Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 883: Chapter 708: Succession

In the hospital’s silent corridor, everyone remained quiet, no one spoke.

When the news that Fujimoto was about to die weighed heavily on everyone’s head, the former tolerance and calm vanished without a trace.

There was no doubt that a change of leader was a top priority for the Fujimoto Group, now already shaken and tottering.

They could no longer withstand any accident.

Everyone had already prepared for Yamashita’s rise to the top, but no one had expected that the successor would not be Yamashita, who served as the ’Wakagashira’, nor Ueno or Takuma, and not even the head of headquarters, Long Village.

Instead, it was Huaizhi, who had joined the gang for barely a single day.

Huai Zhisu People.

The transformation came out of nowhere; regardless of whether each person agreed or not, Fujimoto’s intention was already decided, and on his deathbed he forcibly invoked the authority he had cultivated over so many years, forcing everyone to accept this reality.

Those who refused had already been personally ”touched” by Yamashita.

No time was given for anyone to react.

Takase, who had lived and died side by side with everyone for so many years, fell under his own brother’s gun. True, everyone knew he had some little schemes, but Yamashita’s decision sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

Now, Yamashita stood alone in front of the window, his back to everyone, smoking in silence, his expression unreadable.

Ueno also said nothing, his gaze shifting between Yamashita and the ward’s door, his face dark.

After a long time, Takuma, who was in charge of finance and bookkeeping, pushed his glasses up and spoke first.

”There’s a question I need to get clear.”

He said, ”Yamashita, I’m the oldest one here, my grandchild is about to be born—nobody wants something bad to happen to the Fujimoto Group more than I do. If you think I’m in the way too, then you might as well kill me as well.”

”Takuma, what stupid crap are you spouting!” Ueno’s eyes bulged.

”Didn’t Takase just die? Why can’t I die? We’re on the Extreme Path, Ueno.”

Takuma spoke calmly, ”The survival of the organization relies on the leader and the rules—anything else can be sacrificed, but those two must never be shaken. If they’re violated, even your own people must be killed, and they must be killed more coldly, more decisively than outsiders. If Takase was going to be in the way, going to be a bad apple, then he had to die.

But Mr. Yamashita, Yamashita Jiro, I have something I want to ask you.” Takuma pressed him, ”What are you really thinking? About the position of group leader, how do you truly see it?”

He paused for a moment, then asked in a cold voice: ”Can you really accept a newcomer who joined the Fujimoto Group less than a day ago riding on your head?”

Yamashita finally turned back to look at him, bloodshot eyes locked firmly onto him.

Takuma met his gaze calmly.

In the silent standoff, Yamashita finally spoke and gave his answer: ”I already said it clearly just now. The boss’s will is my will.”

”That’s while the boss is still alive. But what if the boss dies?” Takuma pressed on. ”What if the new boss does nothing? What if... the new group leader can’t tolerate you?”

”Then send me to prison. I personally pulled the trigger, with eyewitnesses and everything. There’s nothing I can deny.”

Yamashita glanced down at the pistol in the inner pocket of his suit, and his expression grew calm: ”This is the boss’s arrangement. I have no objections.”

That was Fujimoto’s final order.

A cruelty and decisiveness in the very shadow of death.

They had weathered so many storms side by side that they no longer needed many words. In the instant he sighed, that resolve had already been passed into Yamashita’s hands.

The moment that shot was fired, it meant Yamashita’s path to becoming group leader was shattered completely.

It was not only a display of loyalty to The second; it was also a fatal piece of leverage.

If in future Yamashita grew too powerful, hard to rein in, or wanted to stir up trouble after Fujimoto’s death and move against Huaizhi, this evidence of his crime would be his express ticket to prison.

From a certain point of view, this was perhaps the last bit of care given to this sworn brother Yamashita.

Unless he caused an extremely malignant social impact, Yingzhou’s law would not sentence a criminal to death—but the Extreme Path would. The Extreme Path’s rules are far harsher than the statutes.

If the ’Affiliate’ orders a ’Branch’ to die, the Branch must die. If Huaizhi cannot tolerate Yamashita, then Yamashita cannot live.

Yamashita had already prepared himself for that.

At this moment, the most unsettled one was not Yamashita or Takuma, but Ueno, the one with the most explosive temper.

Yamashita was Fujimoto’s right-hand man, the one he trusted most in the whole group, loyal and devoted all these years. Even if he ordered Yamashita to jump off the roof right now, Yamashita wouldn’t so much as frown.

Takuma, on the other hand, was administrative staff. Twenty years ago he went to prison in place of Boss Fujimoto, and after his release he was half-retired, handling only the legitimate companies and assets on the surface. His position seemed secure, but whether he stayed or went was only a matter of a single thought from The second.

After so many years, he’d already made more than enough money. He wouldn’t do anything irrational. On the contrary, what he cared about more was whether the Fujimoto Group could continue to survive in a stable way, not see it torn to shreds by internal strife.

Only Ueno had no brains, always rough around the edges.

