Coming out of the tavern, the two walked on the dark street, only the dim moonlight reflecting off the snow illuminated the way, making everything seem lonely and desolate.
The breath they exhaled condensed into mist before them, quickly blown away by the north wind.
Neither of them felt the cold, though they couldn't help but let the dilapidated scene affect their mood slightly.
Gin took a sip from the newly bought bottle of alcohol.
"Too weak."
"It's normal, sake is always diluted with water."
Gin finished the drink like he was drinking water and tossed the bottle far away: "That Japanese officer named Yashida, is there anything special about him?"
"If my original information is correct, he once was a minor officer in charge of prison management, and Logan was a prisoner under his nose back then."
Su Ming took out a cigarette, lit it, and looked up to determine the direction.
"The nuclear bomb went off course?" Gin had heard Howard brag more than once about the power of his nuclear weapons, but the tavern owner said that nothing much happened in the town at the time.
"I have to remind you, this wasn't Brigadier General Doolittle and their problem, it must have been Howard's mistake. It was supposed to hit the naval base, but ended up on the mountain on the other side of the city, off by dozens of kilometers, it must have been the deceleration parachute he designed that had a problem."
Su Ming shared his guesses, anyway, Howard's inventions, uh... have never been reliable.
According to the tavern owner, the atomic bomb didn't even really affect this place, they were only evacuated later to avoid radioactive dust.
Apart from the civilians, even the soldiers and prisoners were evacuated, it was chaotic at the time, and shortly after the two nuclear bombs, Japan announced its surrender.
Since then, she has never seen Lieutenant Yashida again.
However, he used to be a regular at the tavern, and Yashida clearly looked like the heir from a big family, very strict with himself. On his weekly day off, he would come to the tavern for a pot of sake, no more, no less, with just a small serving of wasabi octopus.
Then he would get up and leave, rarely spoken but very polite.
The tavern owner's husband also died overseas, she knew that these officers left in the homeland generally had connections in the court, the world is just that unfair.
But Yashida was someone who you couldn't bring yourself to hate. It's said that many prisoners owed him a favor and even came to inquire about his whereabouts after the war.
Unlike other prisons, Yashida did not allow his subordinates to torture prisoners, claiming it was inconsistent with the Samurai spirit. Humiliating the enemy's warrior was an unnecessary and foolish act.
So in those years managing the POW camp, he actually learned several foreign languages from the prisoners, and now he's reportedly retired and returned home to inherit the family business.
But if you want to find him, the tavern owner can only provide the clue of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture as she heard him mention it occasionally that his family came from there, and their ancestors served as a retainer to generals during the Kamakura Shogunate.
Thus, Natasha's whereabouts become obvious.
"Natasha set out five days before us, but after arriving in Japan her movement would be significantly slowed down, so as long as we don't go the wrong way, we can find her quickly."
Su Ming found a secluded spot and again pulled Gin onto the Magic Floating Cloak, both flying toward Kamakura.
Kanagawa Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture and belongs to the surrounding areas of Tokyo City, and Kamakura has been known for its good hydrographic conditions since ancient times, having several commercial ports, making it a relatively prosperous small town in the past.
Although it's called Kamakura City, with just a small population, Su Ming couldn't bring himself to say it aloud.
Similar to Jiangnan Water Village of the Celestial Dynasty, Kamakura is also known for its small canals, where you can leisurely boat through the town or take a rickshaw ride to enjoy the flowers, all wonderful tourist activities. The mountains here also have hot springs, and its specialty is the Raccoon Cat that digs graves.
Unfortunately, Su Ming and the others came at the wrong season this time.
Winter and close to the year's end, this year seems equally bleak, and when they arrived outside this small city, they found that except for the service industry, the entire city had practically come to a halt.
"Well, actually in places where the Shogunate was established, the sweets are usually pretty good, but unfortunately, we won't be tasting any this time." Su Ming gestured helplessly toward Gin at the city shrouded in night.
He then pointed to the towering castle outside the city, and the cloak flew in that direction.
The castle, a relic from the Sengoku Era in Japan, if there's a Martial Family Town, it shouldn't be far from the castle.
Gin casually fixed her hair, the black felt strange to her: "Since you said the Yashida family is wealthy, are you worried they won't have any snacks? If there's something we want, let's just grab it."
"This is Earth, not Asgard, I don't take other people's things. We need love, not violence." Su Ming covered his face, it seemed Gin had been holding back these years.
"Alright, alright, listen to you." Gin laughed as she leaned closer to him, the two descended and switched to walking towards Martial Family Town.
The yards were spacious and imposing, but most rooms were empty. Even if there were occasional inhabitants, they were often elderly, sitting silently by the lamp, lost in thought.
"Such a nice place, should buy it and develop real estate, wait a dozen years, and hand it over to the Japanese government as a burden." Su Ming was indifferent to whether these people were sad or not, he was thinking about his own benefits.
Gin hugged his arm awkwardly and said helplessly, "Didn't we agree that the next direction for group development is controlling public opinion? Why are you thinking about real estate again?"
"True, never mind, now money is just a number to me, rare metals and various resources are the priority. The Adjutant's spaceship project is truly a bottomless pit for resources. Dr. Zola is also unreliable, research in computing is dragging on and on."
Su Ming's thoughts drifted far again.
"There, it should be this one, right?" Gin pointed to a large house further down the street, where it was brightly lit, and there were lanterns at the door with the Yashida family name on them.
She doesn't know Japanese, but she does recognize Chinese characters, so she had a guess.
"I'll knock, you don't say anything, there might be some connection between the family and Hydra, don't give away anything."
Su Ming advised a few words, between the two, he wasn't worried, he was mostly concerned about Natasha finding her way here earlier, and if Yashida noticed something, he might notify Hydra.
Currently, the head of Hydra in Japan is Baron Stryker, he too is a bald guy, Su Ming now least wants to deal with bald guys.
Luthor is bald, Brainiac is bald, Dr. Manhattan is bald, none of them are easy to deal with, and Zhongsi Academy is hosting a little bald guy who will also be a tough nut to crack when he grows up.
Strictly speaking, the little cousin and Doom are also bald, their scalps rotted off, naturally bald.
It shows that "going bald makes you stronger" is not an empty phrase but has general applicability.
After knocking, Su Ming looked at the servant who opened the door and introduced himself: "Tell your patriarch Yashida Ichiro, that an old acquaintance is here to visit."
"Um...excuse me, but do you have any credentials?" It's not easy for the gatekeeper, having someone show up at night looking for the master, so vague won't do.
"Just tell them I'm called Logan Houtley, I'm a dwarf." Su Ming calmly replied.