Stones: Experiment (Stones #3) Read Online Free Page B

another Djarum and sucks the March air through the black cigarette. A long tail of blue smoke flows behind him in the fading light.
    “India?”
    “That is where you will be going next.”
    Miyazawa shakes his head. “It doesn’t make sense. We’ve built shrines throughout China. All its allies, Korea, Russia, Southeast Asia, Africa, will want shrines now. Shinto will spread naturally. Everyone knows China has buried secret nukes all over India. Why would we go there, to China’s arch enemy? Besides, I don’t see how we can move any faster than we are.”
    “Nonsense,” Ryzaard says. “You can build new factories. Find new sources of cedar wood. Increase your production of shrines and torii gates. It’s simply a matter of scale.”
    Miyazawa is careful to stay upwind and looks sideways at the filth curling out of Ryzaard’s nose and lips. “Yes, we can do all those things, but only if we have the funding.”
    “That’s a given.” Ryzaard takes another pull on the cigarette and twists his lips to blow the smoke away from the priest.
    “It’s not that simple.”
    “What is the problem?”
    “Priests.” Miyazawa’s arms spread wide out in a rare display of emotion. “Even if we can build the shrines, we won’t be able to find and train enough priests to run them.”
    “Pardon my directness, but don’t be stupid.” Ryzaard exhales and lets the smoke drift into Miyazawa’s face. “I’ve already found a ready source of recruits. Enough to satisfy all your needs.”
    “Our organization has a presence on every university campus in Japan.” Miyazawa takes a step back. “We are doing the best we can. It takes time—”
    “That’s your problem. Looking in the wrong places.”
    “You have a suggestion?”
    Ryzaard moves closer, his face only inches from Miyazawa’s nose, cigarette smoke spewing from his lips.
    Miyazawa holds his breath.
    “Listen to me,” Ryzaard says. “I have a huge source of men and women ready to enter the Shinto priesthood
today
. All of them well-trained in ancient traditions. Good at handling people. Patriotic. Submissive to authority. And they
love
Shinto. The robes will cover all their tattoos. It is a perfect match.”
    Miyazawa’s eyes widen. “You can’t be serious.”
    “It’s the only way.”
    Miyazawa closes his eyes, trying to imagine a Shinto shrine run by
Yakuza
thugs.
    “It’s never been done before,” Miyazawa says.
    “Don’t you remember what your predecessor, Naganuma-
san
, used to say?”
    “Yes, of course. But—”
    “I believe he said
some compromises must be made if Shinto is to reach its full potential
.” Ryzaard lifts an eyebrow. “Are you going to stand in the way of Shinto fulfilling its destiny to become the dominant world religion?”
    “No, of course not! But
Yakuza
? Japanese mafia?”
    Ryzaard drops his cigarette, stamps it out on the snow and grinds it into the sacred sea of white pebbles below.
    “China and India are only the beginning.” He turns back to Miyazawa’s living quarters. “Buddhist connections will push you quickly through Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia. Atheist populations in Russia and North America hunger for a new green religion. The Vatican will welcome the enthusiasm that Shinto creates. With their official support, you will move through the ossified Catholic communities of South America and Africa like a tidal wave. You cannot wait for all this to simply happen by osmosis. You must
make
it happen. With my help.”
    Miyazawa’s tries to speak, but nothing comes out of his mouth except for a single word.
    “Why?”
    “As the leader of Shinto, you read the news, just like I do. You know the chaos that fills the world. The old alliances that used to bind countries have fallen away. New ones are forming. Japan’s not-so-secret treaty with China. China’s economic takeover of Russia. Europe is falling apart. What’s left of it hates America. India and its nuclear arsenal stand alone against