Chapter 625: Cabinet MeetingFollowing the murders of Tanaka Hiros.h.i.+ of the Metropolitan Police Department and Okamura Neji of the Ri Nation bank—the Minister of Defence, Inada Homi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, f.u.kuda Yos.h.i.+, worried for their safety. They feared that they would be the next.
The Ri Nation media paid close attention to the series of a.s.sa.s.sinations, and there was endless coverage in the news. The media dubbed Xiao Luo the “Thousand-Faced Killer,” and that name was on the headlines of every single news media in the country. The Ri Nation was in a state of emergency.
“Idiots! Is the government eating sh*t? Can"t they even catch a murderer?”
“Multiple government officials are being a.s.sa.s.sinated. How embarra.s.sing.”
“I smell some conspiracy going on here! It seems like all these people that were killed are somehow linked. Are these murders related to the cases of the missing Hua Nation citizens that have been the talk of the town recently?”
“Hurry and catch the murderer! Apply the strictest and most cruel method used in ancient Ri Nation and torture the murderer to death.”
“If the police cannot handle it, then activate the Self-Defense Force. If the military and police work together, I am sure they will catch that G.o.d d.a.m.n Hua Nation man, Xiao Han.”
“You can"t let him escape. Catch him and execute him!”
Many Ri Nation netizens left comments on the internet. Xiao Luo, or more precisely, Xiao Han, had already become public enemy number one in the Ri Nation. It would satisfy a lot of them if he got killed.
[Cabinet Office in the Ri Nation]
The Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure & Transport, the Minister of Economy, Trade & Industry—and many more sat in the meeting room. There were over a dozen cabinet members gathered there. All of them were well-dressed and sat up straight in their chairs with anxious looks on their faces. None of them moved, and they looked like a collection of statues.
It was not until a man, with a flabby face and s.h.i.+ny hair hat was combed backward, walked in that these ministers stood up and bowed to show their respect.
It was none other than the Prime Minister of the Ri Nation, Anbei s.h.i.+nzo!
BAM!
Anbei threw the folder in his hands on the table and stared glumly at the Vice-President, Kuroda Kiyotaka, a man with a bearded face.
“Kuroda Kiyotaka, are you aware of the crimes you have committed?” Anbei yelled. His voice was so loud that it almost sounded like a lion"s roar.
Every single cabinet minister present that day had a host of questions in their head. They wondered if there would be a discussion on how they would deal with that man, Xiao Han—the master of disguises, who had earned the moniker “Thousand-Faced Killer.” But why did the Prime Minister only direct that question at Kuroda Kiyotaka as soon as he walked in?
“Mr. Anbei, may I ask, exactly what crimes have I committed?” Kuroda Kiyotaka took off the round gla.s.ses he wore. Then he took out a cleaning cloth and calmly cleaned his lenses.
“You fool, are you trying to feign ignorance even at this point? Alright, I"ll let you understand then.”
Anbei pointed at him angrily and announced, “Signing a private agreement with Mei officials to build a genetic engineering research facility deep inside our Ri Nation"s sacred mountain. Specifically selecting the Hua Nation citizens, Koreans, Vietnamese in the Ri Nation as test subjects, and conducting a series of inhumane genetical experiments on these human beings. You turned them into unrecognizable monsters. These are your crimes!”
What?
Genetic engineering research facility?
Were the tremors that happened a few days ago at the sacred mountain caused by this research facility?
It surprised every minister who was present when they heard what the Prime Minister had just declared. They all turned their heads to look at Kuroda Kiyotaka and waited for him to give them a proper explanation.
Kuroda Kiyotaka laughed and said, “Mr. Anbei, I admire your imagination, but do you have any evidence to prove that I have built that research facility? If you do not, then what you are doing is merely framing me. It"s defamation.”
“You want evidence? Alright, I will give it to you!”
Anbei responded to him confidently, and immediately shouted, “Second Division Sergeant Major, Ueto s.h.i.+rokawa, come in!”
BAM.
The door to the meeting room opened. A man in military uniform marched into the room energetically with a straight posture.
He stepped smartly toward the cabinet ministers and greeted them with a military salute, then introduced himself in a loud, clear voice. “Greetings to all the cabinet ministers here. I am the Sergeant Major of Second Division, Ri nation Self-Defense Force. My name is Ueto s.h.i.+rokawa,” he said.
