What?
Hearing Fujiwara Shunsui say this, doubt began to rise in Kinoshita Hisashi's heart.
What do you mean by "the person has already been kidnapped?" Explain it to me. What exactly does "the person has already been kidnapped" mean?
So, you want me to betray my employer,
I've done that,
and now you want me to go back and stab them in the back, right?
Everyone present understood what Fujiwara Shunsui meant.
Harumizu didn't speak either, just sitting there blankly, waiting for Kinoshita Hisashi to speak again.
Harumizu just sat there in silence, watching Kinoshita Hisashi.
It was now a psychological battle between Fujiwara Shunsui and Kinoshita Hisashi; Harumizu couldn't back down.
Instead, it was Kinoshita Hisashi who finally spoke under the intense psychological pressure:
"Shunsui-kun, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"
Fujiwara Shunsui, however, looked as if it had nothing to do with him,
crossing his legs,
Harumizu leaned back against the sofa, seemingly ignoring Kinoshita Hisashi's words as he spoke to himself:
"The Sankou-gumi's promise is already an exception. I said I wouldn't hold a grudge, so I won't."
"The current situation is clear. Your mission's failure is inevitable. If you offend the Sankou-gumi on top of that, I think the losses will far outweigh the gains."
"If you cooperate well, I think we can properly collaborate on some of the Shinjuku Sankou-gumi's business in the future."
"Of course, if you're still unwilling to accept my demands, you can still leave here safely today."
Using both carrots and sticks,
clarifying the pros and cons,
this was the best method Harumizu could think of.
After all, in their line of work, reputation was everything. If he truly helped Harumizu "counter-kill" his employer,
he would be completely finished in this industry.
But that had nothing to do with Fujiwara Shunsui.
Since you came looking for trouble yourself, don't blame me for being heartless.
"Make your decision quickly, Mr. Hisashi."
Fujiwara Shunsui instinctively urged him and then stood up to leave.
He really didn't want to waste any more time on this because even if the other party agreed to his demands, he still had plenty of other things to do.
The people behind Kinoshita Hisashi also began to urge him.
After all, Fujiwara Shunsui had already made the stakes clear. There was no need to even consider which path to take. For all of them, even if they had to go into hiding and disappear from the industry forever, they didn't want to offend the Sankou-gumi.
This was the power of reputation!
Seeing Fujiwara Shunsui stand up, Kinoshita Hisashi hurriedly called out to him: "Shunsui-kun, don't go! I agree!"
Harumizu's face lit up with joy. "That's more like it. Hisashi-kun, a wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall. Since the other party has clearly declared war on the Sankou-gumi, do you think there's any point in resisting alongside someone like that?"
"I'll count this as a great service from you!"
Taro stood behind Fujiwara Shunsui, looking at his back in confusion. Wise man? Crumbling wall? What on earth was he talking about?
Harumizu had already begun to imagine himself as a powerful, scheming emperor from his past life.
Now was the time to unify the world.
Harumizu was very satisfied with his current state. As an old-school otaku from his past life, his inner monologue was naturally quite elaborate.
Even though he was now truly a powerful figure in Shinjuku,
this habit of over-imagining things was indeed hard to break.
"What should I do?"
Kinoshita Hisashi looked at the two-faced Fujiwara Shunsui, feeling quite speechless.
Good heavens, is this really the "simple and mindless" person described in the files?
Which mentally unstable person gathered this information?!
You've ruined me!
Harumizu replied with a grin, "You'll have to ask yourself that, Mr. Hisashi."
Seeing the other's confusion, Harumizu added, "You successfully kidnapped someone, so you have to report back, right? You have to deliver the goods. Otherwise, wasn't the kidnapping for nothing?"
Kinoshita Hisashi had a look of sudden realization.
"It's like this, Shunsui-kun. The other party did indeed tell us to kidnap Miss Kiko first, take a photo to report back, and then we would discuss how to handle the exchange. After all, most of the money has already been received."
"Then hurry up and take the photo!"
Harumizu waved his hand, signaling him to get on with it.
"Um..."
Seeing Kinoshita Hisashi's hesitation, Fujiwara Shunsui realized what was wrong. He turned to Nissho Taro and said, "Go next door and call Kiko-chan and Yuna-chan over to cooperate. Then we'll arrange what to do next."
Kinoshita Hisashi sighed. Luckily, this big shot was cooperating; otherwise, he really wouldn't know how things would have played out.
