Special effects: Starting with Ultraman Tiga

Chapter 420 Philip's Deduction

The next day, early in the morning.

Zenon Hotel, located between the sky and the sea.

All those involved in this incident were gathered in this medium-sized hall.

"Inspector Terui, isn't that enough? Whether you're waiting for a detective or what, let us detain Zenkoji Kasumi first, and then we can consider whether her testimony is true or false." The detective from the Futo Murder Division looked at Terui Ryu and said very rudely.

Shindo Atsushi was murdered last night, and the only suspect is Zenkyoji Kasumi.

Although Zenkyoji Kasumi had recounted the events several times, the detectives from the Fuuto Murder Division did not believe her story.

Terui Ryu used his position of power to detain Zenkoji Kasumi for one night, but that was the limit.

Faced with the impatience of the homicide detectives, Terui Ryu frowned, just about to say something.

Philip, who had been missing all night, returned just in time with Akiko Narumi.

"Sorry we're late."

"Shotaro-kun!" Kasumi Zenkuji's eyes flashed with genuine joy when she saw Philip arrive.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Ms. Kasumi." Philip gave Kasumi Zenkyo a reassuring look, then turned to the homicide detectives and said, "Please give us some time. This is a case involving extraordinary crimes. If we don't categorize it as a regular case, it will inevitably distort the whole picture."

"But, young detective, the murder weapon stuck in Shindo Atsushi's back is a sword left behind by the late Zenkyoji Yoshizo. In other words, it now belongs to Ms. Kasumi, and it even has her fingerprints on it," the homicide detective explained.

"This was done by an assassin who used the Zero memory. I saw him kill someone with his own eyes, wearing gloves and throwing a sword. That sword was probably stolen beforehand, because he intended to frame Ms. Kasumi from the beginning," Philip explained.

"That's right, I've said it several times already. I was kidnapped by Shindo, and then Shotaro saved me... Just then, Shindo was stabbed to death by a man dressed entirely in black!" Zenkoji Kasumi said.

Kasumi Zenkyoji kept Philip's transformation into Kamen Rider Cyclone a secret.

"What a joke! Shindo is my fiancé, how could I possibly do such a thing to someone like you!" Zenkyoji Reiko said fiercely.

"He said it himself. 'I'm Reiko's slave, and she even ordered me to push Kasumi off a cliff whenever I had the chance.' Hiring an assassin to silence him is probably to prevent him from revealing this," Philip said.

Zenkyoji Reiko's face stiffened, her expression turning furious and embarrassed. Just as she was about to say something, Zenkyoji Toshihide stopped her, smiling at Philip, and said, "You seem determined to label us as bad guys no matter what. But as we've said many times, we are not criminals. If you want to play Kasumi's knight, then go do it in the detention center."

As he spoke, he gestured for the homicide detectives to proceed.

"You seem to have misunderstood something, Zenkoji Toshihide. I didn't come here to protect Miss Kasumi, but specifically to save your life," Philip said, stepping forward and looking at Zenkoji Toshihide.

Philip's words startled everyone around him.

Suddenly, a dark figure darted out from a hidden corner of the hall and pounced on Zenkyoji Jun'ei.

Philip, who was prepared, quickly stepped forward to shield Zenkoji Toshihide behind him.

The shadowy figure, whose ambush had failed, had no choice but to fall to the ground; it was the Zoo Memory in the shape of a mechanical beast.

As soon as Zoo landed, he immediately jumped backward and disappeared back into the shadows.

"Stop now. I understand your purpose, so please stop here and turn yourself in to the police... Ms. Yumioka Azusa." Philip looked intently at Yumioka Azusa and said.

Everyone was taken aback and instinctively looked at Yumioka Azusa.

"As expected... you noticed, Mr. Zuo." Yumioka Azusa was silent for a moment before speaking.

"You saved me because you believed I would stand by Ms. Kasumi. Since Zoo isn't Ms. Kasumi, you're the only one among those involved who might come to my rescue," Philip said.

"The culprit...the culprit is Yumioka?" Zenkyoji Kasumi looked at Yumioka Azusa and asked, puzzled, "Why...why would he do something like this?"

"To protect you," Yumioka Azusa said.

