Returning to his home in Akita feeling completely relaxed, Xu Ze lay on the bed, still brooding over the way Kuromi had teased him in the hot spring pool… He really couldn’t understand how a college student studying in Japan could have ended up as a senior agent for the General Staff.
However, he didn’t dwell on it much at this point. These were not matters he should concern himself with. What he needed to focus on now was waiting for Kuromi’s arrangements and then beginning the operation.
Xu Ze gently pressed a small pen that Kuromi had given him before leaving. A faint red light shot from the tip of the pen, projecting a flat diagram onto the ceiling, with a small red dot in the middle of it.
Xu Ze studied it carefully, memorized the terrain shown, and then waited for Kuromi to notify him of the operation time.
The next day, he continued treating Akita. After just one session, Akita, who felt his legs seemed to have regained some strength, became even more respectful toward Xu Ze. After each day’s treatment, upon learning that this was Xu Ze’s first visit to Japan, he had people drive Xu Ze around to sightsee and taste various local snacks. He even had Miyamoto specifically accompany Xu Ze to Tokyo for shopping to prepare gifts for his family.
Of course… all expenses were covered by Akita, and Xu Ze didn’t hold back. As one of Asia’s most luxurious shopping cities, although Xu Ze didn’t particularly enjoy shopping, the New Year was approaching. If he could prepare some gifts for his family here, that would naturally be a good thing.
So, after understanding Xu Ze’s intentions, Miyamoto enthusiastically accompanied him around Ginza for a full day, serving as companion, bodyguard, and card swiper.
Following Akita’s instructions, Miyamoto tried to recommend high-value items to Xu Ze. However, Xu Ze made choices based on his own judgment, picking things he liked. After half a day of shopping, he selected quite a few gifts, spending over a million yen…
But Miyamoto looked at the few shopping bags and sighed. Today, the chairman had specifically given him a card with a five-million-yen limit, telling him to accompany Mr. Xu to buy more things. Yet Mr. Xu had only spent just over a million. Not to mention anything else, but the outfit Mr. Xu was wearing alone had to be worth several million yen. How could he be so frugal when shopping, trying to save money for the chairman…
Miyamoto naturally didn’t know that Xu Ze was quite satisfied looking at these items. A necklace for his mother, a watch for his father, and things for Xu Qing’er and Sun Lingfei as well—all quite suitable.
Over a million yen was roughly equivalent to about a hundred thousand in domestic currency. Bringing it back wouldn’t be too conspicuous. Otherwise, if things were too expensive, his family might like them but be unwilling to use them, which would also be troublesome.
After treating Akita for several days, Xu Ze finally received notification from Kuromi: the operation would begin tomorrow night.
Xu Ze also began increasing the intensity of the bioelectric energy in Akita’s treatment. Over these past few days, Akita’s feet had already greatly improved. He was cheerful every day. Xu Ze estimated that after today’s treatment, Akita’s feet would basically be fully recovered by tomorrow.
This way, he wouldn’t let down Akita’s warmth and respect over these days, and he wouldn’t have lost face… It could be considered as earning some credit for traditional Chinese medicine.
Sure enough, the next day after waking up, Akita ran briskly around the yard. He was so overjoyed that he nearly hugged Xu Ze and kissed him twice.
Originally, after visiting several major hospitals and undergoing treatment for a year with no results, he had basically given up hope. Who would have thought that after inviting Xu Ze, it would take only a few days to completely cure him and restore him to his original condition? This nearly seventy-year-old man was happier than he could possibly be.
After Xu Ze finished his treatment and guaranteed that he was cured, Xu Ze mentioned that a friend from home was traveling in Japan and had invited him to meet up and travel together, then took his leave from Akita.
Akita was very reluctant to see Xu Ze go, but seeing Xu Ze insist, he respectfully presented a Swiss bank cashier’s check before seeing Xu Ze out the door.
Kuromi drove the car, glancing at the bank check in Xu Ze’s hand. A flash of envy crossed his face before he laughed and said, “No wonder the higher-ups said you were an important person and insisted on sending you…”
Hearing the teasing tone in Kuromi’s voice, Xu Ze smiled lightly and said, “What did you think?”
“Look at you… you made a million dollars in just a few days. If I were the higher-ups, I’d definitely station you in Japan permanently. Earning a hundred million a year to send back, our bureau’s funding wouldn’t be a concern for ten years…”
Seeing the envious expression on Kuromi’s face, Xu Ze laughed and said, “You’re very envious?”
