69novels Page 144
Page 144
Gao Kui was filled with mixed feelings. He might not have jumped into this pit before, but now he just wanted to do something that he knew was irrational, thankless, or even foolish.
"Put yourself in my shoes. You could be considered my spy planted on Emmanuel's side. Remember to let me know if that bastard makes any moves in the future."
Gao Kui fully embodied the spirit of Ah Q.
“In a sense, when you insult him, you are insulting yourself,” Mai Shude whispered a reminder.
“He is Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and I am Li Sanlang. I have every right to scold him,” Gao Kui muttered.
Jiu Dema Yi thought to himself, "You are the true Emperor Xuanzong of Tang in his later years."
"Alright, that's enough. Genji is almost at the surface."
Genjiro lived up to his reputation as the emperor of the Snake Clan. Despite "falling" to the top of the building, Genjiro, with his indomitable will, dragged his pineapple-like body and climbed like Spider-Man from the top floor to the seventeenth or eighteenth floor.
As Gao Kui deactivated the Crescent Moon Domain, the gravitational state of Shinjuku Ward suddenly returned to normal. Genji, who had been constantly battling against the strange gravity, suddenly fell to the ground, or to put it simply, he landed face-first in the mud.
Genjiro, who had fallen face-first into the mud, dusted himself off, stood up, looked around and found that there was no one around, so he immediately limped towards Genji Heavy Industries.
Gao Kui suddenly remembered that Yuan Zhisheng's bloodline rating when he studied in Kassel was super A. How could this be a super A-level mixed blood?
Even if ten of Caesar's hybrid blood were to attack him together, they would probably be beaten to their knees by Genji and forced to become Star Force, taken back to Genji Heavy Industries.
"Is there a lounge or meeting room?" Gao Kui turned around and asked.
“There’s a conference room on the top floor,” Genichiro Ryoma said cautiously, knowing that this chain of events was far from over.
He vaguely overheard some of the conversation between Gao Kui and Jiu De Mai; the girl opposite him seemed to have mentioned the "Fierce Demon Clan."
Furthermore, from a rational perspective, the situation at the Divine Burial Site is beyond repair, and the European Secret Party will soon turn its attention to this area. The secrets of the Snake-Headed Eight Families and the Fierce Demon Clan will soon be exposed.
They need to negotiate with the European Secret Party, especially to win the favor of the Angers faction, of which Gao Kui is a true Angers patron.
Caesar said that he thought the only family he found disgusting was Gattuso, but that statement was actually incorrect; Caesar was simply too ignorant.
The truth is, more than half of the hybrid families on this planet are not exactly benevolent. They may not be as repulsive as the magician families in the Type-Moon world, but they are no less scheming and calculating.
Angers, on the other hand, is a breath of fresh air in the world of mixed-race people. Most mixed-race families do business under the guise of slaying dragons, but Angers is one of the very few who truly takes slaying dragons as their mission.
With Angers' support, the Snake Clan wouldn't need to expend too much effort in negotiations with the European Secret Party. Without Angers, other families would inevitably exploit the Snake Clan to the point of exhaustion.
Casually following Ryoma Genichiro through the messy hall, Gao Kui discovered that the elevator was broken when they reached it. The continuous changes in gravity had completely destroyed the elevator system's counterweight, leaving the two with no choice but to use the "fast track" they had previously cleared.
The employees of the Snake Clan in the building quickly returned to work. They were not too surprised to see Gao Kui and the head of the Ryoma family, who had just caused a ruckus at headquarters, walk by. As the leaders of the Japanese underworld, they had seen too many similar scenes.
Two gangs that were at loggerheads not long ago, gathering forces to sweep each other's territories and sending knife-wielding and pistol-wielding assassins to kill each other's high-ranking members, will quickly sit down at the negotiating table and have a reconciliation dinner once they reach a consensus. They will call each other "brother" and "old brother" as close as family.
As Gao Kui went upstairs, he casually pulled back the Longinus sword. With the long sword in hand, the back of his hand, which had been injured by Genjiro's face, was immediately repaired.
Finally, Gao Kui and the other family heads, including Ryoma Genichiro, sat in the command room on the top floor.
This is a long table. On the table in front of the head seat is an identity card with a sixteen-petaled chrysanthemum. The identity cards in front of the seats on both sides are gentian, bamboo and sparrow. Further down are the red oni, spider, horse head, phoenix and yaksha representing the lower five families.
As soon as he entered the conference room, Gao Kui took the lead and sat down in the head seat. He was quite relaxed and took out Longinus and a bunch of other random things from his pocket, such as his cell phone, car keys, and McDonald's coupons, and slapped them on the table in front of him. Then he looked around at Ryoma Genichiro and the others sitting below him with a sharp look in his eyes.
