Dragon Clan: I am Lu Mingfei, the Intelligence Strategist, the God of Concepts!

Chapter 155 Kings Don't Meet, Chip Girl's Plan B
The following morning, Genji Heavy Industries and Kōjinji Temple held another meeting of the family heads.

In front of the main hall's stage, the small tables, each engraved with one of eight different family crests, were packed with people.

Men and women of vastly different ages knelt on prayer cushions, their faces illuminated by the soft candlelight.

Unlike the last gathering.

All eight heads of the family were present, including Erii Uesugi, who is usually reclusive.

The girl had secretly stayed up all night. Her exquisitely beautiful face, though without makeup, was pale and even had faint dark circles under her eyes. Her gaze was fixed indifferently on the corner of the antique table. Only after a long while did a glimmer of light appear on her face. She seemed to be lost in thought, but in reality, she was observing a colony of ants moving house.

The patriarch, Tachibana Masamune, smiled gently as he surveyed everyone present.

As the steam from the tea gradually dissipated, the old man picked up the warm jade porcelain cup and drank it all in one gulp. He then set the cup down, and the crisp sound of the jade-like rim tapping against the wooden table signaled the start of the family head meeting.

"Ten years ago," Tachibana Masamune began slowly.
After giving a time, the old man fell silent, a look of reminiscence on his face.

The Sakurai family head and the Fuuma family head were deep in thought, their lowered eyes seeming to hold a thousand unspoken words.

However, apart from these three who knew the inside story, the other five family heads were either puzzled or worried.

The two youngest seemed detached from the situation. Genjiro stared silently at the clear tea in his cup, while Uesugi Erii was still studying how ants move house. The elder of the Inuyama family seemed lost in thought. The two heads of the Miyamoto and Ryoma families seemed to realize that the reason for this meeting was not because of the attack on Princess Kaguya's computer room last night.

While Princess Kaguya is certainly important, in terms of the scale of the event, it is far from enough to warrant a meeting of all eight family heads.

Even the gathering of the world's best hunters in Tokyo, or the minor disturbances of the Oni Clan, are not enough to warrant a meeting of all the heads of the Snake Clan.

The former, the Miyamoto family and its Ganryu Research Institute, are sufficient to handle it; the latter, the Minamoto family and its well-trained Executive Bureau, are sufficient to cope. The Snake-Headed Eight Families have accumulated their strength over many years and are united from top to bottom. Why bother the many powerful family heads with every little thing?
"Ten years ago, I had just returned to my family."

After a long silence of half a minute, the patriarch finally spoke from his recollection: "When I first joined the Enforcement Bureau, it was known for its tough and brutal style. We would never use a gun if we could solve a problem with a knife, and we would never use a knife if we could solve a problem with our fists. We fought our way from the streets of Shinjuku to Shibuya, leaving behind only the sounds of bones breaking and blood flowing. Our methods were ruthless and tough, which instilled great fear in people in the underworld, and from then on, there were very few cases of failing to pay tribute."

Everyone in the hall remained silent. Yuan Zhisheng seemed to be deep in thought. He had no idea why this meeting was being held before, but now he seemed to have guessed some of his father's thoughts.

Is Dad planning to reiterate the Enforcement Bureau's discipline?
At this critical juncture, it is necessary to revert to the iron-fisted approach of the past, so that all the family's enemies will once again tremble in fear... This policy change is indeed worth discussing seriously at the meeting of all family heads.

“But that’s not actually the case,” Tachibana Masamune sighed.
"The family was once constrained by the Peruvian Party and Kassel College, and remained in a state of decline. Then the bursting of the economic bubble caused many family businesses to be on the verge of bankruptcy."

"It's not that we don't want to use guns or knives, it's that we don't have the money to buy them or repair them, so we try to save money wherever we can."

Tachibana Masamune poured himself another cup of bitter tea: "Conditions were very tough back then. It was the toughest period in nearly half a century. The operators in the main building had to answer hundreds of calls every day. They might not even be able to afford a piece of fresh meat for their three meals a day. The colleagues who went out on field missions even had to apply for a bullet through multiple layers of approval. The family simply didn't have enough money to maintain the normal operation of the Executive Bureau."

