I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Their power was immense, extending to and interfering in all sectors of Edo. They were widely recognized as "the most powerful Yakuza group in Edo."

The scarred man from earlier is a member of the "Qingshui Clan".

Takayuki Tachibana was actually quite popular. Even though he suddenly became a gambling addict who was addicted to gambling all day long, there were still a few people who remained loyal to him.

After Tachibana Takayuki died of illness, his close friends immediately joined together and decided to try to get Aoto a government position so that the Tachibana family would not perish due to the lack of income.

After some maneuvering, they successfully had Aoto inherit Takayuki's official position six months ago, making him the new leader of the Hokuban-sho-cho district in Edo.

Aoto succeeded Tachibana Takayuki in his official position—which was certainly a good thing.

However, what Aoto also inherited was... the huge debt that Tachibana Takayuki owed to the "Shimizu Clan"...

When Qingdeng's father died, his gambling debts naturally fell on Qingdeng's shoulders.

In the six months since Qing Deng's father died, members of the "Qingshui Clan" have been coming to his door every few days to collect debts.

Debts must be repaid, and children are obligated to repay their parents' debts—this is a matter of course, especially when the debtor is the Yakuza, a group that has always disregarded law and order…

He silently and patiently paid off his debt for half a year, successfully reducing his initial investment of 600 taels of gold to... 520 taels of gold...

Snapped!

Qingdeng slowly tilted his head back, then suddenly raised his hands and pressed them against his cheeks.

—Not only were they targeted by terrorists, but also by the Yakuza group, the most powerful organization in the city…

—What a hellish start!

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New book launch! Seeking all kinds of support! Please add to your favorites! Please vote for it!

The new book is updated every morning at 10 AM—it's been so long since I've felt this punctual update...

[Japanese History Mini-Lesson Begins!]

Between the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, there was actually a very short period: the Nanboku-cho period (1336-1392).

After the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate, the Kyoto court briefly regained control of the country, and the emperor once again became the de facto leader of the nation.

However, the reforms implemented by the reigning emperor at the time, Emperor Go-Daigo, in order to strengthen the power of the court, failed to meet the needs of the samurai class.

Ashikaga Takauji, a powerful general who had established a great nation during the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate, was deeply dissatisfied with Emperor Go-Daigo. He successfully forced Go-Daigo to abdicate and installed a new emperor, Emperor Kōmyō. After installing this puppet emperor, Ashikaga Takauji, under Emperor Kōmyō's investiture, received the title of Shogun and established the second shogunate in Japanese history in the Muromachi region: the Muromachi Shogunate.

However, not long after Emperor Go-Daigo abdicated, he managed to escape to Yoshino in present-day Nara Prefecture, where he confronted Emperor Kōmyō, who was installed by Ashikaga Takauji.

Therefore, historians referred to the regime established by Ashikaga Takauji as the "Northern Court" and the regime of Emperor Go-Daigo as the "Southern Court." It wasn't until the Muromachi Shogunate had reached its third shogun that the Northern Court finally destroyed the Southern Court, ending the Northern and Southern Courts period.

Chapter 6 In short, let's go to the sword-making school to learn swordsmanship first!

"Young Master, what's wrong?"

Qing Deng's sudden act of slapping his own face startled Jiubei.

“…No…” After rubbing his cheeks vigorously, Qing Deng turned and walked back to the hall. “Kyubei, is there any water? I would like to have a glass of water.”

"what?"

"Is there any water?! I'd like a glass of water!"

"Oh, oh..." Kyubei, who was a little hard of hearing, nodded after finally hearing what Aoto said. "Yes, yes, I'll bring it to you right away."

Qingdeng walked back to the living room and casually sat cross-legged in a corner of the room.

At that time, the Japanese still did not have the habit of sitting on chairs or sleeping in beds.

Sit down, sit on the floor.

To sleep, one would simply spread the bedding on the floor and sleep there.

The moment Qing Deng's bottom touched the floor, Jiubei swiftly brought over the water.

After taking the water cup handed to him by Kyubei and drinking it all in one gulp, Aoto let out a long sigh.

Then, quite abruptly, he started taking off his clothes.

"Young...Young Master?" Kyubei stammered, dumbfounded. "What are you doing?"

Qing Deng ignored Jiubei.

After taking off his upper body clothes, Qingdeng placed his hands on the ground in a face-down position and began to do a fitness exercise that was quite classic in his previous life.

"Young Master, what are you doing?"

"I'm doing push-ups. This is... a method that a friend recommended to me today that's effective for exercising. Okay, stop talking, I need to concentrate now."

The exercise Qingdeng is currently doing is push-ups.

This was Qingdeng's habit from his previous life.

In his previous life, Qing Deng, who was obsessed with fitness, had a peculiar habit: he liked to do push-ups when he was thinking about problems or trying to calm himself down.

When my thoughts are scattered, doing push-ups will gradually clear my mind and make my thoughts more focused.

