No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

After untying him, the idiot took the phone and immediately dialed Ito's number.

“Mr. Ito! I am Yoshiaki Ono.”

"...Why are you using a new phone number?"

"The supervisor requires us to turn off our phones while on duty. This is a new phone I bought on the street. Then, Kitahara Masaki will go to a bar to search for evidence of the Ross people's crimes."

"Ha, he won't find anything."

"That's it. What you want to do is none of my business. Anyway, I've delivered the message."

Following Kitahara Masaki's prepared explanation, Ito did not realize that Ono Yoshiaki had completely betrayed him. Instead, he began to consider whether to divert the trouble to the other side, making the police focus on the Ross people, and then lead the Noguchi Group to withdraw from Toriyama Town.

"Lord Kitahara, can I go back to the police station now? I mean, I'll turn myself in. Please, I have a wife and daughter at home, and they need my care. I promise I'll never again be so foolish as to accept bribes from the yakuza, please—"

Seeing the fat man in his forties kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, Kitahara Masaki felt nothing at all. Back when he was in the United States, when he followed Gin to blow the heads off one big capitalist after another, those people said the same thing.

"Officer Ono, did you know that the personal accident insurance for police officers is very high, enough to ensure that your wife and daughter live a good life?"

Upon hearing this, Ono froze on the spot, kneeling on the ground, and looked at Kitahara Masaki in disbelief.

"And you'd better understand one thing: your wife and daughters shouldn't be an excuse to beg for mercy, but rather a reason not to do anything stupid. Be more careful in your next life, and don't spout so much useless nonsense about your greed."

Yoshiaki Ono's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish surfacing to breathe. Before he could think of what to say, a bullet pierced his forehead.

"Only one bullet hit me, and it was in my forehead... It would be better to get a few more shots."

The gun Kitahara Masaki was holding was not a police revolver, but the gun of the Ross leader who had kidnapped the little girl earlier. The gun came at just the right time.

After putting Ono into the prepared storage box, I pushed the trolley and loaded the storage box labeled "Frozen Seafood" onto the car, then drove to the designated bar.

After Chapter 29 eliminates everyone, the one-man show begins.

"Damn it! That idiot Ono can't even do something this simple right!"

After receiving Ono's report, Ito sent his men to the bar, but Kitahara Masaki still hadn't arrived after a full hour.

"Boss, should we keep waiting?"

"Wait! How's the setup going?"

"It's all set up. We've stuffed it with stuff in the toilet tank and even in the gaps between the bar sofas."

“Very good. We can leave the problems with these goods to the Rosses to worry about. Kitahara Masaki only noticed this deal because of them, and even that unexpected piece of evidence.”

The underling assigned by Ito fanned his face in the heat. The unexpected search had ruined all their business. It seemed that those Russians were all muscle-headed; even when making money, they would pull off ruthless tricks that caught their allies off guard.

"Make sure that celebrity cop finds those drugs in the Ross bar. Once the mission is complete, go to the address I gave you immediately."

"Understood, boss."

The gang member could hear the anger in his boss's tone; his business had just started, and now someone had come knocking on his door.

After hanging up the phone, the Japanese gangster remained seated in the booth, waiting for Kitahara Masaki, and then ordered a soda. He was sweating profusely, casually wiping his brow with his sleeve.

"Besides the police who have duties to perform, there are actually people who are so free that they just stare blankly at the door in broad daylight while drinking soda water."

The person in the next booth suddenly said that. Startled, the gangster turned around and was punched in the chin by the disguised Kitahara Masaki, falling back into his seat.

Through his nameless top hat and ever-changing mask, Kitahara Maki appears to others as nothing more than a down-on-his-luck salaryman, completely blending into the background.

After knocking out the two Japanese gangsters who were keeping watch, Kitahara Masaki went straight to the wine cellar and kicked over several wine racks. The sound of the red wine falling to the ground attracted several Ross men who were resting there. Seeing the red wine all over the ground, their eyes immediately turned red. Before they could shout, Kitahara Masaki's two police revolvers riddled them with bullets.

