Chapter 91: Ghost Call?
"The center point of the wildfire spread has been found, Officer!"
Two police helicopters hovered above the Aokigahara (Sea of Trees). A Police Officer wearing the uniform of a Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Police Inspector looked down through binoculars.
The thick smoke generated by the burning Forest Sea obscured most of the view and prevented the two police helicopters from lowering their altitude.
This forced the Police Inspector, acting as the observer, to risk being choked by smoke, and even falling from the helicopter at any moment, by leaning out to look below.
"Police Inspector Takahashi, observe carefully and see if you can find the reason for this wildfire. Was it a meteorite impact, or truly 'shelling'!"
In the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's communication channel, the voice of a middle-aged man with a strong Tokyo accent was heard.
"Yes, Officer!"
Police Inspector Takahashi rubbed his smoke-reddened eyes hard. Although he had cursed a million times in his heart, he still respectfully replied to the inquiry from the person on the communicator.
There was nothing he could do. The person on the other end was the Deputy Director of the National Police Agency, the head of the entire Police System. In terms of position, he was four ranks higher than a Police Inspector from a small area like him.
"Shelling, Baka, do you think this is the Middle East or Afghanistan!"
Police Inspector Takahashi cursed the group of incompetent leaders who were remote-controlling from their offices for the million and first time in his heart. He waved his hand, wanting the helicopter pilot to lower the altitude a bit more.
The pilot pointed to the rolling black smoke outside and waved his hand, indicating that this was the lowest altitude the helicopter could descend to.
In the communication channel, the Deputy Director's voice talking to others continued.
The last voice that appeared, Takahashi could even hear the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Director addressing that person as Officer.
Could it be the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Commissioner General? Takahashi swallowed, looking at the real-time video equipment placed in the cabin, and suddenly had a bold idea.
Takahashi retracted his body from the cabin entrance and returned to the cabin, wrapping himself in two layers of fireproof suits.
Then he put on a communication helmet equipped with a camera and tied two rappelling ropes to his waist, back, and armpits.
Immediately after, Takahashi went to the helicopter cabin entrance and, ignoring the pilot's loud dissuasion, jumped directly down.
"Fortune favors the bold. This is a great opportunity to show off in front of the leaders!"
This was Takahashi's only thought when he jumped from the helicopter.
He was already over forty and not a member of the career track. Without any accidents, this Police Inspector position would be the last stop of his career.
This might be his only chance to show his face in front of the big shots, and his only chance to break through his career bottleneck.
The feeling of weightlessness was accompanied by a strong sense of dizziness caused by blood rushing to his head. The wind sound whistled past his ears.
It felt like an instant, and also like a long time had passed.
When Takahashi opened his eyes again, he was hanging upside down, two meters below him was a burnt ancient tree, and the rolling black smoke, even through the protective suit and full-face helmet, was choking him badly.
Ignoring his lingering fear, Takahashi immediately turned on the video transmission device connected to his helmet.
......…
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, in Conference Room One of the Metropolitan Police Department at this time.
More than a dozen people were gathered together, watching the real-time video on the large screen.
Those who could sit here were High-level Staff of the Police System, with the lowest police rank being Senior Commissioner.
This included the National Police Agency Deputy Director, Police Agency Bureau Chiefs, Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Superintendent General, and District Police Chiefs.
Among them, the highest police rank was the National Police Agency Commissioner General. At his level, there was no rank insignia, but he would be equipped with a sun emblem more than the Superintendent General's rank insignia, used as the "National Police Agency Commissioner General Badge" shoulder patch.
However, the person with the highest position present was not the National Police Agency Commissioner General, but a thin old man who sat silently in the chief seat, quietly watching the real-time footage.
He wore a gray suit, a pair of reading glasses. The lenses of the glasses seemed to have a high prescription, and the thin old man would occasionally take off his glasses and drip a few drops of eye drops into his eyes.
