Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister

Asai Ayumi looked toward Aoyama Xiu Xin, "Speak."

"The gun has been lost for three days, so why was the person who lost the gun only suspended today?" Aoyama Xiu Xin asked.

According to Japanese law, most police officers are required to carry a gun while on duty, but they are only allowed to load five bullets and do not have spare ammunition.

Unless there are special circumstances, they generally must return their guns when they finish work and are not allowed to take them home.

So if a gun was lost, the gun storage room would immediately notice, and the person responsible would be held accountable right away. How could it have taken three days?

There was obviously more to the story.

After hearing Aoyama's doubts, Asai Ayumi paused before replying, "The person who lost the gun, Yamamoto Hiroshi, belongs to the Major Crimes Search division and has received multiple commendations for his work. Chief Zhongshan, motivated by a desire to protect his subordinates, negotiated with the gun storage room staff and covered for him, thinking it would be fine as long as the gun was quickly found."

"But unexpectedly, this gun was used in a killing, and that's when he could no longer hide the fact that the gun was missing," said Asai Ayumi. As she finished speaking, a young man to her right snorted derisively and took over the conversation sarcastically, "Now it's well-known that Chief Zhongshan is a good boss who protects his subordinates, yet we're the ones who have to clean up the mess."

Aoyama Xiu Xin glanced at him, a man probably about thirty years old, around 1.7 meters tall, with decent features, named Fujimoto Ryosuke, the Deputy Director of the Firearms Division.

He recalled that this man seemed to be pursuing Asai Ayumi.

"Alright, Vice Director Fujimoto, hasn't Chief Zhongshan already been suspended and is awaiting further processing? His case is not within our scope of discussion." Although Asai Ayumi also disapproved of Zhongshan's protective actions, she felt guilty since she was covering for Aoyama Xiu Xin and did not want to delve into this topic, "Any other questions?"

No one else spoke up, and Fujimoto did not say more, knowing that if Zhongshan hadn't been suspended and facing processing, he wouldn't dare to openly complain.

"Here are the basic details of the deceased; someone distribute these files for everyone to review," Asai Ayumi said, casually handing a stack of documents to someone nearby.

Aoyama Xiu Xin quickly received a copy too.

The deceased was named Yeharadong, male, 35 years old, lived at 1 Chome-5-6 North Shinjuku, married, owned a financial company, which essentially operated as a high-interest loan service.

Although Japan's bubble economy had burst, many Japanese people still hadn't changed their high-consumption habits developed over the previous years, and the surging unemployment rate forced many to rely on loans to sustain their lifestyles, resulting in a proliferation of various loan companies.

Japan was the first country in Asia to introduce consumer credit. Even before 2000, regular consumer loan interest rates could be as high as 30%, even higher for usurious loans, making these years a golden era for various lending companies.

Of course, this resulted in tens of thousands of people committing suicide each year because they couldn't repay their debts, in a sense, the loan companies had a significant impact, almost like resisting the Japanese.

"If there are no other questions, except for those with major cases to follow up on, the rest will be divided into two groups. One group, led by Vice Director Fujimoto, will be responsible for investigating the surveillance around the crime scene and questioning nearby residents for witnesses. The second group, which I will lead, will investigate the deceased's interpersonal relationships and inquire with Yamamoto Hiroshi," Asai Ayumi glanced at Aoyama Xiu Xin and then addressed Fujimoto Yoshi, "Vice Director Fujimoto's task is important, all personnel will be assigned to you, Aoyama Detective can follow me."

Although Shinjuku Police Station is now the largest in Japan, the police force is actually quite strained.

"Hi!" Everyone bowed their heads in response.

Asai Ayumi stood straight, bowed to the crowd, and raised her voice, "I ask everyone to work hard, please do your best to solve this case quickly."

"Hi!" The crowd answered again.

Asai Ayumi left first, and Aoyama Xiu Xin followed closely after, only then did the others raise their heads.

Watching Aoyama Xiu Xin's retreating figure, envy filled the eyes of the others, knowing this guy is now the favorite in the eyes of the higher-ups. Additionally, having a rare background from a professional group, his future prospects were indeed boundless.

"Aoyama Criminal truly embodies the elite of the professional group. Even if he's momentarily a dragon stranded in shallow waters, just give him an opportunity, and he'll soar to the skies."

"Yes, with the Inspector's favor, he might soon regain his position and return to the Police Headquarters."

Only Fujimoto Ryosuke's eyes were gloomy, his fists clenched so tightly that the knuckles turned a slight white, and he found Aoyama Xiu Xin's tall and straight figure extremely irritating.

He wasn't born into the professional group. At 30, he became a Patrol Chief entirely by risking his life and ingeniously currying favor with superiors, but advancing further was even more challenging.

After all, the ceiling for those not from the professional group was clear; they were destined to be front-line runners for life, and at most, he could retire with an Inspector's benefits.

But Fujimoto Ryosuke was ambitious. He wasn't content with this; he desired progress too greatly, and half a year ago, Asai Ayumi's sudden arrival had sparked hope for advancement.

That was to pursue Asai Ayumi, marry into the Asakai family, and adopt their surname; if successful, he would have the chance to break the ceiling set for non-professional group members, with the Asakai family's support or perhaps pursue a different path like entering politics.

However, his pursuit of Asai Ayumi was slow to progress, and now Aoyama Xiu Xin had appeared, someone Asai Ayumi looked upon favorably, making him feel a premonition that his easy meal might be snatched away.

He also envied and detested individuals like Aoyama Xiu Xin who came from professional groups, simply because he didn't.

Because he wasn't from the professional group, no matter how hard he tried or how excellent he was, he couldn't become a leader; yet Aoyama Xiu Xin, even though demoted, could rise again just because of his professional group status. Was that fair?

"Bang!" Fujimoto Ryosuke slammed his hands violently on the table, leaning forward with a fierce look in his eyes.

This world was full of injustice!

Others were startled.

"Deputy Director... Deputy Director... Are you alright?"

"Whew!" Fujimoto Ryosuke snapped back to reality, realizing he had lost his composure, took a deep breath to normalize his expression, and said in a stern voice, "The guy who killed with a police gun is truly detestable. We need to arrest him quickly. I hope everyone puts in their effort, and after we close this case, I'll treat everyone to a drink."

"Right!"

.........

"Drive, let's first go to Yamamoto Hiroshi's house."

Stepping out of the office building and approaching a red BMW sedan, Asai Ayumi tossed the keys to Aoyama.

"Right." In public, Aoyama Xiu Xin still showed great respect for his superior, taking the keys and opening the back door for her. After she got in, he closed the door and sat at the driver's seat, starting the car and driving out of the police station.

As the car drove smoothly, Asai Ayumi complimented him, "Mr. Aoyama, your driving skills are quite impressive."

"Many women say the same." Aoyama Xiu Xin responded modestly, his driving skills were naturally good, both fast and stable.

Asai Ayumi, always shallow in learning and lacking in literary skills, couldn't understand his implied meaning and turned to the matter at hand, "What do you think about this case?"

"Given Yeharadong's background, his death could be from debt disputes, possibly a vendetta, and of course, it could also be due to a conflict of interests," Aoyama Xiu Xin shared his views while driving.

Lending companies invariably have connections with the violent gangs, and even many banks secretly transfer uncollectible debts to violent gangs for collection. Yeharadong's company inevitably had dealings with violent gangs.

Thus, his death had many possibilities, and so did the whereabouts of the gun. To retrieve the gun and catch the murderer was difficult.