128: Chapter 128: Beika Batman's Interrogation

"That's all you got?"

Fujino kicked the unconscious Sugiyama Tokuro.

He then moved beside Shimoda Kohei, roughly pulling him up and ripping the tape off his mouth.

"Your partner was quite uncooperative. I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer."

"How exactly did Mochizuki Minako die?"

"Mochizuki Minako..."

Shimoda Kohei's brow furrowed upon hearing the name.

Honestly, he had no idea how this guy knew the two of them had killed Mochizuki Minako.

But he also understood that something like this could never be confessed, no matter what.

Thinking this, he stubbornly feigned ignorance.

"Didn't Minako commit suicide because she couldn't handle the academic pressure?"

"Suicide?"

Fujino's brow tightened at the reply.

Still playing tough?

Looks like the 'killing the chicken to scare the monkey' approach didn't work on this one.

Pondering, he took a deep breath and punched Shimoda Kohei squarely in the face.

[Martial Arts Proficiency +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1]

After a thorough beating, Fujino grabbed Shimoda Kohei by the collar.

Staring into his already swollen face, he questioned sharply, "Since I came to ask you, I obviously have sufficient evidence... Did you kill Mochizuki Minako or not?"

"She really committed suicide! I really didn't kill her!"

Shimoda Kohei yelled through gritted teeth.

He had heard about the Beika Batman. People beaten by this guy usually ended up in the hospital, but none had actually died.

If he doesn't confess, at worst, he gets beaten up.

If he confesses, it means admitting to a crime from a closed case.

Not only would he lose his job as an elementary school teacher, but he'd also face decades in prison...

That meant no pension, no special privileges.

His capital for picking up girls would vanish.

That was almost worse than death itself.

"Did I say you killed her?"

A slight smirk appeared on Fujino's lips. "Looks ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like you're definitely connected to Mochizuki Minako's death."

"Huh?"

Before Shimoda Kohei could react, Fujino stomped down hard on his lower leg.

"Aaaargh!"

A horrific scream echoed through the area.

"How exactly did you kill Mochizuki Minako?"

As he spoke, Fujino applied more pressure with the foot crushing Shimoda's leg.

Shimoda Kohei glanced at his leg, then shook his head, clearly unwilling to confess.

He still clung to a sliver of hope that Fujino wouldn't actually break his leg.

After all, the rumors he heard about the Beika Batman didn't mention breaking limbs.

Seeing the continued head shaking, Fujino lost his patience.

In the past, he had indeed refrained from permanently disabling the criminals he dealt with.

However, that was only for robbers and stalkers.

Against scum like this, who would kill a girl who admired them just for personal gain, he felt no need to hold back.

He lifted his foot and stomped down hard.

With a sickening crack, the bone snapped.

"Aaaaaaah!"

Shimoda Kohei's face contorted in agony.

Painful screams tore from his throat.

Blood oozed from his broken, twisted leg, mixing with the dust on the concrete floor, turning it into blood-soaked mud.

"I don't kill people, but that doesn't mean I won't break your bones one by one."

Fujino cracked his knuckles ominously. "I advise you to confess honestly. I might make it quick for you."

"It wasn't me... I really didn't kill her! She really committed suicide because of academic pressure..."

Fujino was clearly unsatisfied with this answer.

"One last chance. Did you kill Mochizuki Minako...?"

As he spoke, Fujino's right foot shifted slightly, pressing down on Shimoda Kohei's other leg. "With just one broken leg, you might still stand again. But if the other one breaks too, you'll likely spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair."

Shimoda Kohei looked down at the foot pressing on his remaining good leg, swallowing hard.

His last shred of hope shattered.

If he didn't give this guy a satisfactory answer,

without a doubt, the man would break his other leg.

His mind raced frantically. After a moment, an idea struck him. He suddenly blurted out, "Mochizuki Minako was indeed murdered! The one who killed her was that guy Sugiyama! He killed Mochizuki Minako, I'm innocent!"

"Just him?"

Fujino crouched down, moving his foot away, staring into Shimoda Kohei's bloodied face.

Shimoda Kohei fought back his terror and nodded.

"I see..."

Fujino sighed softly, slowly standing up. "So it was just him alone who did it."

"Yes, that's right! It was all him! It had nothing to do with me! I just knew he did it... but I didn't dare speak out due to pressure from the school!"

Shimoda Kohei's voice grew shrill.

He clung to this fabricated story like a drowning man grasping at straws.

"Is that so."

Saying this, Fujino turned and kicked Shimoda Kohei's other leg.

"Crack!"