"Mr. Ono, among us present, only you are a military man. In your opinion, are these the scene traces left by artillery shell explosions?"
The surveillance footage captured by the camera helmet was a bit shaky, with burnt trees everywhere, and charred corpses.
The camera frame swept over two wooden house ruins. From the large pits on the ground, it was clear that these were not caused by the wildfire, but rather shell craters left after some kind of impact or artillery shell explosion.
The man called Mr. Ono wore the uniform of a Maritime Self-Defense Force Vice Admiral. When he heard the Defense Minister call his name, a trace of worry flashed across the man's face.
However, he had to stand up. "From the witness's testimony and the analysis of the scene traces, these should be shell craters left by the bombardment of Federation-made 60MM M2 mortars!
At least one basic load of artillery shells must have been fired to cause shell craters of this scale!"
After Vice Admiral Ono finished speaking, he saluted the Defense Minister and then sat directly back in his position.
He did not express any further opinions, clearly not wanting to provoke trouble.
However, the philosophy of self-preservation was not something only he understood.
Hearing Vice Admiral Ono admit that it was shelling, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Commissioner General immediately became energetic.
"Mr. Ono, this involves organized artillery. This is not something our Metropolitan Police Department can handle. I think it would be safer for your Self-Defense Force to take over this matter!"
"Mr. Kameda, the source of the mortar shells is not yet clear, and everything is just suspicion. Let's wait until your Metropolitan Police Department thoroughly investigates this matter. If you really need to mobilize our Self-Defense Force, you can apply to the Prime Minister yourself!"
As a career soldier, Ono could naturally tell from the scene traces that such dense and regular shell craters would require at least ten mortars firing simultaneously to cause.
Using a mortar battalion in the heart of Mount Fuji, besides the Japan government itself, Ono Saburo could only think of one influence - that group of G.I.s stationed on Okinawa Island.
However, no matter which influence it was, it was not something a Maritime Self-Defense Force Vice Admiral like him could provoke.
Seeing Ono Saburo shrink his head, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Commissioner General cast his gaze towards the Ministry of Defense Minister.
They were all old foxes. What Ono Saburo could see, most of the crowd present could also see.
As a semi-colonial country, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, when encountering cases of Federation G.I.s harassing, molesting, or even raping Japan women, would try their best to minimize major incidents and resolve minor ones.
Now, facing such a major incident with clear Federation Military characteristics, the Bureaucrats of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department naturally wanted to push it off as much as possible.
"Cough cough, let's watch the video first. This is the first-hand data brought back by our Metropolitan Police Department's Police Officer at the risk of his life!"
The Defense Minister coughed and pulled everyone's attention back to the video.
At this time, the video footage was constantly moving, and more details of the scene appeared in front of the crowd.
The fire in the Aokigahara (Sea of Trees) was still spreading outwards, but in the very center of the fire, the fire had subsided.
Burnt tree houses, charred corpses, this also let many high-ranking officials of the Metropolitan Police Department know for the first time that hidden within this suicide forest was a Secret Base they did not know about.
Of course, from the eyes of the Defense Minister, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Commissioner General, the Superintendent General, and the Deputy Director, the few true High-level Staff, they did not show any surprised look.
Clearly, for the true High-level Staff of the Metropolitan Police Department, the existence of The Hand was not a secret.
......
"It's getting foggy!"
Although the fire had been extinguished, the heat generated by the burning trees still lingered. This area was like a giant oven.
Takahashi hung upside down in mid-air, feeling only that his sweat had soaked through his protective suit and was pouring down towards his head. Sweat was even dripping from his full-face helmet.
Just as Takahashi was about to give up and wanted to change the communicator channel to call the helicopter pilot to leave.
An extremely yin cold aura swept over his body. The sweat that had made him wet all over instantly turned bone-chillingly cold.
Takahashi's dizzy head instantly felt like it had been doused with a bucket of ice water. He opened his eyes wide and looked around.
He didn't know when, but a white mist had enveloped the entire forest.
