On October 28, 1924 AD—the 13th year of the Republic of China, and the 13th year of Japan’s Taisho era—Chen Jiehua lay on the wooden plank bed in the school detention room, staring up at the stone ceiling and thinking, This is just too miserable! I’ve never heard of anyone starting a transmigration this hard!
At 16:43 local time on August 8, 2024, a powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the waters near the Hyuga-nada Sea off Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan.
At 19:45 local time, the Japan Meteorological Agency held a press conference and released the “Nankai Trough Earthquake Temporary Information (Major Earthquake Advisory).” According to the Disaster Management Headquarters of the Fire and Disaster Management Agency under Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as of 14:00 on August 9, 2024 local time, the earthquake that had occurred the previous day in Miyazaki Prefecture had caused a total of 16 injuries and 1 death across Miyazaki, Kagoshima, and Kumamoto Prefectures.
That unlucky “1” was Chen Jiehua, a doctor from China who had graduated with a master’s degree in medicine and gone to Japan at his own expense for further study.
It was the height of summer and a little hot, so he had gone to the beach to sunbathe. It was so comfortable that he had unknowingly fallen asleep, and even the earthquake hadn’t shaken him awake! Everyone else was too busy running for their own lives to call out to him! Chen Jiehua was swept away by the first wave brought in by the tsunami!
Chen Jiehua, swept away by the waves, had his soul transmigrate into the body of Chen Jiehua, who had just entered the 17th Infantry Class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy—abbreviated as Rikushi—in 1924. (This Rikushi class is the new 17th class; there are also claims of it being the 37th or 39th class. None of that matters much. There’s no need for a novel to be too tangled up in perfect accuracy.)
Chen Jiehua, who shared the same name and had only recently passed the assessment from the Rikushi preparatory class and officially entered the main academy a few days ago, looked almost identical to Aoki Seigen from Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. Their builds were also similar, and they wore the same uniform, so teachers and classmates often mistook one for the other.
The two sides had originally been communicating properly about who should change his appearance, but somehow an argument arose and escalated into a conflict. During the fight, Chen Jiehua was accidentally strangled to death by Aoki Seigen. It really was an accident. When Aoki Seigen realized Chen Jiehua was dead, he froze in terror too!
After the transmigrated Chen Jiehua’s soul took over this body, he failed to understand the situation for a moment and, in his panic, directly launched a sneak attack and counter-killed Aoki Seigen, who was still standing there in a daze!
With the reminder and assistance of the mighty System, the helpless Chen Jiehua opened a one-cubic-meter space and temporarily stored Aoki Seigen’s corpse inside it.
The current situation Chen Jiehua faced was this: when the school took roll, one person was missing! Several student witnesses testified that the last time they saw Chen Jiehua and Aoki Seigen, the two had been talking together!
And at present, everyone had only seen one person, while the other had vanished! Moreover, no matter how this person was questioned, he refused to speak, so they could only confine him for the time being and await an investigation by the military law office.
And so we return to the beginning of this chapter, the detention room.
“The System recommends that the host switch identities and continue surviving as Aoki Seigen. Although the current Aoki Seigen appears somewhat down and out, his hidden identity is far from ordinary. Moreover, in this era, at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, having a native Japanese identity is more advantageous than having a Chinese identity!”
Chen Jiehua thought it over. Time was tight, and the people from the military law office would arrive soon; there was no room for sentimentality. “System, I choose to switch identities!”
“Please wait, host! Extraction of Aoki Seigen’s memories complete! Conversion of bodily detail characteristics complete!”
On the other side, at the school’s military law office, Section Chief Nagatomo Tsugio was questioning several infantry cadets from the same intake. After learning that Chen Jiehua and Aoki Seigen looked almost identical, the naturally suspicious Nagatomo Tsugio verified the matter with multiple people and extracted the key information!
Although Chen Jiehua, from Jiangsu, China, had already spent two years in the preparatory class, his spoken Japanese had always been poor. When he spoke, he stumbled and stammered; basically, he could only understand it, and still needed assistance from fellow countrymen for everyday communication!
Aoki Seigen, on the other hand, came from Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan. Influenced by his grandfather, there was naturally no problem with his Japanese. At the same time, he had also learned Chinese very well. He was just somewhat withdrawn and did not like to speak!
“Yoshi—Miyazaki Prefecture, my hometown!”
“Yoshi, Miyazaki Prefecture—one of my own!”
Section Chief Nagatomo Tsugio already had a basic plan in mind. This would be simple!
In a moment, he would go to the detention room to question him. If this person could speak fluent Japanese and also describe the situation back in his hometown of Miyazaki Prefecture, then he was definitely Aoki Seigen!
