Yakuza

A few weeks ago in the city of Tokyo.

Inside one of the most luxurious apartments of the city, three men were seated on a comfortable couch. The apartment was large, possibly a penthouse; at their left, an immense wall of glass replaced the real concrete wall. The beautiful view of Tokyo was only partially obstructed by the low-lying morning clouds, even so, one could still see Mount Fuji far away. The three men wore robes as extravagant as the apartment, one red, one white and one black. The golden embroideries partially covered their bodies, yet parts of their imposing tattoos were still visible on their exposed body parts.

In front of them, a beautifully decorated table with golden details that resembled oriental dragons stood. On the table, three glasses filled with the best sake money could buy. However, if the place and the group was not impressive enough, there were also five mysterious books on the table. Each of them was unique, with different covers and colors, some seemed old and others brand new. Yet none of them had a recognizable language, neither belonged to Earth!

"So, cultivation is now possible…" The man dressed in white said with a smile. He was a middle-aged man, bald and with an imposing posture like everyone else present. The tattoos that covered his face helped hide his age, but showed his importance in that organization. "To become stronger than gods, how can that be even true?"

"Indeed, what should we do about it?" Asked the man in red. He had short black hair that showed gray streaks. "We may face problems soon."

The two men were directing their questions to the third in the room. They looked at him with a certain respect, showing that he was the great leader of the organization. It wasn't easy for them to acquire these five books, even though they had huge influence in the country, many important figures were fighting over these books nowadays. Now, they were worried about the possible repercussions within their empire.

"I don't know about you…" Calmly said the man in the center. His black robe with gold details accentuated his large beard and white hair, tied in a samurai bun. He was the oldest of the group, and the wisdom of age made him not worry as much about things as the others. "But I will be the strongest!"

The two men relaxed their tense shoulders as he said that. Indeed, so what if people would become stronger and could pose a threat to their organizations? They would only need to be even stronger, and they already had the resources to do so.

"Bah! You can't even lift the books with your old bones!" The man in white joked lightly.

Quickly each of them got a cultivation book of their liking. Moments later, only two books laid on the table.

"And the rest?" Asked the bald man.

"We'll do what we always do: reward our most loyal and formidable men." He smiled, showing teeth as white as his beard and a small golden tooth in his mouth. "Send down an order, we'll hunt these books."

Moments later, the group started to discuss their future plans.

*******

As Hei Niyanyu flew over the city, he was momentarily stunned by the immense size of it. Not only was the city large, but the skyscrapers had such à unique aesthetics that left him awestruck. He flew downwards weirdly, getting used to his 'new' strength.

"Nascent Soul Real!" He growled to himself through clenched teeth. "At least I can barely use my domain to fly."

The shadows had once again covered his body and no one below had noticed his presence. In fact, no one was capable of that. He inspected the city at the same time that kept complaining in his mind. Soon, he found out that the letters were quite similar to his home world, a mixture of ideograms which he did not recognize.

With his strength though, it was quite easy to discover, he simply stopped near a passerby and inspected the man's soul. It was enough to direct a little Qi at the elderly person in a shop to discover the language and a good part of that world. The procedure was painless and the old man only felt a chill in his body, which then disappeared afterwards.

"So, Tokyo City?" Niyanyu raised his eyebrows, interested. With a population of over 14 million, Tokyo was one of the largest cities on Earth and one of the most innovative in the world. He was now becoming impressed, not that he hadn't seen bigger cities before, but never one of this size without Qi!

Most of the worlds he had visited that had small amounts of Qi were underdeveloped in his standards, mostly with a tribal society. But now his views were shattered, this world evolved even in the absence of cultivation!

After investigating a bit more and doing some "unusual researches", he discovered the reason for this abnormality: something called technology!

Most of the functionalities where one used Qi to deal with, like formations and other techniques, these earthlings solved with something unnatural. After scanning the souls of some random passerby, Niyanyu soon understood that while people used technology, most were unaware of how things worked at all!

"Well, that isn't much different from where I came from…" Apparently the technology was just as endless as the ways of cultivation, impossible for one to master everything. But here, information seemed to be mostly widespread. In most cultivation worlds, one had to be extremely lucky or talented to learn cultivation techniques. There, you'd have to find a master and money was not enough for it.

With mixed feelings, shadows danced all around Niyanyu and no human was able to notice his presence as he flew around the city.

