Budaibang

Budaibang
Name	Budaibang
Nihongo	布袋幇
Information
Organized Crime Syndicate	Fujianese Mafia
Boss	Zeng Shuntian
Members	Zeng Kemin Lu Tao Feng Dun Xu Song
Former Members	Dick Krugland (spy)
Criminal Activities	Political corruption, protection racketeering
First Appearance
Light novel	Black Lagoon 2: Ballad of the Sinful Wizard

Budaibang (Chinese: 布袋幫, pinyin: Bùdàibāng, lit. "Gang of Budai"; Japanese: 布袋幇（プウタイバン） Pūtaiban) is a Fujianese crime syndicate based in Xiamen of the Fujian province of the People's Republic of China. The group had sent several gangsters to Roanapur in the Black Lagoon light novel Ballad of the Sinful Wizard.

Structure

The group is led by the elderly Zeng Shuntian, and members of the crime syndicate communicate to each other in the Hokkien language. Like the Hong Kong Triad, members of Budaibang refer to each other as "brother" or "younger/elder brother." Additionally, members sometimes refer to their leader Zeng Shuntian by the honorific title Zeng Daren or "Lord Zeng" (曾大人).

History

Zeng Shuntian grew up in poverty and in his early adulthood fought for the Chinese Red Army in the anti-Japanese front in WWII. As a result of his service, he gained political power which he was eventually stripped of during the Cultural Revolution, but Shuntian regained a powerful position in the Communist Party of China under Deng Xiaoping's reforms. It is unknown at what point Shuntian had become leader of Budaibang, but although retired from his political position, he still maintains connections in the Chinese government thanks to his son Zeng Shunjing's position as the Secretary of the Communist Party of China's Central Secretariat. Shuntian's grandson Zeng Kemin, who is a member of Budaibang as well, is in line to assume Shunjing's position in the CPC.

Ballad of the Sinful Wizard

In the United States, the CIA had its budget decreased over several years due to the U.S. President's view that the CIA's necessity concerning foreign threats was unimportant, After the events of "El Baile de la muerte," the CIA's Deputy Director planned an operation, Operation Persephone, to be able to convince the President to give more funding to the CIA. Specifically, the CIA was going to create a threat wherein Tricia O'Sullivan, daughter of the U.S. shipping tycoon Philip O'Sullivan of the O'Sullivan Corporation, would be abducted by members of Budaibang upon her arrival to Roanapur due to Tricia's marriage arrangement to Zeng Kemin. When the abduction occurred, the CIA would report the abduction letter to Philip and they would handle the rescue of Tricia from the foreign crime syndicate, in addition to reporting on the potential danger from the relationship between Philip and Shuntian if Tricia's marriage were to go through because of the connection to Budaibang.

Meanwhile, Budaibang had only been in Roanapur on Shuntian's orders for a short time with 14 members and their gangster leader Lu Tao, but they had been able to learn the city's layout and the territory divisions between crime syndicates thanks to Dick Krugland, an American who became an informant for Budaibang due to his high debt and loss of money in Xiamen. Unknown to them, Dick Krugland was actually Shadow Falcon in disguise acting as a spy for Mister Chang on behalf of the Triad. When Tricia (who did not want to marry her arranged fiancé Kemin) arrived in Roanapur and went to the Yellow Flag, Budaibang got a tip on her location from the NSA, so Lu Tao sent out two men, Feng and Dun, to retrieve her in good health per Zeng Shuntian's request. At the Yellow Flag, Feng and Dun grabbed Tricia and told her to come along with them, but she continuously refused. As she struggled, Lotton showed up and threatened them to let her go, showing his dual pistols. In response, one bullet was fired at Lotton's pillow, causing feathers to be scattered throughout the bar. Because of the many feathers in their vision, the two men began to shoot recklessly until Revy shot them both once. Even though Lotton did not fire a single bullet, Tricia thought that it was him who was responsible for saving her, so she pleaded with Lotton to take her with him.

