No one understands the laws of Collider better than me.

"Let Ai help me look it up. I've never seen this kind of herb before."

Ai was very efficient and quickly found the answer online. It turned out that the powder was the powder of a certain flower, a kind of herb that could cause hallucinations. The Japanese government did not designate it as an illegal drug, apparently because this herb could only survive deep in the jungles of South America.

It's quite questionable how Officer Kitahara obtained this stuff. Just as Kitahara Masaki was putting the powder bags into the evidence bag, someone suddenly knocked on the door outside the house.

As a police officer, Kitahara Masaki naturally opened the door without hesitation, only to be greeted by an acquaintance—reporter Someya Hotaru.

"What are you doing here? Oh—where did you get your information from?"

"Hehe, Officer Kitahara, reporters always have to protect their sources, don't you think? Besides, this is a case of police officers going missing one after another, and it's only now that someone has come to investigate, and it's even Officer Kitahara who's doing the investigation."

Kitahara Masaki watched her quietly, but the reporter, with whom he had always had a fairly good working relationship, remained silent.

"Looks like a big fish."

Women don't like men who are clingy and persistent.

"So, Mr. Sometani, I hope you can get your bearings. I am also your intelligence provider, and my girlfriend is much prettier than you."

"That's quite direct, Inspector Kitahara. But you're not the only one among my intelligence providers who's not to be trifled with. As a reporter who just wants to write an excellent report, I'm always at an intelligence disadvantage."

Kitahara Masaki naturally didn't believe her excuse. Although he really wanted to find out who her source of information was by tracking her down, what was more important now was that Kitahara Masaki had found real evidence and had to go back and ask the chief of the Kuromizu Town Police Station how he would react after seeing the unique item.

"Well, then I can only say no comment. These four officers might just be addicted to Mahjong and that's why they didn't come to work."

After dismissing the reporters, Kitahara Masaki returned to Director Takeshita and slapped the unique products made from these rare herbs onto his face.

Chapter 290 The Vanished Police Officer

"Ahem, I don't know either. Actually, there were rumors before that this company was involved in exclusive transactions."

"Then why don't you ask him! You're a qualified boss, and the fact that he's selling this kind of thing goes far beyond just being absent from work!"

"Oh, Inspector Kitahara, please let me off the hook. These are orders from higher-ups, telling me not to worry about them."

"The higher-ups? We shouldn't bother with them?"

In a flash, Kitahara Masaki thought of Superintendent Yoshihara, who was connected to the four missing police officers. If the second-in-command of the Metropolitan Police Department had ordered Chief Takeshita not to get involved, then it wouldn't be wrong to say he was a high-ranking official. However, it seemed that his idea of ​​getting the chief to investigate with him was doomed, since this middle-aged chief spent all his time tending to his bonsai and was basically only thinking about retirement.

After seeing Kitahara Masaki emerge from the police station with a gloomy expression, Vermouth didn't ask any further questions. She simply drove around and suddenly noticed a beverage shop in town.

Thinking they should rest for a bit, Vermouth and Kitahara Masaki pushed open the door and found that the shop was run by a young couple. After talking with the female shopkeeper, they understood why the park had held a ceremony to welcome new townspeople. It was because Mayor Ryan had launched a plan to revitalize Kurowater Town—to take in people with criminal records. The welcoming ceremony was to reassure those with criminal records and also to give the townspeople a chance to get to know them.

The couple who run this shop are no exception; the husband has a criminal record for fighting, and the wife has a criminal record for fraud. They were able to open the shop after obtaining a loan through the town mayor.

Guided by Vermouth, the female shopkeeper spoke eloquently, allowing Kitahara Masaki and the other to understand the town's unique policies.

After learning about the unique features of this place, Kitahara Masaki and Vermouth whispered to each other:

"Inspector Yoshimoto's home should be the meeting place for those four officers, and also the distribution point. The calendar shows the specific time, weight of the unique items, and the person in charge. They make money by selling those unrestricted unique items in this small town. Their backer is likely Superintendent Yoshihara, which is why they are so audacious and still ignored by the station chief. Most importantly, these four people are probably involved in some kind of trouble now."

