RNP Page 68
Page 68
"Looks like you've had quite a haul." O's voice was completely flat, as if stating a given fact. "Are you satisfied with the 'surprise' in the memory stick?"
Yuuki Takada's heart skipped a beat: "You've been spying on me all this time? You even know what I'm doing in the technical department right now?"
As he spoke, Yuuki Takada walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, and glanced outside.
It seems they didn't catch the other person's gaze.
"I advise you not to waste your energy."
“I know a lot about you,” O said calmly. “For example, you’re trying to track this signal right now, and if I’m not mistaken, you’re probably the number three in the Black Organization, right?”
Yuki Takada's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
The other party was fully aware of his actions, and even his position in the Black Organization.
This omnipresent feeling of being watched made him feel suffocated.
"What do you want?" Yuki Takada's voice was slightly dry, a trait he himself was unaware of.
“Cooperation, I’ve said it before.” O’s electronic voice seemed to carry a barely perceptible hint of amusement. “Sawai Yasunari, he’s from the rival Mishima family, and he’s always been against us. We’re thinking of dealing with him first…”
"So, you came to me to take him down?"
"You already have the evidence, don't you?"
“It just takes the right opportunity and the right person,” O said slowly. “Bringing him down will be a great achievement for you, cleaning house and avenging your dead colleagues.”
"For me, it's about clearing away an obstacle. The Mishima family has lost their protector at the highest level in the police force, making it much easier to dismantle them."
"And then you take advantage of the situation and take over their shady drug business?" Yuuki Takada said coldly.
"The business landscape is always in flux, Mr. Hennessy. It's inevitable."
O spoke casually, saying lightly, "The important thing is that in this process, you can get what you want—safety, and perhaps some initiative."
"Instead of being scrutinized by both the 'mole' within the police force and the organization, walking on thin ice as we are now."
These words struck a nerve with Yuki Takada.
He is now indeed on an extremely dangerous tightrope.
"How can I trust you? Even if we bring down Sawai, how can you guarantee the organization won't abandon us after we've served our purpose?"
"You don't have many options, Hennessy."
“This isn’t a game of trust; it’s an exchange of benefits.” O’s voice turned cold. “You do your job, and I’ll provide the ‘help’ I promised.”
"For example, without my 'anonymous report,' Section Chief Matsumoto Kiyoshi might already be a corpse. Or, for example, without my reminder, would you have thought to check the memory sticks so quickly?"
Yuki Takada fell silent.
The other party was indeed secretly pushing everything along, seemingly helping but actually holding all the strings in their hands.
“Remember, half of your 24-hour consideration period has already passed,” O concluded. “When you decide to take action, you might encounter some minor troubles. I will contact you again then. Have a pleasant evening….”
The call was disconnected, leaving only a busy tone.
Yuki Takada put down his phone, feeling a deep sense of exhaustion and immense pressure.
O is like a ghost, seeing through everything and manipulating the game.
He made multiple backups of the evidence, hiding them in different cloud and physical devices—a survival rule he learned in the organization.
He looked again at the hypocritical and greedy face of Yasunari Sawai on the computer screen, the police badge on his epaulets looking incredibly ironic.
Anger gradually overwhelmed the unease.
This person must pay the price.
But how do you do it?
Should we hand it over directly to Inspector Megure, or secretly consult with Section Chief Matsumoto?
They are trustworthy, but Yasunari Sawai's position is too high; if word gets out, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Hand it over to the media?
The risks are greater, and it could trigger a police upheaval, alerting the enemy.
Perhaps... we need to wait for an absolutely safe opportunity to strike decisively.
Chapter 91 Setting Up a Meeting
What Yuuki Takada can't figure out the most right now is who this person is and why he knows his title in the organization.
Who is the other party?
Putting aside the information we can glean from what he's said so far, the only thing we know is that he's a rival of the Mishima family. As for his hidden identity as 'Hennessy,' it's likely that he belongs to the same organization as him—the Black Organization.
But the fact that he dared to monitor Hennessy, the organization's third mission, clearly shows that he doesn't take me seriously.
Well then, since that's how it is, I'll play along with you.
Cold sweat trickled down his temples.
He walked to the window and carefully lifted a corner of the curtain again. Under the deep night sky, the neon lights of Tokyo were still flashing, but they could not illuminate the chill in his heart.
There were no sniper glares, no suspicious vehicles, but O's surveillance seemed to be an invisible net, omnipresent.
His gaze returned to the computer screen.
The hypocritical face of Deputy Director Sawai flickers in the video, as he engages in dirty deals with Yoshihiro Nakamura, even casually deciding the life and death of two outstanding colleagues.
The flames of anger once again overwhelmed his inner fear, scorching his reason.
Recalling the desperate look in the eyes of the white-clad technician Yamamoto before his death, and the unfinished accusations written in blood, we must not let them go to waste.
O is right, he is indeed in a precarious situation.
There's a powerful hand at the police station—Yasunari Sawai—who could take action at any moment.
