Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister
Chapter 400 - 356: Tanaka, a Beast in Human Clothing, Such a Pitiable Man (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Chapter 400: Chapter 356: Tanaka, a Beast in Human Clothing, Such a Pitiable Man (Seeking Monthly Votes)

December 12, no wind, the sky somewhat overcast.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in." Aoyama Xiu Xin flicked the ash from his cigarette.

Nakamura Shinichi pushed open the door and strode quickly to Aoyama Xiu Xin, bowing deeply and handing over a document with a grave expression, "Commissioner, this is the information on the Osaka Prefecture Heart of Love Orphanage."

Aoyama Xiu Xin took it and began to flip through it.

The founder of the Heart of Love was Gangcun Xiu, a former journalist who had used his connections to garner a lot of sponsorship for the orphanage. Many influential people from politics and business often visited to inspect and provide donations of various kinds.

Under such circumstances, Heart of Love had become the most renowned orphanage in Osaka Prefecture, and Gangcun Xiu himself had made a fortune, living in luxury houses and driving expensive cars.

Had it not been for the discovery of five female corpses and the testimony from Sankai Seichiro, Aoyama Xiu Xin would have simply thought those high profile visitors to the orphanage were putting on a show.

But now, he suspected they were there to select concubines.

The Heart of Love had been established for twenty or thirty years. If they had begun engaging in such activities since its inception, who knows how many innocent girls had become tools for satisfying lust.

"Tanaka Guikuma?" Aoyama Xiu Xin saw this name in the list of long-term sponsors for the Heart of Love Orphanage and instinctively looked up at Nakamura Shinichi.

Nakamura Shinichi nodded solemnly, "According to the investigation, Tanaka Guikuma is one of the earliest and most consistent donors to Heart of Love, and has donated the largest amounts over the years. I have reason to suspect that he has been supporting Gangcun Xiu in cultivating playthings for the powerful."

Aoyama Xiu Xin found this quite plausible. After all, as Sankai Seichiro had said, the killer of those five girls was a bank section chief. It made sense that Tanaka Guikuma, as the president of Osaka Bank, would engage in sexual bribery with him.

The officials he had bribed were certainly not limited to a single bank section chief, which would explain why he dared to openly oppose the Yanchuan family and be the figurehead of resistance.

"Heh, so this is President Tanaka, who is not greedy for wealth or lecherous, and who educates his children extremely well," Aoyama Xiu Xin said with a hint of mockery.

He even used his frequent support for the orphanage as a selling point to promote himself, which was utterly shameless!

Had it not been for a twist of fate that brought those five female corpses back into the light of day, who knows how much longer it would have taken to tear off the hypocritical mask of Tanaka Guikuma.

Taking a deep breath, Aoyama Xiu Xin looked at Nakamura Shinichi and said, "You go to Osaka Prefecture yourself and try to secretly collect evidence of Tanaka Guikuma’s crimes."

As long as they got the evidence, they could imprison Tanaka Guikuma, and the so-called banking alliance resisting Nozawa Financial Corporation would naturally collapse.

"Yes, sir!" Nakamura Shinichi replied seriously, and then asked another question, "What should we do about the bank section chief?"

"We can’t touch him just on the word of Sankai Seichiro, so let’s not startle the snake by hitting the grass. Focus on attacking Tanaka Guikuma. He certainly has evidence of these people accepting his sexual bribes; once we bring him down, we can catch all the others in one fell swoop," Aoyama Xiu Xin declared.

However, he only said this; in the end, it was likely that only Tanaka Guikuma and the bank section chief would be brought to justice, while others involved would be let off easily.

After all, the law does not punish the many, and this case is broad enough in scope, and the people involved are far from ordinary. The higher-ups do not want to make it general knowledge.

Dealing with the likes of Tanaka Guikuma and the orphanage director, along with the bank division manager responsible for five deaths, to quench the public’s anger will suffice to demonstrate the government’s zero tolerance for crime.

Nakamura Shinichi responded again, "Yes, sir!"

"As for Sankai Seichiro, have him take the blame for hiring someone to kidnap and kill Dongye Gen as soon as possible. He’s not getting out anyway; taking on an extra charge could make life in prison a bit easier for him," Aoyama Xiu Xin took a drag on his cigarette.