He looked around, and besides the white mist, he couldn't see anything clearly. *Clang clang clang...*
Takahashi looked around. Suddenly, accompanied by the sound of iron chains dragging on the ground, many figures appeared faintly in the white mist.
"Someone!"
Takahashi struggled to take out his police gun from the holster on his waist and, still hanging upside down, pointed it at the figures in the white mist.
The sound of the iron chains colliding got closer and closer, and Takahashi's hand holding the police gun couldn't help but tremble.
"Hiiiiii!"
The figures in the white mist appeared before Takahashi's eyes, and Takahashi's gaze instantly became dull...
A three-meter-tall black-robed figure ghost god dragging chains walked towards him from the white mist.
The white mist obscured the ghost god's face. Takahashi only saw that on the thick chains dragged by the ghost god, were tied spirits of the dead who had died extremely tragically.
These spirits of the dead were very unwillingly bound to the chains, stumbling as they were dragged forward by the ghost god.
Just as this ghost god walked in front of Takahashi and was about to collide with him, Takahashi let out a terrified scream and fainted directly.
But unexpectedly, the tall ghost god seemed to be just a light and shadow, passing directly through the hanging Takahashi, dragging a string of ferocious soul undead and disappearing into the mist.
......
"Who can tell me what this thing is? A mirage, or a night parade of a hundred demons!"
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Conference Room One, more than a dozen high-ranking officials from the Japan police and military looked at the images transmitted from the real-time footage. The sound of iron chains rubbing seemed to still echo in their ears.
Even though the conference room was full of people, they still felt a chill involuntarily creeping up from behind them.
The Defense Minister looked at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Commissioner General sitting below him.
"It seems to be some kind of supernatural event!" the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Commissioner General said uncertainly.
"However, a professor from the University of Tokyo once analyzed the geology of the Aokigahara (Sea of Trees). There are a large number of magnetic stones in this forest. Perhaps these are all visual illusions caused by the magnetic stones."
Listening to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Commissioner General's ambiguous words, the Defense Minister cursed inwardly, calling it nonsense.
"Mr. Kameda, for ambiguous matters like this, the Metropolitan Police Department should temporarily not announce them to the public!"
"The fire in the Aokigahara (Sea of Trees) is still spreading. The urgent task now is to extinguish this fire. The reason for the incident will be investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department after the fire is extinguished. Mr. Ono, your Self-Defense Force should cooperate with the Metropolitan Police Department to do a good job of disaster relief!"
The Defense Minister changed the subject, directly shifting the focus of the entire meeting. The theme of the meeting also changed from pursuing the culprit to disaster relief.
As for Takahashi, who was still hanging from the helicopter, who still remembered him?!
.........
On the outskirts of the Aokigahara (Sea of Trees), in a sheltered Mountain Hollow.
Several soldiers were using rappelling ropes to carry heavy wooden crates onto a bus on the mountainside. The wooden crates were simply nailed together with iron birch planks. Through the gaps in the planks, one could even see the golden light shimmering inside.
These were the spoils of war plundered from The Hand's Base.
There were a total of more than twenty wooden crates, filled with large gold bars, small gold bars, and koban.
The twenty-odd crates together weighed over two tons. For this, several soldiers had specifically found another bus.
Soon, two buses drove along the winding Highway, away from the direction of the wildfire.
In the shaded area below the Mountain Hollow, Frank did not leave with the buses. After the buses drove away, he carefully took out the small banner from his chest.
This semi-finished product magic tool, the Boss called it the White Bone Ghost Soul Banner. Its banner body was used to house ten thousand ghosts to devour enemies.
However, according to what the Boss said, because it was a semi-finished product, this magic tool could only temporarily control those ferocious spirit evil ghosts. To truly unleash its force.
All these evil ghosts must be refined into the banner to be controlled like an arm.
Although Frank still didn't quite understand how to raise these fierce souls inside a piece of cloth.
