NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 33



Only Krnovel

Age of emotion – 5

“It wasn’t enough that we lost Katsuyama to Murayama… This time, we’ve lost all of Shanghai’s opium as well.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

A large mansion in Tokyo.

Everyone gathered here was sitting at the head table, watching the old man who was fiddling with the bonsai.

“How much is it?”

“yes?”

“I’m talking about the damage caused by this incident.”

“Ah, that is···.”

A silence monument to the Japanese soldiers who died in the fire, and the enormous amount of opium that had been piled up in Shanghai…

Even if we only consider the physical damage, it would not be enough even if we sold off several of the Black Dragon Society’s buildings in Tokyo.

“There must have been problems with his credit and his connections in China that had opened up many places.”

One of the branches the old man was holding on to broke off.

The people gathered in the mansion held their breath and waited for the old man’s next words.

“Phew… I failed to catch the ghost in Shanghai, and ended up provoking it instead.”

“I’m sorry… What should I say….”

“No way. That’s how it should be.”

The old man’s eyes sparkled sharply, and he immediately took out a small dagger from his desk drawer.

Then he threw a dagger at the person lying flat in front of him.

The old man added a word, his gaze cold enough to feel the chill even in midsummer.

“Do you have anything more to say?”

“Oh, there’s still a chance! If you give me one more chance, I’ll definitely beat that guy…”

“I think it was enough of an opportunity.”

At the old man’s gesture, a group of sturdy men ran over and grabbed the man who was lying down in front of the old man.

The man who was caught by them writhed in a fit of convulsions and pleaded with the old man.

“Uchida-dono! Please, just one more time…. Just one more time, trust me and leave this to me! Uchida-dono? Uchida-dono!!!”

“Clean it up.”

The old man was resolute.

“I’m going to gooooooo!!!”

The man begged the old man for mercy until the very end as he was dragged far away, but the damage done to him was too great to show him mercy.

“You said it was a ghost? That mayfly-like thing keeps troubling us from Gyeongseong onwards.”

“How about sending Kato and Fujito to Shanghai this time?”

“They are both experts in Jiu-Jitsu and swordsmanship, and they are also good with guns, so they will bring good news to Shanghai.”

But the old man shook his head.

“The ink marks on the memorial tablets of Murayama Awa and Katsuyama have not even dried yet, and I already don’t feel like engraving the next memorial tablet.”

“Lord Uchida, how about increasing the number of people this time? Last time, we were not prepared enough, so that’s why it happened…”

The old man’s cold gaze fell on the person who was expressing his opinion.

“What did I say, Kamakura?”

The man called Kamakura fell flat on the floor and apologized to the old man’s icy anger.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Everyone, stop thinking nonsense and focus on recovering from the damage.”

The old man’s anger subsided.

And then I touched the fountain again.

“Kamakura.”

“Yes, Uchida-dono!”

“There is an old saying in the art of war: If you know your enemy and know yourself, you will not be in danger even if you fight a hundred battles.”

“It’s the Art of War!”

“I want to know about the enemy.”

At the old man’s command, Kamakura bowed his head again.

“I will do so.”

******

The incident at the coastal warehouse recently ignited anti-Japanese sentiment among the Chinese people, which had been quiet since the May Fourth Movement.

If before, it was because of a physiological aversion to looking at the continent with sinister eyes that seemed like they would impregnate several mature women with just a glance, then this time, he was angry that they were trying to look down on the continent by adding drugs to it.

“You come and go from the continent as if it were your own home, spreading opium, the devil’s pus… I don’t know why the world has become so dangerous.”

“That’s true. I also plan on not handling Japanese goods from now on.”

“That’s a good idea, I’ll use this opportunity to show the Japanese the fear of China!”

The man who said that had a hookah in his mouth.

“That’s right! While we’re on the subject, I’d like to tell you that all the items we brought in today are special products produced in mainland China.”

Even the (self-proclaimed) immortals of the opium den, who had cut off all ties with the secular world with a tobacco pipe that was a foot shorter than their arm, lamented the current situation and vowed to use only cheap (Chinese) domestic products instead of Japanese ones in the future.

Of course, all of this is still limited to Shanghai and its surrounding areas.

China is too large for such rumors to spread in a short period of time.

“But someday it will spread throughout China.”

“I see.”

Today’s guest was Mr. Dosan Ahn Chang-ho.

He was currently a hot potato in the provisional government and a leading figure in the anti-Syngman Rhee camp.

To put it politely, it meant that the greatest debater in the provisional government had come to see me. To put it a little more negatively, it meant that a person who had more enemies than friends and whose every day was like an action blockbuster had come to my house to have tea.

The reason was also interesting.

“The provisional government simply could not get it up quietly.”

“Why is that so?”

“People like Kim Gu and Lee Dong-nyeong gave me cold stares and hinted at me, while my comrade, Danjae (Shin Chae-ho), was making a fuss about destroying the provisional government right away, and Woo-sa (Kim Kyu-sik) was just lost in thought, not saying a word. When I saw that, my stomach started to turn, so I ran away.”

“Oh, like that.”

An Chang-ho shook his head as if he was really fed up and picked up one of the melons that had been offered as a snack.

“Even without that, young people who have seen the political conflict within the provisional government intensify these days are feeling disillusioned and tending to focus on personal activities.”

“What a pity.”

An Chang-ho asked me while chewing on a melon with its skin intact.

“Who on earth are you, who suddenly appeared in Gyeongseong and played with the Japanese police and government with your enormous financial power and power of action?”

“A tragic special agent who fell from the distant future to the past in order to fight for his country’s independence.”

“It’s the kind of story you’d only see in a third-rate flyer novel that’s copied from a foreign novel.”

“The setting may be third-rate, but the skills are first-rate.”