"Better start soon…" He shrugged. With no way to escape or contact the outside world, Niyanyu could only obey.If he pleased the Heavenly Star Sect, perhaps he would indeed be released. They were not known to be a demonic sect after all. "To be a villain… at least that I know how to do!"

Soon, his divine sense found what he was looking for.

******

Inside a shed on the city docks, five strong men were currently playing a cards game, betting some money on it. They all had muscular arms and carried firearms on their waists. Also, the tattoos on their forearms made it clear where they belonged.

As the smoke of cigarettes filled the place and they drank some cheap whiskey, the thugs played.

*PACK!*

The wooden table trembled suddenly as one of the thugs hit hard with his hands.

"HA! I won again!" The man laughed out loud as he took the pile of money. "Matsuyo the Great is the champion of all time!"

"Shit! Here goes my weekly income again!" One losing thug complained.

"Damn it Matsuyo, you're cheating!" Said another.

"Geez, here he goes again talking about Matsuyo the Great…"

"Me? I'm such a gentleman, how can you doubt me?" Matsuyo, the winner, said with a mocking smile.

"Okay okay… the next cargo is almost coming, how about one last round?" Interrupted the fifth man, a tad more muscular than the others. From the money in front of him, it was clear that he had also won quite a few times.

"I'll pass this one or I'll have to sleep on the streets… again." Refused one thug, in front of him, not a single penny could be found. " What is so special about this cargo for us to be here anyway?"

Even though they looked like simple thugs, their ranking inside Yakuza was quite special and each of them commanded around thirty men.

"Not sure, but it must be important…." Matsuyo shrugged, he was smart enough to never question the orders nor to pry into the higher ups' deals.

"Aren't you not even a bit interested?" Asked another thug.

"I'm alive so far mainly because I don't have that kind of curiosity, I'd rather keep my head between my shoulders" Matsuyo shook his head.

The group sat there quiet for a second, until the stronger one bent down and made everyone approach, even Matsuyo couldn't hold himself.

"I've been told it is a Cultivation book like the ones on the news…"

"Nah, they can't be real…" Matsuyo was the first to deny it.

"It must be, we all received the order: whoever shows more meritorious deeds and loyalty will be awarded with one!" Added the third excited.

"Yeah, do not forget about the money they promised too!" Said the poorest of the five.

After hearing about money, everyone's interests picked up.

"Tell me more brother!"

"What I'm going to tell you is privileged information, the order has not been passed out yet." After seeing his companions nodding he continued. "My cousin just told me that the higher ups are going to pay one million iens for whoever achieves the first stage of body cultivation!"

"Holy shit!"

"That is almost my annual income!"

"But… wait, how are we supposed to do that without the books?" Asked the dumber one.

"Using the ones available on the internet, for god sake how can you be so dumb!?" Joked a gruff voice, but it didn't come from any of the five bandits, but just behind them!

At that moment, between the cigarette smoke, a big figure materialized. Because of the smoke and the dark place, they could barely identify its figure. It was more than two meters tall, a head taller than the thugs and it seemed to be moving but at the same time still.

They were surprised and some felt shivers run down their spines. The security was so tight, how could someone get inside their room without alarming them? However they were 'professional' thugs, they reacted quickly, rose to their feet and readied their guns. Attack first and ask later, that was their moto! Without waiting any longer, they shoot!

Rounds of bullets flew directly at the shadow figure, which simply raised one finger. Immediately all the bullets stopped midair!

"What!?" The bandits were stunned and looked at each other in bewilderment. Did they drink more than they should?

They could see the projectiles hovering in the air, being outlined by the smoke in the closed room.

"Those toys of yours are really funny." The hoarse voice broke the silence, saying it in a mocking tone. His figure was still completely covered by the shadows. "But now let me show you what a cultivator is capable of!"

The shadowed figure stepped forward to the illuminated part of the room, yet the shadows accompanied him, moving with him, distorting its outline. Shivers ran down the men's spine, they had never felt so fearful. The mere presence of this figure made them feel helpless and despaired. It was as if the demon itself was in front of them. The shadow waved his index finger.

Immediately, four of them fell unconscious, their status unknown. The last man, Matsuyo the Great, gaped for air. He felt like a hand was pressing down his throat!

The mysterious figure walked over slowly and Matsuyo discovered that he couldn't even move. The shadows got closer and closer. Soon the thug could feel the figure's breath on his face. The shadows moved ever so slightly, slowly uncovering the figure's face.

"Take me to your boss!" The Demon ordered.