Chapter 39: Kill Them All

Xiafei Road lay in ruins under the dusk.

The street was pocked with dozens of large craters from mortar shells, shrapnel scarred the walls of the buildings in dense patterns. Smoke, the scent of blood, and the acrid odor of burnt gasoline hung in the air.

Several trucks, riddled with holes, were parked by the roadside, some even flipped over in the middle of the road. Scattered around were discarded 30‑year‑model rifles, steel helmets and various gear. Dark‑red blood spread across the bluestone pavement, and a few corpses had not yet been moved.

Lin Yu held a cigarette between his lips and walked slowly through the wreckage. His leather shoes cracked against broken shell casings, producing a crisp sound.

Soldiers of the First Battalion were busy cleaning the battlefield. Some were inventorying captured weapons, others were carrying the wounded, and still others were guarding the dejected prisoners.

At a makeshift medical point at the far end of the street, Shan Ben Zhong sat there. His uniform was soaked with fresh blood, a bandage wrapped around his right leg, and his complexion was as pale as paper.

The once‑arrogant Japanese major now looked like a frost‑bitten eggplant, completely stripped of his former majesty.

Lin Yu walked up to him, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled a smoke ring.

"Major Shan Ben Zhong," Lin Yu said from his lofty position, a hint of mocking smile at the corner of his mouth, "How about it? Does the combat power of my 'rabble' still meet your discerning eye?"

"Baka! Chinese!" Shan Ben Zhong suddenly lifted his head, a venomous glare flashing in his eyes, "You low‑born races will sooner or later be… the Greater East Asian Empire…"

"Hold him down!" Lin Yu said coldly.

Two soldiers immediately pinned Shan Ben Zhong to the ground.

Lin Yu stepped forward, aligned his right foot with the gunshot wound on Shan Ben Zhong's leg, and stomped down hard.

"Ah!!!" a harrowing scream tore through the night.

Lin Yu's leather shoe crushed the wound, and blood quickly soaked the bandage. Shan Ben Zhong's face twisted in pain as he let out a pig‑like howl.

"Chinese? Low‑born races?" Lin Yu increased the pressure on his foot, "Say that again?"

"Ah!!!" Shan Ben Zhong's scream grew even more mournful.

Lin Yu took a Mauser 98K Rifle from a nearby soldier, lifted the stock, aimed it at Shan Ben Zhong's head, and fired.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, blood spurted from Shan Ben Zhong's forehead.

Bang! another heavy blow.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lin Yu's hand rose and fell, striking repeatedly. Shan Ben Zhong's wails gradually turned into whimpers, his whole face now drenched in blood.

Lin Yu tossed the rifle aside, straightened his collar, and said, "This is Shen City, our land! Not a place for you to run wild."

"Chief," Feng An walked up to Lin Yu, glanced at the half‑conscious Shan Ben Zhong on the ground, "these prisoners…"

"How many are left?" Lin Yu pulled out a cigarette and lit it slowly.

"Besides the seriously wounded, there are 105 people, including this Shan Ben Zhong," Feng An reported.

Lin Yu took a deep drag, exhaled a smoke ring into the night, turned his head, and looked at the Japanese gendarmes kneeling by the roadside, disarmed.

"Kill them all." his voice was icy, "Leave none."

Feng An hesitated, "Execute all of them?"

"Yes," Lin Yu smiled coldly, "Let them understand the consequence of provoking the Fourth Bureau in Shen City."

He looked at Shan Ben Zhong on the ground, "You Japanese, keep you until the end. Let you watch how your subordinates die with your own eyes."

"Understood." Feng An nodded, turned to deliver the order.

Soon, a mournful scream ripped through the night as the First Battalion began the cleanup.

On Xiafei Road, gunfire rose and fell. This night was destined to be stained with blood.

This is the price of provoking the Fourth Bureau!

Ding! Congratulations, host, for completely annihilating the Eastern Concession gendarmerie, raising our nation's prestige, gaining 1500 Hardness points!

System Prompt rang in Lin Yu's mind.

"1500 points?" Lin Yu's mouth curled into a slight smile. It was his first time gaining so many Hardness points at once.

"Looks like killing the useless bureau chief Sun Zhiyuan wasn't as cost‑effective as dealing with those Japanese dwarfs." he muttered to himself.

