"Dump truck?"
Nagasawa Kawa's phone was naturally on speaker, as his "only strategist," Higashisho Ji, was right beside him.
The two of them constantly shared information firsthand.
In fact, before making the call, they had even formulated contingency plans for the worst-case scenario.
Although they hadn't dealt much with Fujiwara Shunsui,
the name Sankou-gumi was there, and Fujiwara Shunsui's past deeds were there, even if it wasn't in the Central District now.
Their level of attention to this man had to be raised again.
Not to mention, after their simple probing last time,
Nagasawa Kawa and Higashisho Ji had already reached a basic consensus:
"Fujiwara Shunsui's intelligence is not as bad as described in previous intelligence!"
So, their worst assumption at the time was:
At the behest of Sankou-gumi, they were prepared to use Nagasawa Kyuichi as an excuse to begin taking over parts of the Nagasawa Family's business.
This was not a good sign.
There were so many Syndicates and families in Tokyo; once targeted, they could only be forced to optimize!
As long as the core personnel could live comfortably,
the remaining people would essentially be laid off on the spot.
This was already the best outcome.
Hearing that Fujiwara Shunsui did not emphasize Nagasawa Kyuichi's matter again meant that he was not interested in it, which made both of them breathe a sigh of relief.
However, they became even more puzzled.
Nagasawa Kawa tentatively replied to Fujiwara Shunsui on the other end of the phone:
"Dump truck? What dump truck?"
This was Nagasawa Kawa's most genuine reaction.
These three words were completely outside his expectations.
Instead, Higashisho Ji, who was behind him, rushed out of the office after hearing these three words.
The other party's grand declaration of war,
was actually because of a dump truck.
They were very familiar with the Shinjuku suburbs, not to mention the area near Higashikawa Club.
"Nagasawa Family Head, I think if you want to perfectly transition and take over the Nagasawa Family's power, some things don't need me to point out."
Fujiwara Shunsui deliberately paused on the words "Family Head."
Higashisho Ji did not hear this sentence,
but it deeply gripped Nagasawa Kawa's heart.
For a moment, Nagasawa Kawa thought a lot.
If he had Sankou-gumi's support behind him,
to help him eliminate dissenters and solidify his position,
the position of Nagasawa Family Head would naturally be his.
No one could snatch it away.
This also made Nagasawa Kawa understand Fujiwara Shunsui's meaning.
Everything seemed to be a transaction.
Nagasawa Kawa only thought for a moment before replying to the other end of the phone:
"I understand, Mr. Fujiwara Shunsui."
He uncharacteristically addressed Fujiwara Shunsui by his full name.
Harumizu seemed to understand Nagasawa Kawa's meaning and hung up the phone.
Looking at Nissho Taro, who was still beside him,
he said to him:
"Taro, do you know?"
"Sometimes communicating with smart people just feels so comfortable!"
Taro looked at Fujiwara Shunsui, not understanding what he meant by saying that.
So he lowered his head again and began to reply to messages on his phone.
In Shinjuku,
there were too many people who wanted to climb up with Sankou-gumi.
So Taro had too many messages to reply to... Inside Higashikawa Club,
Higashisho Ji had returned to the office.
Nagasawa Kawa sat there, silent.
His emotions showed neither good nor bad,
only that phrase "Nagasawa Family Head" kept echoing in his ears.
He was already fifty-five years old.
His father had been in that position for too long.
He had been managing family affairs for almost thirty years.
He had bled for the family.
When he saw his son now in such a state among the new generation,
the flame in his heart seemed to turn into a faint candlelight,
flickering precariously.
What he could see, everyone in the Nagasawa Family could see, and his father could also see.
If this matter was not handled well,
whether the heavy burden of the Nagasawa Family would ultimately fall on him,
would once again be a big question mark.
Looking at Nagasawa Kawa, who was lost in thought, Higashisho Ji, who had just re-entered the room, asked:
"What's wrong?"
Higashisho Ji's words pulled Nagasawa Kawa's thoughts back.
"Nothing, I think I understand Mr. Harumizu's meaning."
"That dump truck should have disappeared near the club. Have you checked?"
Hearing Nagasawa Kawa say this, Higashisho Ji was stunned for a moment, turned his head to look at him, and then replied:
"I've already arranged for people to investigate. There should be news very soon!"
"Fujiwara's intention is too obvious; it's hard not to guess."
As someone who had been with Nagasawa Kawa for over twenty years,
Higashisho Ji could sense even simple emotional changes from him.
But he chose not to ask aloud,
but rather, as always, chose to trust... Outside the ward,
Fujiwara Shunsui and Nissho Taro sat on a long bench in the corridor, one on each side.
