Traveling through the Tokyo bubble era

Chapter 966 The Second Generation Pokémon Fight, and the Right Way to Die

"It seems you're really enjoying your life right now!"

In Ota Ward, inside the last remaining factory of Elf Entertainment, Hideki Hanyu stood in front of an internal warehouse and said this to a middle-aged man in red and white overalls beside him.

The man was none other than Kusamura Juntada, the former head of the production department at Elf Entertainment, the group's executive director, and an absolute high-ranking executive second only to the president.

However, the current situation of Kusamura Juntada is due to the fact that, during a supply chain inspection, Hideki Hanyu discovered that the production department's lax quality control led to frequent supply chain problems, and that there were also cases of secret collusion with suppliers.

Under Hideki Hanyu's instructions, President Satoru Iwata has already given it a "decent" treatment.

Although he wasn't directly expelled from Elf Entertainment, he was removed from all his positions and reassigned to oversee the factory relocation.

Recently, Sumitada Kusamura has been trying to meet with Hideki Hanyu.

Regardless of whether Kusamura Juntada wanted to apologize, admit his mistake and beg for forgiveness, or try to play the victim to get him back to his original position, Hideki Hanyu did not give him a chance to meet.

But today, when Hideki Hanyu came to the Ota Ward Market, he saw Sumitada Kusamura standing with his hands on his hips, arrogantly directing the workers to move things out of the warehouse.

That's when Hideki Hanyu said what he did at the beginning.

Upon discovering that it was Hideki Hanyu who was speaking, Sumitada Kusamura's previous arrogant and domineering demeanor vanished completely.

Ignoring the people around him, he immediately knelt down in front of Hideki Hanyu, putting on a look of deep regret and grief, and began to apologize!
"I'm sorry, President, I've let you down. I don't ask for your forgiveness, I only ask that you continue to let me work for Elf Entertainment. I've grown up alongside Elf Entertainment, and I consider it my own child..."

"Shut up!"

Seeing this guy's snot and tears streaming down his face, and his disgusting, pretentious act, Hideki Yuzuru simply couldn't be bothered to listen anymore.

After being shouted at by Hideki Hanyu, Sumitada Kusamura immediately stopped howling and remained kneeling there without moving.

"Get up! You used to be a senior executive in the group, what kind of behavior is this?"

After Hideki Hanyu finished speaking, Sumitada Kusamura quickly stood up from the ground.

Hideki Yuzuru ignored the other person's mood and walked straight into the warehouse.

Once inside, seeing the goods being moved, he immediately switched into work mode and asked, "What are you moving now?"

Having already composed himself, Kusamura Juntada quickly replied.

"These are accessories for the North American version of the second-generation Pokémon Fighter. They will be shipped to the Yokohama Port warehouse and then forwarded to America for final assembly."

Hideki Yuzuru nodded, realizing that these must be the batch of goods he had specially produced to boost the political achievements of certain "friends" in America.

Although America's economy has gone from real to speculative and is irreversible, voters' objective need for employment still exists.

When some important figures make grand promises that need to be fulfilled, Hideki Hanyu thoughtfully offers a comprehensive package of services to "promote employment through production."

Pack the "components" that are only one step away from completion, ship them in, set up a shell factory to make packaging and label them, and in a short time a large number of people can be employed, and the products are still genuine "Made in America".

In this way, the important figures fulfilled their promises, the people gained employment, and everyone was happy.

Hideki Yuzuru dares to say that if this method were used decades later, it would surely make a certain "Emperor Yingzong" overjoyed.

As for himself, although he lost some money that he didn't care about, he gained something more important than money.

Moreover, doing this would only result in a small financial loss, not a complete loss of profit.

Do you think those American capitalists moved their factories to Asia because they weren't making money producing in America?
No, it's just that I earn less.

Capitalists pursue the highest possible profit; even earning a little less is a loss.

Unlike other capitalists, Hideki Hanyu doesn't have to worry about what to do if profits aren't maximized or if he goes bankrupt due to a bad investment.
Hideki Yuzuru is not short of money. As a time traveler, he is not afraid of making investment mistakes. He has so many ways to make money that he is too busy to handle them all. Money is no longer the most important thing. What matters is what money can buy.
Thinking of this, Hideki Hanyu asked, "If I remember correctly, the second generation of Pokémon Fight will be announced at next year's Tokyo Electric Power Exhibition."

As a former senior executive of the group, Kusamura Juntada naturally knew a lot about strategic products and immediately answered.

"Yes, Chairman, the Neon version will be released first in March, the America version will be announced at E3, and the Adventure region is planned to be released after April."

Upon hearing this, Hideki Hanyu instructed his subordinates to unpack a package for him and take out a second-generation Pokémon Fight "accessory" that was almost finished with just a label, and began to examine it carefully.

