Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 278 Gillette's Teasing
The clock had just struck three in the afternoon.

Tetsuo Ito remained standing in the same spot.

He had no intention of sitting down; he put his hands behind his back and tried to straighten his spine.

A few minutes later, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

"Excuse me, I've kept you waiting."

The first to push open the door was Major General Hasegawa, who was over fifty years old and had a slightly puffy face.

Behind him was Masao Hiyama, who was slightly younger and came from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The three bowed to each other and then took their seats.

"You seem to be in good spirits," Hasegawa said gently.

Ito nodded slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“We transferred at Berlin Station last night,” Hiyama continued.

"The safety along the way is acceptable, but the checks are more frequent than usual."

“Things have changed,” Ito said calmly. “Ever since that day.”

"Regarding that attack—" Hasegawa paused.

"The General Staff has received an initial report, as well as a witness report provided unilaterally by the German side."

"They claim they are investigating."

"But we are not allowed to touch the body, let alone access the scene records."

"Thirty-eight people died, including our chief envoy, Toshiaki Kuroda."

Hiyama's eyes remained unblinking. "And you, sir, are the sole survivor."

The air suddenly stagnated.

Ito did not respond immediately.

He first picked up his coffee cup and took two sips before saying, "I'm not an important target."

"Does Your Excellency mean that the other party is acting selectively?"

"The modus operandi of those people is that of assassins, madmen, and anti-German militants."

Ito's gaze was unusually solemn.

"Their killings were highly procedural, as if they were searching for some kind of information."

Hasegawa frowned slightly: "Does Ito-kun believe that this involves state action?"

“Given the unusual nature of this mission, I suspect it was the work of the Chinese,” Ito said sincerely.

Hiyama couldn't help but laugh.

"Does Your Excellency truly believe that 'Chinese' still exists?"

"The so-called 'coalition government' has long been on the verge of collapse, with the remnants of the government trapped in a corner."

“A similar conversation took place in Nanjing back then.” Ito’s expression remained unchanged.

"Until Mr. Ding was blown to pieces in his study."

Upon hearing this, Hiyama's expression changed slightly.

Hasegawa, however, was unwilling to make a move on the spot and immediately waved his hand.

"At this point, it's better to skip the debate about 'who did it' for now."

"We both know perfectly well that the important thing now is not to catch the killer."

"The less fanfare and the smaller the actions, the safer the delegation will be."

"At present, the top priority remains ensuring the smooth implementation of the agreement."

"Does the agreement still exist?" Ito asked in a low voice.

Hiyama raised an eyebrow: "Why not?"

"An unprecedented and fierce power struggle is taking place within Germany."

"A purge personally led by Himmler, wide-ranging and indiscriminate."

"Of my six contacts in Berlin, three have gone missing and two others have committed suicide."

"Nobody knows what will happen next."

Huishan's expression darkened slightly, and he snorted coldly, "That's their internal affair, none of our business."

“No.” Ito’s tone turned somber.

"It is precisely because we are so deeply involved in its core that we are destined to be unable to remain uninvolved."

"Do you think it's due to the series of attacks?" Hasegawa asked uncertainly.

“We can certainly say that extremists have made the system less stable, to the point that more measures are needed to ensure security.”

"But in my view, it is more likely to be an extension of the internal power struggle within Germany."

“You mean…” Hiyama frowned.

"Is that person in the government administration trying to use this to get rid of those who are 'not loyal enough'?"

“We all understand what ‘big shot’ means.” Ito did not give a direct answer.

“He is indulging himself.” “Indulging Himmler to clean up all the impurities he doesn’t want to see.”

Hasegawa smiled and shook his head. "No matter what, he's the one who's controlling the rope."

“If the hounds run too far, tighten the reins.”

"For example, right now, or in the not-too-distant future."

"A country without a unified will will ultimately be nothing but chaos."

Hiyama stared at them for a while, then suddenly asked:

"Is he still firmly in control of that chain?"

“If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t be sitting here now,” Hasegawa said.

"Moreover, the transport order has not been revoked."

"You mean Bludenz?" Hiyama asked.

"That batch of equipment will arrive the day after tomorrow."

"What does this mean?"

"This shows that the supreme will still exists."

"And all we need to do is wait patiently."

"Who knows? Maybe in less than six months, everything will come to an end."
-
"What do you think he can do?!"

Morrison stood up abruptly, his voice distorted with excitement.

Zhou Yi shrugged and put the box back into the system.

"Just like I said."

"Access, authorization, next second—"

He uttered a single word casually:

"boom!"

"World nuclear peace."

"By the way, remind me, based on their current deployment level, what is the approximate total number?"

"Intelligence analysis shows that there are about 900 missiles that can be deployed at any time and are in good combat readiness."

"Among them—no, wait, what exactly are you planning to do?"

Morrison stared at Zhou Yi in disbelief.

"Fort Eben is the core of the Wehrmacht and is heavily guarded year-round."

"And even if you manage to infiltrate, what about the final authorization?"

“You can’t just put a gun to Hitler’s head and force him to give the order himself.”

Zhou Yi smiled slightly upon hearing this.

“Or,” he said meaningfully, “I could just kill him.”

“Didn’t Ketterle say that there are still quite a few resistance fighters in the east?”

“If the scene is chaotic enough, they will press the button on their own.”

"You have something that can blow up an entire bunker?!" Morrison was so shocked he was almost numb.

"certainly,"

"Bigger than a rocket, heavier than a tank."

"But the problem is, it's too noisy."

"I don't plan to use it right now, at least—"

Zhou Yi's gaze fell on the unfolded newspaper, which contained the full text of the head of state's speech.

"—At least, not before he prayed 'God bless the Empire'."

A brief silence fell over the room.

The wind slipped in through the cracks in the window.

"John, what exactly are you talking about?"

"Independence-class littoral combat ship, hull number LCS-4."

"That is?"

"All you need to know is that it can do things you can't even imagine."

"A product of the 21st-century industrial system."

"Of course, it's not the most representative one."

Zhou Yi paused for a moment, seemingly waiting for Morrison to process what he had just said.

After a long pause, he slowly spoke again:
"The last question for today."

"Didn't you say you'd completed four missions?"

"Tell me, Mason, what reward did the 'system' give you after each session?"

(End of this chapter)