LRAB Page 18
Page 18
The man, still shaken, chimed in.
Some bystanders who had initially been watching the commotion also began to voice their criticisms:
"Exactly! Walking a dog without a leash is like the dog walking itself!"
"That's so irresponsible!"
"You almost bit someone and you still have the nerve to argue?"
Faced with accusations pouring in from all sides, the woman's momentum vanished, and she burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. "You've all bullied me... Waaah..."
Hearing her loud cries, Qingze didn't bother to say anything more and turned to leave the scene.
In the sky, the sparrows he controlled with his Bird Eyes continued tirelessly searching for any red-name tags that might appear on the streets.
With his spirit continuously strengthened, he can now extend the duration of this magic to one hour.
……
A bustling commercial pedestrian street, a dimly lit bar alley, a dark and deserted old residential area...
Qingze searched extensively but still couldn't find any new red name tags.
With the hour limit long over, searching the streets by sight alone is indeed much less efficient.
He looked up at the time; it was already 9:30 p.m.
Should we continue exploring, or should we head back?
Qingze felt a little conflicted.
As he passed by a 24-hour convenience store, his gaze inadvertently swept across the bright glass window, and a dazzling gold tag instantly caught his eye.
【Shadow Curse】
Without saying a word, Qingze immediately turned around and pushed open the door of the convenience store.
"welcome……"
A weak, listless greeting came from the front desk.
Qingze nodded casually, and without stopping, quickly walked towards the bookshelf that was filled with various magazines and comics.
It includes both single-volume manga and popular manga magazines such as Weekly Shonen Jump and Weekly Shonen Magazine.
And that eye-catching gold label was prominently displayed on a recent issue of Weekly Shonen Jump.
Aozawa's keen senses detected that another man standing in front of the bookshelf also seemed to be eyeing that copy of Weekly Shonen Jump.
He didn't show any eagerness, but instead approached casually, bending down almost at the same time as the other person.
But he was faster, as if he had been through countless trials, his right hand snatching the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from the shelf with a fraction of a second's precision.
The man opposite him was clearly taken aback for a moment, and hurriedly said, "Wait, sir, I was the one who had my eye on that one first!"
"I got it first."
Qingze answered without changing his expression.
The man refused to give up and quickly said, "I... I'm willing to pay five times the price to buy it!"
Please, my child keeps asking to read the latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump. I was so busy with work that I forgot. Today is his birthday, and I…”
"Stop lying."
Qingze interrupted him without any politeness, his gaze sharp, "Judging from your appearance, you're obviously single."
The man in front of me was about 1.74 meters tall. Long-term sleep deprivation had left him with heavy dark circles under his eyes, and his skin was pale from lack of sunlight. He had a messy head of hair that looked like it had just been hit by a typhoon, and he was wearing a wrinkled white T-shirt and black trousers.
Of course, appearance alone cannot make a complete judgment. More importantly, Qingze's enhanced senses can clearly detect that although the other party is trying to make an anxious and earnest expression, their heart rate is stable and normal.
That's absolutely a lie.
He ignored the other person, turned around and went straight to the cashier, paid, and then left the convenience store with the magazine.
The man, still unwilling to give up, followed behind him, muttering to himself about how hard his job as a corporate slave was, and how only Weekly Shonen Jump could heal his weary soul...
Qingze was annoyed by the nagging when he saw an empty taxi approaching. He immediately flagged it down, opened the door, got in, and sped away.
Watching the taxi's taillights disappear into the distance, Kiyoshi Kaneda had to stop. Frustrated, he scratched his messy hair and sighed, "Ugh, if I'd known this would happen, I shouldn't have hesitated about what to buy to treat myself..."
The phone suddenly rang.
He took it out and saw the words "Pig-Headed Boss" displayed on the screen. He casually pressed the answer button: "Hey, Pigsy, what's up?"
Kiyoshi Kaneda had absolutely no respect for his superior.
Besides despising the other person's abilities, it was also because he had already seen the end of his path to promotion within the Metropolitan Police Department.
To climb the ranks in the Metropolitan Police Department, one must be a graduate of a prestigious university such as the University of Tokyo or Waseda University.
No matter how perfectly he completes his exam, someone who graduated from an ordinary university could never pass the national Class A civil service exam.
If he can't get into the elite team, no matter how many difficult cases he solves, the credit will be stolen by those so-called "elites." At most, he'll only manage to get the rank of inspector before retirement.
But this end of his career was just the beginning for some people to join the Metropolitan Police Department.
Do you think I can't tell you're indirectly calling me a pig?
