Dragon Clan: They're all insane, and you still want me to slay dragons?

Page 104

Chu Zihang remained unfazed, habitually supporting Gao Kui's head with his shoulder as he shoveled spoonfuls of omelet rice into his mouth.

"What is this!?" Sakura Yabuki stared at Takagi, who had fallen asleep, completely bewildered.

“His mental state has always been unstable, and his daily routine is quite different from ours…” Chen Motong gave Yabuki Sakura a general overview of Gao Kui’s situation.

The explanation wasn't very detailed, but it was more than what Yabuki Sakura knew.

Kassel actually takes in such a mixed-race person?

Sakura Yabuki was secretly alarmed.

If we attribute Gao Kui's unstable mental state entirely to his bloodline, then the bloodline defects of the Northern Qi Gao clan are not much different from those of a "ghost."

While the Gao family of Northern Qi would not degenerate into a death servant due to an unstable mental state, a madman with mental problems but his own set of logic is, in some ways, more harmful to the collective than a death servant.

In movies and TV shows, the ones who destroy the world are often the paranoid lunatics with their own set of logic, rather than the irrational, instinct-driven fools like Deadpool.

Yet, Kassel actually accepted such a madman and even revered him as a "saint."

Chen Motong then tried to defend Gao Kui: "He's just a little mentally unstable, but he's generally a normal person. You're Japanese, so you should know about the working class in Tokyo, right? They all have some psychological and mental issues, but they're still not ostracized by society, are they?"

Sakura Yabuki nodded, but in her heart she did not agree with Chen Motong's attempt to make amends.

Japan's social structure is distorted, and Tokyo is the most distorted of all. But the Secret Service is different from Kassel; at least in the minds of most people of Japanese descent, the Secret Service has always had a very orthodox image.

After a simple lunch, the group sat in the coffee shop for another half hour. Gao Kui then slowly woke up and asked everyone questions with a bright and energetic expression.

"Are you planning to go next?"

"I want to go back to Ginza," Chu Zihang said.

He wasn't actually interested in anime or the secondhand shops at Nakano Broadway, but Gao Kui convinced everyone, and as a member of the group tour, he had no choice but to go there.

Now that Gao Kui asked them where they wanted to go, Chu Zihang naturally told the truth.

The list of items his mother needed to buy had been sent over gradually. In addition, he also planned to buy a pair of high-end leather shoes for his father, Chu Tianjiao, who was not an entrepreneur, and mail them back to him.

When Chen Motong was helping Gao Kui choose leather shoes in the morning, Chu Zihang paid special attention to the brand. It was a good brand, costing two thousand US dollars a pair, which would be a perfect gift for his father.

“I’d like to browse the secondhand shops upstairs. This building has a lot of history, and I should be able to find a lot of the toys and game cartridges that I loved but couldn’t get when I was a kid,” Caesar said, pointing upstairs.

Today, his fondness for those toys and game cartridges has faded. When he was a child, he liked those things only because his family wouldn't let him play with them.

However, since I have both money and time, why not take a stroll around while I'm at it?

"We also plan to go upstairs and browse around. There are secondhand shops and an animation gallery on the fourth floor, comic book shops on the third floor, and cosplay costume shops on the second floor. There's also the underground shopping mall. We could spend a whole day exploring this building."

Chen Motong put his arm around Su Xi's arm and announced the decision that the two girls had made together.

On one hand, Nakano Broadway does indeed have many places to visit; its reputation as a classic anime and manga mecca is well-deserved. On the other hand, Chen Motong and Su Qian expressed an attitude of "wherever you go, I'll go."

It was Gao Kui who brought everyone to Nakano Broadway, but they haven't even done any shopping yet. They just sat in the maid cafe for a bit. They can't just run away right away, can they?

Chapter 132: Alienation

"Then let's split up."

Gao Kui raised his hand to check the time, his face expressionless: "You guys go play at Nakano Broadway first. I have some other things to do, and I'll go back to the hotel early tonight."

Chen Motong really wanted to strangle Gao Kui.

He took everyone to Nakano Broadway, saying he knew the place like the back of his hand. After drinking maid cafes and taking a nap, he turned around and left. Before leaving, he even asked everyone where they were going.

Are you doing this on purpose, kid?