"Hmm... Do you think it's possible that they've all been silenced by Ji Yuan? Because they had leverage over Ji Yuan, and they used Ji Yuan to cover for them before, but now that Ji Yuan has had enough, he's planning to get rid of them once and for all."

“That makes sense. But we’ve only been here for one day—and we already have guests.”

A blond middle-aged man walked up to the two of them. Although he had blond hair, his eyebrows and eyes were similar to those of Japanese people.

"Good evening, gentlemen. I am the mayor of this town, Hehelian. Welcome to Blackwater Town. I wonder if the environment and food here suit your tastes?"

"Blackwater Town does a good job in these aspects, which I like very much. But what I'm more interested in is why Mr. Hehe would think of taking in someone with a criminal record?"

"Hehe, Mr. Kitahara, you're really straightforward. I just want to try my best to rebuild this small town that everyone thought was beyond saving, and one part of that is to accept people with criminal records into this place. People who strongly desire a new life will work with me to make this remote town shine again. After all, I've always believed that success depends on human effort. I've brought factories from my related companies here, which creates jobs, and I've bought up empty houses at low prices, so the workers also have places to live. This series of measures has increased both the population and tax revenue of this town."

Kitahara Masaki nodded, indicating that he already knew how amazing you were and that there was no need to keep bragging.

"Ahem, although Officer Kitahara, you understand me, there are still voices saying that people with criminal records shouldn't be treated leniently. Like this person, he's been staking out this store for a week now. So I hope Officer Kitahara can help me find out why. If there's any misunderstanding, we can just sit down and talk it over. Otherwise, it's not a good image to be loitering outside someone's door all day."

"Mayor Hehe is such a kind-hearted person, I didn't expect him to even care about something like this."

"Of course, my desire to build a paradise is not just empty talk; I have been working on it practically all along."

“Is that so? If Mayor Hehe cares so much about the townspeople, then I feel the same way about protecting them.”

Kitahara Masaki and the mayor of Hehe Town had only just met, so how could he so easily agree to his request? Moreover, before Kitahara Masaki even introduced himself, the mayor had acted as if he knew everything about the situation, which made Kitahara Masaki very dissatisfied with his attitude.

Although he wouldn't help with this favor, it would be natural to investigate the man who was spying on them. After all, there was indeed a car parked in front of the store before Kitahara Masaki and his group entered. From what Hohe Ryan said, they learned that this man had been there for many days, and that he had been monitoring the coffee shop for a long time. For some reason, in Kitahara Masaki's eyes, the young couple were just two ordinary people, completely different from a strange person like Hohe Ryan.

So when asking Ai to investigate the man who was monitoring him, she also asked her to dig into the past of that Heraine.

The next morning, Ai sent over the information she had researched, along with a selfie showing her dark circles. The implication was clear: the two people who had asked her to investigate the day before were no ordinary individuals.

First is Hohley, a person whose name doesn't sound like a Japanese person, but is actually a native Japanese. He once achieved great success in the IT industry, and after that, he seems to have come to the town of Blackwater and was elected mayor of the town at an extremely fast pace.

There seems to be very little information available for reference, as if it has been cleaned up. As someone familiar with the power of the internet, it is very likely that Hehe has erased a lot of information about himself at some point.

Then there's the man who monitored the café and whom Kitahara Masaki had asked to investigate. He turned out to be a policeman named Miki Ryo, and his rank was blank. Generally, the rank is only left blank when carrying out a secret mission, and only high-ranking officers in the Metropolitan Police Department can do that. Even Kitahara Masaki isn't qualified to do such a thing now.

The identity of the high-ranking police officer who removed Jianqi from his position and sent him on a secret mission is now obvious; it should be Superintendent Yoshihara.

