In the office of the Shadow Agency, Luo Xingchao was reporting to Colonel Qingqing Zhengliang about some of the events that had occurred at the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters recently.

Because Major General Kagesa Hiroki, the head of the agency, was not in Shanghai but reporting for duty in Japan, Colonel Haruki Masayoshi was in charge of the daily work of the entire Kagesa Agency. Moreover, intelligence work was originally the responsibility of Haruki Masayoshi, so Luo Xingchao always reported to Haruki Masayoshi.

"Currently, the conflict between Ding Mo and Li Zhiqun is escalating. In just the past month, they've already had three arguments. As far as I know, Li Zhiqun was originally slated to become the Minister of Police in the new government, but Ding Mo interfered. He and Zhou Fushan colluded to ruin the deal, and Zhou Fushan ended up personally assuming the position and securing the Minister of Social Affairs position for Ding Mo. As a result, Li Zhiqun is being heavily suppressed by these people in the new government. Moreover, my people have learned from Ding Mo that he plans to transfer some people from the Social Affairs Department into the Special Agent Headquarters, attempting to strengthen his power there and completely oust Li Zhiqun. However, for now, Li Zhiqun still holds the upper hand at the Special Agent Headquarters. The two groups are now irreconcilable..."

Qing Qingzhengliang did not interrupt Luo Xingchao's report. He remained silent, sitting quietly in his chair and listening until Luo Xingchao finished reporting. Only then did he slowly nod.

He was very satisfied with Luo Xingchao's work. This man was meticulous, clear-headed, and highly capable. In the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters, he navigated between the Ding and Li factions with ease, and it can be said that he achieved the desired effect.

Given his experience of joining the organization before the war, it can be said that Luo Xingchao was the person Qing Qingzhengliang trusted most in the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters.

“Well done, Luo Jun. Your current task is to keep a close eye on Ding Mo’s movements. I don’t like this guy very much. He’s useless and has no achievements in dealing with Chinese agents, but he’s a master at scheming for power. He’s forgotten that we were the ones who promoted him to the position of director of the Special Agent Headquarters. But now he’s getting too close to those politicians, which completely goes against our original intentions!”

Qingqing Zhengliang's consistent political stance has been to both utilize the puppet government and use its banner to control the Chinese people in the occupied areas, while also guarding against the puppet government's attempts to gain more power and escape its puppet status. Therefore, he was very dissatisfied with Ding Mo's close proximity to high-ranking figures in the puppet government, such as Zhou Fushan.

Luo Xingchao, of course, knew the intricacies of the matter. He quickly nodded in acceptance and continued, "Don't worry, I will keep a close eye on Ding Mo, but..."

"how?"

"However, I'm currently short-handed. Many of my intelligence officers are Li Zhiqun's men, so my actions often go unnoticed by him and they're ineffective at monitoring him. I'd like to transfer these people, but that would leave me short-handed."

Luo Xingchao's main force consists of the more than 30 Kuomintang agents who were captured at the Shanghai station. After Wen Hao left, these people all joined Luo Xingchao's ranks. Now he is trying to develop his own power in the No. 76 Special Agent Headquarters, but under the pressure of Li Zhiqun and Ding Mo, he has been unable to expand. That's why he came to Qing Qingzhengliang to ask for power and people.

Qing Qingzhengliang was well aware of Luo Xingchao's intentions. The Seventy-Sixth Special Agent Headquarters had grown rapidly and was now a large intelligence department with thousands of people. Each department had a large number of personnel, but Luo Xingchao, as his informant in the Special Agent Headquarters, only had more than thirty subordinates, which was really unreasonable.

Thinking of this, he nodded and asked, "What are your plans?"

Luo Xingchao quickly stepped forward and said, "In the past two months, the Special Agent Headquarters has arrested a large number of personnel from the Shanghai Station of the Military Intelligence Bureau. There are about forty of them, and they are all willing to work for us. As you know, the people under my command are all former members of the Military Intelligence Bureau. I wanted to add these people to my intelligence section, but when I applied to Li Zhiqun, he refused to give an answer. He is still wary of me! Colonel, please say a word."

The reason Luo Xingchao wanted to bring these people under his command was not only to strengthen his own forces, but also because these Shanghai Station agents, with their knowledge of the Shanghai intelligence station, would definitely pose a great threat to the station. Keeping them out there would be too much harm, so it was better to simply keep them under his control and keep them under strict supervision. If Li Zhiqun wanted to use them, he would have to inform him first, so he could take precautions in advance.

However, Li Zhiqun valued these Military Intelligence Bureau agents highly, and Luo Xingchao's several applications were rejected by Li Zhiqun, which left Luo Xingchao feeling very helpless.

Upon hearing this, Qingqing Zhengliang thought for a moment and said, "Alright! I'll handle this. Right now, the work of the Special Agent Headquarters is entirely maintained by Li Zhiqun. Otherwise, the officials of the new government would have all fled long ago. We still need to use him; we can't rely on Ding Mo."

Luo Xingchao originally wanted to trip up Li Zhiqun, but seeing how much Qing Qingzhengliang trusted Li Zhiqun, he gave up the idea.

Just then, an attendant came in to report, "Li Zhiqun from the Special Agent Headquarters has come to pay his respects."

Speak of the devil, and he appears! Luo Xingchao quickly looked at Qingqing Zhengliang, who didn't speak but simply gestured for him to calm down and instructed the attendant, "Please let him in!"

Soon, Li Zhiqun strode into the office. He was excitedly about to report the good news to Qing Qingzhengliang, but when he saw Luo Xingchao standing there, he immediately stopped talking.

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