Chapter 2173 - 2171: Putting on an Act (Ben the Orange Cat Is Starting to Regress)

Right now outside Tokyo Tower, the atmosphere is unusually tense and heavy.

The police have completely sealed off the scene, keeping all the onlookers outside the safety perimeter; only the bomb disposal squad is still inside.

As for those nosy media people, they’ve been mercilessly pushed back by the police. Even though they’re shouting about "the public’s right to know" and protesting, the Metropolitan Police Department isn’t giving them the slightest courtesy.

"This is an investigation, not a performance! If your live broadcast is seen by the perpetrator, it’s equivalent to exposing our search progress. If the perpetrator does something because of your broadcast, you’re accomplices!"

After getting Fang Zheng’s reminder, the Metropolitan Police Department finally stiffened its spine and forcefully shoved this group of reporters back. To be honest, they were already fuming. After all, this whole mess started because of the media; otherwise things wouldn’t have gotten to this point. Fang Zheng had also texted them, telling them to block all media interviews and control all people in the know. Of course... if this kind of approach is handled poorly, it easily causes backlash. But for the Metropolitan Police Department...

Laozi has already been condemned by you media jackals so many times, why would we be scared of one more?

Haven’t you been yelling that the police are incompetent, even crowning some high-schooler as Japan’s police "Savior"?

Get the hell out!

Anyway, as long as they can catch the criminal in the end and find the second bomb, they’ll have an answer for the public. But on the flip side, if the criminal does something because of the media reports and causes all their work to go up in smoke, those idiot reporters definitely won’t think they bear any responsibility. They’ll just trumpet the police’s incompetence all over again.

Thinking of it that way, the brass at the Metropolitan Police Department felt better. If the outcome is good, everything’s good. If the outcome is bad, cooperating with the media is useless. Might as well lock down information and increase the odds of catching the perp.

Back at the scene...

"What? You can’t disarm the bomb? Why not?"

Hearing Yoko Okino’s voice coming through the radio, the bomb squad tensed up immediately. And there was someone else whose face went completely pale—Officer Sato.

She has never gotten over what happened three years ago, so the moment she got the message she drove straight to Tokyo Tower. In fact, even before this, Officer Sato had a bad feeling, but now it seemed that bad feeling was coming true.

"Mr. Fang Zheng, what the hell are you doing?!"

Officer Sato snatched the radio and shouted into it.

"Hurry up and disarm the bomb!"

"Yo, Officer Sato, long time no see."

Fang Zheng’s voice could be heard faintly from the other end of the radio, sounding relatively relaxed.

"How’s your health these days?"

"This is not the time to talk about that! Why aren’t you disarming the bomb?!"

"Officer Sato, you’ve figured it out too, right? This is all part of the script."

When she heard this, Officer Sato’s heart instantly sank into the abyss.

"Don’t tell me..."

"Brave police officer, I simply must praise your courage. After this game ends, there will be a large-scale fireworks show. Three seconds before the explosion, you’ll see my hint. Wishing you success———see? Officer Sato, this is exactly the same routine."

"............"

At that moment, Officer Sato held the radio but couldn’t get a single word out.

The same. It was exactly the same as three years ago. The other side wasn’t worried at all that the police would disarm the bomb, because he would make that police officer give up on disarming it herself... that bastard...!

"Don’t worry, Officer Sato, we’ll stay here until the last second and relay the hint from up top to you. Oh, and next time don’t forget we’re going to do karaoke together. Relax, we’ve got time."

"But..."

Hearing Fang Zheng’s easy tone, Officer Sato’s heart only sank further.

Will it really go that smoothly?

"Mr. Fang Zheng."

Switching off the radio, Yoko Okino looked at Fang Zheng.

"Are you sure this is really okay?"

"Sorry, Miss Yoko, dragging you into this mess too."

"No, it’s fine. I’m a police officer as well, after all. This is my duty."

Yoko Okino shook her head hard, answering with a slight tremor in her voice.

Hmph, duty, huh?

Hearing the voice coming through his earpiece, Nakata Saburo let out a cold chuckle. This is exactly why police are so stupid. But precisely because of that, this game is interesting.

