Chapter 416

Chapter 416 Total Chaos!

Although three floors had been lost, by a stroke of fate, the Yamamoto Building had barely managed to stabilize its structure. But the moment this blind fighter jet plunged into the building at around the sixtieth floor, the balance that had been so painstakingly maintained was instantly shattered!

The massive structure began to tilt slowly, and then, as if playing back in slow motion, it toppled from west to east, collapsing at its midsection!

No words could describe the spectacle of that moment. More than fifty floors of the building slowly accelerated through the air, then came crashing straight down from over a hundred meters above, slamming heavily onto the plaza in front of the building!

With a thunderous boom, the impact between the building and the ground sent a towering cloud of dust and debris surging into the sky!

Every landscaping feature was crushed flat, every paving stone was shattered to pieces!

The sheer volume of dust and debris was so immense that it instantly flooded several city blocks!

If one were to look down from the air, the scene would have resembled the aftermath of an atomic bomb detonation, with a mushroom-shaped cloud of dust rising up, blanketing everything within a one-kilometer radius!

The entire city of Tokyo shuddered once again with a violent tremor! In that instant, the glass in countless surrounding buildings was shattered to pieces!

The vast majority of people had no idea what had just happened. Thinking it was an earthquake, they grabbed their clothes and rushed out of their rooms!

Fortunately it was nighttime, and the collapse of the building had only brought down Yamamoto Plaza, miraculously causing no civilian casualties!

However, some pedestrians who happened to be passing by at night were instantly engulfed by the dust cloud, choking so badly they were half dead. Some would carry the health consequences for the rest of their lives!

Everything had descended into complete chaos!

Su Rui had already driven several kilometers away, yet the moment the upper half of the building slammed into the ground, he still felt the entire car lurch and bounce from the shockwave!

“It seems the result far exceeded our expectations. This is more than enough to give Yamamoto Taichiro a real headache!”

Su Rui didn’t stop the car. He merely glanced at the towering cloud of dust in the rearview mirror, then drove off and disappeared into the vast darkness of the night!

Nearby residents of Tokyo stepped out of their homes, gazing at what remained of the Yamamoto Building, breathing in the acrid smell that hung in the air, coughing and bewildered all at once!

Journalists from many countries stationed in Japan rushed out of their rooms in various states of undress, grabbed their cameras, and sped toward the scene. For them, this was a first-hand bombshell story. A plane had sliced the Yamamoto Building in half and brought it crashing down — a once-in-a-millennium scoop. As journalists, they were witnesses to history!

The Japanese government’s response was not particularly slow, but they had never dealt with anything like this before. Police arrived at the scene ten minutes after the building collapsed, yet they stood there staring at the massive ruins, completely at a loss for what to do!

It was a full half hour before a large number of fire trucks and ambulances came wailing in from a distance, and an on-site emergency command center was finally established.

By this point, the several city blocks in the surrounding area were in complete disarray, strewn with shattered glass and blanketed in dust — nearly impossible to see through!

Many buildings had even developed cracks from the collapse of the Yamamoto Building, instantly becoming structurally unsafe!

An hour later, as the mayor of Tokyo surveyed the chaotic scene before him, he was on the verge of tears!

Such a horrific disaster, such an enormous pile of rubble — how much manpower, resources, and money would the reconstruction require?

To say nothing else, the rebuilding and restoration of these city blocks alone would be enough to drain half a year’s worth of Tokyo’s fiscal revenue, placing enormous pressure on the city’s economic development!

Moreover, Tokyo was the capital of Japan, the nation’s political and economic center. An attack this terrifying and this devastating in a place like this was bound to trigger a chain of cascading effects — effects that would pile further blows onto a Japanese economy already mired in deep trouble!

An American journalist wearing a face mask stood in front of a camera, coughing as he filed his report.

“To our viewers watching at home, I am reporting live from the heart of Japan’s capital. The air here is thick with dust and nearly unbreathable. Just one hour ago, two aircraft struck the Yamamoto Building in rapid succession, causing the structure above the fiftieth floor to collapse. Due to the Japanese authorities’ tight-lipped response, we are currently unable to determine the exact origin of the two aircraft. However, one point worth noting is that the Yamamoto Building, which was struck, is the headquarters of the Yamamoto Group — Japan’s largest criminal organization!”

There were many cameras in the area, simultaneously transmitting the scene back to countries around the world. Clearly, while they would emphasize the collision itself, they would place even greater emphasis on the fact that what was struck was the Yamamoto Group’s headquarters.

In doing so, the direction of public opinion would be very easily guided!

“Headquarters of Japan’s largest criminal organization, the Yamamoto Group, struck by aircraft — Japanese government faces its greatest crisis in a century.” — This was the report filed by the American journalist.

“Criminal syndicate’s tower under attack — the work of a terrorist organization, or the hand of a righteous avenger?” — This was the report filed by a Chinese journalist.

