vncnus Chapter 102 Finding Out the Details!
Chapter 102 Finding Out the Details!
Zhou Xiao watched her figure, smiled silently, and shook his head gently.
Special Operations Headquarters, Office of the Chief of the Intelligence Department.
Lan Yanzhi looked anxious, her gaze fixed on Zhou Xiao's face: "Director Zhou, is there any progress on the action plan?"
Zhou Xiao nodded: "It's settled."
Lan Yanzhi immediately pressed, "What do you need me to do?"
Zhou Xiao said in a calm tone: "Yan Zhi, go back and tell your father, Lan Changming, to take the lead in promoting the 'Shanghai Banking Association Mechanism.' The core objective is to integrate the strength of various banks and jointly resist the financial offensive caused by the infiltration of counterfeit currency by the Japanese invaders."
"I have already begun the Blue Lantern Project, but the battlefield is ever-changing, and no one can guarantee that it will be foolproof. Therefore, we must prepare a backup plan."
Lan Yanzhi nodded in agreement: "Understood."
As for the full picture of the "Green Lamp Project," he didn't tell Lan Yanzhi much—not because he didn't trust her, but because there was no need to at the moment.
After leaving headquarters, Zhou Xiao drove around the city alone.
His purpose in coming here was for one thing only: to pinpoint the exact location of the Sugimoto headquarters.
When he was blindfolded and led into the Shan Agency, Zhou Xiao kept his eyes closed the whole time, but he engraved every detail along the way into his ears—which turn, how many seconds it took to turn the corner, whether there were tram horns nearby, whether there were dock horns in the distance, the frequency of road bumps... He memorized and repeatedly deduced these sound clues.
Now, following the map makes the search much easier.
Sure enough, he pinpointed the well-hidden house in just half an hour.
The first step of the Green Lamp Project is complete!
The key to this first step is to find out where the Sugimoto Agency headquarters is located.
The place appeared unremarkable on the outside, just a gray old-fashioned house, but it actually concealed a secret: above ground was an ordinary brick and tile house, but underground there was a secret room built specifically for people to secretly study and experiment.
If Oshima Ken hadn't personally escorted Zhou Xiao here once, he would never have believed that this inconspicuous room was actually the core intelligence center of the Japanese invaders.
Indeed, it was the black cloth they had covered the most tightly.
After confirming the address, Zhou Xiao did not rush to leave, but instead walked slowly around the vicinity several times.
Soon, less than 100 meters from the residential area, he discovered a hidden outpost—a small squad of Japanese military police in plainclothes was quietly stationed there. Although the number of people was not known, judging from the pace of their deployment and the density of their vigilance, it was definitely not just a few people.
Such a vital location as the Sugiyama Agency could not possibly be defended with just this few men; there must be mobile support from the military police behind it.
Having ascertained the situation, Zhou Xiao withdrew and returned home.
The first step of the Green Lamp Project has been successfully completed.
The next step is to contact Mingtai, who will lead a team to carry out a key part of the Green Lantern Plan—destroying the headquarters of the Sugi Agency.
Bright Photo Studio.
Guo Qiyun once again strode down from the telecommunications room.
Upon seeing this, Yu Manli immediately went to greet her: "Another job?"
Bored out of her mind in Shanghai, she kept herself energized by taking on one task after another.
Mingtai also looked up at the sound, his eyes filled with eager curiosity.
Guo Qiyun unfolded the telegram he had just translated, speaking briskly: "Pluto's order: codename 'Operation Green Lamp,' with a coordinate address attached."
"Address?" Yu Manli reached out and took it, glancing at it. "It seems the detailed plan is hidden behind this address."
Mingtai blurted out, "I'll go get it."
Guo Qiyun frowned slightly: "You? Young Master Ming is a well-known figure in Shanghai. You're too conspicuous and the risk is too high."
Yu Manli simply replied, "I'll go. I'm more suitable."
The final decision was made: Yu Manli, disguised, would go to the designated location to retrieve all the details of Operation Green Lantern.
