As night fell in Tokyo, the neon lights on the long street lit up from east to west. In the night, Tokyo changed from a sports girl in plain clothes to a seductive lady. The atmosphere of debauchery gradually became more intense.
Tatami mats were laid on the balcony of the so-called " Temple of Awakening." The deep-sea bluefin tuna weighing 200 kilograms was placed on the long table. The kitchen knife that was as bright as a mirror cut open the belly of the fish, and the meat was as tempting as pink marble. Surrounding the main course were Teriyaki pufferfish, charbroiled spring fish, peony shrimp sashimi, and blue lobster sashimi flown in from France. The wine jug was filled with mellow and fragrant sake.
Tonight, the head chef of the main family was personally cooking, and the treatment was far better than that of the Michelin three-star restaurant at noon. The head chef had served the imperial family in the past and had repeatedly conquered foreign ambassadors with delicious sashimi at state banquets. The head chef's students were all over the Japanese kitchen of five-star hotels in Tokyo. In order to entertain the honored guest chef of the department, the dish was named "Life as Summer Flowers", which was based on the poetry of Tagore's "Birds". It presented the grandest and most gorgeous side of Japanese cuisine to the customers. However, in Yuan Zhisheng's eyes, this was just a flirtatious look for the blind. The three idiots across the table did not understand the splendor of summer flowers at all. They were immersed in the harvest of shopping during the day.
Chu Zihang had bought the Kansai Iron teapot and the roasted fruit that Susie had asked him to bring. Lu Mingfei had bought a limited edition Asahina Mikosuke figurine. Caesar's purchase was parked downstairs. It was a van. Kaiser went into the lacquer shop and flipped through the product catalog, saying that he would like to buy three pieces of each. Then, the van he hired drove over. Then, he went into the silverware shop in Kyoto and said that he would start loading the 30 sets of silver tea sets. Then, he went into the shop of " Seven Treasures Roast "... He posted on the night watchman's discussion forum that he would bring a gift to everyone in the student union. He was a man of his words.
Yuan Zhisheng had been a tour guide and shopping guide for the whole day, watching Caesar bring the van from one shop to another, swiping his card again and again. She watched as Lu Mingfei took photos with the Cosplay girls on the streets of Akihabara. He watched Chu Zihang stroll alone on the street, his gaze sweeping over everything, but he seemed indifferent to everything. It was not until the dark clouds covered the sky and raindrops the size of beans fell that Lu Mingfei and Caesar ran with the people who had scattered to take shelter from the rain. Chu Zihang was fully prepared. He opened the Burberry umbrella that he carried with him and walked in the rain. Cherry blossoms slowly fell on his umbrella. Yuan Zhi Sheng couldn't tell if these three men were too crazy or full of confidence. Tomorrow night, they would be carrying out a "SS" level high-risk mission, but he couldn't tell how nervous they were.
"This kind of undressing doll is the Asahina Mikuru that you like? What a pervert toy." Caesar looked curiously at Lu Mingfei fiddling with the figurines." But she's just a plastic doll with a flat figure after taking off her clothes.”
"First of all, this isn't a stripping doll. It's a figurine. Secondly, this isn't a pervert toy. You can take off your clothes because it has a changing function, not to take off your clothes and look at your naked body!”
"I saw a shop selling something similar. It's as big as a real person and can be changed.”Caesar drank the wine.
"Did you accidentally enter some strange adult store? That's not a figurine, it's an inflatable doll!"
"Oh, it's indeed inflatable…I was also curious why the Japanese would make a human-shaped lifeboat.”
Bai Yuan Zhi Sheng really did not want to listen to this kind of meaningless talk anymore. He wanted to get up and leave immediately, but he could not. He could only lower his head and wipe the Spider Cut.
"Can I take a look at your saber?"
Yuan Zhisheng raised his head and met Chu Zihang's eyes. He remembered that Chu Zihang's weapon was also a Japanese sword. Yuan Zhi Sheng held the spider blade with both hands. Chu Yuhang took it with both hands and stared at the blade under the dim light of the candle on the table. He blew out the candlelight. After the light disappeared, the Spider Cut became brighter, as if an invisible cold moon in the night sky had illuminated it.
"Hey, hey, you can't turn off the lights. I'll eat mustard into my nostrils in the dark.”Lu Mingfei said.
"Is it Dao Gu? Such an expensive item was used as a weapon?”Chu Zihang returned the Spider Cut.
" It's considered an antique in the sword museum," Yuan Zhisheng said lightly." But a sword can only be called a sword if it's used. If it's placed in the museum, it'll just be a corpse of the sword."”
"I keep feeling like there's a bloody aura in it.”Chu Zihang said.
"Knives are made to be dirty things. The more you use them, the dirtier they become. The blood that has been stained can be washed off, but the stench remains on them.”
Yuan Zhisheng said," I saw you use a Japanese sword too.”
"It was left behind by my father, but it was broken later.”
"Your father?"
"Passed away." Chu Zihang said lightly," Can I ask you for a favor?”
"Please speak."
