NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 45



Only Krnovel

Payday – 4

“Many newspapers are giving favorable reviews, saying that the East Asian men have dealt a blow to the Western imperialists.”

“Is that so? That’s good.”

“Is it going well? Because of your actions, the strained Sino-Japanese relationship has thawed again.”

“Oh, well… that’s a bit disappointing.”

As soon as I returned home, I sent someone to the provisional government to invite Mr. Kim Gu and Mr. Ahn Chang-ho to my house.

I had something to ask of you two in relation to this Shanghai Bank matter.

The two clicked their tongues as they looked at the Shanghai Bank incident, which was featured prominently in a Chinese-language newspaper published in Shanghai.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… If you were going to beat them up anyway, why don’t you just make those little shits half-crippled?”

“What a violent person… Have we forgotten that we should be on friendly terms with the Western powers, not at odds with them?”

“Dosan, do you think those Western bastards who live in luxury would care about people like us? They are the kind of people who would sell out their own families for a profit.”

“Baekbeom, at first glance, it seems that the Western powers are governed by the logic of power, but few people care about things like face and honor as much as they do.”

“Face? Do those who care about face plant their flags on the map and persecute, harass, and exploit the people living there so viciously?”

“Yeah, but even when they do that, they try to hide it quietly for fear that others will point out their faults!”

The two, who had been arguing constantly even within the provisional government, were now coming to my house to argue.

“Ahem.”

I coughed at the two who were raising their voices and gestured to the scroll hanging on the wall.

[Quiet]

The two people who saw this scroll made in the elegant handwriting of Mr. Park Eun-sik quietly kept their mouths shut and poured each other’s glasses without saying a word.

Then I had a drink, put some codfish roe in my mouth, and shook off my old feelings.

“Ugh… The codfish here is crispy but soft on the inside, and the seasoning isn’t too spicy or too sweet, so it goes perfectly with a glass of alcohol.”

“I agree. I can’t believe how this teacher can make even one dish so delicious.”

I gave a small gift to the two people who washed away the fatigue of a hard day with a glass of alcohol and some codfish stew.

“Huh? What is this?”

“It’s a gift. Please open it.”

“gift?”

The two of them opened the envelope without any suspicion and checked its contents, then their faces suddenly changed color.

The person who had been smiling just a moment ago at Kodari Kangjeong was nowhere to be found, and now both of them were looking at me with murderous faces as if they were going to slaughter a person at any moment.

“I heard that these days there’s someone who throws bombs at people as gifts… Who knew it would be our teacher Lee?”

“Where did you get this?”

The document they were holding contained the personal information of spies within the provisional government.

“I got it from the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai. I spent some money to get it.”

“Huh, those evil bastards took money and handed over this valuable information? How can you believe that?”

“I spoke to him while sticking a gun in his head, and he handed it to me very kindly.”

“?”

The two of them had faces that said they couldn’t believe it.

I wouldn’t believe it if I heard that, so I guess that’s a perfectly normal reaction.

“Is that true?”

“no.”

“?”

Actually, I didn’t give him any money.

And he never threatened any consulate security guard or staff member by pointing a gun at their head.

“If I just go in and ask for some materials, they’ll give it to me?”

“······I’d rather believe that he gave money to the consulate and received it.”

“I guess you’re more trustworthy.”

“It’s true···.”

The two looked over the document for a long time.

He didn’t say anything until the codfish stew he loved so much had completely cooled and hardened.

And a little later.

“Whew… It’s pretty good.”

Kim Gu spoke first.

“The police said they would kick them out, but who would have thought there would still be this many···.”

“No matter how much you weed them out, parasites can’t be completely eliminated.”

“If I had heard that before, I would have laughed it off and said, ‘Don’t talk nonsense.’ But today is a very sad night, because I can’t just ignore it.”

Kim Gu crumpled up the list of spies’ names with a complicated expression on his face.

An Chang-ho sighed lightly, folded the list carefully, and put it aside.

“I do not mean to doubt you, but what is the purpose of showing this list at this point when the provisional government has just stabilized?”

“Me? There is no such thing.”

The reason was very simple.

If this had been shown at a time when the provisional government was still in turmoil, it would have caused a bloody uproar within the government, so to prevent that, it was shown after the chaos within the government had subsided and a certain degree of stability had been restored.

“I hope so.”

