NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 36



Only Krnovel

His name is King-1

Every event has a cause and an effect.

The results of this incident have not yet been released, but if we go up the river to find the cause, surprisingly, we find that it leads all the way to the Shanghai shipping warehouse.

“No, how does that continue like that?”

“Please listen carefully.”

I raided the Black Dragon Society’s Shanghai shipping warehouse and reduced it to ashes, and the piles of opium that had been stored there bid farewell to this world.

Upon hearing the news that a large quantity of opium had flown away, people who could not live a single day without opium rushed to buy up whatever opium was on the market, causing the price of opium in Shanghai to soar.

Normally, others would have rushed to fill that empty spot, but this time, that wasn’t the case.

“Why didn’t it happen that way?”

“There may be many reasons, but I think the Chinese people’s unique Sinocentrism may have played a part.”

“Chinese thought.”

The three Northeast Asian countries tended to place strong emphasis on personal honor and face.

Because of this, there were frequent instances of people giving up their own lives or taking the lives of others to protect their honor. In China, this was rather extreme.

Perhaps it was part of their twisted nationalism, but the Chinese could not tolerate being pushed around by others.

In particular, they could not stand being pushed around by countries they had previously ignored as barbarians, such as Japan and Korea.

“What does that have to do with this?”

“When the warehouses in Shanghai were blown up, people realized that they were full of opium that had come from Japan.”

“That’s right, isn’t that why anti-Japanese sentiment is on the rise among the Chinese people these days?”

“Yes, that’s why the Chinese disposed of all the opium that came from Japan. I don’t know how they actually did it, but that’s the public perception.”

The economy was like a very sophisticated calculation, and when one side collapsed, it would often fluctuate and cause chaos.

With demand as high as it is now and supply so decimated, prices are bound to rise.

In particular, patriotic merchants sold off all the Japanese opium in the market, so the amount available on the market became very small, which soon led to a huge increase in prices.

“In reality, there are probably quite a few drug dealers who sell Japanese opium as Chinese.”

“But are you saying that the price won’t go down?”

“Haha, do you think the merchants are crazy and are deliberately lowering their prices? They’ll just raise them.”

“Hmm… This is something I can’t understand.”

“You don’t have to try to understand them.”

In this chaotic situation, the merchants of Shanghai banded together and, like the Touch of Midas, replaced all the opium they could get their hands on with Chinese-made ones, contributing to the rise in prices, so there was no sign of the price of opium falling.

As the price of opium soared through the roof, it was the good(?) ordinary citizens who ended up suffering.

“Teacher, do you know what happens if the pharmacists can’t get the medicine?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m going crazy.”

“Is this a metaphor?”

“no.”

It’s really driving me crazy.

Especially highly addictive substances like opium drive people even more mad.

Since the price of opium has gone up, there are probably countless people who are able to obtain less than usual or not at all.

The more you use opium, the more tolerance you build up and the less you can feel the effects of the drug, so you have to use stronger and stronger drugs. When there is little or no drug, addicts cannot endure this situation and cause big and small incidents and accidents.

“And so the problem that arose was the train robbery.”

“How does it continue like this?”

“I did a quick investigation and found that with the recent surge in opium prices, there has been an increase in the number of people who are unable to obtain opium and are resorting to crime to make money. In addition, I have received intelligence that the leader of the bandits who committed this incident, Son Mi-yo, mainly dealt opium with the Black Dragon Association.”

“So what you’re saying now is that a bandit leader named Son Mi-yo lured people in with opium and started a business.”

“In the circumstances, yes.”

In this day and age, opium was an inseparable commodity for the Chinese people.

Opium addicts were found everywhere, from the warlords at the top of the people’s heads to the day-to-day workers on the docks.

The Chinese were not stupid, so they knew that opium was harmful to the body.

However, since there was no medicine to use when he was sick right away, he tried opium to relieve the pain, and ended up falling into the swamp of addiction.

Well, this might not have been the case, but most opium addicts I’ve seen so far started out this way.

In this way, the satanic dust spread by the British became a disease that ate away at the continent and made society sick.

People became addicted to opium, lost their purpose or goals in life, and became dependent on opium.

The sons and daughters of China, who had risen up in indignation, pledging to free themselves from being slaves to the emperor, chose to wear the shackles of opium and become slaves again.

“It’s truly a shame.”

Kim Gu felt sorry for the plight of these Chinese people, but I did not.

Because it wasn’t my concern what happened to them anyway.

“I don’t know about that, my goal is to rescue the foreigners trapped here.”

At my words, Kim Gu looked at me with a start.

“Hasn’t the Beijing government already announced that it will send troops to suppress the bandits and rescue the hostages?”

“Anyone can talk.”

“So, are you saying that the Beijing government will fail to suppress the bandits?”

“No. I probably wouldn’t even try.”

This train robbery was not only a matter of scale, but also of who the hostages were.

If they were just ordinary Chinese people, the Beijing government would have sent in troops and wiped out the bandits from the world, regardless of whether civilians died or not.

