4: Chapter 4: A Citywide Manhunt!!!

1941, Beijing.

North China Area Army Military Police Headquarters.

Military Police Commander Colonel Abe Sho's face was livid.

"baka!"

Abe Sho suddenly grabbed the ceramic teacup from the table and smashed it fiercely onto the floor!

"A crushing humiliation! It is simply a humiliation unprecedented for the Imperial Japanese Army and my North China Area Army!"

"In Beijing! In broad daylight! A dignified Imperial Army Sergeant was actually shot in the head in public! Executed like a chicken!"

"This is not just murder; this is a slap in the face to our entire Military Police Headquarters! It is a slap in the face to the Abe family!"

Adjutant Yamaguchi Ken bowed ninety degrees: "Hai! Please calm your anger, Commander! It is my incompetence and a lapse in security that caused this disaster. Even death would not be enough to atone for my guilt!"

The adjutant was a smooth talker and quickly provided his superior with a way out.

Abe Sho breathed heavily, and after a while, he barely suppressed his rage.

At this moment, Adjutant Yamaguchi Ken spoke cautiously: "Commander, please calm your anger and take care of your health."

"I have already ordered the entire city to be under martial law, with all four gates tightly sealed! Not even a fly will be able to fly out!"

"At the same time, I have dispatched all available Military Police and Puppet Army troops to conduct a carpet search, house by house, centered on the scene of the incident!"

Upon hearing this, Abe Sho's gloomy expression softened slightly, and he nodded: "Yoshi, Yamaguchi-kun, you did well! Beijing is only so big; unless that assassin grows wings, it is impossible for him to escape."

"Surely, we will receive good news soon."

"Once we catch that ignorant fellow... I will interrogate him personally!"

"Skinning, disemboweling, electrocution... I will make him suffer every torture in the world and howl for three days and three nights before he is allowed to die!"

Yamaguchi Ken bowed deeply again: "Hai! The Commander is wise!"

After speaking, the two Old Devils smiled at each other.

In their view, within the Beijing city, which was under the absolute control of the Imperial Army, catching a lone assassin was merely catching a turtle in a jar, an easy task.

However...

Time ticked away, second by second.

Until late at night.

The anticipated news of "catching the assassin" did not arrive.

The composure on Abe Sho's face gradually disappeared. He stopped sipping tea, and his fingers began to tap on the table unconsciously.

The rhythm of the tapping became faster and more chaotic.

"Bang!"

Abe Sho could no longer hold back and slammed his fist onto the table, making the tea set clatter: "What is going on? Why is there still no news?"

Even though only one Sergeant had died, this incident was not small, and the impact was extremely severe.

After all, it happened in broad daylight, in front of everyone.

If the enemy could not be punished publicly and legally as soon as possible, then the Imperial Army's face would be rubbed into the dirt.

If things went wrong, even Commander-in-Chief Tada Shun would have to intervene.

Abe Sho was very clear that for the past six months, Commander Tada's life had not been easy.

Just as he was about to explode again, the office door was pushed open violently, and a Japanese Soldier ran in, panting.

"Re... Report, Commander!"

"Speak! Have you caught that bastard yet?" Abe Sho roared.

The Japanese Soldier shrank his neck: "Com... Commander! We... we have followed orders and searched all suspicious areas in the city, questioned a large number of residents... but... but..."

"But what?" A sense of foreboding rose in Abe Sho's heart.

The Japanese Soldier's voice trembled: "But, we did not find any trace of the assassin! That person... it's as if... as if he vanished into thin air!"

"Nani?!"

Abe Sho stood up abruptly, his expression changing instantly.

A city-wide manhunt, and nothing to show for it?

A living person, in the martial-law-controlled city of Beijing, killed an Imperial Army officer and just evaporated into thin air?

"baka! This is impossible!"

"Unless..."

"Unless he has accomplices!"

In an instant, Abe Sho thought of the only possibility.

Only in this way could it be possible to evade the search of their Imperial Army.

"Commander, what should we do next?" Adjutant Yamaguchi Ken asked with some concern.

If the other party really had an accomplice with the status of a "good citizen" helping to provide cover, then finding them would not be easy. At least in the short term, it would be difficult.

Unexpectedly, Abe Sho laughed.

"Having accomplices is good. I was worried that killing just one wasn't satisfying enough; this way, I can wipe them all out."

"Commander, do you mean... fishing?" Adjutant Yamaguchi Ken seemed to have realized something.

"Correct!" Abe Sho nodded.

After the assassination incident during the day, those three "Communist Bandits" were not executed again but were taken back into custody by him.

An Imperial Army Colonel is a person of high standing. Abe Sho was able to become the North China Army Military Police Commander not only because of family factors but also because he himself was very capable.

He looked cruel: "Pass the order down: execute them again in three days, but this time not by shooting, but by extreme torture."

"Extreme torture?" The adjutant did not quite understand.

Abe Sho smiled slightly: "I heard that China has a form of extreme torture called Lingchi."

"Lingchi..." Yamaguchi Ken shivered.

Of course, he had heard of this method of execution; it was extremely cruel, but it seemed to be the only way to get the enemy to take the bait.

"The Commander is wise! This plan will surely make those resistance elements throw themselves into the net!" Yamaguchi Ken bowed to accept the order, but before turning to leave, he couldn't help but ask one more question:

"Sir, if... if the enemy holds back and doesn't take the bait?"

Upon hearing this, Abe Sho smiled coldly: "Then just grab a few Chinese people, pretend they are the assassin's accomplices, and execute them by Lingchi in public!"

"Imperial Army soldiers must not die in vain! The Imperial Army's face must be washed with blood!"

"As for whose blood is used... that is not important."

[Ding! Host, please prepare yourself. Initiating time travel...]

[Ding! Space-time coordinates locked. Environment scan complete. No one is around, safe to descend!]

Swish—

A glimmer flashed.

The next second, Shen Wang's figure appeared again in a remote Beijing alley.

"Huh? Is it just dawn?"

Shen Wang was stunned for a moment and looked up at the sky, which was just beginning to turn pale.

What the hell is going on?

He remembered that when he traveled back to reality before, it was clearly noon, and the sun was high.

But now, he had returned to the early morning.

"Time travel reversal?"