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墨書 Inktalez
Five people, led by Xin Yi, had been traversing the jungle for twenty days and were finally nearing the edge. The Yanming Shop Elder mentioned that heading in this direction would lead them to a special district in Taiwan called Guokan. Although Guokan was under Taiwan's administrative jurisdiction, it was actually ruled by a local chieftain named Yang Wencai. Yang Wencai commanded a powerful army and had allied with the Mingguo Party during their invasion of Taiwan, securing promises that he would continue to govern Guokan. This arrangement allowed the Mingguo Party's forces to advance unimpeded. After gaining control over Taiwan, the Mingguo Party did not go back on their word; Guokan remained under Yang Wencai's authority. In fact, the title of Chieftain held by Yang Wencai was granted over a hundred years ago by the Heavenly Pride Nation's feudal dynasty. The rights of a Chieftain included governance over land, people, and military forces, effectively making him a local emperor, albeit with the approval of the celestial empire.
Yang Wencai's ancestors were far-sighted and did not settle for mere titles; they worked diligently to manage their territory and built a formidable army. They understood that in turbulent times, having a strong military was paramount. Since the celestial empire could grant titles, it could also revoke them and send troops to eliminate any dissenters. Thus, only by possessing comparable military strength could one ensure long-term stability in their domain.
Consequently, Yang Wencai's ancestors not only trained their troops rigorously but also established strict rules for their successors: each Chieftain must maintain control over military power, ensuring that the army never fell below thirty thousand soldiers at any time. Furthermore, one-fifth of the territory's economic income had to be allocated for arming the military and acquiring weapons. Thanks to these ironclad regulations, Guokan's army consistently dominated its region and managed to avoid being swept up in several political upheavals.
The Yang clan had a tradition of never initiating military action against others; as long as their territory was secure, they remained indifferent to who governed the broader nation. As long as the Yang family continued as Chieftains of Guokan, they were unconcerned with external affairs unless they directly threatened their interests.
Because Guokan had largely avoided war-related devastation, its economy developed rapidly. Surrounding regions viewed Guokan as a refuge from conflict, leading to an influx of refugees during times of war. These newcomers settled down and contributed to the local population growth and diversity of skilled professionals. Today, Guokan has become one of the most prosperous areas outside Taiwan's capital, Abayir.
However, in recent years, the current Chieftain Yang Wencai sensed growing ambitions from Taiwan's government regarding his prosperous territory. His intelligence personnel continuously reported sightings of Taiwanese agents within Guokan District. Although tensions had not yet escalated into open conflict, the covert war between agents had already reached a boiling point. Yang Wencai's greatest concern stemmed from this situation; despite Taiwan's government forces being disorganized and poorly trained, their intelligence operatives proved far more formidable than he had anticipated. He had already lost several capable agents without even locating Mei Organization's main base in Guokan District or uncovering their true intentions.
To address this issue, Yang Wencai began recruiting agile and quick-witted young individuals as potential agents for training but had yet to find any promising candidates after a long time. In today's world, warfare often revolved around intelligence; if one fell behind in this aspect, they would be at a disadvantage when conflict arose—no matter how strong their military might be.
A few months ago, a female intelligence officer recommended an outsider woman to Yang Wencai, claiming she possessed exceptional skills and sharp instincts for intelligence work. After personally assessing her abilities—where five or six veteran agents could not last three moves against her—Yang Wencai was delighted and immediately recruited her into his intelligence agency. Normally, becoming an agent required rigorous identity checks to confirm loyalty—especially for someone joining mid-way—but Yang Wencai was eager for talent and made an exception for her. Initially, she was not given access to core secrets but assigned peripheral tasks instead. However, her capabilities and loyalty quickly became evident as she achieved significant victories against Mei Organization operatives hidden within Guokan.
Yet this woman exhibited peculiar behavior; she only accepted missions targeting Taiwan Authorities and refused all others as if she inherently bore animosity towards them. Yang Wencai recognized this trait and subsequently entrusted her with all intelligence operations against Taiwan.
Just yesterday, Wan Ji—the woman who joined months prior—reported that she had discovered Mei Organization operatives gathering near Guokan's jungle border, likely preparing for some action. Yang Wencai keenly sensed this could be an opportunity to deliver a heavy blow to Mei Organization and ordered one of his enhanced battalions to rush secretly to that area with the aim of capturing all members involved in this operation from Taiwan Mei Agency.
Near Guokan's jungle border lay a small town called Old House Street Town. Due to its location on the border, the town was quite complex with various characters present—Taiwan government fugitives mingled with deserters from the military and remnants of various fringe parties alongside terrorist organizations that had fled from other countries. Yang Wencai tolerated its existence because these factions could sometimes be useful for creating chaos against Taiwan Authorities while allowing him to maintain his own strength.
Mei Organization operatives embedded within Guokan indeed received orders from above about an incoming team from the rival Heavenly Pride Nation intending to cross through the jungle into Taiwan for espionage activities. They were instructed to capture these individuals and bring them back to Abayir for processing by Intelligence Division Chief Cao Borin.
This information was actually provided by Leixu who had been trailing Xin Yi’s group and then relayed it to Cao Borin under his capacity as Chief of Mei Organization’s Intelligence Division. A day away from reaching the jungle’s edge, Leixu noticed that his communication device finally received a signal. After much contemplation, he decided to share this news with Cao Borin so that he could dispatch people to apprehend those illegal immigrants since Mei Organization’s operatives were stronger and more likely to succeed in capturing them. Additionally, Leixu aimed to curry favor with Cao Borin; he had already agreed that whatever ransom Cao Borin demanded would be entirely acceptable as long as he could facilitate Leixu’s transfer into Mei Organization—a place not easily accessible for ordinary individuals due to its excellent benefits and high ranks.
As soon as they emerged from the jungle, Yanming Shop Elder instructed everyone to hide their larger weapons like 79-style submachine guns or machetes in a designated spot while keeping handguns and triangular bayonets on them for self-defense. He also advised everyone to change into clean clothes before preparing to head out. This approach made sense since Old House Street Town was known for its diverse crowd; unlike Zhengkang County at Heavenly Pride’s border where locals predominated making outsiders conspicuous, Old House Street Town had roughly equal numbers of locals and outsiders so additional strangers wouldn’t attract much attention.
Once everyone was ready, they confidently walked out of the jungle towards the road where Yanming Shop Elder flagged down an old-fashioned bus reminiscent of those common on domestic roads back in the 1980s—its large compartment featuring two rows of army green seats—a rarity now seen only in Guokan. Upon boarding the bus, they indeed drew little interest from others except for a few men who eyed Roxy hungrily.
The bus rattled along dirt roads for about an hour before arriving at Old House Street Town—a small marketplace typical of many remote areas back home—with just one street running north-south paved with large blue stones lining both sides where low-roofed houses stood with doors and windows open displaying goods on windowsills serving as shops. It was afternoon so few people were around; only some lazy dogs lounged outside shop fronts watching passersby while shopkeepers napped inside occasionally peeking out before retreating back into slumber.
Since stepping onto the streets of this small town, Xin Yi felt that someone was watching them. The fleeting shadow at the corner of the alley and the customers casually glancing from inside the shops sent a dangerous signal to him.
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