“Hey, man. Does this teacher look like someone who would have ill intentions toward us?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Is that what it sounded like to me?”

While the two were arguing, I lifted my teacup and said something.

“That’s why I kept it a secret all this time.”

“······.”

“······.”

An Chang-ho did not just empty his glass, he also picked up the bottle and drank it all down.

Then he got up from his seat, roughly wiping the alcohol off his lips with his collar.

“I think tomorrow will be a bit busy, so I’ll wake up first. The codfish stew was delicious today.”

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yeah, if these damn guys catch wind of us and run away, it’ll be a headache in many ways.”

An Chang-ho said this and asked Kim Gu, who was still sitting in his seat.

“Baekbeom, aren’t you going?”

“I’ll just sit a little longer and then go.”

“······Okay, then I’ll wake up first.”

An Chang-ho got up from his seat with an uncomfortable expression and walked into the dark street.

And as soon as he completely disappeared into the darkness, Kim Gu held out a glass in front of me.

“Let’s have a drink.”

“Okay.”

Kim Gu poured his glass in silence for a long time without saying a word.

Since he didn’t open his mouth, I just silently accepted the glass he poured for me.

By the time I had emptied about five bottles of alcohol.

“It’s not as easy and comfortable as I thought being a middle manager in an organization would be, but I never thought things would turn out like this…”

Kim Gu’s mouth opened with a deep sigh.

“It’s all my fault, I should have always been suspicious, always been careful… I didn’t, and that’s why I’m embarrassing you.”

“Is this embarrassing?”

“······How could I not be ashamed when all the corruption of our organization has been revealed?”

Kim Gu drank alcohol one after another.

Then he put down his glass and sighed again.

“My heart aches even more because all the names on the list are familiar to me.”

“The closer you are to someone, the harder it is to doubt them.”

“Whew… Some of them were like my own siblings or children.”

“That must be why the consulate also tried so hard to win him over.”

All this time, I treated the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai like a neighborhood kid, but that was only from my perspective.

By the standards of the time, they were a very threatening organization with information powers so great that they knew almost everything that was happening in Shanghai, and they had the funds to do so.

When they realized that the provisional government in Shanghai was not well off, they pretended to help the independence activists in need and used them as spies.

No matter how strong their beliefs were, just like the proverb that says that no one will not climb over a neighbor’s fence after starving for three days, experiencing poverty and hunger for the first time in their lives dulled their strong beliefs.

From the beginning, the Shanghai Consulate General trained people by giving them extremely easy and simple tasks that did not cause them to feel guilty, rather than grandiose tasks, and offering ridiculous rewards.

Now that I am in charge of the people’s livelihoods by giving money to the provisional government, it is a little less, but the number of spies who were active before has increased considerably.

“I can’t stop thinking that if I had just taken a little more care of those kids, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Only fools worry about the past.”

“Idiots? Yes, aren’t we all idiots? We’re all gathered here, brooding over an independence that we may or may not be able to achieve. That’s idiotic.”

Kim Gu drank alcohol one after another.

“You drank a lot.”

“It’s because it’s a day when I want to drink a lot.”

I grabbed his hand as he was about to pour another drink.

“There’s a mountain of work to be done tomorrow, so how can you do your work properly while drunk like this?”

“How could I, in my right mind, dispose of my comrades who are like family to me? Leave them alone.”

Kim Gu picked up the bottle of alcohol again, but there was no alcohol left because he had already finished drinking it all.

“Would you like some more alcohol?”

“It’s all gone.”

“Hehehe… I didn’t know you had shortcomings either! It’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

Kim Gu put down the bottle of alcohol and stretched out his back.

Then I lay on the floor and blankly looked up at the ceiling.

“Isn’t it the most horrible situation when yesterday’s comrade becomes tomorrow’s enemy, and when you can’t meet the friend you had breakfast with this morning in the afternoon?”

“Yes.”

I nodded in agreement with his words, fiddling with the pieces of codfish the two of them had left behind.

“So, what is the reason you suddenly called me and Dosan and showed us this list? Is there something you want from us?”

“Yes, I am a businessman and I am careful not to engage in any transaction that will result in a loss.”

“Kukuku···. Yeah, this is what business is all about.”

Kim Gu stood up from his seat, smiling brightly like when we first met.

“Well, what should I give you for allowing me to kill my comrades with my own hands? Money? Women? Alcohol? Just say the word.”

