Blue Arc froze for a second before turning his head to look at Su Zimai. He asked in confusion,
"It sounds like... Miss Ke Zinan has also encountered Black Cocoon?"
For a mont, everyone inside the seaside villa cast their gazes upon Su Zimai, who was dressed in a black suit.
Ke Qirui seed worried that Su Zimai might say the wrong thing, so she tucked her pipe back into her trench coat pocket. Curling the corners of her mouth, she answered on her behalf,
"Do not take offense, but my younger sister has also been harassed by Black Cocoon. Ever since that giant fluttering moth made his debut, he has always loved finding amusent at the expense of others, so our impression of him is not exactly favorable."
Su Zimai shrugged, too lazy to speak, and simply gave a nod.
Black Cocoon was still drawing circles on the ground with his finger, wondering to himself why his reputation among his three collaborators was so terrible.
As he drew circles, he ntally handed down sentences for Su Zimai and Ke Qirui:
'That girl surnad Su secretly sneaked off to Japan to play with others, only to be inexplicably discovered by her old man and big brother, and subsequently dragged back ho to be spanked;'
'As for the one surnad Ke, I should write "Lesbian who seduces high school girls" on her trench coat and hang her from the Tokyo Tower for a three-day and three-night public exhibition.'
anwhile, in the luxuriously decorated lobby.
Blue Arc knew very well that Black Cocoon was hiding sowhere eavesdropping, but due to their status as collaborators, he could not say so openly.
Thus, he offered a lukewarm sarcastic remark, "That is normal. Black Cocoon is like a mad dog that takes a bite out of everyone he sees."
The words went in one ear and out the other for Black Cocoon. Utterly disapproving, he resorted to the spiritual victory thod typically used by children:
'Then you are the dog brother, she is the dog sister, the old man is the dog dad, and we are just the happy and joyful Peppa Pig family of dogs.'
Sakura Bud crossed her arms and pondered for a mont before lifting her head, asking for final confirmation:
"Are you truly not acquainted with Black Cocoon? I have seen quite a few people speculate that the two of you are secretly working together."
Blue Arc shook his head, righteously severing all ties with Black Cocoon. "Miss Sakura Bud, please do not confuse
with that kind of criminal. That would trouble
greatly."
He paused. "You are also a highly experienced Transgressor, so you should understand that there are a lot of psychopaths among criminals. They just love clinging to you for attention, but that does not an you have any substantial relationship with them."
Sakura Bud nodded. "That is true. I spoke out of turn, I apologize. However, these are tense tis, and it just so happens that Black Cocoon followed you here to Tokyo, sparking many scandals on the streets. I had to confirm this with you beforehand."
"It is fine. Misunderstandings like this are perfectly normal," Blue Arc replied.
Ke Qirui slightly raised the corner of her eyes, observing Blue Arc from the edge of her vision beneath her hat brim.
Sure enough... Blue Arc must also be one of Black Cocoon's collaborators. With this thought in mind, she spoke up:
"Now that the idle chatter is out of the way, Miss Sakura Bud, shouldn't the nine of us start discussing the bodyguard operation for this auction?"
"Right... First of all, everyone should be clear about our potential enemies?" Sakura Bud asked.
"The White Raven Brigade," Blue Arc lowered his voice, taking the lead to voice the na that terrified countless people.
A deathly silence blanketed the nine individuals. Everyone knew this was an SS-tier wanted criminal organization, infamous far and wide. There was not a single major power in the world ignorant of their reputation.
Previously, the White Raven Brigade had committed nurous world-shaking cris: killing France's strongest Superhuman, Ember, at the Saint-Gilles National Auction; plundering the Washington Museum in the USA; and attacking an Italian military transport ship at sea, only to turn around and resell all the supplies to local gangs...
If one were to ticulously count their cris and list every criminal record in a notebook, a single page would not be nearly enough. If they ever fell into official hands, every mber of the brigade would have to be executed a hundred tis over for justice to be served.
And just recently, the Japanese yakuza auction organizers received advance notice that they were being targeted by the White Raven Brigade:
—Undoubtedly, so specific item at this Tokyo underground auction had piqued the White Raven Brigade's interest.
Therefore, like a shark swarm hiding in the vast ocean, they followed that faint scent of blood, surging forward with unstoppable montum.
Just as the group fell silent, Xu Sanyan spoke up with an expressionless face.
He declared, "Since no one else is going to say it, let : I feel your Japanese side lacks sincerity. Sending such a small combat force and expecting to stop the White Raven Brigade is simply an Arabian Nights tale."