The five family heads gathered the clutter from the table in front of them, placed their hands on the table, straightened their backs, lowered their heads, and dared not meet Gao Kui's gaze.
This is an unspoken rule prevalent in the Japanese and Korean underworld: in a relatively normal meeting setting, only the person who truly holds power is allowed to place their personal belongings on the table. These are usually cigarettes, cigars, and a lighter, but Gao Kui doesn't smoke.
The five family heads showed a rational obedience; they had no choice but to obey.
Decades ago, Angers, representing the European Secret Party, single-handedly stormed into Japan, and upon landing, forced the former emperor to his knees. Decades later, today, the prince of Northern Qi stormed into the Genji Heavy Industries, forcing the new emperor, Genji Wakae, to his knees.
Fear of power without gratitude, and a lack of righteousness despite petty courtesy – this is a rather prominent characteristic of the Japanese.
When will Genjiro be back?
Gao Kui asked Yabuki Sakura, who had followed him into the conference room, about the person he knew best in the large conference room.
Sakura Yabuki glanced out the window: "About two minutes later."
"Then I'll start with a game of Snake."
Gao Kui casually picked up the phone from the table and opened the game. Then he realized something was wrong; he seemed to have forgotten something important.
Ding dong.
The number that had just called sent another text message. Gao Kui opened the message, which contained only a few words: "Wine Virtue in Hemp Clothes".
Oh ~
Gao Kui then realized that he seemed to have forgotten to ask Jiu De Mai's name again, and he was sure that the girl on the other end must have been full of resentment when she typed the text message.
After making a note for Mai Shude's number, Gao Kui opened the Snake game on his phone. The winner at the head of the table lowered his head, while the losers at the bottom looked up and glanced at Gao Kui out of the corner of their eyes.
To be precise, it was Longinus placed in front of Gao Kui.
If one had to use an idiom to describe their gaze, it would be "drooling with envy," for they had long heard of the Northern Qi prince's knife.
At this moment, the Snake Clan desperately needed this sword. They didn't need to occupy it; borrowing it for an hour or even a few minutes would be enough.
"If you want it, then you'll have to take it.
But you already knew that. "
If you want it, then come and take it yourselves; you've known this principle for a long time.
Gao Kui, without turning his head, was holding his phone when he uttered that famous line that would be etched into the genes of many people more than a decade later.
Ryoma Genichiro chuckled, "You've misunderstood. We just want to borrow this sword. Just name your conditions, and the Snake-Headed Eight Family will certainly meet them."
The patriarch, Tachibana Masamune, is still lying in the intensive care unit, dozens of elite troops from headquarters have been turned into human sticks, and... Erii is seriously ill after being contaminated by dragon blood.
Of all the information known to the Snake Clan, there is none that proves Longinus is incapable of curing bloodline diseases. Yet, there is also no information that proves he absolutely cannot cure them.
If Erii's bloodline problem can be cured by Longinus, then the Snake Clan will solve a fatal problem that has plagued them for many years.
Even if Longinus is ineffective against Erii's illness, he can at least pull the patriarch and dozens of elite troops back from the brink of death.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and the door will be opened to the one who knocks.
This is a direct quote from Emmanuel in chapter 7 of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, and it was also said by Gao Kui two thousand years ago.
Gao Kui had always done this before; anyone who asked him for help would receive a response, a response he would give without hesitation. But this time, however, something unexpected happened. For the first time in his life, Gao Kui began to consider whether or not to lend the [Longinus] to the Snake-Headed Eight Families.
His heart was infinitely inclined to grant Ryoma Genichiro's request and lend them the sword. Within this almost infinitely benevolent inner world, another faint, dissenting voice spoke: It's not that I can't lend it, but we need to talk about it first.
The two different ideas occupy a seriously unequal proportion in the mental world, with the former far outweighing the latter. However, the two ideas are ultimately different, and it is this difference that makes Gao Kui begin to think and weigh the two ideas.
"Can you represent the Snake-Headed Eight Families?" Gao Kui quickly finished thinking for a moment and threw the question to Ryoma Genichiro.
Ryoma Genichiro laughed awkwardly. He really couldn't represent the Snake-Headed Eight Families. Some things could only be decided by Tachibana Masamune, or at least by Genjiro.
"Let Genjiro come up and talk to me. By the way, let's talk about the Demon Clan." Gao Kui didn't make things difficult for Ryoma Genichiro, but put aside the question of whether or not to lend the money for the time being.
"Hi."
Ryoma Genichiro nodded. He understood what Gao Kui meant. Longinus would become one of the important bargaining chips for the other side in the subsequent negotiations.
Gao Kui continued playing on his phone. The atmosphere in the conference room was so tense it was suffocating. Ryoma Genichiro and the others had somber expressions but were uneasy inside, though not as uneasy as they had been during yesterday's meeting.
