svetikya Page 331
Page 331
At four o'clock in the morning, Gu Ran received an urgent mission text message from Norma, requiring him to assemble at seven o'clock in the morning and depart for the airport. A car would come to Norton Hall at seven o'clock to pick him up and take him to Chicago.
The mission leader is Caesar, the team members are Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei, and Gu Ran's role is support and backup, so he is not required to go into the water.
Fortunately, he was assigned to the mission, otherwise he would have had to find an excuse to ask for leave and go to Japan.
It seems that Angers also knew that the people from the Snake Clan were not to be trifled with, so when Lu Mingfei and Caesar went into the water, he sent Gu Ran to keep an eye on them from the shore.
The fact that Caesar and his two companions went into the water can be said to have been arranged by Caesar's father, Pompey.
As the head of the Gattuso family, Pompeii had already purchased the deep-sea submersible long ago, perhaps knowing that this day would come, and was willing to personally arrange for his son to go down.
Caesar's uncle, Frost, was strongly opposed to Caesar going into the water. More than a decade earlier, the school board had forcefully demanded that Professor Schneider dive into the sea, which led to the Greenland disaster, resulting in the deaths of many students.
Now it's Caesar's turn to be involved, the future head of the Gattuso family. Frost, as the city-level representative of the school board, is about to come to the school to stop the mission. However, Caesar's guardian is Pompeii, not Frost, so he can only watch helplessly.
Gu Ran had packed her things early, dragging a small suitcase filled with all sorts of scrolls. She then sent a text message to Zhang Qiong and Su Xiaoqiang, telling them that she was going on a mission and might not be able to contact them for a while, and that they shouldn't worry.
Gu Ran had three goals for this trip to Japan: first, to ensure Erii's survival; second, to retrieve Herzog's White King pseudo-dragon bone; and third, to help Lu Mingfei grow stronger.
The first task was easy to complete, but the second task was the opposite of the first. Herzog needed Erii to become the White King, and it would be difficult for him to become the White King if Erii did not die.
As for the third task, Gu Ran didn't know how much Lu Mingfei should grow.
However, Gu Ran had made specific plans, so the next step was to take it one step at a time. As long as nothing unexpected happened, there shouldn't be any problems.
……
The next morning, Gu Ran and the other three arrived at Chicago International Airport as quickly as possible and boarded the principal's private jet—a black Gulfstream G550.
This private jet often accompanies the principal to various auctions around the world, because he buys things related to dragons, and having a private jet makes it easier to pass through security.
Chapter 374 The Four-Person Group
Principal Angers' private jet is different from Caesar's private jet, which prioritizes comfort. This jet prioritizes extreme speed, so... it was modified by those lunatics in the equipment department.
The roar of the engine had been lingering in the ears of Gu Ran and the other three since takeoff, which was enough to show how powerful the aircraft was, because commercial airliners could not possibly be that noisy, and they all used quietness as a gimmick.
Moreover, this plane can fly from Chicago to Tokyo in Japan in just six hours.
It should be noted that Gu Ran usually takes at least seventeen hours to fly from China by commercial airline.
On the plane, Gu Ran had already reviewed the mission. The secret society had assigned the four of them to investigate the sinking of the Lenin, as they suspected that the Lenin carried forbidden items related to the Dragon Clan civilization.
They were clearly unaware that the Lenin was carrying goods from Black Swan Port.
The contents of Black Swan Harbor are very complex, dating back at least to the Tsarist Russian era, and even further back.
However, the technology in Black Swan Harbor can be summarized in one sentence: it is the path to godhood achieved by using the Holy Grail, turning humans into pure-blooded dragons!
Gu Ran didn't understand why people were so obsessed with becoming dragons. Was it for power and strength, or perhaps for eternal life?
Perhaps it's a combination of all three.
Only those who possess power and strength can further pursue eternal life. If one lives eternally like an ant, then eternal life will only bring eternal suffering.
As former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger aptly put it: power is the best aphrodisiac.
It's really hard to understand the thought process of someone like Gu Ran, who only wants to cuddle with his wife and children in a warm bed.
But after all that has happened, Gu Ran has come to realize that without power and influence, he might not be able to grow old with the person he loves.
