"At least they’ve started cleaning up," Fushimi Roku said.
"Yeah, we’ve established a new office. After all, the ’Inakawa Association’ is an Inakawa family enterprise. Since we’re transforming, it’s best to thoroughly say goodbye to the past... Now we’ve renamed it ’Affiliated Corporation.’
Sazaki Gen paused, finally revealing his intentions: "Fujimura-kun, would you consider working for my company? It’s a legitimate job with health insurance and social insurance. Our main business is real estate, followed by investments in the entertainment and performing arts industries."
Fushimi Roku thought to himself, what a coincidence. He had just resigned from Kujo Yua, and a new job offer came right to his door?
Could it be that Sazaki Gen also installed surveillance in his house?
From Fushimi Roku’s perspective, defying a superior’s orders like that meant his career as a criminal police officer was surely over.
Even Kujo Yua couldn’t protect a subordinate who ignored superiors and disobeyed rules in a bureaucratic institution.
Fushimi Roku didn’t directly agree, but instead continued the conversation:
"How’s the business doing? Are you profitable?"
Sazaki Gen had no intention of hiding the truth, nor did he plan to trick someone into joining first. He spoke straightforwardly and honestly:
"No, we’ve been losing money. The main source of income is still the casino, and the entertainment and performing arts companies are just for money laundering."
Fushimi Roku chuckled, "Aren’t others objecting?"
Sazaki Gen was also troubled by this issue:
"Of course there are objections. Almost everyone disagrees with cleaning up. They’re all thinking about fighting with the Yamaguchi Group or the Sumiyoshi Association to reclaim territory... Fortunately, Takamasa has been persuading them, and everyone listens to him more. I’m not capable enough, not good at business management, so I can only try to recruit people everywhere."
"Then you’ve found the wrong person," Fushimi Roku said, "I’m not good at business either."
"No, no, no, I’m not asking Fujimura-kun to handle the business, but to take charge of legal affairs," Sazaki Gen said. "The toughest issue in cleaning up is legal disputes; we can’t win lawsuits against competing companies." He paused and sighed, "Moreover, everyone is thinking about using the old methods to solve business problems."
"What old methods?" Fushimi Roku asked.
"Chopping down competitors." Sazaki Gen shook his head while saying this.
"I’ll think about it," Fushimi Roku didn’t reject it immediately. After all, he still needed to make a living in the future, and going back to his old trade didn’t seem so bad: "I have some other matters to attend to right now."
"Is it about the bomb suspect?" Sazaki Gen asked.
"You’ve heard about it too?"
Just after Fushimi Roku spoke, he heard someone walking into the restroom. He pressed the flush button, got up, left the stall, and continued the conversation by the window at the corner of the safety corridor.
"The whole of Tokyo knows; the bomb was planted in Sunshine City, right next door to our headquarters—it’s hard not to know."
Sazaki Gen seemed to have thought of something, his voice suddenly dropped: "Was it you?"
A question mark popped up over Fushimi Roku’s head: "What kind of strange image do you have of me in your mind?"
Sazaki Gen quickly shifted the topic: "I meant, were you the one who defused the bomb?"
Fushimi Roku knew Sazaki Gen was giving himself a way out, so he didn’t bother to point it out: "It has nothing to do with me, I wasn’t even present at the bomb disposal task." Content orıginally comes from 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵✦𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✦𝓷𝓮𝓽
"Then why did you suddenly bring it up?" Sazaki Gen asked.
"I want you to help find that bomber," Fushimi finally revealed his motive: "This is probably my last task. After this, I’ll have to leave."
"Oh?" Sazaki Gen got interested: "What do you mean? Is Fujimura-kun planning to resign from being a criminal police officer?"
Being fired didn’t sound good, especially because Sazaki Gen was a potential employer. Fushimi Roku decided to slightly beautify the situation:
"What else? Since you’re considering cleaning up, I also have to think about my future life! Always fighting criminals on the front line, who knows when I might fail."
"Right, right, indeed," Sazaki Gen agreed repeatedly, "Working as a criminal police officer for a year doesn’t earn much; it’s really not worth risking your life."
