Long-term salvation

"Tetsuji Yoshioka, Commander of the 2nd Submarine Squadron of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, First Lieutenant Colonel."

Rhodes: "...I'm going to contact Ains later and ask him to send someone to the Pacific Ocean to see if there's the evil god Gatanjea."

Wait a minute, we've already seen Yog-Sothoth, so there's a high probability that there's also that fat octopus boy in this world - damn, R'lyeh really exists - wait, it seems like I've already seen two Cthulhu-seed evil gods, and I even dare to snatch the potato chips from the evil god's daughter, so having one more fat boy is nothing unacceptable.

Helplessly covering his face, Rhode ignored Little Red Riding Hood who had begun to pick at his cheeks and sighed as he said:

"Come on, let me meet Mr. Sawai's 'friend'."

Chapter 107: Tetsuji Yoshioka Just Wants to Retire (3.5K)

Just like in the morning, the entire hot spring hotel was still deserted, and nothing much happened because of the newcomer's identity.

If anything, the light layer of snow in the courtyard had been swept away, revealing the brown earth and the grayish-blue paving stones. However, the snow still remained on the low shrubs planted along the brick path, perhaps out of laziness, a sense that it was not worth the effort, or perhaps for aesthetic reasons.

Walking along the rough brick road, Rod entered the hotel, took off his shoes in front of the smiling face of the hotel owner, and put on the slippers she handed him.

"Thank you, Madam Landlady. What are you having for dinner?" Rhodes asked. The warmth of the hotel made him feel relaxed, and even the worries in his heart disappeared a little. "Could you have some more tofu?"

"Of course, sir."

The proprietress said this with a smile. She picked up a small comb and helped Little Red Riding Hood comb away the stray snow from her long red hair. She was very wary of Rhode - this young man already had three lovely girls around him who were willing to die for him at first glance, so she had to keep her daughters away from him.

Thinking of this, the proprietress quickly added, remembering her business:

"Mr. Yoshioka has been waiting for a long time. Please allow me to lead you there."

"Excuse me, Madam."

Following the proprietress, Rhodes' feet made a dull thud as they stepped on the wooden floor, which reminded him of his experience in Kaishin Village. The floor in the Kurosawa family mansion also made the same sound when he walked on it. If the sound was louder, it would attract some terrifying vengeful spirits.

Rhode, filled with chaotic thoughts, was led to a Japanese sliding door. The proprietress knelt on the ground and opened the door with her daughter who had been waiting there long ago.

The first thing that caught my eye was a low brown wooden table, which was filled with utensils needed for the Japanese tea ceremony. A kettle placed on a small stove was making a not-so-harsh whistle, and the steam pushed the lid of the kettle up and down. Some hot water overflowed from it and touched the edge of the stove that was heated by the charcoal fire, making a sizzling sound.

A rough hand picked up the kettle and poured the hot water into the teapot.

"So, this is the 'savior' you're talking about?" Tetsuji Yoshioka raised an eyebrow and asked his friend, "I remember decades ago, you told me that there are no saviors in this world."

"I'm a materialist, Yoshioka," Sawai Soichiro said with a smile.

"I'm not arrogant enough to lead human civilization, Mr. Yoshioka."

As Rhode spoke, he walked into the large room and saw Asuka Iki sitting upright, looking as if she was being stared at by a tiger, wanting to cry but unable to. She now looked towards Rhode for help. Sitting next to her, black-haired Nikki said calmly:

“The tea tastes just average.”

"I don't know how to taste tea, little girl. It's just like a cow chewing a peony." Tetsushi Yoshioka didn't get angry. He smiled and patted the tatami mat under him. "Sit down, Rod. I know your name... Well, you obviously know mine too. Sawai likes to tell everything to others."

"That's really hurtful, Yoshioka," Sawai Soichiro said, but his face was full of smiles. He took off his coat and hung it on the hanger next to him, then sat down in the same upright posture.

After taking a look at Asuka Iki, and realizing that she was the girl he had seen when he went to Minamigami Village, Sawai Soichiro said with a smile:

"Relax, kid, there's no one here."

"Humph, girls nowadays can't even sit up straight. They'll definitely be complained about by their husbands and in-laws in the future."

"Are you an old-fashioned Showa guy? Yoshioka, it's already the Heisei era. Sit back and relax, kid, and ignore him."

"Haha, you're talking as if you're not some old Showa antique," Tetsuji Yoshioka said with a smile and a hint of self-mockery. After pouring tea for the newcomers, he slowly said, "Rod, will this young man become the leader of your secret society in the future? But I think he's just handsome—which is quite appealing to girls. Besides that, what else is there that I value?"

