Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei finds a Freylian

Sakura merely watched Noda Hisashi's every move coldly, without immediately stopping him. In the rules of the underworld, cutting off a finger is a highly ritualistic act; before actually making the cut, the person apologizing must do a few things and make their words clear.

"I have made a mistake, and I now apologize to the main family!" Noda Hisashi declared loudly, making his voice sound more powerful.

"Whether you apologize or not, you've made a mistake," Sakura's voice was cold and ruthless. "Even cutting off a finger can't undo the mistake, do you understand?"

"I know!" Noda Hisashi's chest heaved, his chuunibyou blood surging. "If I made a mistake, I'll correct it! It's just a finger, it's gone, but I'm still a man of honor! The Third Hokage of the Noda Group!"

"The third head of the Noda-gumi? Someone who has made a mistake probably won't be able to stay in this position."

"The Third Hokage must be someone who has the courage to admit his mistakes!"

"So you admit that Miss Zhen didn't exaggerate, and that the threats to raise protection fees were all made by you alone?"

"Yes! It was me who threatened to raise the protection fee!" Noda Hisashi roared, as if reciting a line from a shonen manga.

"Wow, is this what Japan calls Yakuza culture?" Lu Mingfei muttered to Caesar beside him, "It's so reminiscent of the Sea Tiger style? Might makes right, and weakness is a sin?"

"And 'Even if I die, my soul will sustain me,' and 'Men's friendship is as strong as diamond,' are all in the same vein," Chu Zihang added, a rare occurrence for him.

"Chu Zihang, you know what, male friendship is indeed like a diamond," Caesar said, stroking his chin.

"Boss Caesar, it's Vajra, not diamond."

"There's not much difference."

Genjiro, who had been inspecting the Gundam models by the bookshelf, was feeling rather embarrassed. To have a lowly thug spout such childish yakuza culture in front of the VIPs of headquarters was making him, the young master of the Snake Clan, lose face.

For many years, the family has faced an awkward reality: the upper echelons can be as cold and composed as ancient nobles, but the cornerstone of the underworld, the large number of lower-level members, are mostly young people who lack education and are easily blinded by passion.

They glorify violence and believe in the simplistic and brutal logic that "a man should stand tall and upright" and "kneel only to those worthy of following." Reasoning with them is often futile. Therefore, even the patriarch, Tachibana Masamune, has to humble himself and engage in passionate conversations with the gang leaders at the annual yakuza meeting at the end of each year.

"Hmph." Sakura's voice drew everyone's attention back. "Noda Hisashi, a member of the Noda Group, right?"

"Yes! It is I!" Noda Hisashi raised his head, gripped the hilt of his sword, and prepared to die.

"Are you eighteen this year?"

"Yes!" Noda Hisashi awaited the final judgment.

"Do you like Asou Makoto?" Sakura suddenly changed the subject and asked in a calm tone.

"Pfft! Cough cough cough! Damn it!" Lu Mingfei sprayed the barley tea he had just drunk all over Noda Hisashi's meticulously styled hair.

Noda Hisashi, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, raised his head, first looking at Sakura in horror, then meeting Lu Mingfei's face, which was red from choking and trying to suppress a laugh, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.

"Huh?" Lu Mingfei glared back defiantly, and Noda Hisashi realized that he had actually shown a fierce look to a senior member of the main family!

"No, no, no, no! I didn't! I'm not!" Noda Hisashi stammered, his face turning bright red, his previous tough guy image instantly collapsing.

"As a candidate for the third head of the Noda-gumi, you don't do any real work at night. Instead, you hang out in a toy store run by a young girl, reading comics. For the past week, you've spent over twenty hours visiting Ms. Aso Makoto. Not only that, every time you come, you actually pay for coffee from the vending machine next door instead of having the shopkeeper serve you tea. Your clothes are too neat, even showing signs of ironing, which is not in line with the unkempt nature of a street thug like you. Obviously, you changed your clothes and got your hair done before coming."

Sakura's tone remained calm, as if she were presenting an investigation report. With a flick of her toe, she kicked the aluminum baseball bat that Noda Hisashi had previously placed on the ground in front of him. "Furthermore, you even engraved Ms. Makoto's name on your personal weapon."

"Wow! Let me see, tsk tsk tsk, it's true! The strokes are clear, and it even has an outline!" Lu Mingfei picked up the baseball bat first, looked at the three small and neat Chinese characters "Asano Makoto" engraved on the handle, and clicked his tongue in amazement. Then he deliberately read it out loud.

"Ah!" Aso Makoto exclaimed in surprise after seeing the words on the baseball bat, covering his face, which turned bright red instantly, with both hands.

