REIWA JIGOKUHEN - Chaotic Disturbance of Reiwa Era

Chapter 95 - Beyond the Horizon

Stockholm: Bromma Airport

Stockholm is the capital of the neutral country Sweden and has been darkly associated mainly with British, German, and Soviet diplomatic and intelligence circles. At Bromma Airport, located in the suburbs of Stockholm, a large white aircraft approached from the east-northeast. The diplomatic plane, with the Hinomaru painted on its tail and the name "Empire of Japan" written on its fuselage, arrived as scheduled. Perhaps because of the victorious nature of the war, this flight was kept completely secret. Thanks to this, the press was gathered at the airport.

"What a meticulous... but strange plane."

A correspondent for a news agency who has been in the business for a quarter of a century and has traveled abroad, blurted out as he held his binoculars.

"What do you mean?"

"Look, that's an American B-29."

He lent the binoculars to a confused junior correspondent and added a brief explanation. It looked like it had been modified here and there, but it was indeed a B-29. The younger man tilted his head at the intense sense of discomfort that this fact caused.

"It may be a captured plane... but that's one of those that bombed Tokyo. Is it normal to use it so casually?"

"There's already a lot of things that aren't normal, though."

"That's true... it would have been better to take that super-bomber to the airport as a demonstration to the other countries."

"You wanted to see it as a senior member?"

"Frankly speaking, there's a little of that, too."

Putting this exchange aside, the Hinomaru-painted B-29 used the runway to its fullest and managed to stop using its aerodynamic braking system. All eyes were on it as the ramp was lowered, cameras flashed, and the Japanese reserve negotiating team descended one by one. Diplomats, Army generals, and others dressed in formal attire, treading the ground for the first time in more than a dozen hours.

"Huh...?"

This time it was the junior negotiators who felt strangely uncomfortable.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No... I just thought they didn't look like emissaries of a victorious nation in any way."

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Long Beach, California: Harbor

A small cruise ship that seemed out of place was anchored in a corner of the Long Beach harbor. She was a wealthy man's ocean vacation home, but during a port call in Kobe, she was caught in the Time-Space Cataclysm, and after some twists and turns, she ended up being registered with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. She was converted into a UAV control ship and was assigned to Operation Jimmu.

"Jigabachi 048, we are now ready to commence operations."

Special Sergeant Fujishima, operating the unmanned reconnaissance attack aircraft Jigabachi—a modernized version of an unmanned helicopter from long ago—made an announcement in monotony.

The space that used to be the lounge on the upper deck was lined with what looked like private booths transplanted directly from an internet café, and one of them must have been his battlefield. The mission was to destroy the enemy that existed there. A stratospheric balloon extending from the stern of the ship played a role in the communication relay. A base station floated at an altitude of 20.000 meters.

"We caught the retreating group," Fujishima reported as a long, wiggly snake appeared on the screen.

"Low threat militia."