Tokyo: From Lawless Madpolice to Minister
Chapter 52 - 48: At this moment, the two are as naive as children (Vote for monthly tickets! Subscribe!)

Chapter 52: Chapter 48: At this moment, the two are as naive as children (Vote for monthly tickets! Subscribe!)

After Tanaka Noriaki offered his scheme, Zhongshan and Yamamoto felt excited not because they finally had a method to deal with Aoyama Xiu Xin.

Instead, they were excited because they had found a way to beg for Aoyama Xiu Xin’s forgiveness—by betraying Tanaka Noriaki.

After all, how could these two weaklings possibly muster the courage to face Aoyama Xiu Xin’s revenge?

In their eyes, their chances of winning were too slim.

Aoyama Xiu Xin had even killed Sato Rich.

What were they, mere minor characters, in comparison?

Relying on Tanaka Noriaki’s plan to eventually succeed seemed less reliable and less cost-effective than directly betraying him to obtain Aoyama Xiu Xin’s forgiveness.

So when Aoyama Xiu Xin rushed back home after receiving a phone call from his sister-in-law, what he saw was two former subordinates sitting in the living room, visibly uncomfortable.

"Inspector!"

The two men hurriedly rose, bowing respectfully.

"Hehe, I was wondering who it was. It turns out to be Mr. Zhongshan and Mr. Yamamoto. Long time no see, I’ve missed you," Aoyama Xiu Xin said mockingly as he changed into slippers and began to take off his coat, "What wind has blown you two here? Also, I’m no longer an inspector."

Facing Aoyama Xiu Xin’s sarcasm, the two maintained a ninety-degree bow without uttering a word.

"Xiu Xin, let me take your coat," Aoyama Haruko approached and took the coat from his hand, frowned as she smelled the alcohol on him, and gently suggested, "Let me make you some soup to help sober up."

"There’s no need to trouble yourself, sister-in-law," Aoyama Xiu Xin stopped her with warm and gentle words, "I didn’t drink much, and it’s getting late. You should go rest early. I’ll take care of these two myself."

In front of his sister-in-law, he had to maintain his humble and gentle image; if he didn’t send her off first, he wouldn’t be able to reveal his true self later.

"Alright!" Aoyama Haruko glanced at the bent figures of Yao Yamamoto and Zhongshan Valley and went upstairs.

Once she was gone, Yao Yamamoto and Zhongshan Valley suddenly knelt, forehead to the ground, apologizing and pleading for mercy, "Inspector, we were wrong."

"Wrong? No, no, you aren’t wrong," Aoyama Xiu Xin shook his head as he sat down on the sofa and crossed his legs, speaking seriously, "The one who is wrong is me for failing to judge people properly. It’s not your fault, it’s mine."

The more he said this, the more frightened Zhongshan and Yamamoto became, their faces pale with sweat, as they knee-walked to the side of Aoyama Xiu Xin’s legs and bowed their heads again.

"Inspector, no, we are to blame. We were ungrateful, we betrayed you..."

"Enough! Shut up!" Annoyed at the nonstop apologies and regrets, Aoyama Xiu Xin snapped at them with a cold voice, "If you’ve only come to spout this nonsense, then you can leave."

Were these men truly repentant?

No, they were just scared.

Their pleas for forgiveness stopped abruptly.

"No, no, I... we’ve come to report to you," Zhongshan Valley lifted his head to look up at Aoyama Xiu Xin, stammering,

"Yes! Exactly!" Yao Yamamoto chimed in, swallowing nervously as he met Aoyama Xiu Xin’s gaze, "It’s Tanaka! That guy Tanaka wants to lure us into setting a trap for you. It was also him who instigated us to betray you previously. We don’t want to make a mistake again, so we’ve come to confess everything to you."

"Right! It was all Tanaka!" Zhongshan Valley quickly dumped all the blame on Tanaka Noriaki and crawled forward a few steps, giving a heavy kowtow, "We truly realize our mistake now. Please, Inspector, give us a chance to atone to you, we beg you!"

"We beg you!" Yao Yamamoto followed with a kowtow.

Watching the backs of their heads, Aoyama Xiu Xin couldn’t help but reveal a mocking expression. What a pair of cowards, stabbing him in the back before and now betraying Tanaka Noriaki.

"Is that right? If that’s the case, that guy Tanaka really is bad news. Very, very bad!" Aoyama Xiu Xin commented indifferently, leaning back and resting his legs on the heads of the two men, continuing casually, "Well then, tell me about Tanaka’s plan. I’m quite curious about it."

"Right!" Feeling the pressure of Aoyama Xiu Xin’s legs on their heads, the two men concentrated on keeping their kowtowing position, not daring to move, fearful of making him uncomfortable. Their eyes fixed on the carpet, they took turns revealing every detail of Tanaka Noriaki’s plot.

Actually, the plan was simple. Tanaka Noriaki wanted to exploit Aoyama Xiu Xin’s designs on his wife and set up a honey trap. He planned to create an opportunity for Aoyama Xiu Xin to violate his wife at their home, and as Aoyama Xiu Xin made his move, the three men would burst in to catch him in the act and take pictures, exposing his attempt to sexually assault a former subordinate’s wife.

The goal was to ruin Aoyama Xiu Xin’s reputation.

This would prevent him from being transferred back to Police Headquarters.

