"...What?"
In the conference room, all the participants in the meeting asked slowly and involuntarily.
Among them, Onidzuka Hachizo, who was sitting almost at the very back, was the most surprised, barely able to hold his expression, and after a slow-loaded subconscious inquiry at the beginning, he once again inquired in dismay, "Wh, what?"
"The police cadets attacked the Ueno group?"
"All, all destroyed the Ueno group?!"
"Half an hour????"
Onidzuka Hachizo didn't understand, but was shocked.
"Well," one of the older officers in the meeting responded stoically, adding faintly, "the Ueno group was the other party to the deal that escaped from Matsumoto's men."
The faces of the officers in the conference room were somewhat brilliant, most of them were negatively brilliant, their faces were stony as if they had smothered ten cups of coffee in one gulp, while the other half of the officers were positively brilliant, looking at each other in amazement.
What they all have in common is that their expressions are a little complicated.
At the front of the conference room was a computer connected to a video link that allowed Matsumoto Kiyonaga, who couldn't make it in person, to participate in the meeting.
On the screen, the lower half of his face was covered by a breathing mask, and his eyes were closed as if he were resting, taking 90% of his reaction to himself and savoring it.
One of the officers spoke slowly, "The leader is..."
"Ichijō Mirai."
He was guessing, but in a tone of certainty, and went on to ask Matsumoto Kiyonaga, "Matsumoto, how did he know about the Ueno group?"
"The police just interrogated him about it, and he's already solved it."
That's not really the point, the officer sitting across from the officer interrupts him and focuses on the point with a grave expression, "The Ueno group was completely wiped out on their own turf and only lasted half an hour, which means..."
That means that the strength of the police cadets was horrifyingly high.
At least as strong as the police officers led by Matsumoto Kiyonaga himself, if not more so.
That's a big problem.
The officers looked at each other, "We might want to think about how we treat this class of cadets."
And Ichijō Mirai as well.
One of the officers frowned and cursed, "This year's cadets are so good."
I can't believe Ichijō Mirai ran into them!
Not too early, not too late, but this is the right class, it's really something...
But this is not the most important thing to focus on, as the elderly police officer who made the announcement speaks again, "The media has been alerted to the news in advance, and is already broadcasting it live in an emergency."
"Unfortunately, we're not the only ones who know that this class of police cadets is extraordinarily good, starting tomorrow, everyone in Tokyo who watches the news will know."
He turned his head.
Immediately, someone stepped forward and moved the computer to bring up the live news feed.
The news began with images of the police cordon around the bar, their faces tense, and panicked people scurrying out of various places, making it clear that the police hadn't had time to evacuate the crowd in advance.
Soon there was a dull explosion.
Cameras panned over to catch the muffled smoke and sparks.
The reporter at the scene was immediately energized and gave a very happy smile, quickly explaining that it was the police cadets of the operation who had begun to blow up the secret room for evidence.
Her tone of voice was so cheerful that the entire room was filled with her cheerfulness, echoing with her precise introduction of the cadets.
The cadets, who are undergoing a special training program, are disguised as criminals for a limited period of time, during which time they will be held accountable for any violations of the law and will not be allowed to commit real crimes.
They are brave and tough, with a very high bottom line and a sense of responsibility to protect the general public, and sharp and athletic, with a high sensitivity to criminal behavior like a police dog.
In the bar incident, the cadets discovered a gang's conspiracy, recognized the trick, and, with their predecessors seriously injured in order to punish the evil, they attacked and defeated the gang with a single blow.
During the introduction, the reporter at the scene did not shy away from comparing last night's shootout with today's bar action, and fluidly concluded that this year's police cadets are even better than the current police force.
At the same time, the top officer in last night's shootout, Matsumoto Kiyonaga of the Search Division one Police Department, is still in the hospital undergoing emergency medical treatment.
He seems to have encountered some difficulties during the operation, and the backup that was supposed to have arrived a long time ago was delayed after he was attacked with precision by someone who appeared out of nowhere.
At the time of the attack, after he and his men subdued the criminals present, the attacker appeared out of nowhere and used a gun that the police had strictly forbidden to be traded.
At this point, anyone with a bit of air-reading skills can smoothly interpret: Oh, Matsumoto Kiyonaga was offended and screwed.
It's not a lack of ability, it's a deliberate attempt.