He paused. "To put it bluntly... it is no different from throwing your lives away."
As those words dropped, the atmosphere in the villa lobby instantly turned freezing cold. It seed as if even the warm glow cascading from the crystal chandelier had grown pale.
The nine of them remained silent for quite a while.
The four representatives from the Japanese side reacted calmly, not showing any displeasure over Xu Sanyan's remark.
White tides crashed against the shore, shattering into spray. Amidst the rushing sound, a cargo truck drove past on the coastal highway.
"Hey... Sanyan. When the boss is here, let the boss speak. It is not your turn," Lin Zhengquan reminded him slowly, his arms crossed.
"It does not matter. Do we not still have Blue Arc?" Ke Qirui smiled.
Blue Arc shrugged. "Thank you for the trust. Truthfully, I accepted this auction guard mission partly because the association requested it, and partly because it has been a long ti since I found an opponent I could properly trade blows with."
'Sigh, just keep being so confident, brother. You will quiet down once your life is saved by the Ghost Bell dad you hate so much,' Black Cocoon thought to himself.
"As expected of Mr. Blue Arc. A confident man is the most charming."
Ke Qirui spoke casually. Her craving for a smoke flared up, and she could not resist biting down on her pipe again. She did not smoke it, rely sniffing the lingering scent on the pipe with the tip of her nose.
Xu Sanyan stayed silent for a long mont before adding, "You are not trying to use this opportunity to sacrifice Blue Arc and thus justifiably weaken a neighboring country's combat power, are you?"
In that instant, Fuyuyama Nobunaga snapped his eyes upward, a blade-like chill bursting from his pupils.
He stared directly into Xu Sanyan's eyes, enunciating every word:
"Say that again?"
'Fight, fight, fight...' Black Cocoon lay on his side on the floor, propping his head up with his arm in a pose identical to the Normal-type Pokémon Slaking, itching to jump out and fan the flas.
"Xu Sanyan," Ke Qirui removed her pipe, her voice dropping a fraction in temperature. "For the remainder of our ti here, you are not allowed to say a single word without my permission."
Xu Sanyan coldly snorted, breaking eye contact with Fuyuyama Nobunaga. Sakura Bud hugged her sword hilt and spoke slowly, "I think... you seem to have so misunderstanding about us. We ford this bodyguard team only after asuring the actual circumstances."
She paused. "Moreover, we are far from the only ones participating in this operation. We are indeed the core bodyguard team, but besides us, the Eight Great Yakuza Families have each recruited an elite squad of Superhumans. All told, there are as many as fifty of them, and among them are quite a few Dragon-tier Superhumans whose strength is comparable to mine."
Hearing this, Su Zimai frowned, leaning close to Ke Qirui's ear to whisper:
"What use is an abundance of minnows... Can Japan not produce a single Near-Calamity Tier figure? The only Near-Calamity Tier here is a blue electric mouse borrowed from China."
Ke Qirui shook her head and replied in a hushed tone:
"Japan still has a few Near-Calamity Tier Superhumans... It is just that their superhuman association is closer to the United Nations, unlike the Exorcist Association which maintains close ties with the yakuza families. Therefore, they felt no need to thrust a Near-Calamity Tier into such a dangerous situation... They rely lent one or two mid-to-high tier combatants as a token gesture."
With that said, she raised her head and elevated her voice toward Sakura Bud:
"Over fifty Superhuman bodyguards, huh? That does indeed sound very reassuring."
Ke Qirui paused. "But more than that, I am curious: how much does your side actually know about the White Raven Brigade?"
"The sa as you," Sakura Bud said bluntly. "We only know the combat capabilities of five of their mbers."
Finishing her sentence, she cast a glance at the curly-haired man beside her.
Haihara Ritsu, wearing his round-rimd glasses, gave an awkward smile. He pulled a projection pen from his pocket, fiddled with it for a mont with his head lowered, and then pressed the button.
A list of files was projected in mid-air.
Ayase Origami, Superhuman, hailing from the Ayase family, Near-Calamity Tier;
Oda Takikage, Superhuman, hailing from the Ayase family, Peak Dragon-tier;
Lan Duo Duo, Anecdote Envoy, equivalent to "Dragon-tier" in the superhuman evaluation system;
An Lunsi, Superhuman, evaluated as "Near-Calamity Tier" in the superhuman evaluation system;
Jack the Ripper, Tier 2 Exorcist, equivalent to "Near-Calamity Tier" in the superhuman evaluation system.
