NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 100



Only Krnovel

Kyungsung Blues (8)

The reason I came to Gyeongseong was to incite Governor-General Saito with the letter of recommendation I obtained from the Shanghai Bank and throw Japan into chaos.

Well, there were some difficult situations where the order got mixed up in the middle, but I thought that no matter where I went, as long as I got to Seoul, it was okay, since I had already achieved my goal.

As the police were gradually pursuing him, it was difficult to maintain his identity as Kyuichi Kuroda, the owner of the Chosun Ilbo.

It was time to slowly throw away the name Kuroda Kyuichi, which had been worn like clothing for a long time in Gyeongseong.

“Madam, I’m about to leave Gyeongseong.”

“… …Suddenly?”

“It was the same when I came here.”

“That’s true, but… … .”

As soon as I met Governor-General Saito, I ran straight to the teahouse of the Gyeongseong branch of the Provisional Government Transportation Bureau and packed my bags.

When I returned to Gyeongseong, I came empty-handed and only took the bare necessities, so my luggage was so small that it all fit into a briefcase.

“Madam, I will go then.”

“You’re just going to leave like this? Really?”

“Why? Are you sad to break up like this? Do you need a goodbye kiss? Unfortunately, Madame isn’t my type… …. But considering how much she’s taken care of me, I can hang out with you once.”

“Stop talking nonsense and stuff… … Are you really leaving like this?”

“huh.”

Madame had an expression that was beyond absurd, as if she felt nothing.

“Then. Are you going back to Shanghai?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Or what do you think is not the case… …?”

“When did the ghost of Gyeongseong, who causes incidents and accidents wherever he goes, say where he is going and go around? He just goes around like a ghost and causes incidents and accidents wherever he goes.”

After saying those words, he turned his back.

“Well then, see you next time, Madam.”

“Just a moment.”

Madam stopped me as I was about to leave, then hurriedly brought out a bundle from the kitchen and put it in my hand.

“Hey… … Are you even packing me a lunch box if I leave now?”

At that moment, I was slightly touched to the point where I felt sorry for having played pranks on Madam all this time.

“Please throw away your trash on your way out.”

“… … .”

I thought that somehow the hand was a bit heavy… … .

As I was going down the stairs, stumbling along, I opened the bundle just in case, and what the heck was this.

Inside the bundle were a few potatoes and some salt to dip them in.

“Huh, they say summer potatoes are the best.”

I took out a potato and took a bite.

It was slightly sweet, soft to the bite, and had a nutty aftertaste, so it tasted good.

* * *

If I were to run away like this and leave Gyeongseong, the tower I’ve painstakingly built here would come crashing down.

‘Even if we take advantage of the weaknesses of our Mr. Yoon Deok-yeong and other pro-Japanese tycoons and regularly go around collecting money, we cannot lose the Chosun Ilbo, which can be used as an internal source for the Shanghai Provisional Government.’

If I had just a little more time, I would have created a small organization in Gyeongseong with the second and third generation pro-Japanese collaborators who had joined the Chosun Ilbo last time, but unfortunately, I didn’t have much time right now.

‘I can’t take them all, so I’ll just pick out three or four good ones.’

At first glance, it seems that the Government-General, the Command of the Korean Garrison Forces, and even the Imperial Police are all too distracted by the large-scale armed conflict between the Army and Navy on the Japanese mainland to focus on me, but right now in Gyeongseong, there is Miwa, who is clinging to me like a mad dog, determined to get me.

Even if I just glanced at the information from the documents I just collected from the Governor’s office, it seemed that Miwa’s investigation team was digging quite deeply into my identity.

‘The longer I stay in Gyeongseong, the closer it will be for Miwa to kick the door open and point a gun at my head.’

If it had been for the sake of it, they could have killed off Miwa Wasaburo and his team one by one, but with martial law having been declared in Gyeongseong due to events on the mainland, they could have been in big trouble if they had done anything about it.

Just as it is said that a normal person avoids poop on the street not because they are scared of it but because it is dirty, I am avoiding Miwa not because I am scared of her but because I am in a situation where I need to avoid her.

‘Tsk… … If it weren’t for this guy, I could have easily created the Gyeongseong branch of the Information Agency.’

I felt regretful, but I am not a god and I cannot control everything in the world, so I lowered my expectations a little and relaxed.

‘If we just get the Gyeongseong branch set up and leave the rest to Chunshik, we won’t get swept up in any unfortunate events.’

Now, after the Imperial Police of Gyeongseong gave me a few big blows, I can no longer look at Gyeongseong like I used to.

So, for now, it would be a good idea to just get the hang of it, but use the Uiyeoldan or the Provisional Government Transportation Bureau to communicate and control the organization, and suck out experience points from the Imperial Police, who have become weaker as much as they can, just like making white blood cells stronger through vaccinations.

‘If we just sort things out quickly here… … .’

I raised my head slightly and looked north, and the sun was hanging over the peak of Mt. Samgak in the distance.

I’ll go over that mountain over there.

‘We have to go north.’

A clash of land and sea forces on the scale of an earthquake and civil war would leave deep, indelible scars on the Japanese Empire economically, socially, and politically.

When the Japanese lick their wounds and try to fix everything or make things worse, we will diligently move forward and catch up with the Japanese who have run away far away.

The difference between the Empire of Japan, which achieved modernization early and defeated China, and became the strongest country in East Asia and one of the top ten powers in the world if lined up, and us, who do not even have a country and live off other people’s lands, is deeper than the Mariana Trench and higher than Mount Everest.

