The single-occupancy office was quiet, punctuated only by the occasional sound of a mouse click.
Kanehara Noboru's expression gradually grew grave.
Numabuchi Kiichiro's confession, the investigation into the delivery service, the forensic examination of the cabin where Numabuchi was held, the surveillance footage outside the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, the investigation of the phone card, the vehicle traffic records...
The information provided by the Osaka Prefectural Police was as detailed as it could be.
They had even conducted investigations that weren't strictly necessary, likely because the Osaka Police were also curious about who had delivered Numabuchi Kiichiro to them.
Unfortunately, despite all this effort, not only were there no fingerprints or facial descriptions, but even the person's age remained unknown.
Even the voice on that "delivery call" seemed to have been deliberately altered.
This is a meticulous and cautious individual!
What puzzled Kanehara even more was: how did this person manage to get Numabuchi Kiichiro to cover for them?
Are they in cahoots with Numabuchi?
No, the bounty was issued randomly. It was very possible that a moment's difference could have meant the target wasn't Numabuchi but some other fugitive murderer.
Or was it just luck, and the two happened to have a connection?
But no matter how well they knew each other, Numabuchi being wanted meant he didn't want to be caught. He wouldn't cooperate with someone to send himself to prison just for a little bounty money, would he?
It doesn't make sense!
The young subordinate waiting by the side heard a notification sound on his phone. "Uh, sorry..."
"It's fine, check it. You're July's contact; maybe he's looking for you," Kanehara's expression softened slightly as he teased, but then he noticed the strange look on the young man's face. "What's wrong?"
The young man coughed lightly. "It's July. He sent an email saying the bounty for gathering criminal evidence is complete and asking where to send the materials..."
Kanehara fell silent.
Wait, let me get this straight...
The night before yesterday, July registered.Yesterday at noon, July captured Numabuchi Kiichiro and sent him to the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters.This morning, July has already completed the evidence-gathering bounty in Tokyo.
Leaving aside how he tracked Numabuchi Kiichiro down, Kanehara knew exactly how difficult the evidence-gathering mission was.
The target was extremely vigilant. In recent years, he rarely committed crimes personally. Even when he went out, his home and office were guarded. Unless they received a call, they wouldn't let anyone in.
The bounty requirement said "any criminal evidence will do" precisely because unless they conducted a forced search or an undercover operation, they couldn't get a single handle on him.
A forced search would be equivalent to breaking the tacit understanding maintained with the Inagawa-kai. The other side wouldn't just let themselves be "bullied" and would cause trouble. And if an undercover operation were discovered, it would give the other side leverage instead.
Using a bounty hunter meant they didn't have to be timid. After all, the hunter wasn't part of their system...
But for a bounty hunter codenamed July to find criminal evidence in less than a day?You've got to be kidding me!
The young man waited silently for his superior's instructions.
Kanehara snapped back to reality. "Tell him to send it to the National Police Agency. Send him my phone number, and by the way, tell him that if he's willing, we can meet and talk!"
"Yes." The young man replied, waited a moment, and checked the new email. "He says that besides the criminal evidence, he also has other intelligence. He'll send it together and let us increase the price based on its value."
Kanehara frowned. Price gouging?
No, if it were price gouging, he wouldn't send the material for us to see first. Whether we increase the price or not would still be up to us then, right?
Which means he has confidence in that intelligence?
"Agree to it. Change into inconspicuous clothes and monitor the area near the Agency! If you see July, don't startle him. If he discovers you, explain things to him with a sincere attitude. After all, since he's operating in Japan, we have no malice; we just want to grasp the basic situation."
The young man immediately straightened up. "Yes, sir!"
"By the way," Kanehara added, "send someone to the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Let them cover half the bounty for Numabuchi Kiichiro's capture. Although we issued the bounty, Numabuchi's three murder cases fall under their jurisdiction. Besides, they solved a case thanks to this."
"Cough, yes, sir!" The young man felt a subtle shift in mood.
Is he worried our budget isn't enough?
However, considering July's terrifying efficiency—like he was grinding for cash—it was actually possible he could deplete their funds...
After the young man left, Kanehara returned to the matters at hand.
They were responsible for the bounties, but since no formidable bounty hunters had been active in the past, the budget for bounties wasn't large—only about ten million yen kept as a formality.
He had to report this as soon as possible and explain the situation. If they had to terminate bounties due to lack of funds, or worse, if someone completed a bounty but they had no money to pay, it would be a national embarrassment. They would absolutely become a laughingstock both inside and outside the bounty hunter circle.
Also, once might be a coincidence, but twice?
This July was not simple. It was necessary to proactively report to the "Zero Group"!
After bustling about for nearly ten minutes, the phone rang.
The male voice on the other end was honest-sounding but tinged with a trace of nervousness. "Hello, we have delivered your package to the entrance of the National Police Agency. If you have time, please come down and pick it up."
Another delivery?
Kanehara began to suspect if July had some obsession with delivery services, or if he was actually hiding as a delivery worker?