“I remember it was at the end of the last century. There was a gang in Shinjuku called the Iron Union. They were funded by the Russians and had a large number of firearms, all of which were Soviet-made and extremely powerful. They challenged the main gang. I led my team to suppress them, but the mixed-race gang suffered heavy casualties at the hands of ordinary gangsters because of the disadvantage in intelligence and weapons. That night I was hit by two bullets in the abdomen.”

Tachibana Masamune pointed to his waist, where two bullet holes were hidden beneath his black haori.

Everyone looked on with admiration. Back then, the Execution Bureau was known within the family as the most difficult team to lead. Yet, it was this man from a collateral branch of the Ju family who stepped forward and weathered the most critical moment.

Tachibana Masamune's position as patriarch was never bestowed by fate. He did not have a strong bloodline, but only an unwavering determination. His current position was earned by himself, when he was still middle-aged, through hard work and struggle.

This man always led from the front, standing in the most dangerous place as the pillar of the family, and was respected and recognized by everyone. However, the family's predicament could not be solved by mere enthusiasm.

until……

“Until the turn of the millennium, we welcomed our family’s benefactor,” Tachibana Masamune said softly.

The three heads of the family, Miyamoto, Ryoma, and Inuyama, suddenly realized something.

Having heard Tachibana Masamune's preface,

They finally understood the real reason for this meeting of all the heads of the household.

Only Genjiro remained puzzled.

The family's...benefactor?
When will there be another person like this?
Erii was also puzzled, but she remained listless as she studied the ants moving house. She was simply indifferent to these things. If Tachibana Masamune hadn't woken her up, she would have been sleeping in right now.

With a solemn expression, Tachibana Masamune finally got to the point: "I received news early this morning that Susan will be visiting Japan soon to inspect the development of the Snake-Headed Eight Families and their affiliated companies. Her first stop will be the Genji Heavy Industries building. She has issued a formal letter of visit, in duplicate, which was sent to the Sakurai family head and the Fuma family head respectively."

The heads of the Sakurai and Fuuma families nodded solemnly at the same time to confirm the authenticity of the news.

Each of the eight families of the Snake Clan has its own role. Among them, the Sakurai family is very active in the business world. They are the family that has the most dealings with 'Su-san' within the family. The Fuma family is known for training ninjas. It was the family that first connected with Su-san. The details of the connection are unknown, but 'Su-san' has always maintained contact with the Fuma family.

"Who is Su Sang?" Yuan Zhisheng finally couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

"I don't know her real name, I only know that her surname is Su, so I call her Su Sang."

Tachibana Masamune said, "Susan is a very special person. She is our benefactor, and can even be called our boss... She is the family's largest investor, with approximately 200 to 300 billion euros invested in various industries under the family's name."

"?"

Genjiro could hardly believe his ears. "How...how much?"

“You heard me right, this is equivalent to us owing Susan 200 billion euros, not yen.”

Tachibana Masamune's gaze was frank: "But it is precisely thanks to this investment that the family has grown rapidly in the last ten years, and the children have had enough resources to grow up, which has given us the foundation to break free from the control of the Secret Party."

Yuan Zhisheng took several deep breaths to calm the turmoil in his heart.

Although he was the head of the Yuan family and also served as the director of the Executive Bureau, he was the only person in the Yuan family. In the Executive Bureau, he rarely cared about anything other than his work, and never imagined that his family had already accumulated such a huge debt.

“It just so happens to be at this time…” Genji realized something was wrong.

The other family heads simultaneously turned stern.

Considering recent events in Japan, Tokyo, and even Genji Heavy Industries.

Su Sang's 'inspection' clearly carried a somewhat unusual meaning.

Tachibana Masamune said in a deep voice, "Yes, Susan profits with us. While she helps us grow, she also quietly seizes our weaknesses. With her methods and abilities, she can easily plunge half of our companies into bankruptcy, which would cause our children to fall into a difficult situation again."

"What does she want to inspect?" Yuan Zhisheng's gaze sharpened.

"The letter stated that it was a routine visit. Her wording was very relaxed, and she even made some jokes. It was probably to check the accounts, see the staff's environment, and see if there were any shell companies or something... In addition, she asked us to be responsible for her security during her inspection," the Sakurai family head said with a wry smile.

Yuan Zhisheng remained silent: "Who is this person?"

