Zhang Lei shook his head, looking very dissatisfied. He didn't need to say anything more. He stopped in front of another roll of rope that looked more refined, picked up the electrician's knife from the shelf behind it, and made two cuts on it.
If it can't be cut with a knife, then it's not a rope. But what Zhang Lei is looking for is a rope that can't be cut with a knife.
Zhang Lei pulled out a stack of 10,000 yen bills from his pocket and slapped them on the counter. The meaning couldn't be clearer: as long as I have the rope I want, this money is yours. Sometimes, many things don't need to be said to be understood.
The shop owner immediately understood Zhang Lei's meaning, "Duozhua, Duozhua!" and reached out to invite Zhang Lei inside.
Although I hate to admit it, the same small shop in China would never have such a complete selection of goods. There are probably many items that even large stores in China wouldn't have. The gap between China and Japan still exists.
Zhang Lei never intended to deny this gap. Blind arrogance was a thing of the Qing Dynasty. If one cannot recognize one's own weaknesses, dare not admit them, and does not know how to catch up, it is no wonder that one is passively beaten.
Putting aside the historical animosity between China and Japan, the Japanese are actually a very excellent people—hardworking, intelligent, conscientious, strong, and resilient. But the more admirable these qualities are, the more uneasy one feels. If you have a dog lying next to you that bites, would you prefer it to have healthy teeth and a strong, large body, or would you prefer it to be a small, toothless pug that's eaten too much candy?
...
Episode 3: The Bloody Path to Adulthood, Chapter 39: Robbery (Part 1)
The shop owner still managed to earn 200,000 yen from Zhang Lei. It was money that Baldy Qian gave to Zhang Lei and the others for pocket money. Each of them had over 500,000 yen. It's a case of being frugal when traveling, especially since these old men with superpowers had never been frugal.
Zhang Lei bought the rope he wanted from the small shop. The rope probably contained some kind of metal wire, because even a regular electrician's knife could only make a small opening by pulling it back and forth. In the end, he had to use a grinding wheel to break it.
Zhang Lei didn't stand on ceremony with him, taking all the pieces he had cut off, and also swiping two stainless steel balls from his shop.
By now, many people probably understand that what Zhang Lei wanted was a rope dart. Although it's relatively complex to use and difficult to master, once you're skilled at it, its power at medium to long range is considerable, especially when combined with internal energy. Moreover, in terms of surprise attack, defensive difficulty, and maneuverability, it's far superior to ordinary throwing stars.
Unsure if a suitable dart head could be purchased here, Zhang Lei took two steel balls for now, intending to replace them later if a better one became available. Even if he could buy one, Zhang Lei planned to keep one steel ball on the dart so he could control its power; he couldn't let it draw blood immediately. Having an iron ball on it would also allow for more variations in the dart's power, and if necessary, the iron ball could still be used to kill.
Zhang Lei walked out the door with the rope, completely unaware that his extravagant spending had already attracted the attention of others.
Four Japanese soldiers walked towards Zhang Lei. Their multicolored hair shone brightly even in the night, making them look like a bunch of cow dung mixed with fluorescent powder.
Zhang Lei was still marveling at how hair dyeing, which is still relatively new in China, had become so prevalent here, when two Japanese soldiers suddenly rushed towards him.
Such an obvious action made Zhang Lei think they were thieves. Although the money came easily, he couldn't just hand it over to them. Zhang Lei quickly put the bag of money away. As for his body, let them bump into him; Zhang Lei wasn't afraid of being bumped.
Unexpectedly, the two Japanese devils did nothing more than ram people, and then fell down shouting the slogan Zhang Lei had just heard in an adult film.
The other two Japanese soldiers immediately surrounded him, reaching out to push Zhang Lei while muttering something unintelligible.
At this moment, two more people came up from behind, seemingly afraid that Zhang Lei would run away. Zhang Lei roughly understood that being a thief also required skills. These Japanese devils would never practice such technical skills. In comparison, robbery did not require such high technical skills. Most of the time, having a large number of people was enough.
Zhang Lei clutched his money bag tightly, looking pleadingly at the shop owner who had just made a fortune from him. As expected, the shop owner slammed the iron gate shut with a clean and swift motion, as if he were a trained martial artist.
Seeing that Zhang Lei didn't obediently hand over the money, these men started cursing. While they couldn't understand the rest, they could definitely understand "baka" (idiot). Zhang Lei couldn't help but feel proud. "Our Chinese language is so rich! If a Chinese person curses, even if you understand, you'll still be completely bewildered. But you little Japanese devils, you've used 'baka' countless times in just a few words. It's obvious you have a limited vocabulary."
Zhang Lei and his group boarded the plane at eight o'clock, and arrived in Tokyo at midnight. After some more time, the streets were even more deserted. These guys must have been out all night, and they were so lucky to run into such a rich and juicy guy.
However, these guys didn't plan to rob Zhang Lei directly on the street. There are probably cameras everywhere on the main streets of Tokyo. They were going to push Zhang Lei into a small alley on the side, completely unaware that Zhang Lei had also set his sights on that spot.
