novelnext Page 281
Page 281
"Hurry up, you and him!" Sheldon pointed at the two of them. "Tomorrow, get into the workers' ranks and head to District 16. Whatever you need to do, go all out and make things happen. Remember that!"
Section 509, Chapter 399: The Students' Country?
However, we must return to the topic of Davis and Stasevich. Their talk over the walkie-talkie about the violence perpetrated by District 11 rioters before they parted was indeed a major incident.
This time it wasn't the Black Amaterasu messenger who did it—a traffic checkpoint stopped a truck, but the truck resisted law enforcement and broke through the checkpoint. Eventually, it was discovered that something related to the Black Knights was found in the truck.
That's right, ZERO and his group, who fled to the China Federation and helped the Federation Emperor "purge the court of corrupt officials," are still alive and kicking, and are even preparing to send people to Area 11 to cause trouble.
Imagine this scenario: After completely abandoning its marriage alliance with Britannia and turning against her, the Federation gathers all nations and forces at war with Britannia, preparing to wage war against her across the world. If Honshu Island were to fall due to the Black Knights' sabotage, Britannia's strategic balance in the entire Western Pacific would be irreversible—essentially, the nation would be destroyed.
However, the most furious were not the imperial relatives, but the Aryan special forces who were with Princess Marybell in District 11 and suffered the most crushing defeat.
Yes, the messenger of Konstantin was indeed instigated by them, but their original intention was to pin the blame for harboring bandits on American and Soviet prisoners of war and others, and then encourage Mary Bell to take the position of governor of Area 11, while also eliminating any possible Allied intelligence network.
But this move effectively drew Suzaku and the others' attention away from the suspected prisoners of war and back to the Black Knights. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Davis and his group also stepped forward, offering to personally help the Governor's Office investigate the situation in the various slums.
They had to swallow their pride and endure the pain, which must have disgusted the special forces.
……
In the past week, there seemed to be more outsiders visiting the German civilian and 11th District communities—more astute people had already sensed that the Reich's military and police were testing the waters.
Today, at the gate of the Urayasu settlement facing the sea, the old men from Ward 11, armed with samurai swords and submachine guns, stopped two visitors—a man and a woman dressed as a priest and a nun.
"Please don't misunderstand, we're here on behalf of someone." The priest respectfully produced a slip of paper containing the medical records and address of an elderly man living in the Puan neighborhood. "St. Francis Hospital is currently short-staffed and has entrusted this gentleman to our church hospital..."
"Shut up, don't you think we know better? Give us the medicine, and we'll take it to you!"
The old gatekeeper kept waving his samurai sword around and staring at the box the nun was carrying. He found the woman, who kept her head down the whole time, suspicious. Not only did her clothes seem a size too big, but she also lifted the large box with one hand without switching hands the whole time. Was this some kind of stamina for a nun?
"Oh, my Lord, please calm down." The priest seemed to understand something, reached for the box to smooth things over, and took out an IV drip from it. "We still need to give him an IV. Do you have anyone here with medical qualifications who knows how to give injections?"
“Of course we have them! We have plenty of people here who have studied nursing…” the old man said, when suddenly he was pulled back by another person behind him, who whispered a few words to him.
"Cough... Ah, it's alright, you can go in now."
"Thank you, brothers and sisters in Christ, may you have peace."
The old men glanced back at the two a few times but didn't dare follow them closely, probably afraid of making a scene—it seemed this place was indeed suspicious.
After turning a corner and escaping their sight, the soldier Philip, hidden beneath the priest's robes, finally breathed a sigh of relief, put down his Bible, and slapped the nun on the shoulder. "Alright, half done!"
This caused the nun to fall over – who was under the black dress? Sigh, as a native Japanese, Chizuru Nagayama was wearing nearly 10-centimeter high heels, just to make up for the height of a European or American and fill out this oversized nun's habit.
"Kuso! I twisted my ankle... First, check the medicine bottle so it doesn't break!"
"My fault, my fault." Philip helped Yongshan up, juggling the Bible, IV drip, and medicine box between his hands, his usual liveliness returning. "How about that? I'm not bad at following in my father's footsteps, am I?"
"Stop showing off, it'll be bad if someone sees you." Nagayama hurriedly put on his nun's headscarf—according to the unspoken agreement among the people of Japan, for a Yamato who is a Shintoist to convert to Christianity is tantamount to being chased and cursed in the streets, which would make it impossible to act secretly.
