Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 200: Gu Jun and Watanabe Jiangs Intelligence Gathering (2)

"Alas, since you all think this way, I won't say much more. I will try to contact Shiro Hana later. She's a kind-hearted person and an obstetrician, so she should be able to arrange a comprehensive examination for Mian Gu Lu," Chen Wenbin said with a sigh of resignation, agreeing with Liu Xing's suggestion.

After saying this, Chen Wenbin stood up and went to the yard with his phone to start calling his contacts.

Chen Wenbin, 26/70, successful.

In the Cthulhu RPG Game, making a phone call is essentially linked to a luck check, unless it's a pre-scheduled call, which requires passing a luck check to see if the other party is available.

Liu Xing vaguely remembered watching Wu Lei play a game where, in an African team, they had to make over ten phone calls to contact an important NPC, all of which failed...

While Chen Wenbin was on the phone, Liu Xing and the others were not idle, sharing the intelligence they had gathered that day.

Liu Xing, feeling his information was particularly crucial, decided to hold back and speak later. He mainly wanted to appropriately "modify" the part about Otonashi Takuya to avoid angering him.

As an active member, Watanabe Jiang was the first to speak up, smiling, "Let me start. This morning, Gu Jun and I went to Ziwu City Library. Although we didn't meet Kuroba Naoki, we encountered Gu Jun's direct superior, Kenji Yokogawa, the president of Ziwu City University."

"After accepting Kenji Yokogawa's invitation to visit the university and preparing to leave the Ziwu City Library, we ran into Kuroba Naoki and asked about King Tindalos. With Kenji Yokogawa's help, we obtained a research notebook from Kuroba Naoki."

"Then Gu Jun and I followed Kenji Yokogawa to the university. As Yin En mentioned earlier, when we reached the education district, the weather was clear, but there was a strange oppressive feeling, as if something bad might happen."

"In Kenji Yokogawa's office, we started discussing the current mayor, Tennoji Sohide. Surprisingly, Kenji Yokogawa was Tennoji Sohide's college classmate, and they were close friends. Kenji Yokogawa seemed to know some dirt that the Dark Willow Gang had on Tennoji Sohide, but when Gu Jun and I tried to probe this matter, Kenji Yokogawa deftly changed the subject."

"So, we could only talk about other topics with Kenji Yokogawa, and learned important information about the Dark Willow Gang's origins."

"The Dark Willow Gang is more of a branch set up in Ziwu City by another gang, rather than an external faction. Its previous leader, Hisanobu Ito, who is also Mikageichi's adoptive father, was once an executive of the second-largest gang in Kyoto, the Shadow Clan. Mikageichi is the son of the Shadow Clan's leader, Miyake Ten."

"I'll talk about the Shadow Clan first. I used to be involved in the underworld, so I know a bit about them. The Shadow Clan is a local gang in the Kyoto area, and even the Island Nation's largest gang, the Yamaguchi-gumi, can't match them in Kyoto."

"The Shadow Clan is a family-run gang, with the Miyake family traditionally leading it. The current leader, Miyake Ten, is about fifty years old and reportedly planning to retire and pass the leadership to his son. Miyake Ten has three sons, with Mikageichi being the youngest. His eldest brother is Miyake Ban and the middle brother is Miyake Ken."

"From what I know, the Miyake family has strict rules, focusing on survival of the fittest. Weaker members of the family are ruthlessly cast aside. Mikageichi, being the weakest among the brothers, withdrew early from the struggle for the clan leadership and faced oppression from his elder brothers."

"However, Mikageichi had an adoptive father, Hisanobu Ito, who had been with Miyake Ten for decades and was an elder of the Shadow Clan. One day, for unknown reasons, Hisanobu Ito left the Shadow Clan with Mikageichi and established the Dark Willow Gang in Ziwu City, quickly taking control of the local underworld."

"There's a rumor in Kyoto's underworld that Hisanobu Ito didn't want Mikageichi to become a casualty in the Shadow Clan's power struggle, so he took him to Ziwu City to reign supreme. Others say that Miyake Ten, not wanting to harm his son, arranged for Hisanobu Ito to take Mikageichi away. Many members of the Dark Willow Gang are former Shadow Clan members."

Watanabe Jiang added mysteriously, "I heard from a friend that Mikageichi is actually Miyake Ten's illegitimate son, which is why he's always been marginalized by his brothers. I even heard that his middle brother is planning to kill him!"

"Goodness, Mikageichi can fight a hundred men alone, yet he's the weakest among his brothers. How strong must his brothers be? And with the Dark Willow Gang having such a solid backing, we need to be careful. If we provoke the Shadow Clan, things will get even more complicated," Yin En said worriedly.

Watanabe Jiang shook his head and smiled, "No need to worry about that. There won't be a situation where attacking the small brings out the big. The Shadow Clan has started their leadership contest, dividing it into two factions under the control of Mikageichi's brothers. They will compete to decide who will be the next leader. The Ziwu City region is managed by Mikageichi's middle brother, Miyake Ken, who has expressed his desire to kill Mikageichi. So, we might expect Miyake Ken to help us deal with the Dark Willow Gang."

Liu Xing tapped his fingers on the table thoughtfully, "Do you think it's possible that the Shadow Clan is actually the mastermind behind all this?"

Gu Jun raised an eyebrow and said, "Liu Xing, are you suggesting that the Dark Willow Gang is actually a pawn of the Shadow Clan, specifically placed in Ziwu City to capture Mian Gu Lu?"

Liu Xing nodded seriously, "That's what I'm thinking. If Hisanobu Ito just wanted to help Mikageichi escape the Shadow Clan's power struggle, they could have left the Island Nation altogether. Even without the family's support, as an elder of the Shadow Clan, Hisanobu Ito would surely have considerable wealth. Why not live as a rich man outside the Island Nation?"