Gao Kui certainly didn't do it on purpose; he was just suddenly overcome by a lingering sense of loss and sorrow.

There's no particular reason; it might just be that you suddenly notice the coffee shop on the corner has changed its sign, or it might just be a sudden change from hot to cold. A person who was originally cheerful might suddenly fall into a state of despondency and start to feel melancholy.

As a mental patient, Gao Kui's emotions changed particularly frequently. At this moment, in this instant, Gao Kui wanted to escape from the group for the first time ever.

Thoreau said in Walden that one can only truly live when one is far away and has no one to rely on. Gao Kui was eager to see what kind of emotions he would feel when he was away from his familiar group and alone in a foreign land.

Some argue that the sense of loss inherent in humans stems primarily from the attachment relationship established with the mother during childhood. This relationship pattern profoundly influences emotional states in adulthood, manifesting as a persistent craving for or avoidance of intimate relationships.

Considering both points, among Tokyo's famous tourist attractions, only one place remains that could serve as a "place for Gao Kui" (a person's name).

"Are you sure you're okay on your own?" Chu Zihang looked up, scrutinizing Gao Kui with a hint of disbelief.

"Am I some kind of helpless infant, or some kind of deaf and blind idiot?" Gao Kui did not think his mental state was so serious that he would not be allowed to act alone. He had acted alone quite a lot before when he was in FZ City.

"They are blind and deaf," Caesar corrected Gao Kui's grammatical error.

The fact that an Italian could make the same grammatical errors as a Chinese person sounds fantastical, but it's true. In many cases, Caesar's Chinese expression skills were much better than Gao Kui's.

When will we split up?

"Right now." Gao Kui stood up, took the suit jacket from Chu Zihang, and draped it over his shoulder.

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Gao Kui, I'll arrange a car for you right away..." Sakura Yabuki took out her phone, preparing to contact the driver in the Mercedes outside.

The fact that the most dangerous mixed-race members of the Kassel student and faculty group were going to act alone was definitely a serious emergency. Although the Snake Clan had spies all over Tokyo, Sakura Yabuki felt it was best to have someone follow them.

Without anyone by his side, it's hard to say whether the Northern Qi prince won't cause some big trouble.

"No need," Gao Kui waved his hand, refusing Yabuki Sakura's "kindness" in Japanese.

"It is my duty to entertain you all well. Please accept my offer, Mr. Gao Kui. Tokyo is a mixed bag, and you are ultimately not..."

"I said no."

Gao Kui's eyes suddenly turned cold. He impatiently refused Yabuki Sakura's request and reached for his lower back, as if he was about to pull out one of the [Ebony] or [White Ivory] weapons and blow Yabuki Sakura's head off with a single shot.

Sakura Yabuki suffered cardiac and pulmonary arrest.

Gao Kui scratched his itch, then pulled his hand back, saying impatiently, "I want to be alone for a while. Could you please give me some private space, Miss Yabuki Sakura? Don't worry, I definitely won't blow up that Yasukuni Shrine. At most, I'll just sneak a piss at the door..."

"Oh, so you're going to bomb the Yasukuni Shrine? I know about it. It enshrines many Class A war criminals from World War II. As a Chinese person, I can completely understand why you'd want to bomb it." Caesar, always eager for a good show, started fanning the flames.

Gao Kui's attention instantly shifted to Caesar: "By the way, does Italy have any similar places? Italy is also one of the Axis powers, right?"

"Italy was indeed an Axis power, but we were also victorious!"

Caesar, head held high, continued to offer advice to Gao Kui as a citizen of a victorious nation: "Furthermore, the Yasukuni Shrine is a product of Shintoism, and Italians are generally Catholics. As you know, the Church has never promoted the worship of the dead, so there is no similar place in Italy."

If you ever happen to be in Italy and really want to bomb something, I recommend a place: there's a famous hilltop villa in Rome called Villa Aurora. You can bomb that.

"Do you have a grudge against the owner of that villa?" Gao Kui asked suspiciously.

Caesar said in a flat tone, "That villa belongs to the Gattuso family. My father usually lives there."

Okay, so it turns out it was a case of using someone else to do the dirty work.

After exchanging a few words with Caesar, Gao Kui naturally put the previous topic behind him. Just as he was about to pick up his clothes and leave, he was interrupted again.

