"Well, thank you. Hiroshima, right? We'll find him."
Su Ming finished his tea, stood up, and prepared to take his leave.
A small fry like Yashida, without any connections that Su Ming cared for. After the test just now, he hadn't yet allied with Hydra.
So he's a nobody. Su Ming got the information he needed and could leave now.
"Please wait, sir. I have a presumptuous request, and I hope..."
"Oh? A deal? Let's hear it." Su Ming stopped.
"The Yashida family wants to engage in overseas trade, but the share is currently controlled by the Fukuoka Chamber of Commerce. I want..." Yashida's eyes showed ambition.
Su Ming turned back curiously, looking puzzled: "Where's your ninja army? Have them all killed."
He wouldn't stop Japanese from killing each other; he would even offer some advice.
Ichiro gritted his teeth. He wanted money, he wanted status. After his health was devastated by nuclear bombing, only power was something he could truly rely on:
"Killing is easy, but my family has no influence in the cabinet, so this business won't fall into my hands."
"Hmm... You're seeking our help. What can you offer in return?"
"Japan, the entire Japan, sir." Yashida slightly bowed, then raised his head: "If one day I can control Japan, then Hydra will be the true master behind this country."
"Such courage, such audacity. You are a man who can achieve great things." Su Ming knew the promise Yashida made would not be fulfilled, but wasn't it interesting anyway?
Already planning to exploit the gaps among Hydra leaders for his development? Knows quite a bit, doesn't he?
No wonder Yashida Corporation became Japan's largest conglomerate in the original comic. This helmsman is not bad.
"So...?" Yashida looked on eagerly.
Su Ming smiled and turned to leave, throwing back a line: "Wait, someone will contact you."
"Yes, thank you, sir."
Yashida Ichiro was overjoyed. His family, though wealthy and resourceful, lacked strong military power.
The ninja army was great for assassinations and espionage, but it wasn't an army that could confront others directly.
Hydra is different. Although they have been silent for years, a dead camel is still bigger than a horse. By borrowing their power, he could soon rise to great heights.
Su Ming and Gin walked outside the gate, watching as the grand gate slowly closed. From afar, they could still hear ghostly laughter from the mansion.
The two walked slowly towards the street.
As they looked at each other's faces, they walked faster and faster. Soon, their expressions turned into 'amusing' looks.
"What an idiot. Blinded by power. Even if he seeks SSR alignment, he shouldn't lean toward Hydra," Gin chuckled as she teased.
Su Ming held her hand, and the two found an unoccupied courtyard, climbed onto the cloak, and soared into the sky.
He restored his original black and yellow armor, and allowed Gin to return to her Valkyrie form, saying, "Yashida's been having trouble recently. Haven't you noticed?"
"Oh? How do you know?" Gin dispelled the illusion and sighed comfortably.
"No one knew we came here at this moment, yet Yashida Ichiro had nearly a hundred ninjas ambushed in the living room. Who were they originally prepared for?"
Su Ming touched her long hair; even if he didn't say it, she would figure it out sooner or later.
.................
Logan flipped off the horse, hugging a sweaty Ah Yi into his arms, and kissed her forehead.
Ah Yi had fallen asleep from exhaustion. She seemed to sense something in her dream, her head nudged a bit, finding a comfortable position.
Looking at his new wife, Logan still couldn't quite believe it. It all felt like a dream to him.
Just like that, he's married again?
Ah Yi seemed like a Yamato Nadeshiko, elegant and graceful at dusk, but earlier on the tatami, she was wilder than a beast.
If he wasn't a mutant or a self-healing ability user, he couldn't have handled it.
Logan slipped out of bed, put on thin clothes, found the cigar and lighter in his old clothes, and opened the door to step out into the corridor.
Looking at the white snowy ground and the hazy waning moon in the distance, he exhaled deeply, feeling like he was back at the peak of his life.
"Not bad, I thought you'd died in Japan, didn't expect today to be your big day."
Suddenly, a woman's voice came from behind. Logan's bone claws shot out from between his knuckles, and he whirled around, intending to give the intruder a chilling surprise.
But he quickly stopped because the girl behind him was smiling at him.
The girl in the black form-fitting leather suit, with wide gold bracelets on her wrists, her red hair cascading over her shoulders.
"Natalia?"
She'd grown up, her features changed a little, but Logan still recognized the contours of her face.
"It's me, Uncle. You can call me Natasha, seems this country made you formal." She had been sitting by the doorframe on the hallway floor for a long time.
The room had been noisy. The Japanese woman screamed miserably, but Natasha was used to that — she had seen worse at the Red House.
Though she didn't care, she knew men might have after-effects when startled, so she waited outside for a while longer.
"Why did you come here? How did you find me?" Logan rubbed his hand against his clothes, and the flesh on his hand healed visibly quickly.
Natasha stood up and, arms crossed, circled Logan like a catwalk: "You never learned to keep a low profile, nor do you know what the Red House taught me, right?"
"This isn't the place to talk."
Logan glanced at the room behind him, gesturing for Natasha to go somewhere else to talk, to avoid waking his wife.
Natasha remained unmoved; she glanced at her red-painted nails and casually said: "While she was riding you, I injected her with a hypnosis needle in her neck. She won't hear anything for a few hours."
"You!" Logan was furious, his face hardened, but soon he was helpless: "Ah... Whatever. Why have you gone back to that spy organization again? Didn't I send you to Ivan?"
Natasha gave a sarcastic smile. Compared to principal Deathstroke, her uncle was too naive: "Yes, but you forgot he infinitely idolizes that Steel Giant. Within five minutes of your leaving, a Ministry of Internal Affairs car arrived at my door, and Ivan sent me back to the Red House once more."
"That damned guy, how dare he pretend to be your adoptive father? I should kill that XXXX of a XX!" Logan's forehead veins bulged. Seeing the little girl he once knew become today's Black Widow, his guilt quickly morphed into anger.
Anger at himself, and anger at the world. Whenever he was furious, he felt the urge to kill.
Natasha understood her uncle's temperament. She enjoyed teasing him, so seeing him so agitated meant her goal was achieved.
She stopped in front of him, smiling broadly: "But that's in the past. Someone rescued me from the Red House already. I'm here to take you back to the United States, to start enjoying the Good Days together."
However, just as the words left her mouth and before Logan could respond, her ears picked up a movement. Something seemed to stir in the courtyard grass?
"What did you have for dinner?" she asked again.
Logan was puzzled; the topic shift was a bit too big. He scratched his head: "Uh, fish. Several kinds of fish."
Natasha drew her gun from her chest, pointing it toward the courtyard shrubbery: "Then you better hope it's just your new relative with an upset stomach... someone's coming."