Tokyo Three Generations

After Jun Takasaki finished eating, the dinner was finally over.

And now, it's finally time to leave.

Although reluctant to part, Wakaba Mutsu stood up from the dining table and politely thanked and said goodbye to her elders.

"Grandpa, Auntie... thank you so much for your hospitality. I... I'm having a great time here, and I like you all very much. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye." Jun Takasaki waved goodbye to her reluctantly.

"Xiao Mu, you can come anytime you want in the future, whether you come alone or with others, we will welcome you." Takasaki Mio replied with a smile.

With the family bidding him farewell, Wakaba Mutsumi concluded this unplanned home visit.

Jun Takasaki saw her out of the house, and they went to the front door together.

He could have driven Wakaba Mutsu back himself, but he had drunk a lot of alcohol during the day and was worried that there was still alcohol residue, so he didn't want to take the risk and simply asked Sakura Kenji to do it.

When Momo gave her home address, Kenji Sakura immediately started a car and parked it in front of the gate.

"Mutsu, see you later!" Jun Takasaki waved to Mutsu Wakaba.

"Goodbye, Jun..." Wakaba Mutsumi also bowed slightly to Takasaki Jun in farewell. "I'll be waiting for you at home."

Then, she turned and walked towards the car.

Following the proper etiquette for guests, Jun Takasaki watched her leave from where he stood. However, just as she was about to get into the car, Mutsumi Wakaba suddenly turned around and looked at him.

For some reason, she seemed to have adjusted her mindset, or perhaps she had made up her mind about something.

"If it's Xiangzi... if it's Xiangzi, I can. But only Xiangzi can."

After leaving behind a cryptic remark filled with unsettling implications, she swiftly jumped into her car, leaving Jun Takasaki standing bewildered and confused in the doorway.

82, a heavy responsibility on my shoulders

In the secluded office building of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, Prosecutor Hideki Saito sat silently in his seat, flipping through the piles of investigation documents on his desk.

Like most government agencies, the District Attorney's Office has its own strict hierarchical rules, and senior officials, such as the Chief Attorney, the head of the Special Investigation Department, and the director, can have their own private offices.

But ordinary prosecutors like him can only squeeze into large offices with their colleagues, their own little space being just a single booth.

However, compared to the offices of ordinary companies, prosecutors are relatively serious and rarely smile. Moreover, because they each have different cases on their hands, they rarely whisper to each other, so the atmosphere in the large office is rather silent and oppressive.

Many people find this atmosphere uncomfortable and quit after a few years, but Hideki Saito, sitting in the corner, thoroughly enjoys this work environment.

His face was serious and upright, even exuding an aura that kept strangers at bay. While he was flipping through documents, there was a steaming cup of coffee on the table. Only when he drank the coffee could one feel that he was still a living being.

Because of this unsociable personality, even though he has been with the company for almost ten years, he has very little friendship with his colleagues. Apart from work-related needs, they have no contact at all, and he is therefore regarded as an outsider in the group.

Being marginalized means being ignored, and getting ahead is out of the question, but he doesn't care.

For him, the country has already given him relatively generous treatment, and will also give him a generous pension in the future, enough for his needs for a lifetime. He doesn't need anything else. He just wants to be loyal to his duty and do his best to complete the work assigned to him by the "country".

His colleagues had differing opinions about his rigid work style; some were disdainful, while others secretly admired him. But regardless of who he was, they all privately believed that Hideki Saito was one of the most needed cogs in the machine of the system.

Today, he was busy all day as usual before going home in the afternoon. However, a female secretary walked up to him.

Saito Hideki looked up and saw that it was the secretary of his direct superior, the chief prosecutor.

"Yingji, the director needs to speak with you." Because they were all very familiar with each other, the secretary addressed him by his first name.

“Okay.” Saito Hideki put down his coffee and followed his secretary out of the main office and into the director’s office.

The bespectacled director was looking at something on his phone. When the man approached, the director finally put down his phone and looked up at the tall, thin, and serious-looking subordinate in front of him.

"Saito, how's the case you're working on going?" he then asked.

Although Saito Hideki's face remained expressionless, he was inwardly somewhat anxious.

"Sorry, the investigation is still ongoing."

Although it is indeed under investigation, the "Kuroshima case" has been shrouded in mystery since Kazuo Kuroshima's suicide, and the resources and manpower allocated by higher authorities have been decreasing.

For the District Attorney's Office, human and material resources are all valuable assets, and it is impossible to invest them in a single case indefinitely.