Chu Zihang took out a box from his backpack and opened it in front of Yuan Zhisheng. Inside was a broken knife the length of a finger."This is an alchemy product. Whether it's an antique or a contemporary work, not many people can make this saber. I heard that the inheritance of the Japanese sword is very clear. We should be able to find out the origin of this sword from the fragment.”
Yuan Zhi Sheng lit the candle again and looked at the lines on the blade."This is an antique, made of iron. This blade pattern is called 'rice wife', and it has a lightning-shaped pattern. This sword was no less than 300 years old. If it could be auctioned for hundreds of millions of yen, the person who could use it as a weapon should be very wealthy. Does it have a saber inscription?"
" There's no saber inscription, but it has a strange characteristic. If it's waved for a long time, dew will condense on the saber. Every swing of the saber is like pouring rain.”
"This is the characteristic of Murasame mentioned in the Legend of the Eight Dogs in Minamasa. It says that after this sword kills someone, it will automatically condense dew to wash away the blood of Sword7. However, Murasame was fictional. The dew on the sword was an attribute of some kind of alchemy sword. The dew came from the moisture in the air. According to these clues, he should be able to find out who made this saber and even its inheritance. I'll leave this matter to the Japanese branch. They should give you a satisfactory answer.”
"Thank you." Chu Zihang said," Your knife is also a family heirloom?”
"No, I haven't seen my father, and he didn't leave me anything. I'm an orphan. I was adopted with my younger brother when I was young. It wasn't until I grew up that I was confirmed to be of the Yuan family's bloodline.”Yuan Zhi Sheng said," Just like Lonely George. Do you know Lonely George?”
"I've heard of it. It's very famous. Some people say it's the loneliest animal in the world.”Chu Zihang said.
One of Chu Zihang's few hobbies was reading, and he would read any book, so he knew a lot of unpopular knowledge, such as the Pingta Island tortoise named George. The elephant tortoise was the largest land tortoise in the world. The largest elephant tortoise could grow to nearly two meters long and weigh more than 200 kilograms. The Galapagos Islands in South America used to be the habitat of tortoises. These clumsy big guys were peacefully far away from human life until they were discovered by sailors who explored the new continent. The sailors carried the whole tortoise onto the ship. These guys were very resistant to hunger. They would not die for a year without eating or drinking. They were a fresh meat stock that would not rot. Sometimes, the sailors would throw these turtles into the sea because they could not bear the burden.
There were fewer and fewer tortoises on the Galapagos Islands, and the rarest of them was the subspecies on Pinta Island. There was only one male tortoises left on Pinta Island. When it was discovered, it was alone on the barren Pinta Island. The vegetation on the island had been eaten by foreign wild goats. In the decades that followed, scientists never found a purebred Pinta Island tortoise, so this male tortoise named George was the last Pinta Island tortoise in the world. People called him Lonely George.
"The Yuan family is an ancient family, but since the Edo period, the number of people in the Yuan family has been decreasing. At one time, the elders of the family thought that the Yuan family had no descendants, but they found me and my brother in the mountains. We were confirmed to have the bloodline of the Yuan family, and the Yuan family's seat in the family was restored. I'm called the head of the Yuan Family, but I'm the only one in the family. So I feel like that tortoise.”Yuan Zhisheng said," It's in Galapagos National Park. If I have the chance to travel around the world, I want to see it.”
"You said you have a younger brother."
"He's probably dead."
" Sigh, I didn't expect everyone to have such a hard time when they were young." Lu Mingfei downed the sake in one gulp and sighed with emotion." My parents went overseas when I was in middle school. Now that I'm in my second year of university, they haven't said anything about coming back to visit me. Sometimes, I wonder if they gave birth to a younger brother or sister for me and secretly hid them overseas without telling me. Otherwise, I'm the only child in our family. They wouldn't have abandoned me at my uncle's house, right?”
"I thought that the four of us wouldn't be able to find any similarities at all. I didn't expect that we could find any similarities in the matter of parents.”Caesar also raised his head and drank the sake in his glass." I think I can join your parents 'death group too.”
Chu Zihang's face darkened.
"Hey, hey, it's not that my parents are dead. It's just that my parents are unreliable. They're still alive and kicking somewhere in the world! Senior Brother's mother was also alive and kicking! Boss, don't you still have your playboy dad?”Lu Mingfei said.
"I thought he had died for many years." Caesar shrugged.
"You like to travel?" Chu Zihang asked. He couldn't be bothered with the two drunk guys.
"Yes, but I rarely have the chance to travel. I want to go to France the most. There's a famous nude beach there. I want to go there and find a job selling suntan lotion.”Yuan Zhisheng said.
Chu Zihang's tone was very calm when he mentioned his father, but the corners of his eyes twitched slightly, betraying his heart. Yuan Zhisheng's first impression of Chu Zihang was that he was a person who did not have any warmth at all. He did not take anything to heart when they talked about his father. However, when he talked about his father, a crack appeared on Chu Zihang's hard shell. Yuan Zhisheng wanted to take this opportunity to understand more about these guys who were known as the trump cards of the headquarters. Yuan Zhi Sheng didn't like these three people, but Ju Zheng Zong was right. If they could be regarded as trump cards by Ange, there must be something special about them.
"From the head of the underworld to selling sunblock? Don't you think it's too cross-industry?" Caesar refilled his cup and rejoined the conversation.