If it were like the old days, people would have been worn down by the gloomy reality where they couldn’t see even an inch ahead, and one by one, their hearts would have broken, and they would have joined hands with the Japanese and fallen into corruption, or they would have tried too hard to keep the dying spark of hope alive and perished like the dew on the execution ground.

The Japanese Empire was that powerful a nation.

‘Even so, it’s just a country that was created when I wasn’t around.’

It doesn’t matter how strong the Japanese Empire is or how powerful their military is.

Even though it has been somewhat weakened by the war, the British Empire, which always ranks first when discussing the world’s most powerful countries, has a powerful fleet and an economy that leads Europe, but you can see how it is struggling with a single island right next to it.

As always, changing history is not accomplished by the great will of an unknown being or by the will of a powerful nation that determines the fate of the entire world.

It only takes one person’s will to change history.

This does not mean a hero with superior abilities than others, or a villain armed with evil.

Even ordinary people you see on the street can change the world and change history by making up their minds to change themselves and their surroundings and putting that into action.

That’s exactly what I’m like right now.

I arrived in Gyeongseong with nothing but a bag and a pistol, but now the Japanese police trembled at the mere mention of my name, and the Governor-General of Korea and the traitors could not sleep at night, fearing that I might come looking for them.

There, Japan was in a situation where the country was completely divided in two.

All of this was accomplished by the will of just one person.

And it will continue to do so.

“Ugh… … . There’s no time to rest, there’s no time to rest.”

I stretched lightly and went into a dark back alley.

I passed by people who had lost their will to do anything in the world and were seeking momentary pleasures by turning to alcohol or drugs, as well as thugs who were extorting money from poor people they had dragged off the street.

When I came out of the dark alley onto the street of Jongno where light was streaming in, I could no longer see Kyuichi Kuroda, the owner of the Chosun Ilbo.

Kuroda Kyuichi, who had caused a stir in Keijo and Tokyo, disappeared into the back alleys of history.

“There will be a brief inspection.”

“Oh, yes.”

But, shortly after I left the alley, the police arrived and started questioning me.

“Can I see your ID please?”

“Of course.”

The police officer, who had been looking at me and my ID card with his sharp eyes, asked me cautiously.

“Hmm, are you a soldier…?”

“For the time being.”

“For the time being… … ?”

“The military doesn’t suit me at all, so I plan to retire with the rank of lieutenant colonel or major and collect my pension until I die.”

“Oh, yes.”

The police officer nodded and gave me back my ID.

“Here you are, Lieutenant Tsugimoto.”

“Thank you. Well, take care.”

And now.

Major Daisuke Tsugimoto set foot in Gyeongseong.

“rickshaw!”

“Yes, yes, where would you like me to take you?”

“Go to the Joseon Garrison Command in Yongsan.”

As soon as the rickshaw man heard the word Yongsan, he showed a look of unwillingness to go and trailed off.

“It’s a bit far… … .”

I gently waved a ten-won note in front of the rickshaw puller’s nose.

“If you arrive within an hour, I’ll give you this.”

“Poem, ten won.”

“What do you think?”

Instead of answering, the rickshaw puller spat on my hand and then slapped his hands together.

Then he gripped the rickshaw handle tightly.

“Hold on tight, I’ll be running nonstop from now on.”

“Don’t expect it.”

The rickshaw man ran briskly down Jongno Street without looking back.

* * *

Around the time when a man named Kuroda Kyuichi disappeared from Gyeongseong without a sound.

The fighting in Tokyo was in a lull.

For the first few hours, the Army and Navy fought like enemies against each other, but after some time, the Japanese military’s chronic supply problems caught up with them and they had no choice but to stop fighting.

During this pause in fighting, rescue teams quickly entered downtown Tokyo and began putting out the fire and rescuing people.

“It’s in threes. One, two… … .”

“Eungcha… …!”

“Kishida, get the hose over there! There’s a fire going on here!”

“If you don’t want to die, hold this down.”

Rescue teams frantically searched the streets of Tokyo for people in need of help, but all they found were corpses that had already cooled to a crisp and charred human figures.

No more screams of pain or sobs of sorrow were heard in Tokyo.

Not even the barking of dogs or the squawking of insects looking for their mates, which are common sounds on the streets, could be heard.

It was as if the entire city of Tokyo had become a ghost town, completely deserted and without a trace of human life.

The dead were silent, and even those who barely survived the chaos were silent for fear of being harmed by the soldiers on the streets.

In an ironic situation where the military did not fear the civilians and the civilians feared the military, the death toll grew like a snowball rolling to make a snowman in the middle of winter.

Despite this situation, the authors who call themselves soldiers… … .

“If we could just bring in one more Class A Division, I think we could break through the Navy’s defense line.”

“Let’s see… … . Units that can be mobilized immediately… … .”

“The 4th Division in Osaka is on standby… … .”

“4th Division? Use… … .”

“It’s better than nothing, so let’s just put it into action.”

The army was talking about whether to send more troops here or not.

“If it weren’t for Mutsu’s cannon fire, we would have been breached.”

“That’s fortunate, but… … I’m still concerned that we’re running low on ammunition.”

“First, we’ll scrape together all the ammunition we can from the munitions factories and naval arsenals in Tokyo and the surrounding areas, and if that doesn’t work, we’ll call the 2nd Fleet to the south and have them bring us some.”

“The announcement and the sister ships will be getting into action.”

“That’s what it is.”

The Navy was excited about accumulating real-world data.

NIS Agent Tears the Japanese Empire Episode 101