As they approached the door of the old man's house where they were delivering medicine, two young men and women from District 11, holding hands, nearly bumped into Philip and Nagayama. They ran away with frightened expressions.
"What are you looking at?" Nagayama nudged Philip, who was staring blankly at him. The couple were both wearing white shirts and dark jackets, with colorful ties around their necks. The man wore dark trousers, and the woman wore a striped skirt that didn't go past her knees. They were dressed quite nicely, and the soldier was completely mesmerized.
"Is this... a school uniform?" Philip guessed.
"Have you Americans never worn this style growing up?"
"You asked if my dad attended a church school? No, he didn't."
“Our Japanese high school uniforms, the boys’ uniforms are called DK uniforms, and the girls’ uniforms are called JK uniforms.” Nagayama whispered, giving him a lesson. “After the Empire occupied Japan, these clothes that they usually wore to school were not explicitly prohibited, but it was like exposing their status as Japanese people in public and being ridiculed by Britannians. People care about their image.”
“Oh, I see. If it were me, I’d have to secretly mend it myself.” Philip shrugged and smiled. “Look at that boy, he didn’t even mend a button that was missing from his clothes.”
"Did you see that girl drop something and pick it up? The second gold button from the top of the DK uniform is closest to the heart. If a girl gets it, it means that the boy wants to date her."
"Well..." Philip chuckled again, "What's so shameful about dating in your minds, Japanese people? Why are you avoiding us like this?"
The more the two thought about it, the more suspicious they became. Seeing that no one was around, they quietly emptied two waist-high trash cans, put them on their bodies, and followed the direction the couple had gone, arriving at a bustling residential house.
……
When something that is not accepted by the public begins to gather on a large scale, it means that something is going to happen.
The courtyard of the house was filled with young Japanese people dressed in DK and JK uniforms, just like the couple, scattered around the yard, sitting on the ground or leaning against the wall.
"What should we do now, Shoko!" Everyone asked in unison the girl standing at the front, who was trying to look like a leader. "The Katori slums are surrounded by the Britannian army, and our parents..."
"That's right. Although we escaped, those who helped the Black Knights are still Britannia's hostages. If ZERO and the others don't take action, Mom and Dad will definitely be sent to that prison in District 16!"
"Let's surrender! It's not too late! The Black Knights definitely won't help us! We'll surely die if we keep fighting Britannia like this!"
"We can't exactly 'go to war' with Britannia and the Black Knights, can we?!"
Seeing that the crowd in the yard was getting out of control, the girl named Xiangzi suddenly picked up a handbag at her feet and slammed it hard onto the table in front of her. What she said next stunned everyone.
"Damn it! We will absolutely not let Britannia harm our family in the slightest! If Britannia threatens us, then we'll threaten them!"
As she spoke, Xiangzi opened the clasp of her briefcase, dumped a thick stack of papers onto the table, and then held up several photos to everyone. The photos showed the KMF Kurenai Kosho and its pilot, Kurenai Kallen, which Britannia had captured during the Federation's intervention.
"Everyone! Do you remember the woman named Karen that the Black Knights told us about? I've found her now. She's being held in the City Hall of the Tokyo Concession, and most importantly, I know where her super powerful red KMF is!"
"It's decided! We'll steal that KMF ourselves! If Britannia dares to threaten our families, we'll take it and return it to the Black Knights!"
"It seems... feasible?" I don't know what these young people were thinking, but they actually thought it was a good idea. "Yeah, that KMF can influence the course of the battle, so let's use it as a hostage!"
"So, should we rescue Ms. Karen as well?"
“Yes! But right now, we can’t let anyone from the Black Knights get it!” Shoko continued loudly proclaiming her plan. “We need to keep KMF in our own hands, so that the Black Knights will have to choose to fight alongside us and rescue our loved ones still in the Katori slums! If they don’t agree, we’ll pretend we’re going to kill Karen and use her life as a threat!”
"Don't be afraid, although we don't know how to operate the KMF yet." With that, Xiangzi tossed out a manual in the style of Honglian Kexiang that he had obtained from who-knows-where. "Here, take this and learn. Anyone can learn. When we get the KMF, we'll fight against those people who sit in the KMF and disregard our lives and the lives of our families!"
"Fellow students! Let's stop thinking about relying on anyone! Let's forge our own path! Let's build an independent nation on par with Britannia, forcing the Black Knights to negotiate with us, shall we?!"
