I'm a weird expert in Japan

For example, he wanted to create a disaster, burn down the entire northern district, and then have the Shinomiya family rebuild the area and make a profit from it.

It sounds outrageous, even like a fairy tale, but it fits the expectations of many people about the evil nature of the family.

What's more... with the lawless nature of our family, it's not surprising that they would do such a thing.

"It's very strange." The emperor shook his head, "Don't you think... this is very strange?"

"It's definitely strange..." Zhenfei sat on the single sofa, "It's true that those old houses in our residence can be burned down by a fire, but it's impossible for our family to be completely defenseless, right?"

The more prone a place is to fire, the more attention should be paid to eliminating fire hazards.

No matter how greedy you are, you won't be so careless as to save your own reputation.

Was it arson or was it just a sudden fire?

The questions of Zhenfei and the emperor focused on this issue.

If it was man-made, this matter would definitely be exploited by many parties...even including our family.

"Perhaps our family will seize this opportunity and act as a victim to eliminate any dissidents who are dissatisfied with our family." The emperor still stared at the TV screen.

The broadcast inside is still going on.

"…Right now, the cause of the fire is still unknown. The police and fire department are investigating. We tried to contact Kyoto City Hall, but the call was unanswered…"

A big event without a doubt.

A huge emergency.

Zhenfei and Di were completely absorbed by the news. They followed the development of the news, not missing a single shot or a single report, trying to find some clues.

Therefore, they did not notice Lian's expression, or even Touma and Sa's expressions.

Except for a few words at the beginning, Lian remained silent afterwards.

"..."

Turning around, Lian happened to see Hesha, whose face was ashen.

No wonder... because he was thinking the same thing.

The matter was not fully investigated in the mirror world, but was brought up again by Mr. Hanekawa after he came back, and he made some analyses that were of concern but could not be further explored.

The most crucial sentence is "may happen in the future".

Lian, who had conducted a preliminary investigation in the mirror world, learned through a conversation with the real princess there that the disaster seven years ago first occurred in the main family.

The reason seems to be...

"The news reported at the time that the fire was indirectly caused by lightning striking the family area due to a summer thunderstorm and inadequate lightning protection measures."

This is what the real concubine in the mirror world explained to Lian at that time.

The reporter was stopped at a distance from the house and could not see the specific situation, but he saw one thing clearly.

It rained heavily.

Thunder on rainy days is normal...if Lian didn't know about that "non-existent history".

buzzing...

Feeling her cell phone vibrating in her pocket, Lian took it out and took a look.

Araragi Koyomi.

They contact each other quite often, but most of the time they just greet each other. Lian rarely takes the initiative to ask about strange things.

He quietly took the phone and left the living room, went to the bathroom door and answered the call.

"It's been a while, Mr. Li..."

"Have you read the news?"

"Looked."

"I happened to be in Kyoto for a meeting, and I encountered this incident... Now not only the entire Kyoto Police Headquarters, but also police officers like us who came to the meeting from all over the country have been asked to help." Araragi Koyomi said in a serious voice, "Right now the police headquarters is in a mess..."

"So you still have time to call me?" Lian wanted to ease the atmosphere.

"Of course it's because this matter is not simple." Li didn't care about the joke, nor did he reprimand Lian, but continued, "I don't care about politics, economics, etc., and I don't want to know... But there is one thing that I think you will definitely care about-"

"what do you mean?"

"No matter what the cause of this incident is, I know very little now, but there is no doubt that this fire was caused by something strange."

Then, Araragi Koyomi hung up the phone in a hurry because a colleague called him to a meeting, leaving Lian alone staring at the phone.

Simple, clear, and seemingly meaningless information.

It is related to weirdness and is caused by weirdness.

But the strange information is almost zero...

"If what I saw in the mirror world is really equal to the 'future' that exists in the real world..."

Lian walked to the window in the corridor.

Amid the pouring rain, a flash of lightning lit up the night sky.

What followed was an almost deafening thunder.

Chapter 202: Greed (1)

Four hours before the fire broke out, the main family of the Shinomiya family.

"It's been a few months since spring break. How are you, brother?"

Sigong Shizhu walked to the main hall. Sigong Huangguang, the eldest son of the Sigong family, was sitting cross-legged on a cushion in the main seat, looking casual and unrestrained, as if he had ignored the family rules... or rather, there was no need to care about them.

The head of the family, Shigong Yan'an, had three women, his first wife and his second wife.

And the four concubines, Nayatake, who was called a concubine - the mother of Kaguya and Shizuku.

The eldest son was born to the first wife, and the second and third sons were born to the second wife.

"I'm fine." Huang Guang showed a fake smile and pointed to the cushion in front of him, "Sit down, Shizhu."

"Yes."

Shizhu nodded, sat down upright on the cushion, lowered her eyes and avoided looking at Huang Guang.

"Excuse me, brother, why did you specifically ask me to come to Kyoto to report? Is there something important that requires your verbal instructions? Or is there something about my previous work that is not to your liking?" Shizhu said in a calm tone.

"It has nothing to do with those things. You are just an errand boy. Even if you don't do your job well, it won't cause any trouble." Huang Guang looked at Shi Zhu with contempt. "No matter how many times I see you, your humble look is disgusting. You are as disgusting as a woman. I still think your rebellious look is more attractive."

"Brother, you are joking."

However, Huang Guang was obviously not joking, but was actually disgusted with Shizhu.

On the one hand, he did not deny his potential, but on the other hand, he was disdainful of this little son born to a woman who was not even his legal wife.

He accepted him under his command only because he believed that if he allowed Shizhu, who had hit a wall, to defect to the second or third brother, it would more or less threaten his position which was as stable as a rock.

