Chapter 17 Strange, Unkillable

The next day, Kazuma Fuchikawa arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department early in the morning.

After a night's rest, he was full of energy, no longer as listless as before.

Upon arriving at the First Investigation Division, he looked around and asked, "Where's Chief Aokiji?"

Although the Hell Girl case was handled by Aokiji from the Special Division, he had done some investigating last night before returning home. He discovered that there was no such department as the Special Division in the police records, nor was there any record of Aokiji.

However, Director Yasuda knew about the Special Division, indicating that even in his capacity as the head of the First Investigation Division, he did not have the clearance to know about this special unit.

This realization made him wary. Even though he found it hard to believe, he now understood that the urban legend of the Hell Girl was real.

The Special Division must be the department responsible for handling such matters, he surmised.

Despite Aokiji taking over the case, he still didn't know how to address him.

"Aokiji Inspector came to the department early this morning, made copies of the materials from the past two days, and then left," someone responded.

"Inspector?" 

"Yes, Aokiji Inspector asked us to call him that."

"Alright," Fuchikawa nodded. "Did Aokiji Inspector give any other instructions?"

"No, he just told us to wait for orders," Nishino replied, hesitating before adding, "Chief Fuchikawa, should we block the 2ch forum?"

Fuchikawa felt a headache coming on at this question.

He would have preferred to block the forum immediately. However, it was too late now. Had he known how troublesome that post would be, he would have ordered the forum blocked right away.

But... the urban legend of the Hell Girl had already spread.

Blocking the forum now would only confirm the truth of the urban legend, making it obvious to everyone.

After thinking for a while, Fuchikawa picked up his phone and called Koike On. "Assistant Koike, could you please ask Aokiji Inspector if we should block the 2ch forum?" he asked seriously.

Since Aokiji hadn't left a phone number, the First Investigation Division only had Koike On's contact information.

"Alright." After a moment, Koike On replied somewhat apologetically, "Aokiji said, 'decide for yourself.'"

Decide for himself?

Was Aokiji trying to avoid taking responsibility for what would follow?

Fuchikawa's face darkened. After a few minutes of intense thought, he looked at Nishino and said sternly, "Notify the Internet Surveillance Division to block the 2ch forum."

"Yes, sir."

"I remember that Satoshi En is now a national idol, right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Have someone leak a scandal about him, stir up some controversy."

"Understood, Chief Fuchikawa."

...

In Adachi Ward, Koike On drove to the gate of Seijo Private High School.

Before getting out of the car, she received a message.

"Got it." Hanging up, she turned to the passenger seat. "Aokiji, the 2ch forum has been blocked."

"I see," Aokiji replied lazily, leaning back in his seat. "It seems the police aren't entirely stupid."

Even though blocking the 2ch forum was late and could be seen as suspicious, the urban legend would persist as long as the post remained.

Whether people believed it or not, someone would always try it. He knew that most of those taken by the Hell Girl were delinquents.

And those who contacted the Hell Girl were naturally students bullied by these delinquents.

These bullied students were already deeply repressed.

Seeing an urban legend that could remove their grievances, they would grasp at it like a drowning person would a straw, even if they knew it was fake.

On the other hand, if the forum was blocked, some might believe it to be real, but it wouldn't matter much.

Since the events didn't happen to them, they would gradually forget as time passed.

"Aokiji, if you thought the forum should be blocked, why didn't you just give the order?" Koike On asked curiously.

Aokiji was taken aback by the question, scrutinizing her with a frown. "How long did you train in the Special Division?"

"Ah?" Koike On was puzzled but answered honestly, "Three days."

Three days?

Hearing this, Aokiji's face contorted with anger, nearly causing him to explode on the spot.

He took a deep breath, took out a special phone, and dialed a number. The moment the call connected, he furiously spoke, "Old man, are you trying to get me killed?"

"Calm down, calm down. What's the matter?" came a weak, elderly voice from the phone, as if speaking required all his strength.

"You sent a rookie with only three days of training to be my assistant?" Aokiji sneered, ignoring the embarrassed Koike On beside him. "If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, I'll have no choice but to resign from the Special Division."

"There was no other option," Kohei Kimura sighed slightly. "All the experienced assistants are nearly dead. The anomalies can't be killed, and now new anomalies are appearing. We had to send rookies. If you don't like it, you can send Koike back. But then you'll have to handle the Hell Girl anomaly alone."

"Even so, you shouldn't have sent someone with only first-stage spiritual power," Aokiji complained, his anger somewhat subsiding. "Isn't there a girl with third-stage spiritual power at the Kudo Shrine? Why not send her to assist me?"

The other end of the line fell silent.

After a long pause, Kimura's slow voice came through, "I'll give you the contact information for Kudo Shrine. If the Kudo family agrees and Hanae is willing, she will be your dedicated assistant."

Aokiji said nothing and hung up the phone.

"I'm truly sorry, Aokiji," Koike On said quickly, bowing her head in shame. "I didn't mean to hide that I was a rookie. I thought you knew."

"Forget it," Aokiji waved it off.

"Then... should we go deal with this anomaly now?"

"Deal with it?" Aokiji scoffed, ready to mock her, but remembering she was just a rookie, he lost interest and replied flatly, "What did you learn during your Special Division training?"

"About ghosts, vengeful spirits, and anomalies," Koike On admitted, "But mostly, we were told to familiarize ourselves with the dossiers of the senior officers to avoid offending them."

"So, what do you know about anomalies?"

"Only a little," Koike On said, head lowered in shame. "I just know that anomalies are unsolvable for humans. But I believe with all the inspectors, we can eliminate anomalies."

"It seems all those experienced assistants are really nearly dead," Aokiji said expressionlessly. "Now... let me tell you a harsh truth."

"For humans, anomalies are not only unsolvable but also impossible to kill."

(End of the chapter)

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