"Thump—" Another muffled sound. This time, Zhou Ziwei, with a touch of mischievousness, deliberately made the two of them kiss nose to nose and mouth to mouth in an incredibly passionate kiss. As a result, their noses were unsurprisingly flattened, and each of them had seven or eight teeth knocked out.
Suffering such a blow, the two could no longer hold on and simultaneously groaned as they lost consciousness.
With a loud "whoosh," a cloud of black smoke burst up in the corridor, instantly engulfing everyone present.
Then, the two short men immediately took advantage of the cover of the black smoke and stealthily moved towards Zhou Ziwei.
Is this what they call the Ninja Style?
Zhou Ziwei curled his lip in disdain. Using smoke to obstruct the enemy's vision might work for others, but it was completely useless against Zhou Ziwei. Even without expending his soul power to scan his surroundings frequently, Zhou Ziwei could clearly detect every tiny sound around him simply by increasing his hearing by six or seven times. Even an ant crawling under his feet wouldn't escape Zhou Ziwei's ears, let alone a living person weighing over a hundred pounds.
Before the guy rolling along the ground could even raise the curved knife he had drawn from his sleeve, Zhou Ziwei kicked him in the forehead. The guy, too, didn't even have time to groan before collapsing to the ground.
However, at that moment... a dense sound like raindrops rang out, and in an instant, hundreds of various hidden weapons pierced through the black mist, rushing straight towards Zhou Ziwei...
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 272: Fire!
Faced with the overwhelming barrage of hidden weapons, Zhou Ziwei finally showed some emotion.
One person could launch hundreds of hidden weapons almost simultaneously. He had to admire how nimble this guy's hands were. However... manipulating so many hidden weapons at the same time would inevitably weaken the force that person could put into each weapon.
If that Japanese soldier had only fired three or five hidden weapons, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't have dared to take the hit head-on, given his powerful grip.
Although his body had been strengthened by five drops of the Reincarnation Water, it was not truly invulnerable. His body's hardness meant that ordinary people would not be harmed by ordinary weapons, but the strength of these specially trained ninjas was extraordinary. Their strength far surpassed that of ordinary people. If Zhou Ziwei were to withstand the blows head-on, he would not suffer serious injuries, but some cuts would be inevitable. If the opponent's weapon was coated with a deadly poison, then it would be truly dangerous.
Unfortunately, the Japanese soldier who attacked Zhou Ziwei using the black mist focused too much on the quantity of hidden weapons, so much so that the force of each weapon posed no threat to Zhou Ziwei. As a result, even if all these weapons were contaminated with highly poison, Zhou Ziwei would not need to worry at all. Even the most potent drugs are usually transmitted through the blood. If these weapons couldn't even scratch Zhou Ziwei's skin, what threat would they pose?
Of course, there are poisons that can be transmitted through skin contact, but such poisons are not usually very potent and take effect relatively slowly. Even if Zhou Ziwei has a high level of such poison, he will have plenty of time to clear it away, so there is no need to worry too much.
Zhou Ziwei roared and charged straight at the incoming projectiles. Accelerated by the electric current, his figure moved like lightning, breaking through the blockade of the projectiles in an instant and reaching the Japanese soldier.
During this time, Zhou Ziwei was inevitably hit by four or five hidden weapons, but none of them penetrated his body. Moreover, Zhou Ziwei deliberately chose to use the parts of his body covered by clothing to block the hidden weapons. In this way, even if the hidden weapons contained highly toxic substances that could be transmitted through the skin, he had nothing to fear.
The Japanese soldier never expected Zhou Ziwei to be so fast. He was just about to launch another round of overwhelming attacks when he suddenly felt a tightness on his ankle. He was lifted upside down in the air, and then the hand holding his ankle trembled, causing his body to shake rapidly. Immediately, a bunch of hidden weapons he was carrying fell to the ground like rain.
Zhou Ziwei shook the hidden weapons off the Japanese soldier's body and found that there were hundreds of them. He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "You little punk, you've got quite a lot of stuff... Are you a hedgehog? How come you brought so much junk?"
It's hard to believe that someone could carry hundreds of hidden weapons on their person. Although most of the hidden weapons used by this Japanese soldier were quite sophisticated, hundreds of them still make up a huge pile. I really wonder how this guy managed to hide them on his body.
