The Tyrant Billionaire

Onizuka looked at Akita. "You're in charge now. Do you want to join the Straw Hat Society? If you join, you'll become the leader and take your men with you to make money. If not, I'll ask the next person."

Akita didn't hesitate. "Mr. Onizuka, I'm willing to lead the Akita group in joining the Straw Hat Society."

This man was quick to adapt.

Before, they had been called the Kawashita group, but now that Akita was in charge, the group would take his name. From now on, it would be the Akita group.

Onizuka nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Let's move on to the next district's boss."

"As for the dead Kawashita, no one paid him any more attention. Akita's men would find a place to bury him.

The police wouldn't even bother to investigate the death of officers, let alone a gang leader.

This was the current state of Japan.

Port District. Tokyo's largest harbor terminal.

Two groups were engaged in a fierce battle.

Handguns, rifles, and submachine guns fired continuously, with gunfire echoing all around.

Chio Hosokawa had previously been the boss of the port district, commanding five to six hundred men. All goods entering Tokyo passed through the port, making it a lucrative location.

When Judson first began expanding Japan's black market, the first person he recruited was Hosokawa, who was then responsible for distributing and selling all the goods that arrived. Now that Eikichi Onizuka sought to take over, Hosokawa refused to submit.

Hosokawa believed that Judson's influence was still intact, and he would continue to make money under his former boss.

Holding the crucial port, Hosokawa felt secure. But Onizuka didn't hesitate—he armed his men and launched a direct assault on Hosokawa.

Onizuka wasn't just using his own forces. Other bosses from different districts, whom he had already recruited, also brought their men to assist. This was not only an opportunity for cooperation but also a chance to strengthen unity. Their combined numbers exceeded two thousand.

Hosokawa hadn't expected such a ruthless attack. Caught off guard, and with Onizuka's men heavily armed, Hosokawa was soon killed. Over a hundred of his subordinates were taken down, while the others either dropped their weapons and fled or knelt and surrendered.

From then on, the port district belonged to Onizuka.

At this point, the Straw Hat Society now had eight groups, each controlling the core areas of Tokyo's black markets. The large cargo terminal, once Hosokawa's domain, had become Onizuka's new asset.

"Whistle—"

A ship's horn echoed as a 10,000-ton cargo ship sailed into Tokyo Bay, docking and beginning to unload its goods, which were then transported to Onizuka's warehouse.

At the warehouse, the black market bosses from several districts had gathered.

Piles of goods filled the warehouse: rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, wheat, corn, sugar, and seasonings. These were everyday necessities, and government rations were far from enough to fill people's stomachs. As a result, people were forced to purchase food from the black market at exorbitant prices.

In addition to staples, there were luxuries such as coffee, powdered milk, candy, and canned goods.

Other luxury items included stockings, lipstick, and American-made clothes.

The most in-demand items, however, were two things:

Cigarettes and alcohol.

Cigarettes were primarily American brands, while the alcohol selection included red wine, distilled spirits, and bottled beer.

The Hardy Group's strength far surpassed Judson's former trading company. Hardy Group had its own large-scale supermarket chain and thousands of suppliers. Whatever goods they wanted, they could get—and in large quantities, making their purchases cheaper.

Seeing these goods, the black market bosses from each district beamed with satisfaction. These were highly sought-after items. Ever since Japan had been defeated by the United States, there was a tendency to idolize American products, with people believing that American goods were the best in the world.

In the current black market, even the cheapest goods like potatoes and sweet potatoes were sold at several times their normal price, while rice fetched up to ten times its usual value. As for luxury items like cigarettes and alcohol, they could be sold at astronomical prices, several dozen times their normal cost.

Although many Japanese were suffering from extreme poverty at the time, the scarcity of imported goods—due to strict regulations—created a booming black market. Those who could afford it, or were desperate enough, would pay these exorbitant prices.

As these items couldn't legally be brought into the country, their rarity made them all the more expensive, fueling demand among those with resources or connections.

Hardy smuggled these goods by exporting them from the U.S. to the Cayman Islands, from where a Cayman-based company would ship them to Japan. This way, they bypassed U.S. authorities and avoided tax investigations since the transactions no longer involved the U.S.

This was the advantage of operating through the Cayman Islands, legal and efficient avoidance of U.S. regulatory oversight.

After consolidating control over the Tokyo gangs, Onizuka began expanding into other cities. Every city in Japan had a black market, and the monthly consumption of goods was staggering—after all, Japan had a population of over 80 million, and their demand was enormous.

Osaka, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Sapporo, Kanagawa, Hokkaido—Onizuka set his sights on all of them.

Osaka was the birthplace of the Yamaguchi-gumi, although at the time, it was still a relatively small organization. Even in Osaka, it was just one of many gangs.

The current leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi was Kazuo Taoka. It was under his leadership that the Yamaguchi-gumi began its rapid expansion, eventually growing into Japan's largest organized crime syndicate, taking control of territories across the country and competing with other local groups.

Taoka had already been leading the Yamaguchi-gumi for three years, and his ambition to expand was clear. However, just as he was preparing to make his move, he heard reports that many Tokyo gangs had been absorbed by an organization called the Straw Hat Society.

Taoka was puzzled—who had the power to pull that off?

One day, his subordinates informed him that members of the Straw Hat Society had arrived in Osaka and had made contact with Masao Morita of the Morita Group.

Taoka narrowed his eyes. Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire

He had long been at odds with Masao Morita. Both based in Osaka, they had fought several times over territory and profits, with mixed results.