Not Paper People

Tōdō Masanobu hurried out of the tent with his men to investigate. Sure enough, a dark figure was speeding toward them through the sky.

It was coming from the direction of the village he intended to attack.

"Whoever that is, they're not here to make friends. Send word to the entire army: keep your weapons ready and your horses saddled. Bring up the archers and musketeers too. If he comes close, turn him into a pincushion."

The officers hurried off to carry out his orders. All three thousand troops armed themselves and stood ready.

Lu Zeming flew overhead, looking down at the army with a smile.

"So much armor and weaponry—and horses, too. If I can take it all, I'll be rich!"

He held his altitude and flew straight over the central command tent before calling out.

"Hey, you down there! You're surrounded. You have thirty seconds to decide: kneel and surrender, or I'll keep killing you until you do."

Tōdō Masanobu straightened his cockroach-shaped helmet and shouted back, "Boy, I know you have those stones that explode. They can't be cheap to make. With so few people in your village, how many can you produce in a day, even if you do nothing else? You used plenty in your last two attacks. How many could you have left? And what makes you think we haven't prepared?"

With a sweep of his hand, Tōdō Masanobu signaled the samurai to raise their steel shields. Even the supply troops in the rear lifted wooden shields against an attack from above.

At almost the same moment, a red flare shot up from the camp, trailing a vivid column of crimson smoke.

Several loud droning sounds came from the distance, like helicopter rotors spinning at high speed.

Lu Zeming looked toward the noise. Several