He needed to tie up the affair of seizing the Dongye family fortune neatly to prevent Dongye Yuusei from perhaps learning the truth one day and seeking revenge.

As for killing Dongye Yuusei, he had no such intention. If unnecessary, it was always best not to kill; murder might be simple and effective, but it was always the crudest of tactics and fraught with endless trouble.

Meanwhile, the bank division manager was sitting in his office, nervous and uneasy, the ashtray on his desk brimming with ash as he sighed with furrowed brows.

He had never dreamed that the five female bodies would be unearthed. Although not linked to him yet, it was like a butcher’s knife hanging over his head, the uncertainty wearing on him.

Actually, he could run now if he wanted.

But he was unwilling just to flee. After all, at his level, what he sought was no longer money or a lavish lifestyle but higher power. Being abroad might mean no lack of money, but the power would be gone.

So, filled with equal parts fear and hope, he pondered. Although the police had found the bodies, they had no other evidence. What if they couldn’t trace it back to him?

Tossing and turning with unrest, he picked up the internal telephone from his desk and called Tanaka Guikuma.

At that very moment, Tanaka Guikuma was attending a handover ceremony for a new dormitory building that he had funded at the Ai Xin Home Orphanage, and local reporters and media had all rushed over.

Dressed in a suit, dapper and upright, he exuded charisma standing on the improvised stage, chuckling as he said, "I’ve been involved in charity for over a decade and never grown tired of it. Every time I visit the orphanage and see these children, it’s as if I see my own kids when they were little—my heart warms, and I wish I could give them every good thing in the world."

"Alas, my financial resources are limited. It took scraping together funds from here and there to build this new dormitory—to provide the children a peaceful place to sleep... I will continue to put my efforts into charity in the future..."

As he finished speaking, thunderous applause filled the venue, and all the children smiled and looked up excitedly at the genial Uncle Tanaka on stage.

Only some of the older girls seemed indifferent, clapping mechanically with lifeless eyes.

"President Tanaka, as far as I know, you’ve been supporting Ai Xin Home for many years. Why haven’t you supported other orphanages?" a reporter asked during the Q&A session.

Tanaka Guikuma sighed, "I’m rather ashamed of this matter. I do have selfish motives. After all, Osaka is where I live and work, and I want to focus my limited financial and personal resources on my hometown."

"If everyone could have the same kind of ’selfishness’ as President Tanaka, the world would surely be a better place," the reporter said with admiration.

After the interview, as Tanaka Guikuma stepped down from the stage, his secretary approached him with his mobile phone, "Manager Du Bian just called for you."

Tanaka Guikuma frowned slightly, took the phone, and redialed, chuckling, "Manager Du Bian, you’re a busy man. What’s got you reaching out to me?"

"Mr. Tanaka, something’s gone wrong. Did you see the news from last night and this morning?" Manager Du Bian asked.

"Yes, the assassination attempt on Aoyama Xiu Xin, huh? He’s got quite the luck to survive," Tanaka Guikuma said with a regretful sigh.

He was well aware that Nozawa Financial Corporation was backed by the Yanchuan Family and that if Aoyama Xiu Xin, the adopted grandson of Yanchuan Shilang, had died, it would have been like cutting off one of their fingers.

"That’s not what I’m talking about!" Manager Du Bian became a bit agitated, then took a deep breath to calm down and whispered, "It’s about those five female bodies."

"Oh, those five..." Tanaka Guikuma hadn’t caught on at first, but as soon as he realized what was being implied, his complexion drastically changed, "You mean..."

"Yep," affirmed Manager Du Bian.

Tanaka Guikuma’s face turned exceedingly ugly.

The women he had sent over, if alive, would return to the orphanage, but if dead, it was Du Bian himself who took care of the bodies. He didn’t know where they were buried, so he had never considered those five corpses could be connected to him.

He asked somewhat angrily, "May I speak frankly, Mr. Du Bian, why on earth did you bury the bodies in the urban area?"

"That land is under my brother’s name, and it hasn’t been developed. How was I supposed to know that some damn angler would go there digging for worms and accidentally unearth the bodies?" Manager Du Bian had never hated fishermen so fervently in his life.

