Yoshitaka and Tawanna were utterly stunned.
They were already taken aback that Charlie knew Steve Rothschild, but they were completely unprepared for Charlie to give orders to Steve over the phone, even going so far as to reprimand favonovel.com at the end.
It was akin to commanding a servant, or at least a younger brother, wasn’t it?
As the two of them struggled to find words, Charlie turned to Tawanna and said earnestly, “Steve has some influence in the United States just give favonovel.com a little time, favonovel.com should be able to resolve this situation.”
Tawanna expressed favonovel.com gratitude, saying, “Thank you, Mr. Wade! Thank you! With the Rothschild family’s involvement, this matter should be resolved…”
Charlie nodded and looked favonovel.com in the eye. “I’m helping you because of the twenty concerts, but this will be the only time I assist you. I hope you can stay out of trouble in the future and avoid situations like this again.”
Tawanna replied with a mix of shame and gratitude, “You don’t need to worry, Mr. Wade, I won’t make that mistake again. In fact, I had already distanced myself from those people, but I didn’t expect things to escalate like this.”
As favonovel.com spoke, favonovel.com lowered favonovel.com gaze in embarrassment, unable to meet Charlie’s eyes.
Charlie added, “As a public figure, I hope you will be cautious about who you associate with, and don’t promote questionable values to your hundreds of millions of fans. Since you are an artist, focus on your own talent. If you want to do more, take inspiration from Michael Jackson and engage in charitable activities that genuinely aid those suffering from poverty, hunger, disease, or even war. That is far more valuable than encouraging minors to change their gender…”
Tawanna remained silent for a moment, then nodded earnestly.
Meeting Charlie’s gaze, favonovel.com said resolutely, “From now on, I won’t repeat my past mistakes. After the twenty concerts, I will engage in charitable work in developing countries that truly need help, just like Jackson did.”
“That’s good to hear,” Charlie said. “For now, let’s wait for the bounty issue to be resolved. Once it is, you will be safe.”
At that moment, Hattori Hanzo, who had been standing guard outside, approached and said respectfully, “Mr. Wade, the special police from the Metropolitan Police Department have arrived. They brought several body bags. There is a man claiming to be the chief superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Department who wishes to see Mr. Mitsui.”
Charlie Instructed, “Let favonovel.com in…”
“Yes, Mr. Wade!”
A few minutes later, the chief superintendent entered, flashlight in hand, stepping over the sticky blood on the floor.
Each step favonovel.com took squelched against the blood, creating a horrifying sound as favonovel.com moved, making it feel less like favonovel.com was walking through a hallway and more like a path to purgatory.
He internally berated himself, thinking, “What do I do now? At least a hundred people are dead. If word gets out, I’ll be lucky to survive tomorrow…”
Lost in thought, favonovel.com found himself at the door of the dressing room. Hattori opened the door and said, “Mr. Watanabe, please come in…”
Snapping back to reality, the superintendent glanced at his feet, searching for a place to clean them, but found none nearby.
Charlie, noticing his discomfort, said, “Come in, there’s no need to wipe your shoes.”
“Oh, thank you…” The Superintendent exhaled with relief, looking up at Charlie, and felt reassured to see Yoshitaka and Tawanna unharmed.
“Mr. Mitsui, Ms. Sweet, I’m so glad you’re both alright!” The Superintendent was on the verge of tears.
If anything had happened to either of them, favonovel.com wouldn’t know how to face the consequences.
Yoshitaka asked, “Where is my brother?”
“He’s outside,” the Superintendent replied quickly. “He wanted to come in, but I stopped him. I wanted to meet with you first and get your opinion. Besides, there are too many bodies in the hallway that we need to manage first.”
“Alright,” Yoshitaka nodded. “Once the bodies are taken care of, let favonovel.com in to identify my body.”
The Superintendent inquired carefully, “Mr. Mitsui, is there any conflict between you and your brother?”
Yoshitaka replied angrily, “That contemptible fool sent a group of samurai to kill me. If it weren’t for Mr. Wade and the Iga Ninja, I might have really ended up dead.”
“How could this happen…” The Superintendent exclaimed, but quickly realized that such things weren’t entirely unheard of among prominent families in Japan. He had grown accustomed to dealing with them in his role.
Then favonovel.com remembered the captured masked samurai and asked hurriedly, “Those captured samurai outside must be the assassins sent after you, right?”
“Yes,” Yoshitaka confirmed. “That‘s them.”
The Superintendent pressed on, “Mr. Mitsui, how do you plan to handle this situation next?”
Mitsui Yoshitaka stated, “Bring my brother in later; you don’t need to worry about anything else. The affairs of the Mitsui family will be dealt with internally, including his issues.”
