Asi Hell

Capítulo 90

"It's alright if you don't want to retract your statement. I really don't know if Mr. Suzaki's method will succeed, and maybe I've just been deceived. So even if it's possible to keep Kanako alive, the plan still presupposes her death. Just as you said, we need to make Kanako disappear for a while, making her life or death unknown. I'm such a cruel mother, but even so, I—"

Yoko didn't cry; instead, she released a large amount of something, her spirit completely dissipating in an instant. Mimasaka said:

"Susaki has his own independent research. His research not only has a low success rate, but it is also scientifically meaningless. However, it is inexpensive, that's all."

Yangzi bit her lip and stared at the hospital bed.

Was Kanako lying on that hospital bed? It was a simple bed made entirely of iron pipes. What kind of mechanism was set up on it? And what was the mystery of the magic trick?

"I see. Suzaki has his own life support method. Now I finally understand."

Kyogoku-do continued speaking. Suddenly realizing what "意田心" meant, he...

"Miss Yoko deliberately revealed her relationship with the Shibata family to the Kanagawa Prefectural Police. Of course, this was because the police would pass on the information about Kanako's kidnapping to the Shibata family. It seemed a bit strange that she would take the initiative to contact Masuoka, who had always kept him at arm's length, and the Shibata family would likely find it more credible if the police notified them. This plan succeeded. Mr. Yohiro's position in Kanagawa is particularly important."

“Wait, Mr. Chuzenji.”

Masuoka interrupted him.

"According to my records, the Kanagawa Prefectural Police visited us on August 26th. As you said, the assistant Suzaki came up with the plan after Kiba discovered the threatening letter and the police arrived here, which was on the evening of August 25th. It seems unreasonable that he devised this plan in just one night and even persuaded the other three. Shouldn't he have started planning much earlier? That life-extending method, which might not even succeed, couldn't have been thought of on the spur of the moment; there must have been preparation. As far as I know, such a rare kidnapping case has never happened before."

Masuoka fired off several questions in quick succession, like a machine gun.

Kyogoku-do answered without hesitation.

“You’re wrong. This incident was completely unprepared and unplanned. It’s just that Suzaki is a scientist, and I think he probably wanted to experiment with this unique life-extending method a long time ago, so he might have been prepared beforehand. But everything else was just last-minute preparation. Even if they started planning earlier, it couldn’t have been earlier than before Ms. Kanako was injured; at most, it could have been ten days ago.”

"But that's still better than one night, isn't it—"

Bird Mouth said.

"—To make someone disappear from a locked room, if it's not magic, there must be a mystery. Wouldn't designing a mechanism take a considerable amount of time?"

There were no agencies or mechanisms at all.

After Kyogoku-do finished speaking, he looked at Mimasaka.

"It's nothing. It's easy to take it outside without anyone noticing. Suzaki doesn't use his brain at all; he just relies on his cleverness—"

Kyogoku-do has a dark shadow around the outer edge of his eye sockets.

His eyes are reminiscent of the villainous lieutenant in the Noh play "Dongfang Shuo" (Note 1) (Note 2).

Note 1: The content is roughly as follows: Dongfang Shuo, a minister of Emperor Wu of Han, ate a peach from the Queen Mother of the West's garden that only ripened once every three thousand years and thus gained a lifespan of nine thousand years. He presented the peach to Emperor Wu and danced a celebratory dance with the Queen Mother of the West before the emperor.

Note 2: A type of Noh mask. The *ji* mask depicts an old man and comes in various types, such as the white *ji*, black *ji*, and *sanko* *ji*. The *e* *ji* mask is a terrifying-looking mask. The *e* *ji* mask used in *Dongfang Shuo* features a prominent forehead vein, sharp eyes, and a stiff, dignified beard; it is often used to portray majestic characters such as deities.

"uncle--"

Kiba was called over and looked up.

So this person over here must be Da Baijian (Note 3).

