Twenty

When Chūya Nakahara found that traitor, the man, gaunt as a skeleton, was frantically hacking away at a pile of mutilated limbs.

Describing those remnants as mere limbs hardly did justice to the grotesque mass of torn flesh and blood that lay scattered. In the cramped, claustrophobic rented room, the deranged and ruthless butcher had completely lost his mind.

Even Nakahara, who had witnessed most of the cruelest scenes, recoiled in shock at the sight. The man, once sharp and dashing in his suit, had transformed into a horrifyingly twisted madman.

His appearance was identical to that of the prisoners once locked in the dungeon, as if some force was draining their life essence—flesh and blood wasting away in a short time, leaving behind a monstrous, neither-human-nor-ghost visage.

The man was oblivious to Nakahara and his entourage’s arrival, lost in his own world. He laughed triumphantly as he violently hacked at the flesh on the floor.

“You dared to look down on me! You hypocritical wretch! I did everything you said, yet you went and seduced others! Hahaha, now you belong to me forever! Tomie… Tomie…”

Nakahara frowned. His men swiftly skirted the scattered flesh, grabbing the man from both sides. Only then did the man react, lifting his head to look at Nakahara approaching slowly.

“Masato Uchimaru, you should be well aware of the price for betraying the Port Syndicate,” Nakahara said, bending down to grab the man’s hair and jerk his head up.

Uchimaru’s eyes glazed over as he stared at Nakahara’s cold face. In Nakahara’s cobalt eyes burned a disdain reserved for traitors. “Then I won’t waste words.”

With that, Nakahara dragged Uchimaru toward the door. The dazed man was jolted awake by the sudden, searing pain.

“Ahhhh! Lord Nakahara! I didn’t mean to! It was that boy! That wretched bastard who seduced me! I don’t want to die! I can provide information! Tomie! That person is called Tomie!”

As a member of the Port Syndicate, Uchimaru knew all too well the consequences of betrayal. First, the traitor must bite the stone steps, be kicked in the back of the head, the jaw shattered, then flipped onto his back and shot three times in the chest.

This excruciating punishment was the first lesson for all members of the Port Syndicate.

Nakahara had already dragged Uchimaru out of the room. Despite his thin frame, Nakahara’s strength was formidable; he casually threw Uchimaru into the car. “If you have anything to say, say it in the interrogation room.”

Uchimaru continued to beg in terror, pounding on the car window, desperate to speak more, but Nakahara was no longer willing to listen.

Sister Momiji had expressly instructed him to hand this traitor over to her. The dungeon incident had not only punished the guards that day but also implicated Momiji Ozaki herself.

As an officer of the Port Syndicate, no one was truly mild-tempered. Naturally, Momiji would not tolerate such a loss, so it was inevitable that she would personally extract information from Uchimaru.

However…

NakaharaI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.