Zhou Ziwei smiled and shook his head. He gave the Japanese soldier's hand a slight shake, and the soldier immediately began to swing violently as if on a swing. His head slammed into the wall with a loud thud, and the soldier's eyes rolled back. He immediately passed out without any doubt.
With a loud "bang," Zhou Ziwei kicked open the tightly closed office door, revealing a man in his fifties dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, holding a pistol and staring at him with a terrified expression.
Zhou Ziwei saw that the man was holding only an ordinary Browning pistol, so he didn't pay it any mind. However, he also didn't bother with the man at all. He turned around and walked towards a wall on the left side of the office...
"Stop... If you take one more step forward, I'll... I'll shoot."
The man shouted in a deep voice, but there was a barely perceptible tremor in his voice.
Zhou Ziwei turned around, glanced at the man with disdain, then turned back and walked towards the wall.
With a "bang," the man, seeing that his threats had no effect whatsoever, finally couldn't help but pull the trigger.
Although the man's marksmanship wasn't great, the two were only four or five meters apart. At such close range, with such a large rake, even someone with terrible marksmanship would have a hard time getting away from it.
But just as he pulled the trigger, Zhou Ziwei suddenly turned around sharply and raised a hand with what seemed like a slow but actually fast motion...
Almost at the same time the gunshot rang out, whistling bullets struck Zhou Ziwei with lightning speed...
"I hit it! I hit it!"
The man was trembling all over, but his heart was filled with inexplicable excitement. He could see clearly that after the gunshot, although the man turned around and raised his hand, he did not move his feet at all. Therefore, he was certain that his bullet had hit Zhou Ziwei.
But... why didn't he see any blood splattering from that person's body?
Zhou Ziwei clenched one hand into a fist and held it in the air for a few seconds. Under the gaze of the person opposite him, which was filled with a mixture of excitement and doubt, he slowly opened his palm, revealing a bright yellow bullet.
"Your marksmanship is not bad..." Zhou Ziwei smiled calmly, tilting his palm slightly so that the bullet in his hand could slowly slide down and land on the thick carpet with a dull "thud." Then Zhou Ziwei continued, "However... this is useless against me... Your Excellency Puppet."
"You...you are not human."
Upon seeing this, the man was so shocked that he could no longer control his violent trembling. The gun in his hand seemed to weigh an immense weight, and he could no longer hold it. It fell to the ground with a "clang." Then, pointing at Zhou Ziwei, he said with a pale face, "You... how do you know I... I am a puppet? No, no, no... I... I am the head of the Mita family, I am Mita Masao."
Zhou Ziwei looked at the guy who was trembling, shook his head slightly, and had no mood to pay attention to him anymore. He was worried that if he provoked him a little more, the guy might be so scared that he would lose control of his bladder and bowels.
Zhou Ziwei wasn't being kind by not wanting to frighten anyone; he was just worried that the person would pollute the air here.
Turning around and facing the bare wall again, Zhou Ziwei spoke again: "Mr. Masao Mita, I have no ill intentions in coming here. Please come out! I think you have seen that I did not kill any of your men. I just have a deal to discuss with you. But if you continue to hide like this... then don't blame me for being impolite."
Not long after Zhou Ziwei finished speaking, a soft "whoosh" was heard, and a doorway slowly opened in the middle of the opposite wall. Then, a person who looked exactly like the guy over there who was trembling with fear walked out.
This man was also dressed in traditional island nation clothing, was in his fifties, and had a small mustache typical of islanders. He was also holding a gun, but... at this moment, the muzzle of the gun was pointed at his own head.
The man's face was quite pale, but there was no sign of panic in his expression. He walked out step by step with a calm demeanor, without trembling at all.
Although his appearance was almost identical to that of the other person in the room, the two men were worlds apart in their demeanor.
“Alright, I guessed right, I am indeed Masao Mita. Now that I’m out, you can tell me… what kind of deal do you want with me? But…” The man paused, a cold, arrogant smile playing on his lips, and continued, “There’s one thing I must remind you: if you want to bring up anything that could endanger the Mita family, I absolutely cannot do it. I know it would be easy for you to kill me, and I would have no chance of resisting. However… even if I die, I will never betray my family.”
