The whole world was watching.
The Shuchi'in Academy kidnapping case quickly became a trending topic in an extremely short time, attracting global attention.
Countless people followed this shocking incident. The most discussed topic online was whether this would become Japan's version of the Beslan hostage crisis.
In that incident, nearly five hundred hostages died and countless others were injured.
Moreover, this case was even more serious than the previous one. The main reason was that the status of Shuchi'in Academy was completely different from that ordinary school.
All the students there were children of high officials or influential figures.
The Prime Minister's residence was flooded with phone calls.
The current Prime Minister was completely overwhelmed. Every time the phone rang, he jumped in fright as if suffering from an allergic reaction.
His secretary was drenched in sweat, struggling to answer the endless calls.
"Prime Minister, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of the Environment, and the major Zaibatsu..."
"Stop talking. Stop talking. I don't want to hear it!"
The Prime Minister covered his ears with both hands. Hearing so many names only made his expression more irritable.
Everyone was questioning him.
Questioning him, the Prime Minister.
If it were just one or two people, it would not be a problem. But when so many powerful figures were united in anger, even he could not afford to offend them.
Those questioning him included high ranking officials, powerful Zaibatsu, professors, members of parliament, and people from every corner of Japan's society.
"They want me dead. They want me to take the blame!"
The Prime Minister clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot.
No one else had the status to bear responsibility for this matter. Only he, the Prime Minister, could take the blame.
What frightened him even more was that if this incident were handled properly, he might only have to resign to take responsibility.
But if there were heavy casualties, he might be forced to commit seppuku.
Only that would be considered a proper apology to the world.
He did not want to die yet.
"Your Excellency, the press conference is ready."
Another secretary rushed in to report.
The Prime Minister took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and walked toward the press conference room.
Facing countless flashing cameras and sharp questions from reporters around the world, he wanted nothing more than to resign on the spot.
Unfortunately, he could not do that.
"Prime Minister, are you willing to agree to the terrorists' demands?"
"Japan will never negotiate with terrorists. We will absolutely not agree to any demands from them!"
The Prime Minister answered firmly.
As the leader of a country, he could not admit to compromise in front of so many reporters. That would be humiliating.
"Prime Minister, if you refuse the terrorists' demands, what will happen if they start killing the hostages?"
"I believe in the capabilities of our police officers and Self Defense Force personnel. I believe they will handle this incident properly."
Believe in them, my foot. If they were capable, this incident would never have happened.
I need to find someone to take the blame with me. Yes, the commanders responsible for intelligence must also take responsibility.
The Prime Minister had never imagined that a press conference could be so exhausting.
He answered questions while sweating heavily, then left the room in a hurry.
That awkward scene was captured by reporters and quickly became a source of mockery around the world.
After returning to the official residence, the Prime Minister asked bitterly, "How much gold reserve do we have?"
"There are about eight hundred tons, Your Excellency."
"Prepare one hundred tons. If it comes to that, we will accept their demands. The safety of the hostages is the priority."
The Prime Minister collapsed weakly into a chair.
The safety of the hostages was not actually the most important thing.
What mattered was who those hostages were.
...
Inside Shuchi'in Academy, Toru remained in the Student Council office building.
He held his phone and opened an application.
Far away in the bay area, the door of a warehouse slowly opened.
Unnoticed by anyone, a drone launch system began deploying drones into the air at a speed of nearly one per second.
After receiving the Advanced Technology reward, Toru had installed those drone launch systems inside this warehouse that only he knew about.
The location was relatively close to the city center, allowing coverage of almost the entire Tokyo area.
If anything happened, he could quickly call for support.
These drones did not all fly toward Shuchi'in Academy.
Some remained in the air on standby.
Only a small portion climbed to high altitude as reconnaissance drones.
At such altitude, the sound of these small drones could not be heard by human ears.
Hundreds of meters above the ground, the drones became Toru's eyes, allowing him to observe everything inside Shuchi'in Academy clearly.
Toru did not launch an attack immediately.
He was confident he could eliminate all the terrorists with the drone system.
However, the drone system had a problem.
Targets needed to be identified before an attack.
On a battlefield that would not matter.
But with hostages present, launching an attack without confirming every enemy's location could cause the armed men to harm the hostages.
Toru's goal was to eliminate the enemy while rescuing as many hostages as possible.
"First we must determine the position of all the armed men. That is the most difficult part."
