War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1844 Praise Dad
"Do they have anyone else?" Wei Ran asked as he pulled up the curtain on the inside of the cabin door's glass in the cabin where Zhao Jingrong was.

"unclear"

Zhao Jingrong replied, "As soon as we returned to the cabin, they threatened us with the child and took us under control."

"Mr. Musashi is in the nanny's room. He is under control. Knock on the door twice fast and twice slow." Wei Ran said, "Which one do you want to ask?"

"I'll go ask Mr. Musashi."

As Zhao Jingrong spoke, he took the master key handed to him by Wei Ran and left the cabin carrying the baby.

Standing at the door and looking at both sides of the corridor, Wei Ran closed the door again. After observing the room for a while, he cut the power cord of the desk lamp with a dinner knife, separated it into two strands, peeled off the wire skin, and then wrapped one of the strands around the ring on Sato's hand.

Just this kind of preparation was enough to let Sato guess what was going to happen, and his originally cold and arrogant expression became a little more flustered.

"I'm not good at torture, but I believe you and Mr. Volt are very good at it, so you must know what I want to ask, and Mr. Volt will definitely give you a satisfactory answer."

As Wei Ran spoke, he cut a small piece of cloth from the hem of the other person's shirt and tied the ring with the wire tightly to his finger to prevent it from breaking free.

After plugging the power cord into the socket, Wei Ran saw that the other party began to shiver immediately, so he quickly pulled it out and plugged it back in a different direction, then gently touched Sato's other hand with another wire.

Under Mr. Volt's comfort, Sato immediately trembled.

Fortunately, the wire in Wei Ran's hand separated immediately, leaving him with only a needle-like pain and indescribable numbness.

"Where I grew up, there was a saying: If you don't understand something, click on it."

Wei Ran was talking in a mysterious voice, but it did not stop him from pressing the wire in his hand against Sato's lips.

This time, he didn't rush to separate, and Sato began to tremble immediately.

About three seconds later, Wei Ran took away the wire, pulled out the thing from the man's mouth and said, "I don't mind using your thing to pass on your genes to verify the conductivity of the human body, but that thing won't work if it's charged for too long."

After saying that, he stretched out his hand and began to pull Sato's pants. The latter began to struggle violently, and said in panic, "I am not Mr. Musashi's son-in-law, I am from Genyosha."

"Genyosha? If I remember correctly, the Genyosha doesn't seem to have a very good relationship with the military, and it is no longer active. Most of their members have joined the Tongwenhui, right?"

Wei Ran's casual words immediately made Sato, or rather the man whose name was not clear whether it was Sato, fall into great panic.

"Who are you?" the man asked in horror.

I'm a historian!
Wei Ran gave the answer in his heart. These were considered secret things in this era, and in the future they would at most be considered as an insignificant little test point.

While giving the answer in his mind, he did not forget to touch the other person's lips with the wire in his hand again, "Watch your identity and volume. If you do it again, I will stick this wire into your urethra."

Deliberately using such a crude and perverted way to warn, Wei Ran took away the wire and said in Chinese, "So you concealed it?"

It was just one sentence, but Wei Ran frowned. The other party didn't understand Chinese, but whether it was the Genyosha or the Tongwenhui, knowing Chinese could even be said to be their basic professional requirement.

"You didn't tell the truth to your father, right?" Wei Ran said, and directly poked the wire into the other person's nostrils.

Under the stimulation of the electric current, this small punishment, which seemed to cause little harm on the surface, caused the other party to convulse and burst into tears for a while.

After patiently giving enough rewards, Wei Ran took the wire and put it on the other party's belt, looking at him with a smile.

"Even if you kill me."

"I won't kill you"

Wei Ran smiled and said, "We still have a long journey ahead of us, you have plenty of time to enjoy it slowly."

Having said that, Wei Ran did not attack the lower parts. Firstly, he did not have such disgusting hobbies, and secondly, he did not want the other party to become incontinent, as he would have to suffer the consequences when cleaning up.

Because of this, he placed the wire on the fingertips of the other person's other hand and moved it back and forth as if he was playing the piano.

Under this intermittent and repetitive stimulation, the bound Sato did not hold out as long as Wei Ran predicted and gave a new answer, "Nanfang. Stop now, I say."

"I'll stop after you finish speaking." Wei Ran slowly moved the wire in his hand back and forth across the other person's five fingers.

"Southern Special Investigation Team," Sato said, "I'm from the Southern Special Investigation Team."