So power and authority are truly contradictory things; if you want to protect yourself and your loved ones, you can't just give them up.
……
The six-hour flight passed quickly. Gu Ran wore noise-canceling headphones, watching anime series while learning Japanese.
To fit the image of the Snake-Headed Eight Families as yakuza, Gu Ran even found an anime series related to the yakuza to watch, called "Seto no Hanayome".
Actually, he has almost mastered spoken English. He has learned the standard Tokyo accent and can occasionally throw in a few words of Osaka dialect.
Lu Mingfei was fast asleep, leaning on Chu Zihang's shoulder, his drool almost soaking Chu Zihang's collar.
Senior Brother Chu, on the other hand, sat motionless in place, like an evergreen pine tree, holding a Japanese sword, resembling a chivalrous hero in a martial arts novel who saves the world.
Caesar, as the team leader, was sizing up his team members. He and Lu Mingfei were members of the student council, while Chu Zihang and Gu Ran were members of the Lionheart Society.
He called himself a lion, while Chu Zihang was a tiger. The principal put the two of them together, intending for them to fight each other first.
Judging from the quality of the members of the two societies, Gu Ran, as the next president of the Lionheart Society, is also a top-notch tiger, and has even defeated Caesar.
But Lu Mingfei can only be considered a silly panda.
In ancient China, giant pandas were known as "iron-eating beasts." Legend has it that Chi You rode one of these things into battle, only to be defeated by the Yellow Emperor. It would be a miracle if someone could win a war riding such a thing!
Therefore, in this four-person group, the student council's strength is naturally a notch weaker.
Caesar was a little worried that he couldn't control his team members. If the mission failed, it would be a major stain on his life. He was such a proud and competitive person that he valued honor highly and would endure anything for it.
The plane had already passed over Tokyo.
Caesar looked out the window and said, "The brightest place is Ginza. It is said that when real estate prices in Japan were at their highest, a piece of land in Ginza could buy the entire United States."
"It should be said that this was the time when inflation and the real estate bubble were at their worst," Gu Ran said, taking off his noise-canceling headphones and chatting with the three of them.
Chu Zihang said, "I'm not interested in Ginza, I just want to see the cherry blossoms."
Lu Mingfei woke up at this moment, saw the Tokyo Skytree, and realized he had arrived in Tokyo. He happily exclaimed, "I wonder where Akihabara is!"
"The electronics district?" Caesar said. "I'd like to check out the game's launch as well."
Chu Zihang asked, "Do people who didn't have a childhood still have time to play video games?"
Caesar's voice turned cold: "How do you know I didn't have a childhood?"
The two were locked in a fierce battle, so Lu Mingfei quickly stepped in to smooth things over: "This place is too small. Why don't you two heroes start fighting after you get off the plane?"
He looked at Gu Ran, wanting him to say something.
Looking at these two people who had no childhood, Gu Ran said, "Brother Chu can't really be said to have had a childhood. He just wanted to chat with Boss Caesar for a bit, but he's a bit too straightforward."
He looked at Chu Zihang: "Apologize. You two are both straight men. If you don't say anything, no one will know what you're thinking."
"I'm sorry." Chu Zihang was very rational and immediately admitted his mistake. "I just didn't want us to be on guard against each other on the road. I know we're not friends. Although you supported me at the hearing of the investigation team, I also know very well that you were just protesting against the Gattuso family."
Caesar nodded, his expression softening slightly.
Gu Ran continued, "Although we can't be considered friends, we're not enemies either, so... perhaps we can become partners and work together to complete this mission. What do you think?"
He looked around at everyone.
Lu Mingfei was the first to speak up: "I have no objection, I agree!"
"Then let's shake hands." Gu Ran shook hands with Lu Mingfei, representing the two underlings of the Lionheart Society and the Student Council, and then the two of them looked at Chu Zihang and Caesar together.
Chu Zihang and Caesar looked into each other's eyes, and they both extended their hands to shake hands. They used a little force to make the other feel their sincerity without causing any pain.
"Wow, that's so exciting!" Gu Ran said to Lu Mingfei, tilting his head.
