CIATB Chapter 298 Servants of God!
Chapter 298 Servants of God!
The encrypted channel of the Maritime Self-Defense Force Command Communications Center received an emergency report from the Northern Patrol Group at 3:17 p.m.
The content is very short.
"An unusual echo, suspected to be from an unidentified underwater target, was detected in the northern part of the Sakura Sea."
"The signal characteristics are somewhat similar to the acoustic signature fragments of the unknown mechanical object recorded in the previous 'South China Sea incident'."
"The target did not engage in any aggressive behavior."
"The formation has proactively disengaged from contact according to the established plan and is returning to base at full speed."
The report included the raw data from the sonar recordings.
After reading the report, the communications operator remained silent for a few seconds before picking up the internal phone.
"Get me into Vice Chief of Staff Ito's office."
……
Takehiko Ito's office is on the third floor of the main building of the Maritime Self-Defense Force headquarters, with windows facing the harbor.
From this angle, you can see half of the berths at Yokosuka Naval Base.
The wreckage of three warships lies on the seabed of the South China Sea, and salvage has not yet been achieved.
The JMSDF's official statement was that "an accident occurred during a joint exercise," but everyone inside knew the truth.
Takehiko Ito sat behind his desk and finished reading the report that had been sent to him.
The waveform of the raw sonar data is laid out on the table, with the blurry echo signal circled in red.
The signal is too weak; this amount of data is simply insufficient to confirm the target's identity.
But the formation commander made the right decision—to disengage.
Because of the formation they failed to break away from last time, all three ships sank in sixty seconds, and so far only a few pieces of scrap metal have been salvaged.
Takehiko Ito closed the report and placed it at the bottom of the pile of documents.
He picked up the phone and made two calls.
One was given to the intelligence department, instructing them to track the possible course and destination of that signal.
A contact was made to the Cabinet Security Bureau, informing them that "that thing has reappeared, this time in the northern part of the Cherry Blossom Sea."
Both phone calls were very short.
After hanging up the phone, the office returned to silence.
There is sunshine and sea breeze outside the window.
The gray hull numbers of the warships moored in the harbor cast reflections on the water.
Bang.
The door is closed.
It wasn't someone who opened the door and then closed it.
The door closed itself.
Takehiko Ito looked up.
He was certain the door had been open; the secretary hadn't brought it with her when she came to deliver the documents fifteen minutes earlier.
There's one more person in the office.
He wore a black coat, and the black hood was pulled down low, obscuring his face.
Standing in the center of the office, about four meters away from Ito's desk.
Takehiko Ito moved his right hand from the tabletop to the drawer under the table.
There was a loaded Nambu pistol inside.
"Who are you."
His voice was very steady.
Having been in this position for over a decade, I've seen it all.
The man in black didn't move.
A voice came from under the hood, neither male nor female, as if two frequencies were overlapping.
"You don't need to know who I am."
"All you need to know is... 'God' is about to descend upon this world."
Takehiko Ito's fingers touched the drawer handle.
He didn't pull away immediately, his gaze sweeping over the man in black—he wasn't carrying any visible weapons, was of medium to thin build, and his stance wasn't the standard posture for a combat trainee.
It's highly likely that the intruder had mental health issues.
How did the Maritime Self-Defense Force's security system manage to let someone like that infiltrate?
"You have three seconds." Takehiko Ito's voice turned colder.
He called out to the door.
Two people walked in through the door.
He was wearing a black suit and had a communicator in his ear.
They were his personal bodyguards, codenamed "Sakura" and "Tsubaki".
A retired special forces soldier, he belongs to the second tier of close combat in Ito's "Samurai" system.
"see a visitor out."
Sakura and Tsubaki exchanged a glance and approached the man in black one after the other.
The two men's footwork was very precise; one maneuvered in front while the other blocked their retreat.
The man in black remained motionless.
The sound came from under the hood again.
"Unwise."
Sakura's hand had already touched the man in black's shoulder.
The next second, he let out a short scream.
Takehiko Ito witnessed a scene that sent chills down his spine.
But he could hardly believe what he was seeing.
Sakura's entire arm began to shatter from her fingertips, not break, but peel off and disintegrate from her skin like sand, turning into a wisp of black smoke and dissipating into the air.
In less than two seconds, he was gone.
At the same instant, Chun launched a sneak attack, delivering a karate chop to the back of the man in black's neck.
The man in black simply tilted his head.
Chun's hand chop struck the air.
Then his body began to shatter.
Starting from the chest, it spread like shards of glass to the limbs, head, and neck.
He didn't even have time to make a sound before he turned into a second wisp of black smoke.
The air in the office circulated slightly.
The black smoke spread and then disappeared.
Clean and tidy.
There wasn't a single drop of blood on the floor.
Takehiko Ito gripped the drawer handle tightly, his knuckles turning white.
His breathing rhythm had clearly changed, but his facial expression remained under control.
Two living people, evaporated in three seconds.
"Now."
The man in black tilted his hood slightly, as if he were looking at him.
I'll ask you one more time.
"God is about to descend upon this world."
"If you are willing to become a servant of 'God,' 'God' will grant you power and subordinates worthy of your ambition."
Takehiko Ito's Adam's apple bobbed.
His hand loosened its grip on the drawer.
A pistol is meaningless.
He knew those two men's skills all too well, and they couldn't even last half a second against this man in black.
"What kind of power?"
He spoke.
His voice was hoarse, but steady.
The man in black did not answer directly.
A soft laugh came from under the hood.
A deep, almost inaudible sound, unlike anything a human vocal cord could produce.
"like me."
"Someone like you."
Takehiko Ito repeated the sentence.
His gaze fell on the office floor.
The spot where Tsubaki and Sakura were standing just now.
It was spotless; there wasn't even a dent in the footprints on the fiber carpet.
Two living people were erased.
It's not about killing, but about physically erasing any trace of its existence.
"Where are your men?"
Ito's voice was much calmer than it had been a minute ago.
Of course he was afraid, but he had been in that position for over a decade.
After the initial fear subsides, the most rapid thought in one's mind is always the pros and cons.
"Your two good-for-nothings..."
The man in black tilted his head, his voice tinged with sarcasm from beneath his hood, "Before the power of 'God,' you're not even an ant."
"The men that 'God' gives you will be a hundred times stronger than them."
Takehiko Ito was not provoked.
Instead, he sat up straight, placed his hands on the table, adopting his standard posture at all high-level military meetings.
"What will happen after I agree?"
"Do you have any conditions?"
The man in black's tone remained unchanged, but there seemed to be a hint of interest beneath his hood.
"Cooperation requires a foundation."
Ito's lips were flat.
"I need to know who I'm working for, what I'm getting, and... what I need to do."