Chapter 16
1196words
On the forty-second floor of the Amami Construction headquarters, the boardroom was brightly lit. Outside the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, fierce winds howled and heavy rain poured down as the entire city trembled under the typhoon's fury.
"Board members!" Kokonogi Yukio stood at the head of the conference table, impeccably dressed in a suit, his expression animated, "Today will be the most important day in Amami Construction's history!"
Twelve directors sat in a circle, each with thick proposal documents in front of them. The large screen on the wall displayed the company's performance reports for the past three years—figures so impressive they were dazzling.
"In the past three years," Kokonogi's voice was powerful and resonant, "I have led everyone to increase company revenue by thirty-five percent, successfully securing seventeen major engineering projects including the Civic Center. Today's typhoon is the perfect witness to Amami Construction's invincible strength!"
Outside the window, lightning streaked across the sky, followed by rumbling thunder.
The old chairman Yasuo Amami sat in the chairman's seat, his graying hair appearing particularly aged under the lights. He looked at Kokonogi, a flash of complex emotion in his eyes.
"Director Kokonogi," a board member raised his hand to speak, "with such a strong typhoon outside, should today's meeting be..."
"Absolutely no postponement!" Kokonogi interrupted firmly, "It is precisely at times like this that we must demonstrate the courage of leadership! Everyone, think about it—this afternoon, over five hundred citizens will come to the city center for the evacuation drill. They choose to trust our buildings, trust our technology. This trust is the greatest recognition for Amami Construction!"
Applause broke out, but it seemed somewhat forced.
"Moreover," Kokonogi continued, "I have received news that the traitor Arata Nakayama has completely failed. The prosecutor's office has withdrawn their protection, and now he's under house arrest in a hotel like a stray dog. Everyone can rest assured that no one will ever interfere with our business again!"
This time the applause was noticeably more enthusiastic.
"Now, let's proceed to the voting phase——"
The conference room door was suddenly pushed open roughly.
"Wait a moment!"
Everyone was stunned. A disheveled man stood at the doorway, rainwater continuously dripping from his hair and clothes, forming a puddle on the carpet.
"Na...Nakayama Arata?!" Kokonogi's face instantly turned pale, "Why are you here?!"
Arata strode into the conference room. Two black-suited bodyguards rushed in from outside, attempting to intercept him.
"Get out of my way!" Arata roared, pushing away the first bodyguard.
"I have an urgent report concerning the company's survival!" He held up a USB drive, "Directors, please hear me out one last time!"
"Madman!" Kokonogi's face turned ashen, "Security! Drag this madman out of here!"
"Wait!" Chairman Amami suddenly spoke up, his voice old but still full of authority, "Let him speak."
"Chairman!" Kokonogi became anxious, "This man has gone mad, you can't trust what he says!"
"I said, let him speak!" Chairman Amami slapped the table.
The bodyguards stopped in their tracks.
Xin wiped the rainwater from his face and walked to the conference table: "Thank you, Chairman."
"Ladies and gentlemen of the board," Xin plugged in a USB drive, and the large screen immediately lit up, "What I'm about to tell everyone today is the truth about the Civic Center project."
A 3D architectural model appeared on the screen, showing the complete structural diagram of the Civic Center.
"This is the original design of the Civic Center, drawn by my father, Nakayama Yuji, himself." Xin's voice echoed throughout the conference room, "According to this design, the building can withstand the impact of a magnitude 9 earthquake and a category 12 typhoon."
The image changed to show another model.
"And this is the actual version currently under construction."
The two models were displayed side by side. Even a layperson could see that the key load-bearing structures in the second model were significantly thinner.
"Bastard!" Kokonogi gritted his teeth, "These are all fabricated!"
"Is that so?" Xin sneered and pressed the play button.
The screen started playing a simulation animation. The first building stood firm against the simulated typhoon impact, while the second building began to shake violently when the wind force reached level ten, with the steel structure making disturbing twisting sounds.
"This is a real simulation made with data I collected over three years. According to the current design, if faced with a super typhoon like today's..."
In the image, the outer walls of the second building began to fall off, and the glass curtain wall dropped like raindrops.
"The entire building is at risk of collapse!"
The conference room was dead silent, with only the howling of the typhoon outside the windows.
Shin continued to operate, and various document files appeared on the screen.
"These are internal email records from when Director Kokonogi privately modified the designs."
"These are the detailed accounts of the procurement department using inferior steel materials."
"These are the falsified reports from the quality inspection department."
Each document fell like a heavy hammer on the directors' hearts.
"And this——" Shin pulled up the final file, "The total amount of kickbacks received by Director Kokonogi's personal account over the past three years: 1.38 billion yen."
Kokonogi's face turned bright red, with veins bulging on his forehead.
"Nonsense!" He slammed the table and stood up, "These are all forgeries! This madman would do anything to get revenge on me!"
"Forgeries?" Shin pulled out a voice recorder from his pocket, "Then what about this?"
After pressing play, Kokonogi's voice came through the recorder:
"...Just do as I say, reduce the steel reinforcement by twenty percent, and we can save 300 million in costs. If anything happens, we'll blame it on the typhoon, no one will suspect..."
The atmosphere in the meeting room instantly dropped to freezing point.
"When...when was this recorded?" Kokonogi's voice began to tremble.
"Three months ago, in your conversation with the Procurement Director on the 18th floor office," Shin answered coldly, "I spent three whole years collecting all evidence of your crimes."
"Madman! You madman!" Kokonogi completely lost control, reaching out to grab the recording pen from Xin's hand. "Security! Get him out of here! Immediately!"
The bodyguards rushed forward again.
"Stop!" Chairman Amami spoke again, but his voice was noticeably trembling. "Kokonogi, are these accusations... true?"
"Chairman, you can't believe what he says!" Kokonogi shouted hoarsely. "He's gone mad! To get revenge on me, he'll make up anything!"
Xin was firmly restrained by two bodyguards, but he still shouted loudly: "Directors! At two o'clock this afternoon, five hundred and eighty innocent citizens will enter that building that could collapse at any moment! If you don't stop the drill now, you're gambling with their lives!"
"Shut up!" Kokonogi screamed hysterically. "Drag him out of here! Now!"
The meeting room was in chaos. Some directors were whispering among themselves, some were checking their phones, and others were nervously flipping through documents.
Outside the window, the sound of the typhoon was growing louder, as if it would flip the entire building over.
This war about truth and justice had only just begun.
