Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister
Chapter 161 - 157: Both the Underworld and the Legitimate Move, Yoshida Tomo’s Plan

Chapter 161: Chapter 157: Both the Underworld and the Legitimate Move, Yoshida Tomo’s Plan

"Damn!"

Aoyama Xiu Xin cursed darkly.

He knew very well what he had done himself.

Now that Noda, a desperate fugitive, had escaped, every day he remained alive was a profit, and he would definitely seek revenge on himself and Nakamura Shinichi, unless he had converted to Buddhism in prison.

"It’s all because of those useless guards who couldn’t keep watch! Even with handcuffs and fetters, the prisoner was able to escape," Nakamura Shinichi said angrily under great pressure, then asked, "Inspector, what should we do?"

Initially, he was the main tormentor of Noda.

If he fell into Noda’s hands...

He dared not think of the consequences.

"Before Noda is caught, don’t let your family go out. I’ll arrange for protection around your house, and you need to be careful yourself—it’s best to carry a gun at all times," Aoyama Xiu Xin said, taking a deep breath.

If he couldn’t even protect his subordinates,

Who else would follow his orders for violent interrogation in the future?

Well...from this perspective, Noda’s escape had even somehow regularized the legal process and advanced the rule of law, having a positive and proactive meaning.

Nakamura Shinichi nodded seriously, "Yes!"

"Since ancient times, there has only been the saying that a thief can’t be on guard forever against the police. We must catch Noda—I want him dead this time!" A wave of ruthless determination flashed across the handsome face of Aoyama Xiu Xin, and his eyes gleamed ferociously.

Now it seems that for such a person, just imprisonment is not reliable. In the future, to prevent such jailbreaks, it would be better to kill him if possible.

As long as all the criminals are dead, there won’t be any more jailbreaks, and it will even save the nation some money.

Who would dare say that Mr. Aoyama is not patriotic?

Nakamura Shinichi frowned and said, "But the manhunt is personally overseen by Director Renping. Our search division is only responsible for the Chiyoda and Central Districts; Noda might not appear here."

Then he had an idea, "Can we use the Violent Gang to force him out by threatening the Noda family?"

After all, considering Noda’s behavior of willingly taking the blame to protect his family, it was clear he valued family ties, so Nakamura Shinichi thought to reuse the old strategy.

"We can’t do that," Aoyama Xiu Xin immediately vetoed the idea sternly, "Right now the whole country is watching this case. If even a bit of information leaks, we’re finished. Besides, the director must have already arranged surveillance over the Noda family."

Renping Kuniaki had been looking for an excuse to deal with him, and Aoyama Xiu Xin would not be so foolish as to give him an opportunity.

"What should we do then?" Nakamura Shinichi sighed.

Aoyama Xiu Xin didn’t answer; instead, he picked up the phone and dialed Yamakawa Ichiro, "A group of prisoners escaped during a transfer today, including one named Noda, who is important to me. Have your men find him, dead or alive."

"Yes!" Yamakawa Ichiro responded gravely.

Aoyama Xiu Xin continued, "Arrange a few people to watch near my house for a while and a few to follow me to and from work...where do you live?"

The last question was directed at Nakamura Shinichi.

Nakamura Shinichi quickly reported his address.

"Did you hear that? Have a few people watch that place as well," Aoyama Xiu Xin instructed Yamakawa Ichiro.

Police actually needing the protection of the Black Society.

It’s indeed like one big family.

It was unavoidable since Aoyama Xiu Xin could not openly confess and request official protection from his superiors.

Yamakawa Ichiro responded again, "Yes!"

"Let’s leave it at that," Aoyama Xiu Xin hung up the phone and then called Zhao Qinghong to have his people also help look for Noda. After hanging up, he breathed out and looked at Nakamura Shinichi, "Wear a bulletproof vest these days."

He was also preparing to wear one, to guard against sniper shots.

