, Yuan Zhensheng had just finished gathering information and returned home to organize it. He circled Shinomiya Rin's name in his notebook and began to formulate a meticulous assassination plan.

Nationwide warrants and social unrest are not even considered.

He stayed up until 11 p.m., went to bed on time to get his sleep schedule back on track, and planned to get up early the next day to catch up on any missed lessons. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Shinomiya Masakazu wouldn't survive until tomorrow night.

Akio Yoshioka is right. We all have one head and two arms, and we'll still die if we get shot.

Under his gun, all beings are equal.