Mitsui Yuto was the leader of the Mitsui Group and the backbone of the Japanese financial sector. He was much wealthier than the richest man in China, and only the Lee Family of the Samsung Group might be able to rival his family fortune.
His warning was a clear message to Chen Fan from the top dogs of Japan: those who ruled the islands from behind the curtain, cautioning him that enough is enough.
“Mr. Chen Beixuan, we all have seen what you are capable of and we don’t hesitate a moment in believing that you are the most powerful man in East Asia. However, please also remember that we live in the 21st century and personal strength is not as important anymore.”
Mitsui Yuto bowed to Chen Fan and then left the room with a smug smile.
Mitsui Yuto’s attitude didn’t sit well with Violet. She complained: “He is so full of himself. Master has killed Takemiya Hiro and rose to prominence in East Asia, even the family lord of the Mitsui family would have to speak respectfully to master. What makes Mitsui Yuto think he could use that smug tone of voice? He is nothing but a pawn of the Mitsui family.”
Japanese was a fiercely hieratical society and it was the case in both the prominent families and political system. Age dictates the authority one could wield in any group. Many retired seniors still had significant influence in society and they ruled the nation from behind the scenes, pulling the strings of their younger counterparts to run the third-largest economy in the world and a total population of well over a billion.
Chen Fan was quiet. He tapped the table with his finger thoughtfully.
A hint of concern surface on Red Sparrow’s face.
“Mitsui Yuto’s warning was a clear message to you from the real leaders of the nation. We should pack up and leave here before they resort to violence.”
Chen Fan reckoned that the “violence” Red Sparrow had mentioned was not the threat of Grandmasters, instead, it was the real “violence” of the 21st century.
These were the state violence apparatus such as Law Enforcement unit and the Police force, armed not with swords, but firearms.
“Do you think they will do that?” Violet was surprised by such a prospect.
Countries in the East Asia region had been in peace with each other for many decades. Japan’s Self-Defense Forces had never been mobilized ever since the fifties during the Korean War. The rank of the Japan Self-Defense Forces was only two hundred thousand strong and was mostly tasked with local peacekeeping missions. The real military missions in Japan were carried out by the Americans. Years of peace and prosperity had made most Japanese citizens forget the existence of their military.
“It’s very likely. We need to be prepared.” Red Sparrow said with a solemn face.
She was a super soldier in the Special Case Department in China and knew how the militaries worked around the world. She knew that the Japanese military—however small it was— had never stopped sharpening its skills and modernizing its equipment. If Chen Fan finally got on the nerves of the leaders of Japan, they would not hesitate a second to use the force at their disposal. Chen Fan was a powerful man, but no man could survive the attack of a fully armed army.
Chen Fan and Takemiya Hiro’s battle had destroyed half of the Tokyo Tower, but any missile could have completely wiped Tokyo Tower off the map.
“It’s also likely that Mitsui Yuto was simply bluffing. Japanese leaders were not as conspicuous as the American. Zeus had to kill an American General stationed in the Philippines, for the US government to mobilize all the American forces stationed in the pacific region to capture him.” Red Sparrow put in.
“I think the most likely reaction of the Japanese Government is to send a Law enforcement unit after you. There is a special unit under the Japanese military called the Harikēn, despite its small size of merely a hundred men, it is one of the most well equipped and well-drilled forces in Japan. They served a very specific purpose in Japan: to keep the Grandmasters in check.”
Red Sparrow was very familiar with the Special Law enforcement units all around the world.
To her surprise, the threat of the Huriken Unit didn’t have even the slightest effect on Chen Fan. He shook his head and said: “I still have some other matters to attend to. I can’t leave yet.”
“What are your other businesses? Takemiya Hiro is dead, who else could you be going after?” Red Sparrow was taken aback at first, but suddenly, she remembered something. She rounded her eyes in disbelief and asked: “Are you still thinking of going after those shrines?”
“Are you crazy? What you did to Susano Shrine has already stirred the ire of the entire Japanese Martial arts world. If you keep pressing on and destroy more shrines, they will finally retaliate with full force.”
Red Sparrow stomped the ground as she complained.
“Oh, how did you know my plan?” Chen Fan asked, slightly surprised.
“Humph! Do you think you are the first one who had vied for the power in the shrines? Mind you that those shrines have existed over hundreds of years.” Red Sparrow grunted and said
“Countless Overlords who dreamed of reaching the Immortal State attempted to steal, or rob those shrines of their secrets about immortality. However, each one of these shrines was deep-rooted in the Japanese power matrix and was well connected with all the powerful forces in Japan. You have alarmed those forces by destroying one shrine, they would not let you so much as touch another. The leaders of the nation will get involved and things will become messy.”
Despite Red Sparrow’s warning, Chen Fan didn’t change his mind.
The six shrines in Japan looked as tantalizing as a slab of meat would to a hungry wolf.
One Immortal Guardian might not be enough to awaken the full potential of the Summoning Flute of Demon God, but six Immortal Guardians would definitely do. Chen Fan wouldn’t even need to get his hands dirty and could let the Immortal Guardians do his bidding. Such was the power of these Immortal Guardians, that they could easily rip an Immortal State cultivator into pieces.
Red Sparrow’s face was contorted by anger after her words bounced off of Chen Fan’s stubborn mind. Her chest moved up and down as she took a deep breath to calm herself, making her bosom seem even fuller than it already was.
“Master, many family lords from Tokyo and Chinese Martial Artists also wanted your audience.” Violet opened a notebook with pages of names.
Chen Fan had killed Takemiya Hiro, he was the man of the hour, the new rising force in Japan.
Although Japan’s high-level leaders wanted Chen Fan out of their territory as quickly as possible, the Japanese citizens were enamored by Chen Fan’s strength and wanted him to stay so that they could know him better.