The officers in the conference room: "..."
As those who know the strengths of the police force best, they've been trying to say something, but they've been trying to say something.
They are angry and say that they didn't deliberately bully Matsumoto Kiyonaga, as if they are saying, 'Yes, we are trash!' They pinch their noses and admit that they bullied Matsumoto Kiyonaga, as if they are proudly nodding, 'Yes, we are scum who killed our brothers!'
All they could do was change their faces a few times.
The police officers in the same position as Matsumoto Kiyonaga also had a variety of faces.
Onidzuka Hachizo: "..."
It looked familiar.
He's familiar with the 'it's not that XX can't do it, it's that someone's deliberately trying to hurt him' opinion that doesn't change his face, except that the last time it was a nighttime raid on a dormitory building, he was still in the role of Matsumoto Kiyonaga.
...Was definitely prepared by Ichijō Mirai.
Onidzuka Hachizo was certain that Ichijō Mirai had prepared everything this reporter said in advance.
He could only bow his head to hide his expression.
A police officer looked to Matsumoto Kiyonaga, his tone softening, "Matsumoto, I know you worked with Officer Ichijō, and you have a soft spot for this boy because of it,"
"But this time, it's a bit much."
Matsumoto Kiyonaga, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them, "It's none of my business."
He asked directly, "How are they doing?"
The police officer, who had just stopped the news at the right moment to watch the atmosphere, immediately moved, pulled the timeline, and jumped backward.
The camera was concentrating on the smoke when suddenly, a blur of human figures appeared in the smoke.
The figures become clearer, walking toward each other from the bar.
It's a couple of young men, dressed in their regular clothes, with bruises on their bodies and faces, stumbling towards the police line, and seemingly hesitating for a few seconds before continuing on when they see the media outside.
While the rest of the crowd was still stunned, the reporters at the scene immediately rushed to the scene as if they had been prepared for it.
The interview revealed that the young men were police cadets who had been injured in a heroic attack and had no choice but to quit training and go to the hospital to recover from their injuries, as they were unable to return to the force.
When they were interviewed, they were a bit forlorn, all of them hanging their heads, obviously to protect the people, in order to eliminate the illegal force and injured, but not a bit of resentment, but only loss, have blamed themselves: 'It's all our fault for being injured.
'It's all our fault for getting hurt, Kujō-san had no choice but to deny us return to the team and send us to the hospital for treatment for our own good'.
And even more sadly, he said: 'Because the enemy is too difficult to deal with, in fact, many students are injured, but can be simply bandaged to overcome, but only they, the injury is a bit serious, alas'.
This operation, in fact, there are a lot of points of concern, some of which are questionable to the police cadets, some of which are encouraging to the police cadets.
But it needs to be thought about and explored.
And now, without thinking, there is a topic that has been thoughtfully fed to us: the poor cadets.
The police officer silently tweeted out the live feed, tapping into the soaring conversation and letting the officers see the real-time discussion.
[Actually came up with some so-called 'Disguised Criminal' training program, rational discussion, are the police eating too much seafood and eating their brains out?]
There were rows and rows of replies: [Yes...]
Officers in the conference room:"..."
A little offensive.
The decision was a bit irrational, but it didn't have to be so offensive, did it?
There's another item in the real-time discussion: "Are we learning from the FBI's strange training?
After a few seconds of silence, the police officer in charge of the computer silently turned off the screen and stepped back without looking.
The conference room fell silent.
The elderly officer spoke again, "Now that the public knows about the special training program, there's been a great deal of discussion about it."
He commented on the cadets who had dropped out, "They weren't forced out of the program, they returned with honor and in the limelight."
Yes, 'return to the team'.
With the Ueno group out of the way, on the emergency news, and now in the spotlight, we can't really eliminate these guys mercilessly, can we?
If there was an Ichijō Mirai among them, it might be worth eliminating them, but there isn't.
"How are we going to deal with this?"
How are the police going to deal with the upcoming public opinion?
Once again, the room fell silent.
After a few moments, Matsumoto Kiyonaga spoke up, "Let's suspend the training."
"The special training program was designed to hone the abilities of the cadets, to sharpen their sensitivity to criminals," he asked, "and they didn't do well enough?"
"The cadets have delivered a perfect performance."
Hearing these words, Onidzuka Hachizo swept a glance at the surrounding officers, and to his surprise, the faces of the officers, regardless of their affiliation, softened.
