"All armed personnel of the Tohno Family from out of town have returned..."
"Last night, five small trucks entered and exited the Tohno Family residence. Secret tracking revealed that they were transporting heavy firearms..."
"Kouma Kishima, the head of the Hazama Family, a branch family of Tohno, has arrived at the main Tohno Family residence..."
Rin sat in her executive chair, flipping through the latest intelligence reports about the Tohno Family.
Aozaki Aoko, who had come to provide support and fulfill her responsibility as the spiritual pulse administrator of Misaki City, sat idly on a sofa, drinking tea brought by her secretary, Orie Shiroi, eating snacks, and reading manga.
It was late at night, and the company building where Rin was located appeared to be closed for the day, with only one or two windows lit as if people were working overtime.
In reality, every room on the dark floors was packed with people!
After extensive preparations, everyone had been issued firearms and ammunition; although they didn't have the heavy firepower of the Tohno Family, it was enough for a surprise attack.
Since discovering the Tohno Family's unusual preparations, Rin had been gathering all her subordinates here every day, waiting until six in the morning before disbanding.
They had waited for three consecutive days, but Rin knew very well that the longer they waited, the higher the probability of the Tohno Family making a move the next day.
The more they waited, the more focused they needed to be.
The clock's hands moved steadily, minute by minute, second by second.
All twenty group leaders of the Rose Group, including Orie Shiroi—seven women and thirteen men—stood formally armed on either side of Rin's desk, motionless, accompanying Rin and awaiting news.
In any situation, within the Rose Group, wherever Rin was, everyone else only had the right to stand.
This was an absolute iron rule Rin had established in the Rose Group.
This seemingly unreasonable rule represented Rin's absolute authority and dominance in the organization.
As a superior, one must maintain an absolute ruling posture; if you yourself cannot inspire conviction, then even the most perfect hypnotic suggestion will eventually show flaws, as it's impossible to hypnotize every subordinate at all times.
Aoko, having finished her third snack, yawned and, feeling a bit sleepy, said to Rin, who was sitting behind the table with her eyes closed, resting: "Rin, when is Tohno Shinkyu going to make his move? He's not going to stand us up for another night, is he?"
"He won't," Rin said with certainty, opening her eyes. "He will definitely act tonight."
"Why?"
"Because everything is fully prepared. Tohno Shinkyu has nothing left to prepare. If he doesn't act now, it can only mean he's chickened out. The more he chickens out, the more he fears. If he delays any longer, the morale of his subordinates will drop with each passing day. How can a highly risky venture proceed then?"
"Is that so?"
As if to confirm Rin's words, at the exact moment Rin finished speaking, the second, minute, and hour hands converged in an instant.
At the very moment the clock chimed the first bell dividing yesterday from today, Rin's phone, which was by her hand, rang!
"Ding-a-ling-ling-ling..."
"Beep."
"Hello, this is Lin Rin. What's up?"
"Big Sister, the Tohno Family members have all boarded their vehicles with guns and are heading north of the city."
"Good, I understand. Your reconnaissance team has performed a great service."
Rin hung up the phone directly and said to her subordinates: "According to the divided plan, take your positions, depart!"
"Hai!"
"Shiroi, where are the things I asked for?"
"Here, Big Sister."
Orie Shiroi immediately handed a file bag to Rin.
Rin opened it, glanced through it, nodded with a satisfied smile, dismissed Orie Shiroi to prepare, and then picked up her phone and dialed a number.
"Beep, moshi moshi (hello), Chief Kouri, that old scoundrel Tohno Shinkyu has already taken his people towards your side. You should also prepare early."
A young voice came from the other end of the phone, sounding young but unable to hide a sense of vicissitude: "Understood. This time, the Nanaya Clan owes you a huge favor."
"Hehe, it's not that serious. After all, it's a mutually beneficial situation. And since Chief Nanaya intends to lead his clansmen into retirement, washing his hands of the assassination business, it's not impossible for me, once I control the Tohno Group, to also provide a sustainable path for the Nanaya Clan.
After all, no matter how transcendent one is, one must admit that while money isn't everything, it's absolutely impossible to do without it."
"Alas, I hope so."
The person on the phone was Nanaya Kouri, the current head of the Nanaya Family, and Shiki Nanaya's father.
As the shadow of shadows within the Nanaya lineage, passed down through the dark, Kouri was the most powerful person in this clan as the Nanaya Clan's patriarch.
With the qualities of an ordinary person, he nearly cut off Kouma Kishima's head with just a pair of iron short sticks.
Nanaya Kouri was skilled at using these unrefined weapons to penetrate vital points of the human body.
As the name Kouri suggests, his weapons were less like sticks and more like giant awls.
Although they couldn't cut, they could open a hole in an object.
This technique was called 'point striking' and was both an excellent assassination method and a quite gruesome way to kill.
The neither thin nor thick end of the stick crushed not flesh, but bone.
Sometimes, it would also pierce the top of the skull from above, driving the head into the body.
In fact, compared to Nanaya Kouri's skill, Rin was more frustrated by how a pair of short sticks with no blade or point could, in the original work/canon, inflict damage in the form of 'cutting,' which typically requires a sharp edge and a pulling motion.
It's incomprehensible, why doesn't he just ascend to heaven... Rin put away her regretful thoughts and tidied herself before walking out of the office.
Currently, Rin was wearing her usual black close-fitting sweater, tight trousers, and flat-heeled long boots.
If it were just this, she would look like a mere street punk, but Rin also wore a tailor-made, dark, slim-fit long trench coat.
Her usual twin-tails were tied into a neat and stylish single ponytail for wartime.
Her childish physique, just under 1.5 meters tall (having grown taller), surprisingly displayed a graceful, reliable, and mountain-like authoritative demeanor.
Standing on the steps at the entrance of the building, Rin surveyed the neatly assembled queue of her subordinates below, a dense mass of black figures under the night sky.
Aoko stood beside Rin with keen interest, curiously observing everything.
Rin unhurriedly put on a pair of black leather gloves and announced loudly: "Scum! Now is the time to prove your worth!
Because of a little friction between me and that old scoundrel Tohno Shinkyu, you've been given this opportunity. Thank that bitch, fate!
That I encountered such boring and disgusting things. Not wanting to make a big fuss, I had to gather you useless bunch together to make use of you. Now is the moment for you to prove whether you have any value to be reclaimed by me!"
"Kill that old scoundrel Tohno Shinkyu, and I don't mind taking his company and daughter to play with again.
But whether you still have the qualifications to continue being played by me depends on your performance shortly.
Scum, do you still have the qualifications to be played by me?!"
"Yes...!!!"
"I can't hear you."
"Yes...!!!!!!!!!"
The shouts, loud enough to shake ten li, would have echoed throughout Misaki if released, but Rin would not make such a basic mistake.
She had already set up a sound-insulating barrier covering the entire area.
"Then let's play a big game! After tonight, the Tohno Group will bear my name!"
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