Zongman: Beginning and Snow under the Rain Escape from Raccoon City

"Ah."

Hachiman Hikigaya nodded, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

One day later, Chiba.

In his room at night, Hachiman Hikigaya turned off his computer and rubbed his stiff neck.

He had compiled all the intelligence he could gather into an anonymous report:

There's no need to write down Tanaka Ichiro's name, age, or physical characteristics; they're all in the police's wanted poster.

He mainly wrote about the last place the other party appeared: the coast of the Northern Territories.

It also exhibits dangerous behaviors: bloodlust and aggression towards humans.

And a vague medical speculation: some rare disease caused him to become dependent on human blood.

Finally, the destination of the other party was added: Russia.

The report was carefully worded, avoiding being overly "supernatural" while still highlighting its danger.

Hachiman Hikigaya didn't dare to directly write about vampires.

He was afraid that the police would simply throw away the report containing information about the harassment from the teenager with delusions of grandeur.

"In that case... hopefully the police will hand it over to Interpol or Russia."

Hachiman Hikigaya leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

He knew that this intelligence would likely be thrown into the trash as waste paper.

But perhaps—even if it's only a one in ten thousand chance—if the Russian police take it seriously, at least someone will start keeping an eye on that blood slave.

Komachi Hikigaya poked her head out of the bedroom and brought over a glass of hot milk.

"Brother, are you done writing?"

Hachiman Hikigaya took the cup and nodded.

"Well, I'll find some time to send it to the police using the fax machine at a roadside shop. As for whether it will work, we'll see."

"At least I didn't do nothing."

Hachiman Hikigaya stared at the ceiling, still feeling uneasy.

Russia is so vast that a blood slave infiltrating it is like a pebble thrown into a lake.

He didn't know what the future held, but at least for now, he had done his best.

"Tanaka Ichiro... I don't want to hear from you again."

He murmured, his tone cold and somber.

However, fate never follows people's expectations.

Unbeknownst to Hachiman Hikigaya, a bloody tragedy had already begun to quietly spread in a remote village far away in Siberia...

A small village near Lake Baikal in Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia, Russia.

A deep winter night.

The wind and snow swept through the pine forest, their howling sound like the low growl of a wild beast.

The village has only a few dozen households, with thick snow separating the houses. At night, almost no one goes out.

However, today, someone saw a strange figure appear at the village entrance.

——Tanaka Ichiro.

He was unshaven, with bloodshot eyes, like a completely lost homeless man. But he was more dangerous than any other homeless man.

Hunger had almost worn away his reason.

After leaving Japan, he smuggled himself across the border and fled, barely surviving by consuming the bodies of scattered travelers and unidentified corpses along the border.

However, food is extremely difficult to find on the Siberian ice fields.

His body is stronger than that of ordinary people, but this also means he needs more blood to maintain it.

"Blood...blood..."

Tanaka Ichiro huddled in the snow, breathing rapidly.

Just then, there was the sound of horse hooves in the distance.

A young villager was driving his sled past when he saw the stranger lying in the snow. He assumed the stranger was a lost traveler and stopped his sled.

“Hey! (Hey!)”

The young man leaned out and called out, then took a step closer and reached out to help.

The next moment——

"laugh--!"

Blood blossoms bloomed in the snow.

The young man's screams were swallowed by the wind and snow, and his blood splattered on the white snow, staining it a striking scarlet.

Tanaka Ichiro lunged at his neck frantically, tearing at it like a wild beast.

"Ahhhh——!"

The sound disappeared in less than a minute.

The horses on the sled were startled and galloped wildly, dragging the empty sled into the darkness.

Tanaka Ichiro raised his head, blood dripping down his chin, his eyes shining frighteningly in the night.

"...It has to be human blood."

He licked his lips, his smile twisted into a sinister grin.

……

"Officer Sato, what are you looking at?"

When Inspector Megure passed by behind Miwako Sato's workstation, he happened to see Miwako Sato staring blankly at the documents.

"Ah, Inspector Megure, it's nothing, just a fax."

"It's about a wanted criminal, but the information on it makes me a little unsure if it's true."

