Chapter 369: Martial Law

Chapter 369: Martial Law

"Jin Qizhao, I know you are not like them. You still possess a conscience. You do not understand why they would set fire to burn so many innocent people to death, either, and you regret not saving those friends you knew so well."

Fan Wujiu’s voice softened. "Just tell me who your handler is, and I can help you atone for your sins."

"Just kill me, I am willing to pay for them with my life."

A contorted smile, hovering between a weep and a laugh, surfaced on Jin Qizhao’s face, his eyes hollow and devoid of focus.

"This fire burned a full thousand people to death. Do you think a single life of yours is enough to make amends?"

"I know it isn't enough, I know."

Jin Qizhao’s expression was sorrowful and pleading. "But this is already everything I have to offer. Chief Fan, I truly do not have a handler."

"I know what you are dreading. Since ancient times, loyalty and righteousness have rarely been compatible. You have already abandoned righteousness, so you wish to keep the last shred of loyalty for yourself."

Fan Wujiu spoke softly, "But have you ever considered that the organization to which you have given all your loyalty might not necessarily show you any mercy?"

Bang!

Almost the exact instant the words left Fan Wujiu’s lips, a deafening gunshot suddenly shattered the silence of the desolate snowscape.

Yecha’s countenance changed drastically; grasping his blade, he lunged forward, intending to shield Fan Wujiu.

Yet he had barely taken a single step when a bullet struck Fan Wujiu’s left arm, blowing it apart into a cloud of shattered components.

Without a shred of hesitation, Yecha twisted his torso around and charged in the direction from which the gunshot had come.

"Huff... huff..."

Floundering in the snow like a stranded fish, Jin Qizhao gasped heavily for air, the lingering terror still vividly painted across his face.

As a covert agent who had been embedded in Inuyama Castle for years, Jin Qizhao knew exactly how formidable Fan Wujiu’s strength was.

For that single shot to completely pulverize his arm spoke volumes of its terrifying power—if that had hit him instead!

Only when death truly brushed past his face did Jin Qizhao realize just how afraid of dying he actually was, and how desperately he wanted to live.

"Jin Qizhao, you are an Order-follower too. You should know very well who that bullet just now was meant for."

Having lost an arm, Fan Wujiu remained calm, showing not the slightest hint of agony.

He slowly squatted down before Jin Qizhao, his heels lifted off the ground, propping himself up against the earth with his right hand, the Duoyan Guard.

"I blocked this shot for you. You have now become an abandoned pawn. Even if I let you go this instance, Honghu will never trust you again. Jin Qizhao, you have now failed both loyalty and filial piety; it is time you lived for yourself."

"I'll confess..."

The psychological defense line within Jin Qizhao’s mind finally collapsed entirely, his demeanor utterly dejected.

A faint smile of satisfaction curled at the corner of Fan Wujiu’s mouth. He stood straight once more and slowly closed his eyes.

Abruptly, the rustling sound of falling snow faded rapidly from his ears, and the vividly real pain at his wound dissipated just as quickly.

Replacing them were the clamorous sounds of human voices and a faint aroma of wine lingering around his nose.

"He confessed?"

Fan Wujiu opened his eyes. Meeting his gaze were the solemn face of Xie Bi'an and the triumphant expression of Zou Sijiu.

There was also Yuan Mingfei, holding a tobacco pipe, her smile enchanting.

The transition between reality and the dream world left Fan Wujiu slightly dazed. He grabbed the wine cup on the table and drained it in one gulp before finally steadying his mind.

With a thud, Fan Wujiu slammed the wine cup onto the table and cursed under his breath, "Whitey, what kind of bullshit plot did you script? I almost blew our cover. I am a Soldier Rank Six after all. What kind of gunpowder firearm could possibly pulverize my arm from such a distance?"

"That is just your ignorance. Go back and flip through the Ministry of Works' exchange register properly. Never mind breaking your arm, there are weapons that can pulverize your entire body directly."

Xie Bi'an rolled his eyes. "Cut the nonsense. Did this guy confess or not?"

"Of course he did. With me taking action personally, could there possibly be a criminal I can't break?"

At the very same wine table, Jin Qizhao’s eyes flew wide, staring at the world before him in utter bewilderment.

