(150 Power Stone)
Chapter 4: The Underrated Classic, Black Lagoon
Asahi Heavy Industries?
Hearing the name Asuna Yuuki provided, Yumesaki shook his head slightly. "Never heard of it."
He had initially assumed that a company capable of pulling off something like this would be the Suzuki Group, or at the very least the Shinomiya Group, or some other massive, renowned conglomerate.
As it turned out, it was Asahi Heavy Industries, a name he had absolutely zero recollection of.
Well now... just where did this minor thug of a company even spring from?
Asuna Yuuki added, "I accidentally overheard my brother mentioning that this company seemingly has strong ties to an underworld syndicate, and they are backed by the Kōsa-kai."
Yumesaki shook his head once more; yet another criminal syndicate he had never encountered.
If she had mentioned organizations like the Shuei-gumi, the Hive, the Vongola, or the Ryuzugumi, he would have known a thing or two about them.
But the Kōsa-kai? Truly a completely unfamiliar name.
"Hold on a minute."
Yumesaki stood up, pushing open the Air Door to step back into his own world. He booted up the computer in his bedroom to run a quick investigation on the internet.
The Kōsa-kai, Asahi Heavy Industries.
At first, nothing significant popped up, but after digging a little deeper into the search results, he finally unearthed the origins of these two organizations.
Black Lagoon!
An incredibly underrated, classic series.
It followed the story of an ordinary salaryman named Rokuro Okajima who found himself dragged into the underworld of gangsters, eventually joining a mercenary group known as the Lagoon Company just to survive in the crime-ridden Southeast Asian city of Roanapur.
And this Rokuro Okajima happened to be a regular employee of Asahi Heavy Industries.
During a routine trip to transport highly classified corporate documents, the poor guy was ambushed and abducted by the mysterious mercenary group, and the documents were seized.
To ensure their corporate secrets would never leak, Asahi Heavy Industries initiated a ruthless cleanup operation—which involved eliminating both the stolen documents and Okajima himself.
Upon discovering that he had been completely abandoned and discarded like trash by his own employer, Okajima resolved to forge his own path forward.
Thus, he requested to join the Lagoon Company, proving his capabilities through sheer action, and began a brand-new life under the alias "Rock."
Judging from this piece of information, Asahi Heavy Industries certainly possessed some underhanded influence, but it wasn't overly massive.
Meanwhile, the Kōsa-kai was a prominent domestic syndicate operating right here in Japan.
Under its umbrella were numerous subsidiary gangster factions, such as the Kousa-kai itself, the Washimine-gumi, and various others.
However, the original plot line never explicitly detailed the full scale of the Kōsa-kai, focusing mainly on the internal power struggle between the Kousa-kai and the Washimine-gumi.
Of course, the thing that left the deepest impression on Yumesaki regarding the Black Lagoon manga wasn't the relentless turf wars between gangsters.
Rather, it was the female protagonist, Revy, alongside another deeply memorable female character.
The head maid of the Lovelace family, one of the thirteen major South American syndicates—Roberta.
The battle maid of Black Lagoon, a veritable human Terminator, she truly represented the absolute pinnacle of raw combat power in that setting.
When that maid first made her debut, she appeared incredibly gentle and soft-spoken, yet the iconic scene where she pulled out a machine gun to completely shred a bar was undeniably spectacular, instantly capturing the hearts of many.
Including Yumesaki himself.
Ahem... it seemed his thoughts had drifted a bit too far off track.
After clearing up the origins of Asahi Heavy Industries, Yumesaki stepped back through the door into Asuna Yuuki's private room.
"I've looked into Asahi Heavy Industries. They originate from Black Lagoon, a manga centered around criminals and gangsters. In that universe, they carry some weight, but not an overwhelming amount. Though I'm not entirely sure how influential they are in this merged world."
Asuna Yuuki shook her head helplessly. "I don't know much about them either, but whenever my father discusses Asahi Heavy Industries, his facial expression turns quite grim, almost as if he holds a degree of apprehension toward them."
Yumesaki rubbed his chin with one hand, murmuring softly under his breath. "It seems Asahi Heavy Industries is doing quite well for itself in this crossover world."
Asuna Yuuki gazed at Yumesaki with a look full of anticipation. She strongly suspected that her curse was directly tied to that company, but it was nothing more than a mere hunch.
With her current capabilities, she simply lacked the power to investigate a corporation of that size.