In other words, not only were the four missing police officers connected to Ji Yuan, but the couple who ran the coffee shop were also in contact with him.

It's unclear whether the police officer's disappearance is related to his order to monitor the coffee shop. The investigation has only just begun, and the clues obtained are fragmented and don't connect at all.

The next step is to conduct an on-site investigation.

Chapter 291 I Became the Fish That Was Fished?

"Hello, have you seen this man before?"

"No."

"And what about the other three? Please take another look."

No, not at all.

boom!

After watching the door slam shut behind him, Kitahara Masaki's mindset shifted slightly, and his gloomy expression instantly returned to its initial state.

The photos in Kitahara Masaki's hand were naturally those of the four missing police officers. He had done a lot of investigation beforehand and finally determined that Inspector Arimoto should have disappeared near this apartment building.

First, by relying on the patrol records of the Blackwater Police Station, they found the time of Yuben's last patrol. They also confirmed through GPS that the patrol car had been to this place. In addition, the patrol records showed that the patrol police were missing, leaving only the information that the patrol car had an open gate. Kitahara Masaki deduced that Yuben was kidnapped or killed at that time.

Then, Kitahara Masaki used luminol reagent from the local forensic department to find a bloodstain on the driver's seat of the patrol car. With Kitahara Masaki's financial resources, the forensic department helped with DNA testing, confirming that the bloodstain belonged to Ben.

After failing to find anything by reviewing the surveillance footage, Kitahara Masaki had no choice but to resort to the most rudimentary method—visiting residents. The apartment building closest to the crime scene had dozens of households, most of whom were middle-aged or elderly. Kitahara Masaki and Vermouth then took the photos and questioned each resident one by one.

However, the result was exactly as described at the beginning. Although he was not turned away, Kitahara Masaki sensed a hint of perfunctoriness, or even schadenfreude, in the residents' responses.

Did you ask anything?

"No, their answers were all in agreement, and their pupils seemed to be dilated, as if they were daydreaming while talking to me."

"Haha, maybe it's because most of them are middle-aged or elderly people."

"Hmph! Even homosexuals can notice my charm, so why do you think the people here can't? They're probably all hypnotized. Hmm... it's also possible they're all on drugs, but it's unlikely such a large group is on drugs."

Kitahara Masaki covered his forehead. The possibility of Vermouth's suggestion was too small. To control such a large group, it must have taken a huge amount of time and energy. But what was the point? A group of old men and women who didn't have much money at home. They might as well spend that time gambling at the racetrack.

Unfortunately, these residents were likely native to Blackwater. While they were rationally accepting of outsiders, they were emotionally xenophobic. Even drones couldn't see inside because the windows were locked and the curtains were drawn. As a result, an entire morning was spent searching, but zero useful information was obtained.

"I'm done for. It's true that the door-to-door visits are inefficient, but if everyone in the building is uncooperative, even Kitahara Masaki can't do anything." Just as he was sighing and walking downstairs with his hands on his head, he suddenly saw a line of words on the ceiling of the staircase:

"Slaughter is the best medicine. That's a really twisted sense of humor. Someone trying to be different must have written that."

"Yes, it's probably because they used some kind of waterproof coating, which makes it very clear."

The term "bad taste" refers to the fact that the initial "S" of the sentence is painted red, while the other letters are painted black.

If we remove the initial "S", it becomes "laughter is the best medicine", which seems much more normal. However, adding an "S" completely changes the meaning of the sentence.

Having gained nothing, the two went to the coffee shop they had visited before to rest. The proprietress there was also the talkative type, but the owner didn't seem to say a word. More importantly, right after Mayor Hehe mentioned to Kitahara Masaki that he wanted Kitahara Masaki to investigate the man who was spying on the coffee shop, that man disappeared starting today. He must have moved to a more distant location to spy.

It's unclear who Officer Jianqi was monitoring—was it the talkative proprietress in front of him, the taciturn boss by the cabinet, or perhaps both of them were under surveillance.

