"Are we doing this or not? Give me a straight answer!" Kuroiwa, a large, bald man with thick eyebrows, stomped his foot in impatience.
"Damn it, I've already set everything up. The moment the shipment arrives in the country, it gets delivered." Nishimoto, a man with spiky hair and a vicious expression, pulled a gleaming dagger from his coat and pressed it against Mr. Aso's throat. "If you screw this up on your end, how am I supposed to explain it to the buyer?"
The atmosphere in the Aso family living room was so oppressive it felt as if the air itself might liquefy. The dim, yellow lighting cast shadows across the faces of the four intruders—Village Chief Kameyama and his cohorts—making their twisted expressions look even more hideous.
Mr. Aso looked at the four men before him. They were friends he had known for years, yet now they felt like complete strangers. His voice trembled as he tried to reason with them.
"Please, don't go further down this wrong path. Drug trafficking is a sin against heaven. It won't just destroy us; it will ruin the lives of countless innocent people. Even if we make money from this, could we really spend it with a clear conscience?"
The bald Kuroiwa was already burning with rage over Mr. Aso's hesitation. Hearing him try to persuade them to abandon the plan made the fat on Kuroiwa's face quiver with fury.
"Keiji, don't be ungrateful! Do you have any idea how long we've been preparing for this? How much blood and sweat we've poured into this plan? And now you say you're quitting?"
"Do you think this is a game of house? You must agree to help us today, otherwise, don't blame me for getting nasty!"
Mr. Aso was not cowed by the intimidation. Instead, he chose to continue his plea. "We are all men with families. Think of your wives and children. It's not too late to turn back now!"
Village Chief Kameyama's patience finally snapped. His face darkened as he shoved the spiky-haired Nishimoto aside, grabbed Mr. Aso by the collar, and threatened him viciously.
"If you don't cooperate, I'll kill your wife and daughter first. Then I'll go to Tokyo and finish off that sickly son of yours! I'll show you exactly what happens to those who betray us!"
Beside them, Kawashima, whose eyes held a sinister gloom, stroked his chin and spoke in a slow, deliberate tone. "I have an idea. Why don't we detain Keiji's wife and daughter as hostages? That way, he'll be too afraid of the consequences to resist. He'll have to obediently follow our orders and handle the drugs for us."
Nishimoto, the spiky-haired man, immediately frowned. "No! Seiji is still in the hospital in Tokyo. Even if his wife and daughter are gone, this guy still has a son."
"If we push him too far and he flees Moonlight Island to call the police, what then? We'll all be finished. The risk is too high!"
At this point, the bald Kuroiwa urged them impatiently, "Stop yapping! Make a decision, fast! Time isn't waiting for us. If we drag this out any longer and someone spots us, we're done for!"
While the four men argued fiercely, exchanging heated words, Hayashi Shuichi, who had been hiding outside, carefully slipped into the Aso residence through a hallway window.
He didn't head immediately for the living room. Instead, he moved stealthily toward the kitchen, intending to find something to defend himself with first.
The kitchen lights were off, leaving the room in darkness. Shuichi fumbled around, guided only by the moonlight filtering in through the window.
Back in the living room, after a fierce debate, Village Chief Kameyama finally gritted his teeth. A ruthless expression overtook his face as he spoke with venomous finality.
"In for a penny, in for a pound. Let's just burn down Keiji's house. We'll burn the couple and their daughter to death right here."
"That way, there will be no one left to leak our secrets, and we won't have to worry about him going to the police."
"As for the drug shipment... we'll have to abandon it for now and figure something out later."
Although the other three hesitated, the thought of the severe consequences if the plot were exposed made them nod silently in agreement.
Mr. Aso's face instantly turned deathly pale, as if all strength had been drained from his body.
He trembled, his eyes filled with pleading desperation. "Kameyama, for the sake of our friendship all these years, please let my daughter go. She's still so small... she doesn't know anything."