At present, cooperating with the other party to bring down Yasunari Sawai seems to be the only option to break the deadlock and even gain a glimmer of hope and initiative.
But this cooperation is undoubtedly like seeking a tiger's skin.
Their goal is definitely not just to bring down Yasunari Sawai; what they really want is to let more drugs flow into the streets, bringing more crime and broken families.
Yuki Takada was caught in a deep struggle.
Time passed by minute by minute.
O only gave 24 hours, and half of them have already passed.
He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
He sat back down at his computer and processed the evidence he had obtained again.
Not only did he make backups, but he also used technical means to fragment and encrypt some of the videos and financial records to ensure that even if he handed over a portion, he would still have the core key evidence in his hands, especially the video that directly showed Sawai ordering the murder of his colleague.
This is a bargaining chip he might use to counter O in the future, or at least to protect himself.
Then, he took out the rarely used, encrypted phone belonging to the "Hennessy" organization.
This phone is completely separate from the police phone he uses daily.
He turned on the computer, and the screen lit up with a dim light.
He then sent Shirley a text message, asking her to help him find out who O was.
Yuuki Takada stared into thought as he looked at the phone number provided by O in front of him.
Once he dials the number preset according to O's instructions, it means he has taken a step with no turning back.
But now, Yuki Takada has no other choice.
My finger hovered over the dial key for a full ten seconds before finally pressing it down.
The call was answered almost instantly, as if the person on the other end had been waiting.
"It seems you've made a wise decision, Mr. Hennessy." It was still that processed, cold electronic voice, devoid of any emotion.
Yuki Takada cut to the chase without mincing words, his voice deliberately low, carrying the cold indifference typical of members of the organization: "Target, Yasunari Sawai. I have obtained the evidence."
"What is your plan?" Yuki Takada tried to steer the conversation toward the execution level, avoiding getting too involved himself, while also testing O's intentions and control.
“Very efficient.” O seemed to chuckle, but the electronic voice made the laughter sound particularly eerie. “The plan is simple. Tomorrow at 10 a.m., there will be an emergency internal meeting of the Metropolitan Police Department’s senior management regarding the recent series of incidents. Yasunari Sawai will be attending.”
"What you need to do is make sure that this evidence is presented to all attendees at the most crucial moment of the meeting."
Yuuki Takada felt a chill run down his spine.
How can O know the meeting schedules of even the highest-ranking officials within the Metropolitan Police Department so clearly?!
"An internal meeting? Security is tight, how can I possibly do that? Send it via the internet? It's easy for the technical department to track or even intercept it." Yuki Takada raised a technical challenge, which was both a practical difficulty and a way to test what kind of support O would provide and the limits of its capabilities.
"You don't need to worry about technical issues."
"At that time, the projection system in the conference room will have a brief window for external signal access that cannot be cut off from the inside."
"All you need to do is send your prepared 'surprise' to this frequency at the exact time..." O recited a string of complex encrypted code. "The window is only fifteen seconds. Missing it, or sending it too early or too late, will result in failure. And the consequences of failure, I think you and I both know."
Yuki Takada quickly wrote down the code.
O's abilities far exceeded his imagination; he was even able to hack into the security system of the Metropolitan Police Department's highest-level meetings.
This requires extremely high-level internal cooperation, or top-tier, terrifying hacking skills. Either way, it's chilling.
"Timing? What is the most crucial moment?" Yuki Takada pressed for details.
"The best time will be when Yasunari Sawai starts speaking, trying to steer the investigation toward the wrong conclusions, and preparing to put pressure on Section Chief Kiyoshi Matsumoto's department. I will give you a signal then," O replied, the specificity of his information once again demonstrating his thorough understanding of the police department's internal dynamics.
Yuki Takada paused for a moment.
O seems to have planned everything perfectly, and he himself is more like a manipulated tool.
This feeling was terrible. Yuuki Takada was at a disadvantage and had to try to fight back, even if only verbally, to try and pry out some information about his O identity.
“Understood.” Takada Yuuki said in a deep voice, then his tone suddenly changed, carrying a hint of displeasure. He spoke coldly, his voice betraying his suspicion and provocation of the unidentified person: “But, O… or should I address you differently? Now that you know so much about me, shouldn’t you show some ‘sincerity’?”
“At least tell me why you know about Hennessy, and... Sherry? This seems to go beyond the basis of trust in a normal collaboration.”
There was a silence of about two seconds on the other end of the phone, with only an electronic voice simulating an extremely faint hissing sound of electricity.
"Are you seeking security, Mr. Hennessy? Or perhaps, Inspector Takada?" O's voice remained calm, but it seemed to carry an indescribable undertone. "Do you believe that knowing my identity will give you leverage in negotiations or retaliation someday in the future?"
"I just don't want to cooperate with a completely unknown ghost. That's not in line with the organization's style." Yuuki Takada forced himself to remain calm, using the organization's rules to disguise his probing.