SCIAW: Chapter 450/451

Chapter 450: Being Used as a Pawn

Several Inspectors explained their impressions of cases where victims had died under suspicious circumstances, including some powerful figures from conglomerates and political authorities.

There were quite a number of cases with problematic deaths, scattered across various regions, making them difficult to connect.

Moreover, some cases had not been treated as cold cases but were hastily closed.

Of course, the Inspectors who raised their hands categorized all cases without clear culprits as cold cases.

"It seems that some matters are indeed connected to Shirohato Pharmaceutical."

First, there were many cold cases, and now it was revealed that Shirohato Pharmaceutical frequently used special drugs to assassinate targets as part of drug experiments.

Some things might not have seemed related at first, but once a suspect emerged, it became highly probable that many cold cases were closely linked to this suspect.

Superintendent General Hakuba also had experience in this area.

Although it was only suspicion for now, if they investigated in this direction, they would be able to uncover some clues and evidence.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

Matsumoto returned once again, this time holding a disk in his hand.

"Superintendent General Hakuba, the frontline investigators found a disk in the laboratory of Shirohato Pharmaceutical, suspected to be left behind by the mastermind of this incident."

Matsumoto revealed the side of the disk with writing on it.

It clearly stated: A gift for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

Hakuba raised an eyebrow. It was now clear that Shirohato Pharmaceutical had been used as a pawn.

"Play it."

Matsumoto nodded slightly and displayed the contents of the disk.

There were many files inside.

Several of them were particularly noteworthy.

"APTX4869 Material Ratio", "Drug Usage List", and "APTX Special Experiment Records".

All of them were related to Shirohato Pharmaceutical's drug research.

Hakuba frowned.

"Inspector Matsumoto, open the Drug Usage List."

"Yes."

Matsumoto quickly opened the file.

A list appeared on the large screen, with photos on the left, names in the middle, and the time of drug use on the far right.

It displayed a series of names, followed by detailed personal identification information.

Hakuba slowly exhaled. Looking at the list, he shook his head.

"It seems we won't need to conduct a very complex investigation. By following this drug usage list, we should be able to uncover the full extent of what Shirohato Pharmaceutical has been doing behind the scenes."

"Superintendent Toshiro Odagiri, you will take over this data."

Hakuba glanced at Toshiro, who immediately understood and nodded.

"Yes."

Then, Hakuba summarized the discussion.

"Afterward, send that list to all the Inspectors. Next, you will need to confirm the identity and case details of everyone on it."

"In one week, I need a detailed report."

"Commissioner Moroboshi, regarding the issue of personnel reduction in this unit, I will leave the matter to you."

Moroboshi, whose name was called, nodded slightly.

"Then, today's meeting is adjourned."

"Superintendent Toshiro, once you've handled these matters, come to my office."

The meeting of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's high command concluded here.

Toshiro returned to his office and extracted the data from the disk to review it.

"Indeed."

His expression instantly became grave.

"Shirohato Pharmaceutical is actually a base for that organization."

"Looking at it this way, this incident was most likely aimed at that organization. Otherwise, such data wouldn't have been left behind."

Toshiro looked at "APTX4869 Material Ratio."

He was not a professional in this field and did not understand the ratios, but the number of listed materials was enormous, and the long string of chemical names gave him a headache.

"This is…!?"

Upon seeing "APTX Special Experiment Records" further down, Toshiro nearly jumped from his seat.

The internal file was a video, a full record of the experiment.

The footage focused on a white mouse.

When a tube of medicine was injected into its body, the mouse clearly showed signs of shrinking.

A string of text records detailed the specific situation.

"Through the drug, cells were induced to self-destruct, thereby regressing the adult mouse to its infant stage."

This video and text record sent chills down Toshiro's spine.

"Through the drug, it transformed from an adult stage to an infant stage."

A phrase popped into his mind.

"Rejuvenation."

This experiment practically revealed the purpose of the drug research.

The phenomenon of adult mice turning infantile meant that the same could potentially happen to humans.

"That's why so many drug experiments were conducted, just to confirm whether the drug would induce signs of rejuvenation."

"The reason people died is because most cannot withstand the self-destructive cellular breakdown caused by the drug. If this drug promotes cell suicide, then it wouldn't directly cause toxic reactions. It is a trigger for cellular destruction, not a toxin targeting proteins."

"The purpose of that organization has finally been confirmed, with clear evidence."

Toshiro could imagine that once this part of the data was exposed, that organization would attract even greater attention.

The existence of this drug would change many dynamics.

If it were successfully developed and had the same effect on humans, it would definitely become an object of contention among nations.

Toshiro looked at the data on the screen with a complicated expression.

"This is both a great gift and a hot potato."

"That organization must already know what happened at Shirohato Pharmaceutical. They will even know that the Police obtained this data from the laboratory."

Toshiro lowered his head, his expression dark and conflicted.

He realized even more clearly that the mastermind had used the Police, deliberately pushing them into direct opposition with that organization.

"So, is Officer Miwako's informant problematic?"

(To be continued.)

