Chapter 6: Assassinating the Emperor (V) Bombing Mount Fuji

“Extra! Extra! The Emperor of the Island Nation suffers a bombing!”

“Extra! Extra! The Lone Ranger declares war on the Emperor of the Island Nation!”

“Extra! Extra! The Emperor of the Island Nation is on the brink of death!”

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What happened in the Island Nation reached Chongqing, and as the news spread, other countries soon received word as well. As more people became aware, the information inevitably leaked. In the Magic City, where domestic and foreign powers were deeply intertwined, it was known as the Far East’s premier intelligence hub. Once the secret got out, many in the city learned of it, including several foreign owners of newspapers in the French Concession. Overnight, they revised their scheduled reports, and at dawn, many newsboys were already shouting out the events that had occurred in the Island Nation. At first, people on the streets thought they’d misheard, but after buying the paper, they realized it was true. Instantly, smiles broke out across their faces; if not for fear of Island Nation spies, they would have laughed out loud.

While the Chinese people on the streets were delighted, the citizens of the Island Nation were nearly driven mad. The Imperial Palace had been shelled, and someone even dared to declare war on the Emperor!

As the newsboys hawked their papers, Li Wensheng was already setting up the next explosion. This time, his target was the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

In the middle of the night, he scattered flyers on the streets of Chiyoda Ward. By the next day, he had blended into the crowd and left Chiyoda. He was no fool—after all, the Imperial Palace, National Diet, and Supreme Court were all in Chiyoda, the heart of the Island Nation. After declaring war on the Emperor, security there would be tighter than ever, so staying would make it almost impossible to strike again.

In a deserted alley, Li Wensheng peered through his binoculars at the police headquarters. After a while, he put his binoculars away, retrieved an 80mm mortar and two shells from his system’s storage space, then glanced through the binoculars again for a few seconds. Satisfied, he loaded a shell into the barrel and muttered, “Damn it, this hellish mission had better bring in a rich reward, or this will be a massive loss.”

That day, Li Wensheng made up his mind. He decided to ignore the one-and-a-half-month deadline set by the Revival Society. If worst came to worst, he would go underground and cut ties with them—he’d never meant to stay with the Nationalists long anyway.

Now that he had no obligations to the Revival Society, Li Wensheng could wait as long as he liked—wait for the Island Nation to deploy more troops, wait for the Emperor to emerge. But he didn’t want to wait idly; he wanted to seize the opportunity to make a statement and deal a blow to the enemy’s morale. With the Island Nation’s spirits dampened, perhaps fewer Nationalist soldiers would die on the battlefield. Whatever one thought of the Nationalists, he would try to save as many soldiers as possible from the slaughter.

Boom!

With a thunderous explosion, the main entrance and wall of the police headquarters collapsed, killing everyone who had been coming and going there. Panic swept through the building. The police chief dove under his desk, shouting toward the hallway, “Get out there—catch the perpetrator!”

At that moment, another deafening blast turned the police chief’s office into rubble, killing him instantly.

Outside, in the alley, after firing two shells, Li Wensheng quickly stowed away his mortar in the system’s storage, grabbed his suitcase, and hurried out, adopting a panicked look as he melted into the chaos on the street. In no time, he had vanished into the crowd.

News of the bombing spread quickly among Tokyo’s citizens. They were on the verge of hysteria. When the incident in Chiyoda had first been reported, they had felt fortunate not to live there; now, the “Demon” had come to Tokyo itself.

The nickname “Demon” was given to Li Wensheng by the Island Nation’s people after he scattered his flyers. In their culture, the Emperor was the direct descendant of the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. To declare war on her descendant was, by definition, the act of a demon.

With the police headquarters bombed, the police chief dead, and the perpetrator being the same one who had declared war on the Emperor, Tokyo was immediately put under martial law. But martial law only meant stricter inspections—it was impossible to seal off the entire city or arrest people at random.

Li Wensheng, using the identity papers of Fujiwara Yasukuni, slipped smoothly out of Tokyo and into Yamanashi Prefecture. There, he found a hotel, checked in, and then set out to scout important sites in Yamanashi.

As he wandered, suddenly—“Fujiwara-kun!”

He turned to see Kyoko Mize, whom he’d met on the ship, hurrying over, accompanied by a young woman.

As Kyoko approached, Li Wensheng greeted her with a smile. “Miss Kyoko.”

“Fujiwara-kun, do you live in Yamanashi?” Kyoko asked cheerfully.

“For now,” he replied, displaying a look of helplessness in response to her puzzled expression. “I can’t believe my luck. I was in Chiyoda when the bombing happened, so I went to Tokyo. Then, just as I arrived, Tokyo was bombed too. So I came to Yamanashi. Now I’m worried—what if, in a few days, Yamanashi is bombed as well?”

Kyoko’s eyes widened in astonishment. Was anyone really that unlucky?

“Fujiwara-kun, have you ever seen the perpetrator?” the young woman with her asked urgently.

Noticing the woman’s intense demeanor, Li Wensheng frowned inwardly.

“Fujiwara-kun, this is my friend Naoko Koyanagi,” Kyoko explained. “She just joined the Special Higher Police, so she’s quite interested in these things.”

Li Wensheng’s pupils contracted slightly.

The Special Higher Police—otherwise known as the Tokko.

“To think I’d run into someone from the Tokko,” he muttered to himself, then shook his head, “No, I haven’t. If I had, I would have told the military police right away.”

Naoko seemed eager to press for more details about the bombings, but Kyoko, knowing her friend’s tendencies, worried she’d annoy Li Wensheng. She quickly intervened. “Fujiwara-kun, we have some matters to attend to, so we’ll be going.”

“Miss Kyoko, please, don’t let me keep you,” he said politely.

After Kyoko dragged the reluctant Naoko away, Li Wensheng went to a roadside newsstand to buy a map.

Naoko’s identity gave him a new idea—there was no need to bomb some landmark building; he could target the Tokko directly.

The next morning, a little after eight, Li Wensheng checked out, suitcase in hand, and went to survey the Special Higher Police office in Yamanashi, covertly observing the area.

After circling twice, he frowned. There were no deserted alleys nearby, nowhere to set up the mortar. He hesitated, then abandoned the plan. It wasn’t worth risking everything for a single branch office of the Tokko.

Instead, he set off toward Mount Fuji. If he couldn’t hit the Tokko, he would bomb Mount Fuji itself. To the people of the Island Nation, Mount Fuji was a sacred mountain. Blasting a mountain wouldn’t kill anyone, but it would deal a devastating blow to their hearts.

Mount Fuji, towering near the Pacific Ocean, was snow-capped most of the year except summer. It was only late January, and the mountain was blanketed in snow. At the forest’s edge, Li Wensheng took out his binoculars for a look, then set up the mortar at a suitable spot.

Soon, a thunderous explosion echoed out, and a clear gouge appeared on Mount Fuji’s slope. The blast left the local villagers dumbstruck. As they stepped outside to gaze at the mountain, another deafening boom ripped through the air, deepening the scar in the mountainside. The thick snow, shaken by the explosions, began to cascade down.

“The demon has come to bomb our sacred mountain!”

“The demon is here!”

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Some people screamed in panic; others knelt facing Mount Fuji, chanting, “Amaterasu, protect our sacred mountain!” “Amaterasu, kill the demon!”