“I don’t know. We’ve been investigating Su Sang’s background since day one, almost ten years now, but we’ve found nothing. The organization she works for and the large sum of money she carries appeared out of nowhere, like Dantès returning with a treasure in The Count of Monte Cristo.” Tachibana Masamune sighed heavily. “But we had no choice. We had to accept her investment back then, otherwise the rise of our family would have remained just empty talk. Now, faced with her not-too-excessive request, we have no right to refuse.”

Yuan Zhisheng sensed the apprehension his father had towards this 'Su Sang' in his words.

The fact that the Snake Clan's intelligence network couldn't uncover the background of a single investor speaks volumes about how deep the waters run. A massive sum of hundreds of billions of euros isn't something that can be casually produced; it must be hiding one or even several huge industrial chains behind it.

"So, gentlemen, what attitude do you think we should take in response to Susan's visit?"

A temporary silence fell over the area.

Logically speaking, it would be perfectly reasonable for Su Sang, as an investor, to visit the Sheqi Eight Families.
However, there are two points of doubt here.

Firstly, over the years, the other party has never inspected the work of the Snake Clan, nor has it ever sent a representative, yet this time they are coming to visit in person.

Secondly, the timing was too coincidental. It just so happened that a huge bounty was offered in Japan early yesterday morning, and Genji Heavy Industries was attacked during the night...

“I’m worried that Susan has lost confidence in the Japanese market. After her inspection, she will decide whether to withdraw her investment…” The head of the Ryoma family looked worried.

The head of the Sakurai family shook his head: "No matter how difficult the situation is now, can it be more difficult than it was back then? Su-san will not withdraw his investment."

“I think she’s sending a signal that we have the possibility of further cooperation,” said the head of the Miyamoto family. “Or it’s possible that Susan’s visit just happened to coincide with an awkward time.”

“No, aside from the more confidential information, Su Sang knows everything about the family. She must be backed by a mixed-race force, so it’s impossible that she doesn’t know the current situation in Tokyo,” the head of the Fengmo family said coldly.

"Even if the possibility of withdrawal of investment is extremely small, we still have to guard against it. A rope always breaks at its weakest point. Even if everything goes smoothly this time, we still need to prepare in advance. The family can't be controlled by others forever." The old man of the Inuyama family sighed.

For a time, the five family heads expressed their opinions.

Some people are worried, some are hoping for the best, and some say they should be prepared for danger even in times of peace.

But it's okay.

Although the heads of the families were primarily involved in the underworld, none of them were foolish enough to suggest taking this opportunity to eliminate 'Su Sang' and thus eliminate their debts.

In the financial world, Susan is a terrifying person. Her nickname is "Black Gold Swan." She is a top expert in manipulating illegal capital, but she claims that she is only in charge of the accounts and that she is accountable to someone else.

"Then, be prepared to receive them properly! In the letter, Su Sang indicated that she would bring a personal secretary with her."

Finally, Tachibana Masamune nodded slightly.

"Sakurai-san, you'll be in charge of all the reception work this time. You're already somewhat familiar with each other. At the very least, we need to show our investors sincerity and let them see the power of the Snake Clan."

"Yes, patriarch."

The Sakurai family head nodded in agreement. This beautiful female head of the family was named Sakurai Nanami. She was a stunning young woman. Although she dressed conservatively, her suit skirt could not hide her hot curves. The thick-rimmed dark red glasses on her face made her bare face look like she was wearing makeup.

“Inuyama-kun, you said to prepare in advance to prevent future breakdowns in cooperation…” Tachibana Masamune sighed: “The amount is just too large, and we will inevitably be unable to get rid of Susan’s control in the short term.”

The Inuyama family head, Inuyama He, had a withered face, completely expressionless. "I suspect Su Sang has another scheme!"

Before the Gentian family crest, Genji suddenly spoke after remaining silent for a long time.

Everyone looked at him.

Even Uesugi Erii, who was observing the ants, raised her dark red eyes to examine her brother. She wasn't deaf; she simply selectively filtered out the sounds of the world.

Genjiro's gaze was deep and calm: "The timing is too coincidental. Genji Heavy Industries is the core of the family, and it holds too many secrets, too many secrets... We must keep some secrets up our sleeves!"
"Chisei, what are your thoughts?" Tachibana Masamune asked with a smile.

“We should treat Su Sang with the highest level of courtesy, which shows how much we value her. However, we must also guard against any unusual behavior from her during this period.”