"The simplest way is to lure them into one area."
Toru continued controlling the drones.
He did not activate the AI autonomous attack system. Instead, the drones patrolled at high altitude, searching for targets.
Through the drone surveillance, he saw many armed men still searching the campus for uncaptured students.
They were also searching for Toru himself.
Soon, Toru saw a squad of ten armed men arrive outside the Student Council office building.
"Look, that window is broken. There must still be people hiding inside."
One of the armed men tapped his companion and pointed toward the window Toru had broken.
Several of them exchanged glances and moved quickly.
The office building's door was sturdy, but it could not withstand violent force.
Using a battering ram, they smashed the door open.
A team of armed men swaggered inside.
They assumed the people hiding there were just ordinary students.
Watching the squad enter through the drones, Toru also prepared himself.
He took out his pistol and hid around a corner, quietly waiting.
Soon two armed men walked down the corridor.
Now.
The moment they reached the corner, Toru suddenly charged out.
His movement was explosive, like a tiger descending from the mountain, slamming into the two armed men and throwing them off balance.
At the same time, he grabbed one man's elbow, preventing him from raising his weapon.
Toru raised his pistol and fired directly under the man's chin.
The bullet pierced through the chin and drilled straight into the brain, leaving a bloody hole.
The other armed man had no time to react.
Toru raised his pistol again and fired several shots directly into his face.
These armed men wore heavy body armor. Even 5.56mm rounds might not immediately kill them, let alone 9mm pistol bullets.
So if he wanted to kill them, he had to aim for the head.
The pistol was equipped with a silencer, but in the empty building even a small sound was noticeable.
Toru knew he could not eliminate all ten of them using silent assassinations.
After dealing with the two men, he immediately picked up their M series assault rifles.
"The guns are brand new, fully military grade."
Toru sneered.
This further confirmed the source of their weapons.
He removed the magazines from both bodies and checked them quickly.
"Fortunately there are no grenades or similar weapons. That's good news."
After confirming the rifles were functional, he connected his phone to the building's surveillance cameras and located the others.
"What happened? Where did that gunshot come from?"
The armed men inside the building became confused when the gunfire echoed again.
Suddenly a burst of gunfire erupted from another corner.
Thirty bullets tore through the air like a sudden ambush.
Two armed men were instantly riddled with bullets.
The wounds on their bodies were not immediately fatal, but Toru's marksmanship was precise. Several bullets penetrated their foreheads.
"No. The person hiding here isn't a student."
"It's Adam. It must be Adam!"
"Quick, report to the Boss!"
Toru's reputation had already spread among these criminals.
After all, he had once wiped out the leadership of a major drug cartel alone.
Realizing that the enemy was Toru rather than ordinary students, the armed men panicked.
Taking advantage of their confusion, Toru confirmed their positions through the cameras and used his familiarity with the building.
In a short time, he eliminated all ten armed men who had entered the office building.
...
Inside the Auditorium, the one eyed Latino Boss was smoking.
After hearing the report from his subordinate, he grabbed the walkie talkie and shouted.
"What happened? Is anyone still alive?"
No answer came.
His expression darkened.
He already knew his men had probably been taken out by Toru.
"As expected of Adam. Killing you won't be easy."
"Everyone listen."
"If you find any trace of Adam, all of you gather around that building."
"Do not enter the building for close combat."
"Stay hidden outside and open fire as soon as you see him."
"Bring all the explosives we brought."
"Find a chance to blow up that building."
"I want to see whether he is really Superman."
The Boss's expression turned vicious.
However, he did not send everyone out.
A few armed men remained inside the Auditorium to guard the hostages.
"You stay here and watch them carefully. I'm going to deal with Adam."
"Yes, Boss."
The one eyed Latino threw away his cigarette and stepped outside.
He needed to personally command the operation.
Otherwise those idiots might rush in one by one, only to die one after another.
Inside the office building, Toru hid inside a room while observing the situation through the drones.
From the drone's view, he saw armed men gathering from all directions around Shuchi'in Academy.
They surrounded the building.
"They aren't attacking directly. They are laying siege."
"Their leader is a capable commander."
"But this is exactly what I wanted."
"You gathered together. Now I can pinpoint all your locations."
"The plan to lure the snake out of its hole succeeded."
Toru sneered.
"The times have changed."
"This is the era of drone warfare."
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)