Chapter 53: Turbulent Undercurrents

Yokosuka Military Base.

"Lieutenant General, the island nation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs..."

"Just tell them I'm already asleep!"

In the office, the cheerful white lieutenant general waved his hand grandly, but the clerk who had entered to report had a difficult expression on his face.

"Sir, the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of the island nation is right outside the base gate. His exact words were that he will wait until you have time to receive him."

It was obvious that if he didn't see him, that Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs would stand at the base gate indefinitely.

"These damn monkeys..."

He cursed and the white lieutenant general waved his hand.

"Let him in."

As the successor to the island nation's 'Five-Star Emperor', the white lieutenant general could ignore the island nation's will most of the time.

But on the matter of the supernatural... the stakes were too high, so high that they could determine the direction of the next era. The island nation would never give up.

As expected—

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General."

The visitor was a standard middle-aged and elderly politician from the island nation, wearing a dark suit, his face tense, and questioning in a fluent New York accent.

"Regarding your side's actions in Kawasaki City, we need an explanation!"

"It's the Kawasaki sea area. Watch your words."

To the island nation's question, the white lieutenant general was well-prepared, leaning back in his chair without even getting up.

"Our side has the right to carry out military operations in Tokyo Bay at will. You have no right to question—even if we don't notify you!"

"The ruins of Pier 6 in Kawasaki City, is that also a sea area?!"

Facing this 'Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs's' suppressed angry questioning, the white lieutenant general impatiently stood up, leaned forward, and stared at the other party with a pressing gaze.

"Horii... right?"

"Four months ago, the Special Investigation Department of the District Public Prosecutors Office found 8.76 million of unidentified political funds in your account."

"Before you question me, you'd better explain the origin of this money first!"

"You—"

His face turned pale, and this 'Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs' moved his lips a few times, but couldn't utter a single word.

8.76 million, for his level, was a drop in the ocean! It could even prove that he was 'as clean as water', but:

"As long as I'm willing, tomorrow all the TV stations, newspapers, and internet headlines will be about your corruption!"

The white lieutenant general raised his hand and fiercely poked the other party's chest.

It made this Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of the island nation tremble.

"Now, get out!"

With America personally creating the momentum, it wouldn't be let go with just a 'bow'. Ruin and disgrace, followed by suicide by being shot in the back seven times, was the only ending.

What a joke. The meat America has eaten, how can it be coveted by others?

...

"Mr. Horii."

"You know, we're under a lot of pressure too."

On the way to see the other party off the base, Brigadier General Thomas spoke eloquently.

"On the supernatural issue, the Donkey and Elephant parties are highly unified in their opinion, and both advocate for sending all supernatural beings and items back to the country for research."

After first using a 'void' hand to scare the other party, the brigadier general then changed the subject:

"It was us who mediated, which allowed those supernatural beings to stay in Tokyo."

"You have already mastered a 'primal' supernatural being and have researched the 'supernatural serum'."

"This time, the supernatural being discovered appeared on the high seas. It should be under our America's supervision, shouldn't it?"

Facing the brigadier general's words, the island nation's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs sighed.

"Mr. Thomas, you are a respected friend of the island nation."

"But this time, what you did..."

Not only did they completely exclude the island nation, but they didn't even notify them!

"Because of your side's reckless actions, the process of the battle was filmed by a UP master and posted on the internet."

Not only that, but there were also a large number of workers and residents at the Kawasaki pier at that time who witnessed this incident, numbering over a thousand people. Many of them also subconsciously took pictures and posted them on their personal spaces and uploaded them to various platforms.

Although the island nation, which had reacted, had immediately used the internet police to delete a large number of pictures and posts,

but:

"This matter has had too much of an impact. We simply can't suppress it..."

The convenience of the internet,

made many things 'transparent'.

In the age of print media, it was easy for those in power to cover up something.

Those truly top big shots were like 'invisible', not appearing in any newspapers, television, or radio, controlling capital in a transcendent way.

But with the advent of the internet, whether it was the dirty laundry between big shots, or a war, assassination, or natural or man-made disaster somewhere... it was all presented to everyone in a very clear way. Although there were still many secrets hidden within, it was still much better than being completely ignorant in the past.

This was also why people would feel... numb to news on the internet about thousands of people being buried by mudslides in some place, or some official being corrupt for more than a billion.

As for other 'small skirmishes' with deaths in the triple digits, it was even more of a feeling of 'so what'.

This was the convenience brought by the internet, which made people accustomed to it.

But a supernatural being fighting an army—

was still enough to shock the people of the whole world!

"That's your problem, Mr. Horii."

To this, Brigadier General Thomas also just shrugged with a 'helpless' expression.

"I believe you can make this news disappear from all platforms. Just release a batch of 'celebrity scandals' and other news, and it will disappear from the public eye."

As for there being no scandals? Can't you just go and create one!

"Then... what about other countries?"

Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Horii asked.

"Your side's reckless actions today will definitely be noticed by other countries..."

"Without today's actions, wouldn't others have noticed?"