So, let me enjoy the beautiful fireworks that are about to bloom.

Thinking this, Nakata Saburo lifted his head. But just then... suddenly, a violent impact slammed into him, and the next second four or five plainclothes officers burst out from the surrounding crowd and pinned him hard to the ground.

"Nakata Saburo! You’re under arrest!"

"???"

Before Nakata Saburo could even react, the officers had already snapped handcuffs onto his wrists and yanked him to his feet.

"We’re arresting you on suspicion of planting bombs and assaulting a police officer!"

"Y-you... where did you all come from?"

Seeing police closing in from all directions, Nakata Saburo’s face changed drastically, then he suddenly shuddered.

"Don’t touch me! I’m the only one who knows how to defuse the bomb! Are you just going to watch your colleagues get blown to pieces?"

"Haah? What the hell are you babbling about?"

But just as Nakata Saburo finished speaking, a mocking voice rang out. He turned his head and saw Fang Zheng and Yoko Okino standing not far away. Fang Zheng had a bugging device in his hand and was grinning at him.

"How... you... the bomb?"

"That bomb? Of course we disarmed it."

Fang Zheng chuckled.

"Honestly, I didn’t expect you to be even dumber than we thought. You didn’t even change your clothes, didn’t bother with a disguise, and just came here to watch the show. Guess you’re really confident about your setup... Well, looks like we don’t even need any passcodes now. Come on, tell us where you planted the other bomb."

That’s right, just like Fang Zheng said: once they confirmed that the plainclothes cops had already surrounded Nakata Saburo, the bomb had already been dismantled. All the conversation after that was pure acting.

Yes, acting!

After all, if Nakata Saburo found out the bomb had been dismantled, he might panic and do something desperate. So Fang Zheng and Yoko Okino improvised a little play to stall him. Given that pervert’s twisted psychology, he’d definitely want to watch Tokyo Tower blow up first before heading to the second location.

An ordinary cop probably couldn’t pull this off, but Yoko Okino is a pro. In just a few lines, she vividly portrayed a cop caught in a deadly situation who’s still willing to sacrifice herself for the public. Don’t say Nakata Saburo only had a bug to listen through—even if he’d been watching her directly on camera, he absolutely wouldn’t have spotted the slightest flaw in Yoko Okino’s performance.

That’s what you call professional! (tactical lean-back)

"Dream on."

Now that he’d been caught, Nakata Saburo gave up his fantasy, twisted his face into a vicious grin, and glared at Fang Zheng.

"That bomb’s going to go off in two hours. I’m not telling you a damn thing—what can you do to me?"

But what Nakata Saburo didn’t expect was that as soon as he said this, the nearby cops all chuckled, watching him like they were waiting for a show. Fang Zheng just shrugged and waved his hand.

"Bring the map over."

Very quickly, at Fang Zheng’s words, two officers stepped up and laid a map of Tokyo in front of him, and Fang Zheng started drawing circles on it with his finger.

"Come on, be good and tell Uncle Police where you put the bomb?"

".........Hmph!"

Looking at Fang Zheng, Nakata Saburo snorted coldly and kept his mouth shut.

What kind of interrogation method was this—did he think he was dealing with a three-year-old?

"Is it here? Or here? Or maybe here?"

As he spoke, the circles Fang Zheng drew on the map got smaller and smaller. Nakata Saburo still clenched his teeth and stayed silent, but deep down, he couldn’t help getting nervous. Because he realized Fang Zheng’s circles were getting closer and closer to where he’d planted the second bomb...

Wait, there’s no way he could know. It has to be a coincidence! He’s just trying to bluff me—don’t panic, don’t panic!

That’s what he told himself inside, but Nakata Saburo’s gaze still couldn’t help following Fang Zheng’s finger as it slowly moved. The moment he saw Fang Zheng’s finger point at that exact spot, his unease and tension spiked to the limit—yet in the next second, he saw Fang Zheng’s finger slide past that location and move further down, and he instantly let out a mental sigh of relief.

See, he was bluffing. I’m not falling for it!

But just as Nakata Saburo was feeling all smug, Fang Zheng lowered his hand and turned to the officers beside him.