Zhou Ziwei glanced at the exquisite gold pistol in Mita Masao's hand, then suddenly let out a mocking laugh. He turned and walked to the sofa, plopped down, grabbed a cigarette from the coffee table, lit it, took a deep drag, and then said to Mita Masao, "Fine... I'm making you sell the entire Mita family to me. Starting tomorrow, I'll be in charge of the Mita family... How about it? If you can't accept it, then just kill yourself!"
Masao Mita's face turned even paler, his eyes wide with rage as he glared at Zhou Ziwei, saying, "What did you say? You want me to hand over the entire Mita family to you? This...this is impossible..."
"So what if it's impossible? What do you have to say?" Zhou Ziwei curled his lip mockingly and said, "Then why don't you commit suicide? Shoot me... Aren't you pretty determined? Damn... When I saw you dare to come out and see me, I thought you were really tough... Oh... You're holding a gun, pointing it at your temple... Is this how I show you your determination? If you really think I don't want to, or dare not, kill you, then you're wrong. If you have the guts, try shooting me right now and see if I won't stop you."
Masao Mita did not refute. His hand was still tightly gripping the exquisite gold pistol, but his hand was trembling more and more obviously. Cold sweat quickly seeped out of his forehead, and soon condensed into drops that slid down the wrinkles on his face, sliding over the slightly loose muscles of his cheeks, making him look particularly disheveled.
"What? You're too scared to shoot?" Zhou Ziwei sneered. "If you can't make up your mind and don't dare to shoot, then sit down and have a proper talk with me. You're at a disadvantage right now. If you want to negotiate with me, you'd better be honest and prepared to back down at every turn. Don't even think about having a fair negotiation in this situation. That's impossible... Of course, if you're really not afraid of death, you can just shoot yourself dead."
And then... I continued our conversation with this gentleman. Heh... He is indeed a puppet, but that's while you're alive. If you were already dead, and hadn't even left a trace, then he would be the real Masao Mita.
I think... the fact that you have a double should be considered a top secret, right? Aside from those few people outside, probably not many people know. Hmm... even if some do know, it doesn't matter. I can quickly send them all to meet you in the underworld, one by one. At that time... everything you have will belong to this puppet master. And I think... the atmosphere during our negotiations will be quite harmonious; he shouldn't try to bargain with me. What do you say?"
Masao Mita finally broke down completely. His hand loosened, and the small golden gun fell to his feet. As the pistol fell, Masao Mita seemed to age ten years instantly. His body went limp, and he staggered a few steps forward before plopping down on the sofa opposite Zhou Ziwei.
Masao Mita remained silent for a moment, then picked up a cigarette from the sofa, took one out and put it in his mouth. He then lit the cigarette with a lighter, took a deep drag, and his expression gradually calmed down, his eyes regaining a sharp edge.
Looking up at Zhou Ziwei, he said in a deep voice, "Speak! What exactly do you want? I don't believe you really want to take over the Mita family for yourself. The Mita family is a family, it is maintained by the bloodline of the Mita family. Even if I give it to you, you won't be able to control it."
Zhou Ziwei chuckled and said, "The Mita family is indeed quite clever. Since you could think of all this, why did you put on such a desperate act just now?"
Masao Mita kept a cold expression on his face, not answering Zhou Ziwei's question, but staring intently at Zhou Ziwei, waiting for him to reveal his true purpose.
“Alright! Let’s get straight to the point…” Zhou Ziwei took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled a round smoke ring, and then continued, “Your daughter, Mita Risa, is in my hands.”
Upon hearing this, Masao Mita's eyes narrowed slightly, but he still did not reply.
“I want to use your daughter to make a deal with you…” Zhou Ziwei glanced at the seemingly unmoved Mita Masao, smiled coldly, and said, “Don’t worry, I don’t want much. I know… since you don’t even care much about your own life, how could you possibly care about your daughter? I only ask that you… find someone for me within a day… As long as I have accurate information about this person, and as long as I confirm the accuracy of this information, I will immediately release your daughter’s freedom, and from then on, I will have no further entanglement with your Mita family. How about it?”