"Idiot! So, Tanaka is indeed quite despicable! Mean to the core!" Aoyama Xiu Xin exclaimed, then lowered his head and kicked the faces of the two men lightly, floating the words, "But then again, how can I be sure this isn’t part of your plan? You might want to gain my trust in this way, then strike me fatally! Why should I believe you?"

"In the name of Amaterasu..." Zhongshan Valley heard this and started to raise his hand to swear.

Aoyama Xiu Xin interrupted him abruptly, his eyes becoming fierce and cold, "I don’t believe in Amaterasu; I believe only in the knife in my hand. So either you give me a knife to hold, or you can go back and wait for my knife to fall on your necks!"

He actually believed the two men’s words, but how could he let them off so easily?

Fairness was important.

All three had to pay the price for betraying him!

Blowing off steam was secondary; the key was to make an example of them. Otherwise, if betrayal came without consequence, who wouldn’t dare do it in the future?

He must take his revenge harshly.

Especially Tanaka, ha! Now bold enough to take the initiative to protect his newlywed wife by plotting against him. Not bad at all.

Tsk tsk tsk, it truly was profoundly touching.

Since that’s the case.

Then we need to destroy what he cares about the most!

Aoyama Xiu Xin’s handsome, fair face revealed a trace of sinister and cruel smile that sent chills down the spine.

"This..." Realizing the underlying meaning of Aoyama Xiu Xin’s words, Zhongshan Valley and Yao Yamamoto exchanged looks, hesitating. After all, nobody wants to hand over their leverage to someone else—it’s too passive.

Aoyama Xiu Xin knew them well, anticipated this, and also knew they would eventually compromise. He scoffed indifferently, "If I really wanted to deal with you, could you stop me? It’s just a desperate struggle. Hand over your respective leverage, and I’ll let bygones be bygones, giving you one last chance."

These words were the final straw for the two men.

Yes, even if they didn’t give their leverage to Aoyama Xiu Xin, weren’t they passive already?

They didn’t have the courage to resist.

"Superintendent, is... is what you said true?" Zhongshan Valley asked with a nervous face.

At that moment, his eyes were as innocent as a child’s.

Aoyama Xiu Xin stared at him expressionlessly.

He did not answer the question.

Zhongshan Valley soon lowered his head, prostrating on the ground again, and slowly said, "I am willing to hand over the evidence of me taking bribes to prove my sincerity and to seek your forgiveness, Superintendent."

"I... I am also willing." Yao Yamamoto only hesitated for a moment before he too expressed his stance.

From the moment they chose to betray Tanaka, their own weakness was exposed; the stronger Aoyama Xiu Xin appeared, the weaker and more compromising they became.

"Yosshi." Aoyama Xiu Xin removed his legs from above their heads, stood up, and walked upstairs without looking back, "I want to see your sincerity after I finish breakfast tomorrow morning. You can leave now."

"Yes!"

Zhongshan and Yamamoto responded, standing up only after the sound of footsteps had vanished, turned off the lights in the living room, and left on tiptoes, closing the door behind them.

.........

Time quickly moved on to the next morning.

"Good morning, sister-in-law."

Aoyama Xiu Xin stretched as he came downstairs.

"Good morning to you too, Xiu Xin," Aoyama Haruko responded with a slight smile from beside the dining table, then furrowed her brow and said, "By the way Xiu Xin, those two men were waiting at the door early this morning. I asked them to come in, but they wouldn’t, who are they really?"

"Don’t worry about them." Aoyama Xiu Xin casually responded without further explanation, approached the dining table and sniffed, his face then took on an exaggerated expression, "Mmm~ Sister-in-law, it smells great."

"You can eat now." Aoyama Haruko looked at Aoyama Xiu Xin’s eager appearance with a sense of accomplishment; it was the best feedback for her cooking skills.

Aoyama Xiu Xin quickly sat down, picked up the knife and fork and said, "Then, I’ll start eating."

After breakfast, he left for work.

"Good morning, Superintendent!"

Zhongshan Valley and Yao Yamamoto, who had been waiting outside, quickly stood at attention and bowed deeply.

"Where’s the stuff?" Aoyama Xiu Xin asked casually.

Yao Yamamoto and Zhongshan Valley, still bowing, each presented an envelope.

Aoyama Xiu Xin casually took them, looked inside to confirm everything was in order, and then put them away.

Now that he had the evidence of their crimes in his hands, he could completely trust their words and, when the time came to discard them, he could easily crush them.

What a pair of weak and pitiful fools.

"Very good! Mr. Zhongshan, Mr. Yamamoto, let’s forget about the past. Go to the Police Headquarters as usual, keep an eye on Tanaka Noriaki and then..."

Yao Yamamoto and Zhongshan Valley both silently mourned for Tanaka Noriaki for a minute, but without any hesitation, agreed, "Yes! Superintendent, please rest assured, we definitely won’t let him catch on."

Mr. Tanaka, I’m sorry.

"I trust your abilities," Aoyama Xiu Xin nodded, then started walking towards his car.

"Superintendent, have a smooth trip!"

Zhongshan and Yamamoto stood in place, bowing to see him off.

Only when they could no longer see the tail lights of the car in the corner of their eyes did they stand up and exchange a relieved look.

They had finally gotten past this hurdle.

"Ding ling ling~ Ding ling ling~"

At that moment, the phone of Zhongshan Valley rang.

He took it out and answered: "Mosi... It’s Mr. Tanaka, meet? Now? Uh-huh, okay."