Machiko struggles to maintain a settled spirit. Being referred to as "yakuza" by a gangster such as Lau Tsang is no compliment. It is very near to an insult that cannot be ignored. Indeed, the ancestors of the clans of Nagato Combine could only be described as yakuza, but in this context Lau's remark is a statement of pure arrogance. It shows only contempt for the fact that the days have long passed when the three clans worked like vicious gangsters. It shows only disdain for the fact that Honjowara -sama exerts himself relentlessly to see that such times do not return. Machiko lets this insult pass only with great difficulty. She tells herself that the type of "assignment" Jank is likely to have failed probably involved murder and therefore is absolutely antithetical to the ethics of the Chairman's New Way.