Chapter 62: Handover

Yamagami Nobuo, already seventy-nine this year, had been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

At this age, with this disease.

To be honest, Seiko felt… there really wasn’t much point in treatment.

On top of that, there was already high blood pressure, diabetes, arteriosclerosis…

And the old injuries from his youth, when he made a name for himself as the “Tiger of Urawa.“

In the future, it was uncertain whether the brain tumor would take Yamagami Nobuo, or if something else would take the brain tumor.

But this hospitalization ultimately forced Yamagami Nobuo to face a reality—death was near.

In the past, as a great yakuza boss, a yakuza from a militant faction, Yamagami Nobuo had never shown any weakness when it came to matters of life and death. Even now, he repeatedly emphasized, “I’m not afraid of death.”

However, his increasing urgency in wanting Seiko to take over all of the Yamagami-gumi’s work still exposed the panic and fear deep in his heart.

But Seiko was in no position to laugh at Yamagami Nobuo. Because she herself was also a person who feared death…

Yamagami Nobuo also had no intention of treating the tumor. After a few days of recuperation and observation in the hospital, he was discharged and returned home. He continued to listen to and receive various personnel in the organization as before, acting as a stabilizing force within the Yamagami-gumi. But the specific affairs of the Yamagami-gumi were indeed continuously being transferred to Seiko.

At times, important orders passed down from the upper echelons of the Yamagami-gumi had already begun to directly use the words “Wakagashira Yamagami Seiko.”

Many people vaguely guessed the truth that the Yamagami-gumi was brewing its next power transition, but the voices of opposition this time were far less than when Seiko was first appointed as Wakagashira.

This was partly because the tragic state of the last major purge was still fresh in everyone’s memory. No one wanted to be the one to stick their neck out and become the next Ninomiya Shigeyoshi.

On the other hand, it was because of the Katakura Danchi project.

The first decision issued to the entire Yamagami-gumi under the name of “Wakagashira Yamagami Seiko” was to establish the “Urawa Construction” company as a joint venture with the municipal government to contract the Katakura Danchi project.

The total construction area of Katakura Danchi exceeded one hundred thousand square meters. Needless to say, just the task of demolishing the old buildings and clearing the construction debris was enough for those small factions to feast until their mouths were greasy.

Now, almost all the factions within the Yamagami-gumi were looking forward to Seiko dividing up the cake, so they didn’t dare to utter a single word of complaint…

“They’re afraid that the wind might blow some unpleasant words into your ears,” Yamagami Taka joked with Seiko.

Seiko smiled and asked in return:

“Is Taka-aniki interested in managing a construction site?”

“Me…” Yamagami Taka hesitated for a moment, then scratched his head in embarrassment.
“It would be a lie to say I have no interest at all.
But to be honest, my math is at an elementary school level.
I really can’t manage such a large project.
This kind of thing should be left to the professionals.
I won’t cause any trouble for you all.”

“Alright,” Seiko nodded.
“Then let’s leave it to the professionals.”

That afternoon, Seiko received two guests.

“Hello, Mr. Ebe,” Seiko said with a smile.
“The Yamagami-gumi is honored to have the opportunity to work with you.”

Across from Seiko, a middle-aged man with a bald patch on top of his head smiled bitterly.
“No, no, the honor should be all mine.”

The middle-aged man’s name was Ebe Hiroshi, and he was originally the owner of a construction company.

Oh, he still was.

But he was trying very hard not to be.

Ebe Hiroshi’s company was originally a small to medium-sized enterprise that mainly took on government projects to survive.
But to secure the Katakura Danchi project from the Urawa municipal government, Ebe Hiroshi had staked everything this year, investing heavily to expand the company’s scale, hire skilled workers, and pull strings to get connections.
Finally, he had secured the Katakura Danchi project.

Just as Ebe Hiroshi thought his investment was about to pay off, the Urawa municipal government suddenly changed its mind without any warning, deciding to establish a dedicated company—”Urawa Construction”—to contract the Katakura Danchi project.

Ebe Hiroshi almost collapsed when he heard the news.
He had already gone all-in on the Katakura Danchi project.
If he lost the project, his only end would be to declare bankruptcy.

