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Chairman Sakayanagi sat upright, solemn. His face betrayed little emotion, his gaze fixed only on Fujiwara Tetsu.
As for what he was truly thinking internally, perhaps only he himself knew.
Sakayanagi Arisu stood behind her father, clutching her cane in her hand, unconsciously clenching it, faint blue veins rising on her fair knuckles.
During this period, her father's struggles and pain had not escaped her notice.
Yet, despite considering herself a genius, facing the adult world, she felt powerless to help her father overcome this crisis and difficulty.
Inoue Akihiko wore a smiling, benevolent expression. He didn't utter a word, merely waiting for Fujiwara Tetsu to speak.
"Chairman Sakayanagi, I won't mince words. To speak bluntly, KĹŤdo Ikusei Senior High School, excluding its already completed buildings, is worth roughly 12 billion USD purely for the land it stands on."
"Am I right?"
As Fujiwara Tetsu's words fell, Inoue Akihiko's expression shifted.
12 billion USD!
This number made even him feel a pang of trepidation.
Of course, Inoue Akihiko also understood clearly that he was merely a dog, an ordinary official. No matter how much this land was worth, it had nothing to do with him.
Chairman Sakayanagi said in a deep voice, "Fujiwara-kun is correct. This land is indeed worth that much."
Fujiwara Tetsu nodded, then continued, "Then I want to ask you a question, Chairman Sakayanagi: What do you hope to gain?"
Chairman Sakayanagi took a deep breath: "For my Sakayanagi family, 10 billion-plus in cash is not the most important thing. What's important is this land where the school stands, and the cooperative relationships we maintain with various major high schools."
"If it were just for money, the Sakayanagi family would have already sold this land when its price surged to its peak."
Fujiwara Tetsu inwardly nodded. The Sakayanagi family is wise.
The Sakayanagi family was a wise one. If they had sold this land in the past, their family's assets would indeed have swelled by tens of billions of USD. But that would also cause the Sakayanagi family to lose their greatest support—their resources in the education sector!
That would be equivalent to the Sakayanagi family falling from the 'aristocracy' to the 'commoners.'
But as long as they continued to hold this land, as long as Tokyo wasn't nuked, the land's value wouldn't change much.
The Sakayanagi family could use this as leverage to maintain ties with the education sector, thereby continuously sustaining the family's development.
Yes, this was the Sakayanagi family's current greatest pain.
Land worth 12 billion USD. No matter how low those wealthy families wanted to seize it for, they couldn't take it for just a few hundred million USD. The Sakayanagi family wasn't that weak yet.
But the Sakayanagi family didn't want to sell the land; they didn't want the money. Yet, the other party was forcing them to sell!
Chairman Sakayanagi gritted his teeth and said, "Over a decade ago, that group of people found me, hoping to conduct a social experiment at KĹŤdo Ikusei Senior High School."
"I felt this was a novel educational philosophy, so I readily agreed."
"At the same time, they wanted to build an artificial island off the coast to expand the entire campus area."
"The Sakayanagi family's long-standing desire was to establish an entire educational park, from elementary school directly to university, establishing their own KĹŤdo Ikusei Elementary School, Middle School, and even University."
"That group of greedy bastards also agreed, and they planned to realize this dream."
"The construction of the entire artificial island required approximately four billion USD. After the island was built, it could be designed as a vast commercial zone. In other words, many of the brands under their flag could move in, and part of it could also serve as a large university campus."
"The Sakayanagi family invested one-fifth of the capital, and the remaining four-fifths were provided by them. However, our family didn't have so much liquid cash, so we mortgaged the land and borrowed nearly 800 million USD from the bank."
Chairman Sakayanagi clutched his head in anguish.
"But what I didn't expect was that the artificial island was built according to the contract. They also began other investment and construction on the island as planned."
"It's just that these people's progress was slow, and they encountered many troubles. Now, I suspect those troubles were all orchestrated by them behind the scenes."
"The bank, controlled by them, deemed this artificial island project a failure. The bank will not accept repayment of the loan and is therefore urging repayment. If the Sakayanagi family cannot repay it, they can only auction off the land!"
Chairman Sakayanagi gasped, panting. He had finally witnessed the greed of the wealthy and powerful, realizing they would stop at nothing.
He looked at Inoue Akihiko again, and said in a low voice, "During the construction of the artificial island, some people also committed economic crimes. As one of the shareholders, this matter will also affect me."
"They might go to the Public Prosecutor's Office and get me to incriminate myself of economic crimes. By then, even if I clear my name, I won't be able to contend with them."
Only now did Sakayanagi Arisu clearly understand her father's recent pressure. No wonder he had been unable to sleep soundly night after night.
That group of greedy bastards not only wanted the Sakayanagi family's land, but also wanted to send her father directly to prison.
The Sakayanagi family was not their only branch. Would those other Sakayanagi relatives also sell out their father for money?
Thinking of this, Sakayanagi Arisu felt a pang of fear.
No matter how much she considered herself a genius, if her father, a high-ranking official, couldn't manage family affairs, facing the internal fissures of the family and the external encirclement of powerful groups, she would be utterly helpless. An ordinary high school girl would certainly be devoured by that group of people.
This was not something intelligence could solve. This was a huge gap in social connections, energy, and experience.
