Watching Wu Shicai leave, Luo Xingchao immediately picked up the phone: "Yuanfeng, come over now."

Cui Yuanfeng arrived at the office quickly, closed the door tightly, and asked in a low voice, "Director, is something the matter?"

Luo Xingchao went to the window and looked down at Wu Shicai's hurried departure. He recounted the conversation they had just had and said in a deep voice, "Wu Shicai is acting strangely. I saw his eyes darting around. Sheng Zhiyuan's death made him so nervous. There must be something going on. Have someone keep an eye on him. Maybe we can catch him red-handed this time."

"yes!"

Cui Yuanfeng nodded in agreement, then thought for a moment and said, "Wu Shicai's biggest weakness is his greed. This matter must be related to money. He's the only one in charge of such a large operation in western Shanghai. The profits involved are substantial. Could there be a problem?"

"Smart!" Luo Xingchao pointed at Cui Yuanfeng and smiled with satisfaction. "Do you know why Sheng Zhiyuan went to the foreign concession?"

"Why?"

"He went to speculate on stocks! In the six months since the outbreak of the European war, the stocks of foreign companies have been rising all the way. Now, all the rich people in Shanghai are flocking to the stock exchange on Ermalu Road. Many people have made a fortune. According to Cha Yutang, Sheng Zhiyuan has also made a lot of money during this period. I estimate that Wu Shicai has financial ties with him. You can start from this point and investigate carefully."

Cui Yuanfeng's eyes lit up. His mind worked quickly, and he soon understood Luo Xingchao's meaning. He analyzed, "You mean they might be working together to manipulate stocks? Wu Shicai invested money in Sheng Zhiyuan. Yes, that must be it. This guy will never let go of any opportunity to make money. Stock trading is so profitable now, he must be envious. The stock exchange is in the concession, and Wu Shicai is the head of No. 76. It would be too conspicuous for him to show his face in the concession, so he's using Sheng Zhiyuan to operate?"

"This idea is very plausible; I estimate it's most likely true!" Luo Xingchao said approvingly.

The gambling and drug trade in western Shanghai was the main source of funding for the operations of the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters, and the business was controlled by local Green Gang members.

As Li Zhiqun's top confidant and a leader of the Green Gang, Wu Shicai was in charge of managing this business, which brought huge profits to the Special Agent Headquarters every month.

Part of this money was given to the General Affairs Department as operating funds for the entire organization, while the rest was pocketed by Li Zhiqun, Wu Shicai, and others.

Of course, Li Zhiqun definitely took the lion's share, and senior cadres like Wu Shicai and Luo Xingchao also took a portion according to their rank. However, as the direct manager, Wu Shicai naturally benefited more, though Li Zhiqun tacitly approved of it.

Luo Xingchao never cared about the amount given, but Wu Shicai's unusual reaction this time made him feel that this might be a good opportunity to strike at Wu Shicai.

It should be noted that although Luo Xingchao temporarily took over the work in place of Li Zhiqun, Wu Shicai actually controlled the operational power and financial authority of the Special Agent Headquarters. This naturally made Luo Xingchao dissatisfied, and he would certainly not let go of this stumbling block if given the opportunity.

"By the way, how's the investigation going these past few days? Has his identity still not been confirmed?"

The matter Luo Xingchao asked about was naturally the mysterious man that Li Zhiqun was holding alone in the backyard of No. 76. Because there was too little information, the investigation into his identity had been progressing poorly, and Luo Xingchao couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

Cui Yuanfeng quickly replied, "We've made some progress on this matter; we've confirmed his identity, but further investigation is proving difficult!"

Luo Xingchao's spirits lifted. This task had been assigned to him by his superiors for quite some time, and finally, good news had arrived. He hurriedly said, "Oh, tell me quickly!"

Cui Yuanfeng then gave a detailed report on the investigation over the past period. It turned out that based on some information from before, Cui Yuanfeng secretly sent someone to take a photo of the middle-aged man and found several of his contacts in the black market back then. After some effort, he was finally recognized by an acquaintance. This person was Feng Sinian, who had been a broker in the Shanghai black market two years ago.

Luo Xingchao asked in confusion, "Feng Sinian? Why would Li Zhiqun arrest a black market broker who disappeared for two years?"

"According to our investigation, before his disappearance, Feng Sinian worked for an arms dealer, doing errands and connecting people. He just suddenly disappeared two years ago. I plan to continue the investigation along this line."

"An arms dealer? Who is he?"

“He’s an American, people in the business call him Philip. We continued our investigation and found out that he was Phillips, the military attaché at the American consulate in the International Settlement. This man specializes in smuggling high-end weapons and can get his hands on any kind of weapon. However, he rarely shows his face, and unless you’re an old hand in the black market, you’d never know about this connection. I’m convinced that during the two years that Feng Sinian disappeared, he must have been involved with this boss. As long as we find out where Feng Sinian went during those two years, we can find out why Li Zhiqun arrested this man and what their intentions are.”

Luo Xingchao raised an eyebrow and asked, "You want to continue investigating Phillips? He's the military attaché at the American consulate. Our people can't go deep into the concession, let alone investigate American diplomats."

Cui Yuanfeng nodded and said, "Phillips' situation is special. He's an American diplomat, and it's difficult for us to contact him. I'm planning to send some spies from the Green Gang into the concession, but I estimate it won't be very effective, and doing so would easily alert them, so..."

"Alright, we don't need to handle things in the concession." Luo Xingchao waved his hand, interrupting Cui Yuanfeng. "Don't forget, we're not fighting alone. The intelligence department has enough power in the concession. It's more convenient and safer for them to investigate than for us. I'll report this to my superiors. Your investigation ends here!"

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