“The Defense Agency has already pulled up your entry records. After careful cross-referencing by the Intelligence Headquarters, they’ve confirmed that you are Senior Colonel Xu Ze, the newly appointed deputy director of the Special Operations Division of the Operations Department of the Chinese General Staff Department…”
Number One continued in its cold, indifferent voice: “So, several dozen frogmen from the Maritime Self-Defense Force are still conducting a massive search for you in the nearby waters. At the same time, two thousand Self-Defense Force personnel and over three thousand Metropolitan Police officers have begun a dense search of the surrounding area. According to calculations, this cabin will likely be discovered by the other side before ten o’clock tonight…”
“Uh… that fast?” Xu Ze rubbed his two eyebrows, which had been trimmed into somewhat odd shapes, and sighed softly. What a pity about his handsome eyebrows—it would take at least a month for them to grow back properly. And yet, he’d only managed to last a week before being identified.
“Looks like it’s time to prepare for a run…” Xu Ze glanced at the six or seven hours remaining, turned, and walked back into the cabin. Looking at Qing Niao sleeping soundly by the fire, he couldn’t help but shake his head slightly. Qing Niao had been through a lot these past days. Letting her sleep peacefully for a while was for the best…
He looked down at himself. Yesterday, when he’d used the C4 to blow up the house, he’d gotten covered in dust. Then going into the sea, he’d been protected by the energy shield the whole time, so now he felt thoroughly uncomfortable. Thinking about how this was a hot spring mountain, he walked toward the back and found a larger pool. He took off his clothes and went in to wash himself properly. At the same time, he commanded Number One: “Check for me—where’s the nearest port with ships departing for home?”
“At Yokohama… the largest nearby port has cargo ships heading to Qingdao Port and Binhai Port in China… Traveling underwater with energy propulsion would take about one to two hours… But I suggest continuing to replenish energy. Current energy reserve is below 30 percent…” Number One replied.
“Alright… nag, nag!” Xu Ze pursed his lips. There were still a few hours left—enough to replenish to fifty percent. By then, once he was on the ship, there would be plenty of time for cultivation…
After a comfortable soak, Xu Ze put his clothes back on and returned to the cabin to rest. He’d cultivate an energy cycle for three or four hours, then prepare to set off.
Xu Ze sat in the cabin and began cultivating his energy cycle. He discovered that the energy particles in this space were extremely abundant—even denser than those by the North Lake, if not more so.
This excited him somewhat. The air here was good, and with the hot springs, perhaps that was why the energy particle concentration was so high.
Without hesitation, he fully activated his energy cycle. Feeling the massive energy particles merging into his body, his whole body felt warm and cozy. Xu Ze let out a comfortable sigh.
One cycle, two cycles… By the thirty-third cycle, he felt an urge—a desire to directly charge into the thirty-fourth cycle. But he knew clearly that if he attempted the breakthrough now, he’d only have a fifty percent chance. So he gave it up and continued with the second grand cycle. He believed that after the first accumulation, success on the second attempt wouldn’t be too difficult.
And so, the spiritual energy particles in the surrounding area began to form a spiral energy vortex centered on Xu Ze as he sat cross-legged, drawing in vast amounts of energy particles from the surroundings, pulling them into the vortex, and then merging them into his body…
One cycle, two cycles, three cycles… thirty-two cycles, thirty-three cycles… Xu Ze didn’t hesitate at all and charged directly toward the thirty-fourth cycle.
The spiritual energy within dozens of meters around began converging toward this spot. The movement of this energy swirled gently around Xu Ze, even stirring a few strands of hair on his forehead, making them dance slowly.
At this moment, Qing Niao, lying quietly by the fire, was also startled awake by the faint coolness around her—a sensation that was somehow extremely comfortable.
Qing Niao curled up in the blanket, quietly watching the young officer sitting cross-legged across from her. It was no longer the firelight of early morning; the daylight coming through the window made the young man’s features clearly visible.