Raising an eyebrow,

Brigadier General Thomas, who was playing the 'red face', had a沉下来 face.

"How many dogs of other forces are there in your government? Do you need me to tell you?"

Aren't most of them your America's dogs?!

He cursed inwardly, but Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Horii's face still had to maintain a 'I've been taught' posture.

"Since that's the case—"

"Our side requests to send people to participate in the research of that 'Ishijin'."

If the previous anger, unwillingness, and questioning... were only thirty percent real and seventy percent acting, then for this point:

"If your side does not give a reply, I can only resign in disgrace."

...

"I will discuss it with the lieutenant general."

To this, Thomas only gave a vague answer.

Although he would eventually agree, he couldn't agree too quickly. Otherwise, this dog of the island nation would take a mile if given an inch!

Setagaya Ward.

"Hmph."

With a heavy slam on the wooden table, the gray-haired old man stood up abruptly.

"Damn American bastards, that's our island nation's supernatural being! By what right—"

"Of course, it's by the right of strong ships and powerful cannons, just like 170 years ago."

The handsome Ichihashi Tatsu answered casually. They had also watched the 'live broadcast' and could naturally guess what happened later.

"At that time, America opened the island nation's doors with its ironclad fleet. Now, their aircraft carriers are still stationed in Yokosuka. Seriously, you big shots have been busy for over a hundred years, and it seems nothing has changed."

"That was then, now it's different."

Suppressing his anger, the gray-haired old man looked at the three people in the room sincerely.

"You three are the heroes of the island nation."

"To let the American bastards run rampant like this, what kind of country is this? Please put the greater good first—"

"Mr. Onoda."

Yamagami spoke, interrupting the gray-haired old man's impassioned lobbying.

"We are all small people and don't understand these major national affairs."

"But in my opinion, if even the lives of the common people cannot be guaranteed, the so-called prosperity of the country is nothing but a castle in the air."

...

The gray-haired old man was naturally well aware of the遭遇 of this middle-aged man before him. His once happy family was destroyed at the hands of a cult. Anyone would be moved.

If the previous Yamagami could only make 'pressure cooker bombs' and 'homemade pistols', then after he mastered supernatural power, he could do more!

"I understand."

The gray-haired old man nodded heavily.

"Leave the matter of the Unification Church to me!"

Of course, it wasn't that he would kill people himself. The current Yamagami didn't need to borrow someone else's hands either.

Rather, with his power, he would gather the people of the 'Unification Church' and wipe them out in one fell swoop!

Not only could he win over Yamagami, but he could also complete that 'lord's' task, and also give 'justice' to the people whose families had been destroyed by exploitation... it was a win-win situation!

Yokosuka Base.

Hundreds of meters deep below the base, in a laboratory that no detector could find.

"Come, follow my movements."

"Stack these two building blocks together."

In a huge glass container filled with inert liquid, an octopus, covered in all kinds of metal wires and scarred all over, was stacking two building blocks in the water under the guidance of a man in a white coat.

"Good, very good!"

"You've done a good job. A good child deserves a reward."

As the man in the white coat's voice fell, the metal surface of the glass container opened, and a shell was placed inside.

The remaining tentacles curled and grabbed the shell, throwing it directly into its mouth and swallowing it, shell and all!

The previous battle had almost exhausted its chakra. Now, this extremely weak octopus just wanted to eat. However, to eat, it had to complete the special actions prescribed by the biped in front of it.

"Next, pour the glass balls out of the bottle."

"Pay attention to the way I open the bottle..."

...

"Incredible, incredible!"

After a classic 'Denver Developmental Screening Test', the man in the white coat exclaimed repeatedly, as if he had seen God himself.

"This octopus easily completed the intelligence test for a 6-year-old. If it weren't for the fact that it can't speak, I would almost suspect that this is a human in an octopus costume."

Although octopuses are already famous for being 'smart' among animals, this one was too smart. For almost all the items, as long as the man in the white coat had demonstrated it three times, it could understand the meaning. It was not the conditioned reflex established by external stimuli in ordinary animals, but a true understanding of the meaning!

This was a highly intelligent creature on par with humans.

"Dr. Stephen."

"I'm not interested in intelligence tests."

The white lieutenant general looked at the octopus, which was controlled by the inert liquid and various electrodes, and asked from above.

"I only care if you can tame this octopus that has caused me a loss of 2 billion dollars."

"No, no, no, he's not an octopus."

The gray-haired doctor shook his head and retorted with gestures. As an American biology expert, he was not afraid of this lieutenant general.

"He is a miracle in the history of biological evolution, an existence that is enough to be recorded in the annals of history!"

"...Unfortunately, there will be many such miracles."

The white lieutenant general interrupted the excited doctor.

"I just want an answer!"

"YES, NO?"

"Of course, of course—"

"You will soon have a loyal subordinate, I guarantee it."

After speaking, the doctor impatiently waved his hand to dismiss him.

"Little fellow."

Walking up to the glass container, the doctor looked at the scarred, approximately five-meter-long octopus in front of him with fascination.

"It seems we'll have a long time to get along."