Chapter 451: Suspicion

"Hm?"

A mysterious spiritual fluctuation occurred.

Ren's eyebrow twitched, and he pressed his fingertip to his glabella, divining with his spirituality.

What was that spiritual fluctuation just now?

After losing a portion of his spirituality, a scene appeared in his mind: a tall, mustachioed man sitting in an office, staring at a computer screen that displayed the word APTX.

Ren then smiled.

So, they're suspecting me, huh?

This outcome wasn't unexpected. Those Police officers, after all, were elites, different from the ordinary lower-level ones.

"My Lord?"

"Hm?"

Ren looked up and noticed Akemi's worried expression. She couldn't help but ask anxiously:

"You've been frowning just now. Did something happen?"

"It's nothing major, just got suspected by an Inspector from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department," Ren said casually. But Akemi's worry deepened, and even Miwako looked just as concerned.

"You were suspected?" Miwako asked after a moment of silence.

Ren nodded slightly.

"Ultimately, this whole incident was too deliberate. But it's not a big problem. That Inspector just suspected me. His suspicion will quickly shift. After all, compared to me, who has helped the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the situation with that organization is far more suspicious. They can even create drugs that cause de-aging, and they have a clear list of drug users."

"His suspicion of me is actually just because those guards, corrupted by the darkness, went mad. He believes the Police were used as pawns, that someone targeted that organization and used hallucinogenic drugs behind the scenes, which led to such heavy casualties in this operation."

"But what I'm more curious about is what exactly happened with that action squad."

"How could a heavily armed unit suffer such severe casualties against a group of unarmed thugs?"

Initially, Ren hadn't divined about this one-sided massacre.

Because he knew very well that forty heavily armed troops facing thirteen extraordinary individuals, roughly equivalent to Sequence 9 of the Warrior pathway, should have been a one-sided slaughter—obviously, the heavily armed squad would wipe them out.

But how could he have known that the members of that squad would be so incompetent? It was clearly supposed to be a massacre, yet they still managed to make it so miserable.

To be honest, for such a simple operation to turn into such a lopsided outcome made Ren wonder if his predictions had gone awry.

Miwako also felt strange, so she asked, "Did those guards, affected by the power, have any special physical abilities?"

This made Ren look at Miwako strangely.

"At best, those guards were roughly at the level of a Sequence 9 from the Warrior pathway. That's because the corruption made them unlock their body's limiters, almost by a self-destructive method of squeezing out power."

"But their physical abilities weren't so exaggerated as to be bulletproof. Otherwise, they wouldn't have dwindled from 214 to 13 during their infighting."

"The squad members were all carrying assault rifles. A single magazine volley should have solved the problem. Even if those guards were fearless of pain due to adrenaline surges, they weren't immortal."

So, regarding these results, even Ren was quite perplexed.

This was the first time he had stumbled so badly in his area of expertise.

Miwako also found it odd.

At least from Ren's deduction, she could tell his prediction was definitely correct.

Forty well-trained squad members, all armed, facing thirteen maddened guards—that was a 3-to-1 ratio. There was no way they should have lost. Not to mention no casualties, at most, only some minor injuries to the front-line members should have happened.

"I don't know either…" Miwako admitted. She couldn't understand why the squad had been so incompetent.

Seeing that Miwako didn't understand either, Ren shook his head.

"Forget it, let this matter pass."

He didn't want to think too much about such a disappointing outcome.

He could only say that if they were warned and still performed so poorly, it truly wasn't his problem.

"Miyano Akemi, you need to move your sister to a different place to live."

"Also, regarding your and your sister's future choices."

Akemi and Shiho immediately focused their attention.

"With what has happened, that organization, and even the Police, will start searching for you. You now need to create new identities and completely different faces."

"Of course, neither changing faces nor identities is particularly difficult to achieve."

"As for faces, you don't need plastic surgery. You just need extraordinary items to alter your known appearance. However, this means you must always carry that item, never taking it off, no matter what."

"So, what form do you want this extraordinary item to take?"

"Earrings," Shiho replied after some thought.

Ren nodded slightly, then looked at Akemi.

"I'm the same as Shiho."

Akemi also didn't choose anything else. Earrings, just like her sister, would be fine.

"Then let's leave it at that for now. Today, you two will come to my place first. Then we'll arrange everything properly. Your sister also needs time to sort out the situation."

Akemi glanced at her still mostly bewildered sister and nodded slightly. "If it's not too much trouble for Lord God, then I'll trouble you."

Ren nodded slightly. "Today is for rest. Your sister needs time to adapt, and she needs your explanation. We'll discuss everything else tomorrow."

Having decided on the two sisters' matters, Ren then looked at Miwako.

"Miwako, when you go back today, you'll probably face some inquiries. You'll need to be careful from now on."

"I understand."

Miwako naturally understood that there would be an investigation after today. She had provided the information, and with this incident, she would definitely be questioned.

Of course, she also needed to investigate the matter of that squad.

She needed to understand exactly how such an absurd situation occurred.

(To be continued.)