The fire in the apartment has been extinguished, but smoke is still rising from the charred ruins. The ground is dripping with water left by fire engines and is stained black with ashes.

Hiroshi Takatani stood outside the cordon, looking at the burned-to-ruin apartment with a heavy expression.

He was originally a police officer of the Metropolitan Police Department. It cannot be said that he has a bright future. At least he is middle-aged and has hemorrhoids. There is no problem in climbing up one level before retiring.

As a result, he was recently transferred to a special department, the Tokyo Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters, as the head of the Operations Section 1.

Positions were transferred, police ranks were retained, and powers were greatly expanded. An opportunity to leapfrog was right in front of him, but Hiroshi Takatani was not happy at all.

Although the Countermeasures Department has great power and high independence, the casualty rate is also high. If you are not careful, you can get pension. It is a repeat customer of the hospital and a scheduled customer of the crematorium.

Moreover, these ability users are becoming more and more restless, causing more and more troubles, and the reasons for gas explosions and gas leaks have become increasingly difficult to fool the masses.

No, just after taking office, there was a criminal case of arson and murder. The victim had a special identity and was a person with abilities recorded by the Countermeasures Department.

The Countermeasures Department is still secretly investigating the specific abilities of this esper named Kishida Kei, who died tragically at home. The murderer is most likely another esper.

When he thought that he would have to deal with all kinds of unruly ability users and vicious criminals in the future, Hiroshi Takatani had the idea of ​​resigning and going to work.

It's not that he blows, because his blowing skills are indeed very good, and he is more than enough to be an actor.

"Section Chief Takatani."

A young police officer who was familiar with the Thirty-six Stratagems came over. His name was Ono Masahide. He was originally Hiroshi Takatani's least favorite subordinate. He had no discernment and always interrupted regardless of the occasion.

However, how could Hiroshi Takatani let himself enjoy such a good thing as joining the Countermeasures Department, so he transferred Ono Masahide into it as well.

But Ono Masahide was full of fighting spirit, thinking that this was the care and tempering given to him by his superiors: "Section Chief, the victim's friends have been found."

A middle-aged man dressed like a third-rate artist came over, nodded and bowed to Hiroshi Takatani: "Hello, sir."

Hiroshi Takatani maintained his high-ranking official attitude and said coldly: "I heard that you and Kishida Kei are very good friends? But we haven't seen each other for a while, can you still recognize him?"

The middle-aged man hurriedly patted his chest and assured: "Of course, Ajie and I have been best friends since childhood. I have known him since he was burned to ashes."

"That's just right."

Hiroshi Takatani pointed to the ashes collected by the forensic doctor not far away: "That is the ashes burned by Kishida Kei. Go and identify it to see if it is him."

Middle-aged man: "..."

After asking Ono Masahide to take the middle-aged man over for identification, Hiroshi Takatani stood there and couldn't help but sigh.

His boss wants him to solve the case as soon as possible, but he is at a loss.

In addition, after he took office, he also heard about one thing. There was a rumor circulating among Tokyo's ability users - the government could not tolerate ability users, so it frequently sent killers to assassinate them.

When Hiroshi Takatani heard this rumor, he just thought it was ridiculous. If the government really wanted to attack people with abilities and directly let the Self-Defense Forces do it, how could it use such clumsy and inefficient methods as killers?

But at the same time, he was also keenly aware that if this rumor was allowed to spread, there would be a sharp confrontation between the government and those with abilities, making peace difficult.

"Hey, forget it, I'm just a small section chief, let the big shots above have a headache with this kind of thing."

Hiroshi Takatani decided to fish, and the more diligent he was, the sooner he would die. This old man like him took it as a standard.

…

"Yesterday, a fire broke out due to a short circuit in an apartment in Sumida District. A well-known painter died in the flames..."

Xu Cheng was walking back, holding a late-night snack in his hand. He was browsing the news on his mobile phone as he walked, and soon came across news about Kishida Kei.

It seems that the police knew very well that the person who killed Kishida Kei was not an ordinary person, so they simply classified the incident as an accident, so that there would be no external pressure to arrest him. This is a habitual operation.

And Xu Cheng and Akimiya Yue don't have to face severe investigation. If there are no clues, the matter may even go unsolved in the end, and a world where only Kishida Jie is injured is achieved.

When he saw the news, Xu Cheng actually breathed a sigh of relief. Although the existence of the manager made him less likely to be caught, it was still good to reduce the risk.

He can't always do it when he doesn't have a mission. He doesn't dare to be too rough, lest he accidentally capsizes and drowns himself.

"Um?"

At this time, Xu Cheng suddenly felt a faint numbness on the back of his head, as he was being peered from behind by some kind of sight.

This feeling is wonderful and difficult to describe in words.

This ability has appeared since Xu Cheng used the Killer Card. His eyesight has gradually become outstanding, and his senses have become sharper. He can detect other people's gaze on him, even from behind.

Just now he thought that the government would not track him down, but now he immediately realized that someone was spying on him secretly, which made Xu Cheng feel nervous.

He did not look back rashly, but continued to walk forward.

This is a remote road that he often takes a shortcut to go home. It's also at night, and there aren't many people around.

Xu Cheng walked as if nothing had happened. He turned on the selfie mode on his mobile phone and quietly leaned back. He found that not far behind him, a van was slowly following him. His prying eyes were coming from the car.

Xu Cheng frowned slightly. Logically speaking, it had only been a day, and it was impossible for the Japanese police, who were always slow in mobility, to find him so quickly.

If not the police, who would it be?

There were three people in the van at this time. In addition to the driver, there were two young men with permed hair and tattoos, dressed in a Yakuza style.

The tattooed young man was smoking a cigarette, puffing away smoke, looking through the front window of the car, staring at Xu Cheng fiercely: "This damned housekeeper, after guarding him for several days, finally agreed to get out of the house, so I hate this the most.

Squatting at home, they are all grain-wasting borers."

The permed young man turned around and asked, "Brother Keigo, this guy is a foreigner. Will there be any trouble if we beat him?"

Keigo Matsuzaka popped the cigarette holder out of the car window and said based on the experience of those who have been there: "What are you afraid of? Drag him into the car and take him away. Who will look for him without any relatives or friends? The police guys will not ask for trouble. At most, they will give him a report."

They just disappeared."

The driver in front shouted: "Brother Keigo, he entered the side road."

Xu Cheng, who was in the sight of the three of them, suddenly turned into an alley where only bicycles could be used and disappeared.

The driver quickly drove the van over and blocked it at the entrance of the alley. The door opened and Keigo Matsuzaka and his companion jumped out of the car each carrying a baseball bat.

But when they rushed into the dark alley, they found that Xu Cheng had mysteriously disappeared. They looked around but couldn't find him, with annoyed expressions on their faces.

"Damn it, he ran away."

"If you go to his house and block him, you won't believe he can still run away."
Chapter completed!