After the bar fight, Lu Tao himself visited the bar and tried to ask Bao about the incident, but Bao paid him no attention, and Lu Tao saw that the bloody scene had been cleaned up. Returning to his motel, Lu Tao berated the beaten-up Krugland for leaking the NSA intel as well as sending him to the Yellow Flag in vain due to the already cleaned up gunfight. Furious with Krugland, Lu Tao told him that he was only still alive since he barely had some usefulness for his familiarity with Roanapur and the Thai language. Soon, Lu Tao got a phone call from one of his men, Xu, and learned that Tricia was spotted with the silver-haired man at Sankan Palace Hotel. Wanting to take caution after the failure at the Yellow Flag, Lu Tao ordered him to find out her room number and then wait in the lobby for him and reinforcements. Preparing to leave, Lu Tao ordered Krugland to show him the quickest path to Sankan Palace Hotel.

Sawyer gleefully thrusting her chainsaw into a Budaibang gangster

At Sankan Palace Hotel, Lu Tao sent several men to the upper floors where Tricia's room was located as he followed behind. On the sixth floor, Shenhua, Sawyer the Cleaner, and Revy heard Hokkien speakers nearby, so they prepared for an attack. When three Budaibang gangsters entered the room, Revy and Shenhua immediately killed three men, but six more men came and forced Shenhua to take cover while Revy instead fled the room to the balcony. Two men walked into the room after they stopped hearing enemy gunfire, and they covered each other to Shenhua's detriment. One man decided to check the closet after hearing a noise only to be cut in half by Sawyer's chainsaw, giving Shenhua the opportunity to behead the other shocked gangster. Surprised at the brutality of the attacks, the men in the hallway ran away instead of attacking further. Entering the room after ordering his men to go to the 7th floor, Lu Tao was armed with his three-section staff and complimented Shenhua's weapon in Hokkien, and Shenhua ordered Sawyer not to interfere.

On the seventh floor, Lu Tao's men saw Lotton and one shot at him, but he only hit his pillow, causing feathers to block everyone's vision and allowing Lotton to take cover behind the bed to avoid more bullets. Before the two gangsters could kill Lotton, they were both shot by Revy, who had arrived from the lower hotel floor. Assessing Shenhua's fighting style, Lu Tao knew that he had to stay at a distance from Shenhua's double yanagiba, which prevented his close-ranged three-section staff from being used. Thankfully, Lu Tao took advantage of the gaps between Shenhua's attacks to avoid them and make her attacks more sloppy, also using his Wing Chun to keep her away and avoiding her due to her high heels slowing her down. As he kept her back, Sawyer joined the fight with her chainsaw, pitting two against one. To annoy Lu Tao, Sawyer began cutting up Song's corpse, but Lu Tao had more fear than anger from her action. Additionally, Lu Tao was also confused as to why Sawyer was enjoying her work and why she was carrying a scalpel and surgical scissors, making him ask Shenhua those same questions.

Casually, Shenhua replied that Sawyer was troubled and it was just her normal behavior, and she continued throwing her swords at the distraught Lu Tao. As he referred to Roanapur as a demonic town from hell, Shenhua flew back her sword in her right hand, giving him the chance to roll forward and dodge the blade instead of deflecting it. Unfortunately, he immediately realized that he was not paying attention to her left hand. Subsequently, Shenhua pulled back her other sword as he charged at her, returning her sword to Lu Tao's back. As the sword began to enter his back, Dick Krugland was near and tackled him away, decreasing the brunt of the damage and crashing through the balcony door glass. As Krugland tried to shield Lu Tao again, Shenhua and Sawyer utilized the opportunity to flee the room to the upper floor. Lu Tao felt insulted that the women did not want to finish their fight, but Krugland interrupted his disappointment by pointing to four silhouettes (Rock, Revy, Lotton and Tricia) rushing down the hotel's emergency stairs. As Lu Tao could not make a clear shot to stop Tricia's protectors, he told Krugland to follow him out of the hotel.