The deafening gunfire made the already deserted bar even quieter, and soon only Ross and the unconscious Japanese gangsters remained.

Kitahara Masaki strolled leisurely amidst the hail of bullets; compared to Gin and Vermouth's training, this level of gunfight was nothing more than elementary school. He calculated the Rossans' reload time and struck them in the head the instant they peeked out.

"Damn it! Who the hell is that guy?!"

"Where are the reinforcements? And how many enemies are there?"

"Are those unconscious Japanese people outside members of the Noguchi-gumi? What are they doing here?"

The Russians, caught off guard by the sudden attack, faced numerous problems, but all they received in return was Kitahara Masaki's cold bullets.

Finally unable to bear the fear any longer, the Ross man was about to run away when, before he even reached the bar door, he was slammed in the back by a tremendous force and quickly closed his eyes.

The six Rosss who were dealt with this time had already been on the Fourth Investigation Division's watch list. They were all suspects with multiple crimes on their hands, so it was convenient to skip the court process and send them straight to their deaths.

This bar was one of the scattered locations that the Fourth Investigation Division had not yet found yesterday. It would take some time before Supervisor Sakaguchi and his men arrived here, and Kitahara Maki still had some things to do before then.

"Hey, wake up."

The Japanese gangsters, who had just fainted, were slapped awake and found themselves surrounded by corpses. The Ross people, who had always been the tyrants of this place, were lying on the ground, several of them with their eyes wide open, looking as if they had died with their eyes wide open.

"This...this...!"

The guy, who was so frightened that he started to stutter, was then subjected to another big taunt from Kitahara Masaki, when he saw the dark muzzle of a gun pressed against his head.

"I ask, you answer. Understand?"

"You son of a bitch, if you dare—"

Bang!

Another Japanese gangster woke up and was about to say something harsh when he was shot.

"I understand, I understand!"

Seeing their companion head to the Sanzu River, the Japanese gangsters, skilled in extortion and fraud, had never seen anything like it before. They quickly agreed, fearing that the man in front of them might kill him if he got angry.

Kitahara Masaki pointed his gun back at the only survivor and asked:

Where is Ito?

"The team leader has left because the business can no longer continue because of that cassette tape."

Why did he ask you to leave the goods here?

"The team leader said to let the troublesome Rosss draw the police's attention, so he told us to stuff all the goods here."

"So the Rus' didn't know about the tapes?"

"Yes, they are searching Section 4 but they don't have any inside contacts."

Who in the Fourth Investigation Division has helped you with your work?

"This...this is something only Team Leader Ito knows."

As Kitahara Masaki was about to ask more questions, a message came over the police radio that was on nearby, indicating that they were on their way. Realizing that there was no time to ask any more questions, Kitahara Masaki raised his hand and fired a shot.

The only person left in the entire bar was this killer, breathing in the nauseating air.

----------------

When Supervisor Sakaguchi arrived at the scene with Takagi, Hattori, and a group of police officers, they found the bar engulfed in flames, police cars, and Kitahara Maki clutching his right arm, his face covered in blood.

"Inspector Kitahara! Quick! Call an ambulance and a fire truck!"

Sakaguchi Kirimasa helped Kitahara Maki up, while another police officer stopped Kitahara Maki's bleeding.

"Inspector Kitahara! You've been shot in the right arm!"

"It's alright, it's not a penetrating wound. We can just have it removed at the hospital later. The important thing is—Officer Ono is still inside the bar!"

Kitahara Masaki, his face filled with grief, shouted to the arriving police officers.

Everyone was shocked. Several police officers tried to rush into the bar amidst the flames, but the high temperature forced them out. They could only watch as the wooden structure collapsed and the flames grew stronger with the help of the red wine.

"Sigh, Inspector Kitahara, in the event of a fire like this, basically—"

The supervisor, Sakaguchi, ordered his men to immediately begin firefighting efforts, hoping to salvage anything of value before everything was completely burned.

"Aaaaaah!!! Damn it!!!! This is all my fault!"

The heart-wrenching screams moved all the police officers present. This young man had devoted himself to fighting crime, and even now, despite being covered in wounds, he still cared about the safety of his colleagues.