“Of course… I’m in Japan, and although I’m working for the country, the funding isn’t much. The allowance I get each year, all added up, is barely enough to buy a house and a car back home…” Kuromi smiled bitterly.
“Then if the pay is so low and it’s so dangerous, why do you still stay here?” Xu Ze’s eyes flickered as he asked softly.
Kuromi sighed softly, then watched a Lotus roar past them from behind. After a long while, he said, “I’m Chinese. I belong to this country. Although I’ve been abroad for so many years and am no longer familiar with things back home, I can only learn about the current situation there through the news and my family…”
“My dad says… housing prices back home are rising, rice, oil, everything is going up, and the money in hand is worth less and less. He says if I can make it well here, then stay here and don’t go back…”
“But he doesn’t know what I do, doesn’t know how much I miss home. Although back home can’t compare to here, that’s still my home after all… We people abroad, we don’t want anything else, we just want things to be better for our families… Our country may not be good enough right now, but with our efforts, I believe it will eventually get better one day…”
“We can’t abandon it just because it’s not good enough yet… For the country’s future, for the sake of catching up with others, someone has to make sacrifices. I joined the Third Bureau starting from university, and I’ve never regretted it… As long as the bureau needs me here, I’ll stay… waiting for my successor to arrive…”
Xu Ze turned to look out the window, silent for a long while, then said, “Do you know you were very dangerous just now…”
“I know…” Kuromi raised a hand to wipe away a tiny tear at the corner of his eye, nodded, then turned to look at Xu Ze and said, “Don’t worry, I’ve never been like this before, and I won’t be in the future… I can control myself completely. It’s only today, facing you, that I lost some control… You’re strange… I think I understand now why the higher-ups sent you…”
Xu Ze smiled, then shook his head and said, “Me… you can’t figure me out…”
“Yes… I can’t figure you out, but I can see that you’re special…” Kuromi smiled faintly, his face returning to its initial calm, then said, “I think you’ll be able to complete this mission smoothly…”
At the foot of a small hill, the manor in the night was very quiet. Only from the sea not far to the side came the faint sound of waves. Xu Ze watched the quiet manor from a distance, then turned to look at Kuromi beside him and said, “How will you provide support?”
“There’s no support…” A faint, calm expression appeared on Kuromi’s delicate face as he shook his head.
“No support?” Xu Ze raised an eyebrow and said, “You’re not planning to rescue him?”
Kuromi slowly nodded, a trace of sorrow flashing through his clear eyes, then said, “We can’t rescue him. Our goal is to get close to him, then find where the intelligence is… and then help him end his suffering…”
“Why?” Xu Ze asked calmly.
“Why?” Kuromi turned his head, looked at Xu Ze, and pointing at the manor, said angrily, “Can’t you see? That place, although it looks quiet, without even any guards nearby, I’m certain that if our car gets within five hundred meters, none of us will escape…”
“I have confidence in you because I believe you can get out safely… and then escape from there… not because you can bring him out…” Kuromi looked at Xu Ze’s calm eyes and said angrily in a low voice, “If you’re going in with the goal of bringing him out, then I’ll request to terminate this operation… You need to understand, you’re more important than him and all of us…”
Looking at the furious Kuromi, glaring at him like an angry little lioness, Xu Ze gently nodded and said, “Alright… give me the stuff…”
Kuromi gave Xu Ze a deep look, then laboriously hauled over a large bag and placed it in front of Xu Ze, saying, “This is all the equipment. Pick what you want yourself!”
Xu Ze smiled, then opened it and took a look. He nodded in satisfaction, then reached out, lifted the large bag, and smiled at Kuromi, saying, “Alright… I’m off. You should go too…”
“What are you doing?” Kuromi looked at Xu Ze holding the entire bag in his hand and asked in shock, “This is what I prepared at your request, but why are you taking so much? Are you planning to go blow up the place by yourself?”
“Don’t worry…” Xu Ze couldn’t help reaching out and gently pinching Kuromi’s delicate, cute cheek, saying with a smile, “I will definitely come back…”
With that, Xu Ze lifted the bag and began running briskly forward. While running, he waved at the stunned Kuromi, then disappeared into the night.
Kuromi stood there blankly, watching Xu Ze, who was carrying a fifty-six-kilogram bag yet running so fast, until he quietly vanished from sight. Only then did he come back to his senses…
He was rapidly recalling what he had prepared for this guy… C4 explosives times six, high-explosive grenades times ten, handguns times two, bullets times one hundred, and those…
Thinking of this, Kuromi looked toward the distance in shock: “I prepared so much stuff for him, and he took all of it. What on earth is this guy planning to do?”