Half an hour later, the two men went back upstairs.
This time, it really was a delivery service!
It seemed July had spotted a delivery truck stopped nearby. While the deliveryman wasn't paying attention, he secretly placed the sealed box into the truck and even filled out the delivery slip.
At least, under their probing, those two deliverymen really seemed to be just ordinary delivery workers...
"Asking him to deliver the items to the National Police Agency definitely aroused his suspicion. It's not surprising he guessed we went out early to wait for him," Kanehara put away the slight frustration in his heart. "Since he's unwilling to show his face, let's leave it for later. Confirm the items first."
On the packing box was a sticker:
[CONTAINS ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS AND FLAMMABLES. KEEP AWAY FROM WATER AND FIRE. DO NOT OPEN VIOLENTLY.]
The young man silently opened the box.
Kanehara waited silently.
Working in delivery?No! Why do we feel that...
This is actually just July's twisted sense of humor?
Inside the box, on top, was a transparent plastic bag with a printed note attached:
[US: Bloodstained clothes, a freshly dug-up skull with bullet holes and soil, and a gun with fingerprints.]
Kanehara's eyelid twitched. "He sent a gun via delivery service just like that?"
The young man nodded numbly.
This guy is bold. Isn't he afraid the gun might get lost during delivery and picked up by someone...
"Open it and take a look." Kanehara calmed down for a second, his expression turning strange again. "He got the guy's gun?"
The young man put on gloves, opened the seal, and took the items out. "Yes, there are also bloodstained clothes and a skull with bullet holes and soil, just as the note said. We can use the skull and gun for ballistic comparison. There are fingerprints on the gun. Even if we can't convict him immediately, we can open an investigation based on this. Possession of firearms is illegal in itself, plus the suspicion of murder. As for the bloodstained clothes, they seem to belong to the victim."
Kanehara rubbed his temples. Whether it matched the note wasn't the key point. The key was, how did that guy get his hands on someone else's gun?
Is that Inagawa-kai executive a fake?As a high-ranking member, to have such important items taken away by someone!
Moreover, the skull and bloodstained clothes were dug up...
If he had just told us the address, we could have gone to dig them up ourselves.Hmm... from this perspective, this July is truly conscientious!
"Mr. Kanehara, there's something else underneath." The young man took out a smaller plastic bag from below. He looked at it; sure enough, there was another printed note attached.
[ME: Very, very big intelligence. Requesting extra money.]
Definitely a twisted sense of humor!
Kanehara hypnotized himself to ignore the printed note. "Check it first. If even he says it's... very, very big intelligence, then it should be very important."
An hour later, the two rushed out.
The young man took the criminal evidence for comparison.
Kanehara took a memory card to report to his superiors and... apply for funding!
This intelligence was indeed very, very big.
With this intel, who needed criminal evidence, case filings, or investigations?
The location of the goods, the transaction site, the people involved—everything was there. They could set a trap if they wanted to fish, or strike preemptively if they preferred.
Plus, with the Inagawa-kai's development plans included, even though there would certainly be adjustments after the incident, the police could still deduce some of the opponent's thoughts and hidden strengths.
Kanehara began to suspect again: Is July a key member inside the Inagawa-kai? Otherwise, why could he record even their secret meetings?
Have the Inagawa-kai people become so lax that they don't check for bugs during important meetings?
By the way, the Fourth Investigation Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department will use this intelligence, so it shouldn't be a problem for their Criminal Investigation Bureau to pay part of the bounty...
3:00 PM.
After waking up and washing in the bathroom, Chi Feichi went to the living room and used his computer to check his anonymous foreign bank account online.
There was a new transfer: 7.5 million yen.
That was 4.5 million more than the original bounty.
Considering he only provided the information, while the verification and specific actions were left to them, the price was fair—perhaps even a bit high.
This time, he had farmed quite a bit of reputation and impression points with the National Police Agency. They had opened the bounty list to him.
The so-called bounty list was a wanted list, updated in real-time. It featured wanted criminals with bounties ranging from high to low, the lowest being only 50,000 yen.
Low bounties had their own advantages; the targets weren't difficult. Maybe one day he'd run into a wanted criminal just by going out, earning some pocket money in passing.
So, being a bounty hunter was also a job that tested one's eyesight. People with prosopagnosia need not apply...
"There's one protection bounty mission left..."
Chi Feichi considered it and decided to give it up.
He wasn't good at protecting people, and protection wasn't his "professional inclination."
Plus...
'Starting from May 19th, lasting for three days.'What is with this mission description!
What day is May 19th?
He wouldn't know until that day arrived, so it was impossible to prepare in advance.
Accepting bounties was inherently free. There was no need to specifically announce he was giving it up; he just wouldn't go when the time came.
He took out his phone and removed the second phone card he bought in Osaka.
Originally, he planned to keep one card to use when "delivering the package" to the National Police Agency. He hadn't expected to encounter a delivery truck on the way, so he didn't have to risk the trip himself, and this card went unused.
Keep it. There will be a use for it eventually