According to regulations, after a period of time, the district attorney will close the case, prosecute the suspects who have been arrested, and let the court conclude the entire case.

Hideki Saito was unwilling to give up, because during his investigation, he could clearly feel the resistance, both overt and covert. Even the director had hinted to him, intentionally or unintentionally, not to make a big fuss.

It is clear that this case involves important figures in the political world, and probably more than one—Hideki Saito has encountered similar cases far too many times in his career, so he is not surprised.

He'd catch as many people as he could; that was all he could do. He was just a cog in the machine, and he didn't expect to perfectly embody justice.

Seeing the embarrassment on his subordinate's face, the director's face showed a faint smile.

But the smile quickly faded, and he continued seriously, "You've done a great job investigating to this extent. We've achieved many results, and all of this is thanks to your hard work. Saito, you've never let me down..."

If it were Hideki Saito, who had just graduated from the University of Tokyo and entered the District Public Prosecutor's Office full of enthusiasm, those few words from the chief would have been enough to make his blood boil.

However, he was no longer that naive young man.

Over the years, he has seen similar dramas many times.

No matter how much your boss tries to please you or how much promises they make, those who get promoted in the end are either the boss's confidants or people with stronger backing.

He had felt indignant about this before, but he quickly accepted it.

He wasn't working hard to please anyone; he was working hard simply because he loved his job. As an elite student in the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he had many better opportunities. Many of his classmates who entered the District Public Prosecutors Office in the same year had already resigned and used the connections they had built up there to enter large law firms or even start their own firms, making a fortune effortlessly.

But he didn't leave; he preferred to stay and earn an ordinary salary to complete his career.

Seeing that Saito was just listening calmly and unmoved, the director didn't waste any more words making empty promises and changed the subject.

“Now, I think you can spare some of your energy and devote it to a more important case.”

Upon hearing that he had a new job, Saito Hideki's expression immediately became even more serious.

He remained silent, simply waiting for instructions.

The director opened the drawer of his desk, took out a bulging file bag, and placed it on the table.

Then, he took the initiative to ask about Hideki Saito.

Have you been watching social news lately?

Hideki Saito paused for a moment, not understanding why his superior would ask such a question, but he still answered, "I've looked at some of it."

"Then you must have seen the news about Representative Takasaki and his wife, right?" the director sneered. "Hasn't the public opinion been quite explosive lately?"

I've actually seen Saito Hideki before.

"Yes." He nodded.

He watched Mio Takasaki's apology video, and from a public relations perspective, it was indeed very good. But unfortunately, as a prosecutor, he didn't believe a single word of it.

Throughout his career, he had seen far too many politicians blatantly lie and come up with all sorts of bizarre excuses for their scandals. How could Takasaki Mio's words possibly fool him?

Even though he didn't believe the Takasaki family's explanation at all, he didn't take any action.

Because he is a cog in the national machine, and cogs cannot have autonomy.

Moreover, as a member of parliament, Hiroshi Takasaki and his wife are not people he can easily touch.

No matter how infamous or notorious a person is, if they are sitting in a parliamentary seat, they are not someone he can mess with.

—Unless, he was given orders from above.

In the world of politics, what matters is never whether you are guilty or not, but whether anyone needs you to be guilty—or rather, whether anyone can punish you.

"Mrs. Takasaki was a very beautiful and remarkable lady." Just as Saito Hideki was silent, the director sighed, "What a pity."

Although the director didn't say it explicitly, Saito Hideki had a general idea of ​​what he meant.

"Do you want me to investigate Hiroshi Takasaki?" He didn't like beating around the bush and asked directly.

"Yes." The director nodded slightly, but quickly lowered his voice and instructed him, "This is just a preliminary investigation, don't alert them."

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's Special Investigation Department can legally conduct "preliminary investigations" of politicians without a search warrant, but this is limited to investigation only; once compulsory measures are involved, a warrant is required.

Therefore, what Saito Hideki can do now is to conduct preliminary investigations and secretly collect evidence. Once he has gathered enough evidence, he can then apply for formal documents and enter the judicial process.

Hideki Saito did not feel any resistance to such a task.

Although that congressman, Hiroshi Takasaki, is decent-looking, he looks like a wicked playboy at first glance. So, if we can take advantage of the situation to bring him down, it won't be a pity for him; on the contrary, it will be an act of justice.

“I understand.” Saito Hideki nodded slightly. “I will hand over the investigation of the Kuroshima case to my assistant as soon as possible, and then focus my efforts on Takasaki Hiroshi.”

