The Restoration Problem

Although I tried to tidy up my disheveled appearance as much as possible before returning to the bunker, I couldn’t deceive the eyes of some people.

To avoid scandal as much as possible, Zhou Lizhi volunteered to go up to the surface to supervise the situation, and I returned alone to the bunker where everyone had taken refuge via the elevator.

In the bunker, there was an ongoing debate about the Tikhonov issue, with some senior students joining the foreign students’ argument. As there were no signs of it escalating into a duel, there seemed to be no need to intervene specifically.

Churchill glanced at me and said,

“Like a monkey in heat.”

“That’s racial discrimination, Briar.”

“No, just ‘monkey’ isn’t racial discrimination. Charles Darwin proved that all humans are monkeys. You know Darwin was English, right?”

I was momentarily speechless at this strange logic I’d never heard before. Duey, who had been listening to something like a radio, turned towards us and joined the conversation.

“To be precise, humans and monkeys share a common ancestor…”

“Anyway! The exact racially discriminatory expression is ‘yellow monkey,’ you know?”

“So you haven’t made a racial slur yet, Bri?”

“Like these horny yellow monkeys.”

Now that’s an undeniable racial slur. Catherine Duey seemed to find Churchill’s words amusing and chuckled before composing herself and bowing her head to me.

“I’m sorry, Platoon Leader. I didn’t mean to mock you.”

“No, I don’t really mind… In the middle of China, whether I’m called a yellow monkey or a chink, if I cared about every little thing, it’d be hard to live a proper life. Besides, Miss Churchill has even openly called me a whore, so getting worked up over being called a horny yellow monkey…”

“Wow…”

Duey turned to look at Briar Churchill with a slightly disgusted expression. The Maestro shrugged with a gesture that seemed to say ‘So what?’ It was a topic that would become disadvantageous to me if delved into deeply, considering I’m involved with both women at once. It’s fortunate that for now, only Duey and Churchill, who know the situation to some extent, are involved in the conversation, but if more people started listening, it could become embarrassing even for me.

“Ahem, um. What are those people doing over there?”

I cleared my throat to change the subject. While some were arguing about Tikhanov on one side, five or six students were crowded around a radio, turning the frequency dial and listening intently. Lieutenant Duey nodded.

“They’re acting according to the nuclear war crisis response protocol. The barrier doesn’t block radio frequencies, after all.”

“So, they’re listening to the news?”

“That’s right. Fortunately, it seems we’ve avoided the worst crisis. The Soviet Union and Japan have issued statements of regret and condolence. The communist bloc has hurried to assert that they’re not responsible. Now that the communists have expressed regret, we can say the possibility of this leading to World War II has significantly decreased.”

“Plus, rumors are spreading here and there. The general consensus is that it was the work of Qing restorationists. In the end, it looks like only internal security in China will be tightened, huh?”

“Tightening security won’t be any kind of solution, though.”

Rebecca Katerfeld suddenly appeared behind me. I was startled and jumped back. This spiritualist, who had been listening to the radio until just now, had been going on about souls and spirits, and then approached behind me without a sound as if she had become a ghost herself.

“What do you mean tightening security has no meaning?”

Briar Churchill asked Katerfeld. Katerfeld answered,

“You know, Briar Churchill. The core of this problem is how on earth, and why, the launch authority for nuclear weapons could have been stolen. The support base for the Qing dynasty is not just weak, it’s practically non-existent. They didn’t even fall gracefully, and the small court that was created out of courtesy has long since been shattered. Meanwhile, does anyone know where the Xuantong Emperor went after the Xinhai Revolution?”

The last emperor of the Qing was Aisin Gioro Puyi, also known as the Xuantong Emperor. After the Xinhai Revolution, he was driven out by Yuan Shikai, who betrayed the Qing by siding with the revolutionaries. Afterwards, he lived a tragic life as an emperor who could do nothing, oppressed by the warlords who divided and tyrannized China.

There was the Manchu Restoration incident where Zhang Xun, one of the warlords, attempted to restore the Xuantong Emperor taking advantage of political chaos, but it was quickly suppressed. The last emperor, who could barely retain only the Forbidden City through the small Qing court, was driven even from the Forbidden City by the warlord Feng Yuxiang.

Opinions vary among people about the whereabouts of the Xuantong Emperor after that. There are rumors that he was kidnapped by the Japanese Kwantung Army, who wanted to use the Qing emperor in some way. There are also rumors that he hid in Changbaishan, the sacred mountain of the Manchu people… that is, Mount Baekdu, and threw himself into the Heavenly Lake to die. There’s also a relatively realistic hypothesis that he simply returned to ordinary life and raised a family, but there are also near-urban legends that he’s still alive in the Manchurian plains, aiming for the restoration of the empire.

