Chapter 165: Investigation

After all the guests had left, only the servants who were cleaning the dishes and tidying up remained, finishing the last of the clean-up work.

By around midnight, even the servants had gone to their rooms to rest, and the mansion returned to its usual quiet.

After spending more than two hours hidden in a room, Ayano Eiko took the gun in her hand and quietly walked up to the third floor, heading toward the study where she had previously eavesdropped.

Noticing that no light was coming from under the door, she pressed her ear against it, but after a while, she didn’t hear anyone speaking.

Had they left? After considering this, she finally turned the door handle.

Upon confirming that there was no sound inside, she slowly opened the door and stepped in.

However, as soon as she entered, she immediately felt two cold objects pressed against both sides of her forehead.

“Don’t move.” A male voice echoed in her ears.

Ayano Eiko’s heart sank.

Soon, the P5 gun in her hand was snatched away by the man on her left.

At that moment, Ikeyama Toshi, still dressed in a formal suit, walked out of the study with a tall middle-aged man.

Looking at Ayano Eiko, now restrained by his men, Ikeyama Toshi smirked proudly. “What an unexpected guest.”

“How did you know I would come back?” Ayano Eiko calmly stared at the current Tokyo Governor, whose face disgusted her.

“To be honest, I was surprised you came back. Actually, when you were eavesdropping outside the study, a miniature camera installed in the house had already captured your actions. When my men reported to me, I was about to send someone to capture you. But I never expected you’d return on your own, which saved us a lot of trouble.”

“If I went missing, someone would definitely come here to investigate. No matter what, I’m a police inspector at the Metropolitan Police Department, not one of those illegal immigrants who’d be unnoticed if taken.” Ayano Eiko replied coldly.

“Oh, it seems you know a lot. In that case, we can’t afford to keep you alive. However, if you reveal the identities of the people who provided you with information, maybe you’ll suffer less. As for the investigation, you don’t need to worry. Your boyfriend, who’s also a police inspector, will vouch that you came home on your own.”

Ikeyama Toshi licked his lips like a bloodthirsty wolf.

Upon hearing this, Ayano Eiko was even more certain that these people were involved in the experiments.

At that moment, the tall middle-aged man who had remained silent suddenly interjected, “Enough talking, let’s just finish this. There’s been enough trouble tonight.”

“Understood, Mr. Eguchi.” After replying to the man beside him, Ikeyama Toshi then turned to the man on Ayano Eiko’s right and ordered, “Handcuff her.”

The man quickly took out a pair of handcuffs and restrained her hands.

Ikeyama Toshi walked over to a large bookshelf, then turned back to Ayano Eiko and said, “Haven’t you always wanted to know the truth? I’ll grant your wish now.”

With that, he pulled out the two leftmost books from the center of the shelf and pressed something inside.

As he withdrew his hand, the bookshelf suddenly slid open about a meter, revealing a short track hidden underneath. Once the bookshelf moved, Ayano Eiko saw a door-sized outline on the wall.

Ikeyama Toshi pushed the door with force, revealing that it was, indeed, a door.

Ikeyama Toshi and the man entered first, with two identical bodyguard-like men forcing Ayano Eiko to follow them inside.

Once inside, Ayano Eiko was surprised to find an elevator.

As they entered the elevator, Ikeyama Toshi turned to her and said, “This is my private passage. When this house was designed, I specifically left space to install this elevator. Of course, without precise measurements, you wouldn’t be able to find it from the outside. So, even if you searched the entire house, you wouldn’t have been able to find this.”

As he spoke, he stared at Ayano Eiko’s chest with a lecherous gaze.

Though disgusted by his gaze, Ayano Eiko said nothing.

The elevator quickly reached the bottom floor. When the doors opened, Ayano Eiko saw a heavy iron door in front of her.

Ikeyama Toshi, the Tokyo Governor, pressed a few numbers on the keypad beside the iron door, and it quickly opened automatically.

“Although you’re not the first woman to come here, you are the first police officer.”

“I don’t feel the slightest bit honored.”

“That’s such a pity.”

After stepping inside the iron door, Ayano Eiko found the room much larger than she had imagined. It was nearly the size of an entire basketball court. And this was just one room—she couldn’t even guess what the other rooms were like. The floor-to-ceiling height was almost three meters, and several large light tubes hanging from the ceiling illuminated the entire place, making it as bright as daylight.

She could clearly see that the room was filled with all kinds of equipment and instruments, many of which she couldn’t even name. Some were only half a meter tall, while others almost reached the ceiling. Despite the large number of devices, everything was arranged neatly, not chaotic at all.

Perhaps because the middle-aged man had agreed to his request, Ikeyama Toshi seemed to be in a good mood. He turned to the female inspector, who was observing the equipment, and said, “This was originally an emergency shelter built before the war, but unfortunately, it was never used. I bought this land specifically for this large underground room when I saw it. And the equipment and instruments you see here are just a portion of what was moved from the old laboratory. You’re lucky, because not long from now, once the new laboratory is finished, all of this will be moved. You might be the last person to see these instruments here.”