Although he couldn't understand the Zen meaning of 'Life as a Summer Flower', he could still tell that it was delicious. Outside, it was raining heavily. They sat barefoot on the slightly cool tatami mats and ate Japanese food, overlooking Tokyo in the rain. They were drunk and had a sense of pleasure. He had already drunk a lot and wanted to talk to someone. Moreover, if Chu Zihang was the only one chatting with the Japanese branch, it would affect his position as the team leader.
" Managing the underworld is the job of the head of the Yuan family. As for myself," Yuan Zhisheng said," I want to leave Tokyo and find a warm and comfortable city to live my life.”
Caesar smiled contemptuously." My uncle Frost also often said that he wanted to live a simple life. He is now the acting head of the Gattuso family. Bankers often line up to see him. When he was busy, he would complain,'Damn it, if only my schedule was empty for a month, then I could go back to my old house in the countryside for a while, read a good book with good wine, and call my old neighbors.' However, as long as his phone didn't ring for a long time, he would feel uneasy and feel that things were beyond his control.”
"Are you saying that I'm as hypocritical as your uncle?”Yuan Zhi Sheng remained calm.
"I don't want to mock you, but people are like this. " They call you Young Master. Your status in a family that runs the Japanese underworld is second only to the elders. You're the person who calls the wind and calls the rain in this city. You can do whatever you want, but you're not a big shot after leaving here." Caesar held a cigar in his mouth." It doesn't feel good to go from a big shot to an ordinary person.”
Yuan Zhisheng thought for a moment." Lord Gattuso, if you were that tortoise named George, what kind of life would you want?"”
"Boss, it's not that I'm suspicious, but he said you're a turtle. I don't know what kind of temper you have, but if this were to happen to me, I wouldn't be able to tolerate it!”Lu Mingfei looked like a treacherous official.
"What do you mean?" Caesar thought for a while and didn't understand what Yuan Zhi Sheng meant.
"As the last Galapagos tortoise, everyone hopes that George will give birth to offspring. Even if it is with a female Galapagos tortoise of another subspecies, it will at least retain some of the genes of the Galapagos tortoise. The news said that the zoologists had found other kinds of female tortoises for him, but George was unwilling to get close to the female tortoises they had found. The zoologists were very anxious and did not know what kind of female tortoises George liked.”Yuan Zhisheng said," When I read the news, I suddenly had a strange idea. It's not that George doesn't like the female tortoises that the zoologists have found for him, but that George doesn't want to get involved with the female tortoises at all. It doesn't matter if there are offspring or not. He just wants to leave the national park and crawl to the waterhole where he used to be and roll in the mud. So, Mr. Gattuso, if you were George, would you choose to stay in the national park and work hard to reproduce with the female tortoises? Would you bite through the barbed wire of the national park and crawl back to your waterhole?”
"Bite open the barbed wire." Caesar said," This is like saying that I am the only human left in the world. No matter how many female gorillas you find me, I will not have forbidden love with them. My ideal is to crawl back to Portofino and die as the last human in history looking at the sea.”
"Boss, when you say crawl back…you've already put yourself in the shoes of a tortoise.”Lu Mingfei said.
" George is the last Pinta Island tortoise in the world, and I am the last descendant of the Yuan Family. The last Pinta Island tortoise should work hard to reproduce for the sake of the race, and the last descendant of the Yuan Family should restore the family's prestige in the underworld. But George just wants to go back to his puddle and roll around, and I just want to go to the nude beach and sell sunblock.”Yuan Zhisheng stared into Caesar's eyes." I'm such a person. In fact, the mafia business of the Eight Sheqi Families and the mission of the Secret Party are not important to me. My life dream is to sell suntan lotion. Your uncle and I are not the same kind of people."
"Then why aren't you going? If you jumped on the plane at midnight, you would be feeding pigeons in the South American sun by the time the mission started tomorrow night.”Caesar said," We can handle the mission ourselves.”
"Is this considered a challenge to me?" Yuan Zhi Sheng's eyes sharpened and a cold smile appeared on his lips.
"I guess so." Caesar stretched his body and leaned against the wooden armrest." If you accept this challenge and jump on the plane to leave Tokyo tonight, I promise I won't tell anyone. I will also jump on the plane to find you and all the girls in the student union after the mission is completed. Let them wear white lace dresses and we will drink on the beach.”
"What do you mean?" This time, it was Yuan Zhi Sheng's turn not to understand.
"The most memorable trip in your life is to jump into a car filled with gas with a psychopath who came to your window and shouted for you, waving a map and rushing into the night! He didn't even know which direction his destination was. He just wanted to run as far as possible.”Caesar raised his eyebrows." There shouldn't be any cage in the world that can trap a real man. There is only one exception, and that is the girl you like.”
Do you have a girl you like?"
"To be precise, she's my fiancée!" Caesar looked at the heavy rain outside." It was raining the night I fell in love with her. She drove around the dormitory building like a little madman and shouted.‘I want to go to Chicago, I want to go to Philadelphia, anyone want to go to Philadelphia with me? She was still a first-year student, and every window in the dormitory building was closed, and every upper-year boy looked down at her, and I bet everyone loved her at that moment. She opened the top of the car. Her hair was drenched from the rain, and her dress was sticking to her body. Her lines were so beautiful, and her eyes were so bright.”
