Upon hearing this, Wang Hanmin was greatly disappointed, then sighed and said, "The Director doesn't seem to understand the situation in Shanghai very well. The struggle here is far more severe than previously imagined..."

He stopped mid-sentence. It was too late to complain about the Director in front of Duan Tiecheng, a casual acquaintance. He didn't want to end up complaining about Duan himself, which would be a huge miscalculation.

Duan Tiecheng smiled slightly and decided not to dwell on the matter. He changed the subject and said, "This time when I came to Shanghai, the Director also assigned me an important task. This matter is not difficult for you. If you complete this task, it will make the Director happy. Even if there are some mistakes, I think the Director will be lenient."

Upon hearing this, Wang Hanmin perked up and hurriedly asked, "What other tasks has the Director assigned? I will do my best to complete them. Please enlighten me, Brother Tiecheng!"

Duan Tiecheng leaned forward, lowered his voice, and said in a low voice, "This time I came to Shanghai with a young man named Gan Mingxuan, who is the son of Gan Kangnian, the Minister of Military Affairs of the Executive Yuan."

As Duan Tiecheng recounted his story, Wang Hanmin learned that Duan Tiecheng had another mission in coming to Shanghai.

It turns out that this Minister Gan had been running a large business in Shanghai for many years, but it was all done through his trusted confidant Lian Liangchou, with Gan protecting him from behind.

This was another way for high-ranking Kuomintang officials to make money. By leveraging their privileges, they colluded with businessmen, engaged in corruption and bribery, and made huge profits. This was a common phenomenon in the officialdom of the Republic of China.

Gan Kangnian owned many businesses in Shanghai, which generated substantial profits for him every year. This situation continued until the eve of the Battle of Shanghai. Seeing that the situation was not going well, Gan Kangnian ordered Lian Liangchou to sell off a large amount of assets and convert them into gold, which was then stored in Shanghai.

As the Sino-Japanese War intensified, Gan Kangnian prepared to transport the gold, along with some antiques and jewelry he had collected over the years, away. However, unexpectedly, his trusted confidant, Lian Liangchou, was suddenly killed in a bombing raid by Japanese planes.

In addition, the Nationalist army suddenly retreated. At that time, the situation outside was very chaotic, with retreating Nationalist troops everywhere. Therefore, they did not have time to take the treasure with them and had to hide it in the old Lian family residence.

Gan Kangnian originally thought the war wouldn't last long and that he would eventually have a chance to retrieve the treasure. However, as the situation worsened, the Japanese army had occupied most of China, and Shanghai was probably gone forever. So he thought about taking the treasure back to Chongqing, but with so many miles away and chaos everywhere, he couldn't do it.

Fortunately, he had a good personal relationship with the Director and knew that the Military Intelligence Bureau had secret forces all over the country. He figured that transporting the treasure back to Chongqing shouldn't be a problem, so he asked the Director for help. After all, they had been friends for many years, so the Director couldn't refuse and agreed.

Therefore, Duan Tiecheng brought Gan Kangnian's eldest son, Gan Mingxuan, with him to take charge of the matter. The Shanghai station provided full assistance to retrieve the treasure and transport it safely back to Chongqing.

Wang Hanmin's eyes lit up. This task wasn't difficult; with the resources of the Shanghai station, it wouldn't be hard to accomplish.

"Where is Gan Mingxuan now? What is the exact value of this batch of treasures?" Wang Hanmin asked.

Duan Tiecheng replied, "You're staying here with me now."

The house where Duan Tiecheng is now staying was specially arranged for him by Wang Hanmin, and it is also the best safe house in Shanghai Station.

"Where are they now?" Wang Hanmin looked around and couldn't help but ask.

Duan Tiecheng said, "He went out early this morning, saying he was going to investigate the situation of the old house. We'll take action once we find out the specifics. As for the value? I estimate the value of this property is enormous, otherwise he wouldn't need to use our Military Intelligence Bureau for help."

After saying that, he looked at Wang Hanmin and warned him, "Don't get any funny ideas. This batch of valuables is very dangerous. If anything goes wrong, the Director will hold you accountable."

Wang Hanmin said with a wry smile, "How many heads do I have? How dare I even think of such a thing? But if the quantity is too large, we'll have to put some effort into the transportation. We absolutely cannot afford any mistakes."

Duan Tiecheng nodded and said, "I didn't ask about the specifics. You can ask Gan Mingxuan when he gets back."

Duan Tiecheng's mind wasn't on the gold. Wang Hanmin was in charge of transporting the valuables, and his main task was to destroy the legal tender. He couldn't afford to be punished if anything went wrong.

"By the way, according to the intelligence department, this batch of legal tender is currently hidden in a building in downtown Shanghai, which is a key location for the Japanese. Have you conducted any reconnaissance? Please give me a brief overview of the situation."

So Wang Hanmin gave a brief account of his findings over the past few days. Just as they were discussing things carefully, the young master Gan Mingxuan returned.

Wang Hanmin then realized that Gan Mingxuan was one of Duan Tiecheng's four followers from yesterday. He hadn't paid much attention to it at the time, but he did notice that there were two bruises on Gan's face, which surprised him.

After the two introduced themselves again, Gan Mingxuan finally spoke, "Station Chief Wang, I originally wanted to go to the city to see that old house today, but there are Japanese checkpoints on several bridges leading to the city, and I don't have any identification, so I didn't dare to enter the city. This is quite troublesome!"

Wang Hanmin said, "The Japanese are becoming increasingly strict in their management of Shanghai. Now, all citizens living in the city must obtain a good citizen certificate. But Mr. Gan, don't worry, I have already sent someone to make good citizen certificates for you. I have such experts under my command, and the certificates they make are indistinguishable from the real ones."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!