"Then that's settled." The director gently pushed the file folder towards him. "Saito, you've always been one of my most capable subordinates. I'm very satisfied with your work over the years. Don't let me down this time either—"

Then, he added mysteriously, "This investigation is on orders from higher up. If you handle it well, your future prospects will be much brighter..."

"What do you mean by 'higher or lower'? You can fawn over whoever you want. I just need to do my job..." A sense of disgust flashed through Saito Hideki's mind.

He works simply for the sake of working, and he doesn't need any temptation to "stand out from the crowd" to motivate him.

He accepted the document bag without a word, then prepared to take his leave.

However, before he took his leave, the director suddenly spoke again.

"By the way, there's something you probably don't know. Just a couple of days ago, Toyokawa Kiyotaka, the head of the Toyokawa Group, visited the Takasaki family with his daughter, the eldest daughter of the Toyokawa family. Although there haven't been any media reports about this recently, it's been the talk of the town... so you should pay close attention."

Toyokawa Group... Upon hearing this familiar name, Saito Hideki's heart stirred once again.

Previously, when he was investigating the Kuroshima case, it was the Toyokawa Group that sent legal counsel to obstruct him during his investigation of Nagasaki Motoyo, resulting in him getting nothing.

He still vividly remembers the setback he suffered that day.

And this time, the Toyokawa Group has appeared again...

Although there may not be any direct connection, he instinctively felt that there might be something else going on.

Of course, besides the hidden reasons, there were also unexpected difficulties.

If the Toyokawa Group is indeed pulling the strings behind the scenes and secretly supporting Hiroshi Takasaki, then his job has been extremely difficult from the very beginning.

One member of parliament is already a difficult problem, but if the Toyokawa Group is also involved, it becomes even more difficult. He has a clear understanding of the power of the combination of politics and business.

Even so, he felt no fear whatsoever, and even felt a little excited.

If we use Hiroshi Takasaki as a breakthrough point, and end up exploding into the Toyokawa Group, making such a large conglomerate suffer a loss in silence, wouldn't that be a milestone and masterpiece in my career?

Of course, he wasn't naive enough to think he could bring down such a behemoth on his own. The Fengchuan Group had accumulated countless cases to stand the test of time, and it was definitely not something he could shake.

But as long as he can give these tycoon lords and ladies nightmares once or twice a night, it will be worth his efforts.

As for what price might be paid?

He knew, but he didn't care; after all, this was his job.

Thinking of this, a hint of excitement appeared on his usually calm face—compared to some boring money laundering cases, this kind of big case was much more exciting for him.

"Thank you for your guidance. I will be more careful." He straightened up and bowed to the director in thanks.

Then, he picked up his briefcase, turned around, and left the office.

Watching his departing figure and the door close again, the once kind-looking director now wore a complicated expression.

There was a sense of relief, pity, and even a hint of excited anticipation.

To be honest, he was very happy when he received the investigation request from his superiors. Because Takasaki Hiroshi was a playboy, he must have many flaws. With a little effort, he would definitely be able to find his fatal weakness, and then he could use that to curry favor with his superiors and gain both fame and fortune.

He originally planned to hand the case over to his confidants, adding another achievement to everyone's list of accomplishments.

However, when he heard that "the Toyokawa family might be secretly protecting the Takasaki family," he immediately realized the risk and backed down.

Dealing with the Takasaki family is one thing, but dealing with the two families joining forces is quite another.

What was originally a "stepping stone" instantly turned into a hot potato.

After careful consideration, he decided to hand the case over to Hideki Saito.

This subordinate is not his person, and there is no business relationship between the two parties. If he succeeds, then he, as the direct superior, can also gain both fame and fortune; but if something goes wrong along the way, then he can just let him be cannon fodder, since it won't hurt him anyway.

Of course, although he didn't hesitate to throw his subordinates out as a scapegoat, deep down he was still a little guilty.

Although Saito's sharp and critical manner made him, as his superior, very uncomfortable, after working together for several years, he secretly admired Saito's dedication and sense of justice.

He has courage, resourcefulness, and intelligence, but he lacks the tact to protect himself—which is exactly what this world needs most.

The "desensitization" of an organization probably begins with people like this who are subject to reverse selection...

After a moment of sighing, the director quickly dismissed this pointless unease; after all, he had simply done the same thing as everyone else.

Saito, I'm sorry, but please make the most of yourself and become my stepping stone.