Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 91: Genji Heavy Industries (3)

Dragon Raja 3

“Ah, nothing makes a teacher happier than receiving gifts from his students! You’ve grown up; you’re pillars of society now. I’m very proud of you, but I can’t accept this gold card… It’s not that I’ve lost interest in sailor uniforms, but recently, the missus has been very strict. She says that if I really love sailor uniforms, she can wear them herself…” The elderly man’s gray eyebrows twitched.

“Everyone… seems very motivated.” Lu Mingfei’s eye twitched. “Is this the new generation of yakuza?”

“To be precise, it’s the management of the yakuza. Genji Heavy Industries’ server room stores data on the entire Japanese underworld. Every member of the yakuza is recorded here. To manage this massive organization, there are thirteen departments with over 2,000 people working in shifts. There are 600 operators answering calls around the clock from recognized yakuza members across Japan,” Sakura explained. “You can consider this place the information center of the Japanese underworld.”

“A society in the shadows,” Caesar commented. “When members of the underworld get into trouble, their first instinct is to seek help from you rather than the police, right?”

“That’s correct. Any yakuza gang that recognizes Yamata no Orochi as their head family and pays membership fees regularly is entitled to receive assistance from the main family. Young men who join these yakuza gangs receive an identity card upon signing a contract, signifying that the family acknowledges their status in the underworld. They can directly call the main family for help. The family also runs a foundation that provides health and pension insurance.”

“Health and pension insurance too?” Lu Mingfei was amazed. “The benefits are so good?”

“Most insurance companies are very stringent when it comes to issuing health and pension insurance to members of the yakuza. So, the main family established a fund of 160 billion yen, investing it globally. The proceeds from the investments are used to provide welfare to the organization members. The fund operates similarly to the Canadian Teachers’ Pension Fund. If a member of the organization unfortunately passes away, the family will also cover their children’s education and living expenses until they turn eighteen.”

“That makes me want to join too!” Lu Mingfei said.

“I could try contacting HR for you, but honestly, the family rarely recruits foreigners.” Sakura swiped a card to open the VIP observation elevator. “Please.”

The observation elevator ascended, and Lu Mingfei could look through the iron-black glass walls at the bustling city below. Between the skyscrapers of Shinjuku, serpentine elevated highways snaked through, with a constant stream of cars, one of which even passed through Genji Heavy Industries. The fifth and sixth floors of this building didn’t exist; instead, they formed a highway tunnel that saw tens of thousands of vehicles pass through the building daily, while the other floors remained unaffected.

“When the building was almost completed, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government decided to build that elevated highway, which had to pass through here. After negotiations, the government couldn’t afford the price set by the main family, so they abandoned the idea of demolishing the building and instead signed a hundred-year lease, renting the fifth and sixth floors to build the highway, while the floors above are suspended, supported by pillars,” Sakura explained.

“Caesar was also slightly moved. With the financial strength of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, they could afford to build a costly elevated highway but couldn’t buy this building, which showed the incredible value of the land and Yamata no Orochi’s influence in Japan.

‘The weight above the sixth floor is supported by just twelve load-bearing pillars. Is the structure stable? I’ve heard that Japan has serious earthquakes and typhoons,’ Chu Zihang said.

‘The design and construction of this building were handled by the Maruyama Construction Company under the Tachibana family. In Japan’s construction industry, no one doubts Maruyama’s work; they have a history of 500 years, and their founder built the Edo Castle for Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The Tokyo government trusted Maruyama Construction, which is why they allowed such an important elevated highway to pass through the Genji Heavy Industries building. It has been nearly ten years since its completion, and no earthquake or typhoon has ever affected the passage through that tunnel,’ Sakura explained.

‘Amazing!’ Lu Mingfei praised.

The elevator dinged, stopping at the 28th floor. As soon as the elevator doors opened, the view widened—the entire floor was an office hall where hundreds of girls sat in cubicles, answering phone calls while searching on their computer screens. The air was filled with their crisp ‘Hai, hai!’

‘These are the operators for the main family. The family hotline is available 24/7, so there’s always a few hundred operators ready to answer any calls for help from underworld members. When this hotline was set up, the family insisted that the service must be better than the emergency number at the Metropolitan Police Department, and operators had to be polite and considerate. During times of earthquakes and tsunamis, we also take calls for help from civilians. Over fifty thousand people under the family’s banner have participated in disaster relief,’ Sakura said.

‘The main family really is like Japan’s parental guardian!’ Lu Mingfei said.

After walking through the call center, they went up to the 29th floor via the stairs. The first thing Lu Mingfei saw was a giant map of Tokyo covering an entire wall. Unlike the 3D projection map in the main control room, this map was printed on paper, with colorful darts pinned all over it. Staff members took notes while answering phone calls, rolled up the notes in colorful darts, and threw them at the map. Another group of people stood facing the map, deep in thought. Occasionally, someone would suddenly stand up, pull out a dart from the map, and return to their desk, with a group of subordinates in black suits gathering around.

‘Looks like a command center,’ Lu Mingfei said.

‘We call it the Liaison Department. There are conflicts between gangs every day, every hour, and even every minute. If it’s a minor issue, the operator receiving the call will directly pass the task to the relevant department to handle it, but if they feel it needs to be reported, they’ll relay it to the Liaison Department. The Liaison Department is staffed by veteran members of the underworld—some have good relations with the police, others have personal connections with gang leaders, and some are experts in specific industries. They pick tasks based on their strengths. Since the veterans aren’t accustomed to using computers, the family allows them to continue with the old method of working,’ Sakura explained.

‘Throwing darts?’ Caesar asked.

‘In the Edo period, their habit was to throw notes attached to their short swords.’

The environment on the 30th floor, unlike the high-paced 28th and the stern 29th, was relaxed. The floor had a traditional Japanese style, with elderly people in kimonos sitting around tatami mats, drinking tea and speaking in whispers.

‘Is this your senior citizens’ activity room?’ Lu Mingfei asked.

‘This is called the Strategy Department. Only the most highly regarded elders in the family can enter this department. They were once leaders of major underworld gangs. There are rarely issues that require them to step in now, and their daily activities are mainly drinking tea. But their presence here solidifies the status of this building in the Japanese underworld. They are the pillars that support this place,’ Sakura explained. ‘They only get involved in very tricky matters, and they usually can’t appear in public because they have been wanted by the police for over ten years.’

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