Chapter 902: The Ambition of the Freemasons |
"That's right, we are going to the Space Center." Shima Mitsuhiro said with a smile: "Because the land of Tanegashima basically belongs to our Shimazu Family, when the Space Center was built, as a condition for selling the land, our Shimazu Family's construction team undertook all the projects of the Space Center, so we took the opportunity to secretly build a hiding place in the Space Center."
Soon Liu Xing and others arrived at the Space Center on Tanegashima, where several uniformed staff were already waiting at the door.
A middle-aged man at the head came over and said respectfully: "Young master Hirodo, we have already prepared the room you wanted."
Shima Mitsuhiro nodded and asked seriously: "Is there any news from Kagoshima?"
The middle-aged man shook his head and said helplessly: "The traitor Shima Takeshi has ordered his men to block the main house, and no news has come out, so I only know that Shima Takeshi summoned the personnel staying in Kagoshima to the main house for a meeting in the name of the head of the family this morning, and then suddenly attacked in the middle of the meeting."
Shima Mitsuhiro sighed and said helplessly: "It seems that Shima Takeshi is well prepared this time. Uncle Yuan Zhi, you continue to send people to investigate the situation of the main house. If necessary, you can use that tunnel. If there is any news, notify me as soon as possible."
After speaking, Shima Mitsuhiro led Liu Xing and others into the Space Center.
In a large warehouse on the outermost part of the Space Center, Shima Mitsuhiro opened a wooden box leaning against the wall.
In the wooden box, Liu Xing saw a slide leading underground.
Then, with a "whoosh" sound, Shima Mitsuhiro disappeared from the sight of Liu Xing and others.
This slide looks quite fun.
Liu Xing and others climbed into the box one by one and slid down.
As Shima Mitsuhiro said, since this slide can accommodate a hundred iron gates, its length is not short. Liu Xing estimated that he slid for almost two minutes before seeing the light at the end of the slide... and a sponge mat.
Unable to stop, Liu Xing rolled a few times on the sponge mat before stopping.
Then, unable to avoid it, Liu Xing was rear-ended continuously and collided with Yin En and others, making them dizzy.
After Liu Xing recovered, he found that Shima Mitsuhiro was holding back his laughter.
"Hirodo, this is a bit unfair. As the host, you shouldn't treat us like this, right?" Liu Xing said angrily.
Shima Mitsuhiro smiled and replied: "Hehe, I just wanted you to experience the original Shimazu slide. How was it? Exciting, right?"
"Exciting indeed, but it requires high clothing standards. The metal buttons on the back of my pants caused friction and heat after sliding for a long time, and now it seems to have blistered." Yin En said painfully.
After pulling Liu Xing and others up one by one, Shima Mitsuhiro led them into the hiding place.
"The design idea of this hiding place is based on an air-raid shelter, so the overall layout is similar to the layout of hotel floors. The rooms at the entrance are public areas, such as kitchens and dining rooms, and inside are a bunch of bedrooms. You can choose any bedroom to rest in later, except for the seventh bedroom on the right, the twentieth bedroom, and the last bedroom. These three bedrooms are emergency escape routes. When the door is opened, there is a large elevator, and a one-minute countdown will start simultaneously. When the countdown ends, the elevator will start and send the people inside to the ground. So, don't open the doors of those three bedrooms casually." Shima Mitsuhiro said seriously.
Looking at the corridor in front of him, which might be hundreds of meters long, and the symmetrical room doors on both sides, Liu Xing indeed thought of a hotel.
Although Shima Takeshi is unlikely to find this place, Liu Xing and others still chose to stay in the innermost rooms.
"Everyone, take a rest first. I will contact the secret agents arranged by my uncle in Kagoshima to see if they have any useful information. If you are hungry or thirsty, you can go to the first room at the entrance, which is a large supermarket." After speaking, Shima Mitsuhiro returned to his room.
It seems that Shima Mitsuhiro does not want to share his information channels.
At this time, the unfamiliar KP finally spoke again, "Congratulations on officially starting the only mission of the Warrior Faction in this stage. Your main quest is only one - to kill Shima Takeshi. Remember, the requirement of this main quest is only one, which is to kill Shima Takeshi, so don't show mercy and spare Shima Takeshi's life. The failure condition of this mission is, of course, the death of Shima Mitsuhiro. However, the failure penalty of this mission is very interesting. You must join the Public Faction."
After a while, the KP suddenly said again: "I almost forgot, you can call me KP Duanqiao."
Then KP Duanqiao fell silent.
Liu Xing opened the private room time and said with a smile: "It seems that this unique mission is quite interesting. If we fail the mission, we will join the Public Faction. However, this means that Shima Takeshi's actions should be supported by the Public Faction."
Sitting on the side, Zhang Jingxu shook his head and said: "I don't think things are that simple. This is the territory that the Shimazu Family has managed for hundreds of years. Even if the Public Faction started to lay out plans before the Public-Military Conflict, it is impossible to win over Shima Takeshi so quickly, especially without the Shimazu Family noticing. So, I think the force behind Shima Takeshi is not the Public Faction."
Liu Xing raised his eyebrows and said: "If it's not the Public Faction, then the only ones who can support Shima Takeshi in rebelling are the United States of America or the Freemasons?"
"That's right, it should be the Freemasons." Zhang Jingxu nodded and said: "I checked some private organizations employed by the United States of America on the way here and found that several private organizations have established branches in Kagoshima. So, I suspect that the Freemasons contacted Shima Takeshi through these private organizations. Moreover, it is very easy and legitimate for these private organizations to meet Shima Takeshi."
