Not a detective

Page 111

In that instant, Asakawa Riku's right leg of pants was torn, and intricate scratches appeared on his skin, but they only pierced the skin and failed to cut off his foot.

In a trade of injury, the powerful kick sent the baby flying, crashing heavily into the wall and leaving a dent.

"However, that's about it."

Asakawa Riku slowly withdrew his foot. The wound was deep, but the bone had withstood the cat demon's bites. The pain and bleeding made him feel like he could fight again.

He stared at the crater where smoke billowed: "At first, I thought you were the one who could tear me apart."

Yes, from the very beginning of his involvement in the case, the moment he saw the corpse in the operating room, Asakawa Riku immediately thought of his own "future".

That is, when he was investigating the seven mysteries of the campus, he saw a future image in the mirror, which showed that he would also be dismembered.

Half a year has passed since then, and Asakawa Riku has not encountered a similar situation. Even when he was fighting Ibuki Ren in the Dragon Palace, at the most dangerous moment, Ibuki Ren did not use any weapons such as blades, but only used his fists and legs to strike. Therefore, Shuten-dōji is not a monster that can disintegrate him. So who is it?

It wasn't until this spring that he finally found a trace of it.

The corpse killed by the cat demon was highly similar to the scene seen in the mirror, which made Asakawa Riku wonder if this was the moment mentioned in the prophecy.

If the cat is the monster that can dismember and kill him...

When faced with this situation, a normal person would usually feel fear and retreat. Faced with the only future that could potentially kill them, they would naturally try to avoid it as much as possible.

But Riku Asakawa never hesitated. He continued his investigation and eventually stood in front of "Nekomata".

"Challenging powerful enemies and breaking through one's own limits—this is the path to the martial arts world."

Asakawa Riku stepped forward, exuding an astonishing aura. He grabbed the baby's body with one hand, pressed him firmly against the wall, and repeatedly hammered him.

Even as the cat's claws and sharp teeth relentlessly rubbed against his flesh, causing horrific bleeding and injuries, it did not stop.

His eyes burned with a fiery intensity that masked all the pain.

"Not enough...not enough...! Is that all? It's not enough, this isn't enough to kill me!"

The constant roaring filled the air, the walls were completely breached, and the entire rental house was teetering on the brink of collapse. The police outside should have already been evacuating the area, but Asakawa Riku had no time to care.

He only wanted to completely eliminate the enemy in front of him.

Under the onslaught of the storm, the cat, caught in the grip, was unable to struggle. It couldn't understand why the human before it was harder than steel.

The bone in that arm, though still encased in muscle, pierced through the possessed and enhanced body like a hammer and a spear.

"Waaah..."

The cat let out another panicked cry, and Asakawa Riku grabbed its forked tail from the void.

Legend has it that to prevent cats from turning into Nekomata, the tails of kittens are often cut off, leaving only a short root. This way, the cat's tail won't fork and turn into Nekomata to cause trouble.

And this became the weakness of this kind of monster.

"caught you."

Asakawa Riku's smile was stained red with blood, revealing a smile that hadn't been seen in a long time, a smile more sinister than that of a demon.

He used all his strength to tear the cat's tail off—

"Ah...ah!!"

The rented house, unable to withstand the impact, collapsed with a roar. After penetrating the load-bearing walls, Asakawa Riku slowly walked out from the ruins, which resembled those after an earthquake.

Spring of Events: Chapter Thirty-One - The Demon Passing By

"Are you OK?"

Inspector Takahashi rushed over nervously and arranged for medical personnel to bandage Asakawa Riku's injuries.

His uniform was tattered beyond recognition, and his body was covered in scratches and bite marks, dripping with blood, making him look extremely gruesome.

Especially the legs and hands, where the skin and muscles were almost completely shaved off, leaving only a pale bone exposed.

It must be admitted that Nekomata is indeed a very powerful yokai. To be able to push him to this point, Nekomata has even been ranked among the "Three Great Yokai" in some accounts.

"fine."

Asakawa Lu smiled and said that he only asked the medical staff to do the necessary disinfection, then took the bandage and wrapped it around himself casually.

"This level of injury is alright; it will heal on its own in a few days."

"..."

The medical staff looked like they were wondering if the child had suffered a brain injury from the impact.

Inspector Takahashi seemed to realize something, and said cryptically that it was okay, then asked the medical staff to leave.