He's a real policeman!

The officers from the Fourth Investigation Division, unaware of the truth, sighed in this way.

However, for those who knew that Yoshiaki Ono was a traitor who accepted bribes from the yakuza, the fire in front of them caused them deep anxiety about their future. Since they were doing things for money, they naturally did not want to end up like Yoshiaki Ono, dying in the line of duty.

Takagi and Hattori's expressions were somewhat stiff; they hadn't expected so much to happen in just one day since they left. Regardless, Ono Yoshiaki's public identity remained that of a Japanese police officer, and now that he had perished in the fire, the police would not let it go unpunished. They would have no face left to show until both gangs were completely wiped out.

Chapter 30 Four Types of Audiences, Four Types of Stories

"Among the pieces of evidence I submitted later was a bag of bath salts, which is synthetic cathinone. It was found in that bar. When we tried to search the cellar further, the Rosss in the bar suddenly opened fire on us. We immediately turned around and returned fire. When we were leaving the bar, Inspector Yoshiaki Ono was shot several times at that moment. In the end, only I escaped from the bar. At the same time, a stray bullet hit our police car. The last piece of evidence was this bag of medicine."

The review committee member opposite Kitahara Masaki meticulously recorded the details of the case. Such a brutal gunfight hadn't occurred in Japan for a long time, so the police leadership immediately launched a further investigation into the case.

But they never imagined that it was Kitahara Masaki who caused this gunfight and fire from the very beginning.

However, he was the only living person at the scene, so he could say whatever he wanted. Because the area was almost entirely burned to the ground, even identifying the deceased was problematic, let alone reconstructing the scene.

"Inspector Kitahara, I'm sure recalling these experiences must be painful for you, but in order to complete the case details as quickly as possible, please carefully recall how many people were present at the crime scene?"

"Yoshiaki Ono and I were patrolling with two police officers when we exchanged fire and killed six Rosss. Two local Japanese gang members were caught in the gunfight and were hit by stray bullets. There should have been two or three civilians before the firefight, but they naturally escaped afterward."

After confirming the details of the incident several times, Toshiro Odagiri, who had only been listening in, finally spoke up and asked:

"Inspector Kitahara, may I ask where you and Officer Ono found that bag of medicine?"

This police superintendent was different from the scarred and menacing uncles that Kitahara Masaki had met. This 56-year-old superintendent was elegant and approachable, and even used honorifics to show respect to Kitahara Masaki.

"Inspector Odagiri, we found it in the water tank in the restroom stall."

"Yeah……"

"Gentlemen, what follows is just some speculation. I believe the Noguchi-gumi intended to divert our attention to the Rus' territory, hoping to use this as a way to escape. However, we did not expect the Rus' to be so ruthless, attacking and injuring people the moment their scheme was exposed."

With things having developed to this point, what the higher-ups in the Japanese police really wanted wasn't the truth, but a story that would convince everyone.

Kitahara Masaki's story of a police officer's heroic sacrifice during an investigation and gang members framing each other resonated with him. Odagiri Toshiro, a non-professional police officer who rose through the ranks to become a superintendent, keenly sensed the oddity in Kitahara Masaki's story. However, at this point, he was merely an observer, unable to provide evidence or challenge Kitahara Masaki.

After the review committee members left, the police higher-ups questioned Kitahara Masaki again. This time, Kitahara Masaki gave a different story, a story that could only be heard by those who reached the Superintendent's Office.

Kitahara Masaki handed over the audiotape of Ono Yoshiaki's phone conversation from a few days ago. Based on the audiotape, it can be basically confirmed that Ono Yoshiaki colluded with the yakuza and exposed the whereabouts of the Fourth Investigation Division to outsiders.

"Inspector Kitahara, you did well. Officers like Yoshiaki Ono are unforgivable, but he has already sacrificed himself, which can be considered making amends. What do you think, Inspector Kitahara?"

"I think Inspector Ono should be posthumously awarded the rank of Superintendent. This would also motivate other police officers to work even harder."

This method of squeezing every last drop of value from the dead is exactly what the police leadership wants.