“So young indeed…” It was the first time she’d seen a man who could look like this. Having lived in Tokyo for so long, it wasn’t that she hadn’t seen handsome men. Those young Japanese men—especially the young male stars—were always styled to look especially pretty.
But this young officer with glasses couldn’t be described as pretty. His skin, freshly soaked in the hot spring, was extremely fair and smooth. A pair of long eyebrows—apparently trimmed, with only short stubble just growing back—hid beneath his glasses. His straight nose and firm, well-defined lips gave him a strikingly heroic air.
Sitting cross-legged in a fitted black combat uniform, with a straight waist and broad shoulders, he had the proud physique a man should have.
“This guy must be quite the lady-killer!” A trace of envy flashed through Qing Niao’s eyes. Though she was confident in her own charm—it was even one of the most important factors in her ability to navigate Tokyo’s intelligence circles with ease and obtain many critical pieces of intelligence—
She admitted she couldn’t compare to this young man, who was probably three or four years younger than her. If this kid were willing to join the Third Bureau and come to Tokyo, then in this city full of intrigue, there probably wouldn’t be any intelligence he couldn’t get…
As she marveled, Qing Niao noticed that the other’s brows were gradually furrowing. On his delicate forehead, faint, fine beads of sweat were beginning to appear.
“What’s going on?” Looking at those beads of sweat, Qing Niao finally noticed something unusual. It seemed to be snowing outside, but the cabin door was shut tight. There was no way wind could come in through that small window at the top. Yet those two somewhat long strands of black hair on the officer’s forehead kept drifting slowly, as if a faint breeze were constantly brushing against them…
As she watched in surprise, the other seemed to suddenly exhale softly, and the two strands of black hair that had been fluttering gently fell back down.
“About to wake up?” Qing Niao quickly closed her eyes, making herself look as if she were still sound asleep… She wasn’t sure what she had just witnessed, but it was definitely unusual. The other’s behavior just now seemed to show that this young officer wasn’t sleeping or resting… It was more like the breathing and meditation techniques from those martial arts movies.
Xu Ze stood up gently and slowly stretched his limbs. He now felt completely refreshed. Just now, he had successfully broken through to the thirty-fourth cycle. He was only two cycles away from advancing to Level Four.
Moreover, through this breakthrough, his energy reserve had gone from thirty percent back to a full one hundred percent.
Now he could make it home smoothly. Even traveling at full speed underwater, the abundant energy would be more than enough for the entire journey.
Xu Ze checked his watch. It was already close to five in the evening. If he was going to leave, it was about time…
He was just about to bend down and wake Qing Niao, who seemed to still be sleeping, when a voice suddenly sounded in his mind, freezing him in place…
“Two people approaching rapidly at your six o’clock and eight o’clock positions, fifty meters away…” Number One mechanically gave the alert.
Xu Ze slowly straightened up, then turned, opened the door, and walked slowly outside… These two were clearly no ordinary people. To be able to get within fifty meters before Number One noticed them—they were definitely unusual…
Xu Ze stepped outside, pretending to casually scan the blank snowfield around him. A faint chill flickered in his eyes.
Without Number One’s alert, he would never have noticed that in that empty snowfield, two slightly raised rocks covered in white snow seemed to have something slightly off about them.
“What formidable ninjas… at least chunin level!” Through his glasses’ biological detection function, Xu Ze could clearly see two faint red silhouettes hidden beneath the snow. The two figures were carefully curled up, lying prone in the snow, their snow-white clothing blending completely with the snowfield.
Xu Ze took a light breath. A resolute expression gradually crossed his face. This time it really was troublesome. He hadn’t expected two ninjas of at least intermediate rank or above to track him here. This was indeed a problem…
If it were just him, he wouldn’t be afraid. If he couldn’t win, he could run. But in the cabin, there was still Qing Niao. He absolutely could not abandon her…
It seemed he had no choice but to fight with everything he had and take out these two ninjas…
Xu Ze gently drew the pistol from his right leg. Without any warning, he raised his hand and fired repeatedly at one of the ninjas.