I quickly cut up a melon into pieces and handed it to Ahn Chang-ho.

“Is this an unspoken pressure to turn me into this poor melon if I have to?”

“No way. I’m not the type of person to intimidate other people.”

“Is that so? But for all that, the news I hear from Gyeongseong is all so ominous.”

“Hahaha… Let me emphasize this again, I do not intimidate other ‘people’.”

“If you say so, I guess I have to believe it.”

An Chang-ho took another big bite of the melon.

Then, he wiped his mouth with the tissue next to him and glanced at the people who were bringing new melons.

“Your family has grown.”

“I hired kids to do various things underneath.”

“Really? There’s nothing more rewarding than working hard at a time like this.”

An Chang-ho took a sip of tea.

I followed suit and took a sip of tea.

“Why did you cut off Hyunbae’s thumb?”

“Factory work is inherently tough.”

“You cut it.”

“It was caused by a malfunction in the machine tool I bought, so in a way, you could say it’s my responsibility.”

“······Are you a spy?”

“Oh my… How could you say such horrible things… Where can you find a spy in this day and age?”

There are no spies in Shanghai.

At least not within the French Concession.

“This is just my guess, but I think that from now on, the Japanese will stop sending spies to the concession area.”

“You are confident.”

“Because that’s actually true.”

“······.”

Dosan Ahn Chang-ho glanced at those moving busily like servants.

“I heard that they are making weapons in Shanghai and selling them.”

“Yes, we have obtained all the relevant permits and have also imported all the new materials and machine tools.”

I spent a lot of money visiting hotels and clubs where Westerners gather to bring in these items, but I was satisfied because I got decent items at reasonable prices.

They also obtained materials to make counterfeit currency.

Now, all I had to do was just take a picture and that was it.

However, there is one problem…

“A business isn’t something that can be sold just by putting out products without any clients.”

“First, we need to find new sales channels in the surrounding area.”

“Hmm… I wish the provisional government would help you with your business, but… As you know, our noses are three inches long, so that would be difficult.”

“Thank you for your words.”

I wasn’t expecting much from them in the first place, so I wasn’t upset.

If there was anything worth salvaging, it would be their connections with the various warlords that ran rampant in China… But in the ever-changing political situation in China, their connections were uncertain, so they were neatly given up.

‘There are preferential bonds on the floor right now, so why should we be interested in those tattered ones?’

I also found out from reading the newspaper a while ago, but at this point in time, the famous original Jang… no, the future giant who would be called China itself, Chiang Kai-shek, was just beginning to come into the limelight.

Chiang Kai-shek had made a name for himself by saving Sun Yat-sen’s life in the great turmoil in Shanghai the previous year, but he was left in ruins after his master fell from grace.

Sun Yat-sen, driven out by the warlords, declared that he would no longer negotiate with the incompetent thugs and that from now on he would solve everything by force, but the forces remaining under him were only a handful compared to those of his enemies.

‘In the end, Sun Yat-sen died without even attempting the Northern Expedition, and Chiang Kai-shek took over and succeeded in the Northern Expedition.’

Of course, it was also thanks to the Soviet Union’s support for the Northern Expedition before Sun Yat-sen died and the combined strength of the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party, but that did not diminish Chiang Kai-shek’s achievements.

Chiang Kai-shek, who was to become the master of China, would have successfully completed his great undertaking and all the Chinese people would have lived happily ever after if it had not been for his only rival, the communist horse Mao Zedong… He might not have lost, but he was undoubtedly an incredibly great person.

‘War requires money and weapons… and now I have both?’

Since ancient times, the Chinese continent has been overflowing with people, perhaps as a blessing or a curse from the gods.

Of course, the country was rich in natural resources befitting its large land mass, but sadly, the Chinese had greedy pockets just as big as their large land mass.

That is why the Chinese mainland has been controlling its population through innovative population control methods since ancient times.

Oh, to put it simply, it means that war never ceased.

It was no different in this era.

Even today, the greed of those in power still has a great influence on the population policy of the Chinese mainland.

Anyway, the most important things in a war on the Chinese mainland are money and weapons.

Wars on the Chinese continent have always been a battle over who can arm a greater number of troops.

The ancient Qin dynasty was so good at this that they were able to unify China.

And it’s not much different now.

Now Sun Yat-sen’s army was small in number, had no money, and was without weapons.

Of course, if we receive support from the Comintern later, our numbers will increase quickly, but wouldn’t we also need weapons to arm that many troops?

‘Here, you have to use Supernote and Gyeongseong No. 1.’

My right hand was enchanted with a magic that made dollars pour out like a flower pot, and my left hand contained a miracle that allowed me to produce weapons at minimal cost (supernotes) with just a basic machine tool.

‘If we can get a hold of Chiang Kai-shek… we can use it for a long time later.’

There’s a winning lottery ticket lying on the floor, and the only people who don’t pick it up are either rich people who have too much and are no longer interested in material things, or people who walk around with wireless earphones in their ears.

No, not that.

“Hehehe···.”

“······Did you eat something wrong?”

Mr. Ahn Chang-ho, who had no way of knowing this, just looked at me strangely as I suddenly started laughing to myself while eating a melon.

“It’s nothing. But I don’t think you came to me just to say something like that…”

There must be a reason why someone who is busy with political strife within the provisional government came here.

For example, he was trying to appeal to me, who had been close to people like Kim Gu and Kim Won-bong, or to suggest that I reestablish my relationship with them…

“He came looking for dinner.”

“yes?”

······It wasn’t the same.

Mr. Ahn Chang-ho really came to get dinner.

“Baekbeom bragged to me about how delicious the stew made with codfish he ate here was. That’s why I came to try it too.”

“······.”

It was a taste that I couldn’t understand at all.