This person's words were quite aggressive, Rhode thought. While Sawai and Yoshioka weren't paying attention, he quickly put on and then took off his all-seeing glasses, then took a sip of tea as a cover... Well, thankfully, this person was from the same world as Sawai Soichiro, which made him feel a little more at ease.

Facing Yoshioka's questioning, Sawai handed him a handheld DV camera containing some footage Rod had filmed in Kaigami Village. The video was blurry at first, but as time went by, the images became clearer and clearer.

Tetsuji Yoshioka frowned and looked carefully, his lips tightly pursed, and it was obvious that he was not as calm as he appeared on the surface.

"Remember what we encountered in the mountains of Yamanashi Prefecture several years ago?" Sawai said seriously, "The car was driving on the mountain road, but it was soon fixed in place by an invisible heavy force. When we got out of the car-"

"After getting off the bus, I saw a young man in yellow clothes sitting on the roof of our car. He immediately disappeared, leaving behind only a long laugh." Tetsuji Yoshioka looked at the video on the DV and saw Rhodes's super-soldier-like fighting power. He finally sighed, "I have a strange premonition, Sawai."

"It's as if all of human civilization is shrouded in an iron curtain of sanity and banality, beneath which lies a mad and bizarre world."

"This is what I'm doing now, saving human civilization," Sawai Soichiro looked into his friend's eyes. "If I die, you will take over my job and become a member of the Kogito Foundation."

"Don't say stupid things! (马鹿なことを言うな!)"

Tetsushi Yoshioka's eyes suddenly widened, his commanding presence as a senior officer fully revealed, causing Asuka Ikiji to immediately retreat further behind Rhode. Little Red Riding Hood and Yang weren't paying attention to the men's conversation; one was slowly sipping tea, the other was sitting with her legs crossed, gazing at the patterns on the ceiling, neither of them knowing what they were thinking.

After Sawai and Yoshioka exchanged a glare for a few seconds, the latter looked away and sighed:

"This is the last year I can help you. I plan to leave the Self-Defense Forces and retire early at the end of next year."

"Huh? What's going on?"

"There are too many idiots," Yoshioka said, his brows thick with disdain as he took a sip of his tea. "Those young officers in the Self-Defense Forces...ah, the 'defense tribe,' they're extremely dissatisfied with the current defense system and have been stirring up trouble, even receiving covert support from the United States Army. There's a powerful, hard-line senator who wants to reorganize a NATO in the Pacific to counter the Soviet Union and Aurora. Ha, the smell of them pursuing selfish gains for themselves and the forces behind them is truly disgusting."

"No... Shouldn't the fundamental purpose of changing Japan's defense system be to face the United States troops?"

"Do they have the guts? They better have," Tetsushi Yoshioka sneered. "Everyone's beating drums and dancing. The politicians are clapping their hands on the stage, and those idiots are banging their tables down there, pretending not to see the elephant in the room. It's boring. I'm ready to quit the Self-Defense Forces. I'll be ostracized if I stay any longer. I'd rather leave early and avoid being bullied."

Listening to his old friend's complaints, Sawai Soichiro didn't know how to respond for a moment. He was silent for a few seconds, picked up the tea that had already cooled down and drank it, then refilled it for himself and pointed at Rhodes with a smile:

"It looks like you'll have to live under his control from now on."

"Wow, what? This guy can even give me a submarine to drive? No, Atlas can really give me a submarine to drive—maybe even a nuclear submarine. In that case, I'm very optimistic about you, young man."

Well, now he has grown from a boy to a young man. Rod Mu closed his eyes and felt that he was being teased back and forth by two elders... Why did he seem to be quite popular with those old men?

Tetsuji Yoshioka chattered to Sawai about his recent troubles in the army, and picked up the teapot to pour new tea for Rhodes.

After taking a sip of the tea, Rhode felt the bitter fragrance returning to his mouth, and the warmth conveyed by the slightly hot tea as it rolled into his lungs. He sighed with some satisfaction, then slowly said:

"I intend to establish an army to fight against the creatures of the otherworld. It will be called the Army Without Borders (國境なき廍團). Establishing a navy is inevitable, and a submarine force is even more so... The darkness and secrets hidden under the sea are probably no less than those on land."

"It sounds like another tough job," Tetsuji Yoshioka sighed, but he was not discouraged by the mess. Instead, he had more expectations.