Watching the other spring up, perform several agile rolls in midair to dodge his shots, Xu Ze couldn’t help but sigh softly again. From the other’s movements, they were no weaker than the one he’d encountered last night…
After firing all ten bullets in the magazine, Xu Ze hurled the gun at the other ninja still lurking in the snow, then lunged at both of them.
The other ninja, seeing Xu Ze throw the gun at him, naturally knew he’d been discovered. He immediately abandoned any pretense and sprang up. He and the other ninja exchanged a glance, then shouted in unison. They reached back and drew gleaming short blades, then charged at Xu Ze together.
Xu Ze raised an eyebrow slightly. Now he was regretting not asking Zuo Mu to prepare him a close-combat blade. Now look—facing two ninjas with no weapon to block with… This was really bad…
But there was no time for hesitation now. Xu Ze reached into his pocket, pulled out his silver needles, took a few in his hand, and lunged at the two ninjas.
He had just charged in when he felt the other’s hand flick. A cold wind swept toward him—the short blade was already thrusting toward his waist.
The other ninja also swung his hand, aiming for Xu Ze’s chest. The two moved in perfect coordination, leaving Xu Ze no room to dodge…
“Damn…” Xu Ze muttered softly, thinking to himself: “If I didn’t have Number One—that nagging but still reliable guy—by my side, I really wouldn’t dare fight these two like this!”
He leaned back, head tilting backward. He felt a chill on his chest—the black combat uniform had been slashed open in two places by the enemy’s blades.
Seeing the two blades still pressing forward, thrusting at him again, Xu Ze flicked the silver needles in his hand and shot them at the two men.
Those few silver needles, thrown with Xu Ze’s full strength, were naturally incredibly fast. The two ninjas saw the flash of silver light and shouted in unison, then flipped and sprang away with incredible agility.
But those needles weren’t so easy to dodge. Each ninja took a needle to the chest. Though they didn’t hit the exact acupoints, both men clutched their chests and coughed violently.
They reached up, pulled out the needles, and threw them away fiercely. Looking at the blood-seeping needle holes on their chests, the two ninjas raised their short blades and charged at Xu Ze again.
Xu Ze no longer dared hold back. These intermediate and advanced ninjas were truly not to be trifled with. If he kept hiding his abilities, he’d probably have to rely on the energy shield just to stay alive.
As long as he was discreet, Qing Niao—who should have woken up by now—probably wouldn’t notice too much out of the ordinary…
But Qing Niao had already heard the sounds of fighting outside and was hiding by the small window watching. Through the window, she saw the two strange figures in white outside, and her expression had long since changed.
Having stayed in Japan for so many years and being active in Japan’s high-level social circles, she had naturally heard about these mysterious ninjas. She had always thought they were just legends—she never imagined she’d actually see them.
These figures in strange white clothing, wielding short blades, moving with eerie techniques and striking with ruthless precision—they had to be the ninjas that Japanese high-level circles said still existed.
Watching the speed of their attacks and their eerie techniques, Qing Niao felt chills run down her spine. As a senior intelligence officer of the Third Bureau, she was naturally also an expert in combat. Over the years, under the cover of her identity, she had frequently entered Tokyo’s martial arts halls to spar and fight, never letting her skills lapse.
But now, seeing how formidable these ninjas were, she knew that no matter how good she was, even with several more of herself, she wouldn’t be their match… And even the experts she’d met in those martial arts halls would absolutely not last two exchanges against these ninjas.
She couldn’t help but worry about Xu Ze, who was now fighting those two ninjas. She couldn’t imagine how long Xu Ze could hold out against two such formidable ninjas.
But she saw that although Xu Ze’s fight with the two was perilous, he always managed to hold on. And remembering the strange sight of Xu Ze sitting cross-legged before her earlier, a glimmer of hope rose in Qing Niao’s heart. If ninjas really existed, then their side naturally had such experts too.
