Chapter 246: Lin Yu Hides Killing Intent Behind a Smile

Sato Kenichi seemed to completely ignore Feng An's almost fire‑spitting eyes and the suddenly tense atmosphere in the reception hall.

In front of Feng An, who was restraining his anger at Lin Yu's signal, he stood up as if strolling in his own backyard and paced slowly a few steps in the reception hall.

Sato Kenichi picked up a Western clock on the table for a moment, then walked to the window and critiqued the garden scenery.

Finally, he sauntered back to the sofa, helped himself to the purple‑sand teapot on the tea table, and poured himself a full cup of tea.

What was even more astonishing, he spotted an exquisite silver cigarette case on the tea table—the very British‑made special‑supply cigarettes Lin Yu used to entertain honored guests.

Sato Kenichi's eyes lit up; he directly opened the cigarette case, pinched out a cigarette, then, without a care in the world, picked up the lighter on the table, lit the cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled a thick smoke ring, his face showing an intoxicated yet contemptuous expression.

Throughout the process, he never glanced at Lin Yu, as if the mansion's owner didn't exist at all, or as if he, Sato Kenichi, were the true master of this place.

Feng An's fists were clenched so tight they crackled; had Lin Yu not signaled earlier, he would have already lunged forward to tear that arrogant foreigner apart.

Sato Kenichi puffed contentedly on his cigarette, sipped his tea, and then leisurely turned his gaze to Lin Yu, who had kept a smile all along.

"Commander Lin," he said, his tone openly patronizing and condescending, "I am Sato Kenichi, humbly serving as the officer in charge of the Special Higher Police stationed in the **Southeastern Region** of the Great Eastern Ocean Empire. Today I have the audacity to come here, representing the Great Eastern Ocean Empire, to offer you…… an opportunity."

"Oh? An opportunity?" Lin Yu looked at him with interest, as if listening to an amusing joke.

"Exactly, a chance to survive, a…… chance to choose the future." Sato Kenichi flicked ash from his cigarette, arrogant, "Commander Lin should know that the main force of the Imperial Navy's First Combined Fleet is currently heading south. The flagship 【Nagato】, plus two Fusō‑class battleships, four heavy cruisers, eight destroyers…… tsk tsk, this force is enough to destroy any port city in the Far East."

His eyes flashed with a cruel light: "Especially the 【Nagato】, whose eight 410‑mm main guns have a range over forty kilometers! Once it reaches the waters off Shen City, its shells can easily blanket the vast area from Wusong Mouth to Southern City! Your proud army? Those imposing tank cannons? Before the Nagato's ship‑borne guns, they're nothing but scrap iron! The Imperial fleet needs only a few salvoes to turn Shen City's core into a sea of fire!"

He deliberately paused, observing Lin Yu's reaction, seemingly hoping to see fear or despair on his face.

"So, Commander Lin," Sato Kenichi intensified his tone, leaning slightly forward with undisguised threat, "the only road before you is: immediately disarm all your troops, hand over Shen City's military and civil authority to the Imperial representatives, publicly apologize to the Empire and compensate losses, and swear allegiance to the Great Eastern Ocean Empire!"

"If you are sensible, the Empire might consider letting you keep a post like 'Shen City Maintenance Chairman' so you can continue enjoying wealth and honor." He spoke as if bestowing a favor, "but if you are obstinate and dare to resist…… humph!"

He stubbed out his cigarette butt hard in the ashtray, his eyes turning cold and vicious: "What awaits you is only a dead end! Not just you, but all your resisting soldiers, and this city that refuses to submit, will be reduced to ashes in the Imperial Navy's wrath!"

Having said that, Sato Kenichi leaned back against the sofa, smugly gazing at Lin Yu, waiting for his reply. In his view, faced with such an overwhelming disparity of force and naked death threats, this young warlord had no choice but to meekly surrender—there could be no second option.

He had even begun to imagine how he would seize the maximum profit in this city about to change hands.

Sato Kenichi leaned back on the sofa, smugly awaiting Lin Yu's fear and submission. Yet what he saw was still that inscrutable smile on Lin Yu's face.