If he ever came into power, he would certainly push for a nationwide ban on fishing! To get rid of all the fishermen!

Taking a deep breath and feeling a bit of discomfort, Tanaka Guikuma massaged his temples, "Any chance of a slip-up?"

"Alas, it’s precisely because I don’t know if there’s any oversight that I’m feeling insecure. Mr. Tanaka, you have to help me figure something out. After all, we’re in the same boat," Manager Du Bian subtly threatened.

Tanaka Guikuma felt like cursing, but he just couldn’t voice it, "I’ll pay extra attention to the matter."

"Then I leave it all in your hands, Mr. Tanaka," said Manager Du Bian, before promptly hanging up the phone.

"Beep~beep~beep~"

"Damn it all!" Tanaka Guikuma cursed angrily as the busy tone kept coming through the phone.

He had provided sexual bribes for Du Bian, and now that he had killed them, it was up to him to clean up the mess.

It was utterly outrageous!

But he had no choice but to clean up, after all, he relied on Du Bian in many aspects, and if Du Bian were exposed, he surely couldn’t escape either.

Tanaka Guikuma’s expression fluctuated. The key was to keep an eye on the Police Headquarters and find a way to probe into the investigation’s progress to see if it had reached Du Bian.

If it hadn’t yet, making a hasty move would be more likely to backfire.

"Prepare the car, we’re going to Osaka Police Headquarters."

...

"Thump!"

Dongye Jie Cheng was thrown out of the casino.

He got up clumsily and was blinded by the midday sun, squinting several times before he could adjust. Disheveled with greasy hair, he looked especially pathetic.

He lost again, and had accumulated another huge gambling debt.

Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his hair and stopped a passerby to ask, "Excuse me, what’s the date today?"

Time was lost in a casino.

"December 12th," the passerby replied with a disdainful glance, sidestepping to hurry away.

"December 12th," Dongye Jie Cheng muttered to himself, then hailed a taxi to the Police Headquarters. Since he didn’t have enough money for the fare, at the entrance, he stopped a policeman and asked him to settle the fee under the pretense of being Aoyama Xiu Xin’s friend.

He entered Aoyama Xiu Xin’s office without knocking, "Mr. Aoyama, I’m here again."

"Mr. Dongye! Where have you been lately, to end up like this? Don’t tell me you’ve been gambling again," Aoyama Xiu Xin appeared startled by his arrival, standing up and feigning ignorance.

"Don’t even mention it," Dongye Jie Cheng shook his head and said familiarly, "Lend me some money, I need to recoup my losses."

"Mr. Dongye, you should quit. You still owe me two hundred million," Aoyama Xiu Xin earnestly advised.

With a bitter smile, Dongye Jie Cheng shook his head, "I know you’re looking out for me, but I can’t quit. I just can’t."

He knew that gambling was wrong, but he couldn’t help himself, especially when in the thick of a game. He would never leave voluntarily unless he lost everything.

"Sigh," Aoyama Xiu Xin sighed as if in concern, then let out a breath, "By the way, I have some good news for you. Sankai Seichiro has been arrested and has confessed to the kidnapping and murder of your father."

"Really!" Dongye Jie Cheng was overjoyed.

Aoyama Xiu Xin nodded, "I promised to help you bring him to justice for the murder of your father."

"Thank you, Mr. Aoyama, I really can’t thank you enough. You’ve been such a benefactor to me," Dongye Jie Cheng, nearly moved to tears, grabbed Aoyama Xiu Xin’s hands and kept thanking him. Then getting back to the point, he said, "So, as a true friend, lend me another thirty million. My shares are still pledged with you, so there’s no worry that I won’t pay it back."

"Mr. Dongye, I’m really worried the shares won’t cover my debts if you keep losing like this," Aoyama Xiu Xin said helplessly, withdrawing his hands. After a moment’s thought, he made a suggestion, "Alternatively, Mr. Dongye, why not just sell your shares to me outright? Then you wouldn’t have to repay that two hundred million. I’ll top it up with another thirty million US dollars."

His fangs were showing again—Dongye Jie Cheng’s continued losses were all his handiwork.

All to ensure he could take complete control of those shares.

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