However, there were also foreigners among the hostages.

And it wasn’t just a bunch of random people, it included the daughter of a United States Senator.

“I can’t move carelessly because I might touch the precious jewel of Mr. Aldrich, a United States Senator.”

“Oh… Then, isn’t this just a situation where only the thieves are happy?”

“For now, yes.”

Originally, this incident involved the Zhili clique, under pressure from the world’s great powers, surrendering to a group of bandits and paying a ransom to get the hostages back.

As if that wasn’t enough, it was an incident that reminded us why China is an international fool by assigning a group of thieves to their command and even providing them with jobs.

“This is a major incident that the world’s major powers are paying attention to. So we are intervening here to monopolize the attention.”

The world’s attention was focused on this unprecedented train robbery, and the Shanghai Provisional Government needed the attention of the great powers to achieve independence.

So, wouldn’t it be nice and pretty if the provisional government intervened here?

Of course, I don’t know how much of an impact this will have on independence.

But that doesn’t mean I want to miss out on the opportunity to get attention from others.

If all goes well, the Aldrichs will trust me as much as they trusted the Rockefellers, and they may be able to introduce me to the Rockefellers without any hesitation.

After that meeting, I often hung out with the Rockefeller family, had a good time, gave them the information they wanted, and helped each other out by getting to know each other better, so I thought they would give me something in return.

We could leak the big news that the Great Depression is coming in a few years and have a good time robbing the American ants together, and we could ask them to provide some funds for the Korean independence movement.

In that sense, this incident could be of great help to the Nana independence movement in many ways.

There I was very familiar with this type of hostage situation.

There have been instances where hostages have died in front of me, but most of the time I have rescued them safely.

Even in modern times, when crimes have become more sophisticated and intelligent, the success rate was higher, but how about a hostage crisis against criminals who are illiterate, addicted to opium, and can’t even read and write properly?

This was easier than snatching candy from a child’s hand.

At least it was like that for me.

So this is a winning angle worth trying.

That’s my conclusion.

“Hmm… I’m worried that my unnecessary meddling might cause friction between the Beijing government and the Shanghai provisional government.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

All they had to do was outsource the work to someone they could trust, even if they had little connection to the Shanghai Provisional Government.

“I will go in myself.”

“Where?”

“It’s a train.”

“······?”

Kim Gu looked at me with a hot face.

“If I fail even once, this matter has nothing to do with the provisional government.”

Kim Gu asked me with a bewildered expression.

“If you succeed, are you telling me to promote it as a secret operation by our government?”

“yes.”

“That’s too reckless… If something goes wrong, we won’t be able to help you.”

The thought of asking when I could help you rose to the tip of my tongue, but I forced myself to smile and swallow my words.

Kim Gu seemed worried that something might go wrong and I would be arrested.

If I, who had been on close terms with various factions within the provisional government, were to disappear, the internal strife within the provisional government, which had already been well contained, could have been reignited.

“You call that reckless for someone who blew up Jongno Police Station alone in Gyeongseong?”

“Well… But this job will be more difficult than Jongno Police Station.”

“Well, you never know until you try.”

“Why don’t you go to Yaksan and get some help from that friend?”

I shook my head.

“Right now, Uiyeoldan is so busy with the domestic infiltration operation that they won’t have time to lend a hand in a place like this.”

“But isn’t it true that two are better than one, and three are better than two?”

“Two are less troublesome than three, and one is less troublesome than two.”

Kim Gu didn’t stop him any longer.

He emphasized this several times with a look of regret.

“If something goes wrong and a problem arises… ask the provisional government for help.”

“Hey… I told you, that won’t happen.”

“In human affairs, unexpected situations can arise.”

In my dictionary… no, in my strategy, there is nothing that is not planned.

Everything goes according to my plan, and any unexpected or irregular circumstances are just part of the plan.

That’s why I’ve been able to survive this tough job so far.

“I will take care of everything, so don’t worry, Mr. Baekbeom, just stretch out your legs and rest comfortably.”

“Hmm···.”

Kim Gu still seemed uneasy, as if he had something to say, and his lips kept moving.

Is there anything left to say?

“Umm… When do you eat lunch?”

“······?”

“If you’re going to do it, why don’t you give me that Gangjeong dish from last time? No, if you’re going to do it, why don’t you write down the recipe for that dish? The provisional government people are clamoring to try it.”

“······.”

I thought that perhaps the reason Kim Gu kept coming to the house was because of Kodari Kangjeong.

I don’t know what the hell that damn Codari Gangjeong is and why everyone is making such a fuss about it.

Even the most advanced fully autonomous automata in our homes were often distracted by the sound of the nose bridge.

‘I should just get rid of this damn nose or something…’

When I frowned slightly, Kim Gu snickered and teased me.

“You know how to make that kind of expression, don’t you?”

“yes?”

“Usually you just smile and say things that are hard to read.”

“Was it like that?”

“That’s what it was.”

Kim Gu laughed and put his hand inside his overcoat, then took out a slightly rough-looking watch with gold leaf dripping all over it.