Note 3: A type of Noh mask. The *himi* has a protruding lower jaw, tightly closed lips, wide-eyed glaring eyes, and flared nostrils. It is a general term for masks such as the *himi*, *kokimi*, and *sarakimi*, often used to represent demons, spirits, or tengu (heavenly dogs). The *daisakimi* is usually used to represent a tengu, conveying a sense of horror with a touch of humor.

"You said you asked Suzaki a question after Kanako's first surgery. What did he say to you? Please try to recall it as accurately as possible."

Kiba rubbed his chin with his large fingers.

He was trying hard to remember.

I'm sure Kiba has thought about this incident countless times.

Meticulous and stubborn, he only remembers small details; that's the kind of person he is.

"He seemed to say that the selection of blood vessels was very difficult. However, the anastomosis between the aortic arch and the arteries in the chest is good, so there is no problem—or something like that."

"Please explain, Mr. Mimasaka, what does this mean!"

Kyogoku-do, dressed in black, stood up angrily, shrugging his shoulders.

Black Crow, he was a big black crow.

Mimasaka, dressed in white, also stood up, confronting him directly.

Is he—the White Snake?

"It means what you heard. The aortic arch is the thickest blood vessel in the human body, and it's part of the aorta. The aorta is the main blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the entire body. The part extending upwards from the aortic cone above the left atrium is called the ascending aorta, and the part extending downwards is called the descending aorta. The arch-shaped part where the ascending and descending aorta meet is the aortic arch. The artery in the chest should refer to the thoracic aorta. As the name suggests, this is the artery within the chest cavity. After passing through the aortic hiatus in the diaphragm, it is called the abdominal aorta. Anastomosis refers to connecting a blood vessel to another part of the same organ, or connecting different organs. There are many blood vessels, so it's very difficult to distinguish which one is which. That's all Suzaki is talking about."

"I'm asking you this—why must the aortic arch anastomose with the thoracic artery?"

"Even if I explain, will you understand? The explanation I just gave isn't even clear to these people anymore—"

"Don't underestimate us, Mr. Mimasaka. What other surgeries were performed? Was the descending aorta ligated? Or the descending vein?"

"Chuzenji, you'll suffer the consequences of casually interfering in matters outside your own expertise. For your own good, you should go and recite your prayers for 'quickly expelling' and 'quickly purifying'."

“Mr. Mimasaka, what you said is quite interesting, but compared to ‘Please listen carefully, Heavenly Steed,’ left subclavian artery or common intestinal artery is easier to understand. In summary, what Suzaki means is that arterial blood is used to supply the chest wall, right? Why do such a thing? You—”

"Because the child's condition is very dangerous, we can't do that—"

"Your lungs and heart are fine, so you didn't use an artificial heart to minimize fuel consumption, right?"

Mimasaka frowned nervously and turned her head. Kyogoku-do faced us.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as I just mentioned, this genius scientist defied common sense and almost completely succeeded in creating artificial humans. Professor Mimasaka commented that my description was too literary, which is completely untrue. My description is extremely realistic. He opened the closed box that is the human body and created an even larger box on the outside—"

Kyogoku looked at the ceiling, then looked at us in turn.

"The building itself is the human he created."

"Within the human body, you sit as the kidneys, spleen, and pancreas!"

I involuntarily lifted my buttocks, Aoki stood up, and Torikochi leaped into the air.

"What!"

Masuoka, who is usually the fastest to react, was a beat slower this time, making a strange sound before turning his head to look around.

"The human body is incredibly efficient. For example, we only need the volume of two kidneys to completely filter metabolic waste and excess substances beyond what is needed. If we were to use artificial machines to replace them, they would be enormous, and even the smallest artificial dialysis machine couldn't fit inside the human body. The liver is the largest organ in the human body, but correspondingly, the functions of this comprehensive scientific factory of the human body are also astonishing. No matter how many machines you try to replace it, they won't be enough. Even a machine that only has the function of removing harmful and toxic substances from the blood is already huge. Therefore, most doctors only think about miniaturizing artificial organs as much as possible or using them for temporary replacement. If you were to remove everything stored inside the human body, it would become a building about three stories high. Like—what you see now."

