Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 98: Every Tortoise longs for its puddle (2)

Dragon Raja 3

“No, I’ve never met my father, and he left nothing for me. I’m an orphan; I grew up with my younger brother, taken in by someone until we were confirmed to have the blood of the Gen family.” Chisei said, “It’s like the story of Lonesome George. Do you know about him?”

“I’ve heard of him. Some say he’s the loneliest animal in the world,” Chu Zihang replied.

One of Chu Zihang’s few hobbies was reading. He would pick up and read any book he found, which led him to know about some obscure things, like Lonesome George, the Pinta Island tortoise. The tortoise is the largest terrestrial turtle in the world, capable of growing up to nearly two meters in length and weighing over 200 kilograms. The Galápagos Islands in South America were once their habitat, where these slow giants lived peacefully, far from human activity, until they were discovered by sailors exploring the New World. Sailors loaded entire tortoises onto their ships; these animals could go a year without eating or drinking, serving as a long-lasting fresh meat supply. Sometimes, sailors would throw these non-swimming tortoises into the sea when the load became too heavy.

The tortoises on the Galápagos Islands dwindled, and the rarest were the Pinta Island tortoises. Only one male remained, found alone on the barren island after the vegetation had been devoured by feral goats. For decades after, scientists couldn’t find another purebred Pinta Island tortoise, leaving George as the last of his kind. People called him Lonesome George.

“The Gen family is ancient, but ever since the Edo period, its members have dwindled. At one point, the family elders thought there were no more descendants. However, they found my brother and me in the mountains and confirmed our lineage. That’s when the Gen family regained its seat within the clan. I’m called the head of the Gen family, but it’s just me. So, I feel like that tortoise,” Chisei said. “It’s in the Galápagos National Park. If I ever get the chance to travel around the world, I’d like to see it.”

“You mentioned you had a brother.”

“He’s probably dead by now.”

“Sigh, it seems like none of us had it easy growing up.” Lu Mingfei drained his sake with a sigh. “When I started middle school, my parents moved abroad. Now I’m a sophomore in college, and they haven’t come back to see me even once. Sometimes I wonder if they secretly had another child abroad and never told me. Otherwise, I’m their only child; why would they just leave me at my uncle’s place without caring?”

“I thought the four of us had nothing in common, but it turns out we share something regarding our parents.” Caesar also drained his sake. “I think I could join your ‘orphaned parents’ group.”

Chu Zihang frowned.

“Hey, hey! I’m not orphaned—my parents are just unreliable. They’re still alive and kicking somewhere in the world. My senior’s mother is alive and well too! And you still have your playboy dad!” Lu Mingfei said.

“I considered him dead a long time ago,” Caesar shrugged.

“You like traveling?” Chu Zihang asked, ignoring the two slightly tipsy men.

“I do, but I seldom have the chance. I’d love to go to France someday; there’s a famous nude beach there. I’d like to find a job selling sunscreen,” Chisei said.

Chu Zihang spoke calmly about his father, but the slight twitch at the corner of his eye betrayed his emotions. Chisei’s initial impression of Chu Zihang was that of a person completely devoid of warmth, indifferent to everything. But when talking about his father, a crack appeared in Chu Zihang’s hardened shell. Chisei wanted to use this opportunity to understand these so-called ace agents from the headquarters better. Instinctively, he didn’t like these three, but Tachibana Masamune was right: if Anjou considered them aces, they had to be extraordinary.

“Switching from a yakuza boss to selling sunscreen? Don’t you think that’s quite a leap?” Caesar refilled his cup and rejoined the conversation.

Although he couldn’t appreciate the Zen of “Life Like Summer Flowers,” he could still appreciate the good food. Outside, the storm raged, while they sat barefoot on the cool tatami eating Japanese cuisine and overlooking Tokyo in the rain. There was a sense of intoxicated pleasure, and he had already drunk quite a bit. He wanted someone to talk to, and besides, if only Chu Zihang was having an engaging conversation with the Japanese division, it would affect his standing as the team leader.

“Managing the yakuza is the job of the Gen family head. As for me,” Chisei said, “I want to leave Tokyo and find a warm, comfortable city to live a lazy life.”

Caesar sneered, “My uncle Frost always says he wants a simple life. He’s now the acting head of the Gattuso family, constantly having bankers line up to meet him. When he’s overwhelmed, he complains, ‘Damn it, wouldn’t it be great if I had a month with an empty schedule so I could go back to the countryside, drink good wine, read a book, and greet my old neighbors?’ But if his phone doesn’t ring for half a day, he gets restless, feeling like things are out of his control.”

“Are you saying I’m as hypocritical as your uncle?” Chisei remained expressionless.

“I don’t mean to mock you, but people are like that. They call you ‘Young Master.’ In a family that controls Japan’s yakuza, your status is second only to the head of the family. You’re someone who can make waves in this city; you do whatever you want. But once you leave here, you’re no longer a big shot,” Caesar said, biting a cigar. “The feeling of going from a big shot to an ordinary person is not pleasant.”

Chisei thought for a moment. “Gattuso-kun, if you were that tortoise named George, what kind of life would you want to live?”

“Boss, I’m not being paranoid, but he just called you a tortoise. I don’t know what your temper’s like, but if it were me, I couldn’t take that!” Lu Mingfei looked mischievous.

“What do you mean?” Caesar thought about it but couldn’t understand Chisei’s words.

“As the last Pinta Island tortoise, everyone wanted George to have offspring, even with female tortoises of other subspecies. At the very least, some of the Pinta Island genes could be preserved. The news said that zoologists brought in other types of female tortoises for him, but George wouldn’t go near them. The zoologists were anxious, not knowing what kind of female tortoise George preferred,” Chisei said. “When I read that news, a strange thought came to mind: maybe it wasn’t that George didn’t like the female tortoises they picked for him. Maybe George simply didn’t want to be with any of them at all. He didn’t care about having offspring; he just wanted to leave the national park and crawl back to the waterhole where he used to play in the mud. So, Gattuso-kun, if you were George, would you choose to stay in the national park, working hard to produce offspring, or would you bite through the fence and crawl back to your old waterhole?”

“Bite through the fence,” Caesar said. “It’s like if I were the last human on Earth; no matter how many female gorillas you found for me, I wouldn’t engage in forbidden love with them. My ideal would be to crawl back to Portofino and die looking out at the sea as the last human in history.”

“Boss, you said ‘crawl back’… you’ve really put yourself in the tortoise’s shoes,” Lu Mingfei commented.

“George is the last Pinta Island tortoise, and I’m the last descendant of the Gen family. The last Pinta Island tortoise should work hard to prevent the extinction of its species, and the last descendant of the Gen family should work to restore the family’s influence in the yakuza. But George just wants to go back to his waterhole, and I just want to sell sunscreen at a nude beach.” Chisei looked into Caesar’s eyes. “That’s the kind of person I am. The yakuza business of the Yamata no Orochi and the mission of the Secret Party don’t matter to me. My life goal is to sell sunscreen. I’m not like your uncle.”

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