The Shan Ben Zhong on the ground had already been beaten beyond recognition, but when he heard his subordinates were to be executed, he still struggled to speak:

"Lin… Lin Yu! You can't do this!" he shouted in broken Chinese, "This will spark a war! The Greater East Asian Empire won't let you go unpunished!"

"War?" Lin Yu crouched, looking at Shan Ben Zhong's blood‑smeared face, "Just because of you bunch of dwarfs?"

"Our empire…"

"Shut up!" Lin Yu cut him off, "I'll give you some advice: in your next life, never be reborn as a Japanese again."

He stood, looking down at Shan Ben Zhong, "You Japanese, it's bad enough that your brains are underdeveloped, but your cerebellums are completely missing. You're as short as dwarfs, walk with pigeon‑toed legs, truly a failed product of human evolution."

"Baka! You…"

"The most laughable is," Lin Yu continued to mock, "you're clearly low‑quality seed, yet you keep shouting about the Greater East Asian Co‑Prosperity. With that kind of nature, you're fit to be a leader of Asia?"

He drew a Browning pistol from his waist and aimed at Shan Ben Zhong's head.

"Remember my words, when you reincarnate next life, open your eyes and see clearly. Never be reborn in the East again; that place only produces defective goods."

"You…"

Bang!

A crisp gunshot rang, and Shan Ben Zhong's words were forever stuck in his throat.

Lin Yu holstered the pistol, looking at the corpse on the ground: "This is the fate of those who oppose me."

In the night, the last batch of captives were also executed. On Xiafei Road, over a hundred Japanese gendarme corpses remained, silently recounting this bloody reckoning.

"Chief," Feng An came over, "these corpses…"

Lin Yu glanced at the Japanese gendarme corpses strewn on the ground, pulled out a cigarette and lit it: "Notify the Police Bureau to handle it."

"Police Bureau?" Feng An frowned.

"Yeah," Lin Yu exhaled a smoke ring, "they need something to do. All they ever do is wander the concession; it's time they do some real work."

He turned toward the French Concession, a cold glint in his eye: "Those Japanese devils can swagger into the French Concession to trouble me; the French officials of the Public Administration Bureau must have put in a lot of effort."

;"Indeed,"; Feng An nodded,;"Just now during the fight, we saw a few Frenchmen watching from afar.";

;"Hah,"; Lin Yu gave a cold snort,;"What do they think they are? Relying on the concession's privileges to do as they please?";

He flicked ash from his cigarette:;"Today we'll first deal with this group of Japanese midgets; as for those French bastards... sooner or later we'll settle the score!";

;"What the boss means is...";

;"Let the Police Bureau personnel come collect the corpses,"; Lin Yu interrupted,;"By the way, let them also see what happens to those who wear the same pants as the Japanese.";

Inside the Xiafei Road Police Bureau, the atmosphere was tense to the point of suffocation.

Over the past ten years, the French Concession had never seen an armed conflict of this scale. A fight involving over a thousand people, hundreds of corpses—to the usually pampered police, it was nothing short of a nightmare.

;"Boom! Boom! Boom!";

The heavy knocking suddenly sounded.

;"Good heavens!"; The on-duty policemen were frightened, shuddering all over.

Through the window, they saw several fully armed soldiers outside. The soldiers still smelled of gunpowder, with bloodstains speckled on their helmets and uniforms.

;"Who... who will open the door?"; a policeman stammered.

No one spoke. They had witnessed the earlier battle with their own eyes. The terrifying firepower, those Japanese gendarmes beaten to pieces—just thinking about it made one's blood run cold.

;"Boom! Boom! Boom!";

The knocking grew louder.

;"Open the door!"; came the stern voice of the second company commander from outside,;"You have one minute to open the door, otherwise don't blame us for being impolite!";

The policemen exchanged glances; finally, the captain steeled himself and walked toward the gate.

;"Gentlemen... gentlemen, sirs..."; he opened the door, his voice trembling.

;"Director Lin said,"; the second company commander said coldly,;"Have you clean up the battlefield. All corpses must be cleared before dawn!";

The policemen looked at each other, nobody daring to speak.

;"What's the matter?"; the second company commander narrowed his eyes,;"Are you thinking of defying the Fourth Bureau's orders?";

;"No no no!"; the captain waved his hands repeatedly,;"We'll go right now, we'll go right now!";