The Mysterious Soldier of the Anti-Japanese War

Snowflakes clattered against the restaurant's glass. Lei Tao, his companions, and his dog pushed open the door, and the warm air, wrapped in the aroma of stir-fried noodles with chopped green onions, washed over them. Black Dragon shook off the snow and curled up in a corner, his tail occasionally brushing against the stoneware floor tiles, making a soft sound.

"Three bowls of hand-rolled noodles, plenty of broth, and then some hot pot." Meng Yan pulled off his frozen scarf, his voice shaking the price list on the wall. The proprietress responded, picked up her rolling pin, and began pounding it on the chopping board. The dough flew in her hands, turning into evenly thick noodles in a blink of an eye.

The old woodcutter took out a crumpled bill and placed it on the table, his fingers unconsciously stroking the frayed edges. From all the days of hiding, the cuffs of his military coat had frayed. "I don't know if I'll be able to make it to dinner time after this one," he said with a self-deprecating laugh, a hint of fatigue in his voice.

Lei Tao said nothing, his eyes scanning the yellowed newspapers taped to the wall. They were all old news from last month, their edges crispy from the smoke. When the steaming hot noodles arrived on the table, he plucked a strand with his chopsticks and watched the gravy drip down the noodles. He suddenly remembered the hand-rolled noodles his mother used to make before he enlisted. They were just as chewy and smooth.

The stew bubbled and simmered, the cabbage soaked up the broth, and the vermicelli noodles hung softly from the edge of the spoon. Meng Yan ate with a slurping sound, occasionally picking up a few pieces of frozen tofu and stuffing them into his mouth, gasping for air from the heat. The proprietress brought a plate of pickled radish, glanced at the black dragon lying on the ground, and turned to add half a bowl of leftovers. "Hunting dogs has a hard time too, give it some food."

"boom!"

A single gunshot pierced the snow, followed by a burst of intense submachine gunfire. Black Dragon instantly stood up, his prosthetic eye flashing red, and a low, alert growl emanated from his throat. Lei Tao dropped his chopsticks and rushed to the window. Through the misted glass, he saw thick smoke rising three blocks away, and flames licking a small blue-brick building—the Anti-Japanese United Army's communication station in Daowai District.

"It's Sasaki Yuji!" Meng Yan slammed his fist on the window frame, shaking off a few pieces of wall plaster. "This old dog is taking revenge for what happened at the Madiel Hotel!"

The old woodcutter had already pulled out the pistol from his waist, the safety catch clicked softly. "They're coming this way. There are at least twenty Kwantung Army soldiers with MP35 submachine guns in the southeast corner."

Lei Tao knelt on one knee, his palm clasped tightly around the tactical chip at the side of Black Dragon's neck. A faint blue data stream streamed through his pupils. "System, synchronize the prosthetic eye's vision!" He had barely finished his silent words when his retina suddenly exploded into a scarlet grid. Twenty-three orange-red heat sources wriggled eerily deep within the snow curtain—those were the Kwantung Army wrapped in winter gear. The metal contours of their MP35 submachine guns shone with a cold blue sheen. As the fan-shaped encirclement formation continued to shrink, the heat source in the barrel flickered like a venomous snake. His Adam's apple moved slightly, and he shared a holographic image of the battlefield through the tactical eyepieces of Meng Yan and Lao Qiao. "There's a gap at three o'clock. Break through and you'll find the alley behind Songguang Cinema." Black Dragon's low roar shook the snow off the eaves. The red light of his intelligent prosthetic eye surged, and his claws scraped sparks across the frozen ground.

The proprietress suddenly opened the kitchen curtain, clutching a half-sack of bran in her hand. "Let's go to the cellar! The exit leads to the grain store next door!" She scattered the bran on the ground, "Clean up the snow! The dog's footprints will give you away!"

As the wooden cellar door closed, Lei Tao wedged a dagger into the crack, jamming the mechanism. The proprietress whispered quickly, "The grain store's cellar leads directly to the alley behind Songguang Cinema. It was built last year during the plague!" She kicked aside the pile of bran in the corner, revealing a half-man-high blue brick archway. The musty smell mingled with the scent of stale cornmeal.

Meng Yan entered first, kerosene lamp in hand. Water droplets seeping from the brick walls shone coldly in the light. Twenty meters ahead, the distinct sound of leather boots echoed overhead. Japanese soldiers were kicking over rice bags between the shelves of the grain store. The old woodcutter suddenly grasped Lei Tao's shoulder and, using the dim light from his watch, pointed at a crack in the wall—three Japanese Type 97 grenades were slowly being pushed down from above!

"Hold your breath!" Lei Tao pulled everyone back half a meter. The moment the grenade hit the ground, Black Dragon had already grabbed the knotted fuse in his mouth and swung it toward the ventilation shaft. The muffled explosion sent dirt cascading from the cellar ceiling, but no one was hurt. The four men and the dog sprinted, their hurried footsteps and Black Dragon's heavy breathing echoing through the damp corridor.

Meng Yan kicked open the wooden planks at the exit, sending a cold wind swirling with snow particles. In the distance, Sasaki Yuji's armored vehicle rolled over the burning remains of the transportation station, its searchlight suddenly sweeping in their direction. Black Dragon's hair stood on end, its intelligent prosthetic eye locked onto the Kwantung Army machine gunner three hundred meters away, and a low-pitched vibration from his throat, the kind of vibration he'd hear before a battle.