Right now, the only person who could possibly lend her a hand was the Transmigrator standing right in front of her.
But the issue was, the two of them shared no familial bonds whatsoever. On what grounds could she expect him to help her? Furthermore, he had already brought her back to life once. If she were to beg for his assistance again now, wouldn't that be entirely too shameless of her?
Mulling over this dilemma, Asuna Yuuki's fingers kept nervously fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She desperately wanted to speak, but the words felt firmly wedged in her throat, refusing to come out.
Yumesaki glanced down and immediately saw right through her inner turmoil. "Just spit out whatever you want to say. You Japanese people are always so tedious, even asking for help requires a whole display of embarrassment."
Hearing Yumesaki's words, which sounded dismissive yet carried a subtle undertone of encouragement, Asuna Yuuki finally gathered her resolve. She gave a deep, ninety-degree bow toward him. "Please... please help me."
"Sure." Yumesaki agreed without a second thought.
"Really?" Asuna Yuuki was caught completely off guard, her expression turning to one of utter disbelief as she stared at him. She clearly hadn't anticipated that he would agree so effortlessly.
This guy was actually surprisingly kind-hearted.
Yumesaki added nonchalantly, "Well, I've already read your doujinshi anyway, so let's just consider this as paying off that debt."
Asuna Yuuki's face instantly flared up in a bright crimson blush once more, her hands clenching so tightly that the veins visibly pulsed against her skin.
This whole doujinshi matter was never going to be dropped, was it?
She took back every single nice thought she just had. This guy wasn't a good person at all; his personality was absolute trash!
If it weren't for the blatant fact that she stood absolutely zero chance in a fight against him, she would have thrown herself forward to beat him into a bloody pulp right then and there.
"Right, there's one more thing," Yumesaki spoke up.
Asuna Yuuki immediately perked up her ears to listen.
"From now on, I'm just going to call you Asuna. Don't you think the full name Asuna Yuuki sounds a bit clunky compared to just Asuna?"
Asuna Yuuki had assumed he was about to bring up a matter of grave importance, but it turned out to be...
"That's it?"
"If not that, then what else?" Yumesaki countered with a question of his own.
Asuna Yuuki let out a helpless sigh, resigning herself to the situation. "Do whatever you like."
"Excellent, Asuna. To avoid raising any suspicions from the enemy, I won't be lifting the curse from your body just yet. Starting today, Medea will be moving alongside you."
"You will attend school and head home just like any normal day. Don't do anything out of the ordinary."
"Why?" Asuna Yuuki—or rather, Asuna—asked out of curiosity. "Shouldn't the immediate course of action be launching an investigation into Asahi Heavy Industries?"
Yumesaki nodded. "Logically speaking, investigating Asahi Heavy Industries is indeed the right move. However, the catch is that everything we discussed earlier was merely your own theory. In truth, you can't be absolutely certain that the one who cursed you belongs to Asahi Heavy Industries, can you?"
Asuna went quiet, unable to find a single counterargument. After all, her deduction was nothing more than personal speculation.
Whether someone from Asahi Heavy Industries had actually placed the hex on her was something she ultimately could not confirm.
"Therefore, what you need to do right now is act as though nothing happened. Medea will remain hidden by your side to protect you and shield you from those lethal hazards."
"Once the person who cursed you realizes that you refuse to die, they will naturally be forced to take more drastic measures."
"When that moment comes, we can capture them red-handed, and we can even trace them back to their organization to wipe them out entirely in one fell swoop."
Asuna's eyes sparkled with newfound hope; it was a solid plan. But a sudden concern crossed her mind.
"Won't having Lady Medea accompany me be a bit too conspicuous?"
Medea let out a soft chuckle. Under Asuna's astonished gaze, her figure began to vanish bit by bit into thin air.
"It is merely a basic Invisibility spell, nothing particularly advanced."
Witnessing this display, Asuna finally understood. "If you can turn invisible, then there won't be any issues at all. What about you then? What do you plan on doing?"
"Me? Naturally, I'm going to take this opportunity to properly explore this world."
Yumesaki explained, "Earlier, when I scanned this world using my Clairvoyance magic, I happened to spot Totsuki Academy. So, Cosette and I are going to head over to the Totsuki Resort managed by the academy and stay there for a few days."
"Totsuki Academy... is that the legendary culinary school known as the breeding ground for master chefs?"
"That's the one."
