Suzuki Springs was a hot spring under gang control.
In the inner tearoom, a few trembling executives stood before the group leader.
"Katsuragi!" barked the group leader sitting at the head, "How did the surprise attack on the Toshiaki Family Group go?"
Asa Katsuragi bowed deeply to the group leader. She was young but sturdy, strong, and fierce.
"Reporting!" she responded loudly, "Just like us, they restarted their auxiliary power! Even though we managed to penetrate their interior, we met with a head-on attack and had to retreat!"
"Useless trash!" the group leader scolded, "It was just a few sentry guns! A golden opportunity wasted! Blackouts like this don't happen every day!"
He strode over and slapped Asa Katsuragi hard across the face.
The slap echoed.
Asa Katsuragi lay on the ground motionless, her expression even more resolute, her head buried even lower.
"Give me another chance! Even if I die in battle, I'll crush the Toshiaki Family Group!"
"Get out now!" The group leader waved his hand dismissively. Asa Katsuragi stood up, bowed deeply to him, and then strode out.
She stepped out into the corridor outside the tearoom and sighed.
It was just too complicated. How were they supposed to breach the fortress crammed with intelligent security devices of the Toshiaki Family Group?
I can't even read the names of those devices smoothly!
It's hard for the uneducated to survive in this world.
She realized she needed to go check the entrance.
Since a while ago, she had been hearing the noise of rats, as if a large swarm was heading their way.
On the other side.
Xu Yang rushed straight towards the entrance of Suzuki Springs.
Instantly, twenty or thirty men in black suits and sunglasses surged out from inside. They all had white headbands around their foreheads, holding submachine guns, pistols, baseball bats, steel pipes, and stun batons as weapons.
They looked like wild beasts released from a cage, quickly taking over the position at the entrance.
"Kill!" They shouted in unison and opened fire on the approaching swarm of rats.
"Dodge!" Xu Yang pulled Farosa with one hand and grabbed Kanako with the other, avoiding the trajectory of their gunfire.
"Victory!"
"Unity is strength!"
"For Suzuki Group!" they shouted one after another. Xu Yang realized these men were gangsters.
Gangsters were almost as dangerous as a swarm of rats; they were groups that operated outside corporate order.
Bullets whooshed over Xu Yang's head.
The ratmen's charge was contained under the intense firing from the gang members. They had already been wary of the brightly lit Suzuki Springs, and the unexpected fierce counterattack threw them into disarray.
One after another, ratmen were hit through their organs or limbs, falling to the ground screaming, writhing and convulsing. This poured cold water on their fierce will to fight, extinguishing their blind fervor.
The braver ones attempted to approach again, only to meet with gunfire several times more intense than before.
From "Suzuki Springs," several sharply dressed gang members rose from the walls. They must have been sharpshooters from the group, aiming their rifles and specifically targeting large, fierce ratmen.
"Attack!"
"Fire together!"
"Suzuki Group must win!"
Their voices were sharp, their tone unchanging, almost like a looped recording from a set of loudspeakers. Xu Yang wondered how they were trained.
Bang! Bang!
After several rounds of shooting, the leading ratmen were knocked down, clutching their wounds and wailing.
They were repulsed! Xu Yang's tense mood eased slightly.
The main threat had been eliminated. The remaining ratmen lost their morale, and for a moment, they lacked the courage to assault Suzuki Springs, scattering like a large lump of garbage being washed down a sewer drain, disappearing into the darkness.
A hot spring sheltered by gangsters, huh? Xu Yang glanced back. Normally, he would stay as far away as possible, but at times like this, it seemed exceptionally secure.
After the shooting, the gang members stood with their hands behind their backs, lined up in order, as neat and uniform as a black wall, blocking the entrance to Suzuki Springs.
"Hey, hey!" A thug with dyed red hair, wearing sunglasses, and an ill-fitting coat walked up. He was short and pretty, totally unsuited to be in a gang.
Where he passed, the gangsters all took a big step back in unison, as if they had rehearsed the move.
The ratmen only wanted to devour us, but our fate wouldn't be much better in the hands of the gangsters. Xu Yang held his breath. He could only act opportunistically, hoping to negotiate a favorable outcome with this man.
Xu Yang turned back to see Farosa with a now cold expression, her arms crossed over her chest, silently watching everything, as if sensing the imminent danger. Her eyes were like those of a venomous snake, ready to attack at any moment.
This might be her real nature, forever masked by a facade of friendliness and approachability.
Kojima Kanako, on the other hand, acted as if everything was normal. She squatted down, opened her shoulder bag, and began rifling through her game data cards, as if checking for any damage.
"Kill them," Farosa whispered in a low voice, "they mean us no good."
"Let's talk first if we can negotiate," Xu Yang whispered back, "there's no need to stir up trouble unnecessarily."
"What are you guys muttering about?" the red-haired thug said discontentedly.
"We don't want any trouble," Xu Yang quickly responded.
"Kid! Do you know whose turf this is?"
"We apologize for the disturbance. We'll compensate for any damage caused. It's not safe outside, and we hope to be allowed entry—we'll pay."
"Oh great, you've said it all, now pay up!" the red-haired thug said sarcastically, circling around Xu Yang and slapping his shoulder hard. Xu Yang felt a pang of pain, but didn't move a muscle.