Endo Taro on the other end of the phone muttered a complaint, but his tone wasn't particularly reproachful. He was already used to Kaneda Kiyoshi's eccentricities.
After all, this guy is indeed a first-rate detective, and many difficult and important cases ultimately rely on him to break through.
For example, the Ikebukuro serial killer case that shocked Tokyo was solved under the leadership of Kiyoshi Kaneda.
"The Shinjuku Police Station has a major case that is difficult to solve, so the higher-ups decided that the Metropolitan Police Department would take the lead in forming a special investigation team."
This involves the family of a member of Congress, which is quite sensitive. I will send the relevant information to your mobile email address; please check your inbox.
Endo Taro knew his subordinate's character well, so he hung up the phone immediately after speaking, too lazy to listen to his complaints.
Chapter 22 Reward
Ding dong.
The phone notification rang crisply, and Kiyoshi Kaneda quickly opened the document sent by his boss.
Although he had long seen the end of his path to promotion in the Metropolitan Police Department, he had never chosen to become a policeman in the first place, but purely out of his most primal love for solving mysteries.
From a young age, he was a devoted fan of all kinds of detective novels, deeply fascinated by the wisdom of the detectives in the books who unravel the mystery and finally pinpoint the real culprit. He especially loved those intricate murder cases, which always kept him engrossed in them.
He once dreamed of becoming a real detective, but in reality, it is almost impossible for a detective to get involved in major cases handled by the Metropolitan Police Department in Japan.
So, he settled for a less demanding job and became a police officer, specifically requesting to join the Metropolitan Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division, where he was tasked with handling the most challenging murder cases.
Every time he solves a cold case and brings the real culprit to justice, it brings him unparalleled satisfaction.
He carefully read through all the information about the Sanada family case, his brow furrowed, and subconsciously brought his left thumb to his mouth, gently biting his nail with his teeth.
This is a habitual action he takes when he is thinking deeply.
As he absorbed the information, his brain raced, and a preliminary judgment formed in his mind: this was a premeditated and organized crime.
The organization must have at least four members.
One of them is likely a computer expert, skilled in intelligence gathering and cyber infiltration; another is responsible for driving and providing support; and the third is probably an expert in bird training.
The evidence at the scene indicated that the locked door was opened from the inside by a sparrow striking it. To train a bird to this extent, one must be a master, not an ordinary person.
The last person was the one who personally killed Sanada Jiro and reported the crime.
He glanced at the direction of the investigation into the case, noting that the Shinjuku Police Station was examining the social networks of several individuals under surveillance, and sneered inwardly.
Such an investigation is destined to be futile.
Furthermore, the perpetrator's motive was definitely not targeting Sanada Jiro's status as a member of parliament's family.
Based on the existing testimonies, he is almost certain that it was Hijikata Airi who exposed Sanada's background as a member of parliament, which prompted the murderer to change his plans at the last minute and choose to silence him instead of resolving the matter through legal channels.
This group is a criminal organization that combines a sense of justice with action, and is by no means pedantic.
They will inevitably have another, and another, act of justice...
As long as they continue to commit crimes, they will leave more and more clues, and it will only be a matter of time before they are caught.
A hunter's sharp glint flashed in Kiyoshi Kaneda's eyes.
When solving cases, he never tries to empathize with the murderer's motives.
In his view, the vast majority of serial killers have a distorted mind.
If he can empathize with everyone, he's probably not far from becoming a psychopath.
All he sought was the truth.
And he firmly believed that he would be able to catch the "fox" hiding behind the scenes.
……
April 12th, Saturday, early morning.
The ringing of the alarm clock woke Qingze from his deep sleep.
He opened his eyes, stared at the familiar ceiling, and savored the dream he had just had.
It descended another fifty meters, reaching a depth of two hundred and fifty meters.
"It really is an unlucky number..."
He silently complained to himself.
With a nimble flip, he sat up in bed, his gaze unconsciously sweeping across the desk.
The copy of Weekly Shonen Jump with the gold label still lay there quietly.
Qingze suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Last night, he tried again, desperately, to quickly flip through the pages and read word by word, but the golden label "Shadow Curse" remained unresponsive, its glow frustratingly stable.
He had to accept reality and could only "devour" the comic book by rote memorization.
However, unlike the previous illustrated and easy-to-remember "100 Picture Book Stories", this "Weekly Shonen Jump" book is much more difficult to memorize.
In particular, some of the comics either have dialogues and narration so dense they resemble light novels, or they are piled up with details to an outrageous degree.
Even every screw and part of a robotic arm has to be meticulously depicted, resulting in a cluttered and overwhelming visual that greatly increases the burden on memory.