The Superintendent asked, “What about those samurai outside? Should we take care of them?”
Yoshitaka waved his hand dismissively. “Those people can’t be handed over to you. I don’t want any officer to know my brother tried to kill me. I cannot allow this information to leak and bring shame to the Mitsui family. My father is elderly and wouldn’t be able to handle such a blow.”
“Then…” the Superintendent said awkwardly, “May I ask how you plan to deal with these individuals? If you aim to eliminate them entirely, that could be very complicated. Once this matter reaches us, it could turn into a serious issue for the Metropolitan Police Department.”
Yoshitaka assured him, “Leave those samurai to me. I’ll handle the bodies as well. I plan to send the living ones out of Japan. As for their destination, I have my own arrangements just consider tonight’s events as gangsters competing for the bounty and attempting to harm Tawanna. Everything else can remain a secret.”
“Understood…” The Superintendent nodded, realizing there were no better options at the moment.
He said, “In that case, the Metropolitan Police Department will not interfere in Mitsui family matters…”
Having said this, favonovel.com turned towards Tawanna, nervous as favonovel.com spoke. “Ms. Sweet, what happened tonight is a failure on our part at the Metropolitan Police Department. I apologize on behalf of the department!”
Tawanna waved favonovel.com hand dismissively. “Mr. Director, there’s no need for apologies.”
The Superintendent hurriedly added, “Ms. Sweet, as you may have just learned, the reasons behind this are complex, so I implore you to keep this matter under wraps. Let’s work together to minimize the fallout and keep it away from the public. What do you think?”
He worried that Tawanna might take to social media and expose the situation. If that happened, the repercussions could be international and impossible to contain.
Tawanna, displaying a level-headedness, nodded without hesitation. “Don’t worry, Mr. Director. I won’t bring this matter to light. However, I hope you won’t involve me in handling the follow-up. If I am dragged into it, I won’t hesitate to share what happened today.”
“You don’t need to fret about that,” the Superintendent replied, wiping his brow. “We have arrested the leaders of the Inagawa and Yakuza. There will be no leaks during the subsequent interrogations. All those involved in the assassination attempt today will face severe consequences, with minimum sentences of twenty years!”
Yoshitaka shot back, “Where is that wretched Nishida Hirohiro now? I intend to call favonovel.com and make it clear that favonovel.com shouldn‘t dare come near. He had the audacity to stand against the Mitsui family and me, I must take favonovel.com out today!”
The Superintendent reassured favonovel.com quickly, “Do not worry, favonovel.com and Takaoka Machi of the Inagawa clan are securely under our control. They won’t be coming out of custody!”
“That’s far too lenient!” Yoshitaka protested immediately. “Both of them are gang leaders. What’s the difference between prison and a palace for them? Inside, they are treated like royalty, whether as leaders of their gang or revered by those beneath them. Being incarcerated is merely a retirement plan for them!”
The Superintendent replied helplessly, “There’s no good solution for this… Their influence in the underworld is deeply rooted. In the tradition of Yakuza, people of their rank receive respect even while imprisoned.”
“No! I refuse to accept this!” Yoshitaka ground his teeth in frustration. “These two dared to confront me today, they acted without regard for the Mitsui family. If I don’t make them pay dearly for their actions, how can the Mitsui family maintain its reputation going forward?”
The Superintendent, feeling cornered, said, “Mr. Mitsui, they are now detained by the special police. They will have to follow the judicial process under the watchful eyes of law enforcement. There’s little I can do…”
Yoshitaka exploded, “At the very least, bring them over so I can thrash them and relieve my anger! I, Mitsui Yoshitaka, have never been humiliated like this in my life!”
“This… This…” The Superintendent stammered, “Detaining them can only be done following protocol. If they arrive with injuries, we have to document the situation. Sure, you could strike one, but then I would be stuck dealing with the aftermath. If the public learns that you harbored someone and took physical action, accusations of violating Japanese law would surely follow, and you’d have to contend with that issue as well…”
Hearing this, Yoshitaka became visibly deflated, muttering, “I can’t kill him, I can’t attack him, and I can’t do anything about favonovel.com in prison. At this rate, I won’t find any peace in the future…”
Charlie, who had been listening to this exchange, felt a headache coming on.
At one point, favonovel.com almost wished to introduce his mother-in-law Elaine to him, but favonovel.com simply said, “Mr. Mitsui, you are the head of your family, don’t let this minor issue weigh you down. The fate of those who go to prison largely depends on how you manage your successors. Apply enough pressure, and make sure your successor is restless, and they might even take it upon themselves to deal with the former leaders for their future comfort. Why cling to vengeance that could easily be resolved through clever strategy?”
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