"How did you get to Musashi's side?" Wei Ran asked while continuing to pull the wires.

"His daughter and son-in-law were kidnapped and disappeared by the local resistance organization. I was also exposed in the local area because I was hiding in the store run by his daughter and son-in-law."

Sato shivered uncontrollably. "Mr. Musashi, who happened to be there, needed a new face to follow him to Shencheng, so he took me with him."

"So that's how it is, but it's not important."

Wei Ran said, gently poking the wire into the other person's fingernail, "I'm sure you'll say something else that interests me."

When it comes to torture, either you don't say anything and endure it until you die, or you speak up early and suffer less. A masochist like Sato, who has to suffer and can't keep his mouth shut, is a perfect match for Mr. Volt.

Because of this, before Wei Ran could even scrape the mud out of Sato's nails with the wire in his hand, he actively exercised his subjective initiative and said something valuable.

"Mr. Aoi was Mr. Musashi's man. His accidental death made Mr. Musashi no longer trust you."

Sato looked at the wire in Wei Ran's hand with fear and said, "But he trusts you very much, so he plans to interrogate the man to find out the truth after you get off the boat."

"trust me?"

Wei Ran smiled and continued to gently stroke the other party with the wire, "This is not enough, you haven't satisfied my curiosity."

"He originally planned to kill Hirano Daisho, but after learning that he had a son, he planned to control him through the child and let him continue to help me with my business."

"What business?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"As for the business in Southeast Asia, I don't know the details," Sato replied tearfully.

"Why can Mr. Musashi do these businesses?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"He was a photography teacher at the East Asia Dobun College," Sato answered immediately, "He also taught the Southern Special Investigation Class."

"This is a pleasant surprise." Wei Ran said with certainty, "You must know something else."

"Please ask me, I can tell you anything you want to know." Sato pleaded with tears in his eyes. He could already smell the burning smell of the wire that would occasionally poke into the cracks between his fingernails.

"Tell me about the name Hoshino Ichiro"

Wei Ran asked a completely irrelevant question, "Also, are his daughter and son-in-law confirmed dead?"

"It is said that this is the name his biological father left him, but he never used it."

Sato quickly replied, "The surname Musashi comes from his mother. His mother had an affair with his father before marriage and gave birth to him."

"Where did you hear all this?"

“It’s pretty much an open secret.”

"That's not a satisfactory answer to me," Wei Ran said in a dishonest manner.

"His daughter and son-in-law haven't been confirmed dead," Sato said, changing the question to one that's easier to answer, "but they've been missing for a long time, and Mr. Musashi has given up on them."

Just at this moment, there was a knock on the door. Sato was about to shout, but Wei Ran had already put the wire to the other's mouth and pressed it directly on his tongue.

Reaching out and pulling out the plug of the power cord, Wei Ran stuffed the gloves and tie back into Sato's mouth and tied them up with a belt. Then he hid beside the wall and carefully lifted the curtains with a kitchen knife to take a look outside.

Seeing that it was Zhao Jingrong outside, he opened the door, looked both ways cautiously, and then motioned for him to come in.

"What did you find out?" they asked each other in unison.

"Let's go talk next door"

As Wei Ran spoke, he turned back to Sato, spread his legs at the knees, and then tied his ankles together with electric wire.

After leaving the cabin and locking the door, they went to the next room. While looking through the luggage brought by Ichiro Hoshino and Sato, they exchanged the information they had obtained.

In general, these two people are quite honest, and what they confessed is basically the same. Of course, both Musashi and Ichiro Hoshino confessed more.

"This old guy really trusts you"

Zhao Jingrong sighed, "He knew that his daughter and son-in-law were dead, but he kept these two things a secret because he planned to have you return to Zhaohe as his son-in-law and live with him in the future. He said he admired your talent for photography."

"this one?"

Wei Ran handed the photo frame he had taken out of Hoshino Ichiro's suitcase to the other party to have a look. He had seen this photo frame and the photo inside in the safe in the photo agency's office.

In the photo, Ichiro Hoshino is sitting on a chair in a kimono. Behind him is a girl who looks somewhat similar to him, and a boy with buck teeth, glasses, and looks stupid, like a real-life adult Nobita Nobi.

"That should be it. This guy is so ugly that his daughter has the guts to eat him." Zhao Jingrong clicked his tongue while prying open the padlock of Sato's suitcase.

In addition to spare clothes, there were also several gold bars and three passports belonging to Indonesia, Zhaohe and China at that time.