But this time, beneath that smile something extremely dangerous seemed to be brewing, and the depths of Lin Yu's eyes began to flash with a cold, blade‑like light.

"Finished?" Lin Yu spoke softly, his voice still steady, but those who knew him could already sense a hint of the impending storm in his tone.

Sato Kenichi blinked, evidently not expecting such a reaction, and instinctively nodded: "Finished. Commander Lin, my patience is limited, the Imperial fleet……"

"Pfft——" Lin Yu burst out laughing, his laugh full of undisguised mockery and contempt, as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world.

He slowly rose to his feet, step by step approached Sato Kenichi, and looked down on the foreigner sitting on the sofa who was much shorter than him.

"Let me say……" Lin Yu's smile vanished, replaced by extreme disgust and contempt; his voice wasn't loud, but it was packed with cutting insult: "You motherfucker, what maggot crawled out of which cesspit? A bow‑legged Oriental midget whose brain's been squeezed by a door and whose body hasn't even finished developing—do you even deserve to come onto my turf and bark like a mad dog?"

"You? Representing the Great Eastern Ocean Empire?" Lin Yu seemed to have heard something unbelievable, exaggeratedly pulling at his ears, "Just based on your five‑short stature, your dog‑eating‑shit demeanor? Or based on that lot of so‑called 'Imperial Army' who only swagger in front of the old, weak, women and children, and piss their pants when they meet real opposition?"

"And you dare give me a chance? What the hell are you? Even a castrated mongrel wouldn't strut before a tiger!" Lin Yu's voice grew colder, each word like a poison‑iced spike, driven deep into Sato Kenichi's heart,

"Slaughtering you Oriental devils is as easy as squashing a few bedbugs! Last time that so‑called Ninth Division—wasn't it just casually dealt with by me? How come you've forgotten the pain so fast? Or are you Orientals born to remember eating but not fighting, a worthless breed?"

"As for those few rusty hulks of yours…" Lin Yu sneered, "Do you really think sailing a couple of iron ships over here will scare me? Is your head full of shit? Or are you Orientals all inbred imbeciles? Those few broken cannons wouldn't even be hard enough for me to wipe my ass with!"

He leaned in, his mouth almost touching Sato Kenichi's ear, and spoke in a demonic whisper: "Where do you get your courage? Where do you get the gall to run wild in front of me? Did a donkey kick your brain before you left home, or did your mother‑pig knock you stupid? Hmm?"

This string of utter vulgarity and vicious insult, like the filthiest sewage, poured over Sato Kenichi's head from top to bottom.

Sato Kenichi was instantly dumbfounded! He had been educated in bushido since childhood, held a high position—when had he ever suffered such unbearable insult?! And it was being hurled at him face‑to‑face by a "Chinak" he regarded as an inferior race!

After a brief moment of bewilderment came a volcanic eruption of fury!

"Baka! Baka yarou!!" Sato Kenichi sprang up from the sofa, his face flushing red with rage and excitement, veins on his neck bulging like worms. He pointed at Lin Yu's nose, trembling all over, his kimono askew, shouting madly in sharp, piercing Japanese, spit flying.

Although Lin Yu couldn't understand Japanese, from his contorted face and hysterical demeanor one could guess it certainly wasn't anything nice.

Feng An and the other guards gripped their rifle butts again, killing intent plain in their eyes.

Sato Kenichi seemed to have tired of swearing, or realized that mere curses couldn't save face; he forcibly suppressed his anger, his gaze turning even more cold and vicious, like a snake fixing on Lin Yu, and spoke in stiff Chinese, word by word: "Good, good, good! Lin Yu! You've got guts! You're the most arrogant Chinak I've ever seen!"

A grim smile crossed his face, tinged with morbid pleasure: "Do you think winning a war of words helps? Soon! Soon you'll pay for today's arrogance! The Imperial fleet's gunfire will show you what real power is! Then I'll personally lash you to the muzzle of the 【Nagato】 and let you taste being torn to shreds! And your family! Your subordinates! Everyone connected to you will die as a sacrifice for your stupidity!"