When the Northern Qi prince mentioned the Fierce Demon Clan, the cesspool that the Snake-Headed Eight Families had been trying to hide with a pot lid could no longer be concealed. For them, this was actually a relief.
Death is not scary; what is scary is waiting for death.
One minute later, Genji entered through the side door, quite punctually, about twenty seconds earlier than Yabuki Sakura had anticipated.
Despite his bruised and swollen face, Yuan Zhisheng did not sit in the seat below Gao Kui where the Yuan family nameplate was placed. Instead, he sat on the other side of the long table opposite Gao Kui.
Ryoma Genichiro and the other family heads couldn't help but peek at Genjiro. Their emperor had been beaten terribly, with at least dozens of broken bones in his face, chest, and arms. His face was covered in redness and bruises, and his once somewhat feminine handsome face could only be described as horribly gruesome.
Seeing the pitiful state of Genjiro, the heads of the families lowered their stance even further. The younger heads, such as Sakurai Nanami, finally understood what the previous heads of the families had felt when they bowed to Angers.
Frustrated, the family heads couldn't help but turn their gazes to Miyamoto, the family head in charge of the bloodline evolution potion, and ask Miyamoto Shigeo a question with their eyes.
Are you sure you gave the young master the original potion?
Miyamoto Shigeo nodded.
This is what frustrates them the most. It wasn't Genji who suffered a complete defeat, but rather Genji who had used the prototype potion and whose bloodline had been further enhanced. This undoubtedly further extinguished their hopes and wishful thinking.
Chapter 173 A Mixed Feeling
Snake is a tragic game. While many video games end in victory for the player, Snake inevitably ends in death. The higher the score, the closer death gets.
Three minutes later, Gao Kui's goal had changed from eating beans to calculating the remaining space to plan a path and avoid hitting the snake's body.
No matter how hard Gao Kui racked his brains, or how superb his reaction and hand speed were, Yuan Zhisheng and the others still heard the snake scream in agony.
Gao Kui threw his phone on the table, glanced at Yuan Zhisheng across from him, and said, "You weren't like this when you picked me up from the airport."
How spirited and ambitious Genjiro was back then!
Dressed in a suit and tie, looking radiant, he was surrounded by dozens of henchmen and dozens of luxury cars. He even recreated Sonny's camera-smashing scene from "The Godfather."
Yuan Zhisheng snorted coldly, his mouth full of blood and foam, and said, "I'm not as skilled as you, so there's nothing to say."
"I'm glad to see that you've been able to correct your attitude. If you had cooperated like this earlier, wouldn't everything have been fine?"
Aren't we cooperating enough?
Just as Ryoma Genichiro and the others were about to protest, they realized that they had indeed been uncooperative. At least until Genji was defeated and Takagi received the news from Shutoku Mai, they had never considered confessing about the Demon Clan, which resulted in a lack of honest communication and exchange between them.
Gao Kui tapped his fingers on the table and continued, "Throughout history, we find that war has always existed in various forms in every corner of human society, and the vast majority of wars end in negotiation."
Whether it's a war between individuals or a war between nations, I think you're all familiar with the current situation.
What you and Kassel discuss later is your business, it has nothing to do with me. I'm here today only to ask you some questions in a personal capacity, and I hope you will answer them without reservation.
Yuan Zhisheng and the others stared wide-eyed at Gao Kui, who sat at the head of the table with a calm expression. Was this still the Northern Qi prince they knew?
The Northern Qi prince, as perceived by the Eight Families of Sheqi, has always been a rather unreliable person. His emotions and logical thinking are unstable, and he often speaks incoherently without thinking. He is undoubtedly a genuine mentally ill person.
The Gao Kui before him was quite serious and normal, somewhat similar to Yuan Zhisheng, who usually managed affairs.
Surprised, Ryoma Genichiro and the others couldn't help but recall the descriptions of several Northern Qi emperors after Gao Kui's ancestor, Emperor Shenwu Gao Huan, in some historical books they had read.
Emperor Wenxiang, Gao Cheng, was mature beyond his years and possessed great ambition and strategic vision; Emperor Wenxuan, Gao Yang, was a man of great talent and ambition who worked diligently to govern the country in the early part of his reign; Emperor Xiaozhao, Gao Yan, was diligent in state affairs...
Although the leaders of Northern Qi were somewhat abstract in their personal conduct, they were quite reliable in handling political affairs.
The current posture of the Northern Qi prince is exactly the same as that of several emperors of Northern Qi in history. This is probably a characteristic of the Gao family of Northern Qi.
"Hey, I'll definitely tell you everything I know."
Ryoma Genichiro and the other family heads lowered their heads, as did Genjiro, who remained silent. The Snake-Headed Eight Families hadn't completely lost, but they no longer wanted to continue their mutually destructive struggle with Gao Kui.