"There aren't as many people as I thought there would be," Reiji muttered, studying the camera feeds to see if he missed anyone.
There were only between 25-30 people, including the ones offloading the crates from the ship, which was quite low all things considered.
"It's probably because Hayashi hasn't been in the country for long. If he had entered more than a week ago, we'd definitely have found out about it, so that doesn't leave him much time to recruit henchmen," Beardy replied.
"The people that are doing the heavy lifting are likely not yakuza either, I don't recognize any of them. I'm guessing they might just be hired for the offloading, but even if they're new gangsters, they won't be as dangerous," another member added.
If that was true, the ones Reiji would really need to watch out for were the men guarding Hayashi. There were 8 of them, at least from what he could see from the CCTV, and each of them was armed with either taser batons or crossbows.
'This won't be easy, but it's not as bad as I was expecting either....'
The crossbows would be the major difference maker, and he would have to be a lot more cautious than he usually was.
"Boss, here. Wear this under your clothes."
Baldy handed him a thick vest from the trunk he was rummaging through. At first glance, it seemed like a bulletproof vest, but it wasn't as padded or heavy-looking as the ones he'd seen in movies in his other world.
"What's this?" he asked, running his hands over the solid material embedded within it.
"They're armour vests, they'll protect you against taser batons, and can even absorb most of the damage from crossbows. But the ones Hayashi's smuggling seem like they're pretty high quality, so don't fully depend on it. But it'll guarantee your life as long as it's not a headshot."
He grimaced at the thought of an arrow piercing his head and shook it off.
Reiji nodded and took off his top, zipping up the black padding as tight as he could. He felt a little bulkier, and it messed with his flexibility, but he couldn't deny that it was a little reassuring to have some protection.
There was also a shield-like sleeve that he wrapped around his right forearm. It was quite heavy since it was made out of high-quality materials, but that wasn't a dealbreaker.
"God, you guys chit-chat so much! When are you gonna get this over with? I need my beauty sleep!" Arata scoffed while sitting comfortably with his legs crossed on the hood of their SUV.
Everyone ignored him, focusing on preparing their own weapons and armour vests.
"Why don't we have any crossbows?" Reiji questioned, noticing that they all strapped on taser batons, long knives, and daggers.
Beardy shrugged as he tested the conditions and sharpness of his items.
"Not sure. The Big Boss supplies us with just these things, so you should ask him."
'That really doesn't make much sense.... Unless that's also to deter the police?'
The more time he spent around the syndicate, the more confused he became, but there was nothing he could do for now except move forward.
It was getting pretty late, and he needed to wake up early and bake the macarons.
'She might throw a fit otherwise..... I should make a couple of different flavors. Chocolate and vanilla for sure, they're the safest.'
"Ok, here's the plan. Only one person is guarding the entrance, and he doesn't have a crossbow. We'll walk up to him and ask to talk with Hayashi, which might get us an audience with him. If things go south during the negotiation, then here's what we'll do..."
Reiji called up Arata and Beardy specifically, giving them instructions on what they each had to do if that scenario were to happen.
They both refused instantly, but for vastly different reasons.
"But Boss, if I do this, I won't be able to protect you!"
"Tch, that's such a pain in the ass! Why don't you guys just go beat them up? One or two arrows might not kill you," Arata chuckled with derision.
Reiji sighed.
"Beardy, we don't have a lot of other options without long-range weapons. You know as well as I do that this might be the best shot we have in making it out of this in one piece. Just because you won't be there doesn't mean you won't be able to protect me. In fact, my safety is pretty much in your hands."
Then he turned to the orange-haired sleaze bag who was flicking the snot he had dug out of his nose.
"As for you, I feel like I've been pretty polite up to this point. I didn't say anything when you showed blatant disrespect because I understand that you're technically not part of the syndicate. But if you keep up this attitude, and any one of us gets hurt because of that? I promise that you won't have any legs to press the gas pedal on that Ferrari of yours," he snapped.
Arata froze, his face twisting with anger as he hopped off the car.
"Are you threatening me? Do you not realize that I can basically make or break your success in this assignment?" he hissed, his voice lower than it had been thus far.
Reiji smiled.