"Yet Hisanobu Ito took Mikageichi to Ziwu City, established the Dark Willow Gang, and brought many former Shadow Clan members. It's clear he intends to start anew. So, I believe the Dark Willow Gang's backing is the Shadow Clan itself."

Suddenly, there was the sound of dice hitting the ground.

Yasaka Mashiro, 13/70, successful.

Everyone turned their attention to Yasaka Mashiro, who was leisurely sipping tea. She slowly spoke up, "Liu Xing, your theory is very plausible. To my knowledge, when the Dark Willow Gang was first established, they used the Shadow Clan's reputation to intimidate local gangs. However, for some unknown reason, these local gangs suddenly banded together to attack the Dark Willow Gang."

It turned out Yasaka Mashiro had made an inspiration check.

"Could it be that these local gangs acted on Miyake Ken's orders to take down the Dark Willow Gang?" Yin En speculated.

Liu Xing, furrowing his brow in deeper confusion, said, "Could it mean there's a split within the Shadow Clan itself, with one faction supporting the Dark Willow Gang and another seeking to eliminate them?"

Watanabe Jiang nodded and replied, "That's a possibility. During the Shadow Clan's leadership struggle, it's essentially like two separate gangs. Maybe the faction supporting the Dark Willow Gang knew about Mian Gu Lu and wanted to capture her for their own ends. To keep their plan secret from the other faction, they might have directed Hisanobu Ito to establish the Dark Willow Gang with Mikageichi."

Everyone nodded in agreement; this seemed very likely.

"The strength of the Dark Willow Gang is more formidable than we imagined," Yin En couldn't help but remark.

Gu Jun sighed and continued, "Let's not discuss the Shadow Clan for now. We can't even handle the Dark Willow Gang, let alone the Shadow Clan. Back to the main topic, Kenji Yokogawa, after telling us about the origins of the Dark Willow Gang, mentioned a key figure: Ryochuan Taro, the Police Chief of Ziwu City, and the second-in-command, who is actually at odds with the new mayor, Tennoji Sohide."

"Ryochuan Taro had a good chance of becoming the new mayor of Ziwu City, but Tennoji Sohide received significant financial support from the Dark Willow Gang, allowing him to outdo Ryochuan Taro. After all, in the capitalist nation of the Island Nation, whether it's the election of national leaders or local mayors, a large amount of funds is needed, and often the side with more campaign funds wins. In a capitalist world, money really can do anything."

"The defeated Ryochuan Taro, surely not satisfied, continued to serve as the Police Chief and started to covertly work against the new mayor Tennoji Sohide. Especially with the recent crackdown on gangs, directly targeting Tennoji Sohide's backer, the Dark Willow Gang. In a way, Ryochuan Taro has helped us by diverting the Dark Willow Gang's attention."

"However, Kenji Yokogawa mentioned that Ryochuan Taro recently planned to report Tennoji Sohide's involvement with the underworld and sought Kenji Yokogawa's assistance. After all, as the president of Ziwu City University, Kenji Yokogawa is a prominent figure in Ziwu City."

At this point, Watanabe Jiang teased Yin En, "Yin En, if you could persuade your father-in-law to assist Ryochuan Taro, I believe he would help us against the Dark Willow Gang. Remember, the police force of Ziwu City is entirely under Ryochuan Taro's control."

Yin En sighed helplessly and nodded, "Alright, I'll meet my father-in-law tomorrow."

Watanabe Jiang was surprised at Yin En's agreement, exclaiming, "What? Yin En, you're finally willing to sacrifice yourself and marry Miss Sawada Yinyin?!"

Watanabe Jiang's joke lightened the tense atmosphere, except for Yin En, who looked rather dejected.

"Enough, Watanabe Jiang, stop teasing. Let's continue discussing Kenji Yokogawa. He's really a good person. Aside from Tennoji Sohide's dirt, he shared everything he knew with us. The only thing worth criticizing is that Kenji Yokogawa likes younger women," Gu Jun said, deviating from seriousness.

It turned out that when Gu Jun and Watanabe Jiang were bidding farewell to Kenji Yokogawa, his fiance, Takahashi Chiyuki, appeared.

Kenji Yokogawa, now over fifty and widowed for many years, hadn't remarried due to his dedication to academia. A year ago, he met Takahashi Chiyuki, who worked at a government front desk, and she pursued him. Now, Kenji Yokogawa and Takahashi Chiyuki were in the stage of discussing marriage.

Special note: Takahashi Chiyuki is 25 years old.

"I originally thought Takahashi Chiyuki had ulterior motives for marrying Kenji Yokogawa, considering their age gap. But after observing, I found that Takahashi Chiyuki truly loves him. I can only wish them well and, not wanting to see them show affection, Watanabe Jiang and I left," Gu Jun said with a smile.

Hearing this, Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, realizing that Gu Jun was hinting that Takahashi Chiyuki was also an important NPC. However, since they couldn't disturb Kenji Yokogawa and Takahashi Chiyuki's romantic moment, Gu Jun and Watanabe Jiang had to leave temporarily.

After all, in this module, NPCs are distinguished by their importance based on their appearance.

Therefore, Liu Xing surmised that Takahashi Chiyuki must be an NPC that players need to interact with when entering the mayor's storyline.

However, from the current intelligence, the difficulty of the mayor's storyline seems quite high. Tennoji Sohide is not only threatened by the Dark Willow Gang but also opposed by the Police Chief, lacks allies, and is in a very precarious situation.

"Alright, that's all the information Watanabe Jiang and I gathered today. I'll study the notes we got from Kuroba Naoki later. If there's any important information, I'll inform everyone," Gu Jun said, waving a notebook.

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