"Are you moved?" Yuan Zhisheng asked.
"Is there a need to ask? The first thing I did was to pull out my Desert Eagle and shoot into the air as I jumped down from the third floor!”
"I can understand that you jumped down from the third floor to seize time, but why did you shoot at the same time with both guns?”
"Scare the other lunatics, lest they beat us to it.”Caesar scratched his head." But when I jumped into her car, I was pointed at by dozens of guns. It was those guys from the school work department. They said that other than a day of freedom, no guns can be used on campus. Then, we were taken to the Discipline Committee to be lectured by Professor Manstein... If you really don't want to stay in this city and be the boss of the underworld, you should leave. Think about it, there might be a girl waiting for you on that flight. If you don't go, her seat will be occupied by a bald, wet man. If you rush over now, you can point a gun at the wet man's forehead and ask him to give up his seat to you. Fly to a nude beach in France with the girl you like! Isn't it great?"
"Excellent," Yuan Zhi Sheng raised his glass." Everyone, let's drink to this great idea.”
The four of them finished their glasses. It was indeed an idea worth toasting to. Caesar was like this. He was usually a little reserved, but after drinking, his whole body was full of surging positive energy. Even if he said stupid lines like 'young people, we are running towards the sun', it would still be touching for no reason. Even Lu Mingfei was a little touched. He imagined Caesar jumping down from the window on the third floor with the Desert Eagle in his hands in the pouring rain and announcing that he wanted to occupy Nono's passenger seat with the attitude of a king. Under the illumination of the gunfire, this guy would definitely be extremely handsome. Even a girl like Nono would probably not be able to refuse. Lu Mingfei wished that he was the main character of that scene, as bright as the morning star.
"But I can't do it." Yuan Zhisheng placed the porcelain cup on the table.
"Can't let go of your position as the family head?" Caesar frowned.
Yuan Zhasheng did not answer. He stood up and walked to the balcony to look at Tokyo in the rain."This city used to be called Edo. When it rained, I felt that Tokyo had become the original Edo again, with candlelight and shadows. At that time, it was the most fashionable and trendy city in Japan. The general of the expedition opened his residence here, the Portugal sold iron cannons and red cannons at the port, and girls carrying baskets walked through the streets to sell imported goods in small iron boxes. At that time, the samurai had the right to carry swords and always walked in the middle of the street with their heads held high. If civilians blocked the way, the samurai would draw their swords and threaten to cut them down. At night, the reformists were very active, and the important officials of the shogunate were in constant fear. The underworld in Edo City was formed at that time. At that time, the underworld consisted of samurai, craftsmen, dock workers, and prostitutes. They relied on their skills to make a living and formed guilds in order not to be bullied by others.”
(1) Tokyo used to be called Edo, but it was actually a relatively young city. In 1457, Ota Michio, a retainer of the Uesugi family, built a city in Edo. It was not until Tokugawa Ieyasu, the general who conquered the barbarians, opened his residence in Edo City that Edo City embarked on the road of prosperity. Before the Meiji Restoration, which was the late period of the Shogunate that many Japanese novels and anime liked to describe, the Shinsengumi, which was composed of lower-level samurai, and the "Tenju" killers of the reformists were active on the big stage of Edo. The most famous of the Tenju killers was probably the creation of Imura Kenshin based on Kawakami Hikosai. Because Edo was located near Edo Bay, which was also known as Tokyo Bay today, it had accepted many foreign cultures. From the Meiji Restoration to today, it had always been one of the most fashionable cities in Asia.）
"I thought the Japanese mafia was run by the Obiki Eight.”Lu Mingfei said.
"No, the underworld only existed after the Edo period. Before that, the Oniki Eight Families were all noble families. In ancient Japan, commoners did not have surnames, but mixed-blood people had surnames, which meant that they were all nobles. In the past, the Oshiki Eight Families had served different monarchs, including the Emperor, the Shogunate, and the Sengoku Empire. In history, the ninja king, Kotaro Fuuma, was a member of the Oshiki Eight Families. The generations of the family heads of the Fuuma Family were called Kotaro Fuuma.”Yuan Zhisheng said," The underworld was originally an organization of the weak. Those who can earn money and live a rich life would disdain the underworld. Originally, the Eight Families of Snake Division disdained the underworld until they lost their land and property during the revolution and could no longer support themselves. Therefore, the heads of the eight families got involved in the underworld and dirtied their hands to make money. They used the talent of the mixed-blood to establish their power in the underworld, sheltered the gangs established by the poor, collected their offerings, and provided them with protection. The status of the Sheqi Eight Families as the law enforcers of the underworld had been established step by step since then, and it had not been many years since then.”
"So what?" Caesar did not understand.