"Was all of that just a dream?"

"Stop dreaming. I don't care whether you forgot your good-citizen permit or simply don't have one; as long as you can't produce it, you are not allowed into the city. Get lost, hurry up."

Outside Osaka Castle, the road leading into the city was completely blocked by steel-cast tank traps. The halted flow of traffic stretched outward for miles, moving forward slowly under the direction of fully armed guards to undergo individual inspections.

"Is this the enforcement attitude of you Osaka Castle guards? Why has Osaka Castle suddenly declared martial law? Do you have an official document issued by the Pacification Bureau? Bring it out for me to see!"

"See what? Get lost already. If you keep making a scene, don't blame us for being impolite."

"Don't push me! Let me tell you, I am not some nameless labor slave. I am a manager at the Tamoto Company, I—"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The heads poking out from the car windows to look around were all startled back inside by the sudden gunshots.

As the manager's corpse was dragged away, the stagnant traffic began to crawl forward once more.

"Why would Osaka Castle suddenly go into martial law? Could it be that our movements have been exposed?"

Inside an inconspicuous sedan, Ma Wangye looked at the congested road ahead, his tone laced with doubt.

"No. That old charlatan Zou Sijiu still has a few tricks up his sleeve when it comes to playing the mystic. Unless someone engaged him in close-quarters combat, it wouldn't be this easy to expose us."

"Then what is Osaka Castle up to?"

"It might have to do with the purge order issued by the Thousand-Man Commandery," Li Jun guessed.

"No way. Going at it with such fanfare, is Yu Canghai not afraid that Honghu won't know what he's planning to do?"

Li Jun shook his head. "That, I wouldn't know."

"Fortunately, Whitey prepared identities for us in advance, otherwise we'd have no choice but to abandon the car and walk now."

Ma Wangye turned his head to look at Li Jun sitting in the passenger seat. "I must say, Old Li, does killing Yu Canghai really need to be this troublesome? What era is it anyway, and we are still playing out these ancient infiltration tropes from Yellow Millet Dreams?"

"If you ask me, it would be better to just pick a dark and windy night. The two of us brothers can head straight for the Osaka Castle Hundred-Man Commandery, hack our way up, slash Yu Canghai to death, and leave. How does that saying go? Killing a man every ten steps, then slipping back to Inuyama Castle?"

As Ma Wangye spoke, he raised his hand to rub the biomimetic skin covering his body. This feeling of constraint made him highly uncomfortable.

Li Jun pulled his eyelids open and gave him a disgruntled look. "Do you think the Osaka Castle Hundred-Man Commandery is filled entirely with useless trash? If we really did what you said, we'd probably be turned into sieves before we even laid eyes on Yu Canghai."

"If we can't force our way in, we can always carry out a decapitation strike."

Ma Wangye pinched his nose. He really disliked this face Painted Skin had fashioned for him; it failed to reflect even a shred of his handsomeness.

"I've already thought of that method, but the eyes Whitey planted in Osaka Castle can't find Yu Canghai's location at all."

Li Jun's brow furrowed slightly. According to the intelligence gathered by Xie Bi'an, ever since the Thousand-Man Commandery issued the banditry bulletin, Yu Canghai’s whereabouts had become completely irregular. Even within the Hundred-Man Commandery, he was exceedingly cautious, frequently changing his office locations.

The death of Matsuyama had likely already given Yu Canghai a sense of crisis.

"This won't work, that won't work. Looks like we can only play the part of good citizens."

Ma Wangye let out a long sigh. A brilliant smile suddenly broke out on his fake face as he poked his head out of the car window, shouting toward a grey-bearded guard, "Officer! We are good citizens, genuine law-abiding citizens!"

"What are you shouting for? Whether you are a good citizen isn't determined by your mouth."

The old guard walked over, bending his waist to peer inside the car. The moment his gaze collided with Li Jun's eyes, his brow furrowed subconsciously, muttering under his breath about another wet-behind-the-ears punk who didn't know how deep the waters ran.

"Which city are you from? What are you doing in Osaka Castle? Bring out your good-citizen permits for inspection. If you didn't bring them, present your brain-computer interfaces to be scanned. Let me warn you beforehand: if you have no permit and no brain-computer interface, that person just now is your precedent!"