"Chūzenji, your explanation was too hasty."

"Unfortunately, I'm not here to read from medical books; these tedious explanations suffice. No need for further explanation; you'll see for yourself. This fortified fortress—how ugly your artificial human body is. Far inferior to—the beautiful and natural human body."

"That's your value system. I'm not interested in the relative concept of beauty."

Mimasaka looked somewhat disheveled.

"Mr. Chuzenji, what... what's going on? I... I don't understand. I know very well how outstanding Mimasaka was as a scientist, how amazing his work was, and how he was exiled by the military. I also know what kind of place this is. But... how could this be—"

"This is really—" Masuoka repeated, trembling.

"Mr. Chuzenji!"

Aoki said.

"At this point—I'm no longer surprised. So please explain it to us in detail."

Masuoka, Toriguchi, Fukumoto, and others all looked extremely tired.

Inside this box—life becomes increasingly tiring.

Where is Natsume? Natsume isn't here. When did she stop being gone?

"I understand, Mimasaka—"

Kiba, the only one who was sitting, stood up.

"—You—wouldn't be..."

As for me—

I, on the other hand, have already reached my limit.

"Kyogoku-do! I don't understand yet. From the very beginning, I've been an observer, just an observer, and I still am. But I can't take it anymore. I've glimpsed too many people's lives. Bring this drama to a close! It's your responsibility! If this continues—"

"I think I'm turning into Kubo soon!"

It was the first time I had ever shouted it out loud.

It was almost a scream.

Deep bass. Mechanical sound. Earth rumble. Earth hum. Vibration.

Boxes, boxes, boxes.

Boxes, boxes, boxes. Boxes, boxes, boxes. Boxes, boxes, boxes.

What exactly is inside this box?

If this building is indeed a gigantic human figure, then we are essentially peering into something we shouldn't be looking into. No, it's like Aoki's chilling experience; I'm standing in a place that resembles that sacred realm.

I can't stand stories like this anymore.

"On August 16th, as soon as Kanako was brought here, all her organs except her heart and lungs were immediately removed. The reason for the removal was, of course, that many organs had been ruptured, damaged, or injured, but the main reason was that Kanako no longer had the vitality to maintain and restore these organs. Blood supply to the area below the diaphragm was stopped, and her liver, kidneys, and pancreas were all removed. Kanako was hollowed out."

"Waaah—"

Fukumoto covered his mouth and squatted down.

"Is...is this really possible?"

"There's nowhere else you could have done this. In other words, Kanako was already dead. She was just being kept alive by others. What Kiba and Fukumoto saw were her remains. Back then—the real thing was this box. This box is Kanako."

Next up was Bird Mouth; he couldn't resist and collapsed into his chair.

"So it's very simple. The surgery performed three days before the kidnapping was to leave the thoracic vertebrae, remove the remaining vertebrae and pelvis, and also cut off the limbs."

“Severing of limbs? Hands and feet? Then…”

After Aoki finished speaking, he thought about it for a while and finally understood what he meant.

"So, Kanako was dismembered while she was still alive? Like a cow or a pig, she was cut into several pieces!"

Aoki himself seemed unable to bear it after saying that.

"Is something really this outrageous really true?!"

Aoki roared.

"Should this kind of thing really be forgiven?!"

"There was no other way. This surgery was performed to save her life; it was a legitimate medical procedure! Do you know that Kanako's heart was so weak that it couldn't pump blood to her extremities? Without removing the excess tissue, the girl wouldn't survive."

Aoki seemed to want to say something but couldn't bring himself to say it, so Kiba continued:

"Mimazaka! Not only her hands and feet, but even her intestines have been cut out! What's the point of living like this? Is she even human? An ordinary person wouldn't last three days after having their hands and feet cut off! You can't make her live any longer by doing this! Even with this kind of surgery, she'll only live a day or two more at most! Cutting a person's body up like a salted salmon, are you even human?!"