They responded by nodding their heads calmly and stomping down the steps, "Excellent answer, it's time to end the training."
The elderly officer finalized, "Send out the end-of-training message."
He stood up, and added, "Regarding this training, a cadet infiltrated the hospital, infiltrated the detention center, and escaped by holding the chief hostage, as well as a cadet infiltrated the police station, and led some of the officers to the bar..."
"..."
"Do not pursue the matter."
We won't pursue the cadets who broke the law, and we won't pursue the officers who are useless.
The atmosphere in the conference room immediately loosened up.
＊
When I received the text, Ichijō Mirai was circling Tokyo, waiting quietly.
The car drove through one brightly lit street after another, the cell phone was beeping with new messages, and there was a constant stream of conversation in both the large and small groups.
It's only when a text message beeps on his cell phone that Ichijō Mirai reaches out and opens it to check for messages.
The first thing that caught my eye was the serious, official tone of the message: [After consultation with all parties, it has been determined that the cadets participating in the special training program have reached the overall standard of performance...]
The notification was long, and Ichijō Mirai had just scanned it when he heard a series of system alerts.
As if they'd been holding back for a long time and were finally ready, the alerts crackled.
[The quest 'Disguised Criminal' has been completed.]
[Congratulations, you've impressed many people.]
As an outstanding police cadet, you gave free rein to your language skills, your ability to make friends, and so on, and delivered an answer sheet that left the police speechless.
Some people may not be able to sleep tonight, but they all marveled at you.]
Ichijō Mirai's achievements are also recorded: [Provided assistance to all police cadets, changed identities dozens of times during your training, convinced people of your moral character, no one has reported you as committing a crime, rescued your fellow officers from a prison without injury, passed the level with all of your team members...]
[Congratulations on your five-star clearance.]
[Congratulations on successfully unlocking [Red Camp], rewards are being given out, the countdown is expected to last thirty minutes...]
This prompt stayed for a long time, only to be refreshed after some time.
[Your leader level has been raised, please be careful to protect yourself, do not get hurt outside of the group, or the fury of vengeance will burn with reason and spread rapidly...]
The rapid-fire prompting finally stopped, and the bottom right corner brushed over some unimportant hints, like some painkillers.
Ichijō Mirai scanned through the alerts and looked at his phone again to find a new message.
The police have ordered all cadets to stop running and stay put, and a vehicle will be sent to pick them up and take them to the auditing isolation room.
The cadets will stay in the auditing room for a period of time, which is the time for the police to verify that any cadets who have committed a crime during their training and have been documented will be held accountable by the police.
Ichijō Mirai has a big face.
Almost immediately after receiving the text message, a police car arrived with flashing lights and drove faster than an ambulance to rush him to the auditing isolation room.
The auditing isolation room is a separate room in the detention center, and there aren't too many rooms, only 50 or 60, so some police cadets are assigned to one room.
But Ichijō Mirai was a single room.
Not only the single room, but the surrounding interrogation isolation rooms are empty.
The police are in a real hurry.
When Ichijō Mirai stepped into the isolation room, the countdown to Red Camp was still over ten minutes away.
He looked around the isolation room, glancing at the special glass on the door and realizing that it was a one-sided see-through glass that allowed him to see in from the outside, but not from the inside.
There was nothing in the quarantine room, not even a table or chair, just an empty space and a pale white light, Ichijō Mirai turned around a few times and simply sat down on the floor next to the wall.
He opened the system alert, looked at the countdown that kept jumping, and said carelessly, "The update is so slow."
"Why don't we chat?"
"What to chat about, ah, there, I just remembered, I didn't actually break the law, right? When I held the director hostage and slit the secretary's throat, I used a note."
"The note was printed out."
"I can't help it, there's always some bad habit that's carved into the marrow of the bones, I can't write directly on paper or I'll habitually leave my signature with special symbols."
He moved his knees, slowly said: "This habit, is in a long time a little bit into every inch of my skin, once writing text without leaving a signature, it means trouble."
"Only if I've been in prison for more than ten years can I have this habit."
"You should know this bad habit of mine."
The system didn't say anything, it was quiet and silent.
Ichijō Mirai didn't care as he lowered his eyes and calmly bit out the full pronunciation.
"After all, when I first opened my eyes, that suicide note was printed."