"Yes! Thank you, Inspector!" Nakamura Shinichi bowed deeply to Aoyama Xiu Xin with a grateful face.

Aoyama Xiu Xin hung up the phone, walked forward, patted his shoulder, and smiled, "I’ll keep you safe as long as you work for me, as it’s only natural; otherwise, how could I lead others in the future? Alright, you may go now."

When the time comes that a boss can’t protect his subordinates, don’t blame the subordinates for not being reliable.

"Yes!" Nakamura Shinichi bowed and left.

"Bang!"

Watching the office door close, Aoyama Xiu Xin walked to his office chair, sat down, and leaned back completely, sighing and raising his hand to massage his brow.

After the incident, Police Headquarters, the Public Security Committee, and other relevant departments at all levels urgently convened meetings and developed a series of response measures.

An emergency press conference was also held.

Major TV stations and radio channels were urgently interrupted to broadcast the news of the escape, and they appealed to the citizens to lock their doors and windows at night, not to provoke the criminals, to protect themselves, and to call the police if they spotted the fugitives.

Transportation checkpoints by water and local roads in all counties were urgently set up to strictly scrutinize the coming and going vehicles and patrols in città

At Fulong Gang headquarters, Zhao Qinghong gathered all the hall masters and said, "It’s all over the broadcasts and television, you all must know what has happened, right? Brothers! Our chance to prove ourselves to Mr. Aoyama has come! Among the escaped criminals, there’s one named Noda. I’ll send his details later. Mr. Aoyama wants him, dead or alive. Spread this message for me. Whoever finds him will be handsomely rewarded!"

"Not just us, the Yamakawa Family has surely received orders from Mr. Aoyama as well. We can’t lose to those little devils. We need to show Mr. Aoyama that we are more reliable and obedient than those little devils!"

"Yes!" After a thorough purge, only Zhao Qinghong’s trusted followers remained, who were ideologically in complete agreement with him, and thus followed his orders obediently.

At the same time, at Yamakawa Family headquarters, Yamakawa Ichiro was also rallying his troops, "Tell your subordinates, anyone who can provide information about Noda will be rewarded 10 million yen, killing Noda will yield 30 million yen, and capturing Noda will earn 50 million yen!"

"Gentlemen, the opportunity to repay Mr. Aoyama’s kindness has arrived. In Japan, on our Japanese turf, are we going to lose to that group of Chinese from Fulong Gang, who can’t even speak Japanese properly? We need to show Mr. Aoyama that we Japanese are far more reliable than the Chinese!"

"Yes!" All the leaders responded in unison.

The competition had begun; it was fully underway.

This was exactly the effect Aoyama Xiu Xin wanted.

Two gangs, competing against each other, and crucially, these gangs consisted of members from two different countries, which made the competition even more proactive and intense.

But it wasn’t just the Yamakawa Family and Fulong Gang looking for Noda and others. Members from Daokuan Association, Yamaguchi Group, and Sumiyoshi Association—all violent gangs—had been mobilized. They had received orders from their patrons or requests from friends to help find Yoshida Tomo and others.

Some violent gangs volunteered to help search for them.

Japanese violent gangs sometimes had to demonstrate a sense of social responsibility to gain public support, such as aiding in earthquake relief or donating to the poor.

Both sides of the law were mobilized, united in action to maintain social order and stability.

In the Shinagawa District’s Ooi Town, along the eastern end of the street, pairs of patrol officers with arrest warrants for Yoshida Tomo, Noda, and other escaped prisoners went door-to-door questioning residents.

"Hello, have you seen any of these people?"

"Please post this in your store, and if you spot anyone listed, remember to call 110 immediately to alert the police."

Meanwhile, at the western end of the street, groups of three or five violent gang members with tattoos on their hands and Sumiyoshi Association badges on their chests also held stacks of arrest warrants, questioning door-to-door.

"Hey! Old bastard! Have you seen them?"