However, when Ebe Hiroshi learned of this, he forced himself to calm down.
It was clear that although he was already bankrupt, he didn’t want to lose his life as well.

The turning point was that just as Ebe Hiroshi was preparing the bankruptcy documents, the newly established “Urawa Construction” sent him an invitation letter, informing him that Urawa Construction was interested in acquiring his company.

“Miss Yamagami,” Ebe Hiroshi said, not nervously, “My asking price is not high.
Although Ebe Company has accumulated a lot of debt, it’s all short-term loans spent in advance for the start of the Katakura Danchi project.
Things like purchasing machinery.
In fact, the contracts for the skilled workers are new, the construction machinery is new, and there are still a lot of raw materials…”

“I know your asking price is not high,” Seiko nodded.
“Urawa Construction can also acquire your company at this price.
However, that is not the issue I asked you here to discuss today.”

“Then what is your issue?” Ebe Hiroshi asked, puzzled.

“I don’t know if you’re interested in serving as the manager of Urawa Construction?” Seiko asked.

“Me…”

Beside them, the head of the Masaki-gumi, Masaki Yuki, opened his mouth but managed to hold back.

The Masaki-gumi’s main industry was dance halls.
Their dance halls had suffered the heaviest losses during the fight with the Takada-gumi—after all, they were the most conspicuous and easy to smash.
Afterward, they had not received any compensation from the organization.
Therefore, the Masaki brothers had secretly been dissatisfied with Seiko, who had decided on the fight, and had sided with Ninomiya Shigeyoshi.

However, during that nighttime purge, Masaki Yuki was startled by the ruthless Seiko and had defected on the spot, jumping from Ninomiya Shigeyoshi’s side to Seiko’s.

When he was called over today, Masaki Yuki had originally thought that Seiko wanted to reward him for “forsaking darkness for light” and hand Urawa Construction over to him.
But now it seemed he had been thinking too much…

“Me?” Ebe Hiroshi’s eyes showed both surprise and hesitation.
Surprise, of course, because he wouldn’t be unemployed.
Although he could recover some money from the company, that money was mainly for paying off debts.
He still needed to find a job to support his family.
Hesitation, because he really had no psychological preparation for getting involved with the criminal underworld.
“If I have the opportunity to continue working on this project, of course I want to.
But, the Yamagami-gumi…”

Seiko guessed Ebe Hiroshi’s thoughts and said, “Don’t worry, Urawa Construction is a legitimate company.
You will just be a normal professional manager.
We do not require you to join the Yamagami-gumi.”

Ebe Hiroshi was instantly relieved.

“In addition, let me introduce you.
This is Mr. Masaki Yuki.
When you encounter matters that require dealing with the yakuza, he will be the deputy manager of Urawa Construction.
You can just leave it to him,” Seiko introduced.

Masaki Yuki immediately perked up.
Although it wasn’t the main position, it seemed like a decent piece of the cake?

Although Ebe Hiroshi didn’t know Masaki Yuki’s identity, he still quickly shook hands with him.

“The Katakura Danchi project requires a large amount of labor, skilled workers, security, and management personnel,” Seiko took out a list and handed it to Masaki Yuki.
“Go to these groups and recruit members who are willing to do some proper work, then arrange for them to work at the construction site.
Also, keep them in line and don’t let them affect the construction progress.”

“Yes…”

Masaki Yuki took the list and looked at it.
Osahatsu Dazen, Kawashima Hiroshi, Gonda Gaku, Sakai… At first, Masaki Yuki only felt that these were the names of Yamagami-gumi chokusan who had been on good terms with him in the past.
But after a little thought, Masaki Yuki realized—these were all the names of chokusan who had been close to Takeuchi Toshio and Ninomiya Shigeyoshi!

“Well… the yakuza may not necessarily like to do construction work, and if I go to these groups to recruit people, these bosses will have complaints…”

Masaki Yuki said awkwardly.
Although he didn’t yet understand what Seiko wanted to do, he had already sensed something was not right.

“Let them complain if they have complaints,” Seiko didn’t give Masaki Yuki a chance to refuse and said calmly, “Twenty-two chokusan is just too many.”

“Twenty-two chokusan is too many…”

Masaki Yuki suddenly felt a cold wind blow across his neck and couldn’t help but shiver.