However, Frank was sure he hadn't misheard the Boss's general meaning at the time.
Although his Chinese wasn't as comprehensive as Lane's, he clearly remembered Boss Tang saying on the phone when he had someone send the banner over.
The four black jars contained the violently deceased souls they had collected in New York over the past two years. These spirits of the dead had been refined by the Great Yin Form Refining Array for a long time and had reached the level of fierce souls.
Once they saw blood, the viciousness of these fierce souls would be immediately stimulated. If these fierce souls went out of control, this White Bone Ghost Soul Banner could be used to seal them back in the jars.
Frank looked at the four open black jars placed in front of him.
Holding the small banner, according to the magic arts taught by the Boss, he sprayed a mouthful of tongue-tip blood mixed with true qi onto the eyes of the black-robed figure ghost god on the banner face.
The black-robed figure ghost god, which originally only had form but no spirit, was sprayed by this mouthful of tongue-tip blood mixed with true qi, just like dotting the eyes of a dragon, giving people the feeling that it instantly changed from a clay or wooden figure to a flesh and blood body.
It directly "came to life".
The sound of chains dragging *clang clang clang* sounded. When Frank looked at the banner face, the two ghost gods, one black and one white, which were originally surrounded by many sky demons like stars surrounding the moon, now only had the white-robed figure remaining.
......
Time passed bit by bit.
The white mist unknowingly enveloped the entire Mountain Hollow, and even the winding Highway on the mountainside was covered by the white mist.
Listening to the sound of iron chains sliding in the white mist, the scene of the Japanese Man wearing a kimono being eaten away mouthful by mouthful kept flashing in Frank's mind.
However, soon, stimulated by the yin cold aura in the white mist, his true qi around his body began to circulate automatically. The vigorous true qi enveloped his body surface, as if covering him with a layer of fiery red flames.
From a distance, Frank looked like a fiery red mountain demon.
In the white mist, a black-robed figure ghost god walked out, pulling a string of fierce souls.
The black-robed figure ghost god came beside Frank, lowered its head, and said, "Hand over the command!"
The chains shattered in mid-air, turning into a giant net. The many fierce souls turned into clumps of gray-white smoke, scurrying around in the net, and were finally forced into the black jars by the constantly shrinking net.
Seeing that all the fierce souls had entered the jars, Frank finally breathed a sigh of relief at this time.
He quickly put the peach wood lids on the several black jars and sealed them with talismans. Only then did Frank completely relax.
When he came back to his senses and looked for the black-robed figure ghost god again, the black-robed figure ghost god had disappeared.
Frank couldn't help but look at the White Bone Ghost Soul Banner he was tightly clutching in his hand. At this time, the disappearing figure of the black-robed figure ghost god on the banner face had quietly reappeared at some point.
Frank came to the bottom of the cliff and said a few words into the communicator. Soon, on the cliff face halfway up the mountain, two agile soldiers slid down using rappelling ropes.
Calling his two Subordinates to fetch the backpacks, Frank carefully packed the four black jars into them.
After the black jars were packed, the two soldiers aimed their grappling hook guns at the cliff face and fired.
The retracting grappling hook guns quickly pulled the two soldiers up. On Frank's side, however, he stepped on the protrusions on the cliff face and leaped four or five meters high, as agile as a large monkey, and quickly scrambled up to the winding Highway on the mountainside in just a few moves.
On a corner of the winding Highway, an inconspicuous black Toyota sedan was quietly parked in a secluded spot.
......…
Not long after Frank left the Aokigahara (Sea of Trees) with Boss Tang's Yin Soldier magic tool, the Mountain Hollow where he had been standing shook violently.
Rocks crumbled, and a hundred-meter-long crack was revealed on the cliff face, caused by the tremor.
A giant snake head emerged from the crack. It had black scales and a white belly, with white scales on its underside. The snake head alone, protruding from the crack, was taller than the tallest tall trees in the Aokigahara (Sea of Trees).
(End of chapter)