The cargo hold of the freighter was only half-filled with goods, giving Kita Ikki plenty of space to rest. It was pitch black inside, but after staying there for a long time, his eyes gradually adjusted enough to vaguely make out his surroundings.

There was no distinction between day and night, only the sound of the roaring engine. Kita Ikki was initially irritable, but at some point, he gradually fell into a state of numbness. It wasn't until the roar of the engine gradually weakened and then stopped that Kita Ikki suddenly felt energized. Soon, the hatch to the hold was opened. Even though the opening was small, Kita Ikki felt as if the hold was as bright as day.

Footsteps approached, and several people climbed down. The leader called out, "Mr. Kita, please come out. We have arrived in Shanghai."

This was the voice of the revolutionary friend who had helped Kita Ikki escape from Japan. Kita Ikki had only brought a few rice balls and a flask of water when he entered the hold, and they were long finished. He tried to stand up, but his legs couldn't fully support his weight. He had to hold onto the wooden crates protecting the cargo to pull himself up.

Among the people who came down, besides the friend who helped Kita Ikki, the rest were wearing Chinese Customs uniforms. The Chinese customs personnel brought in a wooden crate and asked Kita Ikki to lie inside, then closed the lid. Inside the box, Kita Ikki felt as if he had entered a coffin. Moreover, the pallbearers were not particularly skilled, and the box heaved up and down quite violently. Kita Ikki could only brace himself with his hands and feet to prevent being tossed around inside.

Ten minutes later, the box was opened. After being pulled out, Kita Ikki found himself in an office of the Customs House at the wharf. The Chinese personnel who welcomed Kita Ikki claimed to be local cadres, but judging from their sharp gazes and strong, muscular arms, these two were likely intelligence officers.

The two asked Kita Ikki about the current situation in Japan. Kita Ikki did not answer, but instead asked what the ship was doing at the dock. The situation of this ship surprised Kita Ikki. Although there were more and more pro-China factions in Japan, it was impossible for this ship to dock in Shanghai port specifically for him.

"They are here to restock," the Chinese official replied.

Kita Ikki was stunned. Restock? This was a merchant ship transporting goods to the Sino-British frontline; how could it come to China to restock? Was there some mistake? The Chinese official did not hide anything and gave Kita Ikki a brief explanation. As he listened, Kita Ikki was dumbfounded.

The Sino-British War had affected Sino-British trade, but it had not cut it off. It merely shifted those trades that were still profitable from open channels to the underground. Medical supplies, canned food, and other military materials were loaded onto ships in Shanghai, China, and transported to Burma to supply the Anglo-Japanese allied forces fighting against the Chinese army.

If it were three years ago, Kita Ikki would have thought this was nonsense. Someone in the Republic of China government was betraying the country for their own benefit. However, over the past three years, Kita Ikki had seen with his own eyes how Japanese industrial enterprises continued to shrink due to a lack of orders.

In 1923, Japanese industrial enterprises without orders initially began to lay off workers. By 1924, small factories began to go bankrupt in large numbers. Workers who still had jobs not only faced competition from unemployed workers but also had to compete for positions with bankrupt small factory owners and skilled workers. Wages became lower and lower, while the requirements of the factories that were still operating became higher and higher.

Entering 1925, even medium-sized enterprises could not withstand the brutal competition under the lack of orders and began to close down in large numbers. More workers lost their jobs; some had to return to the countryside, while others became the destitute class in the cities.

After the start of the Sino-British War, there was a moment of excitement within Japan, believing that prosperity was coming back. But after a few months of happiness, factories found that orders did not fly in like snowflakes as they did during the European War. Although there were some orders, they were only enough to wet one's lips. The small quantity of orders was also carved up clean by enterprises controlled by the Japanese privileged class.

The assets controlled by the powerful finally caught their breath and temporarily avoided the crisis of bankruptcy. The hard-hit Japanese private enterprises continued to go bankrupt, making the economy even worse. So much so that in order to survive, Japanese enterprises were very seriously considering how to export goods to China through smuggling.

Looking at it now, smuggling channels did exist, and they were still controlled by the powerful. From Kita Ikki's personal experience, the Japanese powerful class transshipped Chinese goods to earn profits, and did not even leave this opportunity to Japanese enterprises. Traitors! Those powerful people were the real traitors!

Seeing that Kita Ikki was quite emotional, the Chinese cadres did not ask any more questions, but just asked Kita Ikki to rest first. The two young cadres, who looked to be under twenty, rode two bicycles to take Kita Ikki to his residence. Leaving the port, the cityscape of Shanghai appeared before them.