Village Chief Kameyama's face showed not a shred of mercy. "Save your breath. You brought this on yourself! No one can save your family today!"
The bald Kuroiwa headed toward the kitchen to find some cooking oil to start the fire.
He walked into the kitchen and flipped the light switch. The harsh, sudden glare instantly illuminated the entire room.
Before Kuroiwa's eyes could adjust to the sudden brightness, he saw Hayashi Shuichi standing there, gripping a kitchen knife.
Just as he opened his mouth to shout, Shuichi lunged forward in a blur of motion, slamming the heavy handle of the knife hard against Kuroiwa's head.
Kuroiwa's vision went black. A sharp pain shot through his skull, and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
In the living room, the spiky-haired Nishimoto waited for quite a while. Seeing that Kuroiwa still hadn't returned, he muttered curses under his breath. "That moron. He's so slow just finding some oil. He's going to ruin everything!"
Still cursing, he walked toward the kitchen.
Hayashi Shuichi was already lying in wait by the kitchen door. The moment Nishimoto stepped inside, before he could even react, Shuichi struck again, bringing the knife handle down on his head.
The spiky-haired man felt a buzzing in his brain as stars danced before his eyes. His body swayed, crashing heavily into a nearby shelf.
Crash! Clang!
The pots and pans on the shelf clattered to the floor, creating a chaotic din.
Shit! Shuichi cursed silently. He immediately threw open the window and vaulted out.
The commotion in the kitchen startled Village Chief Kameyama and Kawashima in the living room.
Their nerves, already pulled tight, snapped into high tension. They exchanged a glance, seeing the unease reflected in each other's faces.
Kawashima pulled a pistol from his pocket, gripping it tightly, while Village Chief Kameyama grabbed a chair.
cautiously, one behind the other, they moved toward the kitchen.
Kawashima reached the doorway and saw Nishimoto and Kuroiwa lying on the floor. His face went pale with shock. "Damn it, there's someone else in the house!"
Just as Village Chief Kameyama was about to speak, he suddenly felt a sharp, agonizing pain on the top of his head.
It was Hayashi Shuichi. After fleeing, he had climbed back in through the hallway window, circled behind them, and smashed the back of the knife heavily onto the Village Chief's skull.
Kameyama stumbled, and the chair in his hands fell to the floor with a dull thud.
Hearing the noise behind him, Kawashima didn't think—he spun around and fired his pistol at Shuichi.
But he hadn't expected Shuichi to be so fast. Shuichi had already grabbed Kameyama and pulled him in as a human shield.
At a distance of just over two meters, the bullet struck Village Chief Kameyama squarely in the chest. He let out a wretched scream, his body swayed for a moment, and then he collapsed to the ground, convulsing.
Kawashima was struck with panic, realizing he had accidentally shot the Village Chief.
In that split second of distraction, a streak of cold light flashed through the air. Shuichi had hurled the kitchen knife.
The blade traced an arc through the air and buried itself in Kawashima's chest. He screamed as he fell, the pistol dropping from his hand.
Shuichi moved in quickly. He scooped up the pistol from the floor and, after confirming that none of the four men in the kitchen had the ability to fight back, headed toward the living room.
When Mr. Aso saw Hayashi Shuichi appear, he noticed the bloodstains on the young man's chest and froze in shock. "You... this..."
Shuichi briefly introduced himself. "Mr. Aso, I am Hayashi Shuichi, an investigative consultant for the Metropolitan Police Department's First Division. I came to the island specifically to investigate the drug trafficking plot orchestrated by Kameyama and these men."
Hearing this, Mr. Aso's heart tightened, and he asked hurriedly, "That philanthropist who was willing to donate money for Seiji's treatment... is that real? Please, tell me the truth. Seiji's illness can't wait any longer."
Shuichi looked into Mr. Aso's anxious eyes and answered with sincerity, "Rest assured, everything I told you before was the truth. Once this matter is settled, you can go to the Beika Central Hospital and seek out Miss Tomizawa..."
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