Under One Person: The Puppet Immortal in the Tang Sect

"Important figures? Who are they?"

Sawada lowered his voice.

“Iwasaki from Mitsubishi, Yoshimura from Sumitomo, and several members of parliament.”

They are the financial backers of our Osaka Division, and they are very interested in our business and want to talk to you in person.

Cui Ming nodded, quickly calculating in his mind.

Mitsubishi and Sumitomo are the largest conglomerates in the island nation.

If we can get in touch with them, we can not only expand the scale of smuggling, but also obtain more intelligence.

"Thank you, Sawada-kun."

Cui Ming said sincerely.

"If this deal goes through, we will never forget Sawada-kun's contribution."

Sawada smiled with satisfaction.

After exchanging pleasantries, Sawada finally took his leave, satisfied.

After seeing Sawada off, Cui Ming returned to his room.

Thousand Faces, Nameless, and Hundred Refinements had also quietly arrived at Cui Ming's room to wait.

As soon as Cui Ming stepped in, he connected with the others present through a mental link.

"We're currently in the Japanese headquarters, so let's communicate through this telepathic link from now on."

"I'm sure you've all heard it. Come on, let's brainstorm some ideas."

A thousand faces nodded.

"Mitsubishi and Sumitomo, these are all big companies. If we could control them..."

Cui Ming waved his hand.

"Don't rush into action; first, we need to find out the situation on the island nation."

That island nation is, after all, not a place we're familiar with. Unless absolutely necessary, we should avoid taking action rashly…

They all listened silently to Cui Ming's request through their spiritual connection.

……

The next morning, Cui Ming and his group arrived at the dock.

A huge passenger ship was docked at the shore, with the words "Nagasaki Maru" written on its hull.

This is a regular passenger ferry that travels between Shanghai and Nagasaki, once a week.

The crew members that Sawada had arranged were already waiting at the dock.

One of them, who appeared to be the leader, greeted Cui Ming and his group with great enthusiasm when he saw them from afar.

"Advisor Yamashita! Hello! This way, please. Your cabins have been arranged; you are all distinguished guests of our Nagasaki Maru..."

As he spoke, he tried to take the luggage from Wuming's hands, but Wuming only glanced at him indifferently, which made him stand there frozen, not daring to move at all.

It felt as if a sharp blade was held directly to his neck. It was only because he was knowledgeable and experienced that his legs would have been turned into noodles.

Snapped!

All that could be heard was Cui Ming slapping Wuming on the back of the head, causing him to stagger forward two steps before regaining his footing.

"Please forgive me, my subordinate is used to the way things are done on the battlefield, so let him do this kind of rough work."

May I ask how I should address you, sir?

Cui Ming's actions were extremely swift. The people behind the leader were still confused and looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Yes... I was rude! I'm so sorry!"

After a moment of surprise, the man finally came to his senses and bowed deeply to Cui Ming.

"I am Hiroya Aozawa, the first mate of this Nagasaki Maru. Please come with me, Lord Yamashita."

Cui Ming nodded with a smile and led the group to follow Aozawa Hiroya and his party, walking towards Nagasaki Maru at the edge of the dock.

Having learned from the experience of the nameless one, there were no further mishaps along the way, and they successfully boarded the Nagasaki Maru.

The Nagasaki Maru was just an ordinary civilian mail ship, with a capacity of only three hundred passengers.

Cui Ming and his group were seated in first class, where the rooms were spacious and comfortable.

Meanwhile, the Osaka Division personnel who accompanied the group stayed in second class and were responsible for taking care of them along the way.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the passenger ship slowly sailed away from the dock.

Cui Ming stood on the deck, watching Shanghai gradually disappear into the distance.

The city's outline became increasingly blurred, eventually disappearing beneath the sea.

The sea breeze carries a salty, damp scent.

Cui Ming took a deep breath, turned around, and went back into the cabin.

The Nagasaki Maru sailed on the sea for a full twenty-six hours.

During this time, Cui Ming hardly left the room.

He had been studying the information collected by Qianmian and Wuming, repeatedly simulating the various situations he might encounter after arriving in the island nation.

Only Yon would occasionally come in to check on things and bring them food and water.

She adapted well to sea voyages and even took the time to tell Cui Ming about the customs and habits of the island nation.

Thousand Faces and Nameless took turns keeping watch on the deck, observing the people on the ship.

Besides ordinary passengers, there were also many soldiers, businessmen, and some suspicious individual travelers on board.

Several people made no attempt to conceal their aura, clearly indicating they were superhumans.

"They are also watching us."

Thousand Faces toured the entire Nagasaki Maru and then reported back to Cui Ming.

“There are a few guys who have been loitering around our cabin.”

Cui Ming nodded, not surprised.

They were all soldiers returning from the war zone and had connections with the Osaka Division, so it was normal for them to be under close surveillance.

"Ignore them."

Cui Ming didn't seem to care at all.

"As long as they don't cause trouble, just pretend you didn't see it."

Qianmian nodded in agreement and slowly left the room.

The following afternoon, the Nagasaki Maru slowly sailed into Nagasaki Port.

Cui Ming stood on the deck, looking at the city in the distance.

Nagasaki is a port city in the western part of the island nation. It is built on a mountainside, with houses stacked one on top of another, extending all the way to the top of the mountain.

The dock was bustling with people.

After the boat docked, Cui Ming and the others disembarked with the flow of people.

There were already people waiting at the dock.

A man in a black suit came forward and bowed respectfully.

"Welcome home, Yamashita-kun."

"I am Shinichi Kawamura of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce. I'm in charge of bringing you all to Tokyo. Please follow me."

Cui Ming nodded and followed him into a black sedan.

Qianmian and the other four got into another car that accompanied them.

The convoy slowly drove out of the dock. As it was a convoy belonging to the Osaka Chamber of Commerce, it was not only escorted by military police, but civilians along the way also gave way to it.

As Cui Ming drove along the street, he observed the unfamiliar city through the car window.

As the convoy drove out of the dock, the scenery along the streets gradually unfolded.

The low-rise Japanese-style houses stand side by side, but the doors and windows of every household are tightly closed. Only occasionally do women peek out when they hear the sound of a car, but they look hurried and quickly retreat back inside.

Most of the shops on the street were closed, except for rice shops and grocery stores where there were long queues.

People were dressed in thin clothes, their faces were sallow, and their hushed conversations were filled with sighs about the lack of resources in the island nation.

Meanwhile, on the utility poles along the roadside, rousing military songs were playing on a loop over and over again.

Her voice was high-pitched, but it couldn't mask the desolate emptiness of the street.

The atmosphere of this city is completely different from that of Shanghai.

The convoy eventually stopped in front of a hotel.

Kawamura Shinichi was very respectful to Choi Myung.

"Lord Yamashita, everyone, please rest here for a while. The train tickets have been booked; we'll depart at 8 PM tonight and arrive in Tokyo tomorrow afternoon."

Cui Ming nodded and led the four people into the hotel.

The hotel wasn't big, but it was very nice and clean.

Cui Ming simply washed his face and then lay down on the bed to rest with his eyes closed.

The soul was quietly released, sensing the land beneath its feet.

In accordance with Cui Ming's style of doing things, some of the furniture and walls in the room were quietly altered.

Cui Ming didn't set up any ley line energy piles this time, since it was a long journey and he didn't carry many of them.

Good steel should be used where it's most needed.

At 8 p.m., Cui Ming and the others boarded the train to Tokyo.

This is an express train, and it must be said that the facilities in this island nation in 1941 were indeed much better than those in China.

Cui Ming and the others were assigned to a first-class compartment with their own private sleeper berths.