"I'm sure you know that Japan is a country that allows underworld organizations to register according to the law. This is because some of the ancient underworld gangs are the original guilds. They are organizations established by the weak to protect themselves. Many years ago, they were weak, and most of them were still weak now. It was impossible to understand the Japanese underworld just by visiting this building. The real underworld was in the corners and alleys where the lights could not shine. It was a shadow society made up of the weak. The underworld could not be tolerated in the world, but the underworld could not be eradicated because there would always be humble, weak, and dark people in the world. They were ugly compared to those successful and kind people. They were the lower class in society, but since there were upper-class people, there would definitely be lower-class people. Among the lower-class people, there were black organizations.”
"You want to say that the Sheqi Eight Families are the leaders of the weak?”Caesar said," Isn't it suspicious of the underworld to position themselves like this?”
"Of course, we are not saviors, nor do we have the intention to lead the weak to build a society without oppression. We are people who do business with the underworld. But we are indeed the leaders of the weak.”Yuan Zhi Sheng said," When many people mention the underworld, they think of the underworld leaders who control life and death.'They enjoy seductive women, casually take out a lot of cash to reward their subordinates, and kill whoever they don't like. However, most of the people who lived at the bottom of the underworld were weak people who could not enter the mainstream society. Many of the hooligans who went to the shop with knives to ask for protection fees were children from single-parent families, children who had been expelled from school, and children who did not have the money to go to college. Many of the women who flirted in nightclubs were single mothers. Some of them had experienced domestic violence from their fathers and were even raped by their stepfathers. To these women, their bodies were not precious. They did not think about what they would do if they could not seduce men when they were old. They only lived in the present, and they could only live in the present. This is the society in the shadows."
"You can only live in the present?" Caesar savored this sentence.
" There's a man called Cao Cao in your dynasty. He was the most violent man in the late Han Dynasty. He once said," Yuan Zhisheng looked into Lu Mingfei's eyes and said," If there were no orphans in the world, I wonder how many people would become kings and emperors?”
At this moment, the strong wind blew his black windbreaker, making a loud sound like a big flag. The young underworld patriarch exuded the majesty of an emperor, making people look up at him.
"So I haven't made up my mind to crawl into my own waterhole. I can give up my power and status, but I can't shake the foundation of my family because of this.”Yuan Zhisheng returned to the table and sat down." Let's not talk about this nonsense. There's no evening program on your schedule. Do you have any ideas? The main family had a fixed private room in the Kabuki Theater, and the Tamamo Mae Club, which was run by the Inuyama family, was known as the place with the most beautiful women in Tokyo. Or go to the temple to burn incense for your mission tomorrow?”
Caesar slowly finished his glass of wine."You said it so interestingly, why did you suddenly stop? I'm not interested in what you said. Why don't you show us the real Japanese underworld?”
Yuan Zhi Sheng frowned slightly." Those aren't the best places. I can't guarantee your safety in those places."”
"We'll handle the safety issues ourselves. I'm not interested in any high-class places. The small restaurants on the streets and alleys are the local specialties.”Caesar shrugged." We like the local underworld.”
Chu Zihang nodded.”
After pondering for a moment, Yuan Zhi Sheng pressed the walkie-talkie on the table."Sakura, prepare uniforms for the three VIPs. Go to the communication department and get a dart.”
" Young Master, tonight's situation in Shinjuku is very tricky." Sakura's voice was hesitant." The Swamp Raven Society and the Fire Hall Group are in conflict. There are hundreds of people gathered in Kabukicho, and it could go wrong at any time. The old men from the Strategy Department are divided into two groups to visit the Fire Hall Group and the Swamp Raven Society respectively. They are trying to calm the situation. It is not recommended for you and your distinguished guests to approach Kabukicho at this time.”
"Isn't that just nice? He wanted to let the ace specialists of the headquarters see the real film society. " As for safety…" Yuan Zhisheng said calmly," If he's known as the trump card of the Secret Gang, why would he be afraid of hooligans with sticks on the streets?”
The fiery red Ferrari FF sped along the elevated highway, its high-displacement engine roaring loudly.
Yuan Zhisheng sat in the front passenger seat of the Sakura Driver, who was not drinking. The Caesar team sat in the back row. Sakura looked like a gentle and low-key girl, but her driving style was like a racer. The Ferrari shuttled through the traffic, leaving one car after another behind.
"Your assistant is great!" Caesar said loudly. He admired all girls who drove fast, because every girl who drove fast reminded him of Nono.
Yuan Zhasheng handed over a dart from the front row. Sakura had taken it from the map of the communication department. Each dart represented a problem that needed to be dealt with. This dart was inserted in Kabukicho, Shinjuku District, which was the most famous red-light district in Tokyo. It was the place where friction was most likely to occur.
"A shop in Shinjuku District asked us for help. They said that the gangsters on the street suddenly asked for a 15% increase in protection fees. If they didn't agree, they would smash the shop. The gangsters have been sitting in the shop for three days, and no customers dared to come.”Yuan Zhisheng said.
"Such a small matter?" Caesar was a little disappointed." It's just a change in rates. What I was looking forward to was the leaders negotiating in the shrine and the scene of black-clothed bodyguards standing outside the shrine.”