“Preliminary evidence suggests the attack has no connection to any terrorist organization. Those who lose the hearts of the people lose the world. This strike was nothing short of a resounding slap in the face — let’s see how the Japanese cabinet, held in the grip of the Yamamoto Group, manages to weather this crisis.” — Also from a Chinese journalist.

Although it was still only the early hours of the morning, news was already exploding across every major web portal around the world!

The Yamamoto Building had been sliced in half. For some, it was a catastrophe. For far more, it was cause for celebration!

Neighboring countries that had long suffered at the hands of the Yamamoto Group were already spreading the news to one another, passing along this exhilarating development!

“I’m standing at the edge of the rubble, looking at the enormous collapsed structure, and I feel like my heart is about to leap out of my throat. Yes, I’m excited — incredibly excited. I can guarantee this is the most thrilling thing I have witnessed in all my years of reporting!” A young Chinese journalist stood in front of the camera, face flushed red, nearly too overcome with emotion to speak coherently: “For so many years, the Yamamoto Group, Japan’s number one criminal organization, has grown increasingly brazen and increasingly lawless, with absolutely no moral bottom line whatsoever. I’m grateful there were no civilian casualties on the scene, but looking at the state of the Yamamoto Building right now, I have only eight words to say — they got what they deserved, and good riddance!”

This was a live broadcast in front of the entire world, and journalistic standards require neutrality. It was clear that this Chinese journalist harbored a deep and bitter hatred for the Yamamoto Group, even crying out words like “good riddance” on the scene. Naturally, his report, with its intensely one-sided slant, caused a massive uproar back in China and nearly cost him his job — but that, of course, is a story for another time.

Tokyo Mayor Ida, though serving as the head of the on-site emergency command center, was working hard to keep his frustration in check, organizing his thoughts and issuing orders. He appeared to be managing things in a relatively orderly fashion. But the moment he spotted a Bentley sedan approaching in the distance, he knew his time as on-site commander was coming to an end!

Because the owner of that car was Yamamoto Taichiro!

In Japan, his word carried even more weight than the Prime Minister’s!

As he had grown older, Yamamoto Taichiro had gradually delegated power to his children, retreating behind the scenes himself and staying out of the public eye for a long time. Yet this time, he had broken from his usual pattern and appeared in person!

The Bentley came to a stop in front of Mayor Ida, who quickly stepped aside and gave a slight bow as a show of respect.

The car door was opened by two black-clad bodyguards, and an elderly man who appeared to be in his seventies stepped out. His slight frame was draped in a loose kimono, his sparse white hair fell to his shoulders, and his gaze was cold and his expression sinister — clearly not someone easy to get along with.

This man was Yamamoto Taichiro — the top-tier crime boss who had led the Yamamoto Group to the height of its glory!

No one had expected this elder to appear in person. The officials and police officers present were momentarily flustered and at a loss, looking just as awkward as they would have in front of the Prime Minister.

Journalists from various countries, upon seeing Yamamoto Taichiro make a public appearance, immediately hoisted their cameras and began snapping away furiously!

Yamamoto Taichiro, finding himself surrounded by a seemingly endless barrage of camera flashes, immediately furrowed his brow and brought his cane down hard against the ground!

With that single gesture, dozens of men in black suits instantly converged from all directions, reaching out to seize the journalists’ camera equipment!

These men were all skilled fighters, and ordinary journalists were no match for them. Even those who initially resisted and refused to hand over their equipment would eventually comply after receiving a few slaps, surrendering the precious footage they had worked so hard to capture.

Of course, among these journalists there were also a few fearless souls who weren’t afraid to die, running away while breathlessly continuing their live broadcast: “Dear viewers watching at home, I just captured footage of Yamamoto Taichiro, the boss of the Yamamoto Group. His men are now chasing me to seize my camera equipment. I will do my best to protect what we’ve filmed and absolutely refuse to let these wolves have their way — ow…!”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was dragged down by two men in black suits and subjected to a flurry of punches and kicks!

And the actions of the Yamamoto Group had been clearly and unmistakably captured on camera, broadcast live to the entire world!

Driven off by this group of Yamamoto Group enforcers, not a single journalist on the scene had the nerve to linger any longer. Those who had shown the most courage were now lying on the ground, battered and bruised, unconscious.

Yamamoto Taichiro seemed entirely indifferent to all of this. He stood quietly in place, both hands resting on his cane, staring in silence at the fallen building, not saying a word.

This building represented the work of his entire life. Without the efforts he had put in before, how could the Yamamoto Group have established itself so openly on this land? How could they have built this landmark Yamamoto Building, so full of symbolic significance?

Yet this landmark structure, into which he had poured so much of himself, had today been sliced in half by two aircraft and brought crashing to the ground. This was no longer merely a slap in the face to Yamamoto Taichiro — it was pressing a gun barrel against his heart and firing bullet after bullet!

Apart from the occasional coughing of those choking on the drifting ash, no one on the scene spoke a word. The silence was almost unsettling.

But this eerie silence did not last long before Yamamoto Taichiro spoke. His voice was hoarse, his gaze ice-cold: “I want to know what happened to Yamamoto Kyokusen.”