Upon entering Genji Heavy Industries, Lu Mingfei discovered that the "welcoming reception" Caesar had been eagerly anticipating was not absent—it had simply been arranged indoors by the Eight Clans of the Serpent.
From the gleaming black-marble entrance all the way to the observation elevator, male members in crisp black suits and female staff in elegant traditional Japanese reception attire stood in rows on either side, like two silent, solemn honor guards.
As their group passed, everyone bowed in perfect unison, at precisely ninety degrees. A sea of dark heads remained lowered until the entire group had entered the transparent observation elevator. Only then did the faint rustle of fabric sound behind them as they straightened once more.
For this meeting, the Eight Clans of the Serpent had suspended the building's normal operations for an entire day, putting on the grandest display possible.
The elevator rose smoothly. Tachibana Masamune stood half a step behind Amon and introduced the place in a gentle voice. "This building was completed at the end of 2004. It is the headquarters of Genji Heavy Industries and also serves as the office center of Kassel College's Japan Branch."
Amon looked down through the elevator's glass walls at the cityscape shrinking beneath them, then suddenly asked, "I heard the Eight Clans of the Serpent are Japan's largest criminal organization. What do you usually do? Go door to door—collect protection money?"
Tachibana Masamune smiled faintly and replied unhurriedly, "We prefer to see ourselves as managers of the underworld. The central computer room of Genji Heavy Industries stores detailed records on nearly every underworld member and organization in Japan. To maintain the operation and order of this vast system, the family has thirteen divisions and over two thousand members working in shifts. There are six hundred telephone operators alone, taking