"Holy shit, who's got a death wish and wants to visit the Kure Clan?"
Someone immediately replied in the public chat. The user's ID was 'Shadow-sama'.
"Just asking. I want to make a deal with them," Lu Li typed back.
"Have you even read the manga? The Kure Clan is full of extremely dangerous monsters. Being bold and skilled doesn't mean you just waltz in there, right?" another user chimed in.
"Yeah, besides, do you even have the money? Trying to do business with the Kure Clan without tens of billions of yen is a total joke."
...
The public channel exploded into a chaotic discussion about the Kure Clan, and the topic quickly derailed. Just as Lu Li was preparing to post his question again amidst the flood of messages, an Explorer named 'Little Mushroom' dropped a set of coordinates into the chat.
"This is the Kure Village. Good luck, and may God have mercy on you."
Lu Li checked the longitude and latitude. After referencing a map, he figured the other party wasn't messing with him. The destination was roughly five hundred kilometers away from Tokyo, which aligned perfectly with the canon lore.
"Thanks. If these coordinates are accurate, I owe you one."
After sending his reply, Lu Li set off. His first priority was to engage in a little "martial arts exchange" with the Kure Clan.
In the Kengan Ashura universe, the Kure Clan was an incredibly powerful family of combatants that shared a deep history with the ultimate final boss of the series.
In modern Japan, the Kure Clan were the undisputed emperors of the underground assassination world. No other syndicate possessed their operational efficiency or raw combat power. As long as the price was right, the Kure Clan would readily assassinate a Prime Minister.
To Lu Li, their sheer scale of power was utterly absurd. Their home base, the Kure Village, was an actual functional city. He estimated the population to be at least several hundred thousand, with tens of thousands of those being actual Kure Clan members.
The fact that the Japanese government allowed a massively armed, privately operated syndicate of assassins to casually develop an entire city within their borders just proved how wildly fantastical this world's lore was.
The origin of the Kure Clan actually traced back across the sea, where the main branch of the family—the "Wu Clan"—still resided.
The lineage of the Wu Clan shared the same ancient history as the East, dating back 5,000 years to the original founder, "Wu Hei."
Roughly 1,300 years ago, a massive internal schism violently fractured this colossal family into three separate factions, scattering them across the globe. They split into the "Kure Clan" in Japan, the mainland "Wu Clan" in the East, and the "Westward Faction" in the West.
The cruel, bloody internal conflicts throughout history had caused countless secret techniques to be lost to time. However, one absolute, core secret technique survived and was passed down through all three branches.
This was precisely why Lu Li was visiting the Kure Clan: Removal (Guihun).
According to the manga's explanation, this secret technique completely shattered the brain's biological limiters, allowing the user to unleash 100% of their body's latent muscular output.
Lu Li viewed it as a phenomenal, explosive buff skill. It would be incredibly useful when facing overwhelming, high-tier enemies.
As for the protagonist Ohma Tokita's signature move, the Advance (Possessing Spirit), Lu Li felt it came with far too many catastrophic side effects. In terms of overall tactical utility, it simply couldn't compare to Removal.
After a half-day trip on the Shinkansen, Lu Li arrived at the Kure Village.
He watched the salarymen bustling down the streets, listened to the intermittent shouts of shopkeepers peddling their wares, and saw high school girls happily eating crepes on their walk home.
His first impression of the place was that it looked like an ordinary, peaceful, third-tier provincial city. The pace of life was slow, and the atmosphere was harmonious.
But upon closer inspection, he noticed the anomaly. Among the pedestrians, a small minority of people possessed pitch-black sclera and stark white pupils. They were eyes that should intuitively invoke visceral terror, yet the local civilians treated it as an entirely normal, everyday sight.
"Working hard on your patrol today, Kure boys! Here, I just fried up a fresh batch of potato croquettes. Take some back with you." A middle-aged auntie running a food stall cheerfully waved at a passing squad of young men. Her warm smile was entirely genuine.
"No thank you, Auntie Yoko. We're currently on duty. Maybe next time!" the young man leading the Kure squad politely declined with a bright smile. As they continued their patrol, they greeted several other locals along the street.