Sato Miwako stood up and said.

She was actually quite certain it was true, but she was just hesitating about whether to report it.

But now that Inspector Megure has asked her, she can no longer hide it.

Chapter 196 Hachiman Hikigaya Exposed

"Megure, what kind of identity do you think this whistleblower has?"

Matsumoto Kiyoshi rested his long elbows on the desk, his hands clasped together in front of his face, his expression unchanged.

On his desk lay the fax that Inspector Megure had just handed over.

"Perhaps... he was just a passerby who intervened to help someone in need?"

Inspector Megure scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat uncertain.

Matsumoto Kiyonaga's gaze hardened as he stared intently at Inspector Megure.

"Ah! No, I think he might have some understanding of the situation of Tanaka Ichiro and the others, and might even be the mastermind behind their current predicament."

Seeing that Matsumoto Kiyonaga's expression was off, Inspector Megure hurriedly tried to salvage the situation.

Upon hearing Inspector Megure's reply, Matsumoto Kiyonaga's expression softened slightly: "Hmph, I thought I was going to send you back to the police academy for re-education."

"Luckily, your brain hasn't completely broken down."

"Manager Matsumoto, do you think this anonymous whistleblower..."

Megure stopped speaking halfway through his sentence.

Matsumoto Kiyonaga slowly folded the fax, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.

"This faxed report is not only detailed, but also describes Tanaka Ichiro's characteristics almost word for word."

“It’s even more detailed than our arrest warrant.”

"This means that the other party has at least met Tanaka Ichiro."

"..."

Megure Juzo's heart tightened.

"and……"

Matsumoto Kiyonaga continued, "Where would an ordinary citizen get the energy and means to track down the whereabouts of such a fugitive, even pinpointing the exact time and route he allegedly took to escape to Russia down to the day?"

"There's definitely no coincidence behind this."

His words brought a moment of silence to the office.

The only sound in the air was the ticking of a clock.

"Does the administrator mean that this anonymous person is connected to Tanaka Ichiro... or rather, to that group of so-called 'blood slaves'?"

Inspector Megure swallowed hard.

He was just guessing.

Unexpectedly, Matsumoto Kiyonaga confirmed his idea.

Matsumoto Kiyonaga nodded slowly, his eyes sharp: "At least someone who knows the inside story."

"Have you found out who sent us the whistleblower fax?"

Megure Juzo hurriedly lowered his head, flipped open the document in his hand, and sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Officer, all we've found so far is that this whistleblower fax came from a roadside print shop on a small street in the city."

"A print shop?"

Matsumoto Kiyoshi raised his eyelids slightly.

"Yes."

Megure wiped the sweat from his brow: "But unfortunately, that shop doesn't have any surveillance equipment installed, so we can't confirm who sent the fax yet."

He paused, then quickly added, "However, we are already checking the surveillance footage of the surrounding roads. And by asking the print shop owner, we have confirmed the approximate time period."

"At that time, even if we can't find the specific person, we can still compile a list of all the people who passed by or entered the print shop at that time."

Matsumoto Kiyonaga snorted and nodded: "Very good. List out everyone who appeared around at the time, without missing a single one."

He tapped his fingertips on the table, his tone cold and stern: "Send people to investigate one by one. As long as we follow this lead, we'll eventually find something."

Those above are quite interested in these blood slaves now...

……

Hours later, in the Metropolitan Police Department's conference room, several detectives were busy organizing surveillance footage. The projector on the wall kept switching between images of the streets surrounding the print shop.

"These are regulars."

"These two have been identified as employees of the bookstore next door."

"This is a deliveryman, the timing doesn't match."

As each image was crossed out, the list gradually shrank.

Just then, Takagi Wataru suddenly froze, and the photo he was holding almost fell to the ground.

"Wait, wait a minute! This person... I think I know him!"

All eyes immediately fell on the enlarged surveillance screenshot in his hand.

In the scene, a young man carrying a black backpack is walking out of an alley diagonally opposite the print shop. Although only his face is shown in profile, his slightly dead-fish-like eyes gave Takagi Wataru a sense of familiarity.

"who is it?"

Megure frowned and asked.