Lei Tao waved his right hand and took out a Scorpion submachine gun from the Bagua Gyroscope space. It was a modified one he had previously used to deal with armed ninjas. Before Meng Yan and Lao Qiao could react, he pulled the bolt, opened the bolt safety, raised the gun and used the mechanical aim to lock the machine gunner's head. The moment the trigger was pulled, the .50AE bullet was like a meteorite breaking free from a cage, tearing through the scorching air and flying towards the machine gunner. The 23-gram copper shell bounced and rolled on the sand, and the scorch marks left by the tail flame were still sizzling.

The target was a Kwantung Army machine gunner three hundred meters away. The dull thud of a .50AE bullet hitting his helmet mixed with the crisp crack of his skull, and the Kwantung Army machine gunner's body fell backward like a puppet with its strings cut. Lei Tao's pupils suddenly constricted—the corpse's neck bore the same cherry blossom tattoo as the biochemical soldier before. The helmet rolled off, revealing half of his neck skin emblazoned with the Rising Sun flag.

"Something's wrong!" Lei Tao had barely finished his words when the bamboo forest on his left suddenly erupted in a hail of bullets. Meng Yan dragged the old woodcutter over and rolled on the ground, gravel flying past his ears. Black Dragon roared and charged towards the direction of the gunfire. Lei Tao knelt on one knee, flames spurting from the muzzle of his Scorpion submachine gun. The specially made tungsten core armor-piercing bullets cut through the bowl-thick bamboos like a hot knife through butter.

Amidst a shower of bamboo dust, seven or eight Kwantung Army soldiers were beaten to a pulp without a single scream. Before the cherry blossom emblems on their chests had even touched the ground, three masked ninjas leaped up like ghosts, their chain blades slashing with arcs of piercing white light. Lei Tao's Bajiquan suddenly unleashed its power, his right fist feinting to deceive the opponent's defense, and his left hand instantly unleashed a high-voltage pulse shock baton, sending arcs of dark blue electricity ripping through the cold night.

The ninja's pupils constricted, and he hastily drew his sword to block. But Lei Tao suddenly changed his tactics, swinging his club like a venomous snake, swerving around the blade and striking precisely at the Tiantu acupoint below the opponent's Adam's apple. A 20-volt surge of electricity exploded, sending the ninja convulsing violently and flying backwards. His back broke three bamboo sticks before he landed heavily on the ground, the foam pouring from his mouth still sizzling with electricity.

Black Dragon's prosthetic eye glowed red, and his steel teeth bit through another ninja's throat with pinpoint precision. Warm blood splattered onto the snow, creating a white mist. The last ninja retreated in terror, his kunai about to throw when Meng Yan's Type 38 rifle bullet grazed his ear. The old woodcutter swung a rope around his ankle, and they both pulled the trigger simultaneously. The bullet pierced his forehead, and the body curled into a strange arc on the snow.

"Those sakura-tattooed bastards are indeed connected to Unit 731." Lei Tao kicked away the sparking chain knife, his tactical eyepiece automatically scanning the cherry blossom emblems on the corpses. In the distance, the searchlight of Sasaki Yuji's armored vehicle pierced the snow, and the sound of tracks rolling over the snow grew closer.

The chain sickle of the ninja on the left had barely pierced the snow when Lei Tao charged forward like an arrow from a bow. His Bajiquan "support punch" was wrapped in a sharp gust of wind. His right fist feinted to draw aside the opponent's defense, and his left hand suddenly unleashed a high-voltage pulse shock baton, a dark blue arc of electricity slashing a ferocious streak in the cold night.

The ninja's pupils constricted, and he hastily drew his sword to block. But Lei Tao suddenly changed his tactics, swinging his staff like a serpent, swishing around the blade and precisely striking the opponent's Tiantu point, just below his Adam's apple. A 20-volt current instantly coursed through his body, sending the ninja convulsing violently, foaming at the mouth. His stiff body slammed heavily into the frozen puddle, and before the icy shards even hit the ground, he was already dead.

At the same moment, the black dragon pounced like black lightning at the ninja on the right. Its intelligent prosthetic eye precisely locked onto the opponent's carotid artery, its steel fangs bit down fiercely, ripping flesh apart in an instant. The ninja grunted and struggled, his kunai held fast in the dog's iron-like jaws. The black dragon's hind legs pushed off the ground, using inertia to fling the ninja towards the broken bamboo. The sharp stubble pierced his chest, and dark red blood spread a shocking pattern across the snow.

Seeing this, the last ninja turned and was about to throw a smoke bomb. Meng Yan fired his gun, and the M1911 bullet flew past the man's ear. Lao Qiao seized the opportunity to swing a rope around his ankle. As the ninja stumbled to the ground, the muzzles of their guns were pressed against his temple. "Bang! Bang!" The two gunshots startled the jackdaws and sent them flying. The body curled up in a strange arc in the snow.

Lei Tao put away his still-sizzling electric baton and bent over to examine the ninja's corpse. A tiny glass bottle tumbled from the man's arms, and a pale green liquid glowed eerily in the moonlight—it was Unit 731's signature biochemical agent. In the distance, the sound of armored vehicle tracks grinding through snow could be heard. Meng Yan kicked the chain sickle away from the ground. "Those bastards are indeed connected to the Kwantung Army's biochemical unit!"