Ninety-Three: Sneaking Back

“Ah Liang, before I left last time, I asked you to look into the plantation owners around Jakarta. How is the investigation going?”

Sitting in the manor’s hidden chamber, Wei Hua asked.

“It’s almost done. There are dozens of plantations of all sizes around Jakarta, and not a single owner is Chinese now. Before the September Thirtieth coup, most plantation owners in Indonesia were Chinese. I’ve taken a broad look at the plantations. Most of them used to belong to Chinese owners. Some of those owners were killed during the coup, and their property fell into local hands. Others were illegally taken by local people through all kinds of means after the coup. But now all of these plantations have become the legitimate property of their present owners.”

“They all deserve to die!” Hearing this, He Xiaoya said angrily from the side.

“How are Lin Jihan, Yu Xiaomeng, and the others doing? And what do you think of that Jiang Hua?” Wei Hua asked again.

“Not bad. Lin Jihan, Yu Xiaomeng, and the others have brought in more than forty people one after another. None of them are very old; a few are in their mid-thirties, but most are in their twenties. They all bear a blood feud with the Indonesians. And most of them have no families, so they’re willing to join the resistance organization. That Jiang Hua has been very close with Lin Jihan and the others these past few days. From what I can see, this kid is steady, calm, and quick-witted at the same time. He’s good material. He’s joined the resistance too,” Ah Liang said.

“Good. I didn’t save that kid by mistake after all. I knew from the start that he was promising. The resistance needs its own intelligence network, and I plan to let him build it. Of course, that will be after he finishes training. I’ll get him an American identity, and then let him come back and open a nightclub or something as cover. What do you think?” Wei Hua asked He Xiaoya.

“That should be no problem. I’ll speak with the people in charge of training. His training will be separate from everyone else’s. Our ship is expected to reach Jakarta Port in a week. We need to arrange the preparations as quickly as possible and move everyone out. As for recruiting new members, I think we should suspend it for now. Without proper training, if we keep going, we may expose ourselves,” He Xiaoya suggested.

“All right, I have no objections. These next few days, do you need to meet with Lin Jihan and the others? After all, you may be the one responsible for keeping in touch with them in the future. Ah Liang, meanwhile, should avoid getting involved in this as much as possible.”

“Fine. I’ll think about that. It’s right that Mr. Ah Liang stays out of this plan. We need his identity as cover, so he can’t have any problems. Your plan to expand the plantations is good too, but how do you intend to carry it out? At present, I doubt anyone is willing to sell these plantations.”

“It’s nothing. If all that’s left in the manor is widows and orphans, it’ll be much easier for Ah Liang to step in. At worst, we can offer more money. That way, Ah Liang can even earn a good reputation. After all, widows and orphans have no experience running plantations. It would be safer for them to put the money in the bank. And in a while, public order in Indonesia probably won’t be very good. Living in the plantations won’t be safe. Ah Liang, you haven’t contacted any of those plantation owners, have you?”

“No! I’ve been doing exactly as you said. I got all the information on those plantation owners through other means. I haven’t revealed to anyone that I intended to buy plantations on a large scale.”

“That’s good. Miss He, you’ll be responsible for transporting the people and for their future training. Once everyone is aboard the ship, you go back to Hong Kong. Tomorrow I’ll return to Hong Kong, and then I’ll sneak back here aboard one of our freighters to deal with the plantation purchase. After that’s settled, I’ll quietly slip back to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, make sure my whereabouts are kept strictly secret. I’ll handle my wife myself; you don’t need to worry about it.”

A week later, a cargo ship from Blue Sea Overseas Shipping Company departed Jakarta fully loaded with freight. Out on the high seas it met another Chinese cargo ship bound for Africa. After a brief encounter, the two vessels continued on to their respective destinations. Once the freighter left Jakarta, He Xiaoya took a plane back to Hong Kong.

By then, Wei Hua had already returned to Jakarta. After disembarking from the freighter, he did not contact Ah Liang. Instead, he went straight to the Chinese district, rented a small room, and settled in. By day, Wei Hua wandered all over Jakarta, and by night he went out to the high-voltage transmission lines in the suburbs to absorb electricity. His reckless absorption caused massive blackouts across the city, leaving the Jakarta power department completely baffled. The widespread outages continued for months, then vanished without warning as suddenly as they had begun.

In a week’s time, Wei Hua became thoroughly familiar with Jakarta’s streets and layout. He even explored the sewers at night. With his monstrous memory, it was as if the whole city had been packed into his mind.

On May 10, Wei Hua quietly made his way to an Indonesian military supply depot outside Jakarta. His aim was to get weapons, especially explosives. He intended to use explosives against those plantation owners.

He had found this military depot through the records stored in his biological computer. He had already scouted it out two days earlier. The guards were tight, but that could not stump Wei Hua. He had already determined the sentries’ shift changes, the patrol schedule and routes, and, more importantly, the number of people stationed there. Wei Hua was determined to make a big move and give the Indonesians something to suffer over.

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