“I’m looking to recruit security personnel to protect my surroundings this time. Could you please gather some people?”

“You want me to gather people? You can do that, too.”

“You can easily hire a random person off the street and give them a job. But how easy is it to find someone who is trustworthy and capable?”

I took out the alcohol I had hidden and filled Kim Gu’s glass.

“I heard that there are many talented people working under Baekbeom Seonsaeng.”

“······I don’t know where I heard that, but even here, we are short on talent.”

“I don’t ask for much. Just give me one.”

Kim Gu also showed a hint of interest when I said that I wanted just one person.

“I wonder if there’s anyone who wants it?”

Last night.

While planning to rob the Shanghai Bank.

I looked through my laptop to see if there was anyone who could help me with my plans.

But no matter how much information I had on my laptop, it didn’t contain information that could be used to rob a bank.

Instead, there was one person in this era who was very unique and very much my taste when it came to banking.

A bodyguard of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and a member of Uiyoldan, he threw bombs at the Joseon Industrial Bank and the Oriental Development Company and fired a gun in the middle of Gyeongseong.

“Na Seok-ju.”

This Shanghai Bank case was too difficult for me to handle on my own in many ways.

So, I needed a friend who was bold and dependable to work with me, and Na Seok-ju was the perfect fit.

Not only was his fighting prowess impressive, but I also liked his boldness in storming the Oriental Development Company located in the center of Gyeongseong on his own.

But it was not just me, Kim Gu too was strongly opposed to it.

“You want a stone pillar? That won’t do.”

“You’ve received a lot from me so far. So please give me just one person.”

“Oh, that’s it! This is this! And wasn’t everything you gave me an investment for the provisional government? I didn’t use a single penny of that money for personal gain!”

“I know. When did I say that Mr. Baekbeom embezzled public funds for personal use?”

I slowly convinced him.

“I really need that friend for what I’m going to do this time. And I need that friend for everything I’m going to do in the future.”

“Hmm… But that won’t work. That child is a talent that can be used for greater things.”

“I said I would do that great thing.”

Of course, the great thing was the business of cracking down on Cao Kun’s election funds that were sleeping in the Shanghai Bank and transferring their names.

In colloquial terms, the term bank robbery was also used.

“This undertaking is quite large in scale and dangerous, so it is difficult for me to handle it alone. That is why I am asking for your help.”

“Hmm···.”

“Teacher, please think of it as saving one person and give me Na Seok-ju.”

“······Is this job really that difficult?”

“Yes, it may be something I have to risk my life for.”

Needless to say, I had no intention of risking my life for this task.

If things went wrong, he planned to immediately blame the whole thing on the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai or the Black Dragon Society and run away.

Of course, Kim Gu, who had no way of knowing these details, sighed as if his heart had softened at the sight of my serious face.

“Phew… You always force me to make difficult choices.”

“Isn’t what we do a series of difficult choices? That’s how we all grow.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s the case for everyone.”

Kim Gu picked up the bottle of liquor and filled his glass with the remaining liquor.

Then he raised his glass and said:

“This belongs to the comrades who went before.”

The strong alcohol went down Kim Gu’s throat.

Kim Gu, who had finished his glass, raised his glass again.

“And this is the part of the traitors who go out to greet those who have gone before.”

Kim Gu put down his empty glass.

At that moment, the computer suddenly turned off and fell flat on the table, falling asleep.

“Don’t sleep at home···.”

I called over the workers who were busy working underground, laid Kim Gu down in the guest room, and then reviewed the plan.

Now that we have one useful agent through negotiations with Kim Gu, all that’s left is…

‘We’ve got the truck driver and the action team members… Now it’s time to get the equipment.’

The plan was progressing step by step.

Now that I’ve found a decent action leader, the rest of the guys who are lacking…

“Boss! When do you eat dinner?”

“Yeah, they were there.”

With the manpower issue taken care of, the tools became a concern.

A bank that large would have a large safe commensurate with the size of the building.

To get to such a place, you need to use a drill that is appropriately large, or… If not, you can use a high-performance drill made with future technology.

“ah!”

Come to think of it, I had one.

Modern… That is, it is an item used to carry out the final mission in a world that has now become the future.

“The whole world is turning its back on me and telling me to rob.”

What a scary and cruel world this is.

It was a romantic era too violent and chaotic for a good, model citizen like me to live in.