Chapter 8

Under the flickering neon lights, the city of magic exuded a captivating aura. After completing the anti-bandit mission, Gao Yang gained 4,400 energy points. The bandits he captured were briefly tried, and those with blood debts were all executed by firing squad. The rest were sent to the mines to work as laborers for at least five years.

Gao Yang's main goal in coming to the city of magic was the gold held by the Soviet Union and Japan. When Kolchak's army was defeated, the imperial treasury's gold, which he had been carrying, also disappeared. The world believed it had sunk to the bottom of Lake Baikal. Gao Yang scoffed at this; if it were really in Lake Baikal, Stalin would have drained the entire lake to retrieve the gold.

Not to mention, where did the money come from to purchase a large amount of industrial equipment from the United States a few years later? As for the gold in Japanese hands, it was not much, as it was used by Kolchak to pay for military supplies. Some of the gold transferred by the nobility was also swallowed by the Japanese.

Gao Yang was very interested in this gold. Since the Soviet Union was undergoing currency reform, there were few ways to obtain money. Gao Yang exchanged all his new rubles for US dollars and then used the dollars to buy gold.

Gao Yang's main target was Japan, and the reasons for this needed no explanation, as everyone knew. The Origin System also very tactfully offered the mission: "The premature appearance of a super battleship, making the Yamato-class battleship, which consumed one-tenth of Japan's GDP, appear earlier than in history."

"About this?" Gao Yang rubbed his nose, thinking, "I need to get the Japanese to focus all their energy on the navy. Start building as soon as the Washington Treaty ends."

Gao Yang spent a large sum of money in Europe to purchase the British Navy's nearly century-old technology, the 18-inch MKI naval gun and the triple turret. Although it was a century-old technology, it was military technology, and Gao Yang had to spend a lot of money to buy all the documents from the black market, which filled six large suitcases. He had all the documents and blueprints.

Walking into the Japanese Consulate in Hongkou, Gao Yang spoke in a pure Tokyo accent to the receptionist, "I have important matters to discuss with the naval attaché."

Lieutenant Colonel Nakamura Shunsho was the nephew of Vice Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, Vice Admiral Nakamura Keigo. He came to the city of magic at the beginning of the year to serve as the naval attaché at the consulate. Nakamura Shunsho was a playboy in Tokyo, always chasing women, and was sent abroad by his uncle. His posting to the city of magic was to gain experience. After the signing of the Washington Treaty, the atmosphere in the Japanese Navy was very oppressive.

"I am the naval attaché of the Japanese Empire's consulate in the city of magic, Nakamura Shunsho. May I ask for your name, sir?" Nakamura Shunsho asked politely.

Gao Yang smiled but did not speak. He took out a stack of documents from his briefcase and handed them to Nakamura.

Nakamura took the documents but did not rush to read them. Instead, he sat on the sofa and leisurely flipped through them.

Gao Yang did not speak, taking out a cigarette and lighting it. Nakamura's face changed dramatically before he had even finished the first page. He stood up abruptly, trembling hands flipping through the documents urgently.

Nakamura read quickly but carefully. Born into a naval family, he could tell the authenticity of the documents.

Closing the documents, Nakamura calmed his excited heart, organized his thoughts, and said to Gao Yang, "Sir, please go to the VIP room to rest and enjoy the exquisite dance of the Japanese Empire. Consul Takeda Shinji will come to welcome you shortly."

Nakamura respectfully led Gao Yang into the VIP room and instructed the servants to take good care of him. Nakamura immediately ran to the consul's office.

Gao Yang drank sake and watched the pale-faced geisha perform, but in his heart, he cursed, "What is this? Dancing like a fight with ghosts, good thing I didn't eat."

Not long after, Nakamura Shunsho accompanied a short old man who hurried in.

Coming to Gao Yang's side, he bowed ninety degrees and said, "I am the consul of the Japanese Empire's consulate in the city of magic, Takeda Shinji. May I ask for your honorable name?"

Gao Yang lazily replied to Takeda Shinji, "My name is not important. What's important is that I have something you are interested in. Let's talk about money."

Takeda waved his hand, signaling the geishas to leave. He sat opposite Gao Yang, legs crossed. Nakamura picked up the wine bottle and filled their glasses. Takeda raised his glass to Gao Yang. After drinking, Gao Yang said to Takeda, "Consul, you can call me Smith. These documents, you can take them back for appraisal." He handed the document bag to Nakamura. Pausing, he continued, "I am a businessman. The price for these documents is five tons of gold, no negotiation."

Takeda's hand holding the wine glass trembled, spilling most of the wine. He said to Gao Yang, "Mr. Smith, this price is unacceptable..."

Before Takeda could finish, Gao Yang waved his hand and said, "You can't decide. Send the message to someone who can. I will come back in ten days, looking forward to your response."

Refusing Nakamura's invitation to stay, Gao Yang left the consulate. After a few turns, he shook off the trailing detectives and returned to Bern.

In the following days, Gao Yang, besides occasionally showing up in Feng County, focused mainly on registering and setting up multiple foreign trade companies in the original timeline. He flew to the capital to set up a foreign-funded import and export company, purchasing large amounts of rice and flour, and buying many coal mining machines from a small city in the south. The delivery address was a shell company Gao Yang had set up in an African country on the equator.

