Chapter 121: 120
In the eighties, there were no mobile phones, let alone smartphones; people mostly relied on phone booths or landline phones to communicate. So although Fang Zheng was a formidable figure capable of taking down the South Mountain Nursing Ho with his fists and the North Sea Kindergarten with his kicks, he had no choice but to obediently walk two streets away to find a public phone to call the police…
After that, Oishi led his team over in a storm of fury.
It was no surprise that the officer responded so quickly. Each year, during the Cotton Flow Festival, an incident involving one death and one disappearance occurred, naturally putting pressure on the local police like Oishi. Fang Zheng’s sudden report of being mysteriously assaulted certainly triggered Oishi’s nerves. Moreover, they had already been on alert near the Cotton Flow Festival site and hadn’t yet finished their duty. Receiving the report, the officers imdiately sprang into action and arrived at the cri scene, where they arrested all the still-unconscious thugs.
The result of the on-site investigation also exhilarated Oishi. Perhaps because they didn’t expect their mission to fail, these “Mountain Dog” special mbers hadn’t bothered to hide anything. So, in their vehicle, the police not only found stun guns, ether, and ropes but even handguns!
Seeing these items got Oishi imdiately fired up.
This was a big case indeed!
If nothing had been found, the police might at most have considered this a case of assault or robbery. But now that firearms had been revealed, it was clear that this was no ordinary kidnapping. Especially since the perpetrators had chosen to strike on the night of the Cotton Flow Festival, Oishi grew even more suspicious that these people might be related to the string of murders in Hinamizawa over the past few years!
Based on the testimonies from Fang Zheng and Shion at the scene, it was clear that the assailants had co prepared, obviously targeting Fang Zheng. But surprisingly, the young man was too much for them, knocking them all down without exception.
For Oishi, however, this was clearly good news, and he imdiately gathered his n and brought the criminals back to the police station for interrogation overnight.
But for Miyo Takano, this was not good news. In fact, when Miyo Takano heard the news in the secret base beneath the Irie Clinic, she was completely flabbergasted.
A special forces team went to kidnap an average person and not only failed but was completely taken down by him, and now they’re being escorted back to the police station?
Are you kidding ?
How could this happen?
For the mont, Miyo Takano was at a loss. According to her plan, the Cotton Flow Festival was supposed to be the start of the operation. She planned to “disappear” as scheduled, and Fang Zheng was supposed to die due to the “curse of Oyashiro-sama”. The next day his body would be discovered, and Takano could use this as a pretext to initiate the “final operation”, with the ultimate goal of using the opportunity to kill Furutega Rika, and using gas to kill all the villagers of Hinamizawa to prove her foster father’s thesis correct.
But now… her Mountain Dog Unit, her right hand, had been defeated by a young boy?
What a joke!!
But whether it was a joke or not, Miyo Takano now had to face the trouble that Fang Zheng left for her.
The “Mountain Dog” was a special ops unit, and the Irie Clinic was a secret research facility studying the Hinamizawa Syndro, which could not be made public. Although those people were professionals, who knew if they might slip up and say sothing they shouldn’t. If those higher up took this chance to make a big deal out of it… it wouldn’t just be the “Mountain Dog” Unit in trouble, likely the whole research facility would be forced to shut down!
Damn it!!
“Imdiately find soone to get them out! And figure out a way to have the tropolitan Police Departnt downplay the incident, just say it was an accident!”
“Report! Lieutenant Tomitake has a call for you.”
“Tomitake…”
Hearing the report from her subordinate, Miyo Takano hesitated for a mont before picking up the handset. Soon, Jiro Tomitake’s voice ca through.
“Miyo Sanchi, what on earth is going on? Why did ‘Mountain Dog’ make a move against civilians?”
“It was just an accident!”
Hearing Jiro Tomitake’s interrogation, Miyo Takano also panicked. She knew that the man disguised as a birdwatcher’s true identity was actually the liaison between the research institute she belonged to and its behind-the-scenes boss “Tokyo.” If he reported this incident to “Tokyo,” they would surely order a thorough investigation, and by then, everything she had done here would probably be exposed!
“We believed that the target had likely been infected with ‘Hinamizawa Syndro,’ so we wanted to take him in for isolation and observation, but… sothing unexpected happened…”
“Is that so?”
Hearing Miyo Takano’s response, Jiro Tomitake’s tone softened considerably, which allowed Miyo Takano to gradually relax.
“But, you were too reckless in your actions. You should know, ‘Tokyo’ doesn’t allow things to get out of hand! You must eliminate the impact of this incident as soon as possible, otherwise, I won’t be able to help you.”
“Thank you, Jiro.”
At this point, Miyo Takano finally felt at ease, knowing that this man loved her, which was exactly why she had made that decision. But now… Thinking this, Miyo Takano shook her head. The original plan was no longer viable, and although Jiro Tomitake deeply loved her, he had duties to fulfill, and with the current situation, it was already too late to stop the communication with “Tokyo” by killing him. The incident had a big impact; “Tokyo” would surely focus on the aftermath, and if she were to murder Tomitake at this point, “Tokyo” would definitely beco suspicious.
“Damn it!!”
After hanging up the phone, Miyo Takano punched the table hard in frustration. All of this was because of that bastard Fang Zheng—if it weren’t for him, things would never have escalated to this point!!
Not to ntion Miyo Takano being busy as if her pants were on fire trying to clean up various sses, early the next morning, the news of Fang Zheng’s attack had spread throughout the entire village. After all, although there had been several murder cases in Hinamizawa, those were unsolved cases without evidence or a suspect. But this ti was different; the perpetrators were caught red-handed, and many people had seen them being taken to Okimiya Police Station, causing quite a stir in Hinamizawa.
Apart from the sowhat eerie “consecutive murder cases,” Hinamizawa was a peaceful place, and now suddenly, there was a robbery, which surprised everyone. For a while, there was much discussion, and even the Sonozaki Family took great interest in the matter.
However, the most surprised of them all was Furutega Rika.
As an infected “Queen,” Furutega Rika was the most knowledgeable about the “Mountain Dog Unit” among the people, as one of their tasks was to ensure the safety of Furutega Rika, the “Queen” carrier.
But, they actually went to attack her teacher?
And what was most important—were they brought down by their target?
“What on earth is going on?”
At this mont, Rika was completely at a loss. In the countless previous cycles, she had never encountered such a thing. It made sense if Fang Zheng was having an outbreak, but the problem was that Fang Zheng didn’t look like he was having one, and he didn’t kill those people, he simply knocked them down.
In the end, Rika made up her mind.
“I have to try, Haneiru. I have a feeling that perhaps, the teacher will be the key figure who lets break free from this tragic cycle.”
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