Anyway, he has no ambition, he just wants to protect his sister who is his own mother. If he holds her in his hands, he can threaten Kaguya Shinomiya. He usually does some trivial tasks, and when necessary, he will manipulate the middle to make the siblings turn against each other, which is also more profitable for him as the eldest son.

"I didn't call you here for anything else—" Huang Guang squinted his eyes and looked at Shi Zhu with the corner of his eye, "I heard that you have been getting close to the daughter of diplomat Spencer recently."

"I have always had a close relationship with Eriri. You should have known this for a long time, brother. Why did you suddenly bring it up today?"

"I don't care which young lady you have a good relationship with, and I don't want to ask whether you have slept with her or not. You have to clean up your own mess. But if you think you can grab my position by relying on these bed affairs and nepotism, you'd better give up this idea as soon as possible, hahahaha——"

After saying these harsh words, Sigong Huangguang suddenly laughed out loud, but his eyes were fixed on Shizhu's reaction.

But the youngest son kept his eyes lowered the whole time, not even his eyebrows twitched.

Huang Guang couldn't easily say whether he was good at hiding or was timid and had no ambition.

"My brother is terrified. I know that I am of humble origin and cannot be as noble as my brother, let alone dare to think of doing anything that crosses the line." Shizhu put his hands on his knees, slowly lowered his head, and spoke word by word.

His words were always humble, but his tone was always neither humble nor arrogant.

"Good..." Huang Guang suddenly clapped his hands, "Just know your own weight, don't ask me to remind you all the time. Your hair is almost fully grown in the blink of an eye. You need to learn to listen to your family."

"Yes——" Shizhu responded again.

Although he never stopped being suspicious, Shizhu's attitude remained flawless, leaving Huang Guang with no way of doing anything. He could only make a show of force to warn Shizhu of any possible restless thoughts.

"But if you really like that girl from the Sawamura family, it's not impossible for the family to arrange something for you." Huang Guang looked at Shi Zhu, "Brother will be in charge of the marriage proposal. If you're still thinking about someone else, tell me as soon as possible. A rich girl like that is not a wild flower. If you mess around with her, it will be troublesome for my brother."

"Please allow me to consider this for a while."

"Take your time to think about it. Will it be enough until next month?"

"how so--"

"There are several daughters who are eyeing you. I am very satisfied with them all. I can't choose one, so I let you choose." Huang Guang said with ill intention.

In fact, it is nothing more than marrying into those families, which is most useful to him.

However, if this creates enmity with the family of the British diplomat, it will greatly hinder the overseas affairs of the family.

After all, the overseas development of the Shijo family is difficult to curb.

"Yes..." Shi Zhu lowered his head, "If it's just a small matter like this, brother only needs to send someone to pass the message, why bother summoning me in person."

"Of course I know this is a small matter -" Huang Guang changed the subject, "We were just chatting just now."

"Chatting?" Shizhu finally raised his eyes.

"You have been performing very well, and I am very satisfied with you." Huang Guang stood up. "So as a way for the eldest brother to show his trust, I will take you to see some things that the second and third brothers don't know."

As he said this, he squatted in front of Shizhu and patted his shoulder affectionately.

At first glance, it seemed like they were really trying to win him over, but Shizhu only felt a chill.

This was the only question he was unsure about when he was urgently summoned back to his family home in Kyoto.

What exactly does Shigong Huangguang want to do? Whether it is the relationship with Eriri, the relationship with the younger generation of the Shijo family, or other issues, all are within Shizhu's expectations.

Only now, he couldn't judge whether this sentence was true or false, except for the endless malice hidden in it.

He felt that as long as he looked up he would see the sneer in Huang Guang's eyes, so he kept his brows lowered and avoided looking at the face of the old man in his forties.

The ages of the children in this family vary greatly, and the oldest can even be the father of the youngest.

"It's my pleasure."

Then, Shizhu stood up and followed Sigong Huangguang out of the main hall and walked towards the car waiting outside.

"Excuse me, what's the matter?" Shizhu could only ask carefully, concealing all his emotions, like a machine.

"I say, Shizhu, what do you think is your greatest advantage?" Huang Guang touched his bald head with his hand.

"Please forgive my brother for being so stupid and not knowing the advantages..."

"You are young." Huang Guang still had a fake smile on his face. "Brother, I am already this age, but you are not even 20 years old. Every day when I wake up, I can feel that my energy is declining little by little with the passage of time. Sooner or later, I will be like that old man who is half buried in the ground. I need someone to follow me when I walk, and I will fall flat on my face if I am not careful."

“……” Shizhu remained silent and did not express any opinion.

He quickly thought about the meaning of Huang Guang's words in his mind. The eldest son was definitely not a sentimental person who would lament about getting old.

So what this man actually wants to say is...

Chapter 203: Greed (2)

Shizhu's question came to a halt when he arrived at a research institute just ten minutes' drive from his home.

It is a drug development institution in Kyoto, founded and invested by the main family. All affairs are controlled by Shigong Huangguang, and he is the real owner here.

The director and his ilk are just puppets on the stage.

After entering the main gate of the research institute, accompanied by the director of the institute, we went to an area that ordinary visitors could not enter and took a ride to a location more than ten meters underground.

Despite being wrapped in iron sheets and having an underground passage that seemed to be ahead of other public facilities, Shizhu still felt suffocated and unable to breathe.

Everyone here has a blank expression on their face, like a set of sophisticated humanoid machines, responsible for the operation of a huge machine called the Drug Research Institute.

After passing through five levels of access gates and taking a special underground tram, we finally arrived at our final destination.

According to the director, this is the central area of ​​a research project called "Entral".