People such as Mitsui Yuto would never talk to Chen Fan as he did with such arrogance without the full support of the national leaders. Even a Kendo Master deserved an ordinary citizen’s utmost veneration, much less the one who had killed a Sword Sage.
“Oh? Who are they?” Chen Fan asked airily.
“Leaders of Mitsubishi, Sharp, Sony, Astellas Pharma, Taōtsuka Pharma, and many other large corporations.” Violet readout aloud a slew of names.
Chen Fan reckoned that the link between large corporations and the Martial arts world in Japan was much tighter than that in China.
However, Chen Fan was not surprised by his discovery. The Chinese government had a tight control in nearly every aspect of its citizens’ lives, stability and control was their ultimate goal. It was not in their interest to see an alliance between the martial artists and the businessmen since it would make managing either one of them difficult.
However, the Japanese government had a much looser grip on things in Japan and mega-corporations had taken up that power vacuum and dominated the land. In order to remain in power, they needed help from Martial artists, thus forging an alliance between the two. Grandmasters also had a much higher social status in Japan than in China.
When Violent finally finished reading the names of the visitors, Chen Fan realized that most of them were here because of the Vitality Serum.
After Violet finished reading the list of Japanese guests, she went on to the Chinese guests. Suddenly, Chen Fan heard a familiar name.
“Wait, did you say Qi Dongsheng?”
Chen Fan narrowed his eyes and mulled over the name. Wasn’t that Qi Wangsun’s father? Why was he in Japan wanting to see me?
“Yes, Qi Dongsheng. Owner of the Dong Sheng Group at the Northern Sea Bay. He is a friend of Lin Tai, founder of the largest Chinese Martial arts Dojo in Japan. The message was sent by Lin Tai as well on behalf of Qi Dongsheng.”
“I know of him. He is a Chinese Grandmaster who lived in Tokyo. I heard he is related to the Lin family of Southeastern China. Technically, he is the uncle of Lin Tatian who you have killed.” Red Sparrow said slowly.
Chen Fan was not surprised at all that the Special Case Department knew qbout his murder of Lin Tatian. The Special Case Departments were in the business of knowing things.
“Master, are you going to meet them?” Violet asked softly.
“I will be fine.”
Chen Fan shook his head and then sighed.
Chen Fan didn’t know why Qi Dongsheng wanted to see him and neither did he care. He is a friend of his son, not Qi Dongsheng himself. He had helped the Qi family only because of Qi Wangsun.
“We will have to leave Tokyo soon before more visitors come after me.” Chen Fan heaved a sigh and said.
Red Sparrow nodded.
Chen Fan was the most popular man in Japan right now and countless martial artists from all over the world flocked to Japan in order to meet the most powerful man in East Asia. As long as Chen Fan still carried this title, he was a walking beacon in the night that attracts everyone’s attention.
“Violet, get the tickets ready, we will head back to Kyushu right away. I will stop by Kyushu Shrine on the way. After that, we will have to act quickly. Hopefully, I can get rid of one or two more Shrines before the Japanese government notices.” Chen Fan rose to his feet and started off.
“As you wish.” Violet paused a second and then replied.
Red Sparrow gazed at the back of Violet and thought of saying something to her, but then she thought better of it.
Red Sparrow and Chen Fan took a train to Kyushu instead of a plane in order to avoid the stringent checkpoints at the airport. They traveled with fake documents. Violet had left a bit earlier than them on a different train but to the same destination.
It was close to the new year and most Japanese people were staying home with their families. As a result, the train was nearly empty and only tourists from China and Korea filled the spots here and there.
“Excuse me.”
A familiar voice wrenched Chen Fan’s mind out of his meditation. He then saw Ai Jinqi standing next to him, dragging a suitcase behind.
Ai Jinqi’s face lit up with glee as soon as she saw Chen Fan.
“We meet again?”
“Yea, I am on my way to Kyushu. Are you taking your flight from Fukuoka back home?”
She asked Chen Fan, but her eyes wandered to Red Sparrow. Every time she met Chen Fan, he was always accompanied by a gorgeous face. Yukishiro Sa, Violet and now it was Red Sparrow. Ai Jinqi felt a bitterness rise inside of her.
Ren Hao looked at Chen Fan with complicated emotions flickering in his eyes.
He had thought Chen Fan was just another Chinese tourist, but he turned out to be a mighty figure, so much so that even Mitsui Yuto had to wait patiently for him at the bottom of the Tokyo Tower.
Right after they left the Tokyo Tower as instructed by Chen Fan, they heard a loud crash and saw a section of the tower fall down. Ren Hao had suspected that it had something to do with Chen Fan, but he would have never guessed the tower collapsed because of Chen Fan and Takemiya Hiro’s battle.
“Thank you for your warning the other day. Did you know that the Tokyo Tower collapsed on that day? I heard it was aliens.” Ai Jinqi sat beside Chen Fan and already started prattling.
“Aliens?”
Red Sparrow chortled.
She looked at Chen Fan as if he was a sly trickster.
Chen Fan let out a wry smile. Soon the train was on its way, many people came over to Ai Jinqia to say hi to her.
It was evident that the social butterfly had made a lot of friends.
Chen Fan soon learned that some of the Chinese tourists were traveling in a group. They were all from Zhong Hai and were on their way to Kyushu and then heading back home.
Many of the tourists gave Chen Fan a curious look and some even asked Ai Jinqi if Chen Fan was her boyfriend, to which Ai Jinqi replied with a silent blush.
The train quickly arrived at the Shikoku area. Suddenly, Chen Fan’s face became taut as he registered something was amiss. Then the lights on the train went out as if the train had taken them through the gate of hell.
A jarring and sharp voice came up in everyone’s mind.
“Chen Beixuan, come out and die!”