In the darkness, the wooden windows of the Army New Technology Training Bureau classroom were covered with several layers of newspaper pinned up with thumbtacks, preventing the dim electric light from leaking out. Several lines of chalk writing were on the blackboard. Lieutenant Colonel Aizawa Saburo faced the new official members of the Future Society and said, "Gentlemen, the outline for Japan's domestic market construction includes both rural and urban areas. in the countryside, every household must be allocated land, and the grain tax will only be thirty percent! In the cities, workers must have minimum wage protection and an eight-hour workday! We absolutely cannot allow a situation where a worker labors for fourteen hours a day but earns wages that can't even buy a single rice ball!"

After speaking, Aizawa Saburo looked at the group of officers and asked loudly, "Do you gentlemen agree with such a Japan?"

Before his voice had even faded, several officers stood up abruptly and said loudly, "Aizawa-kun, of course we agree. Tell us what to do right now!"

Looking down from the podium, Aizawa Saburo saw a fire seemingly burning in the eyes of the new Future Society members. Their determined and excited expressions made Aizawa Saburo feel his own chest heat up. Aizawa Saburo knew that if he gave a command now, these officers would follow him into action.

It wasn't that these officers were impulsive, but that Japan's national economy, after nearly three years of continuous recession, had truly reached a point where people could no longer survive.

Aizawa Saburo asked the Future Society comrades who had stood up to sit down first. He took a moment to calm his own excited emotions. Under the warm gaze of his comrades, Aizawa Saburo said, "We cannot act yet. Because we haven't fully identified our enemies."

As soon as he finished speaking, another officer stood up abruptly and shouted, "Aizawa-kun, how can we not be clear! Those powerful nobles are the national traitors; they are our enemies! After executing the national traitors and immediately implementing the outline for Japan's domestic construction, Japan will be saved!"

Aizawa Saburo shook his head. "That view is not wrong, but what we are undertaking is a revolution, not an assassination! Of Japan's twenty-one standing divisions, aside from the three divisions that joined the Expeditionary Army and the three divisions in Korea and Taiwan, fifteen divisions remain in the Japanese homeland. Among these fifteen divisions, how many support us and how many oppose us? Have the comrades figured this out?"

The new members of the Future Society were stunned. They heard from Aizawa's words that the revolution the Future Society intended to launch was not just the execution of upper-class national traitors, but a comprehensive purge involving the entire army from top to bottom. This was already on the scale of a civil war.

Aizawa was not surprised. If it were just killing national traitors, quite a few people in the current Japanese Army would be willing to act. But what the Future Society wanted to launch was not simple slaughter, but a comprehensive cleansing from top to bottom, which was why the Future Society enforced such strict selection for membership.

The angry light in the new members' eyes disappeared. Aizawa Saburo was very familiar with this. Every official member went through this stage. If someone still jumped three feet high after hearing about civil war, overflowing with passion to act immediately, they were precisely the kind of person the Future Society tried to reject.

After the officer who had stood up sat down, Aizawa Saburo pointed to the new program on the blackboard and said, "Gentlemen, I don't need to say much about what Japan's future will look like; just look at China under He Rui's rule. Everyone has seen the war reports. A year ago, who could have imagined that the old empire of China, which seemed incredibly weak, could comprehensively suppress Britain? Comrades have also seen Professor Taira Toyomori's investigation report. Professor Taira traveled through a dozen Chinese provinces and saw that after paying thirty percent tax, every Chinese citizen could be allocated 600 *jin* of coarse and fine grain per year. Selling some of the grain allows them to buy new clothes. Who could have imagined that China has now built roads and, through installment plans, allowed farmers and urban workers to buy bicycles? With bicycles, people no longer have to carry goods on their backs and walk dozens of *li* on two legs to sell them. In one day, a person riding a bicycle can travel back and forth dozens of *li*, leaving in the morning and returning home at night."

The eyes of the officers who had newly joined the Future Society heated up again. Their sources for this news were not just newspapers, because the Japanese government absolutely refused to accept the seriously wounded and disabled Japanese soldiers captured by the Chinese government. Therefore, prisoner exchanges had never taken place. Those captured Japanese officers and soldiers frequently wrote letters back home. Initially, the Japanese government didn't pay much attention, but after discovering the descriptions of current Chinese society in the POW letters, they immediately began censorship.

However, the army had its own channels. Among this batch of new Future Society members were officers responsible for monitoring letter content. At first, these people didn't believe in China's changes either, but seeing the Japanese government's caution over the past two years, as well as intelligence transmitted back by colleagues in the Japanese Army stationed in Korea, they had no choice but to believe.

This was the reason they joined the Future Society. Who didn't want to live a good life? The life the Chinese people were living was exactly the life the Japanese soldiers looked forward to.

Aizawa Saburo watched the emotional changes of his comrades and said as calmly as possible, "What we need to do now is to propagate the outline for Japan's domestic construction within the army. Through propaganda, we can naturally distinguish who supports such a future and who opposes it. According to intelligence obtained by the Future Society, the Special Higher Police and the Kempeitai are currently expanding their numbers significantly. Those national traitors have already sensed the danger. Before long, they will strengthen control and suppress revolutionary propaganda. Our upcoming work is not only important but also very dangerous!"

The officers of the Japanese Army were all from the educated class who had tested into the military academy. After the initial excitement dissipated, although the passion remained, the impulsiveness had reduced a lot. Hearing that the Special Higher Police and the Kempeitai were going to increase their operations at this time, although they couldn't say they were afraid, they inevitably felt nervous in their hearts.