" It's not as simple as smashing a convenience store," Yuan Zhisheng said." Shinjuku District is a bumper harvest of protection fees. Many nightclubs and bars near Kabukicho pay protection fees on time. The proportion of protection fees is 20% of their profits. Striptease clubs and places with women drinking with them pay more. If the protection fee rate of the entire Shinjuku District was raised, the gang would have to collect tens of billions more every year. The main family had to ask about this matter. Moreover, strip clubs would also have their own bodyguards. If the bodyguards clashed with the gangs, there might be casualties. This is not a small matter."
"Do you mean we'll rush into a nightclub that's full of short skirts and thighs? The gangsters were sitting on the sofa with their weapons on the table? That sounds much more interesting." Caesar snapped his fingers." Should we point a gun at the head of the leader, hand him a cigarette, and tell him to leave through the front door after smoking this cigarette? Don't let me see you in Shinjuku District in the future, or I'll cut off one of your fingers every time I see you?”
" That's a gang in the stage of chuunibyou syndrome," Yuan Zhisheng said." Usually, we don't need to resort to any extreme measures. We just need to sit on the sofa across from them, and they will know our identity when they see our uniforms. Then, they shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. According to the script, they told them that if they wanted to change the rate according to the rules, they would have a meeting to discuss it at the family's annual meeting. It was business hours now, so they were asked to take care of it and not cause trouble in public.”
"Is this the tone of the underworld? He looks like a bank manager." Lu Mingfei said.
"But after I said this, if he showed any signs of disobedience, I would pull out my gun and shoot him in the foot. The bank manager probably wouldn't do that.”Yuan Zhi Sheng said," But it's rare to need a gun. Once they understand your identity, they will stand up and say that they need to go to the bathroom. You won't even have time to finish three sentences with them. I have to remind everyone that you must act together with me because unfortunately, the Swamp Crow Society and the Fire Hall Group are in conflict in Kabukicho. These two gangs control the logistics system in and out of Kabukicho. The Fire Hall Group's power is getting stronger and stronger, and the old gang, the Swamp Crow Society, is unwilling to give up its territory easily. Both sides have gathered hundreds of people in Kabukicho. The emissary of the main family had already come forward to mediate, and the police department was also closely monitoring the area.”
"Young Master, you have the final say when we wear these clothes.”Caesar was smoking a cigar." We're going to deal with the trouble at the strip club. Who has the time to care about a bunch of logistics workers?”
"I really don't deserve it. You're much more like Young Master than I am, and you even smoke such a man's cigarettes.”Yuan Zhisheng teased.
At 7:30 pm, he really looked at the small LCD alarm clock on the shelf. Every night, the hooligan who received protection would come on time, rain or shine. It had been a week.
The rain tonight was especially heavy, and the water on the street was so thick that it could even reach the soles of her feet. Perhaps that fierce guy wouldn't come? He prayed in his heart.
Makoto Aso was 18 years old. After graduating from high school, he did not go to university and found a job as a toy store clerk. She had no money to continue her studies. After her parents divorced, she had been by her grandmother's side and lived on her grandmother's pension. However, she had not given up on her dream of going to university. She was determined to work hard and save money to go to university. She had not been in a relationship yet, so she did not know what kind of boy would be waiting for her in university. However, their luck was really bad. The toy store was actually extorted by the gangs. The gangs on the street insisted that this store used to pay protection fees to them. Now that it had become a toy store, they had to continue paying. If they didn't hand it over, they would smash the shop. Before they smashed the shop, they would send someone to sit in the shop every night. What kind of customer would dare to patronize a shop that sold toys and comics when there were ferocious hooligans sitting there?
She had been working the night shift for the past few weeks, and she had been left behind to face the hooligans alone every night. She hid behind the counter and stared at the cash register. The gangster sat in the middle of the shop and played with a bat. The store couldn't even call the police because it wasn't illegal to play with bats in a toy store.
The small bronze bell on the door rang. The guy came in wearing his usual fancy white trench coat and a large baseball bat hanging from his waist that did not match his height.
"You're still on duty tonight." That guy beckoned as if he was an acquaintance.
"Welcome." He said in a trembling voice.
She felt that she was done for. With her high school education, she could only find a job that did not require any technical skills. The job market had been sluggish recently. The job that she had finally found would definitely be ruined. She would not be able to save up for college, and her grandmother would have to work hard to calculate her monthly pension.
Oda Shou took a chair and sat down in the middle of the shop. He took off his long white coat and placed it on the back of the chair. On the back of the coat was his family tattoo of the " Soaring Serpent ".
Among the gangs in Kabukicho, the Noda-gumi was not considered a big one, but it was famous for its bravery. Oda Shou had seen his brothers with the pattern of the winged serpent embroidered on their sleeves appear on the streets since he was young. Wherever they went, people would naturally make way for them, and their backs were as hard as the rocks in the river. Oda Shou felt that the most heroic man in the world was a man who mixed in with the underworld, so he dropped out of school to follow the leader of the Oda Group, Kozo, who was his cousin. Kozo admired his cousin's ambition. He handed over the seven shops in his territory to his cousin to manage. The job was not complicated, just collecting protection fees. From that day on, when they saw Shou Oda's long white trench coat, the shop owners would bow deeply and say," You're here. Please take care of me." Their business had recently grown again, and they would send protection money to Shou Oda's apartment every month without any instructions. His former classmates all regarded Oda Shou as their backer and often introduced the cutest girl in the class to him. Some people said that Kozo intended to stop Noda Shou from taking over the Noda Group because he felt that his cousin was so bold at such a young age.