"If the land enters foreclosure procedures, then the price will no longer be something you can control. Furthermore, if Chairman Sakayanagi also becomes embroiled in economic crimes, it will be even more troublesome," Fujiwara Tetsu said calmly.
The Sakayanagi family wouldn't be unable to spare a single coin, but it was estimated that they might only get half of the actual price. For that greedy pack of wolves, this would be a huge profit.
However, Chairman Sakayanagi would only receive a portion of it in the end. The Sakayanagi family was not small, with so many people internally; everyone would certainly come out wanting a piece.
Chairman Sakayanagi understood that what truly mattered to the Sakayanagi family were the resources in the education sector. But the other members of the Sakayanagi family, upon seeing that they wouldn't wield significant power within the family, would surely become even more greedy.
Spending hundreds of millions of dollars to drink and enjoy themselves every day. This could be even stronger than anything within the family.
This was a game orchestrated by several major groups for this piece of land, a game designed by Sakayanagi that had spanned over a decade.
One couldn't call Sakayanagi foolish. In such a long game, who would dare guarantee that they wouldn't fall into a trap?
And now, the stage was set, and that group of people began to exert their influence.
First, through the intervention of the Parents' Committee, they forced the school to suspend operations and change its educational philosophy, fiercely pressuring KĹŤdo Ikusei Senior High School, causing economic difficulties to arise.
Then the banks stepped forward, and various similar criminal evidences were submitted, allowing someone to take the blame and drag the Sakayanagi family into the mud, ensuring they could never clear their names.
Finally, the land entered foreclosure procedures, driving down the land price. Then, those internal members of the Sakayanagi family who had been bought out would make their move, completely tearing the family apart.
Once the land was acquired, those major groups and greedy bastards could directly demolish the school, build a bridge or tunnel connecting to the artificial island, and directly develop this area into a new, super-luxurious central commercial district.
One must know that the location of KĹŤdo Ikusei Senior High School was scenic and well-situated!
Good heavens, by then, this land would be even more valuable. Would selling houses here not be worth hundreds of millions of USD?
Sakayanagi looked at Fujiwara Tetsu.
To be honest, she didn't feel that Fujiwara Tetsu had the ability to solve the Sakayanagi family's problem.
Because too many people wanted to carve up the Sakayanagi family, anyone who wanted to help the Sakayanagi family would have to weigh their own abilities to face so many terrifying opponents.
This involved too much profit!
Fujiwara Tetsu also spoke bluntly: "Chairman Sakayanagi, you have already fallen into their trap. Therefore, don't think you can completely withdraw. You will inevitably have to pay something."
"I certainly know that. As long as I can preserve a portion of our ancestral property and not lose everything through me, I will be satisfied."
Sakayanagi said dejectedly.
"Half!"
Fujiwara Tetsu raised a finger: "…You need to sell half of the land. The price will be seven-tenths of the market value."
Fujiwara Tetsu's words made Sakayanagi Arisu unable to help but want to speak.
What did Fujiwara Tetsu mean by this? Did he also want to join the carving up of the Sakayanagi family's great enterprise, which was worth 12 billion?
Sakayanagi stopped his daughter. His daughter was still too young, not understanding what compromise was, what paying a price meant.
In this world, it was impossible to gain everything for free.
In Sakayanagi's view, if only half the land was sold at seventy percent of the price, it was far better than selling the entire Sakayanagi family's land and ultimately being left with nothing.
But—
"How can I trust your words, Fujiwara-kun? And what is it that you want?"
Sakayanagi asked calmly.
"You should know where the Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office truly belongs, and Mr. Inoue will help me. You should roughly be able to guess my identity."
Fujiwara Tetsu's words made Sakayanagi's mind reel.
He had actually guessed it long ago. This Fujiwara Tetsu is truly hidden!
Inoue Akihiko smiled broadly: "Fujiwara-kun has said so, Mr. Sakayanagi, you don't need to worry. We know you are innocent."
"The people of the Special Investigation Department will not casually frame an innocent good person. We will treat your economic allegations cautiously."
Sakayanagi subconsciously clenched his fists.
Good, now that the economic crime aspect was resolved, that group of people couldn't use the Public Prosecutor's Office to deal with him, so he wouldn't have to suffer official imprisonment!
Sakayanagi finally believed that Fujiwara Tetsu could help him.
He looked expectantly at Fujiwara Tetsu.
This layer alone was not enough to extricate the Sakayanagi family from their predicament.
Fujiwara Tetsu looked at Sakayanagi Arisu and smiled:
"Sakayanagi-san, do you still remember what I said to you before about the tamed tiger and wolf?"
"But that tiger isn't me. I'm just a tamer quietly standing outside the railings. That tiger is the Shinomiya family."
"The Shinomiya family had a hand in the plan to swallow the Sakayanagi family. Of course, the Shinomiya family isn't doing this out of kindness. They're just upset that such a good piece of meat didn't include them."
"So, I will give the Shinomiya family a chance to intervene, allowing them to gain the benefits they desire."
Fujiwara Tetsu had an unspoken implication: the Shinomiya family would also become a scapegoat for the blame.
With the Shinomiya family's short-sightedness and their focus on immediate profit, they would definitely do it.
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