The Interlocking Purpose

Step Three

"Police! There are tons of police!"

A security guard patrolling the ground floor of the Aoki Building reported over the walkie-talkie.

There had been two explosions in a row. The last one had sent a pillar of fire shooting more than ten meters into the air, an especially terrifying sight.

The first police officers to arrive had called for backup without hesitation and sealed off the main entrance and other major exits.

In a narrow alley not far away, someone had already disabled the security cameras. More than a hundred members of the Yakuza organization, dressed in suits and carrying iron bars, chains, and knives of various lengths, exchanged bewildered looks. They had heard the commotion too, and it had startled them badly.

But when the men sent to investigate returned, they told them that their target, the Aoki Building, had suddenly suffered a massive explosion. A huge section of its glass curtain wall had been blown away, and the police had been drawn to the scene.

That made their next move awkward.

Should they stick to the original plan and storm the Aoki Building? Stay put? Or simply call off the operation?

Even if you gave them a hundred times the courage they had, they still wouldn't dare charge the police barricade.

Until new orders arrived, the menacing Yakuza had no choice but to wait. But the sky was growing brighter, and there were more and more pedestrians and cars on the road.

An early-rising old man happened to wander into the alley. He saw the rough-looking bunch and the Eighteen Kinds of Weapons in their hands, stared at them for a moment through his rheumy eyes, and flew into a rage.

"Baka! What do you think you're doing? There's a school nearby! What, you bastards planning