Chapter Forty-Seven: Pillage

President! Please forgive my rudeness! I only acted this way out of consideration for the future of our Black Dragon Society. But after hearing your explanation, I also feel that our recent calamity is indeed connected with that Chinese named Wei Hua. As for why this Chinese—either himself, or the power behind him—would target us, I believe it’s nothing more than revenge! Takeda Mokuhei spoke with confidence.

Takeda-kun! Could you elaborate further? Koizumi Taro requested.

President, colleagues, it seems you have all forgotten that the Black Dragon Society has a history of seventy or eighty years. Behind every significant event in the modern empire, our shadow can be found, and these events have built our glory. Think about it—the Russo-Japanese War, the Manchurian Incident, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident—wasn’t our presence felt in each? That’s why the Chinese despise us so deeply; there are countless Chinese who wish for our destruction! So the appearance of this Wei Hua is nothing to be surprised about. Our main issue now is how to track down this assassin. Waiting passively for the enemy to strike is not our way; we must attack. We will mobilize all our resources to hunt down this killer. Takeda Mokuhei explained, and the assembled leaders of the Black Dragon Society accepted his reasoning, as they could not find a more convincing explanation.

What should we do now? one of the leaders asked.

We must dispatch all our personnel, especially around our headquarters, to monitor and interrogate any suspicious strangers. Also, have the Takeda family's informants closely observe any movements, to see if the Takeda family is in contact with anyone. Such a large operation surely requires intelligence support. If it truly is this Wei Hua behind it, then he must reach out to the Takeda family for information about us. Once he contacts them, he won’t escape our grasp. Furthermore, connect with police and other violent groups under our influence, and have them keep an eye out for strangers. This way, this Wei Hua certainly won’t be able to hide for long; we’ll find him soon.

What about Elder Ishihide Sano? Why did this Wei Hua seize Mr. Ishihide? the same leader asked.

That’s simple. I think this Wei Hua must want to learn from Elder Ishihide Sano the whereabouts of our Black Dragon Society’s funds. If he manages to move our funds, it would cripple us; you all know that without financial support, we can accomplish nothing. But rest assured, Elder Ishihide Sano was once an outstanding member of the Tokko Division, trained specifically with experience and ability to resist interrogation and torture. Our funds are safe and won’t be divulged from his lips, and besides, Elder Ishihide Sano alone cannot transfer our society’s funds. So don’t worry, we will soon rescue Elder Ishihide! President Koizumi Taro encouraged all the leaders.

Meanwhile, Wei Hua was in a Tokyo sewer, unbeknownst to Koizumi Taro. Wei Hua possessed formidable spiritual awareness and a domineering “Soul Capturing Technique.” With intelligence previously provided by the Takeda family, he no longer needed any further information from them; the “Soul Capturing Technique” allowed Wei Hua to obtain any intelligence he desired. Before eliminating each Black Dragon Society leader, Wei Hua would use this technique to extract all the knowledge in their minds about the society, so at this moment, Wei Hua could anticipate all the possible measures the Black Dragon Society might take.

Under the effects of the “Soul Capturing Technique,” Ishihide Sano divulged everything he knew about the society’s financial operations. As a violent organization, their sources of income were typical: protection fees, earnings from sex establishments, gambling, and drug trafficking. The Black Dragon Society controlled their own territories, monopolizing all illicit businesses within.

Of course, as a politically tinged violent group, another significant source of funds came from political organizations, and these amounts were considerable. Wei Hua learned that all the society’s money was kept in a Tokyo bank, but transferring large sums required a special seal and password. The bank recognized the seal and password, not the person. The seal was divided into two parts: one held by Koizumi Taro, the other by Takeda Mokuhei, while the password was entrusted to Ishihide Sano. Wei Hua had not expected the Black Dragon Society to be so wealthy—nearly one hundred billion yen, which converted to over three hundred million dollars, assuming an exchange rate of one dollar to three hundred yen. (Whether this matches historical reality is unknown; the author has not verified it.) Wei Hua never minded having more money; to him, the Black Dragon Society’s funds were as good as his own.

Having obtained the account password from Ishihide Sano, Wei Hua twisted his neck and dumped the corpse onto the street, then, still disguised as a youth from Hokkaido, checked into a hotel. He needed to make preparations to turn the Black Dragon Society’s money into his own; he planned to rob them blind. The next day at noon, Wei Hua used a public phone to call Yuan Wen Yong in the United States, instructing him to travel immediately to the Cayman Islands and open several secret accounts at banks there. Once the accounts were ready, Yuan Wen Yong was to notify Wei Hua by phone, and Wei Hua then calmly returned to his lodgings.

Ishihide Sano’s body was discovered by the police almost immediately, and Koizumi Taro learned of the murder at once. Soon, all the senior leaders of the Black Dragon Society were informed and gathered at Koizumi Taro’s mansion. Upon seeing Koizumi Taro, Takeda Mokuhei asked,

President, do we have any concrete news?

Ishihide Sano was killed by a broken neck; the killer can be confirmed as the same person who murdered Kobayashi Saburo. Elder Ishihide’s body bore no other wounds, so we can assume he was not tortured for information. Thus, I believe our funds are not at risk! Elder Ishihide’s loyalty is beyond question! Koizumi Taro spoke with a touch of sorrow.

Grand entrance! Keep clicking, recommending, and collecting!