The People's Republic of China's Open Letter to the People of the World!

"????"

A voice suddenly rang out from beyond the office.

Bunsho Asakura, who had still been gesturing as if directing the course of the nation, froze. His eyes visibly lost focus.

A moment later.

The foremost nuclear engineer in all of Japan suddenly jolted as if he'd been electrocuted, then sprang to the office entrance in a single stride. Without a thought for whether his actions were appropriate, he yanked the door open.

"Assistant Kojima, what did you say?"

Kojima Kameo stood outside. He looked almost exactly like Segawa Takeshi had a short while ago: his hair was disheveled, his clothes were rumpled, and sweat—whether from nerves or from running too fast—ran down from his temples. He braced his hands on his knees and panted heavily.

Kojima Kameo had seen Segawa Takeshi bring Bunsho Asakura into the office not long ago, so he wasn't especially surprised to find Bunsho Asakura opening the door.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, then shakily held out a fax to Bunsho Asakura.

"Mr. Asakura... Mr. Asakura, about ten minutes—ten minutes ago, Huaxia made... made another announcement."

"They said they'll test-fire a long-range ballistic missile and detonate an atomic bomb at 1:45 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on September 19, respectively, in the South Pacific and inland Huaxia—"

Smack!

Before Kojima Kameo could finish, Bunsho Asakura snatched the fax from his hand and began reading.

Just as expected.

The small sheet of fax paper was covered in Japanese text:

[Xinhua News Agency, September 13: Open Letter from the People's Republic of China to the People of the World]

[China has always been a peace-loving nation and an important force for safeguarding world peace and stability. Yet, regrettably, over the past hundred-plus years of modern history, the Chinese Nation has suffered hardship, been repeatedly invaded and