Masao Mita stared at Zhou Ziwei in disbelief for a long time before muttering, "It's...it's that simple?"
"Yes...it's that simple. Otherwise, would you really think I care about your lousy family?" Zhou Ziwei shrugged and said, "I already said that I was just negotiating a deal with you and I didn't mean you any harm. You were the one who insisted on pointing a gun at your own head and acting like you were ready to die. Who can you blame for that?"
Masao Mita paused, then said with a wry smile, "You kidnapped my daughter for such a trivial matter, and then personally came to my door, defeated my bodyguard... and came to me just for this little thing?"
Zhou Ziwei shrugged and said, "Kidnapping your daughter wasn't my intention. It was because of a casual remark I made on the plane that she misunderstood me and started relentlessly chasing me... Heh... The young lady of the island nation's number one family can really give you a headache when she gets angry... I only had two choices at the time... either kill her or kidnap her... Which one do you want me to choose? As for what happened later... the guy I was looking for actually got wind of it beforehand and went into hiding, which annoyed me a lot. So... that's when I remembered I still had the young lady of the number one family in my hands. Since I'd already kidnapped her, it would be too much of a loss to release her without offering some benefits."
So… I was prepared to talk to you. You help me find that person, and I'll return your precious daughter to you. But who knew that seeing you, the clan chief, would be such a hassle? I even disguised myself as someone from your clan, and I still had to go through so many checks, it was so annoying… In the end, those idiots under your command even wanted me to strip naked and change clothes before I could see you… Damn it, how could I be so pathetic? I had no choice but to force my way in, haha… Speaking of which, things have come to this point entirely because of you. If you had just seen me properly, everything would have been over.”
Masao Mita was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then nodded with a wry smile and said, "Alright! I'll believe what you're saying for now. If that's true... you can rest assured that as long as the person you're looking for is still within the territory of Japan, I will definitely find him. However... if the person you're looking for is just a nobody, and our family doesn't have any information about that person beforehand, then it might take a little longer. But I will definitely mobilize the entire family's resources to help you get it done as soon as possible. I also hope that you can keep your word, and afterward, we'll be even."
Zhou Ziwei smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, the person I'm looking for is certainly not an ordinary person. He is Tanaka Kazuo, the current ministerial-level official of the island nation. I think the Mita clan chief should be familiar with this person!"
"The person you're looking for is Kazuo Tanaka." Upon hearing this, Masao Mita's face immediately showed a strange expression...
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 273: Blood Shadow
Seeing that Masao Mita's expression was a little strange, Zhou Ziwei nodded and said, "That's right, I'm looking for Kazuo Tanaka. What? What's his relationship with your Mita family?"
"No, no, no..." Masao Mita shook his head frantically upon hearing this, saying, "It's okay, it really isn't a problem... oh, well, not entirely unrelated, but..."
Masao Mita wiped the cold sweat from his forehead somewhat awkwardly and continued to explain, "Originally... our Mita family was planning to support Kazuo Tanaka in his bid for the next prime minister. Well... because there's still some time before the election, the decision hasn't been finalized yet. However... because of this... Kazuo Tanaka and our Mita family have been... getting quite close lately. But please believe me, our Mita family really has nothing to do with that person, and we would never oppose you for such an insignificant little person."
Is Kazuo Tanaka an insignificant nobody?
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei couldn't help but shake his head inwardly, thinking: It seems that the politics of this island nation are really... A high-ranking official at the ministerial level, the next prime ministerial candidate, is actually still an insignificant little person in the eyes of a patriarch of a large family. Hmm... Or perhaps he is just a pawn that can be used at any time and discarded at any time.
Zhou Ziwei had no interest in the dark side of island nation politics. He simply nodded and said, "I don't care if he's related to your family or not. I just want to know if you can help me find this person? And it has to be quick…it has to be done within a day, otherwise…"
Masao Mita hurriedly said, "Of course, no problem, hehe... Actually... I know where this person is right now."
"Oh, you actually know where he is?" Zhou Ziwei was slightly taken aback, but then he realized that since Tanaka Kazuo was the next prime minister that the Mita family was going to support, there must be some dirty deals between the two sides.