He softened his tone and advised earnestly: "Fujimura-kun, I think you shouldn’t take on this last task either. That bomber is a terrorist; why bring trouble on yourself?"
Sazaki Gen had watched crime films before, every time a kidnapper said ’after this last job, I’ll quit,’ they would definitely get caught; if a police officer said ’my wife is about to give birth’ or ’I’ll retire after this case,’ they would definitely meet a tragic end.
Fushimi Roku, in righteous terms, said a bunch of clichés, like ’I’m a Tokyo criminal police officer, it’s my duty to fight crime,’ ’As long as I’m on the job, I will never co-exist with evil,’ ’Don’t underestimate my resolve, I will never compromise with terrorists’...
Sazaki Gen listened and agreed perfunctorily, not believing a word, still refusing to help.
Fushimi Roku had no other option but to tell the truth: "That bomber is targeting me; she kidnapped my dog and my sister."
"She?" Sazaki Gen caught the crucial information: "You know who she is?"
"Yeah, why, do you want to buy this piece of information?" Fushimi Roku half-jokingly said, "If I tell you her identity, can you give me a discount on finding her?"
Sazaki Gen had discussed this with him before, information wasn’t free; if you wanted to know intelligence, you had to pay.
Sazaki Gen was quite surprised; he had seen many things and was used to them, but hearing this sudden news still startled him: "Is the information reliable?"
"One hundred percent reliable, I can guarantee it." Fushimi Roku felt that saying this might lack credibility, after all, his guarantee was as light as toilet paper. Only a fool would believe it: "I also have evidence."
This time Sazaki Gen was even more astonished; he even sat up straight from his wheelchair.
To facilitate better negotiation, Sazaki Gen softened his tone and pretended to be indifferent: "This kind of information doesn’t fetch a price; who cares about the identity of a terrorist."
"The Police Department does," Fushimi Roku said, "The Police Department would surely pay a high price for it."
"Then why don’t you report it directly for credit?" Sazaki Gen retorted.
"I have no credibility; if I say it, no one will believe... Instead of telling others the truth, it’s better to let them find the truth themselves."
Fushimi Roku was very clear about his own recognition, and he was equally clear about the current situation of the Police Department: "Don’t tell me the Police Department isn’t connected to the underworld; don’t forget where you came from."
This time Sazaki Gen had nothing to say. Others could all claim they had nothing to do with the Police Department, but only he, the undercover, couldn’t.
He was silent for a while, planning to press the price from another angle:
"Even if the Police Department is willing to buy, they might not be able to pay with cash. Most likely, they’d exchange conditions like releasing members, unfreezing assets, or relaxing control."
Fushimi Roku felt that this made sense, but he thought even quicker and immediately thought of the next potential buyer:
"What about the developer and real estate company of Sunshine City? They must hate the bomber, right? Oh right, by midnight tonight, I can still know the bomber’s next general target location, surely the persons in charge, developers, and real estate companies of the attacked area would be interested."
Hearing this, Sazaki Gen dropped the pretense and laid it all out: "Alright, I can help you find someone, you don’t need to pay, but you have to tell me first who the bomber is and what evidence you have."
"It’s Uesugi Shion, the woman I asked you to inquire about last time," Fushimi Roku said.
"What’s the evidence?" Sazaki Gen asked.
"She used a cell phone to forward calls to my home landline and threatened me, claiming the first bomb was planted in Ikebukuro. I wrote an anonymous letter to the Ikebukuro Police Station, and the police were notified in advance, which is why the explosion was prevented."
Fushimi Roku paused: "I have that forwarding cell phone in my possession; I’m the sole witness."
Sazaki Gen, not very versed in legal matters, still didn’t react: "How does this prove anything?"
"As long as the anonymous letter, through verification, matches my handwriting, I can accuse the woman who made that call."
Fushimi Roku leaned against the window in the hallway, looking outside. It was late at night, but Tokyo was still vibrant, and the cityscape was exceptionally splendid.
"I want it to match, and it will match." He let out a long breath.