Sometime later, Zeng Kemin visited Mister Chang's office at the Hot River Film Company due to his anxiety about finding his fiancée Tricia. Once Chang finished his call with Balalaika, he gave his full attention to the tailored-suit Kemin and apologized for the unexpected call. The Triad leader then sarcastically asked the young man if he really came to him on his own accord given the Zeng family's differing policy regarding the matter. Answering that he heard that Chang runs Roanapur as if it was his own garden, the grandson rhetorically elaborated that it was natural to ask the garden's caretaker for help. Comparing the younger and elder Zeng, Chang thought to himself that Shuntian grew up in hard times whereas Kemin had grown up in peaceful times, noting Kemin's preference for negotiation over bloodshed. Wondering about Kemin's next move, Chang asked him if Budaibang would lose face for asking his help, and Kemin replied that they could not lose face to others considering the trouble that Budaibang's presence had already caused for Roanapur. Respecting Kemin's strong sense of duty, Chang welcomed Kemin to Roanapur and ordered him to leave Tricia's safety in the Triad's hands.

Receiving a call from Kemin, Lu Tao did not expect the call, and Kemin told Lu Tao that he would not allow any more violence in Roanapur, adding that they needed to settle their affair in a more polite manner. When Kemin clarified that it was his own decision, Lu Tao yelled at him, stating that Tricia must be delivered on their terms and that Kemin must not get impatient with his work. Yelling back, Kemin asked Lu Tao why he still thought that despite sacrificing 9 men. Calming down, Kemin told him that he would intercede with boss Zeng and would return to Fujian obediently. Trying to speak again, Kemin elaborated that the Hong Kong Triad would take care of the matter, saying that he bowed his head to get their cooperation. In addition, Kemin sternly told Lu Tao that the latter would lose face if Budaibang interfered with the Triad's actions.

Gasping in disbelief and being briefly silent, Lu Tao heard Kemin reply to him not to be silly and hung up. Talking to himself in his motel room, Lu Tao remarked that a boy like Kemin did not understand his loyalty to his brothers and the willingness to shed blood for it. Sighing, he told himself that Kemin was acting like a disgrace to the Zeng family since by allying with the Triad, Budaibang was abandoning their fellow countrymen in Xiamen and instead allying with Hong Kong people. As he grumbled about how he had made up his mind and would teach Kemin a lesson, Lu Tao turned around and was surprised to see Dick Krugland, who asked Lu Tao if their work was complete. When Krugland tried to question Lu Tao after the latter answered that it was not over, Lu Tao punched Krugland's cheek, knocking the big man onto the floor. Truly even more furious, Lu Tao threatened to cut out Krugland's tongue and finally kill him if he told anyone about the phone call that he just finished with Kemin. Getting up and staring at Lu Tao with cold eyes, Krugland spoke in English instead of his broken Hokkien and told him to not "lose sight on the greater righteousness at stake" by fixating on his own pride.

Continuing, Krugland also told Lu Tao to be mindful of the fortune of having deeply loyal followers. Thinking that Krugland was telling him to shut up, Lu Tao punched Krugland in the stomach, but hitting his stomach felt like hitting a hard log. As he was bewildered, Krugland suddenly jabbed Lu Tao's left shoulder, making his body's left side go numb. Looking down at Lu Tao on the floor, Krugland told him in English that a sword's edge without the faithfulness of the heart was an unworthy weapon, confusing Lu Tao. Wondering how a white person could do kung fu, Lu Tao realized that Krugland's footsteps made no sound as he left the motel room.

After Krugland had heard the phone call and beaten down Lu Tao, he removed his disguise and went back to being Shadow Falcon. Elsewhere at the Lagoon Company dry dock, Falcon started a fight with Lotton on a tall crane arm in a rainstorm in order to retrieve Tricia for the Triad per their job requested by Budaibang. As the fighting continued, Tricia hang onto the crane and her fiancé Kemin arrived on the scene, surprised that Tricia was on such a high and dangerous place. Although Chang recommended to him that they wait for the fighting to cease, Kemin decided to climb the crane out of fear for losing Tricia. After Lotton and Falcon fell off the crane together while clashing, Kemin had climbed the crane arm and held out his hand to Tricia, who was suddenly infatuated with Kemin despite her previous physical dislike of him. Pulling Tricia closer to him, Kemin assured Tricia that she would be all right. As the rain stopped, Tricia decided that she would look forward to her wedding with Kemin, no longer having an infatuation with Lotton. Afterward, the Budaibang members pulled out of Roanapur and Tricia and Kemin accordingly would be married.