Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 77: Road to the Underworld (1)

Dragon Raja 3

“I pulled up all the records of the Japanese branch that I could find from Norma’s database. There’s a bad news and a good news—which one do you want to hear first?” Caesar closed his laptop.

Lu Mingfei thought for a moment, “Let’s hear the bad news first; that way there’s at least something to look forward to.”

“The Japanese branch is indeed a yakuza organization. Not only that, but it’s also the oldest yakuza family in Japan and has always been the supreme leader of the Japanese underworld.”

“I knew it, I knew it! That Chisei guy looked like a yakuza from the start!” Lu Mingfei’s suspicions were finally confirmed. “What’s the good news then?”

“Now, we are too.”

“That’s no good news at all! Boss, are you out of your mind?”

“At least we’re on the same side as the yakuza, which means they won’t cut off our hands, pour cement on us, or sell us off as male escorts,” Caesar shrugged. “They have a lot of influence here, which will help us with our mission, so it sort of counts as good news.”

“But I’ve got a clean record, always honest and fair, never beaten up a male classmate or peeked into a women’s bath. The worst I’ve done is download a few pirated MP3s, and now I’m a yakuza?” Lu Mingfei was in utter disbelief.

“Calm down, let me give you a quick rundown of Japanese law. Japan is the only country in the world where yakuza organizations are allowed to legally exist. For instance, the Yamaguchi-gumi claims to be Japan’s largest yakuza group, and it’s actually a registered legal entity. Japanese law prosecutes individuals who commit crimes, not the organizations. Yakuza groups are very active in Japanese society. When there’s an earthquake or a flood, the first to arrive for relief are often not the army or the police, but the yakuza. In Japan, being in the yakuza is a special kind of employment, with social insurance and unemployment benefits,” Caesar explained. “So in Japan, we’re considered yakuza only because we’re associated with a yakuza organization, not because we’re criminals.”

“So yakuza here aren’t despised like rats in the street?” Lu Mingfei began to understand.

“Not entirely. Although they are legally allowed, people are still wary of them,” Chu Zihang said. “The yakuza have a long history in Japan. They were originally guilds for different trades—dock workers had their guilds, as did prostitutes. These guilds operated under their own rules, which often clashed with the law, but the guilds had their own codes of conduct as well. If the guilds were disbanded and the police were left to manage certain trades, some industries would spiral into chaos. Some guilds eventually evolved into yakuza groups, and the more historically significant ones became what are now known as yakuza nobility. Their businesses are mostly legal, and they have close ties with politicians and major businessmen. This is why Japan allows these organizations to exist legally. Yakuza members may not have criminal records, like the Osaka woman who called a yakuza group to hire someone to chop off her husband’s arm, and the yakuza got fed up with her and eventually called the police.”

“These yakuza sound kind of cowardly,” Lu Mingfei commented.

“In general, Japanese yakuza are very restrained and won’t resort to violence without necessity. In recent years, they’ve mostly stayed low-key, protecting their own businesses and not breaking the code. But if someone breaks the code, their retaliation is brutal. It’s said that if Japanese yakuza gangs go into full-scale retaliation and vendetta mode, even the entire Japanese police force wouldn’t be enough to control it. So we should be glad that they are our friends and not our enemies,” Chu Zihang added.

“How can the Principal allow the Japanese branch to mess around like this?” Lu Mingfei asked. “The Principal’s the kind of guy who mingles with high society and has afternoon tea with European royalty. He doesn’t seem like someone who would mix with the yakuza.”

“We can’t know the full details with our rank, and even Norma’s explanation of the Japanese branch is vague. Essentially, the Japanese branch isn’t a branch set up by the college but a cooperative venture between the college and a Japanese Hybrid family. This family is called the ‘Yamata no Orochi,’ and it’s divided into three major families and five minor ones, all Hybrids. For thousands of years, they’ve presided over the Japanese underworld. Any yakuza leader who seizes territory has to personally go to the Yamata no Orochi’s shrine to ‘burn incense’ to show their submission to the underworld laws set by the Yamata no Orochi. Only then can they legitimately expand their gang. The Yamata no Orochi are so powerful that even European Hybrid families respect them. The college can’t force them, so it had to adopt a cooperative approach. That’s why the Japanese branch enjoys tormenting the agents sent by the main campus, and the college just turns a blind eye.”

“They seem to be treating us well enough—picking us up in a luxury SUV, bringing along a pretty girl.” Lu Mingfei thought of Sakura and Chisei as a handsome and beautiful pair.

“Yes, they’re treating us well, and that’s what makes it weird,” Caesar said. “I found some travel blogs written by previous agents sent to Japan on the Watchmen forum. Every single one of them described the Japanese branch as hell on earth, saying they were constantly mistreated with absolutely no human dignity left… Damn!”

“What is it?” Lu Mingfei was startled by Caesar’s sudden curse.

“I just realized… No wonder, when they heard I was going to Japan on assignment, the Student Council members all had a video farewell with me. One of them even came close to the camera, very emotional, and said, ‘Boss, when you come back, let’s go hunting again.’ It gave me the feeling I was terminally ill and didn’t have long left to live. Those guys must have thought I wouldn’t be coming back from Japan in one piece.”

“No wonder… Before I boarded the train, Lancelot rushed to the station to hand over the leadership of the Lionheart Society, and he had me sign a document stating that if they couldn’t reach me for more than three weeks, he would automatically assume the role of acting president. If it went beyond three months, the Lionheart Society would hold an election for a new president,” Chu Zihang said.

“This isn’t just a fond farewell, it’s like he’s watching you make your will!” Lu Mingfei exclaimed. “He was prepared for you not to make it back!”

“From all the records I found, Japan is clearly not an easy place to deal with,” Caesar mused. “The previous agents who came to Japan on missions developed severe OCD—bowing to everyone, and shouting ‘I’m sorry’ in a panic whenever criticized. It’s quite neurotic. The Japanese branch practices a culture of strength; only the strongest among the strong are respected.”

“What counts as being strong?” Chu Zihang asked.

“In their eyes, there’s only one strong person from the main branch—Hilbert Ron Anjou.”

“Is he really a strong person? More like a flamboyant old madman,” Lu Mingfei said.

“In comparison, Japan’s treatment of us is indeed a bit unbelievable,” Chu Zihang remarked.

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