Hearing this, Cosette's eyes lit up instantly. "A school dedicated entirely to training chefs? Does a place like that actually exist in this world?"
Yumesaki nodded. "Of course it does. This is a modern society, after all. There are all kinds of specialized schools here; you can find just about anything."
Cosette let out an awestruck sigh. "I see... then this world truly is a wonderful place."
It was worth noting that back in the world of One Piece, a dedicated school for training culinary arts was completely unheard of.
All chefs either had to rely entirely on self-teaching through relentless trial and error, or serve a grueling apprenticeship under a master to slowly hone their crafts.
She herself fell squarely into the latter category.
She had studied diligently under her master's tutelage since childhood, until a war kindled by the Germa Kingdom resulted in her abduction. She was brought to the Germa Kingdom, where she gradually worked her way up to becoming the head chef.
Now, hearing that there was an actual institution meant solely for educating chefs in this world, a flicker of profound anticipation ignited deep within her eyes.
An academy that nurtured chefs... she couldn't help but wonder what a place like that truly looked like.
Yumesaki caught sight of her eager expression and let out a faint smile.
"Let's head out then. We'll make our way to Totsuki Resort first to look around, and then I'll take you over to Totsuki Academy for a proper tour."
"Understood."
Cosette nodded in agreement.
Nero rose from the bed and announced, "Umu! Master, I wish to accompany you to this Totsuki Resort as well!"
Yamato stood up immediately after, chime in eagerly, "In that case, count me in too!"
"No, you can't come along. Your physical stature is entirely too massive; you'd stand out like a sore thumb. Not to mention those two horns protruding from your head—that would make you infinitely more conspicuous."
Yumesaki flatly rejected her request. As he spoke, he turned his head to cast a brief glance toward Smoothie. If Yamato was bound to cause a scene, then Smoothie would be a downright catastrophe.
After all, Yamato stood at a daunting two meters and sixty centimeters, whereas Smoothie reached a staggering four meters and sixty centimeters. A height of that proportion was a fairly common sight back in the world of One Piece.
But in this world, where the average height hovered around a little over a meter and a half, anyone exceeding two meters would instantly be branded as a literal giant. Both a two-meter-sixty and a four-meter-sixty frame would inevitably cause an absolute uproar.
If he were to bring them out in public, it would undoubtedly trigger mass hysteria, likely landing them straight on the front page of the news.
To make matters even more troublesome, among the various Devil Fruit abilities and spells Yumesaki currently possessed, there wasn't a single magic or devil fruit power capable of shrinking a human being's physical size.
Ultimately, he had no choice but to leave Smoothie and Yamato behind, much to their shared disappointment, opting not to take either of them along for the time being.
"I understand," Smoothie nodded complacently, resolving to remain behind in the world of One Piece.
Yamato, however, kept whining and pleading to go, until an exasperated Yumesaki finally kicked her right back into the world of One Piece.
With Smoothie and Yamato taken care of, Yumesaki turned around to bid farewell to Medea and Asuna.
Before making his departure, he noticed a lingering trace of anxiety resting on Asuna's face, so he offered a specific word of reassurance to put her mind at ease.
"Don't worry, I'll be keeping a close eye on your situation. If anything happens, Medea can easily get in touch with me at any given moment. Just relax and act confidently; absolutely nothing will go wrong."
These words carried an immense weight, instantly alleviating a massive portion of Asuna's lingering tension. A soothing warmth seemed to wash over her entire body, and even her icy hands and feet finally began to warm up.
"I understand," she nodded vigorously, a bright smile returning to her face. "I hope you have a wonderful dining experience at the Totsuki Resort."
"Thank you for the kind words." Yumesaki gave Asuna a polite nod, before closing the Air Door leading to the world of One Piece and pushing open a brand-new Air Door directed straight toward the Totsuki Resort.
Totsuki Resort, also widely referred to as the Totsuki Vacation Village, was an incredibly vast property nestled amidst stunning mountain ranges and serene waters.
To ensure they wouldn't draw any unnecessary attention upon arrival, Yumesaki intentionally opened the gateway near a secluded artificial lake tucked away within the resort grounds.
The area was thoroughly isolated and devoid of foot traffic, ensuring their sudden appearance wouldn't cause any unwanted commotion.
However, the exact moment Yumesaki stepped through the portal and set foot inside the vacation village.
His eyes locked onto the artificial lake, where he spotted something floating right on the surface of the water... a corpse.
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