In another world, Tetsuji Yoshioka became the chief of police not just because he was a hawkish figure. His passion and persistence in protecting human civilization and his vision of letting humans live in peace for generations were not only Sawai Soichiro's goal, but also his desire.

"Looks like I can look forward to working together in the future?" Rhodes responded with a smile, but then immediately added a teasing and a warning—just like he had said to General Hammer. With a feigned expression of sorrow, he said helplessly, "When Mr. Sawai confessed your identity, I thought you were going to bring a group of people to arrest me."

"In that case, the bureaucrats will probably have to go through another year of procedures to decide whether to release you or lock you up, another year to order an investigation, and then another year, or perhaps even more years, to conduct the investigation before it's all over."

Tetsushi Yoshioka waved his hands. In his heart, he didn't believe the harmless expression on Rhodes' face. This man could make Sawai trust him, could make Ains give in, and could go in and out of groups of monsters and ghosts. If he really regarded him as a kid who knew nothing, then what was the difference between him and those idiots in the Defense Agency?

However, this topic is indeed a bit sensitive, so I still need to discuss it with Sawai in detail later... Thinking of this, Tetsushi Yoshioka smiled and changed the subject:

"But, let me tell you something interesting. Do you know how Sawai and I met?"

"How did you know him?" Zejing snorted coldly, "You have to ask me how I got to know the stick in your house first!"

"It was at the end of 1968. University students in Tokyo were on strike, and as a student at a military academy, I was drafted in to reinforce the riot police..." Tetsuji Yoshioka recounted this with a playful smile, as if his old friend's embarrassing incident had brought him back to his youth. "It was just 'sports,' you know. I was chasing from behind, and he was running in front. And you know what, he was really good at running!"

"I was a long-distance runner on the school team," Sawai deadpanned, "otherwise I would have been beaten to a pulp long ago, and you still haven't paid for my ramen that day in all these years!"

Hearing this, Tetsuji Yoshioka laughed heartily, leaned forward, patted Rhodes' shoulder, and pointed at Sawai and said:

"He and I were both exhausted from running, so Sawai suggested treating me to a bowl of ramen so I could pretend I hadn't met him. What a brilliant decision! I was tired and hungry, so I just jumped at the chance... Then we ended up eating ramen together at a street-side ramen shop, while the noise outside was horrific."

"How dare you say that? The owner of that ramen shop must be scared to death by you!"

"Hahaha--"

Listening to the bickering between Sawai and Yoshioka, Rhodes shook his head in amusement and continued to sip the tea in his cup.

He sincerely hoped to take a hot spring bath and have a good rest tonight.

Chapter 108: A short break in the hot spring hotel

"I'm tired of wars between humans."

"In the future, there will definitely be a battle between the Army Without Borders and humans."

"But there's a difference between 'only fighting humans' and 'occasionally fighting humans.' I can face sudden suffering with a laugh, but it's hard to resist the slow, day-in, day-out crushing that continues for years. You have to protect not only human civilization, kid, but also your subordinates."

After saying this, Tetsuji Yoshioka chose to leave without even eating dinner, and Sawai Soichiro followed suit. He needed to quickly start compiling folklore data about Minamigami Village and contact the Saikawa Shrine in Nara. In short, Sawai, who was just taking a picnic, still had a lot of work to do.

Before leaving, Sawai Soichiro put his arm around Rhodes' shoulders and said earnestly:

"I can't let my subordinates down, and the same goes for those around me—don't worry! I've booked the hot spring hotel for a week. It's using the funds sponsored by Ains, but after this week, you'll have to pay for it yourself... Do your best! Even the best business needs a successor. All the foundation directors think so!"

What are you doing? You need a successor?!

I'm here to take a hot spring bath, what do you want to do?!

Rhodes: “…”

After seeing off the two middle-aged men at the hot spring hotel, Rhodes, wearing a yukata and a coat, trembled as he trotted back to the hotel, not even having time to appreciate the view of the courtyard at dusk.

Back in the long, brightly lit house, Rhode hung his coat in the closet and saw Little Red Riding Hood teaching Asuka Ikiji how to play the video game. Yang had disappeared somewhere. The girls were wearing plain yukata, a bit flimsy, but thanks to the central air conditioning, the room was warm enough that even naked wouldn't feel cold, just a bit chilly.

Seeing Rhode's return, red-haired Nikki's lips curved slightly. She twisted the girl's body and pressed against her back, pressing her full chest into an erotic oval shape. She smiled and said:

"Yang put some light makeup on Muji, how about that?"

