In the private room of the Maple Club, Mr. Hino and his five companions’ seats were arranged at the very end, leaving them already at a disadvantage in terms of presence even before the discussion started.
This arrangement seemed childish but was quite effective.
"Ever since the investigative team entered Hokkaido, our originally peaceful paradise hasn’t seen a single day of peace, the public complaints are constant, and it has caused us officials a lot of trouble. Logically speaking, for you destroyers, we should annihilate you completely."
Sitting at the top, Fujimoto Takayoshi looked down on Mr. Hino and his group, his attitude and tone full of arrogance. He paused here, and then, turning the conversation, "But we are not like you, climbing up the ranks at the expense of colleagues, stepping on the corpses of colleagues as stairs! We are kind, benevolent, peace-loving, believe in mutually beneficial outcomes, and know well the virtue of sparing those who can be spared. Therefore, we are not only willing to forgive and give you a way out but also let you return to Tokyo in glory, without having made this trip in vain."
At this point, he felt that the six people sitting at the end should kowtow to him as a way to do themselves honor.
"Ha! The ’peace’ you speak of, does that refer to the serial dismemberments that started at the beginning of the year, followed by a major shooting incident and the rampant spread of new drugs?" Gu Tian Chong, who had a volatile temper, couldn’t help but retort sarcastically.
"Slap!" Before Fujimoto Takayoshi could speak, a Minister suddenly stood up, slamming the table and glaring furiously at Gu Tian Chong, "Idiot! Bastard! What nonsense are you talking about! You from Tokyo, what do you know about Hokkaido! You have no right to judge Hokkaido!"
"Sit down!" Fujimoto Takayoshi scolded, waiting for his subordinate to sit down begrudgingly before he seriously addressed Gu Tian Chong: "Accidents are inevitable, but until this year, Hokkaido had the lowest crime rate and the highest case resolution rate in the country, right?"
"Ha!" Watching his serious and rather proud demeanor, Mr. Hino couldn’t hold back any longer, "Colluding between underworld and officials, money and power intertwined, suppressing free speech, people afraid to report crimes, nowhere to seek justice, no case filed if no police report, all deaths ruled as suicides, or someone else is taken to bear the crime—doesn’t that conveniently lower the crime rate and raise the case resolution rate?"
When power is unsupervised, it’s truly terrifying.
"Idiot! Have you two unreasonable guys still not figured out the situation? You are the defeated ones!" Oda Take stood up and angrily scolded.
"Mr. Oda, sit down." Fujimoto Takayoshi ordered blandly, his eyes mocking, "It’s just the whining of a defeated dog, why not let them have their moment? We, as hosts, need to show our magnanimity."
"Fine!" Mr. Oda finally sat down, still glaring maliciously at Mr. Hino.
In fact, he wasn’t so angry; but how else could he demonstrate his loyalty?
Fujimoto Takayoshi continued," No matter what you say, it won’t change one fact, that you’ve lost, but you don’t want to lose disgracefully, so you need us to be generous. Don’t act like we’re begging you to admit defeat; rather, we’re the ones who beat you into submission!"
The last sentence he said with a laugh.
Mr. Hino was expressionless, Gu Tian Chong and the other four were filled with righteous indignation, burning with rage, but the remnants of their reason compelled them to remain seated.
Angry in their hearts, but their bodies were honest.
"Alright," Fujimoto had a wave of his hand.
The secretary behind him, Haruno Takayoshi, nodded slightly and walked over to Mr. Hino with a sheet of paper.
Fujimoto spoke lightly, "This is a list of our parting gifts, take your time looking at it."
Mr. Hino took it and looked down.
The list was organized by rank.
The highest positions were two mayors, one city council speaker, and the Minister of Health and Welfare from the Hokkaido Governor’s Office. Below them were mid-level and junior officials, totaling more than forty people.
"There are too few of substantial importance, mostly just small fries..." Mr. Hino spoke.
"Mr. Hino!" Fujimoto quickly interrupted him, assertively stating, "This is the greatest sincerity we can offer, this list isn’t up for discussion, we’re giving this to you, not something you uncovered yourself, I hope you understand that! If you could have discovered these people’s crimes and made them confess by yourself, you wouldn’t be sitting here."
For sacrificing these more than forty individuals to save the collective, the collective had also paid a substantial price.
Each additional person meant a higher cost.
"You..." Mr. Hino’s face turned red, and the veins in his hand holding the list bulged from the strain.
Aoyama Xiu Xin quickly interceded, "Please calm down, Minister Hino, two mayors, one speaker, one direct department head from the Governor’s Hall—let these four bear the brunt to win over higher-ups."
"We’ve thought it all out for you," Fujimoto continued, "Just say everything was spearheaded by these four, they exposed Miyake Jiro to the investigative team and then killed Miyake Jiro to slander the investigative team, and also incited public protests and used the chaos to shoot innocent people, framing the investigative team. Everything was a tragic case concocted by these four colluding with a small faction within our police force!"
"The Governor and other high-ranking officials had been deceived for many years, completely unaware of their crimes; it was only when this investigative team arrived that they were forced into revealing flaws. After discovering something was amiss, the Governor instructed our police headquarters to secretly investigate them! It was because we needed you to draw their attention and make them lower their guard, so we intentionally ignored the sieging of you, to take this opportunity to conduct a thorough, deep investigation!"