"I am a real man," Noda Hisashi still tried to argue, clinging to the last shred of his dignity.

"Childish!" Sakura said without any politeness, delivering a swift chop to Noda Hisashi's forehead, leaving a clear groove in his meticulously styled, voluminous hair.

"Miss Sakura is so observant! I've been playing with this bat for ages and I didn't even notice the words engraved on it!" Lu Mingfei held up the bat and examined it closely in the light, looking at Sakura with an expression of having learned something. He had completely taken on the role of a lackey and his eyes were full of admiration as he looked at Sakura.

Chapter 395 A Woman's Heart

“It’s nothing, you’ll know if you observe the details more,” Sakura put the short sword back into her sleeve, her tone returning to its usual calm, as if the cold threat and sharp analysis from before had never happened. “My woman’s sixth sense kicked in. Someone had a crush on me before, so I know this feeling.”

She spoke without any particular expression on her face, and her eyes didn't look at anyone. But Genji, who was standing by the bookshelf with his back to everyone, arranging Gundam models, paused for a moment.

Although he had been with Yaksha, Crow, and Sakura for a long time, so long that it seemed as if the three of them were as natural as air around him, and he could see them appearing in his field of vision, either openly or secretly, handling various affairs and protecting his safety.

But upon closer reflection, he realized he had never truly understood the three of them. Their past, their preferences, their private emotions hidden beneath their professional facades—he knew nothing of any of it. It was as if he had never imagined that anyone could harbor a secret crush on Sakura.

He had grown too accustomed to Sakura, to her understated elegance, agility, and professionalism. She was like a tool that perfectly suited his needs, always appearing where he needed her most, solving problems with the most precise methods, and then quietly retreating into the shadows.

Gradually, he could no longer even perceive Sakura's beauty as a young woman; he only felt that she was someone who was always shrouded in a black suit, with a blurred face, who only needed a code name and a function and no other personal identity.

It wasn't until just now, when he overheard Caesar and Lu Mingfei discussing Sakura's figure and temperament in private, that he suddenly realized, oh, his assistant, who was always efficient, always calm, and always stayed in the shadows with almost no personal emotional fluctuations, actually had something attractive about her in the eyes of other men.

The feeling was somewhat subtle.

"Go, apologize to Ms. Aso Makoto, and then work in this shop for three months as compensation for your previous harassment and the losses you caused the shop." Sakura delivered her final verdict to Noda Hisashi, who was still kneeling on the ground, in a businesslike tone. "The main family's rules do not include charging toy stores protection fees, so this fee is waived. During your employment, you must obey all arrangements and rules of the shop. That's all, go."

Zhen covered her face and ran back behind the counter, trying to hide herself.

Sakura stepped forward, bent down, and asked in a very low voice that only Noda Hisashi could hear, "According to your aesthetic sense, shouldn't you prefer the glamorous and sexy type of girl? Why would you be interested in her type?"

Noda Hisashi rubbed his forehead, which had been slapped twice with a chop to the head, and paused for a moment when he heard this. He straightened his neck and replied in what he thought was a deep and manly voice: "A man needs to marry a virtuous wife and loving mother before he can go out and explore the world with peace of mind!"

The words had barely left his mouth when the third chop landed precisely.

"It hurts!" Noda Hisashi clutched his head, completely deflated.

"I apologize, everyone. There was a slight mishap with tonight's arrangements." Yuan Zhisheng walked over, his expression regaining its composure. He glanced at the torrential rain outside the window. "There are a few nice nightclubs nearby, with private environments and excellent service. Would you like to go there for a chat?"

Lu Mingfei glanced at the rows of neatly stacked, shiny, genuine comics on the bookshelf. Back in high school, there was a small comic book store near the back gate of Shilan High School. Most of the comics sold were pirated, but there were also a few high-quality genuine copies that came from Taiwan Province. The translations and printing were far superior to the pirated ones.

The shop owner partitioned off a small room at the back of the shop, where more, newer, and more expensive genuine comics were displayed. Only those wealthy customers who frequented the shop could be invited in to feast their eyes.

Poor students like Lu Mingfei, who only read books by chance, could only gaze longingly at the mysterious curtain from afar. True high-class, wealthy, and handsome men like Zhao Menghua never wasted time in the pirated section; they would expertly slip into the back, emerging with exquisitely packaged bags containing genuine comics, some even wrapped in plastic and boxed, exuding an aura of wealth and sophistication.