She changed into simple clothes, tied her hair up, slung an old cloth bag over her shoulder, and quietly left the house.
Half an hour later, she arrived at the target alley on time.
In the brick wall on one side of the alley, there is a loose brick that can be taken out—hidden inside is the complete set of instructions from Operation Green Lantern to the Mingtai Operation Team.
Yu Manli walked slowly along the wall and quickly found the unusual brick according to the instructions. With a gentle pry, the brick fell off, revealing the kraft paper envelope inside.
She quickly took it off and turned to leave.
Just then, a figure flashed at the alley entrance—two Japanese soldiers in khaki uniforms strolled in.
"A beautiful girl! A really beautiful girl!"
"Matsumoto-kun, it's rare to see such a beautiful girl in Shanghai, hehe!"
The two men stared intently at Yu Manli, their eyes locked.
Although she was dressed in coarse cloth and had a simple appearance, the heroic spirit between her brows and her well-defined features could not be concealed.
That's why she was targeted as soon as she stepped onto the street; the two men followed her all the way to the alley entrance, and their demeanor immediately turned despicable.
This is a dead end with only one entrance and exit.
At that moment, the only exit was completely blocked by two Japanese soldiers.
Yu Manli's expression remained unchanged; instead, she smiled at them, her voice gentle yet measured: "Gentlemen, is it... that you've taken a fancy to this humble lady?"
The other party only dared to approach her because she was dressed casually, which shows that he has some "eyes".
If Yu Manli had dressed like a young lady from a prestigious family, these two Japanese soldiers wouldn't have dared to harbor any evil thoughts.
After all, both the Japanese army and the Wang Jingwei regime were hoping for peace and tranquility in Shanghai, so they imposed many restrictions on the Japanese army's actions and strictly prohibited them from acting recklessly and disrupting the situation.
But if it were an ordinary woman or girl from a common family, it would be a different story—even if she were bullied, she wouldn't cause much of a commotion.
One of the Japanese soldiers grinned broadly, drool practically dripping from his mouth: "That's right! If you behave, you're a model citizen; if you don't know what's good for you... humph, you troublemaker!"
The other one smiled, his eyes narrowed: "Pretty girl...a perfectly law-abiding citizen!"
Before the words were even finished, the two slowly approached Yu Manli.
Seeing that she was simply dressed and had no background, the two Japanese soldiers immediately relaxed their vigilance and didn't take her seriously at all.
Little did they know, a knife hung over the head of the word "lust"—
The moment they set their sights on Yu Manli, they embarked on their journey to the underworld.
Yu Manli smiled slightly, as if resigned to her fate, and stood quietly in place, motionless.
In the blink of an eye, the two were right in front of him, rubbing their hands together, their eyes sweeping over him blatantly, their minds already burning with lust.
"Little flower girl...so pretty! Hahaha!"
The Japanese soldier let out a strange cry and opened his arms to pounce.
A flash of cold light!
Yu Manli flicked her wrist, and a dagger appeared in her hand. She then slashed horizontally—
His throat snapped instantly, and blood gushed out like a torrent.
The other Japanese soldier had just come to his senses when he noticed the gushing blood on the ground. He shuddered and hurriedly grabbed his rifle.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Yu Manli lunged forward, thrusting her dagger straight in, precisely piercing the opponent's heart.
One blow was enough to kill him instantly, before he even had time to convulse.
In just a few seconds, the two Japanese soldiers fell to the ground, dead.
They never understood until their deaths that this "ordinary girl" was actually a top agent of the Kuomintang's Military Intelligence Bureau.
Yu Manli glanced down at the bloodstains on the dagger and chuckled softly, "Short legs, have you ever heard of 'lust is a knife above one's head'?"
If you run into someone like Yu Manli, you'll die without even knowing how you died—you won't even have a chance to struggle.
Flower girl?
She was indeed a beautiful girl, but a poisonous rose; the thorns pierced her flesh, killing her instantly.
After cleaning up the scene, she turned and disappeared into the narrow alley, vanishing without a trace.