"Hello, esteemed customer..." The coffee shop manager approached with a smile.

This was an older, middle-aged man who seemed quite amiable. Gao Kui's expression softened: "What is it?"

The shop manager explained his purpose and asked if everyone could take a photo with the two maids in the shop, as he wanted to hang the photo on the shop wall for advertising.

As a token of our gratitude, everyone's meal will be on the house.

"I'm sorry, I can't. I don't have the habit of taking photos. The only photo I have to date is a candid shot of my back..." Gao Kui said sternly.

"Huh?" The boss was slightly taken aback. Was it that serious?

"Kidding."

Gao Kui smiled and said, "If they're willing, I have no problem with that."

Caesar and the others did not refuse, and paying the bill by facial recognition at their first gathering in Tokyo was quite a novel experience.

Aso Makoto and the short maid behind the counter secretly clenched their fists, their cheeks flushed.

With everyone's consent, the shop manager immediately took out another digital camera from the shop and beckoned the two lovely maids out.

Before the shop manager could direct everyone to their positions, the two maids spontaneously squeezed into the crowd and stood next to Gao Kui and Caesar respectively, striking what they thought were very cute poses.

In the very center were Gao Kui and Caesar, flanked by Aso Makoto, Chen Motong, and Yabuki Sakura, along with the short maid, Chu Zihang, and Su Qian. The eight of them stood or sat in a staggered arrangement.

Aso Makoto stood beside Gao Kui, supporting the latter's broad shoulders. He turned his head slightly, revealing long eyelashes and delicate features. Although his eyes showed some impatience, he was still very handsome.

Today's experience was a trivial matter for the people of Kassel, so trivial that they wouldn't even write it down in their diaries.

Chen Motong would remember that she dragged Gao Kui out of the nightclub today and picked out a very stylish outfit for him; Chu Zihang would remember that he helped his mother with shopping today; Caesar would remember that he experienced the legendary maid cafe today; and Gao Kui would never write a diary.

Who the serious person keeps a diary?

In short, no one cares about what Shinji Aoba did earlier; to them, a cup of coffee is more important.

But for Makoto Aso, it was not so simple.

It's not easy for a high school girl from a poor family to be entangled with a troublesome character like Shinji Aoba and subjected to a lot of insults.

Some people might make sarcastic remarks, saying things like, "Oh, it's just a few insults, why can't you handle it? A person's shadow is not afraid of a crooked one, lies will not hurt people," and so on.

But if we ask ourselves honestly, who in this society is truly strong?

Most people don't have outstanding mental fortitude or stress tolerance. Many people can get hurt by a single sentence or word while browsing forums, and end up arguing with someone for hundreds of posts, unable to sleep all night.

Aso Makoto isn't exactly a girl with exceptional mental fortitude.

Shinji Aoba's words made her feel so ashamed that she wished she could die on the spot rather than be insulted by Shinji Aoba with those baseless words again.

However, Aso Makoto didn't dare to commit suicide; his "I wish I could die" was ultimately just an exaggerated outburst.

So, should we resist?

Aso Makoto was even less courageous. Aoba Shinji weighed nearly twice as much as her, was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, and was still looking for trouble. If Aso Makoto dared to resist, she would definitely be the one to suffer.

For a naive girl with no social experience, those few minutes were more agonizing than hell.

Then Gao Kui appeared, like a prince from a fairy tale, riding in a luxurious car, wearing a gorgeous and expensive suit, and most importantly, possessing a prince-like appearance.

Although this prince was a bit eccentric, giving off a Mad Hatter vibe from Alice in Wonderland, he ultimately helped Aso Makoto vent his anger by nonchalantly kicking Aoba Shinji unconscious.

All the girl's grievances vanished in that instant.

Recalling the scene just now, Makoto Aso turned his head to look at Takagi a few more times. The boy's eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and his eyes were filled with an inescapable sense of brokenness and weariness. That kind of beauty and sorrow could resonate with almost every Japanese person.

The flaxen short hair swayed gently on Gao Kui's head, the ends brushing against his temples, and the hair had a pleasant sandalwood scent.

The woman in the photo looks petite and delicate, with their heads very close together.

Gao Kui was unimpressed, because the short female servant beside Caesar had already wrapped her arms around Caesar's neck and pressed her face against Caesar's handsome face.