After Yumioka Azusa confessed her identity, all the police officers except Terui Ryu took a defensive stance towards her, and some even raised their guns.

"Wait a minute, don't be impulsive, let me finish what I have to say!" Philip ran to the middle and shouted.

"Please listen to me, Ms. Yumioka."

Philip gathered his thoughts and said, "The characteristic of this incident is that the true identity of the hybrid—that is, the perpetrator—is completely unrelated to the malice that ignited the incident. That's why I have difficulty understanding the gist of the matter."

"It looks like an imposter is trying to gain the inheritance and is secretly working towards it. However, the real evil, who is indulging in selfish desires and even harming his own brothers to gain the inheritance, is someone else... It is you, Zenkuji Toshihide."

As Philip spoke, he pointed to Zenkyoji Toshihide, who was standing in the crowd.

The cold smile on Zenkoji Toshihide's face vanished instantly.

"Is Zenkyoji Toshihide the real culprit? Is that why you used the term 'enemy'?" Terui Ryu asked.

“Yes, ‘enemy’ and ‘criminal’ are not the same thing. The mastermind behind everything is Zenkuji Toshihide, and Ms. Yumioka only wanted to protect Ms. Kasumi from him. I wouldn’t say she wasn’t a bad person, but at least her motive was out of love for Ms. Kasumi. The truly malicious one is Zenkuji Toshihide,” Philip said.

"You mean I killed Kasumi just to get that tiny bit of assets she had?" Zenkyoji Toshihide asked.

"In terms of its value as a tourist attraction or land, the mountain itself doesn't have that much value. But you're looking at something different. Your goal is a 'refining factory,'" Philip said coldly.

"It's here! What, what factory!" Akiko Narumi whispered in agreement.

Upon hearing this, both Zenkyoji Toshihide and Zenkyoji Reiko's expressions turned gloomy.

"Refining factory...I see!" Terui Ryuya understood.

"That's right, Terui Ryu. These people have already made contact with the organization; they're preparing to build a refinery for Gaia Memory," Philip said.

Besides the homicide detectives, Rinno, Makura, Akiko, and the others who knew something about the organization also showed surprise.

"I found trees in a corner of Zishan that had become brittle and damaged due to abnormal dryness," Philip explained. "This appears to be due to overheating caused by the G microwaves."

"G-waves are a special electromagnetic wave that is indispensable in the refining of Gaia memory. To build a Gaia memory factory, there are several necessary elements: a building with a large base area and considerable depth, and a high degree of airtightness to ensure the safe use of G-waves."

"Preliminary experiments were probably conducted in the underground facilities near the villa. However, the G-microwave interference reached the outside, causing natural depletion."

"Well, it's become so dry, like it's been baked in a microwave oven. It's not appropriate to use it as a secret facility."

"So if we want to build a larger facility, we'll need an even larger mountain."

The Zenkyoji siblings remained silent, and everyone else listened intently, except for the homicide detectives who were still completely baffled.

"Inspector Teruji, what is he saying? Doesn't this prevent us from following the rules?"

"Don't ask me questions." Terui Ryu, having reached his limit, grabbed the detective's collar and snapped, "There's a limit to factionalism. I don't want to resort to violence against my colleagues at the Fuuto Police Department, so could you please shut up and let us handle this?"

Under Terui Ryu's gaze, the homicide detectives also fell silent.

Terui Ryu loosened the other man's collar, turned to look at Philip, and said, "Zuo, you continue."

Philip nodded and briefly recounted the entire sequence of events.

In short, the museum approached Zenkyoji Toshihide in order to build the factory for Gaia Memory.

Zenkyoji Toshihide believes that Mount Chikayama is a good place to build a Gaia memory factory, so he plans to get rid of Zenkyoji Kasumi, his half-sister.

However, after failing to obtain Chizan through legal means, the Zenkuji siblings planned to use the Gaia Memory to assassinate Zenkuji Kasumi.

As a result, the plan was discovered by Yumioka Azusa, who then sent out a threatening letter under the name of Zenkyoji Gizo, leading to the initial attack.

Meanwhile, Azusa Yumioka seized the opportunity to obtain the Zoo Memory and used it to attack the Zenkuji siblings.