Compared to the first generation, or even the upgraded first generation Pokémon Fight, the second generation Pokémon Fight fully entered the era of color screens.

Moreover, the multi-card slot mode, better audio output, simple pseudo-smart system, and larger color screen than the first generation all enhance the consumer's gaming experience.

In addition, the second generation of Pokémon Fight added an extremely cool feature: abandoning the wired connection of the previous generation and adopting a more stylish wireless connection battle system.

Actually, this technology was developed by Elf Entertainment's R&D center for the PS2 wireless controller. However, due to the limitations of the technology at this time, the connection stability is insufficient and the latency problem is difficult to solve, so it cannot be applied to game controllers that require sensitive feedback for the time being.

However, since the controllers couldn't be used, and Pokémon Fight didn't require such high levels of feedback, the developers of Pokémon Fight adopted this technology.

Actually, as an iterative product of electronic pets, this product in my hand should actually be considered the seventh generation electronic pet.

However, with the segmentation of the market and the diversification of products by Elf Entertainment in recent years, the electronic pets that Elf Entertainment initially made its name with, and Pokémon Fight, which can be raised and battled, are no longer the same product type.

The former started with Tamagotchi and later with the Pokémon series, and has now been updated five times.

Although the latter started with the "Pokémon" series, it has now developed into collaborations with Marvel Comics, Phantom Studios, and Pokémon Publishing IPs, creating several series of battle systems.

In this era, many people think of Elf Entertainment as the undisputed leader in the video game industry, with a constant stream of high-quality games and unmatched market share across its three major platforms. It is so powerful that you often hear about antitrust agencies in other countries announcing investigations.

At this point, the Elf Legal Department will step in and begin their moment in the spotlight.

This is a bit of a tangent, but what I'm trying to say is that Elf Entertainment, which once made its first fortune with electronic pets, has now become a veritable video game giant.

Everyone agrees that Elf Entertainment's most profitable business is definitely the gaming industry.

But that is not the case.

To put it simply, even if you add up the revenue from the EGP arcade platform, Pokémon handheld console, PS1, PS2, and all games, the profit is only barely on par with that of electronic pets and Pokémon Fight.

The PS1, touted as the world's most successful home video game console, is utterly and completely outclassed by the first-generation Pokémon Fighter.

Don't be fooled by the fact that you can sell game cartridges on a PS console.

How much money can you make from cassette tapes?

Can it compare to the card packs that drive consumers crazy?

Seven cards for twenty dollars—the allure of spending money to open blind boxes is beyond imagination.

The moment you unlock an orange legendary battle card is far more exciting than completing a game.

Moreover, thanks to Elf Entertainment's years of careful and strict maintenance, the secondary Elf Card market has long been mature.

Therefore, obtaining a rare spirit card represents not only spiritual pleasure but also tangible monetary benefits.

To encourage consumer transactions, Elf Entertainment even offers free verification of Elf Cards and provides authenticity guarantees at its "Elf Show" directly operated stores around the world.

Because of the huge interests involved, Elf Entertainment has been embroiled in numerous scandals over the years involving Elf Cards, including favoritism, embezzlement, and other misconduct.

In fact, besides the cards themselves, the Elf Cards also generate a lot of additional benefits.

For example, in order to realize the functions of the Elf Card, Elf Entertainment bought the IC card technology patent from Kunitaka Arimura.

After acquiring the patent, Elf Entertainment conducted in-depth research on this technology.

Then, thanks to this entire patent system, they successfully participated in the development of international standards and specifications for IC cards by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

He also receives a considerable amount of patent fees every year, which, although not much to Hideki Hanyu, is an unexpected windfall.

It would definitely be enough to support a few mistresses for him.

With that in mind, Hideki Yuzuru returned the "parts" to his subordinate and continued his tour of the warehouse, inquiring about the factory relocation.

Just as he was reading half of it, his assistant suddenly came up to him and whispered a report in his ear.

"Mr. Yuzuru, Managing Director Kishida of Mitsui Bank and President Nakajima Keisuke of Mitsui Trust have arrived."

Hideki Hanyu nodded to indicate that he understood, said, "Let them wait," and continued his unfinished work.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Hideki Hanyu returned to the door.

As soon as he came out, he saw Managing Director Kishida, a middle-aged man with a plump figure, and Sana Nakajima staring at him expectantly.

The middle-aged man was Nakajima Sana's father, Nakajima Keisuke.

"You guys go to work first."

After dismissing his factory subordinates, Hideki Yuzuru walked up to the group.

The group quickly and respectfully greeted Hideki Yuzuru.

Hideki Hanyu nodded slightly, then looked at Keisuke Nakajima, "President Nakajima, it's been a long time."

While it appeared to be a greeting, Hideki Hanyu's tone was full of sarcasm.

