21st Century Necromancer
Chapter 845 - 840: Akagi's Handling

The matters concerning the Tenmangu Shrine naturally fell under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Household Agency and the police. After leaving the shrine, Akagi was driven to the hotel arranged by the Imperial Household Agency.

"My lady, the matter has been thoroughly investigated. That Dingyuan Pavilion was built during the Meiji Era by the Tenmangu Shrine priest Ono Ryosuke, who utilized his position as a member of the National Diet to gain permission from the Headquarters to salvage and dismantle the wreckage of the Dingyuan battleship and use it for construction." Upon returning to the room, the attendant from the Imperial Household Agency, already armed with sufficient information, hurriedly began reporting to Akagi.

Akagi was well aware that the attendant assigned by the Imperial Household Agency served more than just accommodating her daily needs. Without showing surprise at how he had acquired this information, she simply asked, "What exactly were they suppressing?"

"The souls of the soldiers who perished aboard the Dingyuan, as well as a fragment of the Qing Empire's national fortune at the time." While such inquiries may have posed challenges for others, the Imperial Household Agency and the police agency overseeing Japan's supernatural powers could uncover the truth with relative ease.

What's more, with the Tenmangu Shrine priests rattled after their domain was utterly destroyed, they dared not provoke a demigod any further and candidly divulged everything.

"Suppressing the Qing Empire's national fortune? That empire has been long gone for years. What they meant to suppress must have been the national fortune of China, right?" Akagi immediately sensed the priests were avoiding the crux of the issue, trying to conceal the most critical part.

The attendant from the Imperial Household Agency, however, responded wryly, "They may have wanted to, but they simply couldn't."

"Oh? Why is that?" Hearing this, Akagi's curiosity was piqued. She gestured for him to continue.

"After the Qing Empire's collapse, this fragment of the Qing national fortune lost its anchor. A nation's fortune is an exceedingly precious entity, incredibly rare even for deities. Tenmangu Shrine took advantage of this and absorbed this fragment of the Qing national fortune into their divine domain," the attendant explained to Akagi, secretly marveling at the audacity of the shrine priests. "The cloak of secrecy around Tenmangu Shrine's actions was tight, and nobody knew at first. However, the Headquarters eventually discovered it and based their plan to siphon China's national fortune to enhance Japan's national fortune on this foundation."

"The lunatics in the Headquarters! They never came up with any reasonable plans back then. Stealing China's national fortune? What on earth were they thinking?" Akagi recalled the mad schemes drafted by the Headquarters during WWII, and an indignant anger surged through her.

In the face of Akagi's reproach, the attendant composed himself and revealed the confidential details he had just learned. "At the time, the Headquarters exploited this fragment of the Qing national fortune, transferring it to the last emperor of the Qing Empire. This became the basis for forcibly reconnecting the extinguished fortunes of the Qing with China's national fortune.

The Headquarters envisioned leveraging this method to siphon China's fortune and augment Japan's, hoping it would secure Japan's victory in WWII.

Initially, the plan progressed smoothly. With the Imperial Household, through the Ise Grand Shrine, inviting assistance from the Heavenly Deities of Gao Tianyuan, everything—transferring this fragment of the Qing national fortune to the last emperor of the Qing, reconnecting the fortunes of the Qing and China, and linking it to China's national fortune—went off without a hitch."

"Then what? I remember the puppet regime the army established at the time wasn't even recognized by others," Akagi remarked. Despite being a part of the Navy, she had some knowledge of the incompetent schemes executed by the army, particularly the wartime dynamics that were frequently discussed among the Navy's high command.

Upon hearing this, the attendant suddenly realized Akagi had experienced these tumultuous times firsthand. He quickly continued, "Indeed, just as you said, my lady. While the fortune transfer proceeded without issue and the puppet regime set up by the army did reconnect this fragment of national fortune, it was, in fact, never truly recognized by the Chinese people.

Thus, this fragment could only be pilfered, without achieving the Headquarters' original ambition of seamlessly integrating China's full national fortune into Japan's. They managed to siphon only a tiny fraction, barely sustaining the puppet regime they cobbled together, and utterly failed to bolster Japan's national fortune as envisioned."

Akagi wasn't surprised by this outcome. The Headquarters' WWII plans often appeared impressive on paper but were always plagued by excessive costs, limited gains, and intrinsically flawed strategies.

Nevertheless, after hearing the explanation, something still puzzled her. She inquired, "By your account, this fragment of the Qing national fortune was borrowed during WWII. Yet when Japan was defeated and the puppet regime obliterated, didn't this fragment cause backlash?"

"Naturally, it did." These details, though originally classified, could still be traced in the Imperial Household's records if the Imperial Household Agency investigated. "At the time, the backlash from the national fortune greatly impacted Tenmangu Shrine. Their enshrined Sugawara no Michizane and the Heavenly Deity managing this affair suffered severe injuries and fell into a deep slumber.

Japan's own national fortune also took a hit. Post-WWII, Japan endured widespread destitution, and now it exists as a vassal of the United States. As for the last emperor of the Qing Empire—who might have otherwise enjoyed a moderately comfortable life—even he met a miserable end in his later years due to the backlash."

Hearing the attendant's explanation, Akagi couldn't help but feel a subtle flicker of satisfaction. Although she was once a part of the Japanese Navy, her current allegiance to Chen Yu left her with more resentment than nostalgia for the old Headquarters.

"And afterward? How did things get to the way they are now?" Akagi had her guesses but still sought clarity from the attendant.

"Post-war, Tenmangu Shrine refused to abandon its schemes. Using the Dingyuan Pavilion, they attempted to reclaim this fragment of the national fortune, continuing to suppress it. They even hoped to use it to heal Sugawara no Michizane's injuries. But as you might expect, this fragment of national fortune is akin to a rootless tree or a river without a source, so the results were minimal," the attendant explained, having learned these later developments directly from the Tenmangu Shrine priests. "Years later, during the 120th anniversary of the First Sino-Japanese War, China expressed its desire to reclaim the relics of the Dingyuan battleship. However, Tenmangu Shrine still clung to using these relics to suppress the national fortune and even attempted to link it back to China's fortune to siphon it anew. It's likely the visit from two demigods this time was a response to those actions."

"Hmph! Bastards!" Akagi cursed under her breath after hearing the explanation. Then, after some thought, she instructed the attendant, "Inform Tenmangu Shrine to dismantle and return all Dingyuan relics in the Dingyuan Pavilion to China. As for the shrine's destruction, let's just call it a lightning strike. I trust you know how to manage the folk tales that arise."

"Understood. We will handle it properly." The attendant didn't question Akagi's decision, bowing deeply before leaving the room to take care of the matter.

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