As soon as he walked in, Kuroda Kiyotaka"s expression changed. The calm composure that he had displayed earlier on vanished from his face.
“Ueto s.h.i.+rokawa, let everyone know what Kuroda Kiyotaka made you do!” Anbei requested.
“Yes, Sir!”
Ueto s.h.i.+rokawa nodded his head and continued, “In the early morning on the 16th, I followed Kuroda Kiyotaka"s order, and brought my subordinates with me to the sacred mountain to blow up the genetic engineering research facility that was located deep inside the sacred mountain. We buried it under rock and soil, leaving no evidence behind.”
“Are you sure that Kuroda Kiyotaka was the one who gave you that order?” Anbei asked with his hands behind his back.
“Yes, I have a recording here. I recorded the entire conversation that I had with Kuroda Kiyotaka,” Ueto s.h.i.+rakawa replied, then took out a pen recorder from his pocket, and handed it to Anbei.
Anbei took it and pressed the play b.u.t.ton. In the now silent meeting room, they could hear the audio playback from the pen recorder. There were two voices in the conversation. One of them belonged to Kuroda Kiyotaka, and the other was Ueto s.h.i.+rokawa. The content of that recording was the conversation that both of them had.
“Kuroda Kiyotaka reminded me repeatedly that I had to tell everyone that this was a secret military activity to prevent the citizens from suspecting…”
BAM!
Before Ueto s.h.i.+rokawa could finish his sentence, Kuroda Kiyotaka had his gla.s.ses on and slammed his hands on the table. He stood up and glared furiously at the sergeant major. “You fool, Ueto s.h.i.+rokawa, how dare you betray me!” he shouted.
“I am only loyal to our Prime Minister and our country!” Ueto s.h.i.+rokawa replied with a stern look on his face.
“What loyalty? Aren"t you just one of Anbei"s dogs? I can only blame myself for being so blind that I could not see you for what you are. I even treated you as a trusted ally. Ueto s.h.i.+rokawa, you will die a horrible death eventually!” screamed Kuroda Kiyotaka as he lost control of his emotions. He was so angry that his veins started popping out of his forehead.
Ueto s.h.i.+rokawa had a wry smile on his face. “I do not know if I will die a horrible death, but I know that Mr. Kuroda will die before me!” he replied.
“You…”
Kuroda Kiyotaka was so angry that he gritted his teeth and breathed heavily.
“Send someone over!” Anbei spoke suddenly.
BAM!
The meeting room door swung open once again, and two muscular men in black outfits marched into the room in unison.
“Take Kuroda Kiyotaka into custody and let the Supreme Court of Ri Nation deal with him,” ordered Anbei.
“Understood!”
The two muscular men had menacing looks on their faces. They walked right up to Kuroda Kiyotaka and restrained him, before dragging him out of the meeting room. They completely ignored all the screaming that was come from him.
After they had taken Kuroda Kiyotaka out, every one of the cabinet ministers sat up straight. It was very clear that Anbei was making use of this opportunity to eliminate his rivals. He had been low key about the matter when there was no incident, but now that something had occurred, he took drastic actions.
“There are ten people, including Kuroda Kiyotaka, involved in the genetic engineering project. Six of them are already dead. Now, only four remain. Other than Kuroda Kiyotaka, we have already confirmed the ident.i.ty of the other three. They are the Governor of Dongjing, Koizumi Junichiro; a Ri Nation tyc.o.o.n, Takahara Kei; and the Minister of Land, Infrastructure & Transport, Oi Ichiro.”
After Anbei read out the names, he looked at the Minister of Land, Infrastructure & Transport, Oi Ichiro, who was also present at that meeting.
Oi Ichiro was so nervous that he was trembling and broke out in a cold sweat. “Mr. Anbei, I… I…”
“You don"t have to explain. I know that Kuroda Kiyotaka must have brainwashed you, right?” Anbei said while raising his hand.
“Yes, yes, Mr. Anbei. He brainwashed me! The genetic engineering research project was completely inhumane. And what is important is that he even hid it from you, Mr. Anbei. That is simply unacceptable!” To protect himself, Oi Ichiro quickly pushed all the blame to Kuroda Kiyotaka.