If Xu Ze could fight two at once, he must be one of those experts…
Qing Niao watched carefully, eyes wide, silently praying that Xu Ze would win. If he lost, all her struggle to escape and hold on for so long would have been for nothing. If Xu Ze really lost, she’d rather cut her own throat first than end up like those past days—unable even to die…
But soon, she was stunned and overjoyed… She saw Xu Ze narrowly dodge a blade, then lightly wave a palm. Suddenly, something seemed to flash, and the ninja let out a sharp scream, flying backward… crashing to the ground, twitching several times, then going still…
Actually, Xu Ze had shot an accumulated electric arc from his ring, shocking this ninja until he could barely breathe. But Xu Ze hadn’t gotten off easy either—the other ninja had stabbed him hard in the chest.
Feeling the pain in his chest, Xu Ze grunted in pain, nearly spitting out a mouthful of blood…
But the other ninja was even more shocked. He had clearly seen this Chinese soldier wearing only a combat uniform and an undershirt—no bulletproof or stab-proof vest at all. How was it that his blade had clearly struck but seemed to be blocked by an extremely tough layer, unable to penetrate further?
Xu Ze didn’t bother with the blood that could spurt from his chest at any moment. If Number One hadn’t activated the energy shield in time just now, he’d be dead. Not seizing this opportunity would be too wasteful. He waved his right hand, and another short electric arc shot out, striking the remaining ninja’s chest and immediately retracting…
Watching this ninja fall headfirst, Xu Ze finally couldn’t hold it in and spat out a mouthful of blood…
Seeing that both ninjas outside seemed to have been killed by Xu Ze, Qing Niao finally ran out, supporting Xu Ze anxiously. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine…” Xu Ze wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He knew very well how much force that ninja’s strike had carried. Although his energy shield had blocked the blade from penetrating, the force couldn’t be dissipated because he had ordered Number One to keep the shield pressed tight against his body. So he’d only been injured in the lungs by the force of the blow.
Seeing Xu Ze spit out a mouthful of blood but seeming otherwise fine, Qing Niao finally relaxed.
Xu Ze took two gentle breaths, then quietly circulated his energy cycle twice, directing some bioelectric energy to his lungs for two cycles to control the injury. Then he turned to Qing Niao and said, “Let’s go… we can’t stay here. If these ninjas could find us, then the Self-Defense Force won’t be far behind…”
“Oh…” Qing Niao saw that Xu Ze’s face, which had been somewhat pale from spitting blood, had returned to normal after two breaths. She finally relaxed. She was about to go inside to grab the remaining food, but just as she turned, Xu Ze reached out and struck her neck. Before she could react, her head spun, and she collapsed toward the ground.
Xu Ze caught Qing Niao, then took out the straps and bound her to his back again. He reached down and picked up the gun he’d thrown earlier, tucked it into his right thigh, took a light breath, and then ran rapidly down the mountain.
At this moment, he didn’t dare linger here for even a second. Two ninjas had already tracked him here—who knew if more were coming? If two more showed up, it would be trouble… He was already injured. Another fight would not be easy…
So he stretched his legs and began running forward at full speed…
It took him about twenty minutes to reach a seaside spot. Xu Ze tightened the straps on his back, then jumped off a large rock by the shore.
It wasn’t high—only a few meters. But when he hit the water, Number One had already deployed the protective shield, letting Xu Ze and Qing Niao sink slowly into the water. Then he quickly activated energy propulsion, heading underwater toward Yokohama Port…
Once in the sea, Xu Ze finally relaxed. In the sea, unless the Maritime Self-Defense Force discovered him and sent frogmen down after him, those ninjas couldn’t possibly chase him into the ocean…
And so, Xu Ze traveled rapidly forward about ten meters below the surface. After more than an hour, Number One finally reported that they had reached Yokohama Port…
Xu Ze was feeling somewhat short of breath. He surfaced, let out a soft breath, and then saw that ahead was indeed a large port, with large ships constantly entering and leaving.
“Scan the situation ahead…” At Xu Ze’s command, images appeared in his field of vision. Number One had intercepted them from Yokohama Port’s camera surveillance network. In these images, he could see many police officers and Maritime Self-Defense Force soldiers inspecting every crate of cargo being loaded onto ships…
“I knew these damn guys would guard it tightly…” Xu Ze snorted softly, then said, “Number One, confirm for me—which is the next ship leaving port for home?”
