Early the next morning, the Avengers gathered in the quiet dining area on the top floor of their Tokyo hotel.
"Natasha hasn't checked in," Hawkeye said, stirring his coffee with a grim expression. "It's past sunrise. For an agent of her caliber, 'running late' isn't in the vocabulary."
The implication was clear: Black Widow had been captured inside the Genji Residence.
"Are we gearing up to break her out?" Scott Lang asked, leaning forward on his elbows. Since officially tagging along with the Avengers, he hadn't had a single chance to test the Ant-Man suit in the field, and the inaction was driving him restless.
"We don't leave people behind," Tony Stark replied, his face unusually solemn. "Get ready. We move in ten."
Last night, Hawkeye had brought back classified telemetry from his sweep of Genji Heavy Industries. The subterranean levels weren't guarded by traditional mercenaries, but by mutated, scaled monstrosities. Seeing those bio-scans had sent a chill down Tony's spine—their genetic composition was dangerously identical to the transformation Hebe Shikai had undergone in New York.
Chisei Gen was sitting on a bio-hazardous empire far deeper and darker than a simple Yakuza alliance.
Tony inwardly regretted their initial, arrogant approach. If Chisei Gen commanded a force of mutated Hybrids, a direct military assault on Tokyo soil would turn ugly fast. The Avengers were no longer operating from a position of absolute leverage. Negotiation was their best option to retrieve Natasha safely.
Before they could push back their chairs, the rest of the guests on the floor began exiting in an organized, silent line. Black-suited security guards subtly cleared the room.
Footsteps echoed against the marble floor as a relaxed young man in a casual jacket strolled in, leading Natasha Romanoff smoothly behind him.
"Good morning, friends from the Avengers!" Crow called out cheerfully, flashing a lazy, frivolous grin. "Look who I brought back intact."
He gestured toward Natasha. "Your partner enjoyed our boss's hospitality so much last night that she decided to stay the night in his private wing. You wouldn't mind... would you?"
Crow's nonchalant swagger was a sharp contrast to Chisei Gen's stoic restraint. While Chisei was willing to yield a step to maintain geopolitical order, the enforcers of the Execution Bureau had zero intention of letting foreign agents look down on their High Patriarch.
Crow stopped right at the edge of the Avengers' table. The atmosphere in the room tightened instantly, thick with the scent of unspoken gunpowder.
[The Docks — Industrial Warehouse]
At the exact same time, Chisei Gen, Yasha, and Sakura Yabuki pulled up to a secluded warehouse near the Tokyo docks.
Minutes earlier, a priority transmission had come through from their street network: the broker who brought the stolen artifact into Japan had been located.
"Is he inside?" Chisei asked, stepping out of the sedan and straightening his suit coat.
"Yes, High Patriarch!" an Execution Bureau enforcer reported, opening the heavy iron doors. "The rat knew we were sweeping the city and tried to bribe a crew to sneak him out by sea. He didn't realize every dock worker in Tokyo Bay answers to the Eight Families."
"Good," Chisei said calmly. "Crow will see to your rewards later. Clear the building."
The enforcers bowed and vacated the warehouse, locking the heavy doors behind them.
Yasha stepped forward in sync, brutally kicking over a tied-up, shivering man bound to a wooden chair.
"Talk!" Yasha growled, bending down to yank the rag out of the man's mouth.
Between Yasha's terrifying face and the dim overhead lighting of the warehouse, he looked every bit like a demon straight out of Japanese folklore.
"What... what do you want from me?!" Watanabe Keita whimpered, his eyes wide with absolute terror.
In the Japanese underworld, who didn't know the lethal authority of the Shadow Eight Families? He was a bottom-tier black-market broker; he never imagined his minor deal would bring the Execution Bureau down on his head.
"Hmm?" Yasha raised a heavy boot.
"Wait! Please!" Keita shrieked, thrashing against his ropes. "I don't even know why you're holding me! I swear!"
"Where is the artifact you brought back from the States?" Chisei asked, stepping into the dim light. His voice was quiet, but carried absolute weight.
"That... that's not with me anymore!" Keita gasped. "I'm just a middleman! The second I cleared customs in Tokyo, I handed the container over to the buyer!"
"Who hired you?" Yasha slammed his boot directly onto Keita's sternum, pinning him to the floor. "Don't waste our time."
The crushing weight made Keita's eyes bulge. The moment Yasha lifted his foot, the broker choked, gasping frantically for air.
"Herzog!" Keita sobbed, the tears streaming down his face. "I heard his men call him Lord Herzog! He took the jar and vanished into a private sedan! I swear that's all I know!"
Silence descended upon the warehouse.
The heavy breathing of the terrified broker was the only sound echoing in the rafters. Yasha's face went pale, his grip tightening around his sword hilt.
"Herzog..." Yasha whispered, his raspy voice shaking. "Has that monster come back?"
Chisei's dark eyes narrowed into cold slits. The name Herzog was an absolute nightmare for the Gen family—a ghost from their darkest past.
"Grab him," Chisei ordered coldly. "We're going straight to the Yanliu Institute."
[The Yanliu Research Institute]
"Sakura, patch directly into Kaguya-Hime," Chisei commanded as they strode through the glass doors of the underground lab. "Sweep every surveillance grid in the prefecture. Locate him."
Sakura Yabuki's fingers flew across the terminal. Within minutes, Kaguya-Hime's central AI bypassed local networks and pulled live telemetry feeds.
"High Patriarch," Sakura reported, her voice laced with surprise. "They aren't attempting to hide their movements at all. He's at Tokyo Bay."
She brought up the high-resolution surveillance stills on the primary wall monitor.
Standing on the foggy docks of Tokyo Bay was an old man with an upright, pristine posture. His silver hair was neatly combed back, and he wore a sharp, wool military coat with a purple silk scarf tucked into the collar—looking every bit like a distinguished, weathered officer.
Half a step behind him stood a young man with silver hair and glowing crimson eyes, dressed in punk-style dark leather bound by heavy steel chains.
Chisei Gen's pupils violently dilated.
"Herzog..." Chisei breathed, his hands clenching into tight fists against the console. "...and Chinu!"
The ghosts of his past had materialized together.
"Why would they show themselves at Tokyo Bay so openly?" Yasha asked, staring at the screen. "If they have the Bone Reliquary Jar, shouldn't they be hiding to complete the ritual?"
"Because it's an invitation," Chisei said, his voice dropping into a dangerous register. "Herzog never makes a move without a trap. Mobilize the Execution Bureau... war is coming back to Tokyo."
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