The Imperial Hunter

Chapter 65: Light and Shadow (7)

It happened last year. When a guy named Zhang Qi, who concurrently served as both Hainan provincial standing committee member and Haikou municipal standing committee secretary, was arrested by the CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on corruption and illicit wealth accumulation charges, 8 trillion won worth of gold bars and 450 billion won equivalent of foreign and yuan currency were discovered in the basement of his residence.

Additionally, last year Beijing Mayor Chen Gang, who was found hoarding 20 tons of gold and over 2,000 artworks, along with 270 billion yuan equivalent in domestic and foreign bonds, and other big shots like Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, who also stashed tons of gold bars and cash in their home basements before getting nabbed by the Disciplinary Commission.

And the amounts announced externally like this were generally drastically reduced, out of consideration for the party and state’s dignity. Only a moron would take CCP announcements or Chinese media reports at face value, no?

‘With just seven provincial standing committee level victims, the total theft must minimally surpass 1 trillion yuan.’

An estimate based on the assumption each cadre’s secret safe was perfectly emptied, but considering this was the work of awakeners, incomplete burglary would be the unrealistic case.

Add similar incidents occurring in other regions. Then the funds held by the Black Children Party could amount to around 2% of China’s GDP.

If these funds were recklessly drained or smuggled overseas, it would be a literal disaster for the Chinese economy. More than anything else, the sharp increase in yuan circulation would be problematic. If hedge funds worldwide simultaneously took short positions on the yuan upon catching a whiff of money, China would find it extremely difficult to avoid massive losses in the short term.

In China’s current economy, which could by no means be called absolutely favorable, that loss could become the first falling domino piece triggering tremendous turmoil.

I became curious how the Chinese guys would deal with this.

“What’s the CCP’s reaction?”

“No public stance has been announced yet, but domestically they are propagating that ‘This is Western powers who despise China infiltrating supernaturalists to collaborate with anti-state forces and commit crimes, exaggerating the scale of the stolen funds to smear the CCP.’”

“Anything else?”

“Censorship as a given, and announcements that those who assist in the apprehension of the culprits will receive rewards from 100,000 yuan for minor contributions up to 10 million yuan for major ones, and special recruitment as national security cadres if desired.”

Insufficient.

“Also, instructions were issued telling the Triads to capture Black Children Party members. Provided they can prove the prey is a Black Children Party member, it’s a basic 10 million yuan for a severed head, 20 million for them alive. Additional millions will be tacked on for catching leaders.”

“And?”

“That concludes the superficial measures.”

“Huh.”

10 million yuan was approximately 1.7 billion won, and 100 million yuan was around 17 billion won. Objectively quite a sum as bounties, but…

“Impressive folks. Pinching pennies even now.”

If I were a bounty hunter, I would first harbor designs on pilfering their stolen funds instead of catching Black Children Party members.

Huang Gang, professor and former dean of Tsinghua University’s National Conditions Research Institute, published research concluding that 10 trillion yuan annually, give or take, evaporated due to bureaucratic corruption during Jiang Zemin’s time as president. Meaning 13-16% of GDP went into the back pockets of party bosses and officials.

Though likely a lame-duck study permitted by the current regime to disparage its predecessors, I believe the current regime was much more corrupt than back then.

Who didn’t look more capable of embezzlement, Jiang Zemin or Xi Jinping?

‘In Italy, a single mafia organization skims 3% of GDP, the CCP^[1]CCP is the Chinese Communist Party. should naturally embezzle even better as the norm right?’

Assuming the same percentage of China’s national output vanished as in the past, last year that figure neatly surpassed 2 trillion dollars. 220 trillion won in our currency. Thus the CCP became a criminal group raking in 2,200 trillion won annually.

Misappropriation, bribery, collusion between government and business, and selling offices were blatant criminal acts, and gatherings of criminals were naturally criminal organizations, so I called the CCP the world’s largest criminal organization for no other reason.

Given the circumstances, those impressive criminals wrapped in the CCP were in no position to be particular about means now. If the sparks weren’t extinguished early, eventually all the disorder they had suppressed so far would spread throughout their entire operations. Yet despite that they remained shortsighted, blinded by carnal desire, failing to respond adequately.

It was an extremely advantageous phenomenon for me of course.

“What do you think? Does the Black Children Party really have a backer?”

Asked by me, Suyeon shook her head. Not denial but uncertainty.

“There are still insufficient clues to make a judgment. I will report again after further investigation.”

“What are the family backgrounds of the officials who were robbed?”

At my barrage of questions, Suyeon lowered her head slightly.

“…My apologies. That is also still under investigation.”

“No, nothing to apologize for. It was me rushing the report.”

“I will direct them to conduct additional investigation into the possibility of inner-party factional power struggles. May I arbitrarily allocate budget for it?”

“Retroactive approval is fine. Same as always.”

“Thank you.”

With the question I posed, Suyeon grasped I was considering the possibility Black Children Party’s backer was a certain faction within the CCP.

‘Sacrificial offerings to appease the wrath of the masses are ever an effective strategy.’

Currently, the CCP was extremely nervous due to the karma they had accumulated so far.

That karma was ultimately imperialism. Today’s China’s prosperity was the result of stratifying the people with the caste system and exploiting the majority by the minority. In other words, China had caught up with and surpassed the forerunners of imperialism through the aberrant strategy of constructing colonies domestically. Many people believed they understood China the country, but in truth, their shallow comprehension was on par with claiming to know North Korea by only seeing Pyongyang.

There were four classes in China. First-class citizens – CCP members, second-class citizens – urban residents, third-class citizens – farmers and migrant workers with innately inferior household registrations, and finally those without even that inferior registration who weren’t treated like humans at all – the Black Children (Heihaizi). (+)^[2]TLN: Heihaizi or ‘black child’ is a term applied in China. The term denotes children born outside the one-child policy, or generally children who are not registered in the national household registration system.