"...It will be spent in the hot springs at night."

"One minute is enough," Asuka Ikiji whispered. She mustered up her courage and raised her head despite her shyness.

The azure and emerald green eyes looked at each other, and a man and a woman saw their own faces in each other's eyes.

"It looks great," Rhodes looked away and fled. "What are we having for dinner tonight?"

"Didn't the commander say he wanted to eat tofu? Do you want to taste mine?"

"Get out!"

Little Red Riding Hood took the cushion thrown by Rod with a smile, and threw it back with greater force. With each move, her yukata slipped slightly, revealing a large area of ​​fair and delicate skin.

Hiss... I can't play around with this shameless female hooligan anymore.

Having made up his mind, Rhode took the cushion and placed it behind his head, lying down. No matter how much Little Red Riding Hood provoked him, he remained motionless, his eyes wide open like a frozen fish, and he began to plan his next schedule.

Asuka Iki's dream, the reply from Nara about the shrine, the acquisition of Shinohara Heavy Industries, the follow-up arrangements for the Amakura sisters, and other things... Before he could think of anything, the door of the big house was opened, and Yang and the proprietress came in carrying a long table.

It's dinner time—

The first dishes served were lightly pickled cabbage, sliced ​​octopus feet, pickled spinach and radish. They were light and refreshing, not overpowering with sesame oil. The only thing that really suited Rhode's taste was the generously portioned scallion-covered tofu. This cold dish was identical to the one served in Aurora, except for the addition of Japanese dried shrimp and sauce.

"The tofu you've been thinking about," Yang said with a smile. She knelt down beside Rhodes, tilted her head slightly to glance at him, and then took out a small stool from the bottom of the cabinet. "If you're not feeling well, you can sit on this."

"That's a big help, Yang."

"Oh! We're having sukiyaki tonight...it has tofu in it," Little Red Riding Hood sat across from Rhode, while Asuka Ikiji sat to her left, opposite Yang. After happily dividing the plates and bowls, Nikki, sitting cross-legged, bit her chopsticks rather rudely, looking out the door, muttering to herself:

"It's snowing. It will be cold to take a hot spring bath at night, right?"

"Just get in there quickly," Rhode said, picking up a trembling piece of tofu and stuffing it into his mouth. "Let's eat first. I've been starving since then, and I even ran around the village all afternoon."

In just a few minutes, the long table was filled with various Japanese dishes and various seafood sashimi - Rhodes's intuition for this thing was really average. Every time he ate sashimi, he thought the system was instilling some "knowledge" into him.

However, if you pair it with some mustard and soy sauce and drink it with alcohol, it becomes a completely different story.

As he thought about this, Rhodes saw the hotel owner bring in a bottle of Japanese shochu from outside, and then placed four small cups on the table before slowly leaving.

"The Commander will definitely drink, so would Muji like to have some?"

"Eh? Then... let's have some."

Curiosity and trepidation crossed Asuka Iki's face. She licked her lips and watched Little Red Riding Hood fill her glass halfway. The clear liquor swirled in the glass, as if to absorb the girl's thoughts, making her look forward to the night.

"You might not be able to wake up at night," Rhodes reminded.

"I just have a feeling I might not dream tonight," Asuka Jingmuji picked up his wine glass, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Even if I fall into a nightmare, Mr. Rhodes will definitely appear, right? After all, we are so close today, so close."

After saying that, the girl bravely drank some wine and began to enjoy the happiness in the real world.

About five minutes later, Rhodes took out the mattress and spread it under Asukai Muji. The girl drank a little too quickly and was knocked down after just a few sips. Fortunately, she had eaten something before, so her stomach would not be hurt.

The girl with long black hair was curled up on the mattress, her yukata hanging down from her chest but not revealing any of her sexiness. Her pretty face was flushed from being drunk.

"Swish - Commander, this little sheep is lying in front of you defenseless," Little Red Riding Hood laughed sinisterly, but was immediately hit on the forehead by the paper fan thrown by Yang. The latter said unhappily:

"Think about the agreement, Little Red Riding Hood. You've been jumping around a lot lately."

"What agreement?" Rhodes asked knowingly.

"When you cheat, we'll all get something, like - Marianne gets the head, Yuka gets the left hand, Noah gets the right hand, and I get the…"

"Eat yours!"

After dinner, at nine o'clock, although the snowflakes outside were still fluttering, they were much smaller, and the cold wind also stopped temporarily, retreating into the dark clouds of the deep night sky.