Chapter 9 I Bet You Wouldn’t Dare to Shoot_1

Words : 1369 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 9: Chapter 9 I Bet You Wouldn’t Dare to Shoot_1The school’s back door was usually locked, the keys kept by the Dean of Students. But the criminals obviously didn’t care that this was school property. The broken lock lay in the dust, the back door swung open, and outside was a silver-white van. Inside, there were three rows of seats. The first row contained the driver and passenger seats. The middle row had seating for four, with two seats folded back. The rear seats could accommodate four people. Aozawa and Phoenix Academy Maggie were herded into the back seats. One of the men pulled handcuffs from a tool bag and cuffed them to the armrests. After closing the door, the underboss sat in the passenger seat. One man acted as the driver, another sat in the middle seats. "Let’s go!" At the underboss’s command, the van started up. The deep engine rumble seemed to transmit through the floor to Aozawa’s feet. He glanced at the handcuffs—they were definitely high-quality replicas of police handcuffs. Criminals who could procure guns could surely obtain police handcuffs. Their background clearly wasn’t so powerful as to allow them to blot out the sky with one hand. However, they were still ruthless criminals who needed to be dealt with decisively, not just roughed up a bit and let go. This was why Aozawa had allowed himself to be captured without a fight. With the Superpower he now possessed—not to mention Hypnosis, which was currently at its peak strength—killing several people would be a matter of a few words. Next was Telekinesis. He carried razor blades in his pocket. Driven by the invisible force of Telekinesis, he could rapidly slit a person’s throat. If it really came to a fight, he wasn’t afraid of the gun-wielding underboss at all. It was just that his philosophy was to eradicate evil completely, and he disliked the cliché of dealing with the underlings only for their superiors to show up later. The whole family should be sent off together. "I’m sorry, Aozawa, for dragging you into this mess," Phoenix Academy Maggie said, a hint of apology on her porcelain-like cheeks. Aozawa chuckled. "No problem, it’s not your fault. If anything, I shouldn’t have suddenly needed to pee during physical training and run to the public restroom. It’s just my bad luck." "Don’t worry, they’re only after money. We’ll be fine." "That sentence is truly reassuring," Aozawa remarked, then added with some confusion, "Could it be that you’re from the kind of wealthy family that doesn’t worry about money?" Now that things had come to this, Phoenix Academy Maggie didn’t hide her identity. She whispered, "My family has some money." The underboss in the passenger seat turned his head, laughing. "The Phoenix Academy family isn’t just ’a little’ rich. Antares Heavy Industries, ranking among the top hundred globally, is one of the businesses controlled by the Phoenix Academy family." Aozawa asked in surprise, "Her family is so wealthy, how dare you do such a thing?" The underboss in the passenger seat shrugged. "Please, don’t underestimate our Misawa group. Leader Ono isn’t trying to make an enemy of the Phoenix Academy family. To borrow the young lady’s words, we just want to slightly increase our modest protection fee. The Phoenix Academy family earns so much money each year; giving us a mere three hundred million yen as a protection fee is far too stingy." "How much are you thinking of raising it to?" "Leader Ono says it should be at least four hundred million." When Phoenix Academy Maggie heard this number, she desperately wanted to curse at them and ask why they didn’t just go rob someone. Expecting to rake in four hundred million yen a year for doing nothing was pure wishful thinking. She pursed her lips, suppressing the rage in her heart, and began to ponder. Will Mother pay the money? The reality was far less optimistic than she had led Aozawa to believe. The Phoenix Academy family was vast and influential. Her mother, a widow, helmed the family, much to the dissatisfaction of some male relatives. While her mother might be willing to part with four hundred million yen, the other family members were a different story. It wasn’t that the Phoenix Academy family considered four hundred million yen an exorbitant sum; rather, they valued their reputation above all else. They would sooner spend tens of billions of yen cultivating connections within the Metropolitan Police Department to utterly crush the Misawa group—even if it meant eliminating Leader Ono—than spend a mere four hundred million on ransom. For a prominent family, face was often more important than money; it could not be lost, no matter the cost. Even if that cost was collecting her corpse. I don’t want to die, she thought, and I can’t drag Aozawa into this because of me. How can I subtly ask Mother for help? The van drove all the way to a warehouse in the Adachi District, which was Misawa group territory. The warehouse didn’t store any important goods; it was usually where the Misawa group conducted its unsavory business. "Get out," the underboss said, opening his door and stepping out first. The courtyard outside the warehouse was rumored to be the burial ground for those who had offended the Misawa group. Perhaps their remains continued to contribute even after death, as the grass there grew especially verdant. Misawa group members had to cut the grass there every year. The henchman in the middle seat unlocked their handcuffs, opened the door, and said, "You two, get out." Aozawa and Phoenix Academy Maggie got out of the van. The underboss knocked on the warehouse door—three long knocks and one short—then uttered the password, "Leader Ono is peerless!" The warehouse door opened, and the underboss waved them in. "Don’t try anything funny. Get in." Aozawa followed Phoenix Academy Maggie into the warehouse. It was spacious inside, with mostly empty shelves. The air quality wasn’t good; there was a strange odor, and sunlight streaming through the high windows illuminated countless fine dust particles. About a dozen men were gathered inside, all uniformly dressed in suits and ties, standing in rows on either side. In the center was a glass coffee table and a single armchair where Ono sat. He wore an unbuttoned floral shirt, ripped jeans, and his long hair was dyed vibrant colors. His face was pockmarked, and he had the somewhat listless expression of someone who had overindulged in drugs. "Hello, I’m Ono Taro, leader of the Misawa group. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Phoenix Academy." The man with the dyed hair smiled as he introduced himself. His gaze then shifted to Aozawa, his brow furrowing slightly. "And who’s this kid?" The underboss stepped forward to explain, "He saw us, so we brought him along too." "Tch, you guys are so sloppy. Get rid of him." Ono Taro stabbed the peeled apple on the table with a knife, as casually as if swatting a fly, his tone nonchalant. Phoenix Academy Maggie quickly stepped in front of Aozawa, like a mother hen protecting her chick, and cried out, "You just want money, right? There’s no need to kill anyone!" Perhaps due to their proximity, Aozawa could smell her scent. It was faint and pleasant, definitely not the artificial fragrance of perfume. Ono Taro picked up the apple, impaled on the knife, and waggled it. "No, no. Compared to money, I prefer killing. Or rather, I get money so I can kill better. In this day and age, if you don’t have money, no one will follow you. Old die-hards like Fujimura are a rare breed. He could have competed for the leadership, but he insisted on obeying the old leader’s wishes, going on about how Yakuza need to have honor. It’s ridiculous! A man selling oden should be hawking oden! We’re Yakuza, thugs! What honor are we supposed to talk about?" Saying this, he grabbed a gun from the table, a pathological smile twisting his features. "You, get out of the way." "You won’t shoot me." Aozawa activated his Hypnosis Ability, grasped Phoenix Academy Maggie’s shoulders, and gently pushed her aside.

Chapter 9 I Bet You Wouldn’t Dare to Shoot_1

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