Then he handed it to me.

“I heard that you sold your watch when you bought this building.”

“Are you giving it to me?”

“To be exact, I’m lending it to you… I’m not yet well off enough to give someone a watch as a gift.”

“Ah, yes···.”

It seems that Kim Gu did not spend a single penny of the money he had received on himself and gave it all to the provisional government.

“So be sure to come back and give it back later.”

I was handed Kim Gu’s pocket watch.

Although it was a little old and had a lot of scratches here and there, the watch still worked fine.

“Is it really necessary for a government minister to carry around such a shabby item?”

“huh?”

I put Kim Gu’s watch in my inside pocket.

“When you come back, let’s go get a new watch together. I’ll buy it.”

“What? Hahaha! Yeah! I’ll be waiting for you!”

******

Kim Gu finally returned after receiving a bundle of codfish and a note containing the recipe for codfish stew.

After sending Kim Gu away like that, I quietly went down to the basement, where the sound of machines running, the strong smell of chemicals, and dust floating in the air greeted me.

“Are you here, boss?”

“Yeah, you’ve had a hard time.”

“no!”

The young people who had been so reckless that they had barged in to grab my collar a while ago had now become somewhat accustomed to factory work and were all working hard.

Thanks to the fact that he had personally remodeled these people who had nowhere to go into superconducting bodies without resistance, they all worked hard without complaining or feeling dissatisfied.

“Are you following the instructions to ventilate every hour?”

“Yes, in accordance with the boss’s words to put safety first···.”

“Okay then.”

On one side of the basement, the Gyeongseong-1, which I had personally designed, was built, and on the other side, the Bukgoesan Supernote, which I had also painstakingly modified, was built.

Of course, it may be because the workers were not yet familiar with machine tools and copper plates, but the quality of Gyeongseong-1 and Supernote was not very good.

“The water pump here is loose.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“This is a dented sheet of iron.”

“Ah… I guess being careful is enough.”

“The ink is smeared here.”

“I have committed a mortal sin!!!”

The guns were quite defective, and the Supernotes were of such horrible quality that even the local children’s bank would reject them, belying their reputation.

‘You can’t get full on the first drink.’

The good news is that the rate of defects in firearms decreases over time.

It seems like he’s gotten used to it, having stayed up all night making guns to give to the Kuomintang a few days ago.

However, things did not go smoothly on the Supernote side.

‘It’s a natural result, since we started out with people who were ignorant of this kind of thing.’

It took several years for the North Korean guys to select a special team that was the worst conman.

Of course, I took a peek at the results, but the currency design of this era was a bit different from modern times, so various modifications were made, and because of that, there were some problems with production.

‘Hmm… Should I try finding a local expert?’

In China, a paradise for counterfeiters and a land of all sorts of hermits, it wasn’t that difficult to catch a single counterfeiter.

Isn’t China a place where, if you give it money, you can make anything fake, except people?

However, if there is a problem…

‘How can you trust them?’

Counterfeiters are not experts in name only, they are scammers and criminals.

How could I trust those guys and show them the Supernote plate that was more important than my life?

‘On hold for now.’

For now, we can only hope that time will tell.

‘Once this is over, I need to get serious and focus on this work.’

I didn’t know much about this field, but I was better than those complete laymen.

‘If only my laptop was still intact…’

My notebook was full of information related to SuperNote, as well as other useful information and materials even in this day and age.

But the guy who was fine before he fell into Gyeongseong wasn’t working at all.

‘It’s mil-spec, so even if an elephant steps on it, it’ll be fine.’

It was truly a puzzling thing.

The smartphone that came with it worked fine, but it was the laptop that was acting up.

‘Oh, come to think of it, plugging the charger into the smartphone just comes down···.’

At that moment, an idea crossed my mind.

‘No way… Is the battery dead?’

Now that I think about it, I didn’t really care about laptops in Gyeongseong, so I just left them when they didn’t work, but I don’t think I ever tried to charge them.

‘Should we give it a try?’

With that in mind, I went up to my room, took my laptop and charger out of the safe, and was about to plug them into the sockets on the ceiling, but when I actually started doing it, I felt a little scared.

‘If I make a mistake, won’t the circuit inside burn out?’

Electricity is all the same, but the charger may not work properly due to voltage or other variables, and the laptop itself may be damaged due to excessive current.

But if you think about it the other way around, if you were afraid of it and left it like that, it would just end up taking up space and being useless anyway.

‘Tsk… whatever happens, happens.’

I plugged it in with the idea that if it broke, I could sell it off to some Western businessman who looked reasonably naive and had a nice slap on the back of his head.

Then, the laptop cooling fan, which had been asleep for a long time, started spinning vigorously, and my laptop, which had been in a long winter sleep, woke up with a loud roar.

-Tiring. Welcome. King.

“Hey···. I missed you, you little shit!!!”

A reliable partner who has always been with us through the tough times of the past few years has returned to active duty.

It was truly a happy day.