However, as the saying goes, men are destined to walk the rough road. The original shop that sold sex toys suddenly withdrew, so Oda Shou's territory suddenly shrank to six stores, and the amount of protection fees shrank. The new toy store refused to pay the protection fee, saying that the profit of the toy store was limited and that it was still operating at a loss. Moreover, he had never heard of a store that sold children having to pay protection fees. Oda Shou was determined to use this opportunity to establish his authority and let the owner know the price of being rude to Oda-gumi.
There were also a few hooligans in the group who took orders from him, so he didn't have to come to the shop personally. However, Noda Shou was a manga fan, and the manga in this shop was very comprehensive. He might as well go to the shop to read manga at night. When he first started out, he also went to the bar that he was in charge of and asked the owner to find a red card drinking girl to drink with him. However, there were many customers who accompanied the red card drinking girl. After sitting with Oda Shou for a while, there were customers who called him again. After Oda Shou received protection money, he could no longer be a stumbling block in his work. He could only say that he had worked hard and quickly went back to work. Gradually, he lost interest in this kind of adult entertainment. Comics were still better, especially hot-blooded comics. They were all men's worlds. There were not so many bows and greetings. Men who held the hilt of their knives could live in the world openly.
" Because I don't have the thrill of secretly playing games anymore." Caesar shrugged." I suddenly realized that I don't want to play games. I just want to go against the butler. I liked to see his red-eyed and panting expression, like a hunter admiring an enraged boar.”
" It's not easy to be tall, handsome, and rich." Lu Mingfei sighed." When I was young, I only needed 20 yuan to go to the arcade for a night.”
Caesar looked at Lu Mingfei from the corner of his eyes." It's a pity that we didn't know each other at that time. Otherwise, I would have lent you a few thousand dollars. You can return the money to me today with interest."”
Lu Mingfei's heart skipped a beat. Yes, if he had a few thousand yuan in his pocket when he was young, he would be as happy as a little emperor. Every day, he would secretly take out 20 yuan from the metal box he saved money in. After his uncle, aunt, and Lu Mingze fell asleep, he would climb out of the window and run like a night stalker through the shadows of the trees to the game room. In fact, he had also thought about getting a PS2, so he had saved up for three years. However, one time, he knocked his uncle's valuable plum blossom watch to the ground and it stopped. Lu Mingze threatened to tell his aunt that Lu Mingfei had decided to pay for Ping An, so he had given all the 900 yuan he had saved to Lu Mingze. Lu Wuze had bought two couple MP3s and gifted one to the girl he liked. That was the money he had saved up for three years. He was only a hundred dollars away from buying a second-hand PS2…Now, he was flying across the Pacific Ocean in a top business jet at supersonic speed. In order to send his 60 kilograms to Japan at the fastest speed, the college had spent hundreds of tons of aviation fuel. The fuel money was enough to buy 1000 brand new ps2s.
But he was not happy at all. After this mission ended, Nono would have a wedding with Caesar. He would marry the best young master in the world, and he would be able to fight the butler when he was young. When he grew up, he would have no weaknesses other than his chuunibyou syndrome. She will be the happiest girl in the world. You can't give her anything more. Even if you had the whole world now, you wouldn't be able to change that outcome, because she didn't lack anything and didn't want anything. It was only when people grew up that they realized how precious the happiness that could be bought with money was when they were young.
"I'm sorry." Chu Zihang said.
"What do you mean?" Caesar frowned.
"I'm not mocking you when I said you didn't have a childhood. Actually, I can't say that I had a childhood.”Chu Zihang said," I just want to say a few words to you. I don't want us to be on guard against each other along the way." I know that we are not friends, and I am grateful for your support at the investigation team's hearing, but I also know that you are not so much expressing goodwill to me as you are demonstrating your power to the Gattuso family.”
Caesar nodded." Yes, I am such a person. I will do anything to embarrass my family." You're on my list of things I don't like. You're far inferior to those old things in my house.”
"Actually, what I want to say is that although we're very different and we didn't get along well in the past, it's not that we don't have common topics. For example, I didn't have a childhood, and neither did you.”Chu Zihang said," Although it's for different reasons.”
"You mean you want to cooperate with me, at least in this mission?”Caesar raised his eyebrows.
Chu Zihang nodded slightly.”
Caesar was silent for a moment." It's impossible for us to be friends.”
" But we can be partners." He stared into Chu Zihang's eyes." Before this team disbands."”
Chu Zihang didn't say anything. He just stretched out his hand. They clasped their hands and looked into each other's eyes. Both of them used some strength. His strength was just right, enough to let the other party feel his sincerity without making the other party feel pain. If the girls of Kassel Academy saw this scene, they would probably blush and faint, saying that they believed in love again.
