Chapter 59: The Zhengyu Sect Once Again Sets a Banquet at Hongmen

Seeing that several people had all entered the room, Masakazu stood up. Dressed in a black suit, he bowed at a seventy-five-degree angle and said with utmost sincerity, "Regarding Mr. Takahashi's suicide, I feel deeply regretful and sorry."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present was startled.

"You..."

"However, please rest assured, all the rumors outside are false. Mr. Takahashi's death has nothing to do with me," Masakazu said.

It was hardly reassuring.

The few exchanged glances, their postures and expressions extremely stiff.

"Why did you ask us to come here?" one of the tall young men asked.

"And you are?"

"From the Breaking News Hall, Tomokazu Hashimoto," Hashimoto said.

Masakazu straightened his suit, made a gesture inviting everyone to be seated, and then said softly, "My newspaper office is preparing to launch in Osaka, so I would like to commission your news agencies to sell my newspaper."

The group looked at each other, continuing to listen as Masakazu made his point.

Masakazu stated, "We are willing to offer 10% of the newspaper's retail price as commission."

Everyone fell silent.

They usually took a commission of 20% to 30% of the retail price. Was this 10% meant to brush off beggars?

Choosing not to speak, their intention to refuse was crystal clear.

"May I ask if your newspaper is based in Tokyo?"

"That's right," Masakazu nodded.

"Ahem, Mr. Masakazu, we have signed exclusivity agreements with the Tokyo Daily, so we probably cannot carry other newspapers from the Tokyo region," someone said.

A 10% commission meant there was simply no profit margin whatsoever.

Their venues and staff were all operating costs; how could they possibly make money with such a meager commission?

Furthermore, they had never heard of any newspaper agency run by Masakazu. It was presumably not a famous publication, meaning sales wouldn't take off either, rendering any strategy of small profits and quick turnover completely unviable.

"I believe those exclusivity agreements can be overcome," Masakazu said.

"That won't do, Mr. Masakazu. We must abide by our initial agreements, otherwise those people will sue us into bankruptcy."

"That's right, Mr. Masakazu. You must consider our difficulties."

Noticing that Masakazu's expression was turning sour, Hashimoto tried to read the room and said, "At the Breaking News Hall, we can take a small batch of your newspapers. It's just that due to the exclusivity agreement, we can't take too many."

Given the reputation of the Sumitomo name, face still had to be given.

Yet substance simply couldn't be provided.

Everyone had to make a living and put food on the table; unless someone held a gun to their heads, who would willingly engage in a losing business venture?

Masakazu looked at them with sincere eyes, hoping they would grant some favorable terms to an entrepreneur starting out.

Yet these people were cold-blooded and ruthless, willing at most to agree to the same terms as Hashimoto.

Masakazu was heartbroken.

Had his foolproof sincerity failed to move these cold-blooded businessmen once again?

Seeing Masakazu's desolate expression, the news agency proprietors felt no sense of satisfaction in mocking a newcomer, only a lingering, faint terror.

Although they were all locals of Osaka, they had also heard the terrifying legends surrounding Masakazu in Tokyo.

Moreover, the very first thing he mentioned today was the deceased Takahashi, which inevitably made one shudder upon deeper reflection.

"I had previously discussed this exact topic with Mr. Takahashi," Masakazu brought up the dead Takahashi once again.

With a heavy sigh of regret, Masakazu said, "Originally, Mr. Takahashi was extremely welcoming to the idea of my newspaper coming aboard. Unfortunately, he died at my uncle's banquet."

Hashimoto and the others exchanged glances.

Was this a threat?

Masakazu continued, "He merely owed a bit of money. If only he had talked to me about it, I would have let him pay it back slowly. Why on earth would he resort to suicide? To prevent his wife and children from bearing massive debts, I even provided the funds to purchase his news agency—I suppose you could consider that a good deed."

Hashimoto's eyes widened.

Was this truly a good deed?

Driving an entrepreneur to their death and then acquiring their assets at a low price—could such a vile course of action genuinely be called a good deed?

It was hard to imagine that such dark corporate warfare was still so commonplace nowadays.

A collective sense of unease gripped the crowd.

"This?" Hashimoto's hands were trembling.

He asked softly, "May I ask what your newspaper office is called?"

"The Justice Daily," Masakazu smiled and said.

The name alone sounded exceptionally righteous.

Hearing this name, however, the gazes of everyone present flickered, and the terror in their eyes grew even more intense.

Everything they knew about Masakazu had come through the Justice Daily.

And now you're suddenly telling us that the Justice Daily belongs to Masakazu?

"Never mind," Masakazu sighed. "Since you are unwilling to take my newspapers, I won't force the matter. After all, if you don't want them, plenty of others do. Just like Mr. Takahashi—he didn't want them initially, but isn't he taking them now?"

Masakazu suddenly placed a finger against his lips and whispered softly, "Oh~ I misspoke. Mr. Takahashi intended to stock my newspapers in his agency right from the very beginning."

When such a spine-chilling statement was uttered, who could possibly remain unafraid?

At that moment, Masakazu stood up, preparing to leave.

"Mr. Masakazu! We haven't even started negotiating yet, don't rush off!" Hashimoto hurriedly blocked Masakazu's path.

He had actually brought up the deceased Takahashi.

The implied threat was far too clear.

Although he was certain Masakazu wouldn't murder all of them, the man would certainly dare to slaughter a few chickens to serve as a warning to the rest.

Hadn't Takahashi already died?

No one dared to be certain whether they themselves might end up being that slaughtered chicken.

Masakazu gently pushed Hashimoto's hand aside, looked straight into his eyes, and said, "Then I'll visit the restroom first. The rest of you can think it over among yourselves."

With that, he walked out of the private dining room.

After Masakazu left, the remaining people fell into an even deeper silence.

After a long period of quiet, a tall woman broke the silence: "What do we do now?"

"What *can* we do? Either die or live on, that's what," someone said despondently.

Hashimoto frowned and said, "Mr. Masakazu still seemed quite amiable."

"Amiable my foot! Didn't Takahashi die? Didn't Takahashi's news agency end up in Masakazu's hands?"

"That's right!" the tall woman chimed in. "And don't forget all those atrocious deeds Masakazu committed in Tokyo—those were all exposed by the Justice Daily. If those reports were false, would they dare fabricate and spread damaging rumors about their own boss? Chances are, the things written in their newspaper have already been heavily censored and whitewashed."

The woman's theory was entirely plausible.

Yet this only heightened everyone's dread.

"Still, a 10% commission is simply too little. Not to mention I've already signed an exclusivity agreement with the Tokyo News; breaking it means paying heavy breach-of-contract penalties," someone said, looking troubled.

"Hmph!"

Hashimoto let out a cold snort and told him, "Losing money is far better than losing your life. Don't forget, his favored private detective is currently right here in Osaka."

Hashimoto's words plunged the group into silence once more.

Word was spreading like wildfire throughout Tokyo that wherever that detective Kogoro Mouri went, death invariably followed—it defied all logic and science.

With Japan's exemplary public safety record, how could there possibly be so many murders and suicides?

Behind the scenes, it undoubtedly had to be that man Masakazu eliminating his business rivals!