Now, genuine comics are readily available everywhere, and just touching the smooth spines of the books gives Lu Mingfei a subtle sense of satisfaction. He actually wanted to stay a little longer in this store filled with the atmosphere of childhood nostalgia.

“Hey, I see it’s raining really hard. How about we just read some comics here?” Lu Mingfei suggested. He was no longer a nobody; he was a big shot, a special agent dispatched by Principal Angers.

“Lu Mingfei is right. It’s raining so hard, why don’t we sit here for a while?” Chu Zihang said.

Genjiro looked at Caesar, seeking his opinion.

"Isn't tonight supposed to be our underworld experience night?" Caesar picked up the instant coffee on the table, took a sip, and frowned slightly, but his tone remained normal. "But here we are, drinking instant coffee in a toy store. Is this what they call 'commoner's coffee'?"

Just then, Zhen came over carrying a small plate with several pink cherry blossom-shaped rice cakes on it. "Cherry blossom rice cakes, please, please have some," she said softly, not daring to look up at anyone.

"NICE! Great!" Caesar immediately put on a bright smile, raised his coffee cup to the girl, and expressed his gratitude in both Chinese and English. He couldn't understand what the girl was saying, but his aristocratic manners were ingrained in his bones; he would never show any disdain for cheap coffee in front of the girl who had made it for him.

"They change their tune so quickly," Lu Mingfei muttered to himself, casually stuffing the cherry blossom mochi he had been given into his coat pocket, ready to be called away at any moment.

“Let’s just have some coffee here,” Caesar continued, leaning back in his chair in a relaxed posture. “Although the taste is thin and a bit too sweet, it’s not bad to have some cheap coffee and chat casually on a rainy night like this.”

Lu Mingfei couldn't understand why Caesar, given his personality, would be willing to waste his precious time in such an ordinary little toy store.

“Look! This is Abelur!” Caesar suddenly pointed to the model high on the shelf and asked in a mix of English and Japanese.

On the shelf was an exquisite figurine of Abelul, a character from Star Ocean III. Lu Mingfei was even more surprised; he hadn't expected that a noble young man like Caesar would recognize such a relatively obscure game character.

Just then, Sakura pushed open the door and came in, the scent of rain rushing in. She quickly walked to Genjiro's side, leaned close to his ear, and reported in a very low voice, "Young Master, the Swamp Raven Society and the Fire Hall Group are gathering in this area. There are quite a few of them, and they are very agitated. A direct conflict may break out. In order not to disturb our distinguished guests, should we leave here first?"

"We've come at the wrong time," Genji said, his brow furrowing slightly. "Let's ask the specialists for their opinions."

“Abelul,” Caesar said to Genjiro, waving the model he had already taken down, his tone relaxed, “I’m working on this. Those little things outside, the main family can handle them, right?”

“It’s a small matter.” Genjiro pondered for a moment, then unfastened his sword, Spider Cutter, from his waist and handed it to Sakura. “Go tell the leaders of the Swamp Crows and the Fire Hall that I am in this shop with the academy’s distinguished guests. Ask them to restrain themselves and not disturb us.”

"In the name of the head of the Minamoto family?" Sakura confirmed.

“Yes.” Genjiro nodded firmly, then took off the family head ring engraved with gentian flower patterns from his left thumb and handed it to Sakura.

"Yes." Sakura accepted the knife and ring with both hands, said no more, and turned to disappear into the rain again.

"The matter is resolved." Genji turned to Caesar and the others, his tone calm. "Your safety within Japan is entirely the responsibility of the Snake Clan. Since I am in charge of guiding you through this experience tonight, you are free to do whatever you wish. This minor incident will not affect us."

"Don't we need to step in?" Lu Mingfei was still a little uneasy and peeked out the window at the dark street.

“No need,” Genjiro said, confident in his own authority.

Chapter 396 The Similarities Between Caesar and Chu Zihang

Sure enough, not long after, the faint, chaotic voices and shouts coming from outside suddenly disappeared, as if wiped away by an invisible hand. Only dense raindrops remained, continuously pounding on the roof and the ground.

"Boss Caesar, you actually know about the obscure character Abelul?" Lu Mingfei asked curiously, his attention returning to the model.

"Not only do I know him, I also know his skills. His Infinite Double Break Slash is incredibly powerful. Back then, I repeatedly ran that dungeon to get his weapon, the Evil Claw of Joy." Caesar said casually, fiddling with his figurine. "I've completed Star Ocean III. I'm not like some people think, without a childhood."

Lu Mingfei thought to himself, "Caesar, you remember even such old grudges so clearly. You must be a vengeful person."