Lu Mingfei sarcastically remarked, "If those BL-loving girls at school saw this, who knows what they'd fantasize about!"
"There's one thing I want to emphasize," Caesar said after shaking hands with Chu Zihang, his initial worries about not being able to lead the team were temporarily put to rest.
He continued, "I'm the group leader, and your job is to assist me. I don't want the people I lead to go their own way. We're a team, and a team needs a core. Revolve around me, OK?"
"I have no objection. Caesar is clearly a leader." Gu Ran said indifferently.
As Caesar's subordinate, Lu Mingfei naturally had nothing to say.
Chu Zihang, as the leader of another club, nodded slightly.
And so, the four of them temporarily reached an agreement.
Gu Ran secretly typed on her phone and showed it to Lu Mingfei: "Don't shoot Caesar during the mission, otherwise your behavior of wearing red shoes and seducing your sister-in-law will get you stabbed three times and stabbed six times."
Lu Mingfei could tell at a glance that Gu Ran was worried that Caesar's Words of Power would hear him, so he deliberately typed a reminder.
He typed back: "Am I the kind of person who doesn't value loyalty? People in the martial arts world value loyalty above all else!"
As he spoke, he patted his chest.
Gu Ran smiled and simply patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder.
Caesar had now gained control of the group, and his anxiety subsided.
Knowing that Gu Ran had been learning Japanese, he asked, "How do you say 'you' in Japanese?"
Gu Ran, harboring a mischievous glint in his eyes, said with a suppressed laugh, "There are generally two ways to say it: one is 'tetsu ma' and the other is 'ki sa ma', which is written in Chinese characters as 'gui yang'."
Lu Mingfei was stunned for a moment. He always carried a book called "100 Practical Japanese Phrases for Travel" with him and also watched anime, so he knew some Japanese idioms.
The two phrases Gu Ran taught me, 'tieme' is equivalent to 'you ya de', and 'ki sa ma' is equivalent to 'you ta ma'...
Are you trying to have a nice conversation with someone by saying those two sentences right off the bat? Are you looking for a fight?
“Then how do you say ‘good’?” Caesar continued.
In his view, since Japanese also uses Chinese characters, it should be like Chinese, where each character conveys a single meaning.
Gu Ran replied, "Oh, nowadays young people generally use the English word 'nice'."
"So, hello is... Themeynes?"
"Ah, right, right, right, right!" Gu Ran exclaimed happily, "That's how you should talk to gangsters!"
Lu Mingfei quickly stepped in to smooth things over, saying to Caesar, "Uh, what Gu Ran meant was that you only speak and greet people like that to gangsters, you should never say that to normal people."
He was unaware that the group in the Japanese branch were members of the underworld.
Caesar didn't yet know that the Japanese branch was part of the Snake Clan's underworld, and he didn't understand why Gu Ran was teaching him that way, but he still nodded and said, "I understand."
Then Caesar took out four sets of clothes from a bag. They were all swordsmen's outfits from the Jianghu era (roughly equivalent to the late Ming Dynasty to the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty), and they looked like costumes from Japanese Taiga dramas (historical dramas).
“This is a gift from the headmaster,” Caesar said.
Lu Mingfei held a shirt printed with white cranes and chrysanthemums and found it a bit strange, while Chu Zihang held a shirt with a pattern of erupting Mount Fuji.
“It looks weird wearing these clothes. We don’t need to wear them all the way up. Let’s just wear them as outerwear,” Gu Ran said casually, holding up the 'cherry blossom and snow' pattern.
Caesar was wearing a "Tenkaichi" print, and he also felt it was strange to wear this outfit. Since the team members didn't want to wear it, he didn't force them.
In such minor matters, he is happy to respect the wishes of his team members, demonstrating his tolerance and willingness to communicate as a team leader.
Everyone had their luggage ready, and the plane flew over the bustling Tokyo night sky, arriving at the southern coastline of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. (In an island nation, a 'prefecture' is equivalent to a provincial-level administrative unit in a country.)
The plane soon began its descent, but instead of a proper airport, it landed on a salt flat. Landing at night, the airport was unlit, with only the headlights of a lone Hummer guiding the plane.