Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 105: Every Tortoise longs for its puddle (9)

Dragon Raja 3

“So there’s really a conflict,” Chisei frowned. “I guess I’ll ask the guests what they think.”

“Albel,” Caesar said, shaking the model in front of Chisei. “I’m playing with Albel. This small matter is something the family can handle, right?”

“No problem,” Chisei handed his sword to Sakura. “Go tell the Crow Gang and the Fire Hall Group that I’m here chatting with the guests, and ask them to hold back.”

“Using the title of the head of the Gen family?”

“Use the title of the Gen family head.” Chisei took off the ring with the Rindo crest and also handed it to Sakura.

“Understood.” Sakura took the Kumogiri and left.

“Everything’s settled now. Your safety in Japan is fully ensured by the Yamata no Orochi, and tonight I’m responsible for entertaining all of you,” Chisei said. “Feel free to do whatever you like.”

“Is this really alright?” Lu Mingfei still seemed a bit uneasy.

“I promise.”

Sure enough, the noisy voices outside suddenly disappeared, leaving only the sound of raindrops hitting the roof.

“Boss, I can’t believe you know Albel,” Lu Mingfei said.

“I also know that his Infinite Dual Strike is very powerful. Back in the day, I repeatedly fought monsters just to get his ‘Elysium’s Claw,’” Caesar said. “‘Star Ocean III’ was a game I cleared. I’m not entirely devoid of a childhood, contrary to what some people might think.”

Lu Mingfei thought, Boss, you remember grudges so well—you must be a sentimental person… but then he thought of something else, and that led him to think of Nono, and his mood slowly sank.

“But that was the last game I ever played. I haven’t touched a game console since,” Caesar shrugged. “I was twelve back then and obsessed with wanting a PS2. But the butler wouldn’t allow any game consoles in my room since I would play endlessly, and he thought I should spend my time practicing horseback riding instead. So, I bribed the gardener to smuggle the console and games in for me. I hid it under my bed and played late at night, putting everything away by morning. But eventually, they found it while cleaning the carpet, and the butler smashed it in front of me, telling me that as long as he caught me playing games, he would smash my console.”

“He dared threaten you?” Lu Mingfei asked. “Why didn’t you just fire him?”

“It wasn’t me who hired him; it was those old people in my family,” Caesar leaned back in his chair. “He didn’t care whether I was happy or not. After all, I was just a kid with no control over the finances.”

“Isn’t that just like Aobai?” Lu Mingfei clenched his fist to his chest, looking serious, as if he bore great enmity. “When I come of age, I’ll execute this traitor! Boss, was that what you thought back then?”

“I had no patience to wait until I grew up to take revenge. I thought of a solution that same night. I auctioned off a Matisse painting my family owned and raised some money. Then I called an electronics store and ordered 2,000 PS2 consoles, and had them delivered directly to my family’s estate. The PS2s were piled into a small mountain on the lawn. I took an axe and handed it to the butler. I told him, ‘I’m going to start playing games now, and you can start smashing.’ He was furious. I sat on the lawn and played while he smashed console after console. Every time he broke one, I’d unpack another and keep playing. Eventually, he was standing beside me, axe in hand, out of breath and red-eyed like a crazed killer. When the old people in my family arrived, they were startled, thinking the butler had lost his mind, and had the guards drag him away. The butler was fired, and the new butler wanted to compromise with me, allowing me to play games for two hours a day after horse-riding practice.” Caesar smiled triumphantly.

“You won the right to play games like that?” Chu Zihang, who was sitting across from Caesar, asked.

Caesar hadn’t expected Chu Zihang to start a conversation with him and was stunned for a moment. “Yes, but that night, I suddenly didn’t want to play games anymore.”

“Why?” Lu Mingfei was puzzled. “You finally defeated Aobai—shouldn’t you celebrate by gaming all night?”

“Because it wasn’t exciting anymore,” Caesar shrugged. “I suddenly realized that I didn’t actually want to play games—I just wanted to defy the butler. I enjoyed seeing him exhausted and red-eyed, like a hunter watching an enraged wild boar.”

“Rich people’s lives aren’t easy either,” Lu Mingfei sighed. “Back in my day, all I needed was 20 yuan to stay overnight at the arcade.”

Caesar glanced at Lu Mingfei. “It’s a pity we didn’t know each other back then; otherwise, I could’ve lent you a few thousand. You could pay me back today, with interest.”

Lu Mingfei felt a slight pang in his heart. Yeah, if he had a few thousand yuan back then, he would have felt like a little emperor, secretly taking out 20 yuan from his savings box every night, climbing out the window after Uncle, Aunt, and Lu Mingze fell asleep, slipping through the shadowy paths, and sprinting to the arcade like a vigilante. He had actually wanted a PS2, so he saved for three years. But one time, he accidentally knocked Uncle’s expensive Titoni watch to the ground, breaking it. Lu Mingze threatened to tell Aunt, so Lu Mingfei decided to use his savings to buy peace—he gave all nine hundred yuan he had saved to Lu Mingze. Lu Mingze bought two couple-themed MP3 players, giving one to the girl he liked. That was his three years of savings—just a hundred short of a secondhand PS2… Now, he sat in a top-notch supersonic business jet, crossing the Pacific to get him and his 60 kilograms to Japan as fast as possible. The college had spent hundreds of tons of jet fuel for the journey—enough money to buy a thousand brand-new PS2s.

Makoto Asou wasn’t happy at all. After this mission, Nono would marry Caesar—the best young man in the world, who had fought against his family’s control in his youth; and who, after reaching adulthood, had no flaws other than his “middle school syndrome.” She would be the happiest girl in the world, and there was nothing Lu Mingfei could give her. Even if he owned the world, he couldn’t change that outcome because she lacked nothing and wanted nothing. People often realize as they grow older that the happiness that could be bought with money in their youth is incredibly precious.

“I’m sorry,” Chu Zihang said.

“What do you mean?” Caesar frowned.

“I’m not mocking you for not having a childhood. Actually, I can’t say I had one either,” Chu Zihang said. “I just wanted to talk to you. I don’t want us to be wary of each other along the way. I know we’re not friends, and I do appreciate that you supported me during the hearing of the investigation team. But I also know that you weren’t expressing goodwill toward me—you were showing defiance to the Gattuso family.”

Caesar nodded, “Yes, I am that kind of person. I will do anything to make my family uncomfortable. You are far from being on my ‘dislike’ list compared to those old folks in my family.”