The farmer population numbered 700 million, migrant workers 250 million, and no reliable statistics whatsoever existed for the Black Children. The total surpassed 1 billion – they were the dominant of modern China, the worst colonial empire.

But now that the overwhelming majority of ‘mayfly larvae’ had primitive magic—called the supernatural by their popular term—had begun manifesting. For the fake communists who considered indoctrination and agitation the cornerstone of ideology, and force of arms the basis of power, wielding surveillance and oppression as governing principles, it was like a fire lit under their asses. They must not feel unlike holding an unknown timer to a time bomb.

If over 1 billion mayfly larvae forced to subsist on crap in a sunless sewer, at long last underwent metamorphosis and began buzzing, how deafening would that chorus be? Even if that autonomous cacophony remained disharmonious noise at first, as time passed it would begin converging into layered harmonies.

At times like this, political human offerings could be an effective escape strategy. Whether purging the Crown Prince Party or Shanghai Clique as the font of corruption, swiftly appeasing the seething masses like a boiling pot could be done right?

In short, the Black Children’s Party was a tool that naturally created such a purge pretext. A decent strategy in that it released gas before the masses exploded.

Speculation stretched in another direction as well.

‘Maybe this is a Round Table machination…’

It was by no means an absurd fantasy. Same as me, they had the power to steadily awaken people with primitive magic anywhere in the world. Thus by dispatching just one master, Round Table could reignite as a tremendous behind-the-scenes chaos orchestrator in any part of the world.

I too once contemplated a plan leaning that way. But there existed a tremendous information capabilities gap between Round Table and I. Round Table’s curs could make use of that famous British intelligence agency’s (SIS) resources, while all I had was the organization I built and meager connections. In China, the den of spy agencies and intelligence agencies, it would entail assuming considerable risk burdens for me to personally construct an organization like Black Children’s Party. (+)^[3]TLN: The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), often known as MI6, collects Britain’s foreign intelligence.

Above all, I faced the issue of what to choose and where to focus. Wasn’t I the one and only genuine mage on this side of the divide? The code, weapons, money, troop resources, and submarines… Too many forks stretched before me, and no matter how much I deliberated and contemplated, I could never obtain a clear answer on which branch was the optimum path to Round Table’s destruction.

Thus I was merely considering burglary by my own hand as a contingency. As a way to urgently raise funds.

That was the gist of matters so far.

But I might as well profit by going with the flow, now that turmoil had occurred. It meant the anticipated profits outweighed efforts and risks. Who’s to say whether it was my doing or the Black Children’s Party’s if I went and pilfered another official’s home? The inevitably dispersed response capabilities signified markedly decreased risk burdens compared to the past.

At that point, Suyeon voiced the same thought I had.

“You may have to visit China in the near future.”

I replied with my gaze fixed straight ahead.

“That will happen. When there’s a hunting ground yielding sums in the trillion range, how could I not go?”

If things went well, I could obtain all the war funds needed for London in one shot from that hunting ground. My accursed eyes would prove invincible competitiveness even in those hunting grounds. If not to solely pursue my own profit.

I instructed at intervals.

“There will be many national security and counterintelligence officials backed into a corner because of this. Since people desperate to pad their records by selling their souls will certainly appear, if conditions permit, also build connections on that side to acquire intel.”

“I will do my utmost.”

“Just in case, this is only if conditions cooperate. Getting the tail stepped on by overreaching would be troublesome. I leave judgment to you.”

“Yes.”

What I sought here were refined connections that would open China’s information network to me. If I took in and conferred grace on a few desperate senior cadres, padding their records, it seemed fully possible considering the matter’s gravity.

Since Round Table’s curs could utilize national-level resources, I needed something comparable to at least maintain balance.

The conversation flow halted. For the time being, all there was to say on this topic seemed to have been said.

“I’ll hear the other reports later.”

At my words, Suyeon answered yes once more.

Rising from my seat, I put my hands behind my back and stepped out from the shade into the sunshine.

If there was one thing profoundly digging into a matter made you realize, it was thoughts growing narrower the more you delved in. Captivated by the inertia of preoccupied logic and its basis, failing to see and passing by numerous other options – such thoughts.

Thus emptying one’s head several times was an essential procedure when examining any important issue. Efficiency didn’t simply rise by blindly tacking on more time.

My reason for approaching the waves now was this. To rinse the complicated contents of my head with the white noise of crashing water.

After hearing, the sense of touch also helped. The deserted beach of a southern country nearing winter, the dazzlingly bright white sand signaling sunset was awash in pleasant wind no one could dislike.

The least helpful was the overloaded visual sense, but even that was not so bad.

Cutting off my thoughts, I concentrated wholly on filling what remained of my head with sensations.

• 1. CCP is the Chinese Communist Party.
• 2. TLN: Heihaizi or ‘black child’ is a term applied in China. The term denotes children born outside the one-child policy, or generally children who are not registered in the national household registration system.
• 3. TLN: The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), often known as MI6, collects Britain’s foreign intelligence.

Disclaimer:

This novel is a work of fiction! While it may incorporate elements inspired by our "real" historical world, including historical events, settings, and cultures, it is important to note that the story and characters are entirely products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, living or deceased, or actual events is purely coincidental. This work should be enjoyed and interpreted as a work of fiction and not as a representation of historical facts or reality.

Also, if you find some error in translation please do let me know by tagging me (@_dawn24) in our Discord server. Since this series is kinda hard to translate. But I'll try my best to make it at least readable :)

Enjoy reading~!