The words reached Keisuke Nakajima's ears, immediately causing him to show a look of fear.

He clearly understood why Hideki Hanyu would say that.

He asked Hideki Yuzuru for help, but instead of showing up in person, he sent his daughter to make contact, and she hasn't even shown up for so many days.

In Japanese society, this is considered extremely rude.

Therefore, Keisuke Nakajima, in his panic, immediately tried to defend himself.

"President Yuzuru, I'm very sorry. I really wanted to come see you in person, but Kotani Mitsuhiro has been arranging for those yakuza members to monitor me recently. I'm worried that coming to see you in person will arouse his suspicion."

"Really? Then why are you here again today?" Hideki Yuzuru asked.

Keisuke Nakajima quickly explained, "Today I pretended to accompany my wife shopping and asked him to distract me so I could finally escape and get here." Hideki Hanyu said, "Since Mitsuhiro Kotani is acting so recklessly, why don't you report this to the higher-ups at the Mitsui Group? I don't believe they'll let Mitsuhiro Kotani run rampant."

Upon hearing Hideki Hanyu's words, Keisuke Nakajima looked troubled and embarrassed, saying, "There are some things that are not convenient for others to know."

Upon hearing this, Hideki Yuzuru knew what the other party was wary of.

Keisuke Nakajima and Mitsuhiro Kotani are in cahoots, and their own actions are not clean either. They report Kotani's affairs to the Mitsui executives. While dealing with Kotani, Mitsui will not let him off the hook either.

After all, Kotani Mitsuhiro only harmed Nakajima Keisuke.

However, Keisuke Nakajima and Mitsuhiro Kotani colluded with each other, undermining the foundation of the Mitsui Financial System.

From Mitsui's perspective, Keisuke Nakajima and Mitsuhiro Kotani are no different.

"Haha, interesting."

Realizing Keisuke Nakajima's concerns, Hideki Hanyu smiled knowingly.

He then looked at Managing Director Kishida beside him and said, "Since you've waited so long to see me, you must have prepared some bargaining chips to sway me."

Managing Director Kishida replied, "Yes, Chairman Hanyu, but it's not convenient to talk here. How about we go somewhere else?"

Hideki Yuzuru thought this made sense; it was indeed inconvenient for him and the others to discuss their affairs at the factory gate.

Just as Hideki Hanyu was about to agree, two black Honda sedans suddenly sped up and came to a stop at the factory gate with a sudden brake.

The car door opened, and seven or eight men with sinister faces got out.

Judging from their demeanor and attire, these guys are clearly not respectable people.

Therefore, Marco immediately shielded Hideki Hanyu behind him, and the bodyguards surrounding and protecting Hideki Hanyu all moved closer to him, while their hands reached into their suits.

Hideki Hanyu noticed that the managing director Kishida, who was talking to him, and the Nakajima father and daughter immediately became panicked when they saw these people, realizing that these were the yakuza members who were threatening them.

Seeing seven or eight yakuza members approach, Hideki Yuzuru simply stared blankly, his heart unmoved.

They're just a bunch of arrogant idiots. If he wanted, they'd all lie down after getting off the bus.

He didn't do that because he wanted to see what these desperate bastards were really up to.

“Mr. Kishida, Mr. Nakajima, what you’re doing is putting me in a very difficult position.”

The leader, a burly man in a black suit, with only a thin layer of stubble on his scalp, making him appear bald, and with obvious tattoos on his neck, approached and spoke in a gloomy voice to Executive Director Yasuda and Keisuke Nakajima.

"What do you want to do?"

Keisuke Nakajima asked, trying to appear calm.

The bald man sneered and said, "I also want to ask Mr. Nakajima this question: what were you planning to do by sneaking away alone, leaving your wife behind? We had to ask your wife for a long time before we found out where you went."

Upon hearing this, Keisuke Nakajima immediately asked in shock and anger, "What did you do to my wife?"

"Hehe, Mr. Nakajima, don't worry. We are friends and business partners. How could I possibly do anything to a friend's family? I just took Mrs. Nakajima home and asked her a few questions."

As the bald man spoke, he made a sudden realization and said, "Oh, by the way, to prevent Mrs. Nakajima from suddenly disappearing like Mr. Nakajima, I left two people to look after the house. You're welcome."

As soon as the bald man finished speaking, Keisuke Nakajima stared at him with eyes wide with rage.

But seeing the bald man's nonchalant attitude, she turned to look at Hideki Yuzuru with pleading eyes.

Hideki Hanyu remained completely unmoved. After all, both Executive Director Yasuda and Keisuke Nakajima had ended up in their current predicament because they had conspired with a tiger and were driven by greed.

Hideki Hanyu has no reason to clean up their mess.