“Since Susan insists on inspecting Genji Heavy Industries, my suggestion is that Ms. Sakurai handle the reception alone, while I secretly arrange for skilled members of the Execution Bureau and ninjas from the Fuma clan to keep a close watch on them.”

"This is both oversight and protection, but the current situation is too unique..."

Genjiro said, word by word, "Kill them if there is any unusual movement."

……

Park Hyatt Hotel.

"I'm putting myself in this situation to create an opportunity for you guys, so you can't say I'm being lazy or shirking my responsibilities!"

Potato Chip Girl sat at the dining table in the special suite, sipping a glass of orange juice, her electronic pen flying across the tablet as she wrote and drew. In the time it took to sleep, tedious work piled up into a mountain.

Three women and one man sat around a long dining table eating breakfast.

Jiu De Mai slowly peeled an egg, Ling nibbled on a sandwich, while Lu Mingfei, as usual, ate heartily.

Mai Shude said, "I suppose your plan is already on the desk of the head of the Snake-Headed Eight Families."

“That’s for sure,” said Potato Chip Girl. “They’ve probably finished discussing their countermeasures by now. Even though our organization has invested so much money, they’ll still treat us like thieves. The saying ‘a little kindness is appreciated, but too much kindness breeds resentment’ is exactly what this means. These Japanese devils have always had such wolfish ambitions.”

"Hey! Hey! Hey! The mockery has backfired on me!" Mai Shude waved an egg in protest.

"Tsk, where did you accidentally hurt anyone? Didn't you always say you wanted to distance yourself from those short, stocky guys? Besides... it's not like you don't have any ambitions!" Chip Girl suddenly laughed slyly, "Hey, long-legged girl, are you ambitious?"

"Humph!"

Mai rolled her eyes, too lazy to pay her any attention.
She stuffed the peeled egg into her mouth and chewed it without any ladylike manners.

Ding-dong-

Sure enough, a reply came via email at that moment.

"Welcome, Mr. Su, to Genji Heavy Industries. Sakurai Nanami is here to provide you with guidance."

Chip Girl glanced at the joint signature of the Snake Clan in the email and marked it as read.

"Just as I thought, at this critical juncture, even if I personally lead people to their door, they won't make too much of a fuss. They'll just send a head of one of the five lower families to send them away. I guess they're playing dumb with each other and simply assuming we're here to discuss business."

"The Snake Clan is so arrogant? Aren't you the number one creditor? If you say a word, wouldn't all eight clan heads be scrambling to pay their respects?" Sake Virtue Mai swallowed an egg and mocked.

"So, that old man Tachibana Masamune wouldn't even show his face, and just sent an old woman to deal with us?"

“If a delegation is arranged to conduct an inspection, Tachibana Masamune will definitely show up. But if ‘Su-san’ personally leads a group to the headquarters of the Snake-Headed Eight Families, Tachibana Masamune will definitely find an excuse to refuse to come. That’s normal.” Chip Girl had obviously expected this.

"why?"

"No king should meet another king," the potato chip girl said casually.

Lu Mingfei almost choked. He didn't think the potato chip girl made sense, he just thought it was really awesome.

Despite being inferior to Mai Shude in terms of figure, size, and fighting strength, the moment she uttered those words, her queenly aura exploded, instantly overshadowing the other busty, long-legged girl.

Ling quietly handed her a glass of water.

"Mmm... thank you." Lu Mingfei gulped down the contents of his mouth.

Mai Shude's face was ashen. After a long silence, she said in a low voice, "You don't understand the Japanese. If you've read 'The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,' you'll know that these people have a culture of shame that's like a ghost. They enjoy this feeling of humiliation. They call it 'breaking my things will make me stronger and more resilient after I'm rebuilt.'"

"Why do you, a Japanese person, have to judge the Japanese from an American perspective? What the hell is this 'enjoying humiliation' thing..." Potato Chip Girl, sweating profusely, said, "Besides, judging from photos alone, Tachibana Masamune doesn't seem to be Japanese at all!"

Seeing that the two girls were about to start fighting,
"Gulp—thump!"

Lu Mingfei quickly swallowed the bread slice mixed with cold water, then tapped the water glass on the table.
"Ahem, you two shouldn't be in any danger at Genji Heavy Industries, right?"

