Hidden Radiance

Chengda Company, third-floor office.

Lu Minghui pushed open the door.

Gu Yunqiu stood beside the desk, holding a newly translated coded telegram in her hand.

"Lu Xuzhang has arrived in the border region." Gu Yunqiu looked up.

Lu Minghui didn't reply. He walked to the table, picked up the coded telegram, and lit it with a lighter. The corner of the paper curled up, burned to black ash, and fell into the copper basin.

"Go to Fengjing Station." Lu Minghui looked at the ashes. "Take your sniper rifle."

Gu Yunqiu was stunned.

"At exactly twelve o'clock, aim at the fuel tank of my Ford sedan and fire." Lu Minghui turned around, looked directly at her, and said, "Retreat immediately afterward. Don't look back."

Gu Yunqiu frowned. She looked at Lu Minghui's face, which remained expressionless.

"Why did I take your car?" Gu Yunqiu asked. "Where are you?"

"In the car."

There was no sound in the office.

"This is an order." Lu Minghui picked up the trench coat from the coat rack, put it on, and buttoned it up. "12 o'clock sharp. Not a second earlier, not a second later. Success or failure hinges on this."

He walked towards the door.

"Minghui." Gu Yunqiu called out to him, without calling him "Commander Lu".

Lu Minghui stopped. He didn't turn around.

"Living," she said.

Lu Minghui opened the door and walked into the corridor.

Hongkou, Special Higher Police.

The Special Higher Police compound. Nanzo Yunko, dressed in a crisp military uniform, stood beside a Studebaker sedan. Behind her were two trucks full of military police.

The Ford sedan drove into the yard and stopped. Lu Minghui got out of the car.

Nanzo Yunzi's gaze swept over what was behind him. There was no one there.

"Didn't you say you were going to defuse the bomb, Akihiro-kun?" Nanzo Yunko stepped forward. "Where's the Special Operations Team?"

"They are conducting a second round of checks on the remaining twenty-five carriages at the North Station," Lu Minghui said calmly. "For the military trains at Fengjing Station, it's safest to have the Special Higher Police handle it."

Nanzo Yunzi stared into his eyes. The explosives at the North Station bore Chengda's special ink, and Lu Minghui's solo arrival was eerie.

But she did not refuse.

The test report for the ink residue was tucked in the inside pocket of her coat. She had pre-arranged lookouts at Fengjing Station, and two truckloads of military police would follow them the entire way. She wanted to witness Lu Minghui reveal his hand in front of the military train. Fengjing would become her interrogation room.

"Get in my car." Nanzo Yunko turned around and opened the car door.

Lu Minghui did not hesitate and got into Nanzao Yunzi's car.

He got into the passenger seat. Nanzo Yunko sat in the driver's seat and turned the key.

Lu Minghui braced his left knee against the bottom of the center console, used his hand to shield himself with his body, and hooked his thumb around the choke cable, then pulled.

The starter motor made a dull thud. The engine didn't ignite.

Nanzo Yunzi frowned and turned the key again. It clicked again.

"The car broke down." Lu Minghui pushed open the car door, got out, and said, "Get in my car. Time is of the essence."

Nanzo Yunzi gripped the steering wheel, watching Lu Minghui walk towards the Ford sedan.

She touched the inside of her coat with her right hand—her Nambu Type 14 pistol was pressed against her ribs. Two truckloads of military police were behind her.

Perfect. A forty-minute drive, in a confined space. Enough time for her to lay out her questions about the ink residue.

She took out the key and got out of the car.

"Walk"

Nanzo Yunko sat in the passenger seat of the Ford sedan.

Lu Minghui got into the driver's seat. As he started the engine with his right hand, his left hand reached under the steering wheel to the inside of the passenger door cable and gently flicked it. The door lock opened halfway.

Engines roared. The Ford sedan sped out of the Special Higher Police gate, followed closely by two military trucks.

Nanzo Yunzi looked at Lu Minghui's profile.

"Mr. Akira," Nanzo Yunko said, "there were residues of special ink from the Noborito Research Institute on the explosives at the North Station."

"Really?" Lu Minghui glanced at the road ahead and said casually, "Li Kaifeng blew up Warehouse No. 3, and the Red Party went to the ruins and picked up rags to pack explosives. These guys are really poor."

Nanzo Yunzi sneered. Picking up explosives wasn't impossible, but picking up half a ton of explosives? How could Lu Minghui even bring himself to say that?

"When we arrive at Fengjing Station, I will personally search the first military train," Nanzo Yunzi said. "I hope there's nothing of Minghui's personal agenda inside."

"As you wish." Lu Minghui slammed on the gas pedal.

11:55 a.m.

The area outside Fengjing Station. The top of the water tower.

Gu Yunqiu lay prone on the metal plate, his sniper rifle propped up on a sandbag. The crosshairs were aimed at the platform in front of him.

The first military train was stopped on the tracks. It was heavily guarded by Japanese troops.

A Ford sedan drove into the station square, followed by two military police trucks.

Gu Yunqiu placed his index finger on the trigger. The crosshairs moved, locking onto the Ford sedan's fuel tank.

When the Japanese guards saw Nanzo Yunko sitting inside the car, they immediately raised the barrier to let her pass.

The Ford sedan drove directly onto the platform and stopped next to the first sealed carriage.

Gu Yunqiu moved his aim up half an inch and swept across the car window.

She saw Lu Minghui in the driver's seat. She also saw Nanzo Yunzi in the passenger seat.

Gu Yunqiu's fingers, gripping the gun, froze.

He said he was in the car. He didn't mention that there were other people in the car.