At the counter, Oda Shouzheng was apologizing to Makoto. His words were sincere and mixed with the language of a strong person. It sounded more like a confession. He was embarrassed and vaguely replied that his father had been making friends abroad and needed to ask his father's opinion first. His grandmother was very old and probably a little afraid of gangs. He asked Noda Shou not to bother visiting. Everyone in the shop was listening attentively. Caesar was fiddling with Arubelle's doll, Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang were flipping through comics, and Yuan Zhisheng was drinking coffee. The fan turned slowly, and the sound of rain outside could be heard clearly.
"Is this the kind of love you Japanese gangsters have?”Caesar whispered.
"Japanese manga-style love. If you like a girl, you will think of ways to pester her and make her notice you.”Yuan Zhisheng said,
"There are many young people in the underworld who are inexperienced and have low education levels. They learn how to chase girls from comics.”
"Have you chased girls like this before?"
"I was rejected."
"You're not bad looking. Why were you rejected?”
"She said that I look like a woman, and she prefers masculine ones.”
Caesar and Yuan Zhisheng both chuckled. Caesar made a gesture to indicate that they could go. He stuffed a few bills under the coffee cup and took away the model of Abeluer. In order not to alarm Shin and Oda Shou, Sakura took off the bronze bell on the door and placed it on the umbrella stand. This was too easy for the ninja.
Caesar walked in the rain with a cigar in his mouth. The others followed behind him. Each of the five of them had a black umbrella.
" I feel like I'm getting old," the twenty-one-year-old student council leader said as he blew out a puff of smoke." Watching young people work so hard for love.”
"It's natural for a man who's preparing to get married to have such thoughts.”Yuan Zhisheng said.
Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang remained silent.
After turning a street corner, hundreds of people stood silently in the pouring rain. They were divided into two groups, holding steel pipes or baseball bats. It was as if two armies were facing each other. As long as the order was given, everyone would roar and charge forward, waving the weapons in their hands regardless of the consequences. However, there was a Japanese katana in the middle of the street. It was the Spider Cut of Gennaro. With an unshakable stance, it forcefully cut off the armed struggle between the Fire Hall Group and the Marsh Crow Union. Yuan Zhasheng walked to the middle of the street, pulled out the spider, and put it back into its scabbard. The hundreds of men from the Fire Hall Group and the Marsh Crow Union bowed at the same time.
"Let's go." Yuan Zhi Sheng said lightly.
"Will they really fight?" Lu Mingfei carefully followed Yuan Zhisheng.
"Yes, there's no other way. These two gangs relied on logistics for a living, but the territory of logistics was limited, and there had to be people starving. When necessary, they have to use force to solve the problem. Although the benefits they are fighting for are not big in the eyes of people like you, it is not a small matter for them. It is worth using force. It was impossible to eradicate violence in the underworld. In comparison, everyone preferred the story of Miss Zhen and Noda Shou. However, if Noda Shou continued to mingle in the Noda Group, perhaps one day he would bring people to the streets with a knife. I've asked Mr. Masamune before, don't we have any other way to manage the underworld? Perhaps there was a more efficient method, but Masamose-san said that he was already very old, and it was already very difficult for him to maintain the organization. He was unable to reform it. If you really want to reform this organization, I can try to inherit this family.”
"So you can't crawl to your own puddle and roll around?”Caesar said.
" Yes," Yuan Zhi Sheng said softly." The person that the family really looks forward to is probably something as majestic and powerful as a dragon. But I'm just an elephant turtle. It's really tiring to have an elephant turtle bear the responsibility of a dragon."”
Deafening roars erupted, and countless footsteps shook the streets. The conflict between the Fire Hall Group and the Marsh Raven Union, which had been suppressed for more than an hour, finally began, and ear-piercing sirens sounded in the distance.
Caesar placed a cigar in an aluminum tube in front of Yuan Zhisheng.""Thank you."
"Why are you thanking me?" Yuan Zhi Sheng was stunned.
"The reception is not bad. The food was good, the shopping was smooth, and the after-meal entertainment was quite interesting. It had been a long time since he had the chance to relax and daydream. He even bought Abelur.”Caesar took out an yne lighter and lit Yuan Zhisheng up." I've seen the Japanese underworld again. Today was pretty good... To be honest, I thought you were as disgusting as Chu Zihang.”
"Hey, hey, boss, don't just say a few decent words and then swing a big stick at him! He even beat up the other one!”Lu Mingfei muttered in his heart.
"Is it that disgusting?" Yuan Zhi Sheng was not angry.
" I don't like people who think they're so great, but now it seems that you're an exception." Caesar patted Yuan Zhisheng's shoulder." You have a good alcohol tolerance, a beautiful assistant, good taste in cars, and a sense of responsibility as a man. Men are just like us. Even if we have a mountain on our back, we still have to speak lightly. It is a man's duty to take responsibility.”
Boss, you're also starting to speak in the language of the strong! Don't be infected by Gokudo culture so quickly, okay?
"I think we can be called friends from now on. After the mission is over, I'll treat you to a drink and invite you to my wedding.”Caesar said.
"Suddenly, I can be considered a VIP in the Gattuso family.”Yuan Zhi Sheng's tone was still indifferent.
"Not only distinguished guests, but the friendship between men is as strong as the vajra!”Caesar said.
Yuan Zhi Sheng's heart skipped a beat. He had won the friendship of these lunatics just like that. The friendship of lunatics seemed so cheap.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]