Reborn in 1878: America's Number One Bandit

Chapter 137 American barbarians! How dare they!

The mornings at Sausalito Marina are always accompanied by the cries of seabirds and the fishy smell of rust.

A steamship, Meiji Maru, flying the Rising Sun flag, is quietly moored at berth number three.

This ship was an important customer of the North Pacific Coast Railroad Company, carrying raw silk, the lifeline for the Japanese Empire's modernization.

Kota Kubo, the manager of Mitsui & Co. in San Francisco, is a Japanese man who wears a sharp Western-style suit.

He was standing on the dock, looking down with an arrogant expression at the group of busy American laborers in front of him.

They're all a bunch of barbarians!

Kubo inwardly spat.

If it weren't for the rise of the empire, he wouldn't want to stay in this rude and filthy hellhole for even a second longer.

"Mr. Kubo!"

Kubo Gōta turned around at the sound, and Aaron's Mick was walking towards him.

"Mr. Mick."

Kubo nodded slightly: "Is everything ready? The special train from the East Coast departs at 3 p.m. today, and we need to load all the cargo on it before then."

"Of course, Mr. Kubo."

Mick's smile was perfectly timed: "Two thousand bales of raw silk are all safely stored in warehouse B-12. Our people are ready and can begin the transfer at any time."

"very good."

Kubo Gota nodded, took out his pocket watch and glanced at it: "It's 9:05 a.m. I need to personally inspect the goods. Please lead the way."

"It's my pleasure."

Warehouse B-12 is one of NPC Corporation's largest and most fortified warehouses, built of heavy granite, with three large brass locks hanging on its iron gate.

A warehouse manager was already waiting there. When he saw the group of people coming over, he immediately handed them the keys respectfully.

"Open it."

Kubo ordered.

With a screeching sound, the iron gate slowly opened.

Kubo Gouta frowned.

The warehouse smelled musty.

He looked up and his heart sank.

Where are the goods?

The two thousand bales of raw silk that should have been piled up like a mountain are now empty!
The warehouse is empty!
"what's the situation!"

One of Kubo's attendants blurted out, "Where's the silk? Where is our silk?"

Kubo Gouta's face turned pale instantly, and he felt his head buzzing.

Oh no! That's no ordinary cargo!

That was the lifeblood of the empire, worth $1.6 million.

It was hard currency used to purchase warships and Krupp cannons!

"Calm down, Mr. Kubo!"

Mick quickly reassured him, "Don't worry, the cargo is safe."

"Safety?"

Kubo grabbed Mick by the collar: "You call this security? Two thousand bales of raw silk! One million six hundred thousand US dollars! Tell me now where it is?"

"Sir, sir! Please calm down!"

A warehouse supervisor hurriedly explained, "There was an accident in the warehouse last night. Pipe number four burst, and water flooded in. When we found it, the water was almost above our ankles!"

The supervisor pointed to the corner of the wall, where there was indeed a large patch of dark water stains, and several broken wooden planks floating in the murky water.

"Raw silk is most susceptible to moisture. We have no choice but to carry out an emergency transfer to protect your property, sir!"

Mick asked, "Where did it go?"

"Warehouse F-5!"

The supervisor immediately replied, "It's drier and safer there. We worked through the night and it took us three whole hours to move everything. Manager Aaron Bryant personally signed the emergency transfer documents!"

As he spoke, he pulled out a crumpled receipt and handed it over.

Kubo snatched it away; it was indeed Aaron Bryant's hasty and flamboyant signature.

Kubo's tense nerves relaxed slightly.

Damn it, this American drunkard, why didn't you tell me about this right away?
"F-5, where is the F-5?"

"At the other end of the dock, sir."

Mick straightened his collar: "It's a bit remote over there, but the warehouse there is the best. Please follow me."

Kubo Gouta didn't want to waste a second. He shoved Mick aside and ran wildly toward Sector F.

Area F is located at the northernmost end of the Sausalito Marina, adjacent to a foul-smelling salt marsh.

This place is sparsely populated, with only a few lonely wooden warehouses.

Kubo's heart sank again.

Could this godforsaken place really be the best warehouse?

The wooden door of warehouse F-5 was secured with only a rusty padlock.

As the wooden door opened, Kubo finally saw what he had been longing for.

Inside the warehouse, two thousand identical shipping boxes were neatly stacked.

"call……"

Kubo let out a long breath, his legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

Found it! Thank you, Amaterasu!