“Understood…” Number One quickly found the answer from Yokohama Port’s dispatch system: “The nearest ship departing for China is the Flying Fish, from Binhai City Shipping Company. It’s currently loading cargo and will depart in about an hour…”
“Alright… that one… let’s go…” Xu Ze slowly sank into the water and continued swimming underwater toward the Flying Fish’s position.
But this time he had to be much more careful. After all, there were many ships entering and leaving the port. It took him nearly half an hour before Xu Ze approached the Flying Fish. It was a large ocean vessel, and the gangway connecting to the shore had already been lowered. Xu Ze let out a soft breath. This was good timing—the ship would be leaving soon. It seemed he’d arrived just in time…
He watched as Xu Ze carefully swam underwater to where the Flying Fish had dropped anchor, then gently grasped the thick iron chain and waited quietly for the anchor to be raised…
Once the anchor was raised—and since the anchor was on the other side of the ship—people on shore would have a hard time seeing him. Then he could climb up the chain onto the ship. Once the ship left port, everything would be fine…
Xu Ze waited for a while. Then he heard the horn blast, and felt the chain in his hands tremble and begin to retract upward. Xu Ze didn’t surface. He waited for the anchor to rise from underwater, then stood on it as it ascended toward the ship.
But the anchor only rose to the hawsepipe—it wouldn’t go all the way up to the deck. So Xu Ze stood on the massive, ice-cold iron anchor until the ship began to move and sailed out of the port.
When he heard no more voices on deck, he untied the two straps holding Qing Niao, knotted them together, tied the pistol to the end, and swung it up onto the deck. Hearing a soft “clang,” it caught on the railing and knotted. He tugged it to make sure it was secure, then used the lower end of the strap to tie Qing Niao tightly to himself and climbed up the strap onto the ship.
Once on deck, he saw it was dark and there was no one else around. Xu Ze then pulled Qing Niao up…
With Number One’s help, Xu Ze quickly found a spacious, clean cargo hold to stay in. On a cargo ship like this, the crew cabins weren’t very big. If Xu Ze didn’t want to be seen, he could only find a cargo hold to stay in. Generally, no one came to the cargo holds. He just needed to occasionally sneak to the kitchen for some food and water, and everything would be fine.
Xu Ze was about to wake Qing Niao when he suddenly realized that he’d been out of the water for so long and still felt somewhat suffocated. He found this strange. He quickly sat down nearby and carefully circulated his bioelectric energy to examine himself.
The examination gave Xu Ze a great shock. At the site of his earlier injury, a strange, icy energy was entrenched, preventing his injured lungs from healing. That was why he felt suffocated.
This wasn’t the first time Xu Ze had encountered such a situation. Back then, Old Master Li had also suffered an old wound in his chest, then suffered prolonged cold, which formed a similar energy in his chest. It had taken Xu Ze a long time to clear the cold energy blocking Old Master Li’s lung meridians.
Xu Ze’s current situation was almost the same as Old Master Li’s, except his wasn’t caused by an unhealed wound plus repeated cold exposure. It was because the ninja had cultivated that sinister technique, and the energy it produced had remained in Xu Ze’s body when the ninja attacked.
Xu Ze carefully probed this energy and found that under the effect of his bioelectric energy, this energy was extremely stubborn, entrenched in his lung meridians, and only a tiny bit had been eliminated.
Xu Ze was somewhat alarmed. He hadn’t expected these ninjas’ techniques to be so sinister. The energy they cultivated was actually so difficult to eliminate, even with his abilities.
But he wasn’t particularly nervous. Although this energy was stubborn and strange, his bioelectric energy was still effective against it. Xu Ze believed that with slow, steady effort, it would only take some time to completely drive it out or destroy it within his body.
After confirming the cause, Xu Ze calmed down and then woke Qing Niao.