"Idiot! Answer my question! Haven’t seen them? Stick the arrest warrant on your shop door. If I find out you knew and didn’t report, be prepared to close shop!"

Police moved from east to west, while violent gang members moved from west to east. The two groups met in the middle, nodded in acknowledgment, and the scene was harmonious and amicable.

Residents along the street quietly cursed under their breath.

............

Meanwhile, where were Yoshida Tomo and the others?

The answer was Tokyo.

Yoshida Tomo believed the most dangerous place was the safest one. The police would surely think they had escaped to a remote area, so they did the opposite.

Moreover, to seek revenge for Noda, they had to return to Tokyo and, incidentally, pull off a big job to have the funds to escape. Otherwise, going abroad without money would mean a miserable existence, so what then would be the point of living?

Before they were imprisoned, they had already prepared a safe house in Tokyo, stocked with food and water enough for eleven people for half a month, along with plenty of firearms and ammunition.

The location of the safe house was also quite cunning.

It was situated in a residential area in a wealthy district at Chidai 1-chome in Shitamachi District. The police wouldn’t likely search such an area until they had scoured everywhere else.

Moreover, the area did not have the usual mix of violent gang members and others around, so as long as they did not expose themselves and invite neighbors to report, it was very safe for the short term.

At that moment, the eleven people were gathered for a meeting.

A map of Tokyo was spread across the table.

"Our target is this gold shop. Gold is a universally valued commodity. After robbing it, we won’t even need to convert it to cash to carry it away," Yoshida Tomo said gravely, circling a well-known gold shop in the Harbor District on the map.

Noda spoke, "Right now, the streets are swarming with police. The likelihood of a successful robbery is too low."

They might just start the operation when patrolling officers could arrive at the scene. If they were held up, waiting for more police to arrive, they would have no chance of escape.

"Heh, of course, we can’t use the traditional methods of robbery; we need to use our brains," Yoshida Tomo said with a chuckle, pointing at his own head, evidently having a plan in mind, "I’ve checked. The gold shop owner is an older man with a young child, so we simply kidnap his wife and child, make him openly hand over the gold from the shop, and once the task is accomplished, kill his entire family."

"But how will we get away afterwards? The streets are full of roadblocks right now, let alone leaving Japan, even leaving Tokyo is difficult," Noda raised another concern.

Yoshida Tomo didn’t answer directly but turned to one of his underlings, "Are the cars ready?"

"All three are ready," the underling replied.

Yoshida Tomo then said to Noda, "I foresaw this situation before we went in, so I had them modify three police cars outside. When the time comes, we’ll just impersonate police officers. Right now, police are everywhere across the country, and departments don’t necessarily recognize each other, which is ideal for us to blend in."

"But our faces are on the wanted posters, how can we impersonate them?" Noda asked, touching his face.

Yoshida Tomo chuckled, "I’ve thought about that too. So, I plan to impersonate the special mobile units. Their full gear covers the entire face with masks, and since the special police are high in the hierarchy, ordinary officers wouldn’t dare to question too much."

"After leaving Tokyo, we’ll first hide in the countryside for a while. This tense situation can’t last forever. The public will break down first. Once the storm has passed and martial law is lifted, we’ll contact a ship to leave Japan. Once abroad, with our skills and the gold in our possession, couldn’t we start a new venture?"

The others showed no reaction, evidently being in on the plan discussed with Yoshida Tomo before their incarceration.

"Mr. Yoshida, that’s brilliant!" Noda’s eyes lit up, noting how every aspect had been considered. If his team’s strategist had been as clever as Yoshida Tomo, they wouldn’t have faced repeated defeats.

"It’s just some clever tricks," Yoshida Tomo humbly laughed, waving his hand then turned to Noda, "The key thing is taking revenge for you. That wasn’t part of the original plan, but since I promised you, I always do what I say. It’s my personal principle and why these brothers here are willing to follow me. Listen to my idea first."

"Please, Mr. Yoshida," Noda said, sitting upright, ready to listen.