I haven't even seen a single hair of Miya Harukiko yet, and half of my men have already been taken down.
Now, I'm finally going to meet this formidable noblewoman.
Kinoshita Hisashi was actually quite curious about what kind of charm a married woman who could be called a girlfriend by Fujiwara Shunsui possessed.
Taro acknowledged and headed out the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Knock, knock, knock.
Nissho Taro stood outside room 604 and knocked. The two inside were extremely nervous, but they remembered Taro and Harumizu's instructions: they were not to open the door unless it was them calling.
If someone tried to force their way in, they could be treated entirely as enemies.
Thinking of this, Kojou Yuna and Miya Harukiko tightened their grip on the knives in their hands.
Outside, Nissho Taro seemed to remember something.
Knock, knock, knock! "Yuna, it's me! Open up!"
There was no response from inside for a long time. Taro then remembered he had warned them not to open the door.
While knocking, Taro pulled out his phone and dialed Kojou Yuna's number.
"Open the door, it's really me!"
Once Kojou Yuna inside confirmed Taro's identity, she immediately opened the door, leaning halfway out to scan the situation outside at lightning speed.
"What's the situation?"
Kojou Yuna only knew that Taro had praised Shunsui-kun as a superman, but after that, there had been no further word.
Every second they spent in the room was a form of suffering and torment for them.
Now, they both desperately wanted an answer.
"It's been settled!"
Nissho Taro gave them some reassurance and then waved them over. "Come with me to the next room. Lord Harumizu needs your cooperation with something."
Both of them felt it was a bit strange,
but since it was Taro knocking, it meant they were safe.
The two of them followed Taro out of the room.
Miya Harukiko looked in surprise at the masked men lying sprawled all over the hallway.
These people were occasionally letting out groans of pain on the floor.
Kojou Yuna, on the other hand, was more experienced with such scenes.
She just frowned and gave a slight glance,
thinking to herself, "Has Shunsui-kun's strength increased again?"
According to Taro's description, these five people in the hallway had been taken down by Shunsui-kun almost in an instant.
Looking at it this way,
it really was quite exaggerated.
Kojou Yuna and Miya Harukiko followed behind Nissho Taro.
Miya Harukiko returned to her former home.
Many memories flooded her mind the moment she stepped inside. She never imagined that,
while they were a seemingly loving couple a month ago,
now... well, it's better not to mention it now.
When the two saw Fujiwara Shunsui's confident back, the heavy stone in their hearts finally dropped.
But Miya Harukiko was still a little afraid when she saw several masked men in the house.
Seeing them enter one after another, Fujiwara Shunsui said to Kinoshita Hisashi:
"This is Kojou Yuna. I don't know if you've investigated her, but I called her here to tell you that the Sankou-gumi's promise is definitely not a blank check."
Fujiwara Shunsui looked at Kojou Yuna.
She naturally understood Harumizu's meaning instantly.
She immediately picked up the conversation.
"Shunsui-kun's every word and action represents the Sankou-gumi. You can be completely at ease about that."
Kojou Yuna looked at the man sitting opposite Harumizu and began searching through the relevant information in her mind.
As the walking repository of knowledge by Fujiwara Shunsui's side,
Kojou Yuna stood behind Harumizu and, after careful observation, recognized the man before her.
[Kinoshita Hisashi, formerly the number two figure in a certain Syndicate in Chuo Ward. Due to special reasons, he left the Syndicate and eventually the Chuo Ward, finally rallying a group of loyal subordinates in Shinjuku Ward.]
[Mainly engaged in manual labor such as collecting protection money, forced demolitions, and acting as hired muscle.]
Looking at it this way,
Kinoshita Hisashi's existence seemed similar to Fujiwara Shunsui's former situation.
No wonder these two could sit down and have a peace talk.
Once Kojou Yuna finished retrieving this information, she understood everything.
This Kinoshita Hisashi must be the main figure behind this "assassination."
"Is that so? We naturally know Miss Yuna. As Shinjuku's nightclub queen, we always choose to avoid Miss Yuna when taking on related work."
Kinoshita Hisashi stood up and bowed to Kojou Yuna to show his respect.
Actually, before today, Kinoshita Hisashi had always believed that the core figure of the Sankou-gumi in Shinjuku was Kojou Yuna. He even thought that without her, the Sankou-gumi wouldn't be able to navigate so skillfully among the many old families in Shinjuku.