“Mr. Ikeyama, you’re talking too much.” The middle-aged man furrowed his brows.

“Mr. Eguchi, you’re overthinking it. This woman won’t survive to escape from here.”

“Just get rid of her quickly. I don’t want any more complications tonight.”

“Don’t worry. Once she reveals her accomplices, I’ll throw her to those guys to be their food. But it’s such a pity, such a beautiful woman.” Ikeyama Toshi caressed her face and then instructed the two bodyguards, “Take her to the interrogation room.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Eguchi.” After speaking, Ikeyama Toshi eagerly followed Ayano Eiko, who was being dragged by the two men.

Eguchi sneered behind them. Enjoy it while you can, you pig-headed fool who only thinks about money and women. It won’t be long before you see how you die.

Ikeyama Toshi and the others stopped in front of a room. After giving Ayano Eiko a sinister smile, he opened the lights inside.

Upon seeing the setup in the room, even someone as calm as Ayano Eiko couldn’t help but change her expression.

In the center of the room was a bed, but it wasn’t an ordinary bed. Above and below the bed were two iron fastenings, clearly meant to bind someone to it. On the walls around the room, various bizarre and grotesque torture devices hung. There was a layer of dark red substance on the floor, and the whole room reeked of a chilling, blood-curdling stench. Ayano Eiko was certain that this so-called interrogation room had definitely been used before, and it wasn’t a typical interrogation by any means.

“Bind her to the bed.” Ikeyama Toshi’s tone had an unnatural urgency.

He had originally planned to wait for a better moment to act, but now there was no time.

Ayano Eiko suddenly stepped on the foot of the bodyguard to her left. Before the man could scream, she quickly spun around and kneed the other bodyguard in the groin. Their simultaneous screams filled the air.

After successfully neutralizing them, she was about to run for the door, but a somewhat overweight body suddenly collided with her, knocking her to the ground.

“You slut, I won’t let you escape.” Ikeyama Toshi sneered, pressing down on her shoulder.

With her hands cuffed behind her back and now her shoulder held down, Ayano Eiko couldn’t get up.

“Idiot, come here and grab her.” Though he managed to hold her down for the moment, Ikeyama Toshi was getting older and couldn’t maintain the position for long.

The bodyguard who had been lightly injured by the female inspector’s foot immediately limped over.

If that guy comes over, it’s over, Ayano Eiko thought. In the moment of desperation, she suddenly bit down on Ikeyama Toshi’s ear.

“Ah!” Screaming in intense pain, Ikeyama clutched his bleeding ear.

Although he released his grip due to the pain, the bodyguard arrived just in time. He immediately pressed down on Ayano Eiko, who was trying to stand up.

The female inspector had intended to use the same tactic on him, but the bodyguard, having learned from the previous experience, pulled his head back immediately after restraining her, not giving her a chance.

The situation was extremely unfavorable for her. If the other bodyguard came over to help, it would truly be the end.

At that moment, a strange male voice suddenly rang out.

“Quite an appetite, huh? Even chewing on something so disgusting. Hey, the woman over there, need some help?”

The voice caused everyone to instinctively look in that direction, except for Ayano Eiko.

Seizing the opportunity when the bodyguard was distracted, she suddenly kneed upwards, hitting the man’s vulnerable spot with force. As a result, another man fell from the blow.

Perhaps due to the closer distance, this bodyguard was hit much harder than the previous one. The moment of impact caused him to foam at the mouth and he collapsed, unconscious, on top of the female inspector.

“Impressive, truly impressive.” The man who had suddenly appeared clapped his hands.

Once she had managed to move the unconscious bodyguard off her, Ayano Eiko quickly stood up.

She saw that the bodyguard who had been struck first was already knocked out on the floor, and Ikeyama Toshi was being held by a man, fully clad in black, with only his eyes visible. The man had Ikeyama’s arm twisted behind his back and his mouth stuffed with cloth.

“Who are you?” Ayano Eiko asked nervously, eyeing the mysterious man.

“Still can’t figure it out?”

“You’re the one who provided me with the information?”

“That’s right, I’m Outsider. Want an autograph?” The man in black flashed a mocking look in his eyes.

Hearing him introduce himself, Ayano Eiko knew for sure it was him.

“When did you arrive?” The female inspector regained her composure.

The man in black didn’t answer her directly. Instead, he said something that irritated her greatly. “You’re the most self-righteous, foolish woman I’ve ever met.”

“Don’t think that because you saved me, you can insult me. I don’t owe you anything,” Ayano Eiko said coldly. She knew that the unconscious bodyguard had been dealt with by this man; otherwise, he would have come over to help much earlier.