“But it didn’t last long. This was the last game I ever played,” Caesar shrugged, putting the model back on the table. “After that, I never touched a game console again. When I was twelve, I really wanted a PS2. But the family butler strictly forbade anyone from bringing game consoles into my room. He thought I was addicted to games and wasting my time, and that I should spend my energy on more meaningful things, like practicing horseback riding.”

"How did I solve it? I bribed a gardener at the manor to secretly bring me a PS2 and a bunch of game discs from outside. I hid them under the bed and waited until late at night, when everyone in the family was asleep, before taking them out and connecting them to the small TV in the bedroom to play until dawn. Then I carefully put them away and hid them back under the bed. Until one day, the maid found the game console while cleaning the carpet."

Caesar paused, his tone flat, as if he were telling someone else's story: "The butler smashed it to pieces with a hammer right in front of me. He also said that if he ever saw me playing games again, he would smash all my game consoles, every time he saw me."

"Rebel against the Heavenly Gang!" Lu Mingfei exclaimed, his eyes wide. "You're the young master, and he's the butler."

“He was hired by my old folks, not me,” Caesar said, leaning back in his chair, a cold glint in his eyes. “Back then, I was just a kid with no financial autonomy. He didn’t care about my joys and sorrows.”

"How infuriating! This steward is a living embodiment of Ao Bai!" Lu Mingfei clenched his fist and put it to his chest, making a bitter and resentful expression. "I'll teach him a lesson when I grow up."

“How could I have the patience to wait until I grew up?” Caesar smirked, a slightly wicked smile playing on his lips. “That very night, I came up with a plan. I ‘borrowed’ a genuine Matisse painting from my family’s collection, listed it on an online auction house, and anonymously made a fortune. Then, I called the largest electronics chain in Rome at the time and ordered 1000 PS2s, having them delivered directly to my estate. A whole truckload of game consoles piled up like a small mountain on the lawn. I grabbed a fire axe, went to the butler, handed him the axe, and said, ‘Go ahead and smash it.’”

"The butler was furious. I sat on the lawn, disassembled a new PS2, connected it to a portable screen, and started playing. He smashed one, so I disassembled the next one and kept playing. He followed behind me, panting and smashing things, his eyes bloodshot, like, well, a serial killer. Eventually, the old folks in my house got alarmed, rushed over, saw what was happening, and were terrified. They thought the butler had gone insane and quickly had the guards drag him away. Later, the butler was fired. The new butler, trying to get on my good side, offered to let me play games for two hours every day after I finished my equestrian training."

At this point, Caesar laughed triumphantly, a smile that reflected the exhilaration of a young man who had successfully pulled off a prank.

"It's quite unexpected that you've now gained the right to play the game," Chu Zihang, sitting opposite Caesar, asked.

Caesar was taken aback when Chu Zihang struck up a conversation with him. He paused for a moment before nodding, "Yes. But after everyone left and the new butler made his stance clear, I didn't want to play the game anymore."

"I don't understand," Lu Mingfei said, puzzled. "Why don't you want to play anymore?"

“Because there’s no thrill of playing games secretly and with bated breath anymore,” Caesar shrugged, his smile fading slightly. “Actually, I didn’t really want to play games that much. I just wanted to go against the butler. I liked seeing him turn red with anger, furious yet helpless, like a hunter admiring a wild boar that’s been thoroughly enraged but can’t hurt itself.”

“Hey, boss, you’re a born rebel.” Lu Mingfei sighed. “When I was a kid, if I had twenty yuan in my pocket, I could go to the arcade all night, even if I was playing a knock-off King of Fighters.”

Caesar looked at him and said sarcastically, "If only we had known each other when we were kids, I could have lent you some money to play games all you want."

"I'm sorry," Chu Zihang suddenly said.

"Why apologize?" Caesar sensed that Chu Zihang's visit was ill-intentioned.

“I didn’t say you didn’t have a childhood to mock you,” Chu Zihang said, his gaze falling on the coffee cup in front of him. “It’s just that we’re in the same boat. I can’t say I had a happy childhood either. I just wanted to use this as a topic, so that we wouldn’t be like we were at Kassel College, so wary of each other and so clearly separated.”

He raised his eyes and looked directly at Caesar: "I appreciate your support at the hearing regarding me. But I also know very well that rather than expressing goodwill towards me, you were using this method to demonstrate against those 'old guys' in the Gattuso family."

Caesar nodded frankly: “That’s right, that’s the kind of person I am. I’m happy to do anything that will embarrass or give my old folks in the house a headache. As for you,” he paused, then said bluntly, “you’re on my list of things I don’t like, but you’re much lower down the list than my old folks in the house.”