"Just as I thought—Teitan High School. Get the bomb squad over there to disarm it."

"No, impossible, how did you know?!"

Hearing this, Nakata Saburo’s eyes bulged. He couldn’t understand it at all—he literally hadn’t said a word, so how did they know he’d planted the bomb at Teitan High School?

"Because you told me, of course."

Fang Zheng swept a glance over Nakata Saburo, chuckled, and folded up the map.

"Alright, let’s head back to the Metropolitan Police Department. The pork cutlet rice there is great, and I’m sure everyone will give you a very ’warm’ welcome."

At those words, and seeing the cops around him practically burning with "enthusiasm," Nakata Saburo’s face went pale.

Once he got back, he was as good as dead. Sure, the police wouldn’t literally torture him, but Fang Zheng knew they had their own ways of dealing with guys like this. For example, they could toss him over to the "big bosses" in prison and have him pick up soap for them—enough to make Nakata Saburo wish he were dead. Given Japan’s criminal law, it’s not easy to get the death penalty, but for a criminal who targets cops like Nakata Saburo, making sure he ends up destroyed is child’s play.

So Nakata Saburo was "delivered" to the Metropolitan Police Department, while Fang Zheng drove Yoko Okino home. News had already come in from Teitan High School: the bomb had been successfully dismantled, no issues. You could say it was a happy ending for everyone.

"You really worked hard this time too, Miss Yoko."

Driving, Fang Zheng spoke, and Yoko Okino shook her head.

"No, it’s fine. Today’s experience left a very deep impression on me."

Here, Yoko Okino hesitated a little.

"To be honest, Mr. Fang Zheng, I always thought everyone at the Metropolitan Police Department would solve the case through that weird advance notice letter..."

That really was what she’d thought. After all, she’d only ever seen detective work before, and in the few impressions she had of the police, they mostly showed up to maintain order or film the crime scene... She’d assumed that if the police were going to solve a case, they’d definitely have to decipher that mysterious warning letter and dig clues out of it.

But it turned out Fang Zheng’s way wasn’t complicated at all—he just went straight at it head-on: pressure, raids, searches, investigations, interrogations...

"That’s everyday police work. It’s different from a detective."

"In novels and movies, those letters from the criminal always have hidden meanings, but reality is reality. We’re not going to pin the hope of solving a case on some random screwed-up warning note. What if the criminal just wrote it while having a psychotic episode? Or he deliberately wrote it to throw our investigation off? For a detective, that doesn’t really matter—if their reasoning’s wrong, then it’s wrong, worst-case they just ruin their own reputation. In the end, being a detective is just a hobby. But for the police, solving cases is a duty—we can’t afford that kind of mistake. Our job is to maintain public order and arrest criminals."

"Mm... I understand."

Yoko Okino nodded as well. She hadn’t slept at all the previous night, but she could vaguely sense the bond between the cops—that special camaraderie different from any other profession. Even though she’d only experienced one day of it, it left a strong impression on her.

But Fang Zheng’s next sentence left Yoko Okino utterly stunned.

"Anyway, I’ve decided to put the TV drama on hold for now."

"Eh? Why, Mr. Fang Zheng?"

Hearing this, Yoko Okino looked at Fang Zheng in surprise.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Of course not. Today’s ’audition’ was perfect—full marks. It’s just, I think... using this story for a TV drama would be a waste. Let’s turn it into a movie instead."

Fang Zheng chuckled.

"We’ll use this case as the theme and shoot a film, aim to release it within a year. You’ll be the female lead, so it might be tough on you."

"That’s no problem—please leave it to me, Mr. Fang Zheng!"

Yoko Okino was excited now too. For an actor, there’s nothing more dazzling than starring as the lead in a movie.

Fang Zheng had his own reasons as well. With Japan’s judicial process, this case definitely wouldn’t be fully wrapped up within a year. If he could get the movie shot and released within that timeframe, then besides riding the case’s popularity for ratings, he could also sway public opinion. As long as Fang Zheng portrayed the real Nakata Saburo in the film, it would stir up public outrage—by then, it would be hard for a jury not to give him the death penalty...

The only remaining problem was...

Just how long is "one year" in this world, anyway............