Lu Li rubbed his chin. It seemed the Kure Clan was actually highly respected and deeply integrated into the local community.
He hadn't finished the entire manga back in the day, but he had caught up on the rest of the story while resting in the Terminus Space. Despite knowing they were a legendary family of assassins who technically "protected" this region, witnessing it firsthand proved they were far more humane and grounded than he had initially imagined.
Lu Li casually strolled down the street, brushing past the Kure Clan patrol squad, and stopped in front of the croquette stall. "I'll take ten."
Moments later, the freshly fried potato croquettes were scooped into a bag. Lu Li paid, grabbed one wrapped in paper, and prepared to take a bite.
But he barely made it two steps before he was completely surrounded.
Unbothered, Lu Li blew gently on the piping hot croquette and took a bite. "Well, this is slightly unexpected. You all look so incredibly weak, yet you somehow managed to sense that I'm different?"
Six Kure Clan members had him completely encircled. Their expressions were deadly serious, their white pupils locked dead onto him.
The young man who had been leading the patrol stepped forward. "It seems you lack any shred of self-awareness as a wanted fugitive."
Lu Li blinked in surprise. He had assumed these guys were on high alert because they had somehow sensed his overwhelming combat power. He had completely forgotten he was currently a notorious jailbreaker.
It made perfect sense, though. Not only had he broken out of maximum security, but he had also openly murdered the CEO of Tenma Communication in front of witnesses. Without a powerful corporate backer to sweep it under the rug, being placed on a national wanted list was the logical outcome.
"Don't misunderstand. I'm not here to cause trouble. I simply came to engage in a friendly martial arts exchange with the legendary Kure Clan," Lu Li said, flashing what he believed to be a highly amicable smile.
Internally, he was deeply praising the Kure Clan's operational efficiency. In just a few short minutes, the surrounding high ground had already been secured. He could distinctly feel the crosshairs of three high-caliber sniper rifles locked directly onto his skull.
This entire city belonged to the Kure. Historically speaking, absolutely no one who caused trouble here ever made it out alive. They were an assassination syndicate, not honorable martial artists. If a fight broke out, they wouldn't politely duel him one-on-one; they would swarm him and utilize every single cold weapon and firearm in their arsenal to put him down.
Lu Li genuinely hadn't come to "kick down their dojo." He had arrived with the mindset of peaceful negotiation. But looking at the current reception, it seemed he wasn't exactly a welcome guest.
"A martial arts exchange? With a wanted murderer?" The Kure youth sneered coldly. "Surrender quietly, and we'll hand you back over to the prison wardens."
Lu Li's expression contorted into one of deep amusement. He swallowed the rest of the croquette in one gulp. "A family of underground assassins... is going to arrest me and send me to prison?"
This world truly was bizarre. The Kure Clan executed daily assassination contracts, yet the government turned a completely blind eye—they weren't even on a wanted list. Some Kure members even went out and got completely normal civilian jobs. For instance, Karla Kure's family lived in Tokyo, and Karla attended a normal high school. Who knew if her parents took on a few "side gigs" after clocking out of their day jobs?
Seeing Lu Li's completely relaxed, lackadaisical posture and realizing he had absolutely no intention of surrendering, the lead Kure youth made his move. A combat dagger slid seamlessly from his sleeve into his grip as he lunged forward, slashing lethally toward Lu Li's throat.
They were the enforcers of the underground order and the absolute protectors of this city. He would absolutely not permit a dangerous, psychopathic mass murderer like Lu Li to roam freely within their borders.
CLINK—
A sharp, metallic sound echoed down the street. Under the utterly disbelieving, wide-eyed stares of the surrounding Kure members, the dagger came to a dead stop exactly three inches from Lu Li's neck.
What had blocked the lethally swung blade wasn't another weapon. It was... a single finger.
Lu Li looked directly into the youth's pitch-black eyes and bared his teeth in a feral, blindingly white grin.
"It seems I'm truly not welcome here. If that lovely lady up on the roof decides to pull the trigger... I wouldn't mind turning this entire city completely upside down."
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