LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 180: Demands
TN: This Chapter may trigger some people so I advise you skip to the part were the lines are numbered 1,2,3 and 4 and read only that part. But you can read all this on your own risk but if it triggers you don't complain to me.
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"They insulted the heroic souls of our great warriors!" the Emperor said through gritted teeth.
"Do you mean we still have to hand people over to them? They used that filthy excrement to desecrate the shrines honoring our heroes and profaned the goddess! And now we have to apologize and hand people over? Do you want me, the Emperor, to personally come forward and apologize?"
The Prime Minister's gaze slowly swept over the Emperor and all the cabinet officials.
He didn't care at all about the Emperor's expression or his enraged tone.
"If Your Majesty is willing, that would be the best solution!"
"Do you even know what you're saying?" The Emperor slammed his hand angrily on the table.
"Of course I know what this means! I also know that Shunsuke would never dare to do this on his own—someone among you must be secretly supporting him! I also know that if our attitude fails to satisfy the Avengers, especially that lunatic Blake, just handing over Shunsuke alone won't be enough to calm their anger!"
"I know what some of you are thinking! You're still indulging in the so-called glory of the past our domination over Asia, aren't you?"
"Do you think I don't want to restore that supreme glory? Do you think I actually enjoy bowing and scraping to those damned people of those countries every day? Idiots!"
The Prime Minister suddenly swore, then slammed his palm hard on the table.
Even the Emperor was startled.
"I don't know who among you is stirring this up behind the scenes, but let me tell you—we cannot afford to provoke the Avengers, and we absolutely cannot afford to provoke Blake! If we want to restore our past glory, we need time, we need to slowly build up our strength. You want to know the solution?"
"Hand over the culprit. Apologize. Compensate, if necessary. But if you're still dreaming, then forgive me, I won't accompany you any longer!"
Before leaving, the Prime Minister turned back to the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, how this matter is resolved is up to you, but I will offer one piece of advice: don't let pride delay the development of people. And by the way, based on what I know of Blake, this is just the beginning. The real show hasn't even started yet."
The Prime Minister was right—Blake's actions had only just begun.
The earlier incidents with a few shrines were merely appetizers.
The next target was the infamous Yasukuni Shrine.
However, before Blake took the next step, certain people within Japan still held onto a sliver of hope. They directly contacted the White House, hoping they could intervene and stop Blake. They were willing to hand over Shunsuke, the mastermind behind this incident, and privately apologize to Blake.
They thought it would be easy to find some excuse to cover up what had happened at the shrines and settle the matter privately.
But this time, someone had died—a member of the Avengers, even if not a core member. A life was a life. If it had been any other country or force, Blake would still not let it go easily, let alone the Japanese.
Given Japan's identity as an American ally, the White House did reach out to other Avengers members, such as Hawkeye and Tony. However, Blake refused to even take their calls. He didn't state any conditions—he just flatly rejected their request.
The following day, in Japan's time zone, the Avengers held a press conference, directly announcing the attack on their Sky Base.
"Mr. Blake, I am deeply regretful about what happened to the Avengers. But even if you have solid evidence that this incident involves many people in Japan, you could have requested Japan to hand over the perpetrators. Wasn't the incident at the shrines last night a bit too overbearing?"
Blake turned his head to glance at the reporter who asked the question—sure enough, it was a Japanese reporter.
"First of all, the shrine incident yesterday was my personal action and has nothing to do with the Avengers. As for the Avengers' grievance, I'm just getting started!"
After speaking, Blake flashed a sinister smile. In front of the crowd of reporters, he tore open a spatial wormhole, which led directly to the gates of the JG Shrine.
Blake made no attempt to hide his intentions and took the lead, stepping into the wormhole. Seeing that Blake had no intention of closing it, the reporters, pulling along their cameramen, quickly followed him and arrived at the gates of the JG Shrine.
"I explained this clearly to you just now: they launched a nuclear warhead to attack us, though they were just cheap imitations. Since they like nuclear warheads so much, I'll deliver a real one to them!"
While speaking, Blake, in front of the stunned crowd of reporters, directly pulled a small nuclear warhead—about the height of a person—out of thin air. Though small in size, its destructive power was enough to level not just the JG Shrine but a third of Tokyo's city area.
Blake's sudden action nearly scared the living daylights out of the reporters.
After a long pause, one reporter, braver than the others, cautiously stepped forward.
"Mr. Blake, although their sneak attack on the Sky Base is truly despicable, isn't bringing out a nuclear warhead like this a bit too much?"
While speaking, the reporter glanced nervously at the nuclear warhead beside Blake and couldn't help swallowing hard.
"Don't worry! We Avengers don't kill the innocent indiscriminately. I'll give them five hours—enough time for the people in this city to evacuate."
Blake smiled slightly and looked directly at the camera, issuing his demands to the Japanese government:
1. The Emperor and all members of the government cabinet must publicly admit Japan's historical crimes against other countries and apologize for them.
2. All domestic shrines honoring war criminals must be dismantled. (Blake offered to help with this personally.)
3. Everyone involved in the attack on the Avengers' Sky Base, anyone even remotely connected, must be handed over to the Avengers for justice.
4. Construct a World War II-themed park that clearly lists the crimes committed by all internationally recognized Class-A war criminals even those of other countries. The park must be open to the public worldwide for free.
Back at the Imperial Palace, the Emperor and cabinet members were still gathered, deliberating on how to resolve the matter. However, a large television had suddenly appeared in their meeting room.
On the screen was Blake, calmly holding the nuclear warhead as he read out his demands one by one.
At the end of the broadcast, the cameraman zoomed in for a close-up of Blake.
Smiling at the camera, Blake said:
"Honestly, I'm a very reasonable person. As long as the above demands are met, this matter will be over. Otherwise, I suggest you quickly evacuate the citizens of Tokyo—oh, and those near other shrines, too. After all, I didn't just prepare one nuclear warhead!"
Like a show of force, Blake revealed ten nuclear warheads and lined them up at the entrance of the JG Shrine.
"Oh, and I've given these little cuties a unified name: [Fat Girl]. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?"
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