"Maybe he has special skills." Wei Ran took the photo frame and threw it back into the suitcase. "What else did he say?"

"He went to Feilu Funeral this time with the intention of controlling Hirano Daisho and using him to plunder antiques from the Chinese in Southeast Asia. In addition, he also seemed to be planning to operate rubber and lead mines."

At this point, Zhao Jingrong paused, "Also, he wants to see you." "No problem"

Wei Ran said this, threw the kitchen knife in his hand onto the table, then turned and went to the next room.

He nodded to the nanny who was coaxing the child, and the latter went to the next room carrying the baby whose hair had been pulled out. Wei Ran also pulled over a chair and sat in front of Ichiro Hoshino.

At this time, although the old man had barely put on his pants, he looked extremely embarrassed and sad.

"You want to see me?" Wei Ran asked curiously, leaning on the back of the chair while riding on it.

"Why did you betray me?" asked Ichiro Hoshino with a lonely look.

"betray?"

Wei Ran smiled and said, "The price of my loyalty to you is betraying China, the country that gave birth to me and raised me. But I have never betrayed China, so how can I be loyal to you or betray you?"

“So from the beginning.”

"Why do you think I'm so willing to wag my tail and beg for loyalty?" Wei Ran continued to ask with a smile, "Is it because of your personal charm?"

"So from the beginning, everything you did was just an act?"

"yes"

Wei Ran sighed, "I have never been humiliated for so long. From this point of view, you have enough to be proud of yourself."

"I originally planned to let you return to Osaka with me as my son-in-law."

Hoshino Ichiro sighed, "My daughter and son-in-law are both dead. My stupid son-in-law is a descendant of an early immigrant group. He never even went to recruit nuclear weapons. I hate him and look down on him, but my daughter loves him deeply."

At this point, Hoshino Ichiro looked up and said seriously, "Ryunosuke, go kill Sato, and then come back with me to recruit the core. I will treat you as my own son."

"It's useless even if you treat me as your father," Wei Ran sneered, "You Japanese can fuck yourselves, but I don't plan to burn myself."

Ichiro Hoshino obviously didn't understand what Wei Ran was saying, but before he could say anything else, Wei Ran said, "I'll give you two choices."

"What choice?" Hoshino Ichiro asked after a long silence.

"Or I'll strip you naked tonight, hang you on the bow, and then stick a water pipe up your asshole to make a Jesus fountain for this boat."

Wei Ran continued to disgust him, "Or, you write a letter of authorization, asking me to continue to help you manage the photo agency, and cooperate with Captain Jin's actions all the way."

“You just liked my writing.”

"I'm just borrowing your identity to continue doing some things," Wei Ran corrected, "Will you write it?"

"So in those previous transactions, were you supporting the guerrillas outside the city?"

"Will you write it or not?" Wei Ran was too lazy to talk nonsense and stood up and asked.

"Okay." Ichiro Hoshino wisely chose to cooperate.

He realized belatedly that the student who in his impression was always timid and had an expression of admiration and flattery on his face, actually had a terrifying side.

He is a photographer, and if you look at it from a photography perspective alone, he can even be considered an excellent photographer. But the more so, the more clearly he can see that Wei Ran at this moment is hoping that he will resist in everything.

He could also see that if he resisted, the young man who did not hide the murderous intent on his face would definitely make his death painful and long enough.

While Ichiro Hoshino was daydreaming, Wei Ran left the room and went to the suitcase next door to find the pen, letter paper and envelope.

After bringing these things back to the cabin where the nanny originally lived, Wei Ran helped Hoshino Ichiro reset the dislocated thumb on his right hand with a crisp sound. "It's enough to write with one hand. You'd better not play word games with me, otherwise I don't mind hiding you and letting you smoke opium three times a day."

Hearing this, Ichiro Hoshino sighed, picked up the pen and began writing on the letter paper.

"I thought we were at least friends," Ichiro Hoshino said as he wrote, and he still seemed to be unwilling to give up.

"Impossible," Wei Ran smiled, "It was impossible from the beginning."

"Why?" Hoshino Ichiro asked.

"Since you taught photography courses to spies at the East Asian Common Culture College, we can never be friends." Wei Ran said calmly, "We can only be enemies."

"I haven't killed anyone," Hoshino Ichiro argued.

"Ah"

Wei Ran just sneered, but was too lazy to argue with the other party, "Stop talking nonsense and write quickly. You spies are so hateful. If you don't want to write, I will let you taste the feeling of being electrocuted later."