When Qing Niao woke up, the first thing she did was glare fiercely at Xu Ze and say angrily, “You knocked me out again… What exactly do you mean by that!”
Seeing Qing Niao’s furious voice, Xu Ze quickly raised a finger to signal silence.
Seeing Xu Ze’s gesture, Qing Niao finally suppressed her anger somewhat. She carefully looked around and saw that she seemed to be in a ship’s cargo hold. Her anger turned to joy, and she whispered in surprise, “We’re going home now?”
Seeing that Qing Niao’s anger seemed to have subsided, Xu Ze finally relaxed and said with a light smile, “Yes… we’re going home now…”
Hearing Xu Ze confirm it, Qing Niao asked in surprise, “How did you do it? The Self-Defense Force is so strict—how could they possibly let us sneak onto a ship?”
“Hmph… Of course I have my ways. Otherwise, would I dare to take you and escape alone in a place I don’t know?” Xu Ze let out a soft breath, then shook his head with a low chuckle. “Alright, alright… you rest first. I need to rest too. Today really exhausted me… Having to carry a big guy like you on my back, and sneak onto a ship… If you don’t treat me to a good meal when we get back, that would really be a disservice to me…”
Seeing Xu Ze’s relaxed manner, Qing Niao also relaxed and laughed. At this point, though she still had many doubts, she now basically completely trusted Xu Ze… She smiled and said, “Fine… when we get home, I’ll treat you… wherever you want to eat, we’ll go… I’ve saved up some money over the years…”
Hearing Qing Niao say this, Xu Ze became curious. “Didn’t you say your funding was pretty tight? How come it sounds like you’ve actually saved quite a bit?”
Seeing Xu Ze’s strange expression, Qing Niao smiled bitterly. “I’m the most senior person in the Third Bureau in Japan right now. My public identity got me to the position of a major executive at a corporation… The salary naturally isn’t low… Much better than Zuo Mu and the others…”
“If it weren’t for the fact that I learned this intelligence was too important, so I took a risk to steal it and got chased down, I wouldn’t have been caught… Otherwise, I’d still be that director earning tens of millions of yen a year…”
“Tens of millions of yen? Converted to Chinese currency, that’s several million a year. You really did quite well for yourself…” Xu Ze couldn’t help but look at Qing Niao in surprise.
“Unfortunately, I only had it for two years. Sigh… If I’d had two more years, it would’ve been worth it…” Qing Niao sighed softly, but soon laughed. “But now it’s not bad either. This intelligence is truly invaluable to the country… And now I can bring back several million and go home, which counts as having a bit of money. I can go home and comfortably spend a few good years with my parents…”
“Mm… cough cough… congratulations!” Xu Ze forced down a surge of lung qi and smiled as he offered his congratulations.
“Thank you… thank you…” Qing Niao looked at Xu Ze excitedly. “This time it’s really thanks to you. If not for you, I absolutely wouldn’t have made it back this time, let alone see my parents again…”
“By the way… what’s your name? I still don’t know your name…” Qing Niao smiled. “You risked so much to save me. If I still don’t know your name, that would be really unforgivable!”
“Xu Ze…” Xu Ze smiled faintly, then said, “And you? Qing Niao?”
“Mm… Wang Weiguo… Heh heh… I haven’t used that name in many years…” A trace of melancholy flashed through Qing Niao’s eyes, then she smiled. “Once I’m home, I’ll use that name again…”
Xu Ze and Qing Niao chatted for quite a while, until Qing Niao excitedly fell asleep. Only then did Xu Ze sigh softly. They had sacrificed too much for the country… Qing Niao had stayed in Japan for ten years, and still didn’t know if her parents—nearly sixty years old—were even still alive. But now she could finally go home… But Zuo Mu… and the others… their return was still far beyond sight…
Xu Ze shook his head gently. He looked at the one-million-dollar check in his pocket, protected by a waterproof plastic bag, and smiled bitterly. He had originally thought that after the operation ended, he’d have a chance to give this check to Zuo Mu… He never imagined he’d end up bringing it back to China himself… She must still be worrying about him right now…