Her index finger loosened half an inch from the trigger.

They deducted it again.

It's one minute to twelve.

Looking in the scope, Lu Minghui took both hands off the steering wheel. He glanced at his watch.

11:59:50

He turned his head and looked in the direction of the water tower.

A deep, rumbling sound came from above the clouds. It grew louder and louder as it approached, shaking the entire sky.

Gu Yunqiu suddenly raised her head.

Several black dots emerged from the gaps in the clouds, their wings reflecting a blinding glare.

His gaze returned to the scope.

She glanced again at the approaching formation of aircraft overhead—bombing required ground coordinates.

Gu Yunqiu bit the inside of her lower lip. Her gaze returned to the sights. The fuel tank was fixed in place.

It's exactly twelve o'clock.

Gu Yunqiu pulled the trigger.

boom!

The armor-piercing incendiary shell was fired and accurately penetrated the fuel tank of the Ford sedan.

Sparks flew everywhere. The gasoline ignited instantly.

Inside the carriage, at the very instant the clock hands struck twelve, Lu Minghui kicked open the car door with his left foot. His right hand grabbed Nanzo Yunzi's collar, while his left hand slapped down the already unlocked door handle on her side—the door sprang open.

He dragged and pushed Nanzo Yunzi out of the passenger seat, then tumbled out of the car himself.

The two fell onto the concrete floor of the platform. Lu Minghui rolled over and pinned Nanzo Yunzi down.

boom--!

A Ford sedan exploded violently. High-explosive materials hidden inside the car were ignited by the fire in the fuel tank, and a huge fireball engulfed half of the platform.

The violent shockwave overturned the Japanese soldiers on the platform. A pillar of fire shot into the air, illuminating half the sky.

High in the air, the US bomber group spotted this perfectly clear ground coordinate.

The bomb bay door opened.

The dark mass of aerial bombs, accompanied by a piercing whistle, crashed down on Fengjing Station.

The explosions rang out in unison. The earth trembled violently.

The sealed carriages of the first military train were hit by bombs one after another. Steel twisted and wooden planks shattered.

Lu Minghui dragged Nanzo Yunzi into the wreckage of a concrete electrical substation beside the platform. The two of them huddled close to the ground, with rubble and shrapnel flying overhead.

Nanzo Yunzi was pinned down by him. The loud explosion caused her to lose her hearing temporarily. She looked at Lu Minghui, who was so close to her.

A long gash was cut in his back by shrapnel, and blood dripped onto her face.

The bombing lasted for a full five minutes.

Fengjing Station was engulfed in flames. All twenty-five sealed carriages were rendered unusable.

The bomber group completed its mission, climbed up, and disappeared into the clouds.

Lu Minghui propped himself up. He coughed twice, spitting out a mouthful of blood mixed with dust.

The platform was littered with severed limbs. The fire engulfed the wreckage of the military train.

A pale yellow mist wafted out from the broken, sealed carriage and spread rapidly along the ground.

The plague virus from Unit 1644.

Lu Minghui looked at the poisonous fog.

Blood was gushing from the wound on his back, and his left kneecap, which had struck the concrete platform, was now useless. Nanzo Yunzi lay slumped beside him, half-conscious, and he couldn't drag her out of the radius of his body by himself.

The poisonous fog drifted in with the wind and enveloped the two of them.

Nanzo Yunko struggled to sit up. She inhaled a cloud of yellow smoke and coughed violently.

Lu Minghui inhaled it as well.

Nanzo Yunko covered her mouth and nose, her face deathly pale. "Minghui-kun..."

Lu Minghui turned his head and looked at her.

There was no explanation.

The truck wreckage in the distance was still burning. The toxic fumes were growing thicker. It would take time for the Mei Agency's rescue team to arrive.

Lu Minghui's gaze swept across the sea of ​​fire and landed in the direction of the water tower.

empty.

He withdrew his gaze, swayed, and collapsed into the ruins.

Hongkou District, Meiji Government Office. Underground isolation ward.

The ventilator hissed rhythmically.

Apart from that, there was only deathly silence.

Shinichi Nakajima was wearing a fully enclosed protective suit, and the visor inside his hood was fogged up. He stood by the hospital bed, looking down at Lu Minghui and Nanzo Yunzi.

Both were in a coma with high fever. Dark red petechiae had begun to appear on their skin.

"Section Chief." The medic stood on the other side, equally fully armed, holding a lab report in his hand. "They are infected with a high concentration of plague bacteria. If they are not given specific antiserum within twelve hours, their internal organs will fail."

Nakajima gripped the bed railing, his gaze darting back and forth between Lu Minghui and Nanzo Yunzi.

Fengjing Station was bombed to the ground. All twenty-five carriages were destroyed. The Army Headquarters was furious and has dispatched an investigation team to Shanghai.

But he can't worry about that right now.

Lu Minghui saved Nanzo Yunzi at the last moment. The surviving military police officers from the Special Higher Police witnessed it firsthand.

"Contact the Central China Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department," Nakajima ordered. "Have them send over the special serum immediately."

"Section Chief," the medic said with a troubled expression, "the reply from over there is that this batch of bacteria is the latest variant. There are only three vials of the effective serum, which are being personally kept by Colonel Masuda."

Nakajima suddenly turned his head and stared intently at the medic.

"These people must be saved."

Nakajima slammed his fist on the edge of the bed.

Lu Minghui lay on the hospital bed. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was rapid.

But when the military doctor mentioned the name "Colonel Masuda"—

Lu Minghui's right index finger, which was under the blanket, twitched slightly.

Three serum samples. Colonel Masuda.