Chapter 4: The Greatest Fool in the Capital

Ogihara Trading Company of Aikone—what kind of place is that? Anyone could find out with a few casual inquiries. It is the largest syndicate in the region, its central business being the active promotion of public welfare and local economic development. From ordinary citizens to the Metropolitan Police Department, all who crossed their path afforded them due respect.

All the more so when one bears the name Ogihara, with the colossal Ogihara clan standing behind it—this was the trump card in Ichiro Nakayama’s hand.

“He’s here?” Ichiro Nakayama suppressed the sneer at his lips, carelessly biting down on his cigar. “Then let him crawl in.”

He exhaled a stream of smoke.

Yet the man who had come to report, after receiving his command, did not withdraw. Instead, he remained bent in a deep ninety-degree bow, cold sweat already beading on his forehead.

“Boss, I’m afraid it won’t be that easy…”

“What do you mean?” Nakayama’s brow furrowed, but before he could press further, he saw a young man approaching—checked shirt beneath a long black overcoat, black trousers and leather shoes, an umbrella in hand—crossing the courtyard’s small bridge and heading straight for the main hall’s sand garden.

“Go deal with him.” Nakayama’s expression turned cold as he motioned to the lieutenant at his lower right. This must be the useless scion of the Xiao family they’d been expecting. But this airs of nonchalance—whom did he think he was impressing? Did he take Ogihara Trading Company for his own backyard?

“Hah!” The lieutenant, a burly man, understood immediately. He shoved aside the beauty in his embrace, strode to the front of the hall, and jerked his chin towards the courtyard.

Around the courtyard, rain fell as a line of men in black suits stood ready.

The young man was Xiao Kaitian. Upon entering, his gaze locked onto the woman kneeling among the standing stones of the sand garden. Instinct told him she was someone deeply connected to him.

A ripple of emotion ran through him. He had underestimated the beings of this dimension, this world. His mental discipline was formidable, yet the sight before him stirred an uncontrollable anger.

In this world, there is something called “elder sister.”

Having pondered the meaning of this word in this context, he set his face into a cold mask and strode toward the woman in the sand garden. The men of Ogihara Trading Company, without further orders, exchanged glances but dared not act.

“Kill him!” The lieutenant flicked his fingers, issuing the command. Instantly, eight men in black suits lunged at Xiao Kaitian from all directions, the lieutenant’s lips curling into a cold sneer.

“Don’t think that just because you handled a few doormen, you can act with impunity. You’ll soon learn the price of offending Aikone Ogihara Trading Company…”

But before his contemptuous words finished, a flurry of “whoosh” and “clang” sounds filled the air. The lieutenant vaguely sensed shadows darting past him, and when he turned, he saw that his eight subordinates had crashed through the surrounding partition walls and now lay sprawled stiffly on the tatami. A few twitched now and then, signaling life still lingered.

As the partition walls collapsed, the warmth gathered inside quickly dissipated in all directions. Whether illusion or not, the lieutenant felt as though he had fallen into an ice pit. He shivered. “You…?”

Eight men dispatched in an instant, and he hadn’t even seen how Xiao Kaitian moved!

Xiao Kaitian continued his steady pace to the kneeling woman’s side, tilting his umbrella instinctively over her. This unconscious gesture left his right side exposed to the downpour.

But he seemed oblivious, merely bending down to gently lift the woman into his arms. To him, her weight was nothing; she felt so light, as if she might vanish at any moment, insubstantial as a feather.

Keeping his face calm, he battled the fury raging inside, carrying the woman step by step toward the main hall.

The slap of leather shoes on the flooded ground rang out, harsh and jarring.

“Animal!” the lieutenant snarled, so enraged by Xiao Kaitian’s reckless disregard that he let out an involuntary laugh.

So what if he’d beaten a few underlings? That level, he could match himself!

He had once served as a captain in the island nation’s Self-Defense Forces, participated in peacekeeping missions large and small—a man who had truly seen battlefields. Had Ogihara Trading Company not offered him a fortune after his retirement, he could have founded his own security firm.

In terms of strength, he was nearly on par with a Marine captain from the United States. Though the techniques Zhang Yan of Ichimei Hall had displayed earlier had startled him, he didn’t believe himself inferior.

If Zhang Yan rose to prominence here, what place would he have?

Thinking thus, he tightened his sash, steeled his expression, and strode towards Xiao Kaitian.

Xiao Kaitian cast him a glance—this was a man with combat power around forty. He was baffled as to why the fellow would rush him so aggressively.

Throughout the central universe, many had fancied challenging him. Their fates had all been grim.

“Hya!” As the lieutenant neared, he launched a full-force attack without hesitation. A top-tier taekwondo expert, he acknowledged Xiao Kaitian’s strength—this would be a true contest of might.

His blow was swift as lightning—and perhaps by coincidence, a flash of lightning split the sky above.

Sun Zhongyi’s heart leapt into his throat.

A thunderclap resounded. The lieutenant found himself staring at his own rather fleshy face reflected in the rainwater.

He didn’t know how, but there he was, kneeling in the courtyard, both arms twisted grotesquely behind him, nearly scraping the ground, eyes wide as he stared at his own reflection—whether rain or sweat, he could not tell.

Coughing violently, his ragged breath mingled with the thunder in the air, echoing through the buildings of Aikone Ogihara Trading Company.

“How is this possible?” At last, a subordinate muttered, cold sweat breaking out. They shifted their bodies, retreating slightly.

In the main hall, Ichiro Nakayama—so composed moments earlier—at last showed a trace of emotion.

Xiao Kaitian’s strength clearly exceeded the intelligence reports.

But he still had cards to play. Though shocked by the lieutenant’s defeat, the man at his disposal was not only the lieutenant.

No matter how formidable, the lieutenant was still a man of the mundane world. Nakayama shifted his gaze to Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan, the cast-out disciple of the Han-Tang Qinling sect—though expelled, he was a true martial cultivator, someone with real skills.

At that moment, as Xiao Kaitian drew nearer and Nakayama’s eyes fell upon him, Zhang Yan nearly broke down.

Damn it, he hadn’t even seen how his opponent moved, and as a martial cultivator just into the Yellow Realm, he had no confidence.

Yet the conditions offered by Ichimei Hall and Ogihara Trading Company were too good to refuse. As an outcast, he had spent years undercover in Ichimei Hall, motivated by these very rewards.

All he had to face was, after all, the most notorious fool in Han-Tang’s capital.