Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 187: Girl with Sandalwood Scent (19)

Dragon Raja 3

Makoto opened her locker, pulling out her wages from the past few days along with a few personal items. With the way the bōsōzoku were going, there was a good chance they’d destroy the entire building tonight. She figured it was best to take anything valuable with her.

“Someone’s coming,” Caesar suddenly halted his work.

A few seconds later, everyone heard it—soft footsteps creeping along the wall. Someone had entered the staff passageway. Caesar tossed a Beretta to Chu Zihang, and both quietly loaded their guns. They hid behind the iron lockers with Makoto and Lu Mingfei.

The door creaked open, then slowly closed again. The intruder was now inside the changing room, methodically checking the lockers. He pulled on the locker doors one by one, but most were locked. For the girls working at the internet café, the lockers were their only private space, so naturally, they kept them locked. Eventually, the intruder reached one that wasn’t locked—it was Makoto’s. In her haste to grab her money, she had forgotten to lock it back up.

The man seemed to be rummaging through Makoto’s locker. Caesar signaled Makoto and Lu Mingfei to stay still, then motioned to Chu Zihang. The two of them silently moved in from either side, preparing to strike. Chu Zihang formed a circle with his thumb and forefinger, while Caesar extended his hand like a blade in front of him—Cassell College’s tactical hand signals. This meant they would attack together, with Caesar taking the lead.

Chu Zihang emerged from hiding, kneeling down to aim, locking onto the small man’s back. Caesar lunged forward, locking his elbow around the man’s slender neck, his bulging bicep pressing against the man’s throat, preventing him from making a sound. If the man struggled, Caesar could snap his neck in an instant. The man, dressed in a garish striped suit, hadn’t expected the attack—he was too focused on sniffing the item in his hands when Caesar struck. Caesar slammed the butt of his gun into the man’s nose, causing blood to gush everywhere. Clutched in the man’s hand was Makoto’s underwear, with a white strap poking out from his pocket. While his comrades were hunting down Caesar’s group, this guy had sneaked into the women’s changing room to steal lingerie.

“I knew it! A pervert! He even grabbed my butt earlier!” Lu Mingfei delivered a high kick to the man’s chin, using a Muay Thai technique he’d learned in tactics class.

The graceful kick came at the cost of a loud “rip” as the slit in his qipao tore even wider, making his figure look even more seductive.

It was the same monkey-faced man who had grabbed Lu Mingfei’s butt in the lobby. Among this group of excited bōsōzoku, he was relatively “normal,” as he had no interest in killing, only in stealing lingerie.

Makoto stood off to the side, her face flushed. Among Japanese girls, she was quite tall and wore more old-fashioned underwear, the kind typically associated with older women. The school’s underwear thieves never targeted her—she’d often find the clotheslines emptied of all the dainty pink and baby blue lingerie, except for hers, left hanging there all alone. Now that someone had finally stolen her underwear, she wasn’t sure if she should feel flattered.

Caesar hadn’t expected Makoto to follow them. For him and the others, showing their faces didn’t matter—pictures of them were already broadcasted on national TV, and they were wanted everywhere. But Makoto had nothing to do with this, and she shouldn’t have been dragged into it. The monkey-faced man had clearly seen Makoto’s face, and if he reported it, it would put her at risk. They could track her down, even to her home. For a moment, Caesar felt a strong urge to kill—dead men tell no tales, and for someone like him, that would have been the safest option. Any other member of the Gattuso family would have shot the man without hesitation. But Caesar quickly suppressed the thought. Though disgusting, the lingerie thief wasn’t like his beastly, bloodthirsty companions. He didn’t deserve to die.

“Move, and I’ll give you a taste of what a fractured skull feels like. Now, quietly listen to me!” Caesar pressed the barrel of his Beretta to the man’s temple, hoping fear would make him compliant.

“He’s already passed out. Even if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t understand a word you’re saying,” Lu Mingfei pointed out.

Caesar smelled something foul and glanced down. Monkey face had rolled his eyes back, his pants soaking wet with urine that was now dripping down his legs. He was the weakest in both physique and courage among the bōsōzoku, and Caesar couldn’t fathom how he had survived in such a violent gang.

Caesar quickly let go of the foul-smelling man, who collapsed like a boneless snake, slamming his head against one of the metal lockers. Caesar realized his mistake and tried to grab the man again, but it was too late. The loud “clang” echoed through the room.

Several walls away, the footsteps of the bōsōzoku searching the area abruptly stopped. They had been scouring the building, and now they had heard the sound coming from the changing room. They began shouting, presumably calling out Monkey face’s name or asking, “Who’s there?” Whatever they were saying, the outcome would be the same. Once they discovered the staff passage, they would inevitably reach the women’s changing room. Caesar and Chu Zihang exchanged a quick glance. They were both exhausted after their long trek, running on fumes. Their opponents were armed and dangerous—just one misstep, and even their bloodline advantages wouldn’t save them from a shotgun blast. To avoid a full-scale fight, they’d have to use their guns, and that would mean going all out.

“Shooting them in the legs won’t be lethal,” Chu Zihang said, flipping the safety off his Beretta.

“But we’re low on bullets. We used most of them for the bomb,” Caesar replied, pulling out his sawed-off shotgun.

“Hide! Hide in the lockers! Leave the rest to me!” Makoto suddenly suggested, her voice urgent but hushed.

“What good would that do?” Caesar frowned.

In the mind of a nobleman like Caesar, women were to be cherished and protected, like delicate porcelain vases. His duty was to protect the “vase,” not hold it up as a shield when the enemy attacked. If it were Nono, it would be a different story—she’d probably be swinging a steel pipe at the enemies. But Makoto was just an ordinary female student.

“I have a plan!” Makoto insisted, pushing Caesar into her locker. The locker was narrow but tall enough—about two meters—so it could accommodate long dresses, which made it just big enough for Caesar to fit inside.

She tried to open the other lockers, but they were all locked tightly. Chu Zihang stepped forward and snapped the small locks with ease—his strength alone was enough, even without going into a berserker state.

“Uh, sir… could you help me?” Makoto bowed politely to Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei thought to himself, She actually remembers me as that guy from that night… and she’s pretty close to calling Caesar “boss.” But it’s understandable for a suave, wealthy guy like Caesar to be remembered by a girl. Still, Chu Zihang, despite being a bit of a stoic, is quite handsome too, yet Makoto seems to have overlooked him. He felt a bit indignant on behalf of Chu Zihang. Together, Lu Mingfei and Makoto dragged Monkey face into a locker. Lu Mingfei lifted his stocking-clad leg and kicked the man inside, like one would stomp on a wad of paper in a trash can to make more space, and then shut the locker door.

Series Navigation

<< Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 186: Girl with Sandalwood Scent (18)Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 188: Girl with Sandalwood Scent (20) >>