Chapter 785: Chapter 785
"Miss Hattori, if you don’t want your subordinates to suffer more casualties, tell them to surrender without a fight! Continuing to resist will only lead to death!"
Fang Bai’s gaze swept over the battlefield before him, speaking indifferently to Yuumi Hattori.
Yuumi Hattori watched as the martial artists of the Hattori Clan kept falling with screams, the number of dead and wounded reaching into the dozens. Her complexion turned pale with heartache.
At the same time, Yuumi Hattori also knew that Fang Bai spoke the truth; if she did not speak up to deter them, the martial artists of her clan would likely suffer near-total casualties.
These martial artists were the elite force of the Hattori Clan. If they were lost, the Hattori Clan would lose everything in Japan.
Thereupon, Yuumi Hattori took a deep breath, stepped forward, and shouted in Japanese, "Warriors of the Hattori Clan, I am Yuumi Hattori. Stop fighting now!"
The Hattori Clan martial artists, who were in fierce battle with the Dragon Guard, shuddered at the sound of Yuumi Hattori’s voice.
"Brothers of the Dragon Guard, I am Fang Bai. Stop attacking for now!"
Fang Bai then shouted loudly.
In the Dragon Guard, Fang Bai’s authority was second only to Long Jingtian. The Dragon Guard members on the scene, hearing his command, reluctantly pulled back from their opponents and retreated, but they still formed a large encirclement, trapping four to five hundred Japanese martial artists in the middle, giving them no chance to escape.
Long Jingtian, seeing Yuumi Hattori beside Fang Bai, brightened up and laughed heartily as he approached, saying, "Brother Fang, you are truly formidable. You’ve even captured this woman! She is a big fish; had she escaped, it would have been the most significant bargaining chip less during our negotiations with the Hattori Clan!"
Yuumi Hattori, hearing Long Jingtian describe herself as a "big fish," felt both shame and anger, and coldly said to Long Jingtian, "Leader Long, we have already ceased resisting. I hope you can ensure our personal safety before negotiating with the Hattori Clan and not harm any more of us! Otherwise... we will fight to the death, ensuring that you gain nothing!"
Long Jingtian sneered, "With just these people, what power do you have to fight to the death? Hmph, you’ve infiltrated Huaxia and stolen Huaxia treasures. Being captured, there would be no excess in any treatment you receive! However, since you’ve surrendered obediently, let’s be merciful. But though the death penalty can be spared, live punishment cannot be avoided! Do not even think about retaining your martial arts abilities!"
Yuumi Hattori glared with wide eyes, angrily retorting, "Then you might as well kill us!"
Long Jingtian said, "Well, if you wish to die, I am more than willing to oblige!"
Yuumi Hattori saw that Long Jingtian did not care at all about their lives and was so furious she gritted her teeth, but also felt helpless. After a moment of silence, she then asked, "If the Hattori Clan is willing to pay more ransom, can we retain our martial arts?"
Long Jingtian saw Yuumi Hattori yielding and exchanged a glance with Fang Bai; they both had a smile in their eyes.
Long Jingtian and Fang Bai had discussed earlier that if they really were to disable the martial arts of Yuumi Hattori and the others, then they would be of no use to the Hattori Clan, and it was very likely they would be heartlessly abandoned by the clan.
In that case, the Dragon Guard would gain nothing.
Yet, if Yuumi Hattori and the others retained their capabilities, they would be extremely valuable to the Hattori Clan. Considering their own interests, the clan would definitely find a way to ransom them.
As for releasing Yuumi Hattori and the others being akin to releasing a tiger back to the mountain, both Fang Bai and Long Jingtian dismissed the idea.
In their opinion, the Hattori Clan was not to be feared at all, and, with this lesson learned, they would never dare to easily commit any actions detrimental to Huaxia’s interests again.
"Whether you can retain your martial arts will depend on how sincere the Hattori Clan is during negotiations!"
Long Jingtian said with a smile.
Yuumi Hattori sighed inwardly, her expression one of despair, as she said weakly, "I will explain the situation to the Hattori Clan. As long as the ransom you demand is not exorbitantly high, I think the Hattori Clan will agree!"
As Yuumi Hattori spoke, she felt so depressed she wanted to cough up blood.
This time, they had entered Huaxia in search of treasure, hoping to strike it rich and strengthen the Hattori Clan, but instead, they ended up losing more than they attempted to take.
The Hattori Clan would likely have to pay a vast ransom to get all of them back, which would greatly injure the clan’s Essence Energy, taking many years to recover from.
But at this point, the Hattori Clan had no better solution and could only yield to the Dragon Guard, settling the matter with money.
"This whole debacle, it’s this Huaxia man’s fault! His strength is so daunting it brings despair; from now on, if we encounter him, we can only keep a respectful distance!"
Yuumi Hattori’s eyes turned to Fang Bai, filled with deep-seated hatred yet great respect, deciding that if she managed to return to Japan successfully, she would never come to Huaxia in her lifetime.
At Yuumi Hattori’s persuasion, the majority of the Japanese martial artists chose to surrender, while a very few decided to rather die than submit, attempting to resist and being easily killed by Long Jingtian.
Yuumi Hattori watched the clan’s martial artists get killed with open eyes, irritated but powerless.
After detaining hundreds of Japanese martial artists to a secret location within Huaxia, Long Jingtian reported the matter to the Prime Minister. Upon hearing the news, the Prime Minister immediately convened a small, urgent internal meeting and decided to let Long Jingtian and Fang Bai handle the matter in full.
The Prime Minister stated that if they managed to get the ransom from the Hattori Clan, it would be divided into three parts: one for the state treasury, one for the Dragon Guard’s operations, and one for Fang Bai’s personal disposal.
As for the treasure, it would be distributed in the same manner.
After all, without Fang Bai, the treasure might have been silently shipped back to Japan by the Hattori Clan’s martial artists. Therefore, giving Fang Bai one-third was not subject to dispute.
Moreover, the Prime Minister understood that a unique genius like Fang Bai was someone to be courted. As long as he was willing to stay with the Dragon Guard, what was a little wealth in the grand scheme?
Fang Bai had no objections to the distribution of the treasure or the ransom. For him, having money or not didn’t matter at all.
Thus, in the blink of an eye, Fang Bai’s account swelled with nearly ten billion US dollars, and that was even before considering the ransom the Hattori Clan would pay later.
As for negotiating with the Hattori Clan, Fang Bai couldn’t be bothered and left it all to Long Jingtian.
Fang Bai knew that Long Jingtian was not one to be lenient. The Hattori Clan would have to pay dearly to secure the release of Yuumi Hattori and the others.