Ke Qirui lifted her eyes from her pipe stem and swept her gaze across the projected list.
Her eyes lingered for a second on the image of Jack the Ripper, who was dressed in a school uniform and holding a dark red small knife, before she spoke:
"As the file indicates, out of the five mbers we know of alone, there are already three at the 'Near-Calamity Tier'."
"Even though Mr. Blue Arc is an outstanding figure among the 'Near-Calamity Tier', it is impossible for him to handle that many monsters at once."
"Although you claim the Eight Great Yakuza Families have also assembled an elite Superhuman force of over fifty people, that is still far from enough."
Ke Qirui paused, lowering her voice. "Because we cannot be certain... if the remaining seven mbers of the White Raven Brigade are just as powerful as the five we currently know."
Hearing this, Black Cocoon, who was lying on his side on the second floor playing with his fingers, raised a hand to scratch his cheek. 'You can rest easy on that front,' he said in his heart. 'The White Raven Brigade really isn't entirely made of macho powerhouses. Uh... at the very least, Number 12 is a substandard product.'
Sakura Bud spoke at an unhurried pace:
"Indeed, we have considered this point as well. In the event that the core bodyguard team ford by us, combined with the gangs' fifty elite Superhumans, are unable to stop the White Raven Brigade."
She paused. "Then there are others who will take action."
"Who?"
Ke Qirui and Blue Arc asked in unison. The two exchanged a glance before turning back to Sakura Bud.
Sakura Bud explained, "The organizers said that among the guests this ti, there are two big figures with truly terrifying strength. They each hail from two different, imnsely powerful factions."
"Two powerful factions?" Ke Qirui murmured.
Sakura Bud nodded. "Correct. However, these two guests are unwilling to disclose their identities. The organizers also ntioned that they should step in if necessary. After all, being inside the auction, they could not possibly ignore indiscriminate attacks from the White Raven Brigade."
While Ke Qirui was still pondering what factions these two individuals might belong to, Su Zimai spoke up beside her.
Highly skeptical, Su Zimai asked, "Exactly how strong are these two guests?" She paused. "It is not just you Japanese who think their strength is terrifying, right?"
Sakura Bud shook her head. "No. The organizers told us very explicitly: these two big figures are on the sa level as Blue Arc. In fact, one of them might be even stronger than him."
As she finished speaking, the young woman in kendo attire shot a glance at Blue Arc.
"Stronger... than ?" Blue Arc whispered softly.
He crossed his arms, his brows lifting slightly beneath his helt. Evidently, Sakura Bud's words had sparked his interest—the number of people in this world who could boast being stronger than him could be counted on one's fingers.
Su Zimai froze for a mont, imdiately voicing a guess:
"Rainbow Wing?"
"No," Ke Qirui interjected. "It cannot be Rainbow Wing. The relationship between the United Nations and the Japanese yakuza is far from harmonious."
She chuckled softly. "There is no need for us to guess. Since the Japanese side is so certain that these two 'guests' really are that powerful, their auras will definitely be extraordinary. When the ti cos, we will naturally be able to spot them at the venue."
At this very mont, in the corridor on the second floor.
Black Cocoon leaned against the mahogany railing, tilting his head as he pondered curiously, 'They said there are two "big figures" among the guests, and that these two co from different factions?'
Obviously, the mont Ji Minghuan heard them ntion these two guests, he had already guessed the identity of one of the "big figures":
—That was, naturally, his good brother Li Qingping, who was also the vice-captain of the Whalegarden's Royal Court Squad, codenad "Red Dragon".
Then... who was the other "guest" with strength on par with Blue Arc?
This was the question that puzzled Ji Minghuan.
Since Sakura Bud said the organizers claid the faction behind the other "guest" was different from Li Qingping's, that ant this other guest did not belong to the Whalegarden, nor could they belong to Rainbow Wing...
By process of elimination, did that not leave only two possibilities?
Realizing this, Ji Minghuan suddenly froze for a second, then slowly recited one of those two possibilities in his heart:
'The Salvation Society...'
In that instant, the Tutor's warm and genial face violently flashed through his mind.
Through his Restraining Band Senses, Ji Minghuan's vision draped over the first-floor lobby like a sh insect screen, his gaze resting above the heads of Blue Arc and Ke Qirui.
Observing their expressions, he raised an eyebrow with great interest and thought to himself:
'How very interesting. I thought all the players were already assembled, but I didn't expect this auction to keep escalating the stakes... I just hope this mysterious big figure won't let
down when the ti cos.'
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