"Look, sir, they're all here."

Mick smiled and said, "Everything is safe and sound."

Kubo's Japanese staff immediately cheered and rushed over to inspect the goods.

But after relaxing, a strong sense of unease gripped Kubo Gota once again.

He is a seasoned veteran who has been in the business world for over a decade, and his sensitivity to details borders on obsession.

He walked over and stared intently at one of the shipping containers.

Something's wrong; the tarpaulin seal on the box shows signs of being tampered with!
Although the technique was ingenious, the subtle wrinkles and misaligned edges of the seal could not escape his eyes!
"Open it!"

"gentlemen?"

The attendant looked at him, puzzled.

"I fucking told you to open it!"

The attendant was startled and quickly took out a crowbar to pry open the top of the wooden box.

A sour, pungent smell of cheap cotton wafted out.

The attendant reached out and grabbed a handful, then froze on the spot.

This is not silk at all, but clumps of rough, yellowish, tattered cotton!

After a series of rollercoaster-like emotional ups and downs, Kubo Gota couldn't hold back any longer and collapsed to the ground.

It's over, this time it's really over!
The final payment for the Japanese Imperial Navy's ironclad battleship Fusō, a warship to which the imperial glory had just been paid a deposit to the British, was stolen!
"Aaaaaah! Aaron Bryant!"

Kubo's eyes were bloodshot: "Find that son of a bitch of a drunkard for me!"

……

Gypsy Kiss Bar, in a room on the second floor.

Aaron Bryant was lying on top of Zorina's voluptuous body, snoring away.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" "Mr. Bryant! Something terrible has happened!"

Suddenly, a loud banging on the door was heard, followed by Mick's voice.

"Go away!"

Aaron groggily yelled, turning over in bed: "FUCK YOU, don't keep me from sleeping."

Zorina pushed him away impatiently. She was disgusted by Aaron's one-minute fight and just wanted to take the money and leave.

Mick completely lost his patience, kicked the door open, and rushed in with two dockworkers.

"Sir! The Japanese goods have been stolen!"

Mick pulled Aaron off the bed.

"If it's lost, just look for it again, what's the big deal... Huh? What? It's lost!"

Aaron sobered up halfway immediately!
"The Japanese raw silk! Two thousand bags! All of it has vanished!"

Aaron Bryant was dumbfounded. He quickly pulled on his pants and was half-dragged, half-pulled by Mick to Warehouse F-5.

Upon arriving, the scene before him completely terrified him, erasing any remaining effects of his drunkenness!

The warehouse was a mess; all the boxes were open, and yellow and white tattered cotton wadding was scattered everywhere.

Kubo sat motionless in the pile of cotton, his eyes bloodshot, staring at him!
"What's going on? Why did Mikedo make a symbol?"

"I don't know, sir!"

Mick looked completely innocent: "The warehouse manager clearly followed your instructions last night to transfer the goods from B-12 here! Our manager watched them lock the door with his own eyes, how did they turn into cotton overnight?"

"How the hell would I know?"

Aaron suddenly roared like a madman. Now that things had come to this, he had to find a scapegoat!
“Mr. Aaron Bryant.”

Kubo Gota slowly stood up, his murderous eyes making Aaron's scalp tingle: "Last night at eight o'clock, I personally checked the seals on warehouse B-12. The goods were intact."

"At nine o'clock this morning, my cargo in the F-5 warehouse turned into two thousand bales of rotten cotton."

"You and your NPC company have twelve hours to tell me where my $1.6 million went?"

"One million six hundred thousand?"

Aaron was terrified; how could he possibly know what was going on!
He was just a dock manager with an annual salary of 1,200 yuan, and he had never seen so much money in his life!
"I don't know! I don't know anything!"

Aaron waved his hands frantically: "There must be some mistake! Search! Search the entire dock!"

"Turn the docks upside down! Don't leave any of the warehouses or ships untouched, and go find those two thousand bales of silk!"

"Check if it's in the wrong warehouse?"

At a single command, the dock descended into chaos.

Under Mick's command, the workers began a search that was destined to be fruitless.

They pried open the warehouse and even jumped into the sea to retrieve the items.

One hour, two hours, and nothing.

Two thousand bales of raw silk, with a total weight of over 260,000 pounds.

They seemed to have entered a parallel universe and simply vanished into thin air at the Sausalito dock!
Aaron Bryant was now covered in sweat, and he realized that this was no accident at all!