Yin En looked at the mobile phone and said, "That's right, those civil organizations in Kagoshima are all well-known white gloves under the United States of America, and the Shimazu Family used to sponsor them with a lot of funds, so they have always had some contacts. But now the question arises, why are the Freemasons trying to harm the Shimazu Family and the Warrior Faction at this time? I think it's unlikely that the Freemasons would ally with the Public Faction, right?"
"The Freemasons are indeed unlikely to ally with the Public Faction because if they wanted to ally with the Public Faction, then there wouldn't be any Ezo Country in Hokkaido. So I think the Freemasons want to use Shima Takeshi to control the Shimazu Family, thereby controlling Shimazu Nakano, and finally controlling the Warrior Faction!"
"Think about it, Shima Takeshi is definitely not capable of controlling the Shimazu Family on his own, so even if the Freemasons took the initiative to find Shima Takeshi, Shima Takeshi would have to pay a large amount of compensation to the Freemasons. Moreover, the Freemasons are not good people, so I suspect that Shima Takeshi might have already been brainwashed by the Freemasons or even replaced."
"The reason is simple because Shima Takeshi has not announced his ascension to the outside world until now. This clearly gives Shimazu Nakano and Shima Mitsuhiro time to react, which is somewhat unreasonable because Shima Takeshi should know very well that if he announced his ascension as the head of the Shimazu Family at this time, it would deal a huge blow to Shimazu Nakano, but he didn't do so."
"So I think the one controlling the Shimazu Family at this time is not Shima Takeshi, but the Freemasons who control Shima Takeshi. The purpose of the Freemasons doing this is to make Shimazu Nakano, who has come to his senses, negotiate with them. If the negotiation is successful, then Shima Mitsuhiro will undoubtedly die because he has to give way to Shima Takeshi, who is controlled by the Freemasons."
"As for why we must join the Public Faction after this mission fails, the reason is actually very simple because Shimazu Nakano can no longer tolerate us. So when Shima Mitsuhiro dies, we who followed Shima Mitsuhiro to Kyushu will become scapegoats, and other forces will not miss this opportunity to hit us when we are down. It is almost impossible for us to prove our innocence." Zhang Wenbing suddenly said seriously.
Liu Xing thought for a moment and shook his head, saying, "Brother Zhang, isn't your analysis a bit too forced? Although the possibility you mentioned does have some operational space, the problem is that the Freemasons doing this is a bit too wishful thinking, wanting to indirectly control the Warrior Faction through Shima Takeshi?"
Ding Kun also agreed with Liu Xing's idea and said, "Liu Xing is right, Zhang Wenbing, your idea is indeed a bit exaggerated. Moreover, the more important issue is that the Freemasons should also know that Shimazu Nakano is only the nominal leader of the Warrior Faction, so even if they control Shimazu Nakano, they can at most let Shimazu Nakano know some inside information about the Warrior Faction, and it's still semi-public information."
Zhang Wenbing shrugged and shook his head, saying, "You are right, I might indeed be overthinking, but I still believe that the mastermind behind this incident is the Freemasons."
"I agree." Zhang Jingxu nodded and said, "Actually, there is another possibility, that is, the Freemasons are using Shima Takeshi to attract the attention of the Warrior Faction to ensure the smooth reconstruction of the Ryukyu Kingdom!"
"Oh? There seems to be such a possibility because even if they reach a consensus with the Public Faction, the Warrior Faction is unlikely to send a large force to Ryukyu because they still have to guard against the possible betrayal of the Public Faction. So the small team sent by the Warrior Faction has to first collect enough information in Kagoshima, the territory of the Shimazu Family, which is across the sea from Ryukyu, before entering Kagoshima to solve the problem. Therefore, the Freemasons can use Shima Takeshi to force Shimazu Nakano to cooperate with them, so that the small team can never reach Ryukyu, or make this small team non-existent from the beginning." Yin En said, slapping his thigh.
Liu Xing nodded and raised a new question, "So now the question arises, why do the Freemasons want to ensure the reconstruction of the Ryukyu Kingdom and the establishment of Ezo Country? I don't think the Freemasons want to stand up for the United States of America, right?"
As soon as Liu Xing said this, Yin En and the others fell into silence.
After a while, Ding Kun said, "Although the possibility is not high, the Freemasons might indeed be doing this for the benefit of the United States of America. Just like the United States of America previously raised Island Nation and Cosmic Country as watchdogs to contain China; so now the United States of America, in order to still control Island Nation after withdrawing its troops, specifically sought the help of the Freemasons to ensure the establishment of Ezo Country and the Ryukyu Kingdom. In this way, Ryukyu Kingdom and Ezo Country can control Island Nation from above and below."
Hearing Ding Kun say this, Liu Xing couldn't help but shake his head and said, "If this were the real world, it might be very possible for the United States of America to do this. But this is a parallel world with a Cthulhu myth background, so the United States of America has already been forced to withdraw its troops. Even if they create Ezo Country and the Ryukyu Kingdom, after the Public-Military Conflict ends, Island Nation can still use the same means to force the United States of America to give up supporting Ezo Country and the Ryukyu Kingdom. By then, wouldn't the United States of America be making a futile effort?"
As soon as Liu Xing finished speaking, Yin En said seriously, "So the Freemasons are not standing up for the United States of America, but they themselves want to control Ezo Country and the Ryukyu Kingdom! Just like the Deep Diving Society controls Cosmic Country."
Yin En organized his thoughts and continued, "Didn't we discuss before that when the Deep Diving Society successfully controls Cosmic Country, it opens Pandora's box, making other secret cults have the same ambition? For example, the Cult of the Cadaver still wants to seek control of England. So although the Freemasons have a profound influence on the United States of America, it is not easy for the Freemasons to control the United States of America because there are too many secret cults in the United States of America. Therefore, the Freemasons can only settle for the next best thing and start with Ezo Country and the Ryukyu Kingdom."
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