When experiencing negative emotions such as tension or panic, doing push-ups can gradually calm you down.

So in his previous life, when Qingdeng was bragging to his friends, his favorite saying was: if the college entrance exam allowed him to do push-ups while answering questions, it would be a bit difficult to get 750 points, but getting 700 points or more would still be no problem.

Although Kyubei was puzzled as to why his young master was doing push-ups for no apparent reason, he had to keep his questions to himself because Qingdeng had just ordered him not to speak. He silently carried the empty water glass that Qingdeng had just drunk from back to the kitchen.

After doing five push-ups in a row, Qingdeng gradually felt his emotions return to calm and his mind become sharper.

—Think of a way! I need to think of something quickly! Otherwise, I might die on the roadside tomorrow!

Being targeted by both the "radical anti-foreign faction" and the Yakuza at the same time—such a hellish start made Qing Deng's heart skip a beat just imagining the scene.

In Hara Tachibana Aoto's memory, there is a lot of information related to the "Shimizu Clan".

Due to the imperfect legal system and the inadequacy of judicial and public security forces, the Yakuza of this era were far more dangerous and lawless than the modern gangs of the previous era.

Powerful Yakuza groups like the "Shimizu Clan" have a highly professional and sophisticated strategy for dealing with people who can't repay their debts.

First, use every means to squeeze every last penny out of the creditor's house.

The first things targeted were naturally everything in the creditor's house that could be sold for money.

In the process of forcing creditors to hand over all their money, they would send many henchmen to harass the creditors so much that they would be constantly disturbed, in order to ensure that they could successfully squeeze every penny out of the creditors' homes.

For example, every day they would gather a large group of people to block the creditor's door, shouting "Pay back the money!" and "Pay back the money quickly!"

Even if you cry and shout that you "really have no money left," they will not give up.

Once it's confirmed that you truly have no money, yet you still can't repay your debts... the Yakuza's methods will become ruthless.

If there were women in the household, they would be directly abducted and sold into prostitution.

The men in the household are forced to do all sorts of strange jobs.

Such audacious behavior would be incomprehensible in modern times, but it was quite commonplace in the Edo period in which Qing Deng was living.

The imperfections in the legal system allowed the Yakuza to brazenly sell the dignity of their creditors to pay off their debts, while the government was powerless to stop this chaos.

The thought of the "Shimizu Clan" using all sorts of disgusting methods to force him to repay his debts made Qing Deng feel nauseous just thinking about it.

But Qing Deng wasn't actually that afraid of the "Shimizu clan".

After all, this group of Yakuza only cared about money and didn't care about Qingdeng's life. They probably wished Qingdeng were alive and well, because only if Qingdeng was alive and well could they continue to collect money.

So as long as Qingdeng can repay the money properly, the "Qingshui Clan" shouldn't do anything to him.

As for the money, that's easy to discuss.

Qingdeng had some valuable items at home, which he could pawn to pay off debts in case of an emergency.

If all else fails, you can borrow money from friends. "Yuanju Qingdeng" has a wide social circle, so owing money to friends is better than owing money to Yakuza.

Compared to the Yakuza, the "radical anti-foreign faction" was the real threat to Qingdeng at this time.

The "Shimizu Clan" only wanted Qingdeng's money, while the "Radical Anti-Foreign Faction" wanted Qingdeng's life!

This is the most urgent crisis, one that directly relates to Qing Deng's life.

The scenes of being attacked by the three assassins flashed uncontrollably through Qing Deng's mind.

Beads of cold sweat seeped from Qingdeng's forehead and back.

In his previous life, Qing Deng lived in a peaceful era. Before transmigrating, he was just a young man who had just graduated from police academy and had not even joined the police force. He had never faced a life-or-death crisis before.

Tonight was the first time he had been chased and killed, and the first time he had felt the approach of death.

This feeling... is not pleasant.

Every time I recall the scenes of being chased, cold sweat uncontrollably seeps from my forehead.

He didn't want to die for such a ridiculous reason as "having worked at the American embassy for a few days."

He was lucky tonight; the "spectators" arrived just in time and forced the assassin to retreat.

What about next time?

Will I be so lucky next time?

The “radical anti-foreign faction” are a bunch of lunatics. You can’t reason with them. Their next attack might happen in 7 days, or it might happen... tomorrow.

Anxious, Qingdeng unconsciously sped up his push-ups.

—At the very least, one must have the ability to protect oneself from being killed by the "radical anti-foreign faction"...

Qingdeng's thoughts scattered along the line of "acquiring the ability to protect himself".

How can I quickly acquire the ability to protect myself from being killed easily?

A word came to Qingdeng's mind:

Cheating software!

If you want to gain powerful strength to protect yourself as quickly as possible, there is no more reliable method than "relying on cheats".

If one can successfully copy an extremely powerful talent as quickly as possible, their self-defense capabilities will increase dramatically.

Qingdeng's thoughts wandered further, and he continued to think more deeply.

His "Copy Talent System" only activates when he competes with others.