"Hurry up, you bastard!" That must be it. The kids all had smug smiles on their faces. Judging from how generous this guy was, he probably wouldn't just cover tonight's expenses, he'd probably cover all their expenses for the month.
Zhang Lei also longed to get to that wonderful dark alley as soon as possible, but at this moment he had to pretend to be very unwilling and move half a step with a push.
Ever since he killed someone in the middle of the night, Zhang Lei has felt an itch in his heart, like he hadn't had enough when he masturbated.
Perhaps the school mainly promoted Sino-Japanese friendship, but that was definitely not the case in Zhang Lei's family. From a young age, he was taught that the Japanese were a bunch of beasts. Northeast China was the region that struggled the longest under the iron heel of the Japanese invaders. Long before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, it was already under the de facto rule of the Japanese. Consequently, the Northeast suffered the most, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that every family had blood on their hands. Zhang Lei's grandfather wouldn't tell any other stories, but whenever he did, they were always related to the Japanese.
Just as it's difficult to change a person's habits formed from childhood, it's not easy to change a person's mindset formed from childhood, let alone the fact that Zhang Lei had no intention of changing at all.
The International Bureau of Foreign Affairs can lack many things in its training, but patriotic education is absolutely essential. Our patriotic education usually involves watching films about the War of Resistance Against Japan, and the International Bureau of Foreign Affairs is not much different. For an organization to have the motivation to move forward, it must establish a hypothetical enemy. Japan's counterpart is China, but in our eyes, Japan is not qualified. They are merely a short-term target. Our ultimate goal should be to become the international police.
As soon as he entered the alley, one of the guys behind him couldn't wait any longer and swung his fist at the back of Zhang Lei's head. Judging from the sound of the wind, if he wasn't holding back, then they were just too weak. Zhang Lei felt that they weren't even in the same league as the small-time thugs in Shanghai.
Zhang Lei tilted his head slightly. The kid was clearly surprised that Zhang Lei dared to dodge, and that he was actually able to dodge.
However, Zhang Lei didn't give him time to express his surprise. He pressed down on his wrist and, taking advantage of the momentum of his punch, pressed it against the wall and pushed it with the inertia, as if he were to repaint the wall.
His hand braced itself against the rough exterior wall. This place was rather lazy; they hadn't tiled the exterior wall or done any fine sanding. The wall surface felt like a grinding wheel rubbing against the back of his hand.
He certainly wanted to pull his hand out, but the difference in strength between the two was like that between an elephant and a lamb. Unless the lamb turned into a fairy lamb, there was clearly no chance of success.
When he took his hand down, a bright red paint had been applied to the wall, and some of the larger particles had some solid things hanging on them, but he didn't know what they were.
As for his own hands, the bones were already visible on them.
Episode 3: The Bloody Path to Adulthood, Chapter 39: Robbery (Part 2)
His screams alerted two dark figures deep in the alley, finally drawing attention to the fact that there had been people in the alley all along. The two figures were disheveled, with a pale body beneath them and two soft, white legs kicking wildly on the ground. It goes without saying what they were doing there.
Zhang Lei curled his lip, thinking, "It really is Japan, there's Japanese influence everywhere."
One of the six Japanese soldiers waved at them, signaling them to continue, with neither side interfering with the other. "You do your thing, we'll do ours." This gesture seemed to be universally understood.
The screaming continued, but in their eyes, it was clearly impossible for one person to defeat six of them; what had just happened was merely a small coincidence.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, they would soon find out. If it had been a few months ago, Zhang Lei might not have been able to win against six opponents. If it had been a month ago, Zhang Lei might have needed to use his internal energy. But now, Zhang Lei was like a giant road roller that had flattened a few blades of grass trying to sprout on the road.
In just a few minutes, Zhang Lei pulled his hand out from under a blade of grass. "Poor bastard!" Zhang Lei muttered to himself, and threw the empty wallet to the ground.
The two people inside hadn't finished their work yet; they were still bobbing up and down, seemingly oblivious to the changes happening on the other side. It really was as if nothing else mattered.
If this were in China, things would be pretty much over by now. Perhaps Zhang Lei would then check on the woman pinned down by two men to see if she was worth his heroic rescue. But this is Japan, and Zhang Lei hasn't had his fill of pleasure yet.
Zhang Lei had heard that good swords and knives should be forged with human blood when they are first made, so that the weapons would have a soul and not be inanimate objects. Zhang Lei felt that his rope dart should have a soul even more, because if the rope dart could not be used to perfection, it would be useless.
Whatever the reason, it's probably just that Zhang Lei wanted to kill someone; he wrapped the rope around one of their necks.
Those kids already knew they'd kicked a hornet's nest, but they never expected that the pain from that hornet's nest would go far beyond just hurting their toes. This guy was clearly not satisfied with just beating them black and blue.
The rope was of really good quality. Zhang Lei only used a little force and was able to break a person's neck like a chicken's neck. After kicking the guy in front of him away, Zhang Lei walked towards the next one.