Bright Photo Studio.
After confirming that the surrounding area was safe, Yu Manli returned to the contact point with the envelope.
Mingtai glanced at his watch and said, "Manli, you're a little late this time."
Yu Manli said calmly, "I ran into two troubles on the way, so I took care of them."
The two Japanese soldiers couldn't stop her at all.
Guo Qiyun asked, "Where's the letter?"
Yu Manli took out the envelope and opened it—the letter inside was clean and dry, without a single word.
Spies never use direct methods to pass on intelligence.
Guo Qiyun first applied iodine solution, but there was no reaction on the paper.
Normally, if a secret letter is written with starch (such as rice water), it will turn blue and reveal the writing when it comes into contact with iodine.
This is the most common method of invisible writing: writing with rice water leaves no trace after drying; applying iodine causes the starch to turn blue, making the writing immediately visible and clear as ink.
But this letter clearly didn't use that tactic.
Mingtai suggested, "Try sodium hydroxide."
If you write with a pen dipped in phenolphthalein solution, the writing will remain invisible after it dries; however, you can simply wipe it lightly with sodium hydroxide solution and the writing will come out bright red.
Guo Qiyun followed the instructions, and sure enough, rows of dark red characters appeared on the snow-white letter paper.
The content is extremely detailed: the entire deployment of Mingtai's operation—
The exact address and surrounding defenses of the Sugimoto Agency headquarters, including how to capture Ken Oshima's adjutant Matsushita Honda, the location of explosives storage, the timeline and coordination details for each step, were all drafted by Zhou Xiao.
Mingtai's team only needs to follow the rules.
Mingtai quickly finished reading and pondered, "This time we must act swiftly and decisively, with the timing being extremely tight."
He turned to Yu Manli: "Prepare weapons, prioritize silenced pistols, to avoid alerting the Sugi Agency's security forces."
He then said to Guo Qiyun, "Go and fetch the explosives."
"I'll go to the site again to find out the routes in and out of the Sugimoto headquarters, and at the same time confirm the whereabouts of Honda and Panasonic."
With clear division of labor and each member fulfilling their duties, the action team immediately began operations.
The operation is scheduled for midnight tonight.
Once midnight has passed, it is already the next day.
In the afternoon, at the Special Operations Headquarters.
Zhou Xiao received a call from Ken Oshima: "Director Zhou, how busy have you been lately?"
The call at this moment is clearly an invitation for him to welcome Asano Hirofumi together.
This person acts without any rhyme or reason, comes from the Special Higher Police, and must be eliminated as soon as possible!
The longer it drags on, the greater the trouble will be.
It should be noted that there are quite a few undercover agents from the Military Intelligence Bureau, the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, and the underground Communist Party in key departments such as the Special Higher Police, the Special Operations Headquarters, the Shang Mansion, and No. 76.
Once Asano Hirofumi takes office, any slight suspicion will surely lead to a bloody upheaval.
Zhou Xiao himself was able to escape unscathed, but others might not.
"We are currently focusing our efforts on suppressing anti-Japanese elements, with a particular emphasis on monitoring their radio communications," Zhou Xiao replied calmly. "This is to prevent similar incidents from happening again and to keep the shadow of assassination from looming over Shanghai once more."
After Aoki Takeshige's death and before Sendoh Kaede took over, the situation in Shanghai was extremely turbulent, with assassination plots looming over the city. High-ranking Japanese and puppet officials were assassinated one after another, and a large number of traitors and spies were eliminated in the city-wide anti-traitor storm.
This anti-traitor campaign, centered in Shanghai, spread like wildfire, quickly reaching many parts of the country and creating a massive wave of anti-traitor sentiment.
The shock was so widespread and its impact so profound that even high-ranking officials in Japan were taken aback.
"Very good." Ken Oshima nodded in satisfaction. "The reason why Shanghai is so peaceful right now is all thanks to Director Zhou's dedication and service to the empire. This achievement deserves to be reported and rewarded."