As for whether the other missing person had been killed by Aoki Seigen or taken somewhere else, they could ignore that. A Chinese man—was he important? If he was gone, then he was gone! People vanished without explanation in Tokyo every day!
If this person could not even speak Japanese properly, then he was definitely the Chinese man Chen Jiehua! They would have to torture him severely and make him confess Aoki Seigen’s whereabouts! If Aoki had been killed by him, then he would have to be dealt with under military law!
With a clang, the iron door of the detention room was opened. Brilliant sunlight shot into the room. Aoki Seigen (Chen Jiehua), who had already finished adjusting his body, was lying on the bed and quietly familiarizing himself with the local Japanese pronunciation of Miyazaki Prefecture according to Aoki Seigen’s memories.
His eyes stung from the strong light. Chen Jiehua raised an arm to block it and saw two people enter!
The person in front was someone Aoki Seigen had seen before! He was the section chief of the military law office!
At the same time, the System displayed the person’s information in the upper left corner of Chen Jiehua’s field of vision: Nagatomo Tsugio, Japanese, from Miyazaki Prefecture, section chief of the military law office!
The System did not mark the person behind him. Judging from his clothing, he was a military policeman on duty at the school, basically a standard NPC.
“Chen Jiehua, come with us to the military law office!”
“Chen Jiehua! Come with us to the military law office!”
“I am Aoki Seigen! Chen Jiehua fought with me, then left!” (Translating back and forth between Chinese and Japanese is too tiring, and it also feels suspiciously like padding the word count. From here on, everything will be in Chinese.) Chen Jiehua sat up and answered in Japanese.
His Japanese was proper but somewhat halting, though it indeed carried a thick rural Miyazaki accent from southern Kyushu.
After Chen Jiehua (Aoki Seigen) finished speaking, he no longer paid attention to the two people who had entered. The System reminded Chen Jiehua that he had to maintain the persona of a withdrawn man who did not like to talk.
“Listening to Aoki-kun’s Kyushu accent, are you from Kumamoto Prefecture?” Chen Jiehua’s not-yet-very-practiced Japanese aroused Nagatomo Tsugio’s suspicion.
Although the accent had basically confirmed that this was Aoki Seigen from Miyazaki Prefecture, why was he not very fluent?
Nagatomo Tsugio was very cunning and decided that he still had to be cautious and chat a few more sentences to see.
But Chen Jiehua did not answer this question.
In that split second, Chen Jiehua thought of something: Nagatomo Tsugio was the section chief of the school’s military law office. According to the Japanese people’s meticulous work style, before coming here, he must have already read both men’s files—or at the very least, found students to ask about them!
So he definitely already knew that Aoki Seigen was from Miyazaki Prefecture. Since he knew and still asked this, then he was deliberately trying to trick me! The key was that this trick was extremely sinister!
Ever since the shogunate era, Kumamoto Prefecture had been a gathering place for poor, unruly commoners. In Japan, people from Kumamoto Prefecture were unwilling to admit they came from Kumamoto!
If Chen Jiehua admitted it, he would have fallen into the trap!
Some plots, historical materials, characters, and other elements in this novel refer to or may refer to the following books. They are references only, not plagiarism (1/3):
(1) Chinese Secret War | A Documentary Account of CCP Intelligence and Security Work, by Hao Zaijin, Jincheng Press, 2nd edition, January 2015;
(2) Top Secret Spies of World War II, compiled by Liu Gancai and Li Kui, Unity Press, 1st edition, July 2015;
(3) Side Shadows of History: Espionage Hidden Behind the Scenes, chief editor Liu Weiming, China Literature and History Press, BJ 1st edition, February 2019;
(4) Old Books Newly Published: Intelligence War in the Espionage Series, by Pierre Nord (France), translated by Yuan Ming and Yang Zhenya, Masses Publishing House, 1st edition, July 2015;
(5) A Grand Revelation of World Espionage and Famous Spies, by Chu Shuhui, China Huaqiao Press, 1st edition, August 2014;
(6) Modern Japanese History, by Banno Junji (Japan), translated by Yang Ting and Liu Hua, Xinhua Publishing House, 1st edition, January 2020;
(7) Evidence of Crimes: Archives Left Behind by the Japanese Army That Invaded China, chief editor Sa Su, China Intercontinental Press, 1st edition, September 2014;
(8) The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Imperial Army (1853–1945), by Edward Drea (United States), translated by Gu Quan, Xinhua Publishing House, 1st edition, June 2015;
(9) City of Turmoil: Spy Shadows in the Magic Capital, by Liu Ziyi, Jincheng Press, 1st edition, February 2022;
My thanks are given here to all of the above. If there is anything inappropriate, please contact me for removal.