As expected of someone from the Ministry of Supervision, if they can demolish a house with their bare hands, then treating wounds should be no problem for them.

"Remember to reimburse me for the cost of buying a new uniform."

In the past, Riku Asakawa's recovery ability wasn't that strong; at most, he could recover from superficial injuries and sprains a little faster than the average person.

This change occurred last winter, after he drank the "Divine Poison." The potent poison plunged his body into an unprecedented crisis. In the process of detoxifying, his body inadvertently underwent an evolutionary leap. Since then, his self-healing and recovery abilities have begun to take a fantastical turn.

Even such a severe wound has now healed for Asakawa Riku. It could be said that drinking the poison that time unexpectedly brought him many benefits.

At least for someone who uses their body as a weapon, this powerful self-healing and recovery ability is the crucial final piece of the puzzle.

Of course, this doesn't reach the terrifying level of "limb regeneration" or "complete resurrection," and it's not like Wolverine or Deadpool.

This also shows that the cat was not the murderer who could dismember him.

Asakawa Riku's thoughts flashed through his mind, and he asked Inspector Takahashi:

"That baby...couldn't be saved after all?"

He was next to the ambulance and saw the whole rescue process. It seemed that in the end, the ambulance was covered with a cloth and put into a bag and taken away.

"Yes." Inspector Takahashi, perhaps thinking he was worried about something, explained:

"That was a necessary sacrifice for exorcising demons, I know. These follow-up matters will be handled in accordance with the regulations of the Inspection Department, and you will not be held responsible for the death of this baby."

Asakawa Riku remained silent.

He watched as the baby was taken away in a cloth bag, a bag that had been carried around like this before, never imagining that it would ultimately meet the same fate.

A few minutes later, my phone vibrated.

Short senior: [...]

Short Senior: [Those possessed by demons cannot be saved. The only way to exorcise the demon is to kill the host along with the demon.]

Short senior: [So you did nothing wrong.]

Short senior: [It's not your fault.]

He closed his phone, looked up at the sky, and sighed.

...

The story should begin with the first victim, Rika Otsuka.

She was a rising idol, a popular young star, but she also had another identity: Higashino Kosuke's lover, the new plaything of that local tyrant.

Once this is understood, the subsequent events become obvious.

Rika Otsuka arrives at a shady clinic in Kabukicho, ostensibly for "plastic surgery," but in reality, she's undergoing a much more invasive procedure—

"I want to give birth to this child."

It is a [pregnancy surgery].

Yes, she is pregnant, and it's highly likely that the child is Higashino Kosuke's. I never expected that the old man would be so vigorous at his age; he truly is a stud.

This shady clinic in Kabukicho probably also does cosmetic surgery, but this time it was definitely a "pregnancy surgery" because the surgeon, Takesuke Omura, specializes in gynecology, and the anesthetic used by Midori Fukushima is the same one commonly used during childbirth. Some of the instruments mentioned by the scrub nurse, Sumire Ogawa, are also needed in obstetrics.

If they had seen through it back then, they might have found a way to solve the case. But no one thought of that, since there really were traces of implants on Otsuka Rika's face.

No one expected that this was actually a "disguise".

Rika Otsuka chose this shady hospital instead of a major hospital to give birth, probably for privacy reasons. She said that only a place like this could keep her away from the ever-present paparazzi.

Even if it's exposed, even if you say you've had plastic surgery, you absolutely cannot say you're pregnant. The level of scandal is different for idols, and that's the meaning of "double insurance".

"This child is very important; we absolutely cannot expose him."

The plan was flawless; Rika Otsuka secretly gave birth to the child here, and nothing ever happened.

But an unexpected event occurred... For some reason, her child was possessed by a "Nekota" and became a ferocious monster.

During the surgery, the baby was torn out of her womb, severing her mother's body and limbs, and killing Otsuka Rika.

During the incident, the victim's abdomen was completely mutilated by the cat's claws, which is why, by a twist of fate, the autopsy did not detect any signs of pregnancy.

"Monster...monster!!"

The operating room must have been in complete chaos at the time. Someone came up with a solution: he asked the anesthesiologist, Midori Fukushima, to administer anesthesia to the baby.

Under the influence of a high dose of anesthetic, the possessing monster temporarily fell into a deep sleep, and the survivors tried to escape from the operating room.