Moreover, the matter of Kotani Mitsuhiro may very well involve former Prime Minister Nakasone. Hideki Habu has not yet contacted Nakasone, so even if he is tempted by the bargaining chips that the two have not yet revealed, he will not immediately lend a helping hand.

Besides, in broad daylight, no matter how arrogant these gangsters are, they can't possibly do anything real.

However, he ignored him, but the bald man who noticed Keisuke Nakajima's gaze shifted his attention to Hideki Hanyu.

The other party recognized Hideki Hanyu immediately.

Although the bald man recognized Hideki Hanyu, perhaps he had become too arrogant and unrestrained lately.

Or perhaps it was the weak attitude shown by Kishida, Keisuke Nakajima, and others when faced with his threats and intimidation that gave him the illusion that all the big shots in the public eye would be afraid of his methods.

So the moment he noticed Hideki Hanyu, he used the yakuza element to scare people, speaking in that distinctive, muffled voice.

"Hey! Another big shot here. I advise you to mind your own business, otherwise..."

"hehe!"

Hideki Hanyu was completely amused by this idiot.

His laughter immediately interrupted the other person's arrogant words.

Immediately afterwards, Hideki Yuzuru looked at the other party with disdain and asked.

"Otherwise, what do you plan to do?"

The bald man seemed to be angered by Hideki Yuzuru's contemptuous gaze and immediately shouted fiercely.

"Baka! Don't think your bodyguards are useful! Even if they can protect you, can they protect your family?"
I know who you are, the richest person in Japan!

I also know you have quite a few beautiful lovers! If you dare to meddle, guess what I'll do to them?

After the bald man finished speaking his threat, his Yakuza followed him, seemingly cheering him on, as if trying to intimidate Hideki Hanyu with their imposing manner.

But this time, Hideki Hanyu completely ignored them.

They also failed to notice the look of surprise and relief in the eyes of Managing Director Kishida and his daughter, Keisuke Nakajima, after the bald man uttered those threatening words to Hideki Hanyu.

After all, these rats in the gutter don't know how terrifying Hideki Yuzuru is, but they know it all too well.

Perhaps before, Hideki Hanyu might not have stepped in to help them.

But as soon as the bald man made his ignorant threat, they were certain that the Yakuza power that Kotani Mitsuhiro used to threaten them would soon vanish.

As for Hideki Yuzuru, the way he looked at these people was as if he were looking at dead people.

However, Hideki Hanyu did not react. The bald man thought that Hideki Hanyu was afraid of them, and immediately drank triumphantly.

"Since you know you're afraid, then get lost and stop meddling in other people's business."

Hideki Hanyu didn't react, which couldn't possibly be because he was afraid of these idiots.

He was just waiting.

As for what to wait for? Everyone present soon found out.

Accompanied by the rapid roar of car engines, more than a dozen vehicles sped towards them from afar.

Leading the pack was a black Mercedes-Benz S-Class.

Following behind were various car models.

A dozen or so cars roared in, but as they approached the factory gate, they suddenly slowed down and then carefully stopped a short distance away from the gate.

As the rear door of the S-Class Mercedes opened, a man wearing a floral shirt and wooden clogs, looking somewhat nonchalant and lazy, stepped out of the car.

The first thing this guy did after getting out of the car was to walk quickly to Hideki Hanyu and bow deeply.

"I'm so sorry I'm late."

The visitor was none other than Kazufumi Ogoshi, the current president of the Sumiyoshi-kai.

Knowing that yakuza members were threatening Managing Director Kishida and Keisuke Nakajima, how could Hideki Hanyu not have made preparations before arranging to meet them here?

Using bodyguards to deal with gangsters is undoubtedly the work of dirty bodyguards.

As the saying goes, you need to treat the symptoms, and treat the person accordingly.

Although these bald men are not worthy of the attention of the president of Sumiyoshi-kai.

However, since it involves Hideki Hanyu, Ookoshi and Fumi naturally have to take matters into their own hands.

When faced with Ogoshi and Fumi, Hideki Hanyu simply said, "It's up to you."

Then he looked at the three executives, including Kishida, and said, "Let's go, let's find another place to show me your sincerity."

After saying that, Hideki Hanyu turned and left.

When the bald man saw that Hideki Hanyu dared to take Managing Director Kishida and his daughter Keisuke Nakajima away in front of him, he immediately tried to stop them.

But before he could move, he felt his shoulder being pressed down.

"Baka Yalu!..."

As the bald man cursed, he turned around to see who was stopping him.

But as soon as he turned his head, the sound stopped abruptly.

Because he discovered that the person holding his shoulder was a burly, bear-like giant covered in tattoos, at least four heads taller than him.

That would have been bad enough, but the most crucial thing was that, without them even realizing it, dozens of fierce-looking Yakuza had surrounded them.

(End of this chapter)