Fujiwara Shunsui was calculating in his mind how to deal with the Nagasawa Family next,
and at the same time, how to handle those guys from the Central District.
After all, "publicly declaring war" on a local family on behalf of Sankou-gumi was not something that could be easily dismissed with a few words.
So Fujiwara Shunsui was also looking forward to the Nagasawa Family's reaction.
If everything went as he expected,
then there would definitely be no problem with the Syndicate.
If there was any deviation from his plan,
he could only rely on his troublemaking face to plead with those old guys.
Fujiwara Shunsui silently thought:
"Nagasawa Kawa, put in some effort! Li Shimin's son was Crown Prince for so many years and still wanted to be Emperor."
"You've been working like an old ox for almost thirty years, and you're just one step away!"
Of course,
he didn't want Nagasawa Kawa to divide the Nagasawa Family, cause a split; or force his own father out.
He wanted Nagasawa Kawa to seize the olive branch offered by Sankou-gumi in time,
so that all parties would benefit.
Even if it came to the worst,
the matter of the dump truck tonight shouldn't require Sankou-gumi's people to investigate.
The Nagasawa Family's people would naturally uncover the truth for Fujiwara Shunsui.
Self-proving is always much harder than proving by others,
and the evidence required must be more comprehensive and detailed.
Otherwise, everything would be in vain!
Not to mention being unable to shut people's mouths,
whether Fujiwara Shunsui would believe it was another matter... Inside Higashikawa Club,
the foot traffic today seemed a bit heavy.
Even regular customers who came for leisure felt the difference today.
Everyone was busy,
walking with short, hurried steps.
Everyone seemed to be heading towards the third floor.
"Indeed, a dump truck passed by the club entrance tonight."
"That truck did not stop near the club."
"It seemed to go to the villa area behind."
"There's a lot of construction waste in the villa area recently, so it's hard to be sure which truck it was."
"At 9:50 PM, a nearly fully loaded dump truck drove into the villa area from outside."
"..."
All sorts of messages began to converge in this office on the third floor.
Just as someone was mentioning this particular message,
Higashisho Ji called out to the person:
"That's the truck, go find it!"
Entering the villa area fully loaded was a very strange occurrence.
So Higashisho Ji's judgment told him,
that was the truck Fujiwara Shunsui was looking for.
Don't underestimate this method of transmitting messages.
What could have been solved with a simple phone call was made so complicated.
This was because messages always needed someone to collect, organize, and determine useful information.
Using a "mobile group chat" method carried too many potential risks.
Coupled with Fujiwara Shunsui's excessive madness tonight,
few people would not be tempted by a 10 million yen reward.
So only this most primitive, most clumsy method could be used.
Because Nagasawa Kawa and Higashisho Ji believed,
even if Fujiwara Shunsui got the information,
that money would most likely still have to come from their own Nagasawa Family...
Nagasawa Kawa dialed Fujiwara Shunsui's number.
At this moment, Harumizu was chatting with Miya Harukiko.
Fujiwara Shunsui: ["Kiko, I might not be home tonight. Lock the doors and windows, and call me immediately if anything happens."]
Miya Harukiko: ["Did something happen?"]
Fujiwara Shunsui: ["Ran into a small problem, nothing serious. Take care of yourself."]
Miya Harukiko: ["Okay, you too."]
Just as Fujiwara Shunsui was considering whether to emphasize to Kiko to be careful,
Nagasawa Kawa's call came in.
"Hello, Mr. Fujiwara."
"We have already located that truck and are currently tracking it with full effort. Would you consider withdrawing your bounty first?"
Harumizu understood that with a reward of ten million yen,
Nagasawa Kawa couldn't guarantee 100% loyalty from every one of his subordinates.
As long as the truck was found, and the person was found,
the other party could claim that ten million.
At that point, the Nagasawa Family would truly be in a difficult situation, like mud in their pants, whether it was dirt or not, it would look like it.
So he could only hope that Fujiwara Shunsui would withdraw the bounty first,
and then conduct a thorough investigation.
Harumizu didn't think much.
Because all of this had been in his predictions,
although there might be slight deviations, he had already prepared the methods and rhetoric to deal with it.
"It doesn't seem possible, Mr. Nagasawa."
"We, Sankou-gumi, always keep our word. Until the matter is completely clear, and until it's confirmed whether it's your Nagasawa Family's doing or not, this bounty will remain."
Fujiwara Shunsui hung up the phone again.
Instead, Higashisho Ji and Nagasawa Kawa frowned deeply.
Higashisho Ji could only urge them repeatedly.
He and Nagasawa Kawa had the same concerns.