This is a fucking, earth-shattering heist!

"Prepare to pay compensation."

Kubo Gouta spoke again, now calmer: "The Northern Pacific Coast Railroad must fully compensate us for our losses. One million six hundred thousand dollars, not a penny less."

“If I don’t see the money or the goods within three days, my legal team will file a lawsuit in federal court. We will bankrupt NPC and I will make sure you, Mr. Bryant, spend the rest of your life in prison.”

"I swear in the name of the Great Japanese Empire!"

Federal lawsuit, bankruptcy, prison! Aaron had lived a carefree life, but if he were to be associated with even the slightest of these words, he would feel like he was living a life worse than death!
He's finished. He'll be devoured alive by the bankers at Latham!
No, absolutely not!
He looked at Mick in despair, hoping he would quickly find a way to save him.

Mick frowned, as if he was also racking his brains for a solution.

After a while, he suddenly slapped his thigh and whispered in Aaron's ear, "Don't panic, sir, I remember now!"

"Remember what?"

"The contract, sir, the storage contract those Japanese guys signed!"

"I remember it very clearly! To save money, they chose the cheapest standard warehousing service! They didn't declare the true value of the goods at all! Nor did they purchase high-value insurance!"

Aaron's mind hadn't quite caught up yet: "So what?"

"How about it?"

Mick wanted to slap this idiot awake: "Sir, according to company regulations and maritime law, our liability for compensation is limited for standard goods whose value is not declared!"

"At most, it'll be three times the storage fee, FUCK! Their storage fee, three times is at most two thousand yuan!"

Aaron Bryant paused for a moment, then his mind finally started working.

Two thousand yuan in compensation? Not one million six hundred thousand?

The difference between two thousand and one million six hundred thousand is not small!

Now he's safe! No jail time, no bankruptcy!
Fuck you Japanese devils, trying to threaten me?

After his initial euphoria, he looked up at Kubo Gota again.

The Japanese man who had just terrified him was now, in his eyes, a stupid and stingy little devil!

“Mr. Kubo, right? I have to admit, you fucking have guts.”

"You used my dock to transport goods worth 1.6 million, but to save a few cents, you didn't even buy the most basic insurance? And you signed a standard warehousing contract!"

"Have you forgotten that you didn't purchase our special security service at all, sir?"

"In my opinion, this is entirely your responsibility. You greedy little Japanese devil, you deserve to be unlucky."

"As for compensation..."

Aaron stroked his mustache dismissively: "The company will act according to the contract. Three times the storage fee is the maximum; we'll just give you two thousand dollars in compensation."

"Two thousand dollars?"

Kubo Gouta stood there, staring fiercely at Aaron's fat face.

His mouth opening and closing was disgusting no matter how you looked at it!

Baka! These white-skinned beasts!
They robbed him of all his possessions and still thought they could get rid of him with such a small amount of money. They're no different from robbers!
Kubo Gota couldn't care less about anything else now. All he knew was that if he couldn't find the silk or get back the equivalent amount of money, he wouldn't be able to go back to Japan!
The docks of Yokohama Port were the execution ground where he committed seppuku!
And this American idiot, who was still gloating and thought he had gotten a huge advantage, had no idea what he had done!
He didn't know that what he had stolen was the cornerstone of an empire's rise!

Kubo straightened up and refused to look at Aaron Bryant again.

There's nothing to say to a dead person.

He turned around, pushed aside Mick and the dockworkers who were watching the commotion, and walked straight out of the warehouse.

Hey! Where are you going?

Aaron shouted triumphantly behind him, "Don't forget to go to the finance office and collect your two thousand dollars! Hahaha!"

Kubo ignored him and rushed straight into the Western Union telegraph office in the center of Sausalito.

He then slammed a roll of banknotes onto the counter.

"Pick me up in Tokyo, top priority, urgent, now!"

The telegraph operator was startled by his murderous face and quickly began to operate the telegraph.

……

Tokyo, Kasumigaseki, Ministry of the Navy.

A solemn Japanese-style room.

"asshole!"

Navy Minister Kawamura Sumiyoshi, a Satsuma Domain samurai with a thick mustache, slammed the telegram onto the tatami mat.

"Baka! These American barbarians! How dare they do this?"

The high-ranking Navy officials present, including Saigo Tsugumichi, all turned pale.

(End of this chapter)