Kitahara Masaki, intrigued by this, deployed a drone to investigate whether there were any suitable high platforms for surveillance in the surrounding area.

Drop drop drop.

After the call connected, the reporter on the other end immediately stated the information she knew:

"Eight years ago, Superintendent Yoshihara was absent from work for two consecutive weeks. The only point of contact between him and Inspector Arimoto was the Chofu Kita Police Station. When Superintendent Yoshihara was the regional chief, he taught children judo. Inspector Arimoto was also working at the Chofu Kita Police Station at that time. The interruption of teaching began during that period of absence eight years ago, on May 8th."

This information startled Kitahara Masaki, not because he had just learned of it, but because it was originally given to him by Director Hakuba! Of course, Someya's source of information could not be Director Hakuba, but there are very few people who can access information of this level anymore.

"Your knowledge of the police disappearance case in Kuromizu Town can be explained by your extensive network of informants and friends. But the fact that you have access to inside information about Superintendent Yoshihara... indicates that your intelligence comes from someone close to this superintendent. But why did you tell me this so immediately?"

"A woman's intuition is very accurate. I can sense that the other side is using me, but I can't quite put my finger on it, so please investigate this missing police officer case as soon as possible. Heh, it seems I've stepped into a terrible trap this time."

After finishing her sentence, Someya Hotaru hung up the phone without giving Kitahara Masaki a chance to ask her anything.

After whispering the conversation on the phone to Vermouth, she thought for a moment and then uttered a deduction that Kitahara Masaki had never thought of before.

“Masaki, do you think the source of this information might be in Blackwater Town, and perhaps among the people we’ve contacted? Reporter Sometani is caught up in the situation and can’t see the big picture, so after she became fearful of the information, the first person she turned to was you! Because among the people she knows, only you can give her enough sense of security. However, she’s afraid of retaliation after revealing the source’s name, so rather than providing you with information, it’s more like she just wanted to confide in you.”

"I see! So if she revealed the source of the information, then the person who has been by our side all along would definitely have noticed. No—that's not right! Let's go back to the original question—why did that person tell Someya Hotaru the information about the missing police officer to lure her into this trap?"

Vermouth thought for a moment, then replied with a somber expression:

"Someya Hotaru was just the bait he used to reel in the fish, while you are the fish he actually wanted to catch!"

Chapter 292 They wanted to shut the mute up.

Click.

The two men discreetly drew their pistols, released the safety, and waited silently for danger to arrive. However, after waiting for more than ten minutes, no danger appeared. If the target was Kitahara Masaki, then he should be being monitored, but it seemed...

"Okay, very good. This guy thinks the time isn't right yet, so he's putting me on hold for now, right... Let's go."

While the drone was patrolling the area, it spotted some issues on the rooftop of the building they had just visited. Kitahara Maki, who had initially thought something terrible was about to happen to someone close to him, now realized that this was something the person behind the scenes wanted him to discover.

"Masaki, should we go over there? What if they've set a trap?"

"It's alright. The grappling hook, parachute, grenades, smoke grenades, antidote, gas mask, bulletproof vest, infrared device, mine detector, etc. are all in the trunk of the vehicle. There's also a machine gun and enough ammunition. Unless the other side can call in Self-Defense Force bombers, there's nothing that can stop us."

Vermouth had known all along that Kitahara Masaki was well-prepared, but she hadn't expected him to bring something like a mine detector, while she herself only brought a makeup box for disguise and two pistols.

"Well, it seems I was overthinking it."

The two slowly drove toward the apartment building they had just visited. During the drive, Kitahara Maki wanted to shoot through the security cameras along the way with his bow and arrow, but he knew that explaining it afterward would be too troublesome and would arouse suspicion, so he suppressed the urge.

When the two arrived at the rooftop, they saw the phrase "Slaughter is the best medicine" written in American English on the outer wall of the water tower, as well as a telescope stuck on the railing, looking at the coffee shop.