Pathway to Japanese Literature

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Wartime Travel TrunkAuthor: Unno Juza

Original Title	戦時旅行鞄
Author	海野十三
Genre	Modern Short Fiction
Author Type	Male Author
Summary	In the shadowy depths beneath Shanghai dwells the eccentric Dr. Kin—a scientific genius whose inventions spark global chaos. His arsenal of superweapons has made him both legendary and loathed, particularly by Commissioner Shō Kaiseki, a warlord nursing a vendetta after surviving countless near-fatal encounters with Kin’s creations. Determined to eliminate his nemesis, Shō orchestrates a perilous scheme involving Dr. Ōsuiken, Kin’s former mentor, and a shadowy "disposal organ" hidden within a foreign embassy. \nLured by Ōsuiken’s cryptic invitation, Kin embarks on a journey armed with three enigmatic trunks—each packed with modular gadgets defying physics, from gravity-neutralizing devices to propulsion systems. His voyage becomes a spectacle of ingenuity: hijacking a steamship, warping its speed, and outwitting baffled officials with trunk-bound marvels. Yet danger looms at the embassy, where whispers of vanished visitors hint at a lethal trap. \nAs Kin strides into the lion’s den, unaware of Shō’s lurking presence and Ōsuiken’s conflicted loyalties, his trunks may hold the key to survival—or seal his fate. Between dormant superweapons and a snoring steel tank, the line between genius and madness blurs in a game where invention is both shield and weapon.