The crowd erupted in cheers, chanting Xiangzi's name, "Let's do it!"
……
"Good heavens, I'm speechless." Philip, inside the trash can outside the wall, was utterly dumbfounded. "You guys are building a nation? I'd rather believe President Washington was a woman disguised as a man and kept that a secret from the whole world his whole life!"
Turning around, I saw Chizuru Nagayama also leaning over the trash can, listening to every word coming from the wall, her face showing some confusion and bewilderment.
"Hey, you." Seeing that she had something on her mind, Philip turned off the recorder. "You're just going to listen to Japanese people who share the same roots as them?"
Yongshan lowered his head and remained silent for a long time. "After all, they are just trying to survive for themselves and their families, and I can't just go out and do anything for them right now..."
However, just as they were talking about this, they discovered that the topic inside the wall had shifted to how to snatch out the Crimson Lotus Style.
“I know where the KMF parking lot is, I’ve been there! The Academy of Sciences has an outer wall facing the public parking lot, we can blow it up!”
"But how much explosives would that require? Where would we get them, and how would we move them over there?!"
"Then leave this task to me! We'll load the explosives onto a small truck, and I'll drive it. With a car crash and an explosion, we'll definitely be able to break it open! Everyone, let's welcome that day with our loved ones. For the past, I've lived in everyone's blind spot, so even if I die, no one will cry for me!"
Upon hearing that someone was planning to use a suicide car bomb, Philip's face immediately darkened as he looked at Yongshan beside him. Yongshan patted Philip on the shoulder and said, "Do whatever you want. I have no interest in them anymore."
……
Nagayama didn't try to take credit from Philip; the soldiers handed the recording over to the Governor's Office intact. That very evening, fully armed police and soldiers surrounded the Urayasu settlement and took all the residents of District 11 out.
These students are indeed considered fugitives to some extent, while the elderly people in the residential area are essentially guilty of harboring criminals.
The elderly were put into trucks belonging to police officers and ordinary soldiers, ready to be sent to prisons in and around Tokyo; as for the students who were still wearing DK and JK uniforms, they were separated and their hands were tied together with ropes, and they were herded into escort vehicles controlled by the Aryan Special Forces.
It's worth mentioning that the special operations team was allowed to be deployed because Suzaku Kururugi personally gave the order—it seems he intended to appease Maribel, doing her a favor while focusing more on fighting the Black Knights and various troublemakers.
As the reporter's camera focused on Schreiber's grumpy face in the darkness, the agents watching on television were overjoyed. Davis had previously relayed Philip's observations in the settlement to them in detail, leaving the special operations team without any useful evidence to attack the American and Soviet prisoners of war. The agents also wanted to add several more weights to the scales of trust that Nunnally and Suzaku had in the prisoners of war in the Governor's Mansion.
At this moment, White and Sheldon, as the heads of the secret service, were doing the final proofreading of a long letter they had just written. It contained embellishments and exaggerations about the situation of Karen and Red Lotus.
"Alright, that's settled. Next, we need to find out when the German special forces will send the ship carrying the students to District 16. Then we'll give the Black Knights a big gift!"
Chapter 400, Section 511: The Seed of Evil Thoughts on Honshu Island
An unremarkable cargo ship set sail from the port of District 11, passing through the Kanmon Strait along the southern coast of Honshu Island, heading west to District 16, a naval port on the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, thousands of miles away.
On the deck, men dressed in black carrying submachine guns walked back and forth from time to time, vigilantly watching the slightest movement on the sea. The armbands of the Aryan Special Forces on their arms had already given away their identities, as well as the "cargo" being transported in the hold—people from District 11 who had committed serious crimes and were to be sent to the concentration camp in District 16.
Normally, besides the captain and a few crew members, Schreiber would sit in the ship's bridge with a dazed look on his face, pretending to be learning how to sail. Today, the one "learning to sail" was replaced by a squad leader he had just promoted, who was smoking, legs crossed, looking back and forth between a nautical chart and a map of Zone 16.
"What do you usually do with this ship?"
"Circling around Area 11, transporting all sorts of odds and ends. For example, recently, Area 16 is preparing to build new fortifications, right? Cement, steel, bricks..." The captain, who was steering the ship, also liked to ask questions. "I've always heard that your Aryan Special Forces are very busy. Today I'm honored to meet you: what did those students from Area 11 do that they need to be handed over to you for?"
