Ning Zhiheng stood on the fourth floor rooftop, in front of his study window, looking down at Hirao Daichi as he walked briskly out of the courtyard gate.

He whispered, "This person seems fine for now, but we can't let our guard down. You should keep a close eye on him!"

"Yes, I will keep that in mind!" Yi Hua'an nodded in acceptance from behind.

"You've had a lot of work these past few days. Shanghai's urban area has been fully restored. We can't give up on such a large controlled area; we must take action. It's not convenient to keep hiding in the concessions and then move into the city. You need to start setting up your own bases and personnel in the city. From now on, the intelligence station's operations in Shanghai's urban area will be in your charge. Pay close attention!"

"Yes, please rest assured, I have made preparations. I selected six locations before coming here, and I will conduct on-site inspections tomorrow and begin this work immediately!"

Yi Hua'an had already received notification from Ning Zhiheng and had begun preparations, so he was well aware of the situation.

Ning Zhiheng also has a lot of work to do. Right now, the most important thing is to get in touch with He Siming again. It has been more than two months since their last meeting, and he needs to ask about the situation in the Special Higher Police during this time, especially the secret mission that He Siming carried out after leaving Shanghai. He needs to know more about it.

In the afternoon, Takeshita Shinya, an agent of the Shanghai Special Higher Police, was reading a newspaper in his office with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. After a while, he began to feel bored.

He stood up, slowly walked out of his office, looked around, went to the office next door, and knocked on the door.

"Please come in!"

A reply in Chinese came from inside the room, which sounded extremely abrupt in the Shanghai Special Higher Police's office building.

Shinya Takeshita pushed open the door and entered. When the people inside saw that it was Shinya Takeshita, they quickly stood up and bowed respectfully.

"Mr. Takeshita!"

Shinya Takeshita put on a rather helpless look and said with a wry smile in fluent and pure Chinese, "Wen-san, didn't I already tell you? From now on, just call me Shinya. If you really don't want to, just call me Takeshita-kun. I'm only twenty-one years old. If you call me 'sir,' and the other colleagues hear it, they'll think I'm deliberately putting on airs and acting high and might as well make a fool of myself!"

Upon hearing this, Wen Hao nodded repeatedly and quickly invited Takeshita Shinya to the main seat, saying with a smile, "Takeshita-kun, in this building, only you treat us so politely. You know our identities; we usually don't dare to leave this office easily, for fear that others will cause trouble! We're in a difficult situation!"

Shinya Takeshita looked slightly embarrassed, yet also quite sympathetic. He turned to the other six people standing in the office and said, "Everyone, please sit down! I was just bored and came over for a look. I'm a self-taught agent, and my skills are not even half of yours. I'm not a real agent; I'm just trying to make a living. You don't need to be so reserved!"

Hearing his affable manner, the others smiled gratefully. One of them, a slightly overweight man in his thirties, stepped forward and said, "Takeshita-kun, you're too kind. You're Captain Akita's student. Who would dare not give you face? Thanks to your protection, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Otherwise, we would be walking on eggshells!"

These people were all members of the undercover team that Wen Hao had betrayed. Two months ago, in order to show his loyalty and save his life, Wen Hao sold out this undercover force to the Japanese and personally presided over the arrest operation.

He personally arranged this undercover team, so it was a piece of cake. None of the eleven members of the team escaped. Three members refused to surrender during the capture and died heroically in the resistance. Two other members committed suicide during interrogation because they could not bear the torture. The remaining six members could not withstand the torture in the end. With Wen Hao's personal persuasion, they all chose to live a life of ignominy and became traitors to the nation!

Later, these agents from the Central Party Affairs Investigation Department were assigned to Akita Akihito's command by Sagawa Taro, the head of the Special Higher Police Section. Since none of them spoke Japanese, Akita Akihito specially sent his student Takeshita Shinya to lead them and also serve as their translator.

Shinya Takeshita usually has little presence. Other intelligence agents know his situation and dare not assign him any tasks. He spends his days doing nothing and does not participate in any specific operations. Now that there is this mission, it is just right for him.

Although Takeshita Shinya was tired and lazy when it came to doing things, he was easygoing and very polite to these Chinese people. After spending time with them, Wen Hao and the others had a very good impression of him.

"Mr. Cui, don't say that. We're all serving the Great Japanese Empire!" Takeshita Shinya laughed, speaking in an official tone, casually shouting a slogan that even he didn't believe, then pretending to be mysterious, "You don't need to be in such a hurry. Soon your office will no longer be here, so you can be more at ease. I don't like seeing you all being so cautious!"

Upon hearing this, Wen Hao and the others' expressions immediately changed. As they were living under someone else's roof, their biggest fear was that the Japanese would turn on them and their attitude would be uncertain. He quickly bowed and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Takeshita, is Section Chief Sagawa dissatisfied with our work?"

The others also looked over nervously. Takeshita Shinya smiled slightly, took a deep drag on his cigarette, flicked the ash into the ashtray on the table, and slowly said, "Look how scared you all are. It's good news. I'm telling you, but don't tell anyone!"

After saying that, he straightened up slightly and continued, "I heard from the teacher that Shanghai is recovering very quickly, especially in the northern area where the population is increasing. The Special Higher Police are severely understaffed in such a large area, so they are preparing to expand their manpower and send it to these areas. Many of these personnel are Chinese, and you will be transferred to form a new department!"

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