Leitao arrived silently before the vault door, but just as he prepared to act, he sensed something amiss. He spun around abruptly, only to find a middle-aged man in an exquisite suit, complete with a bowtie and a toothbrush mustache, aiming a Nambu pistol at him. Leitao reacted instantly, whipping out his semi-automatic drum repeating crossbow. With a sharp "whoosh," a bolt shot out like lightning, piercing the man’s gun-wielding arm. The man cried out in pain as the pistol clattered to the ground. Leitao knew at once that this must be the manager of the 82nd Bank’s Shanghai branch in China.
He shouted in perfect Tokyo-accented Japanese, "Don't move! I’m only after the money; I have no desire to kill. Besides, why should the Navy get to hog all this wealth while we in the Army don't get a drop of the profit? Hand over the vault key and open the door. I’ll spare your life out of respect for your position as a bank manager of the Great Japanese Empire!"
The bank manager clutched his wounded arm, a flash of fear and hesitation in his eyes. He stammered, "You... you are from the Army? Do you know what you are doing? This is a serious violation of protocol!"
Chapter 62