He had even heard that Kojou Yuna recently took over part of the Nagasawa Family's entertainment industry.
This raised the underworld's fear of Kojou Yuna to another level.
The consensus was:
"This woman is not to be trifled with."
Seeing that Fujiwara Shunsui had no obvious external injuries, along with his calm expression and the other party's respectful attitude, Kojou Yuna added,
"Whatever Shunsui-kun promised you, I can guarantee it on his behalf."
Hearing Kojou Yuna say this, Fujiwara Shunsui looked back at Yuna-chan, his eyes seemingly saying: Do I need your guarantee?
But Yuna didn't say anything, instead returning a big eye-roll to Harumizu.
Kojou Yuna's words were like a reassuring pill, filling Kinoshita Hisashi's eyes with hope once again.
"I am willing to cooperate with all of Shunsui-kun's demands, as long as Shunsui-kun can fulfill his promise!"
Saying so,
for the first time, Kinoshita Hisashi lowered the handgun he had been holding in his arms, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Fujiwara Shunsui.
Clearly,
Kojou Yuna's appearance had caused an epic leap in the negotiation.
Kinoshita Hisashi had finally let down his guard completely.
This time, Fujiwara Shunsui looked back with a shocked expression.
No way, is Yuna-chan's reputation even more useful than mine, Fujiwara Shunsui's?
Seeing Kinoshita Hisashi put down his gun, Kojou Yuna also knew that this matter should be completely resolved.
Harumizu had been staring at Kinoshita Hisashi's hands since they entered.
His nerves were highly strung.
He was even prepared to see who would be faster the moment the other party made a move to raise his hand.
"Taro, take Kiko-chan to the bedroom and take a couple of photos."
Fujiwara Shunsui reached out toward Kinoshita Hisashi.
This sudden movement left him a bit dazed.
Kinoshita Hisashi didn't speak, simply pushing the handgun in front of him further toward Harumizu.
"Give me your phone, man. Aren't we supposed to take a photo to report back?"
"Oh, right."
Realizing it late, Kinoshita Hisashi handed his phone to Fujiwara Shunsui.
Harumizu didn't look at the phone either, passing it directly to Nissho Taro.
Now it was Taro's turn to be a bit dazed.
"What for, Lord Harumizu?"
Baby, are you a pig?
Haven't you been behind us listening to our negotiation this whole time?
Don't you know why I asked you to bring Kiko-chan over?
"To take a photo, of course! Since the kidnapping is done, we naturally need to take a photo and upload it for the client!"
Realizing it late again, Taro
took the phone and said to Miya Harukiko:
"I'll have to trouble you, Miss Kiko."
Then, with a different face, he shouted at the others in the room, "What are you still doing blocking the door? Don't you know to move aside?"
Lord Harumizu might be nice to you, but I, Nissho Taro, won't be.
If Lord Harumizu weren't so strong,
would you be standing here so submissively right now?
The two of them entered the room one after the other.
Taro glanced around and quickly hid the things on his bedside table, turning back to Miya Harukiko apologetically:
"Oh, I forgot you used to live here. Don't mind it, don't mind it!"
Taro stuffed everything on his bedside table into the cabinet and then said to Miya Harukiko:
"Just pretend to be asleep."
Miya Harukiko cooperatively pretended to sleep on the bed.
Taro didn't turn on the light, instead using the flash to take a few photos in the dark room.
Then he whispered,
"Alright, Miss Kiko."
The two quickly came out of the room.
Taro then handed the phone to Fujiwara Shunsui,
who placed it on the table,
nodding to Kinoshita Hisashi.
The other understood instantly.
Kinoshita Hisashi opened the phone, looked at the photos in the album, and replied, "This should do. Shunsui-kun, please wait a moment."
Harumizu then picked up the gun from the table and handed it to Kojou Yuna.
"You know how to use it, right?"
"I do!"
"Then take it home first; otherwise, it'll be hard to handle!"
Kinoshita Hisashi wanted to say something but wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.
He unlocked his phone,
and after a series of practiced operations, he opened a special piece of software,
sending the photo of Miya Harukiko.
Now, all that was left was to wait patiently.
Fujiwara Shunsui took the phone back from the other party.
A chat interface came into view,
and he saw the message Kinoshita Hisashi had sent:
[Goods in hand. How do we handle the transfer?]
Attached was a photo of Miya Harukiko.