After receiving the threatening letter, Tanaka Kazuo's first thought was naturally to seek refuge with the Mita family. After all, in the minds of many Japanese people, the power of the Mita family was unimaginable; in some aspects, it might even be more powerful than the Japanese government. Tanaka Kazuo was afraid that he would really be killed and needed to find a place to hide. What place could be safer than the Mita family's place?
Tanaka Kazuo probably never imagined that the Mita family, which he had always considered invincible, would one day be attacked and forced to compromise, betraying him, this "insignificant" little man...
When Zhou Ziwei found Tanaka Kazuo, the old man was lewdly embracing two naked Japanese escort girls, drinking and carousing.
This old man was clearly past his prime. Under the urging of two such hot girls, his manhood was limp and motionless. But the old man still enjoyed teasing the two beauties in his arms. The two escort girls smiled brightly, but their eyes were clearly filled with helplessness and disdain.
Zhou Ziwei walked in just as the old man was sticking out his tongue and licking the two escort girls like a dog. The old man was startled and jumped up in a panic. He wanted to discuss the issue of citizens' right to privacy with Zhou Ziwei, but he was slapped into the corner by the thug from the Santian family who came with Zhou Ziwei.
Zhou Ziwei didn't waste any time. After verifying the old man's identity and confirming that he was indeed his target, he immediately ended the old man's lewd life. He then took a picture, intending to upload it to the black market assassin network to submit the mission.
Although Zhou Ziwei had just witnessed Masao Mita using a stunt double, he didn't believe that the old man Kazuo Tanaka would pull out a stunt double to fool him.
The Mita family is incredibly wealthy and powerful, so much so that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they are richer than a country. It's not surprising that the family would use a substitute or puppet for security. However, Kazuo Tanaka is just a politician. In terms of wealth, he can't even come close to the Mita family. As for him... he probably really can't afford to support a puppet or substitute.
Zhou Ziwei was surprised that the mission could be completed so quickly, and he felt much relieved. He then kept his word and immediately released Mita Risa.
Although this girl was somewhat vicious, the Mita family had helped Zhou Ziwei a great deal in this matter, so Zhou Ziwei didn't make things too difficult for her. He had already broken one of Mita Risa's legs, and that was enough of a hardship for her.
Zhou Ziwei originally intended to take the ring he obtained from Risa Mita to the Mita family as a token to prove that Risa Mita was in his possession. However, given the way things turned out, Masao Mita certainly wouldn't doubt Zhou Ziwei's words, so Zhou Ziwei didn't take out the ring and simply kept it.
This thing is of little use to Zhou Ziwei, but it wouldn't be bad to give it to Yu Xiaoru or Liu Xiaofei in the future, at least it would give them a chance to protect themselves...
Just as Zhou Ziwei dragged Mita Risa out of the sewer, tossed her into a corner of the street, called Mita Masao, and sped away... the entire city's surveillance system went into overdrive, with every location equipped with a camera focusing its surveillance on one person...
With a somber face, Masao Mita followed behind a short, elderly woman, carefully navigating a secluded courtyard filled with fallen cherry blossoms. After rounding an exquisite artificial hill, the old woman stopped in front of a somewhat dilapidated wooden gate, gently knocked on it, and then, without waiting for a response, turned around and gave Masao Mita a zombie-like smile before slowly and sluggishly walking away on her own.
"Come in!"
Only after the old woman's figure had disappeared into the distance did a faint, intermittent voice, like that of a wandering ghost, emerge from inside the wooden gate. Upon hearing this voice, even Masao Mita, who was used to seeing countless grand occasions, couldn't help but shudder.
However, Masao Mita dared not delay for a moment. Upon hearing the sound, he quickened his pace and walked to the wooden door. He reached out and gently pushed it open. The door creaked open, and a pungent, musty smell immediately hit him, almost suffocating him.
Masao Mita inwardly groaned, but outwardly dared not show the slightest disgust. He tried his best to remain relaxed as he slowly walked into the room, which looked like it had been uninhabited for at least a decade.
"Creak—" After Masao Mita stepped in, the half-open wooden door closed itself without any wind. Masao Mita was so frightened that he trembled all over and subconsciously looked back, but he couldn't see a single person.