Three days later, I will be visiting Genji Heavy Industries's 'personal secretary' with Chip Girl. It is neither Lu Mingfei nor Zero, but Mai Shude.

Lu Mingfei originally thought that the "direct visit" that Chip Girl mentioned meant bringing her whole family to confront them head-on and form a group.

But to his surprise, Chip Girl scoffed at his idea and retorted, "Have you ever heard of the Pirate King being able to stroll around the Marine Headquarters so openly?"
Lu Mingfei countered, "Is it possible that only pirates who can freely wander into the Marine Headquarters can be called the Pirate King?"
The potato chip girl asked again, "One Piece can eat bullets raw, can you?"

Lu Mingfei stopped talking.

The potato chip girl smiled guiltily before explaining that, firstly, within the radiation range of Genji Heavy Industries, Kaguya-hime had invested the most computing power. No matter how well she disguised herself, her true identity would be easily discovered. She wouldn't even need to enter that gate; she could simply approach within a block or two, and the internal alarm would be triggered. At that time, in addition to the Snake-Headed Eight Families, the Oni Clan and other demons and monsters would also flock over.

Besides, this trip wasn't a real 'visit,' nor was it specifically for fighting.

The core target remains Princess Kaguya.

Chip Girl's idea was that she and Mai Shude would distract the security personnel from the outside, while Lu Mingfei and Zero would sneak in and draw tally marks.

According to the original plan, Zero was supposed to act as the 'personal secretary' and let Mai Shude and Lu Mingfei infiltrate, because Mai Shude's 'Word of Power: Netherworld' was more suitable for infiltration. However, Zero firmly rejected this suggestion. She did not want to be Chip Girl's 'personal secretary' this time and said that her Word of Power could also be Netherworld.

“If there’s really danger, then forget it. I can try to contact my intelligence network,” Lu Mingfei said hesitantly.

"You can rest assured, Mai is still very reliable in critical moments!" Chip Girl said with a grin.

"...Don't CPU me anymore!"

Mai Shude angrily reached out and pinched the potato chip girl's smooth cheek.

"Woo——"

The potato chip girl wanted to cover her face, but it was too late.

In terms of witty banter and sharp tongue, the two are probably evenly matched, depending on whose area of ​​expertise the topic is more relevant to. However, once Mai Shude turns to action, it's like drawing a sword to sever an enemy's throat; action is always faster than words.

Before the potato chip girl could even raise her hand, she had already finished kneading the chips and gotten her revenge, completely satisfied.

"Don't worry, if anything unexpected happens, I'll just transform and unleash my ultimate move, then I'll lead this little girl out of the encirclement!"

Saketoku Mai crossed her legs smugly and continued peeling an egg.

Lu Mingfei covered his face, unable to bear to look, "I really hope that after this is over, your credit score in the Snake Clan will still be intact..."

"Tsk, what are you saying?"

Chip Girl rubbed her cheeks and smiled dismissively.

“If you don’t use credit to overdraft, what’s the difference between that and having no credit at all? Besides, the money is all in my hands… Who cares about credit? I have connections on Wall Street, and I don’t need credit to sell stocks.”

Lu Mingfei wisely stopped discussing the topic, as it was far too dangerous to talk about such matters with ruthless and wealthy people.

"Ahem, but if I remember correctly, you said that the Snake Clan would increase their security, right? What if they go all out with their security, protecting you while also stopping me and Zero? We only have two teams, four people in total, it shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

Chip Girl smiled mysteriously: "Remember what I called Plan B? That's just the inside-outside coordination between our two teams. There's also the most important part: outside coordination with inside!"

"You mean...our team has other experts?"

Lu Mingfei was taken aback.

Is this for real? So we're really that powerful? We didn't say anything before!
"Experts? In the next day or two, Tokyo will have an inexhaustible supply of experts! What I lack least are experts!"

Chip Girl flipped the tablet over.

It was a hunter's website!
"Whether the security forces of the Snake Clan are sufficient or not is a matter for me to decide with a single word."

Under Lu Mingfei's shocked gaze.

Chip Girl pressed the number keys and typed a string of countless zeros into the bounty field of the draft post.

“I'm Rich.”

At this moment, the potato chip girl resembled a solitary swordswoman.

(End of this chapter)