On Fujiwara Shunsui's side, however,
he had just instructed Nissho Taro to withdraw all of Sankou-gumi's people.
Because he knew,
it wouldn't be long before this matter would have an explanation,
and he no longer needed to drag the others from the Shinjuku branch to stay up all night with him.
Half an hour later,
Higashikawa Club, third-floor office.
Three men carried an unconscious man into the office.
From his appearance, the unconscious man showed no external injuries.
He was just quietly sleeping there.
They had confirmed,
he was still alive.
"What's going on?"
"There's a needle mark on his neck, looks like he was given a sedative."
Nagasawa Kawa knew that these matters did not require his intervention, nor his inquiry.
He only needed to listen now,
only needed to know the result and communicate with Fujiwara Shunsui immediately.
Now, only he could represent the Nagasawa Family,
and it could only be him.
But just at this moment,
the door to the third-floor office was pushed open.
"Big Brother, I heard the person was found. Is it really someone from our family?"
"Could it be that good-for-nothing Kyuichi really provoked Sankou-gumi?"
"Is it him?"
The person hadn't appeared, but the voice arrived first.
A deep sense of disgust flashed in Nagasawa Kawa's eyes.
He hadn't expected trouble to come knocking on his door.
At this moment, a man 179 cm tall pushed the door open and entered.
Unlike the lean figures of Nagasawa Kawa and Higashisho Ji,
this man's physique could only be described as obese.
Pot-bellied, with fat on his neck seemingly overflowing,
he looked exactly like a sumo wrestler.
This man was Nagasawa Kawa's younger brother, Nagasawa Kyuichi's second uncle—Nagasawa Makoto.
Evidently, naming Nagasawa Makoto was intended for the second son of the Nagasawa Family to be an honest and simple person.
But clearly, apart from his somewhat conforming physique,
he was full of nothing but fat and cunning.
Seeing that his two good brothers weren't speaking,
Nagasawa Makoto came in and grabbed the man's arm, trying to pull him out.
"Father is very angry about this matter. I hope Big Brother can explain to Father soon. I'm taking the person!"
Higashisho Ji didn't speak, but quickly walked to the door and blocked Nagasawa Makoto.
He didn't speak,
but his intention was already very clear.
Nagasawa Makoto couldn't possibly leave with the person, let alone one person taking away a completely unconscious person.
Nagasawa Kawa shouted to the people outside:
"Go call someone from the infirmary. Tell them the patient was injected with a sedative and needs to be woken up now."
Seeing that he couldn't leave either,
Nagasawa Makoto could only plop down on the office sofa,
and once again threw the man onto the floor.
"Big Brother, look at what a huge mess your son has caused for our family!"
"Father once said to handle relationships steadily, how could you let him provoke Sankou-gumi?"
The incident of Nagasawa Kyuichi causing a ruckus at Sankou-gumi's KTV had long spread throughout the family.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been approached for shares, resulting in a considerable loss of money for the family.
This money, of course, did not come from Nagasawa Kawa's treasury,
but from others within the family.
Nagasawa Kawa felt even more vexed.
He wasn't sure,
whether his second brother's appearance at Higashikawa Club at this time
was at his father's instruction,
or if, after this incident,
his brother was going to start confronting him and vying for power.
This was not a good sign.
Half an hour later,
the unconscious man slowly woke up amidst the onlookers.
Higashisho Ji first handed the man a glass of water,
then spoke to comfort him:
"Don't panic, don't be nervous. Just answer whatever we ask."
The man looked around, nervously swallowed, then nodded... Ten minutes later,
the call connected.
Both sides were silent.
Five seconds later,
Nagasawa Kawa spoke:
"Are you there, Mr. Harumizu?"
"I am."
"Repeat exactly what you just told us, word for word. If even one sentence is wrong, I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish!"
This was a rare outburst from Nagasawa Kawa; he didn't know how long it had been since he had threatened someone like this.
Because in his opinion, this way of verbally threatening others strongly resembled street hooligans from many years ago.
But now, he had no choice but to do so,
because only such a method was simple and effective!
"Today, I was working normally at the construction site. After loading up the construction waste, someone came over and said they'd give me 200,000 yen to borrow my truck for a day. I almost didn't hesitate to agree. Then I felt a pain in my neck, and when I woke up, I was here!"
Harumizu knew such an investigation would be of little use,
but what he wanted was to leverage the situation.
Clearly, it was successful this time.
The next step was to find out who this person was!
"I'm withdrawing the bounty now."
"Thank you, Mr. Nagasawa Kawa."
"We will be friends forever."
With that, Fujiwara Shunsui hung up the phone.