Chapter 588 - Miyazaki Ronjin (2/2)

“You must be thirsty, Mr. Xiao Han. Let me buy you a bottle of water.”

“I’m not thirsty. You are too kind.”

Kimura Akino was so hospitable and obliging that Xiao Luo did not know how to react.

The airport carpark was right outside the main concourse. Kimura Akino had driven a black sedan to pick Xiao Luo up. He explained that it was the car assigned to Miyazaki Ronjin. It looked ordinary on the outside, but underneath the hood, it had been modified and could accelerate from 0 to 100 in under eight seconds. It was a great car to be driving in any pursuit.

“How’s the progress on the case of the missing Hua Nationals here? Are there any leads?” Xiao Luo was in no mood for small talk and cut to the chase.

Kimura Akino nodded stiffly. “Yes. Our surveillance team has linked an unregistered SUV without number plates to the abduction of all the five missing Hua Nationals. We will solve the case the moment we can find that car,” he replied.

“Have you found the car?” Xiao Luo probed.

Kimura Akino shook his head. “No, but don’t worry, Mr. Xiao Han. The Dongjing Police are leaving no stones unturned in finding the vehicle, and I believe we will make progress within the week.”

“A week? It will be too late by the time you find anything. Those people might have already have come to harm by then,” Xiao Luo said.

“What, you don’t trust the Dongjing Police?” A harsh voice rang out from behind him.

Xiao Luo turned his head to look behind. Walking toward him was a sloppy-looking man in his late 40s, with tan skin and a cigarette pinched between his fingers. Before the man could even get close, Xiao Luo could already detect the overpowering stench of stale cigarettes.

Kimura Akino immediately introduced the man. “Mr. Xiao Han, this is Sergeant Ronjin. Sergeant Ronjin, this is Mr. Xiao Han from Hua Nation.”

“Hello, Mr. Xiao, welcome to Dongjing.”

Miyazaki Ronjin extended a hand to Xiao Luo with a smile on his face.

Xiao Luo eyed that hand of his, stained yellow from cigarette smoke, and then his two rows of tobacco-stained teeth when he flashed his smile. He was a chain-smoker. But out of respect, he reached out to shake the man’s hand. “Hello!”

Miyazaki Ronjin addressed him as Mr. Xiao, and it was the proper way the Ri Nation people would address strangers. It was an honorific, and they only used this manner of address on people with an appropriate status.

“Get in the car. There’s someplace I have to bring you.”

Miyazaki Ronjin said nothing else as he walked over to open the door. Compared to Kimura Akino, his attitude towards Xiao Luo was a lot colder.

Xiao Luo kept silent. When Kimura Akino opened the door to the passenger seat, he sat down without hesitation.

“Mr. Xiao, it is written in your file that you’re a Sergeant 1st class, so your rank is on par with mine. I’ve toiled for several decades before I made this rank, but you managed to rise to yours at such a young age, which is extremely rare. It would be an understatement to call you a genius police officer. It is no wonder why you are here to represent the Hua Nation Police to supervise and guide us for these missing person cases.”

Miyazaki Ronjin spoke with the cigarette between his teeth as he drove, and his tone made it difficult for Xiao Luo to read the man.

It discomforted Xiao Luo. The way Miyazaki Ronjin spoke was more unsettling than the pungent smell of cigarettes coming off the man.

“After this case of the missing Hua Nationals is closed, I can finally announce my retirement and start afresh,” Miyazaki Ronjin said, showing little regard to the limit of propriety.

Observing Miyazaki Ronjin’s lax, devil-may-care attitude, Xiao Luo could not help but question if the Dongjing Police were giving this case any priority at all.