"You walk around calling yourself super smart, so I know you wouldn't be idiotic enough to make that mistake, unless you really do let that pitiful ego of yours take control of your judgment. I mean, I've heard a lot about you, both good and bad, but I've never really believed any of it. Now I can see they were right about your issues, but I've yet to see anything great from you. Hacking some cameras, is that really a big deal?"
His role would make things much easier for them, so he needed Arata to be locked in instead of doing it with the lazy mindset he'd shown so far.
'Even though he only popped up in two arcs in the game, that's enough to let me know what type of guy he is.'
Without waiting for a response, Reiji turned around and started walking towards the port's gates, signaling the others to follow him.
Before leaving, he left Arata with one final sentence.
"We're going to get through this with or without you, and you can choose if you want to continue with your comfortable life or throw away everything you've built so far."
***
(Arata POV)
Arata watched the group of men led by a teenager walk into this highly dangerous situation with brave faces.
"Tch."
He flicked open a compartment in his computer briefcase, typing in a few commands as he muttered out loud.
"Did you hear that? I can't tell if he's crazy or has that much belief in himself and his men," he laughed.
A deep voice answered him from within the tiny earphone in his right ear. If one wasn't sticking their fingers in there, specifically looking for something, they wouldn't be able to notice it from most angles.
"....Why can't it be both?"
"Hmm, yeah. I guess it could be. But what was he going to do if I really was offended and decided not to help?" Arata asked with amusement.
"He knew that wouldn't happen, because he's right. You're not an idiot."
"You underestimate my ego, Boss."
"And you underestimate how much you love your life. And your ego wouldn't let you take that derision, would it?" the voice replied.
Arata tilted his head as he leaned against the car.
"....That's true, I need to show his pompous ass what exactly I can do!" he scoffed, vowing to make him apologize.
"Let's see if you're worth the money."
"That's a given. But where did he learn to talk like that? I genuinely had goosebumps for a second there! Just imagining not being able to drive my baby because of that threat, urrghhhhh! I was actually scared!" he moaned, looking at his Ferrari lovingly.
"When are you not scared?"
"Ok, why is this turning into 'insult the awesome, incredible, and handsome Arata' show?"
".....To be fair, you make it too easy."
"Agh, fuck both of you! I need to focus now, so shhhh!"
***
At the same time, Reiji's group was now close enough that the man guarding the gates noticed them immediately.
He pulled out a walkie-talkie from his pocket and spoke a few words into it, readying his taser baton for a possible encounter.
"Hey! This is a restricted area; you need to leave! Or face the consequences!" he yelled.
Reiji raised his hands, and the others followed suit to show their lack of fighting intent.
"We're here to talk with Hayashi. Tell him that the Yagami Syndicate has paid a visit."
"Huh? Y-Yagami?" the man yelped, his face going pale under the white moonlight.
He rapidly fired words into his walkie-talkie again, and Reiji couldn't hear the response from the other end because they were still a good distance away.
After a few seconds, the guard looked up, now sporting a more respectful facade.
"P-Please follow me, our Boss would like to meet you as well," he mumbled.
He led the group into the port, which was quite decrepit since it hadn't been used in a while. The building walls had cracks in them, and the metal structures were rusting from mismanagement.
But that was exactly what made it the ideal spot for such operations.
The place where the ship was docked wasn't too far away, and they soon saw the massive vessel when they turned a corner.
It was exactly as the camera feeds showed, with about 20 men offloading the crates from the ship while the remaining stood guard around a certain man.
Reiji saw three of them holding a crossbow, and the others had similar weapons as their group, tightly grasping their batons and long knives with fierce glares.
Hayashi was puffing his cigar with an eerie smile, his rotund body sprawled over a makeshift throne as his beady eyes flickered over each one of them, finally landing on Reiji as he giggled playfully.
"Oho, who would've thought that the Yagami Syndicate was going to show up? Anyone?" he asked in his raspy voice, tilting his head towards his henchmen.
They each raised a hand with a smirk.
"Yep, no surprises there! Welcome, folks, to my wonderland of weapons!"
He threw his hands in the air in dramatic fashion, as if mocking them, and then leaned forward.
His smile was replaced by indifference as he licked his lips.
"Why don't you stay forever?"
The three henchmen with crossbows fired simultaneously.
*THWANG*
*TCHAAK*