Shanghai was a city Kita Ikki was very familiar with. In this city, he had planned many actions together with the once-famous Chinese southern revolutionaries. He had also thought hard about the program for the revolution. Now returning to this largest commercial city in the Far East opened to the outside world, Kita Ikki's former revolutionary companions were nowhere to be found. He Rui's government had completely mastered all cities in China. The current Shanghai, like Beiping, the ruling center of the former Beiyang government, was just a relatively important city in China, nothing more.

Compared with ten years ago, Shanghai had undergone great changes. The roads were wider, and there were more new buildings. The two were combined well to form another appearance. From intelligence coming from China, China had started urban planning. The current appearance of Shanghai was the result of planning.

The small factories that used to be seen everywhere were gone. The young cadre told Kita Ikki that the factories had not disappeared but were arranged in industrial zones. The residential areas composed of pigeonhole-like rooms iconic to Shanghai had also disappeared, replaced by seven-story buildings in their original locations.

The city center had been planned as a commercial and office district. The "Ten-Mile Foreign Concession" had undergone a comprehensive demolition and relocation. The number of foreigners on the streets had not decreased, but rather increased. Kita Ikki thought these people should be legal experts from various countries. When he passed some buildings under construction, he saw some foreigners wearing hard hats discussing blueprints with Chinese people. Judging by their appearance, they should be architects. So foreigners were not just legal experts.

Kita Ikki did not know that He Rui personally had no affection for the buildings left in China from the era of foreign colonization. He decided to tear them down completely without preserving any traces. But the New China hiring foreign designers for architectural design was another matter. If Chinese designers were not as good as foreign designers and let others earn the money, that was the foreign designers' capability. Normal commercial activities based on capability had nothing to do with national dignity. Only by acknowledging the gap could one catch up in large strides.

Watching a new Shanghai slowly breaking free from the shell of the old Shanghai, Kita Ikki's confidence in China increased a bit more. He felt even more emotional about Japan's self-degradation. Regarding the He Rui government's view on the economy, the government's job was to cultivate and provide markets for the country, regardless of whether this market was domestic or foreign. Even if Japan still held a comprehensive advantage in the industrial field, scientific education, and the level of national education, the He Rui government had gained a huge advantage over Japan just by protecting and developing the Chinese domestic market.

Such a China was the China that Japanese revolutionaries looked forward to. Only a powerful China had the ability to liberate Japan and defend Asia.

The three stopped in front of a building. After getting off the bicycle, Kita Ikki found that this was an ordinary hotel, not an office of China's powerful departments. The government personnel left a bicycle for Kita Ikki and taught him with extra seriousness how to use the thick safety lock. The two cadres were a bit embarrassed and also told Kita Ikki quite indignantly that with the popularization of bicycles in China, the number of thieves stealing bicycles had increased greatly. He needed to be careful.

Kita Ikki did not look down on the current government because of this trivial matter. He had seen more tragic and evil things in China, and compared to stealing bicycles, this counted as absolutely nothing. in earlier times, stealing a car was not considered a heinous crime in Shanghai.

"Comrades, may I ask if the Green Gang is still in Shanghai?" Kita Ikki asked.

The two young government personnel were stunned for a moment before replying, "Mr. Kita has old acquaintances in the Green Gang?"

Kita Ikki pondered for a moment before replying, "...Yes."

"Mr. Kita, the leaders of the Green Gang have either been arrested or have fled. If you want to see them, we can help you contact the prisons in Shanghai."

"...They are in prison..." Kita Ikki muttered. He then said to the two young cadres, "Thank you both. I will go rest now."

The two young cadres stopped Kita Ikki and first gave him a stack of banknotes, all small denominations, adding up to fifty yuan. Even in a high-income area like Shanghai, this was three months' wages for an ordinary worker. After Kita Ikki signed the receipt, the two young cadres took their leave.

Lying on the bed in the hotel, Kita Ikki found that he could move freely at this time. It could be seen that the Chinese government was not worried that Kita Ikki would do something in private, but gave him full freedom. Compared with the Japanese government's current comprehensive control, Kita Ikki once again felt the confidence of the He Rui government.

Kita Ikki decided to visit Professor Hira Toyomori first tomorrow. Judging from the current situation, it would be best for Professor Hira Toyomori not to return to Japan. Japan's Domestic Construction Outline was based on Professor Hira Toyomori's research results. Since the Japanese upper echelon already regarded this kind of domestic reform as a threat, once Professor Hira Toyomori returned to Japan, he would likely fall victim to the Japanese government.