In an era where anyone can instantly broadcast information, Kanji Mishima works as a reporter for the Weekly Times, a tabloid magazine that mainly chases celebrity gossip. He entered the profession with a burning desire to convey the truth, but his days are spent feeling hollow and empty, stuck on the verge of being fired. His editor-in-chief, Asuka Nagasawa, gives him a last‑chance assignment: go to Amagasaki and pick up a certain person. That person is Keijiro Kihara, a former yakuza underboss who has become an urban‑legendary informant known only as Informa. Kihara is whispered to be a master of information in politics, entertainment, and the underworld, and he operates from the shadows.

Mishima meets Kihara and is quickly dubbed “Clunker” by the older man, who makes him his driver. The first stop is a cabaret club in Shinjuku, where a hostess warns Mishima not to die. Before he can make sense of the warning, Kihara receives a call about a brutal murder: a politician has been set on fire. This is the first of a series of killings committed by a mysterious figure named Ryohei Saeki. As Mishima and Kihara investigate, they uncover a web of corruption, a shadowy orphanage called Ishigami House that trained child mercenaries, and a conspiracy that reaches into high levels of government. Saeki was once close to Kihara—they grew up together in the same institution—and his rampage is tied to a dark past Kihara tried to bury.

The story escalates from street‑level crime to a full‑blown terrorist plot that uses social media and internet forums to manipulate ordinary citizens into committing violent acts. Kihara’s daughter Itski, a famous influencer, becomes entangled in the chaos. Meanwhile, Mishima learns that Kihara’s previous partner was killed in the line of duty, earning the ghostly title “Clunker Number One.” As the pair race against time to stop Saeki’s plans, they confront the fragile line between justice and vengeance, and the immense power held by those who control the flow of information. The narrative weaves through politics, organized crime, and the ethics of modern media, culminating in a desperate battle that forces both men to risk everything to uncover the truth.