Chapter 41: Burning the Consulate

The convoy commander of the First Battalion drove straight in, heading for the administrative district of the Eastern Concession.

Twenty military trucks halted abruptly in front of the consulate; fully armed soldiers quickly disembarked and surrounded the entire consulate. An MG42 machine gun was set up on the high ground, and the mortar squad also took position.

"Baka! Where did this army come from?" Consul Mu Cun Ye stood at the second‑floor window, watching the armed soldiers below, his face turning ashen.

"Consul, sir," the secretary said anxiously, "should we notify the Security Command Headquarters?"

"No," Mu Cun Ye snorted coldly, "I want to see who dares to run amok in the Eastern Consulate!"

He quickened his step to the consulate's main gate, straightening his back. As a diplomat of the Greater East Asia Empire, he could not afford to be outmatched in presence.

"Everyone!" Mu Cun Ye shouted in stiff Chinese, "This is the consulate of the Greater East Asia Empire, protected by international treaties! Your surrounding of the consulate is a serious diplomatic incident!"

He scanned the troops before him: "I warn you, withdraw immediately! Otherwise, you bear the consequences!"

Lin Yu stepped down from the command vehicle and lit a cigarette.

"Who are you?" Mu Cun Ye asked with a frown, "Who sent you?"

"Fourth Bureau, Lin Yu," Lin Yu exhaled a smoke ring, "We're here to settle accounts with you."

"Fourth Bureau?" Mu Cun Ye was startled, then sneered, "Just because an Action Bureau dares to be so brazen in the Eastern Consulate?"

"Brazen?" Lin Yu scoffed, "You Easterners really don't shed a tear until you see a coffin. When you sent the military police to trouble me, didn't you consider the consequences?"

Mu Cun Ye thought silently; the military police had set out that afternoon, so how was Lin Yu still unharmed now, even bold enough to knock on the consulate's door for trouble?

Lin Yu flicked ash, "I suggest you make a call and ask how your military police are doing now."

"What do you mean?" Mu Cun Ye's face changed.

"The over a thousand you sent," Lin Yu walked step by step toward Mu Cun Ye, "have all turned into corpses. Now it's your consulate's turn."

"Baka! You're lying!" Mu Cun Ye's face flushed red, but a hint of panic flashed in his eyes, "This is impossible! This is the territory of the Greater East Asia Empire! If you dare touch the consulate, you're declaring war on my Greater East Asia Empire!"

"Declare war?" Lin Yu laughed loudly, "Just you short‑statured bunch?"

He walked up to Mu Cun Ye: "Let me tell you, in Shen City I do whatever the hell I want. That shitty consulate, that Greater East Asia Empire, they're nothing in my eyes!"

"You... you..." Mu Cun Ye was so angry his whole body trembled.

"What? Not satisfied?" Lin Yu suddenly lunged forward with a swift step and delivered a heavy slap to Mu Cun Ye's face.

"Slap!"

The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the night sky.

Mu Cun Ye spun around where he stood from the blow, staggering back a few steps.

"Baka! You dare hit me?" he covered his face, unable to believe it was real.

"Hit you?" Lin Yu sneered, "Today I not only will hit you, but also burn down your crappy consulate!"

Saying that, he delivered another kick, sending Mu Cun Ye sprawling onto the ground.

"Help!" Mu Cun Ye struggled to get up, shouting toward the consulate, "Security! Security!"

"Stop shouting," Lin Yu looked down from his height, "Your pitiful security force can't even defeat a single squad of mine."

He drew his pistol, aimed at Mu Cun Ye's head: "Now you have two choices: kneel and apologize, or die here."

"Baka! You damn Chinaman!" Mu Cun Ye struggled to get up, "You dare kill me? I am a consul of the Greater East Asia Empire! If you kill me, you'll face the empire's wrath!"

"The empire's wrath?" Lin Yu sneered, "You short‑statured bunch, how dare you talk such big words to me?"

"You... you inferior race!" Mu Cun Ye gritted his teeth, "We the Yamato people are descendants of Amaterasu‑Ōmikami, destined to rule Asia as a noble race! You Chin…"

"Bang!"

A crisp gunshot rang, cutting Mu Cun Ye's words short. The bullet pierced his brow precisely, spraying blood and brain matter everywhere. He stared with wide eyes, incredulously watching the blood spreading across his chest, then fell heavily to the ground.

"Noble race?" Lin Yu holstered his pistol, "Dead is still just a corpse, isn't it?"

He turned to Feng An and shouted, "Kill them all! No survivors!"

"First Company, Second Company, follow me!" Feng An ordered.

The consulate's security force finally reacted, charging out with rifles to meet the fight. Yet their pitiful firepower was no match for the German‑armed troops.

"Rat‑rat‑rat!"

The MG42 machine gun roared, its astonishing rate of fire instantly turning the charging security into a sieve. Flesh and blood flew, limbs and arms scattered everywhere.

"Boom! Boom!"

The 81 mm mortar shells whistled as they struck the second floor of the consulate; the massive explosions shattered the entire floor. Debris of stone, glass, and wood mixed with flesh rained down.

Several Easterners were blown to pieces, their mutilated corpses hanging on the broken walls.

"Help! Don't kill me!"

"Baka! Fight them to the end!"

"Run! Run!"

Inside the consulate chaos reigned. Some Easterners still tried to make a last stand, but against the German‑armed firepower their resistance was laughably futile.

Soon, thick smoke rose from all corners of the consulate. Flames shot upward, turning the night sky a deep red. Amid the screams, the crackle of burning wood mixed, and the air was filled with the scent of blood and gunpowder.

Lin Yu stood by the roadside, watching the consulate blaze, slowly lighting a cigarette. The firelight reflected on his stern face.

This is the price of picking a fight in Shen City!

Flames shot upward, thick smoke billowed. The entire consulate had become a sea of fire.

Feng An hurried to Lin Yu's side: "Chief, it's cleared."

"How's it?" Lin Yu exhaled a smoke ring.

"Not a single one left," Feng An grinned, "From the vice‑consul to the guards, from clerks to servants, all sent straight to hell."

"Very good." Lin Yu looked at the blazing consulate, sneering, "Burning their consulate is like slapping the Easterners' faces in front of all Shen City."

"Chief's meaning is..."

"These Eastern short‑stools care most about face," Lin Yu flicked ash, "Today's act is like rubbing their faces on the ground. They won't settle quietly."

"Then we..." Feng An sounded a bit worried.

"What are you afraid of?" Lin Yu sneered, "Let them come. In Shen City, it's not yet these shorties' turn to run wild!"

The firelight illuminated his face, outlining a cold, grim smile.

"Let's go," Lin Yu stubbed out his cigarette, "It's time to head back. Let this fire be enough to give the Foreigners a proper lesson!"

Twenty military trucks slowly started up in the night, disappearing at the end of the street. Behind them, the blaze at the foreign consulate continued to rage, dyeing half the sky red.