NOVEL NEXT Chapter 414: Following the Trail
Fushimi Roku first thought of taking photos for evidence. Whether Uesugi Shion was present or not didn't matter. If she was here, great, if not, he could follow the clues and use the forwarded calls to find her personally.
It's better than sitting at home doing nothing.
But now, Fushimi Roku encountered a small problem: the current flip phones didn't have a camera or screenshot function. They could only make calls and send texts, perhaps set a ringtone, but not even simple games.
If he wanted to take photos as evidence, he needed to bring a camera with him.
Cameras weren't cheap back then. He hadn't bought one, so faced with this situation, he had to use his skill of 'sleight of hand', tuck Uesugi Shion's phone into his pocket, and leave the office quickly, as if nothing happened, then duck into the bathroom.
One good thing about 1991 was that you didn't have to worry about cameras while stealing.
Fushimi Roku sat in the bathroom stall, dismantling the phone quickly, ensuring there was no micro bomb or tracker inside, then reassembled it.
Alright, phone confiscated.
Fushimi Roku recorded the forwarded number, pulled out his phone, and called Sazaki Gen, as usual seeking help from the underworld to find someone.
Maybe because he'd used too many favors, this time, Sazaki Gen didn't agree immediately but started talking about other things:
"Fujimura-kun, have you heard of any changes on the streets lately?"
"What's up?" Fushimi Roku asked, sitting cross-legged on the toilet: "Is another yakuza boss dead?"
"Not exactly…"
Sazaki Gen cleared his throat, then in a chattering, casual manner, started recounting recent news in the underworld and police circles.
Fushimi Roku was aware of some things, having been educated on certain yakuza history from games in his previous life, while other pieces of news were entirely new to him.
The first major headline was that the Yamaguchi Group had reached its peak strength. Sazaki Gen thought it might continue to grow, but Fushimi Roku knew that 1991 was the peak of Yamaguchi Group's history, and each subsequent year would be less prosperous.
Currently, they were publicly declaring an official membership exceeding 30,000, with about 23,000 associate members, covering nearly half of Japan's organized crime scene.
Bringing fifty thousand people together is enough for Li Yunlong to attack Ping'an County three times.
And this was only on paper; their real influence was even greater. Each of the fifty thousand had their own networks, with many low-level associates not even counted as members yet numerous enough to be significant.
Of course, power expansion naturally leads to conflict. Recently, Hong Kong triads clashed with the Yamaguchi Group in Yokohama's Chinatown, engaging in street gunfights. Twenty-one Yamaguchi Group members were killed, though it's unclear how many triad members died.
Not only were old forces expanding, new forces were also becoming more active.
The Kudou Association in Kyushu was involved in multiple gambling-related shootings, orchestrating violent acts including attacks on the Toyota Factory and political and commercial figure assassinations;
The economic downturn spurred the activity of small violence groups, like the "Nulaquan" Chinese triad based in Tokyo, expanding through underground casinos and high-interest loans.
The Violence Group Countermeasures Law drafted last year finally came out this year, as Japan officially issued the Violence Group Countermeasures Law, restricting economic activities of violence group members, prohibiting them from obtaining funds through intimidation, extortion, etc., and authorizing police to freeze assets and close offices.
Fushimi Roku remembered, it was after this law was promulgated that Japan's yakuza began to decline.
"They call it a crackdown, but it's more like a show. Yamaguchi Group's top brass have insiders, possibly even patrons in police departments, often avoiding crackdowns in advance, even leaving weapons for police 'seizure' to maintain surface order…"
Sazaki Gen sighed: "The relationship between the yakuza and the police is very delicate now, can you understand what I mean?"
Fushimi Roku understood his implication: it's a sensitive time, and the police getting too close to the yakuza might end in a scandal. Sazaki Gen was indirectly reminding him.
With the law just enacted, there would certainly be a buffer period. Many couldn't see the situation clearly, and some didn't take it seriously at all.
"How's the Inakawa Association doing?" Fushimi Roku was curious about Sazaki Gen's take: "You're not telling me this just for a casual chat, are you?"
"Takamasa is still the same, fooling around with women, making friends everywhere... But right now, the Inakawa Association is under my control. I'm managing things."
Sazaki Gen paused, adding: "He said he's not leadership material and forced it on me."
The undercover cops in the underworld had become leaders themselves, and only now was there a crackdown on organized crime. Fushimi Roku didn't know from where to start ridiculing this.
"That's a good thing; he trusts you, and you trust him, so there won't be any issues of overshadowing the master." Fushimi Roku complimented him.
Sazaki Gen didn't continue this topic but moved on to the main matter:
"Although other organizations don't take the Violence Group Countermeasures Law seriously, I think in another twenty or thirty years, there may be no room for yakuza in Japan, so I'm currently leading the Inakawa Association in transforming."
This guy was a bit forward-thinking, but perhaps overly optimistic. Not twenty or thirty years—at most another three to five years, and the yakuza would be quite crippled.
"Transformation? In what direction?" Fushimi Roku asked.
"Collaborating with businesses, trying to legitimize, but it feels quite difficult," Sazaki Gen's voice betrayed his fatigue: "The Yamaguchi Group and Sumiyoshi Association are squeezing our territory, and legitimate enterprises don't want to officially cooperate with us; it's indeed tough times."