“Did I say anything wrong? If you had listened to me, this wouldn’t have ended up so messy.”

“If you were in my position, would you have barged into the Tokyo Governor’s place without any evidence or a search warrant?”

“I would have done it, of course.”

“You…” Ayano Eiko realized she shouldn’t even be asking this unreasonable man such questions.

“In the end, you still don’t trust me. Because you doubted my words, that’s why you didn’t follow my advice. Isn’t that right?”

Ayano Eiko didn’t respond, tacitly admitting it.

At this point, Lei Yin couldn’t understand why she was even looking for this so-called agent. He had originally planned to use her to call the police and block everything here to expose the truth, but this self-righteous woman had taken matters into her own hands and infiltrated alone. She thought she was being so sneaky, but someone with her skills and experience had been spotted the moment she walked in.

But from another angle, if he were in her shoes, it would indeed be hard to trust a stranger, especially one she had never met. After thinking this through, Lei Yin no longer blamed her.

“Come here, I’ll help you unlock the handcuffs.” Lei Yin pulled the handcuff key from the unconscious bodyguard’s body.

After a moment of hesitation, Ayano Eiko finally walked over.

After unlocking her cuffs, Lei Yin locked the handcuffs onto Ikeyama Toshi’s wrists.

“Alright, ask whatever you want. We don’t have much time.” Lei Yin pushed Ikeyama Toshi in front of her.

She glanced at Lei Yin briefly but didn’t immediately remove the cloth from Ikeyama’s mouth. Instead, she suddenly stomped hard on his thigh.

“Mm…” Ikeyama, whose mouth was blocked, let out a muffled cry, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Lei Yin was somewhat surprised by her action, which completely disregarded police procedures.

After stepping on him, the female inspector pulled the cloth from his mouth and asked, “Do you know someone named Ayano Kosei?”

“Please don’t kill me! I don’t know anything! Please don’t kill me!” If the public saw the current state of the Tokyo Governor, his approval ratings would likely plummet.

“I’m asking you, do you know Ayano Kosei?” Ayano Eiko grabbed his collar and shouted loudly.

“I don’t know him, I don’t know him,” Ikeyama said frantically, looking at the man in black beside them.

“Think carefully. His name is Ayano Kosei, and he used to be the director of the University of Tokyo’s Biology Research Institute.”

“I really don’t know him.”

Hearing his answer, Ayano Eiko felt a bit deflated. She thought she had found a lead, but it turned out to be empty.

“Then, do you know someone with the last name ‘Hozan’?” the female inspector continued asking.

“I don’t know, I don’t know anyone named ‘Hozan’.” This response made Ayano Eiko even more frustrated. Was it really hopeless?

At this point, Lei Yin suddenly chuckled.

“What are you laughing at?” Ayano Eiko glared at him angrily, her mood at its worst.

After his laughter subsided, Lei Yin said, “Have you ever heard a joke? It says there are three types of people who are the least trustworthy. Do you know which three?”

“Just say it already, stop being so cryptic.”

“First, criminals who claim they’re innocent. Second, drunks who loudly declare they’re not drunk. And third, politicians who say they don’t know anything. Looks like I really overestimated your intelligence. You shouldn’t be a police officer; you should be a kindergarten teacher. Let me tell you something: There’s actually no one named ‘Hozan’. The person who met with your father back then was this man in front of you. ‘Hozan’ is just his alias.”

“What? Is what you said true?” Ayano Eiko stared at him, utterly shocked.

“Don’t ask me how I know, whether you believe it or not. Hurry up and ask. We really don’t have much time left. We need to leave here soon.”

“Tell me, was it you who met with my father back then? Are you ‘Hozan’?” Ayano Eiko grabbed Ikeyama by the collar and shouted.

“I… I really don’t know Ayano Kosei.”

“Bastard, go to hell!” Ayano Eiko, now completely enraged, stomped between his legs.

“Ah!” This was the loudest scream Ikeyama had let out. Lei Yin couldn’t help but laugh. He hadn’t expected this woman to be so ruthless.

After the scream, Ikeyama finally admitted he was the ‘Hozan’ who had met with Ayano Kosei all those years ago.

“Where is my father now?” Ayano Eiko demanded loudly.

“He… he’s already dead,” Ikeyama said, shrinking back, trembling.

“What did you say? You’re lying to me, aren’t you? You’re lying again, right?” Ayano Eiko, deeply shocked, hysterically shook his collar.

“It’s true, it’s true! He really is dead!” Ikeyama screamed in agony, his ear injury flaring up as it was touched.

“Hey, calm down. Let him explain,” Lei Yin said as he stood up, intervening to stop her from going any further.

Finally, Ayano Eiko slowly calmed down. In a voice filled with deep resentment, she asked Ikeyama, “Tell me, how did he die?”