"Aaaaah!"

Shimoda Kohei could only watch helplessly as his leg was snapped and twisted, letting out another agonizing scream.

Ignoring the cries echoing around him, Fujino stated coldly, "Last chance. Don't bullshit me. I know you killed Mochizuki Minako."

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Shimoda Kohei panicked.

He finally understood. This guy was a ruthless lunatic!

Gritting his teeth against the pain radiating from both legs, Shimoda Kohei confessed the crime. "Yes, alright! I killed Mochizuki Minako... Sugiyama was involved too."

"Why did you kill Mochizuki Minako?"

Fujino looked down at him, his gaze piercing.

Suppressing the agony, he explained, "Because the kid found out about the illegal enrollment stuff Sugiyama and I were doing... So, to avoid getting fired by the school, Sugiyama and I came up with this plan."

"That day, I asked the kid to meet me in the sports equipment storage room. Sugiyama grabbed her from behind, and I strangled her. Then, the two of us worked together to hang her body from the rafters, staging the scene as a suicide."

"I see."

Fujino took a deep breath, looking up at the starry night sky.

Then, he stomped his foot slightly.

For the rest of the night, horrific screams echoed continuously from the rooftop of the abandoned building.

The cries were gut-wrenching, enough to make anyone who heard them weep.

The next morning, two large boxes appeared at the entrance of the Metropolitan Police Department.

They were Cheetah Express delivery boxes.

A morbidly humorous label was stuck on them: [Live Cargo Delivery. Handle with Care. Please check the internal personnel's injuries upon opening. ;) By: Beika Batman]

Upon opening the boxes, the police found two men inside, beaten almost beyond recognition.

A basic assessment revealed both men's legs were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠completely shattered.

Additionally, one man's hands had been pierced by sharp objects.

Even more astonishingly,

despite the severe beatings, neither man had died from their injuries.

Bandages had even been thoughtfully applied to their wounds.

Inside each delivery box, the police also found two videotapes and two bat-symbol cards...

The identities of the two men were quickly established: they were both teachers at Haido Elementary School.

Based on the confessions on the videotapes, the police swiftly uncovered their crime of facilitating illegal school enrollments.

Simultaneously, the media descended upon the scene.

Facing media inquiries, the police only stated that two Haido Elementary teachers had been assaulted by the Beika Batman, without revealing the reasons or the heinous ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠crimes committed by the two beasts.

The potential impact of this incident was enormous; exposure could tarnish the MPD's reputation.

Therefore, pending a thorough investigation, the police decided not to release specific details about the case for the time being.

Meanwhile, after a long night of... activities, Fujino had returned home.

"Yawn..."

Fujino let out a big yawn and took a sip of the coffee from the table before him.

At the same time, a system notification echoed in his ears:

[Congratulations Host for completing: Elementary School Student Suicide Case]

[System Reward: 1,000,000 Yen Distributed. +200 Detective Reputation Distributed.]

[Congratulations Host! Doctor Profession Leveled Up: High-Level]

[Current System Balance: 4,960,000 Yen]

Fujino glanced at the rewards distributed by the system, then turned his attention to the profession interface:

[Martial Artist: High-Level (560/1000)]

[Workplace Doctor: High-Level (10/1000)]

After a moment's thought, Fujino allocated the profession point gained from the Doctor level-up to the Save Others, Save Self skill:

[Save Others, Save Self (Intermediate: Increases Host's physical self-healing ability by 100%)]

"This time, the gains were quite substantial."

After upgrading the profession skill, Fujino took another sip of his coffee.

Last night, by thoroughly beating those two criminals, he had farmed over two hundred Martial Artist points.

The beating was so severe it almost killed them.

Left with no choice, Fujino had to administer first aid to the two beasts.

While providing treatment, he unexpectedly triggered the condition for gaining Doctor proficiency points.

Nice, beat someone up, then heal them to farm points?

Fujino felt like he had discovered a new continent.

He then spent the rest of the night experimenting on the two unfortunate souls, confirming the feasibility of this idea.

Doctor proficiency points were among the hardest to obtain across all professions.

But now it seemed...

Perhaps in the future, while acting as Batman and dishing out justice (i.e., beating people up) to farm Martial Arts points, he could also passively gain Doctor points.

However, beating someone up and then healing them... didn't that feel like letting the criminals off too easily?

But soon, Fujino thought of a solution.

If beating them once and then healing them felt too lenient...

Then simply beat them up again afterwards.

Another wave of free Martial Arts points.

Perhaps this could become a continuous loop...

Beat them to near death, heal them, then beat them again.