Chapter 4: Assassinating the Emperor (III)

"Sir, take care. We hope to see you again."
"Alright, thank you."
As soon as he stepped out of the shop, Li Wensheng walked briskly towards the street corner.
When he was nearly there, he reached into his pocket and pressed the button on the remote control he carried.
A thunderous explosion erupted!
The very shop Li Wensheng had just exited was engulfed by the blast.
The explosion was deafening, its force tremendous— the entire shop was obliterated.
The adjacent shops were affected as well, with chunks of wall collapsing from the impact.
After the explosion, Li Wensheng glanced back, muttering to himself, "The 20th-century remote bomb rewarded by the system is indeed powerful. Pity there are only three of them."
Screams of panic burst forth from the street as passersby fled in terror towards the intersection.
Blending into the crowd, Li Wensheng quickly made his way out of the pleasure quarter.
......
The next morning, the entire Chiyoda district was thrown into turmoil.
For that morning, numerous posters had suddenly appeared all over the streets, bearing the words: "Emperor, do you dare believe China is without men?
Those two shells before were just my greeting to you— letting you know your grandfather has arrived.
Now, let's play a game. Emperor, for every day you don't come out and accept your fate, I will blow up a new place. Let’s see, do you value your subjects' lives, or your own?"
Unlike the occupied lands of China where puppet troops and police patrolled at night, no one in the island nation had discovered who had scattered these posters. Yet, in the morning, many read their contents.
The military police quickly swept the streets clean of the papers and tried to apprehend anyone who had seen them. But there were simply too many witnesses; it was impossible to arrest them all. The news had already spread.
Though the islanders had been indoctrinated since childhood to worship their emperor, fear of death is universal. The explosion yesterday in the pleasure district had killed over a dozen people— who was to say the next victim wouldn’t be oneself?
As for hoping the military police would catch the culprit— no one dared hope. The posters clearly claimed responsibility for the two shells fired at the Imperial Palace days earlier.
Three days had passed, and not only had the military police failed to find the perpetrator, but he had managed to bomb a shop in the pleasure district and scatter posters across the city, proving the authorities were powerless against him.
Panic spread among the populace, who now only thought of fleeing Chiyoda. The spies of foreign nations also flocked in, eager to investigate the situation.
The shelling of the Imperial Palace three days ago was already a well-known secret among foreign agents.

But the affair was so outrageous that none dared report it home without confirmation, knowing their superiors would never believe it. Thus, they investigated quietly— but now that the culprit had openly declared war on the emperor, they could wait no longer and began seeking information in Chiyoda directly.
......
Eight o’clock that night, in a restaurant in Chiyoda district.
A middle-aged man was dining in a private room when suddenly the door was knocked upon.
"Come in," the man said, setting down his chopsticks.
The door opened and a young man entered.
"Station Chief, I have confirmed the rumors. I even bought one of the posters from a drunkard.
The man drank himself senseless last night and woke at five in the morning. On his way home, he found many posters on the streets and picked one up to keep.
No one saw him, so the military police did not confiscate his poster," the young man whispered as he knelt beside the older man.
The chief’s eyes lit up. "Give me the poster."
The young man immediately produced the folded paper from his coat.
The middle-aged man took it eagerly and unfolded it.
Seeing that the poster matched the rumors, a smile played on his lips.
Suppressing his excitement, he examined the poster and muttered, "The director always said that building a station here was like tossing money into a river— not a shred of achievement to show for it.
But now, finally, we have a major success."
He folded the poster and tucked it into his coat, then stood up. "Come, let’s return at once and send a telegram home."
This man was Dai Yunong, chief of the Fuxing Society’s island station. He understood well that intelligence in war was like a person’s eyes and ears— without them, even the strongest was helpless.
Thus, years ago, he had spent a fortune establishing this post on the island.
But after several years and much money, not a single achievement had been made.
Since the island nation launched its war last year, intelligence battles had gone entirely in their favor, leaving their opponents utterly helpless.
Dai Yunong saw how Japanese spies in China ran circles around the Fuxing Society, blinding and deafening their forces.
As such, he had grown increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of success from the island post, and from last year onward, he frequently cabled his operatives, urging them to deliver results.
When the news reached Chongqing, it was already three in the morning.
The communications section, recognizing the importance and incredibility of the intelligence, dared not delay and immediately reported to the section chief.

Section Chief Wang Huichun, upon receiving the call, was stunned— someone had declared war on the emperor and shelled the Imperial Palace!
After confirming repeatedly that neither she nor the communications team had made a mistake, Wang Huichun replied at once, instructing the Fuxing Society to bring the telegram and call Dai Yunong.
Dai Yunong, abruptly roused from sleep, was annoyed until he heard the news from Wang Huichun, which left him dumbstruck.
"Are you sure the telegram wasn’t mistranslated?" Dai Yunong asked in disbelief.
"Chief, this came from the Shanghai relay station— they didn’t send it wrong, and I received it correctly."
"Haha, heaven is on my side!" Dai Yunong burst out laughing.
Because of repeated setbacks, he had recently petitioned Chiang to expand the Fuxing Society, but due to the lack of results, Chiang was dissatisfied and had refused, believing too much money had already been spent in vain.
But now, with this intelligence, expansion would be inevitable.
"Huichun, send a direct inquiry to the Shanghai relay station for confirmation— ask if there was any error in sending or receiving the intelligence.
I’m returning to the Fuxing Society headquarters now. When I arrive, I want their written reply."
"Yes, Chief. I’ll send it right away."
After hanging up, Dai Yunong threw off his covers and got out of bed.
"Chief, it’s so late— are you going out again?" a young woman on the bed purred.
His movements paused, his face impassive. "Yes."
He left the room and called to his men at the door, "Deal with the woman inside."
Dai Yunong was notoriously lecherous; any woman he fancied and whose background he could afford to offend, he would take for himself.
At the same time, however, he was cautious. If a woman kept her mouth shut, nothing would happen; but if she spoke, she showed she didn’t understand her place or the need for secrecy— such people had to be disposed of immediately.
"Yes, Chief!"
As Dai Yunong climbed into his car, a gunshot rang out from the room behind him.