Gao Yang flew to an equatorial country and visited the president. After presenting a large check, Gao Yang's mining company opened, with the president owning 30% of the shares. Gao Yang was not concerned about this; it was just a facade.

Ten days passed quickly, and Gao Yang, carrying a briefcase, walked into the Japanese consulate in the city of magic in 1924.

In these ten days, the Japanese Navy had been in an uproar, with supporters and opponents clashing. Under the pressure of the higher-ups, an agreement was reached. First, get the documents and blueprints, then eliminate Smith and recover the gold.

In 1924, the era of large battleships and big guns still dominated. Although Japan had the technology for triple turrets, it was a simplified version learned from Britain and was not up to standard. As for the 18-inch naval gun, it was a high-tech dream of the Japanese Navy.

After naval experts confirmed the authenticity of the documents, the next step was to obtain the complete documents and blueprints from Gao Yang.

Nakamura Shunsho welcomed Gao Yang to the VIP room, and Takeda Shinji accompanied a short old man in traditional kimono.

Gao Yang looked at Nakamura, then at the two short men, and suddenly said to Nakamura, "You're not Japanese, right? You're so tall, and they're so short?"

While Nakamura was stunned, Takeda had already walked over and introduced him, "Mr. Smith, this is Vice Admiral Yamashita Kojiro, the director of the Japanese Navy's equipment department."

"General Yamashita, is the gold ready?" Gao Yang got straight to the point. Yamashita was taken aback and then said, "Mr. Smith, is your item ready?"

"Tomorrow night at ten, at the No. 7 warehouse of the Heshun warehouse in Zhabei, bring the gold." Gao Yang handed the briefcase to Nakamura Shunsho and continued, "This contains what you are interested in. If you want it, we'll talk tomorrow night." He then turned and left.

Yamashita and the others watched Gao Yang leave, returned to the secret room, and opened the documents to browse. "Please invite Mr. Takahashi and Mr. Minami," Yamashita instructed Nakamura before he had finished reading.

Soon, two men in kimono walked in and bowed to Yamashita. They took the documents and began reading. Yamashita and the others waited quietly. After about an hour, one of them took off his glasses and said to Yamashita, "It's the formula for carburized surface-hardened manganese-chromium alloy steel, but only one-fifth of it, and the key ratios are missing."

"Thank you, Mr. Takahashi," Yamashita bowed slightly.

"What should we do now?" Takeda Shinji asked.

"Report to the military, this is no longer something we can decide," Yamashita said.

The next evening, Gao Yang, driving a Dodge truck, arrived at the No. 7 warehouse of the Heshun warehouse in Zhabei. Gao Yang, carrying a large suitcase, walked in, surrounded by Japanese soldiers. With dozens of guns pointed at him, Gao Yang, expressionless, came to Yamashita Kojiro.

Pulling over a chair, he sat down, lit a cigarette, and looked at Yamashita, "Where's the gold?"

"Mr. Smith, the gold is ready," Yamashita waved his hand, and the Japanese soldiers pulled back the black cloth, revealing a neatly stacked pile of gold in front of Gao Yang.

Gao Yang smiled, patted the suitcase, and said nothing.

The suitcase was opened, and several experts began to examine the documents and blueprints. By the time Gao Yang finished his cigarette, Takahashi Masao nodded to Yamashita, "It's all correct."

Gao Yang stood up and said to Yamashita, "General, put the gold on the truck outside."

"Mr. Smith, about the Krupp armor..." Yamashita stood up and said.

"Ten days from now, at the same time and place. Another five tons of gold," Gao Yang said, nodding at the pile of gold.

"Mr. Smith, it's a pleasure to work with you," Yamashita gritted his teeth and shook hands with Gao Yang.

The military had given him orders: give the gold to Gao Yang and capture him during the next transaction to recover the gold. Yamashita instinctively wanted to refuse; this was five tons of gold! All of the Japanese Empire's gold!

Gao Yang hummed a tune as he got into the truck and drove to the Huangpu River. The newly manufactured bio-warriors loaded the gold onto a boat and sailed up the Yangtze River. Storing the gold in his storage space, he returned to the original timeline. The bio-warriors set fire to the fishing boat and dived into the river, leaving the special agents on the shore dumbfounded. How could they chase him?

Arriving at the coastal port of Libreville in an equatorial country, Gao Yang met with the mercenaries he had recruited from Europe. These mercenaries were recruited from the best mercenary company in Europe, all experienced veterans who had undertaken various missions, and of course, they were paid very well.

The leader was an American black man with nine years of special forces experience. He had been a mercenary for over ten years and had extensive experience, having been to Africa multiple times.

"Boss, I'm James, the leader of this mission. Our team members are Hans, Gabriel, Cherikov, Cheon In-pyo..." James introduced his team to Gao Yang. There were seventeen people in total, including French, British, Russian, American, and South Korean members.

"Thank you for your hard work. I'll leave it all to you this time," Gao Yang smiled.

They each got into five off-road vehicles and drove into the inland forest.

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