Aizawa Saburo urged, "Gentlemen, judging by the actions of those people, even propagating Japan's future is already very dangerous. We must be care..."

Before he finished speaking, the sound of gunshots suddenly came from outside. Aizawa Saburo immediately stopped speaking. He had heard some movement outside the wall of the Army New Technology Training Bureau earlier, but there were guards at the gate and sentries at the entrance of the teaching building, so he hadn't taken it to heart. But gunfire was different.

The noise outside became louder, especially as the guards at the main gate had already gone into action. The guards of the New Technology Training Bureau were now all Future Society members. Aizawa Saburo immediately left the classroom and rushed to the entrance of the teaching building first. The comrade responsible for sentry duty immediately stepped forward and said, "Aizawa-kun, we don't know who is fighting each other outside."

*Bang! Bang!* Two more gunshots came in succession from outside. Aizawa could tell this was the sound of the latest Nambu Type 14 pistol. If it were other gunshots, Aizawa Saburo would have found it hard to distinguish if it was a black-market gun leaked to the streets. The Nambu Type 14 pistol was designed by Kijiro Nambu in 1925 based on his Nambu Type A, and had only recently been issued to troops, so it wouldn't have leaked out immediately. Moreover, listening to the commotion, the person shooting was using a pistol to fight against quite a few people wielding cold weapons like katanas. Aizawa Saburo took a katana from the sentry's hand and led the sentry rushing towards the gate.

Footsteps sounded from behind. Aizawa looked back and saw that in the darkness, the comrades of the Future Society had also followed him out. Some were empty-handed, while others carried stools. Aizawa felt warmth in his heart; when encountering trouble, they did not stand idly by—they were indeed trustworthy comrades.

As the group approached the gate, they heard the attackers outside shouting "Death to the military" and "Soldiers are all thieves who only know how to oppress the people." If the people outside were shouting "Heaven's punishment for national traitors," Aizawa might have watched from the sidelines for a bit, but those shouting such words were definitely the *ronin* who had recently begun committing more and more acts of violence in Tokyo.

As the economy worsened, the *ronin* became active again. Since these people were targeting soldiers, Aizawa had no reason to stand by. He easily vaulted over the fence gate, and with his katana still in its sheath, thrust it at a *ronin*. Aizawa was a swordsmanship instructor and didn't want to kill anyone at this moment. But taking just one blow from the scabbard, the *ronin* hunched over directly and fell to the ground in pain.

Aizawa moved like lightning, knocking down several thugs in succession in the darkness. At this time, the Future Society comrades from the school also arrived at the gate, joining forces with the two guards there. The guards originally had flashlights, and now they hurriedly gave these comrades a few torches. Once the main gate opened, these people rushed out carrying stools as well as clubs and other items from the guard room. Seeing so many people rushing out, the thugs immediately gathered together.

Originally, when Aizawa was alone, he could act at will. Now that the two sides were facing off, Aizawa first shouted loudly, "Where are you thugs from, daring to commit violence here!" He then took a few steps back and drew his katana.

As a swordsmanship instructor, Aizawa paid great attention to maintaining his weapon on ordinary days. The katana left its sheath, radiating cold light under the illumination of flashlights and torches. The *ronin* all had weapons in their hands, but seeing that Aizawa and the others had already formed a battle array—especially Aizawa's posture with the sword, which clearly showed he was an expert—the *ronin* knew they wouldn't get the upper hand. They simply abandoned their companions who had been knocked down by Aizawa and all withdrew.

Now, a car that had originally been surrounded by the *ronin* was revealed. Afraid of an ambush, Aizawa didn't pursue but went forward to check the car. The car windows had been smashed, and someone inside was injured; groans of pain and the smell of blood drifted out from the broken window.

At this moment, the car door was pushed open from the inside, and a person walked out. He wore round glasses and a general's uniform bearing the rank of Lieutenant General. This person held a Nambu Type 14 pistol in one hand, yet his expression was very calm. It turned out to be Army Lieutenant General Nagata Tetsuzan.

This time Aizawa was stunned. If he had known earlier that it was Nagata Tetsuzan being attacked, Aizawa really might not have rushed out to rescue him...

But since he had met Nagata, Aizawa sheathed his katana and saluted Nagata. "Lieutenant General, sir, subordinate Aizawa Saburo is here to rescue you."

"Is it Aizawa..." Nagata felt somewhat emotional in his heart. He initially could have avoided this route. However, upon returning to Tokyo, Nagata couldn't help but think of Ishiwara. When the driver asked which road to take, he casually mentioned the road that passed in front of the New Technology Training Bureau. He hadn't expected to be ambushed. Facing so many attackers, and with the attackers having set up spikes beforehand to puncture the tires, he couldn't even run. Nagata had momentarily thought he was going to die here, but he hadn't expected Aizawa Saburo to rush out in time to save him.

However, Nagata didn't want to say much at this time. He asked Aizawa to quickly treat the injured guard and driver, and to notify the Kempeitai at the same time.

The Training Bureau had a telephone. After a few calls were made, it wasn't long before two military trucks and a car arrived. Many soldiers and military police got off the trucks, first protecting Nagata, then taking the bound attackers onto the military trucks.

Nagata said to Aizawa, who had been accompanying him the whole time, "Aizawa-kun, many thanks."

Aizawa Saburo answered in a clear voice, "This is what a subordinate should do."

Nagata didn't waste words either; he got into the car under the protection of guards. He was already tired enough today; at this moment, he just wanted to hurry home and sleep. As for who exactly decided to attack him, he would talk about it after waking up. Since he wasn't dead, there was plenty of time.