He’d always been the knife’s-edge enforcer.

Now Boss Fujimoto suddenly said he was passing the position to a newcomer who had just joined.

His brain was completely unable to process it; he didn’t even know what he should say.

Takase couldn’t see the situation clearly, or rather, was blinded by the prospect of becoming group leader. Seeing that Yamashita couldn’t rise to the top, he started scheming based on his slight connections with the Yoshida Meeting.

He deserved to die.

Besides, before this, Fujimoto had already announced at the high-level banquet that Huaizhi had become a formal member of Green Day. With Green Day as an ally, there was no reason the Fujimoto Group couldn’t flourish again in the future.

Only, no one knew what this new The second was really thinking.

”Actually, everyone... everyone doesn’t need to be this pessimistic.” Ueno forced a smile, trying to lift the mood. ”We’re all heartless Extreme Path scum, sure, but Big Brother Fujimoto never once hurt his own people in his whole life... If he chose Huai Zhisu People, he must’ve had his reasons, right?”

No one spoke or answered.

After a brief silence, through the door they heard the rapid beeping of the heart monitor inside, until, at the end, there was no more sound. The color drained from everyone’s faces.

Fujimoto was dead.

Whether they liked it or not, the sky over the Fujimoto Group was going to change. Yet at the same time, what welled up from their hearts was genuine grief and sorrow.

In the silence, everyone looked at one another, waiting for orders from the other side of the door. Only Yamashita kept his head lowered, taking a deep breath, rubbing his eyes, then was the first to walk up to the door and raise his hand to knock.

No answer from behind the door.

It was a long, long time before a low voice finally came.

”Come in.”

Inside the room beyond the door, the man on the hospital bed had already passed, no breath left in him.

The figure with his back to them sat in the chair before the bed, quietly smoking. Pale-blue smoke rose slowly from his fingertips, curling and dispersing in the sunlight streaming through the window.

In the silence, he stared at the sunlight outside the window without speaking.

He was dressed in the same slovenly, casual way as before, yet somehow he felt different from the past. He was no longer the dazed young man from just now.

”Everyone’s here?”

Huai Zhisu turned his head. When his bangs were brushed aside, the curved horns were laid bare in the sunlight, no longer concealed. His calm eyes swept over everyone, and only after a long moment did he give a slight nod.

”If everyone’s here, say your goodbyes to Mr. Fujimoto.”

He said, ”You should all be grateful to him, and you will remember the kindness of his final act, understood?”

Like scolding children who didn’t know any better, the owner of those eyes told them this. From a superior height he handed down his judgment, allowing no argument.

Yes. Don’t ask too much. Don’t bother with doubts.

You just do as you’re told.

He was just a rookie on his second day in the Extreme Path, and yet that arrogant, cutting attitude made him seem like someone far above them.

Under that gaze, everyone shivered involuntarily, but whether out of respect for The second or gratitude for Fujimoto’s years of care, none of them had any reason to disobey.

They all bent at the waist and bowed respectfully in farewell to the dead man on the bed.

No one spoke again, not until Huai Shi finished his cigarette in silence and crushed it out in the vase on the bedside table.

He turned back and looked at the silent Yamashita, then suddenly asked:

”Where’s the pistol?”

As he spoke, Huai Shi Stretch held out his hand toward Yamashita, beckoning, fingers spread, waiting.

In the still air, something was pulled taut once more.

Yamashita raised his head, his expression twitching. Slowly he lifted his hand and drew the pistol from the shoulder holster inside his suit. For a brief instant, his finger seemed to settle on the trigger.

But in the next moment he jerked it away as if shocked by electricity.

Gripping the handle as if it were a red-hot brand, stiffly, he passed it over.

Huai Shi raised his hand, caught the body of the gun, and took it from his grasp. He examined the pistol in his hand; nothing seemed wrong with it, no trace of rust or damage.

Well maintained.

He took out a handkerchief and briskly wiped down the slide and grip, carefully removing any unrelated fingerprints. Before anyone could breathe easier, he wrapped his fingers around the grip and raised it.

He pulled the trigger.

The sharp report rang out once more. On the floor, Takase’s corpse jerked, then lay still.

”Nice gun. Rare piece from America. I’ll be taking it from now on.”

He looked up and informed the stunned Yamashita, and without waiting for his consent, casually shoved the pistol into his own pocket.

Then he turned back and told everyone, ”Fujimoto Group Young·Takamine Takase tried to defy my orders and intended to rebel. I have personally executed him. Understood?”

In the silence, that pair of eyes swept over them all, making their hearts pound wildly.

They bowed without thinking, answering respectfully.

”——Instruct, Affiliate!”

”Good. This is a good start. Whatever happens, I hope we can all get along from here on.”

Huai Shi paused and looked back at the man lying on the hospital bed behind him, the one who had already passed. After a long moment, he withdrew his gaze.

”Go start preparing the wake and the funeral.”

He lowered his eyes and said softly, ”We should at least let Mr. Fujimoto go in peace.”