“They helped the Black Knights, so we’ll take them on their journey again. Oh, of course, we’ll help them choose the destination.” The squad leader stubbed out his cigarette. “By the way, where did you hear that our special operations team ‘borrows’ boats to escort criminals?”
"Well, I only recently got to know Earl Rosenberg, your superior." The captain respectfully lit another good cigarette for the squad leader. "Right now, the Black Knights and those bastards from Area 11 are causing quite a stir, so we're just taking advantage of the situation to make some extra money. Oh, and His Excellency the Earl also told me that the prison you're in charge of has been moved from Incheon to Hanyang?"
“Yes, it happened not long ago.” The squad leader took out a map from his pocket, looked at the Han River flowing through the city on the paper, and found his destination on the north bank of a bend in the river. “Lieutenant Colonel Henrik told me that we were moving to a place called Seobingku-dong… Damn it, is the Chinese in this world so difficult to pronounce, even the place names?”
"Hanyang...that's Korean territory. Wait, you just said China?"
Just as the captain turned around to ask a question, thinking that there was also a Chinese Federation in the world of the Third Reich, the cargo ship suddenly seemed to have hit something. With a loud bang, it shuddered violently and stopped, and the ship began to tilt violently to one side.
"Scheisse! Did you fucking drive up the reef?!" The squad leader was so furious that he was about to pull out his gun and shoot the captain. At that moment, the crew members on the deck watched in disbelief as a huge creation emerged from the sea from the cargo ship's wake, resembling a giant steel bat.
"This, this is the Federation's Skyship?!" The captain recognized it, but before he could explain further, a dozen or so bluish-gray KMFs suddenly crawled out of the Skyship's deck—those were the Akatsuki of the Black Knights, one by one throwing wire-guided grappling hooks onto the cargo ship's deck.
"Captain! The Skyship has cracked its hull, we're taking on water, and we're losing control!"
Below the waterline, surging waves were flooding into the cabin. Above the waterline, the special operations team members wielding light weapons were unable to stop the onslaught of so many KMFs. The team leader, Xiao, effortlessly reached the porthole of the cockpit and cleaved it open with a single blow using his broadsword.
"Where are those Japanese students being held? Tell me!—"
"I'm in the lowest deck! Can you spare my life?" Facing the huge machine gun on Xiao's arm, the squad leader kept his mouth shut, but the captain confessed first in fear.
Without a word, the captain executed the two men on the spot. The team members then found the boys and girls dressed in DK and JK uniforms in the cages in the lowest cabin. However, the seawater that had flooded the ship had already reached the necks of most of them, and some of the unfortunate ones had already sunk to the bottom and were motionless.
"Are you Takenami Shoko?" The girl leader who told everyone she was going to kidnap Kouren, thankfully she's still alive. "We heard you know the location and situation of Karen and her KMF. We will protect your safety, and your classmates' safety as well."
"Protect?!" Xiangzi glared angrily at the Black Knight captain, her eyes brimming with tears as she pointed to the flooded cabins caused by the impact of the Skyship, and the boys and girls being pulled out, choking on water. "Look what you've been protecting!"
Without ZERO's personal presence to conduct precise calculations and meticulous arrangements, the Skyship's collision and parking method backfired, ultimately resulting in only three-quarters of Xiangzi's more than 80 classmates being rescued onto the Skyship, while the remaining approximately 20 drowned along with the cargo ship and the special operations team members.
ZERO, or rather Lelouch, didn't have time to personally command the rescue operation. In fact, all the information he received about Shoko and the others came from his own cell phone—he never dreamed that Clark would give his number to the agents, who then sent him Shoko's information and the cargo ship's navigation details via a District 16 phone number.
Thankfully, he ultimately chose to believe the text message; otherwise, if Kallen, as the Black Knight ace, had known about this, she probably would have "made Suzaku pick up his katana and act as her kaishakunin for seppuku" (this was said by an American soldier who had been to the Pacific theater).
……
The cargo ship carrying prisoners was hijacked en route, but the governor's office, which was always troubled by the Black Riders and terrorists, remained unfazed, treating it as just another episode in their investigation of the Black Riders.
On the contrary, Schreiber was the most annoyed. Not to mention that he had lost a newly promoted key member, what he found even more unacceptable was the attitude of Karlsstadt and the others towards this.