But the surgeon, Takesuke Omura, stopped them:

"Wait a minute."

A bold idea popped into his head: since the plastic surgery had been disguised from the outside world, and Rika Otsuka had done a very good job of keeping it a secret and was very vigilant, it meant that no one knew that a pregnancy had been performed here, and no one knew that a child had been born here, and that this child's identity happened to be very special...

"He is the illegitimate son of Shinonome Kosuke."

Yes, the doctor may have accidentally learned about Rika Otsuka's lover's identity, and thus knew that this newborn baby could very well become a cash cow.

Dongyun Group is a super-large conglomerate that controls the economic lifeline of the country. Its enormous wealth, let alone 5%, even if one inherits only 1%, would be an astonishing fortune that could not be spent in several lifetimes.

As long as we keep this child and find an opportunity to do a paternity test, we can exchange it for countless riches and honors!

Therefore, Ōmura Takesuke told everyone about the plan and offered them a large share of the profits as hush money, causing them to give false testimony.

Let's do it together.

Yes, the "invisible monsters" do not exist; it is the "visible monsters" that kill.

But behind all this are actually monsters driven by greed, namely these people.

It was later learned that Omura Takesuke had been forced to work at this illegal clinic due to a medical accident; Fukushima Midori was raising her son as a single parent, and he was at a crucial stage where he needed money to go to university; Ono Takayuki and Doi Mizuka were both people who couldn't stay in the medical system, but they wanted to escape their families' rejection and find a way to get married; Ogawa Sumire had accumulated a lot of debt due to her consumer desires and had to sell her body in Kabukicho after get off work; Yoshimura Saku was actually a former yakuza member who deliberately gained weight to avoid being hunted down, and he wanted to find a way to save his life.

They all need money.

In that instant, a passing demon descended upon them, causing them to do things that healers should not do.

"The police will come; we must be absolutely certain."

Omura Takeshi made several cuts on the face of the already dead Otsuka Rika to make traces of plastic surgery. Fukushima Midori also re-anesthetized the face of the corpse to interfere with the police autopsy. In fact, the area where Otsuka Rika was really anesthetized was below the waist, which was the anesthesia used for pregnancy surgery. That is why she did not experience much pain when she was killed by Nekomata.

Perhaps thinking this way can offer some comfort? In any case, there wasn't much struggle, so her limbs didn't fly around like the other corpses.

After dealing with the situation together, everyone went over their lines.

Omura Takesuke stuffed the sleeping baby into his briefcase, went home to hide the baby before the police arrived to investigate, and then pretended nothing had happened while being questioned.

They were all medical professionals and knew exactly how much anesthetic to administer to a person of a certain weight and how long the sedation would last; they had prepared the medication in advance.

But they forgot one thing.

"The effects of anesthesia on monsters are completely different from those on ordinary people."

The following evening, when Takeshi Omura returned from the police station and was about to celebrate his victory with his wife, the cat woke up again; the anesthesia hadn't lasted long at all.

It approached silently and brutally dismembered and killed the couple.

When Midori Fukushima visited Takesuke Omura, she was likely delivering anesthetic drugs, but she arrived too late and witnessed the tragedy.

The infant, who had been anesthetized, fell into a coma again. Fukushima Midori, harboring evil intentions, stole this precious money tree and took it back to her home.

"Hmph... I'll take it then."

The ensuing series of tragedies followed a similar plot. These medical professionals knew that injecting anesthetic drugs could temporarily control the crazed baby, but they did not expect that the anesthetic drugs would become less and less effective against a yokai like the Nekomata, and would develop resistance. As a result, they were all killed without any resistance.

The next person goes to the previous person's house, perhaps because they want a bigger share and want to discuss the division of spoils, or perhaps they have found out who has now received the parcel in the game.

To them, this was indeed stolen goods of greater value than cash, jewelry, or precious stones; even a gold nugget of the same size couldn't compare to this baby.

But what they were actually delivering wasn't treasure or stolen goods, but a dangerous time bomb.

When they get their hands on them, they'll be blown to bits.

Even if they were to obtain Higashino Kosuke's illegitimate child without any problems, would they really be able to gain a huge amount of money in return?

Would Higashino Kosuke, a cunning and powerful figure in the business world, readily acknowledge an illegitimate child born from a shady clinic?