The restorationists seem to sincerely believe the last urban legend and are a strange terrorist group trying to restore the empire in China. They claim that a descendant of the Qing imperial family with superpowers is behind them, and say that this superhuman will someday grow up, prove himself stronger than Chiang Kai-shek, and overthrow the increasingly corrupt Republic of China.

But establishing an empire again in China, of all places, seemed like a joke that wasn’t even funny.

“There are restorationists in Germany too. They even have a political party.”

Katerfeld said. Indeed, it seemed there was a strange minority faction in Germany advocating for the revival of the German Empire. They are extremists who shout that they need to return to the imperial era when they could at least beat Russia, as the current power of Germany and Poland can’t even defend against, let alone conquer, the Soviet Union, so they need to go back to stop the red storm.

As they are also the most zealous anti-communists in Germany, where even the moderate left-wing Social Democratic Party holds power, it’s said that about half of the riots in German cities are their doing. The other half is the action of the Nazi Party, that is, the pro-Soviet national socialists. If by chance the riot actions of both extremist groups overlap, and if the awakened ones mobilized by both sides get involved at the scene, it could lead to a catastrophe that could half-destroy the city.

In any case, the lives of Germans don’t seem much better compared to the lives of Koreans…

“But anyway, at least the German Empire fell gloriously. Countries that didn’t have a glorious end tend to have weaker desires to re-establish themselves… I don’t understand how the movement to restore the Qing dynasty is larger than the movement to restore the German Empire.”

There might be some discrepancies in Rebecca’s words, but it wasn’t entirely wrong.

The final years of the German Empire were terrible. Many people collapsed in the great famine known as the Turnip Winter, and Germany reached a state where it could no longer conduct war. However, the German Empire fought very bravely even in the war that sealed its doom, and if you remove all the miserable and realistic parts, there were aspects where you could find romance.

Becoming a puppet state of the United States, or becoming a puppet state of the Soviet Union, or bowing their heads before the victors of the Great War. It wasn’t entirely impossible for Germans to long for the imperial era when only annoying and irritating choices remained. However, considering that the late years of the Qing were essentially a pathetic state of being plundered here and there by Europe, it feels awkward that there are Chinese who long for the Qing.

“What do you think about the reason?”

I asked Katerfeld. As a self-proclaimed detective, she seemed likely to have come up with some hypothesis.

“I can’t be sure… but could the nuclear launch codes be stolen by mere lunatics? It means there must be someone in the government, in a key position, who actually believed this movement was possible and cooperated at the risk of their life.”

“Wouldn’t it just be Chiang Kai-shek’s doing?”

Churchill said.

“A nuclear explosion in China. It must be a Chinese nuclear weapon after all, and if it’s not a simple accident, it must be Chiang Kai-shek’s doing. Maybe there was actually an anti-Generalissimo plot in Beiping. But they couldn’t determine the scale of the participants, or maybe the whole of Beiping was involved in the rebellion plot. So he blew up the entire school and pinned the blame on the Qing restorationists who had always been a nuisance. To get rid of them all at once in the process!”

It’s a plausible conspiracy theory.

It’s so plausible that I have a feeling such conspiracy theories will soon spread widely in China. Katerfeld listened carefully to Churchill’s thoughts but soon shook her head and sighed.

“I can’t believe Chiang Kai-shek did it intentionally.”

“Then what’s your hypothesis, German?”

“There’s a focal point in the Qing restoration movement. In other words, there might be a superhuman really aiming for Chiang Kai-shek’s neck, manipulating this behind the scenes…”

“…So you’re saying it’s a rebellion that can be established because there’s a superhuman behind it.”

This is also a plausible claim. While Duey and Churchill were quietly lost in thought, the German detective came closer to me and whispered quietly.

“Did you hear anything from Zhou Lizhi? Maybe strange movements were detected in Nanjing before this situation occurred. Maybe the Presidential Office issued strange orders. There might have been some precursor. I’d appreciate it if you could tell me if you remember anything.”

“It seems the Presidential Office requested the Major to guard at a birthday party.”

I answered. Katerfeld widened her eyes and asked,

“Did the Major accept?”

“No.”

“They’ll probably request again. If I’m right.”

“…Why?”

“If this is really the work of restorationists, their target will obviously be Chiang Kai-shek’s neck. Zhou Lizhi is one of the most powerful ability users in China right now. Nanjing will definitely call her again. Because protecting Chiang Kai-shek is more important now than guarding Huangpu.”

“But then…”

“Make her leave.”

“…What?”

“I need time to investigate this school. To solve the Chen Yayuan problem. If Zhou Lizhi just vacates the school, I can investigate everything – her quarters, the scene, the library. But it’s impossible while Zhou is guarding the school. Please. Help persuade Zhou Lizhi to go on a business trip to Nanjing within this month.”