"We can be friends," Ichiro Hoshino sighed as he wrote.

"That day will come." Wei Ran's answer made the other party subconsciously raise his head.

"When we burn, kill, and plunder your land, and wantonly abuse your men, women, old people, and children, we will become friends, very good, very good friends."

Wei Ran smiled and said, "I hope you can be stronger by then and don't surrender easily."

“That day will never come”

Hoshino Ichiro said, "You are too young, Longzhi."

"Wei Ran, my name is Wei Ran."

The time traveler from the future reminded him seriously, "Since you can speak Chinese, you'd better not call my name wrong again."

"Okay, Wei Ran."

Hoshino Ichiro said helplessly, "You are too young. The difference in national strength between China and Zhaohe is too great. You will never have the ability to invade Zhaohe."

"That day will come," Wei Ran smiled, "and it won't be long."

Ichiro Hoshino obviously didn't believe it, but he didn't argue with Wei Ran. He just wrote the power of attorney honestly, and then let Wei Ran cover his mouth and tie him up like a dumpling with the cloth straps used to carry children.

After returning to the next room with the power of attorney, Zhao Jingrong whispered, "Wang Fu and Wang Gui came just now. I asked them to take the nanny and the child off the boat first. Wei Ran, you should get off as well."

"What will you do if I leave?" Wei Ran asked.

“Follow the original plan”

Zhao Jingrong pointed to the next door and said, "After the ship sets sail, Wang Fu and Wang Gui will help me get rid of Sato tonight. After daybreak, I will be Sato."

With a long sigh, Zhao Jingrong continued, "I will take Lao Gui to change ships at Ningbo Port to go to Portugal and Macao. Wei Ran, we will meet again in the future if we are lucky."

"Survival"

Wei Ran said seriously, "Live until the end of the war. We have to avenge the 32 members of the Fengtian Zhao family and the 19 members of the Mingxiang Opera Troupe together. Even if you have to hang on for dear life, you have to live until that day."

"Don't worry, we all have to live to see that day." Zhao Jingrong patted Wei Ran's shoulder vigorously, "Get off the boat, it's almost time to leave."

"Bon Voyage"

Wei Ran also patted the other person's shoulder, turned around and left the cabin, returned to the warehouse at the dock before the whistle sounded, took off his waiter uniform, ran back to the dock, holding up the camera he took out of the metal book, and pressed the shutter towards Zhao Jingrong who was standing alone on the deck.

"Bon voyage! Bon voyage!"

Wei Ran shouted loudly in the rising white light. He knew it was not over yet, but he didn’t know if he would have another chance to see the other person.

Finally, the white light that obscured everything began to fade, and he was once again back at the farm in Edelweiss Clara’s dreams.

Looking around, Clara was still busy at the window in the room, and the biting black horse in the distance was running happily on the ground. Looking in front of him, the quill pen on the table had already written new content.

Act 5

Role: Photographer Wei Ran
Return mission: Take at least three group photos, help Hirano Aoi and Lin Qiaozhi put on makeup, and complete revenge.

Gone? Revenge? Revenge?!
Before Wei Ran could react, white light flooded into his field of vision again and drowned out everything in front of him.

In this white light, he also saw the props that could be used this time.

However, as props flashed past his eyes one after another, the expression on his face became increasingly dull.

This time he had access to an unexpectedly large number of things, including a Rollei twin-lens reflex camera, a first aid kit, an anti-Japanese broadsword, a 1911 pistol, a cigarette case, a three-piece stove lighter set, an English suitcase, a Long March shoulder pole, and a horsehair bag containing a coffee extractor.

If all of the above were still normal, then what he saw next made him start to suspect that the living father might have taken drugs and had a bug.

The reason was simple: he saw anti-tank guns, Schneider anti-aircraft telescopes, and a Willys MC jeep equipped with a K18 aerial camera.

But this was not the end, because in the end, in the fading white light, he actually saw the E46 cluster incendiary bomb that he thought he would never have the chance to use!
"mua!"

Wei Ran, who was completely unable to suppress his smile, kissed the base of his left hand hard. In the fading white light, he praised loudly with unprecedented sincerity and gratitude, "You are my real daddy!"

Putting aside the biological discussion on whether a metal book can give birth to a large human-shaped child, Wei Ran was now completely immersed in his anticipation for revenge and could not extricate himself.

It was in this anticipation that the white light began to dissipate, and everything around became clearer again.