"When you're causing trouble in District 11 every day, remember to make Marybell happy, understand?" Karlstadt revealed in his phone call that the princess was going back to District 24 to take on the important task of governorship—it seemed that the Federation was seeking cooperation with the EU, and if so, Spain would be in danger.
"Don't you think it would be a better idea for you to be Marybell's acting spokesperson in Area 11? Then, no matter what we say, Suzaku and Nunnally will have to listen to us as if we were her. Instead of running around like this, trying to find clues about the Americans and Soviets, you're exhausted and come back empty-handed. It's a thankless task."
“I have evidence now, you old man.” Schreiber had just come out of the armed security unit’s mailbag warehouse and found a package addressed to Davis. Inside were several Japanese manga books filled with English notes and a Tokyo map covered in circles and dots. All of it was put into the camera in Schreiber’s pocket.
……
As expected, a few days later, Davis, Philip, and Garcia left their residence, giving Harrington a ride to the edge of the Tokyo concession. They were completely unaware that Schreiber was secretly following them.
Davis took out one of several comic books. Philip recognized the Chinese character "独" (du) next to the title next to the middle-aged man on the cover. It was the "独" from the Declaration of Independence.
The other Chinese character is "孤" (gu) – together with the following hiragana, it forms the title "The Solitary Gourmet." Clark went down the mountain to carry out a mission to infiltrate the messenger of the Black Amaterasu. He packed up some of his comic books, wrote his subordinate's name on the sender's address, and mailed them over.
The manga features Japanese restaurants run by people from Area 11 who have obtained honorary Britannian citizenship within the Tokyo Concession. The down-to-earth content also includes English-Japanese footnotes that Yamashita made earlier. These soldiers, still carrying the airs of pampered young masters, don't have to worry about language barriers, eating terrible food, or having their meals ruined by angry Japanese youths.
Taylor would never eat this stuff, even if you beat him to death. Harrington, who had seen the Showa-era ghosts in the Pacific and was traumatized, was practically dragged into the car by the three of them. But as soon as he entered the store, his PTSD kicked in.
On Okinawa Island in the Philippine archipelago, the houses of the Japanese who barely survived the artillery fire and aerial bombs, if they were even slightly large, would invariably have screens and ukiyo-e prints hanging on the walls. And look at the shopkeeper, an older woman, bowing and saluting the four soldiers—Harrington has seen this kind of attire all the time on the streets of Manila and Naha—and of course, at the foot of the cliffs on Saipan.
Regardless, as a respectable U.S. military pilot, Harrington didn't want to spoil Davis and the others' curiosity. Pretending to be thirsty, he picked up the teapot on the table, closed his eyes, and drank it all down before calming himself down.
“Hey, this is the spot.” Davis, holding a comic book, pointed to the window right next to their table, following the text in the book. “Before you joined the army, no Japanese people lived around your homes, right? And you never saw their old women dancing, right?”
The window of this small Japanese restaurant faces a ryotei, which is essentially a high-end Japanese restaurant. Originally, ryotei were secretive venues where high-ranking Japanese politicians entertained each other and engaged in political drinking; ordinary people couldn't afford them, and weren't even allowed to enter. After the Britannian invasion shattered the social structure of Japan, without politicians in the Diet footing the bill, many struggling ryotei transformed themselves to serve the general public.
Without the secluded private rooms and the hefty price tag associated with "table art," what remains of the grand restaurant's ryotei is something special—geisha, who, like many others, struggled to survive after Japan's fall, living as dependents in ryotei and becoming tools for the owners to earn tips from customers. While barely covering their expenses, this mysterious intangible cultural heritage of the Yamato people has also become a subject of gossip and ridicule.
"After I was injured by a landmine in Okinawa, I was sent to the hospital. By the time I was discharged, a photo of MacArthur and that arrogant emperor was in the newspaper. What else was I supposed to do but go home and rest?"
World Famous Paintings.jpg
When asked if he had ever had a fling with a geisha, Harrington lit a cigarette and recounted with regret his hiking trip with his comrades in Okinawa. Fortunately, his comrades were killed in the bombing, and he was only injured in the abdomen by shrapnel. He was discharged from the hospital and ran off to Europe to prepare to conquer Britannia in just a month and a half.
Philip watched the geisha dancing through the wide-open windows of the restaurant next door, the eerie music emanating from it making him touch the cross hanging on his collar. "Take my word, bro. A woman who sings like a circus clown would have been burned at the stake by priests several generations back in my father's family."