However, to the surprise of both sides, Zenkyoji Kasumi actually hired a detective herself.

Then came the Zoo Dopant attack that occurred after Philip arrived at the Zenko Temple villa.

"Am I right, Ms. Yumioka?" Philip asked.

"Indeed. As expected of a famous detective, your reasoning is almost flawless." Azusa Yumioka smiled and admitted it.

"Looks like there are a lot of questions that need your answers, Zenkyoji Toshihide," Terui Ryu said, looking at Zenkyoji Toshihide.

When faced with the gaze directed at Takayuki, Zenko showed a slight wavering, while Toshihide Zenko remained calm.

"Wait a minute." Zenkyoji Asami stepped forward, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at Terui Ryu and the others. Her voice trembled with sobs as she said, "What you just said was merely your one-sided reasoning! Are you going to label my husband a bad person based on that alone?"

"Wasn't it actually this Yumioka who used that memory chip? Before you question my husband, please give her the punishment she deserves! And Kasumi's matter can't just be left unresolved!"

Upon hearing this, the homicide detectives immediately perked up and all showed expressions of agreement.

Yumioka Azusa's face hardened, and she said, "It seems I really can't give up now... Mr. Zuo."

Oh no! We have to stop her!

Philip was anxious, but Zenkyoji Asami held onto his clothes tightly, preventing him from escaping.

Just as Philip was caught in a dilemma, an unbelievable voice suddenly came from the direction of the hall entrance.

"Remember this, partner. A woman's tears can sometimes be used as a weapon."

"This is my real experience."

Philip turned around and a man wearing a blue shirt, a black jacket, and a black hat immediately came into view.

He tilted his hat up slightly, revealing that extremely familiar face.

It's definitely the real Shotaro Hidari!

Upon seeing Shotaro Hidari appear here, everyone who knew him swallowed back the "Shotaro" and "Hidari" that were about to slip out. In the end, all that could be heard was Akiko Narumi's catchphrase.

"I haven't heard of that!"

Shotaro Sato walked in, wearing a blue shirt, paired with his usual black hat and jacket, looking incredibly capable.

"Who are you?" a detective from the homicide division asked.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Philip. This is Shotaro's partner, my errand boy." Shotaro came to Philip's side, patted Philip on the shoulder, and then winked at Philip.

Seeing Shotaro Sasuke arrive, Philip felt a sense of relief.

"I never expected that I wouldn't notice anything else when I saw such a beautiful face. It seems your cold is really bad. When I was looking at the personnel information that Akiko sent, you were the first person I noticed. Ms. Zenkyoji Asami."

As he spoke, Shotaro showed a photo taken with a Bat camera, which captured many people.

In the photo, former Kaze City Councilor Masayuki Kusuhara is talking to a beautiful woman with long hair and glasses.

At this moment, Shotaro took out another photo, in which the woman was enlarged.

Those eyebrows, eyes, and that beauty mark under her eye—they look just like Zenkyoji Asami.

"In the past, there was an incident where Representative Kusuhara Masa was threatened, and we were entrusted by her as her bodyguards," Shotaro said loudly, looking at Zenkyoji Asami.

"In fact, on the site where she planned to build the Second Wind Tower, there was an organized Gaia Memory Factory, and the threat was the factory's owner."

"This photo was taken when Representative Kusuhara was negotiating a land transaction."

"Because we suspected the coercor might be nearby, we took pictures of everyone who approached her for future reference."

Shotaro pointed at Zenkyoji Asami and continued, "And this woman is the one who came to recommend other land to Councilor Kusuhara, hoping that Councilor Kusuhara would use it as construction land."

"Looking back, those guys who tried to distract Councilor Kusuhara from that land were all suspicious; they might all be members of the organization. This woman... her name is Iwase Asami, which is your old surname."

"So she was the liaison between the organization and the Zenkyoji family..." Terui Ryu exclaimed.

"Well, that's how it is. She married Zenkuji Toshihide six months ago, and since then there's been Sōji's death and this whole series of events. In other words, partner, apart from Ms. Kasumi, the entire Zenkuji family is already working for the organization." Sōtarō tossed the photo in his hand toward Zenkuji Asami.

Zenkyoji Asami fell completely silent.

(End of this chapter)