Although Ning Zhiheng's trip to Qingdao was not entirely satisfactory, it was still quite fruitful. At the very least, the secret tripartite agreement in his possession was his biggest gain from this trip.
He had already compiled the agreement, filmed it, and made three copies. One copy was to be handed over to the Military Intelligence Bureau headquarters, another to the farmer, and the last one was to be kept by himself.
In the intelligence community, intelligence is divided into several categories depending on the circumstances. For example, intelligence such as tripartite agreements has almost no time limit. Once a tripartite agreement is established, it is valuable no matter when you obtain it.
Generally, the Shanghai Intelligence Section would back up important intelligence like this, and could even sell it through the intelligence market to earn some money and alleviate some of the economic pressure. Therefore, the Shanghai Intelligence Section did not only buy intelligence in the intelligence market, but also sold some intelligence depending on the situation. Moreover, even if this agreement was leaked, it would not cause any loss to the Kuomintang.
At midnight that night, Ning Zhiheng once again came to the back door of Qing Shi Tea House, knocked on the door rhythmically as usual, waited quietly for footsteps to come from inside, put down the document bag in his hand, and turned to retreat into the darkness.
Everything was as usual. Xia Deyan opened the door, stepped out, came into the light, revealed his figure, picked up the document bag on the ground, and turned back into the room.
Ning Zhiheng confirmed that the intelligence handover was correct before quickly leaving. Xia Deyan returned to the house, feeling uneasy. The last time he received a message from Shadow was two months ago, when Shadow reported the exposure of Nanjing Maoyuan Trading Company. He had not been in contact with Shadow since then.
Shadow wouldn't contact me easily, so there must be important intelligence in this document bag.
He reached around the bag and took out the items inside: a roll of film and a piece of white paper. He quickly opened them to look at them.
"We have learned that the Qingdao tripartite meeting has concluded. Zou Chengbin, a key figure in the provisional government, and Su Jiaxiang, the confidential secretary of Liang Anhong of the reformed government, have both been arrested by Japanese intelligence agencies. Details and their identities are unknown. Please organize and respond accordingly. The film contains various secret agreements reached during the tripartite talks. The intelligence is crucial, so please be extremely careful."
The final signature was still a large "Shadow" character!
This time, Ning Zhiheng did not inquire about Matsudaira Hidemi's identity. Although he noticed Matsudaira Hidemi's unusual behavior, since Matsudaira Hidemi had been with him throughout his trip to Qingdao, it would be easy for people to associate him with him if he asked the organization to verify his identity at this time.
Moreover, the underground party's covert operations were extremely disciplined, with no horizontal communication between intelligence agents. If one were to directly inquire about Matsudaira Hidemi's identity, the underground party organization would be unable to provide an answer.
If he were truly a member of the underground Communist Party's covert operations, given his cover identity as an intelligence agent at the Iwai Mansion, he would undoubtedly be an intelligence agent with a very high level of secrecy. Such an intelligence agent would be an absolute ace, and apart from his superior, how could he possibly reveal his identity to outsiders? Asking him directly without authorization would be a violation of discipline.
Therefore, Ning Zhiheng decided to secretly observe and be wary of Matsudaira Hidemi. Unless absolutely necessary, he would not ask the organization about his true identity.
Around noon the next day, Xia Deyan handed the intelligence to Lin Hanwen.
Lin Hanwen glanced at the contents of the paper and his heart skipped a beat. He was naturally aware of the tripartite meeting in Qingdao, but he never expected that Shadow would pass on the most important internal intelligence as soon as the meeting ended.
"This is completely unexpected. The participants in the trilateral talks are all core members of the Japanese side and the three governments. Such highly classified intelligence is probably inaccessible even to their own personnel. How did Shadow obtain it?"
Holding the roll of film in his hand, Lin Hanwen spoke with disbelief. If the various messages that Shadow had previously passed on to the organization could still be explained, this invaluable intelligence left Lin Hanwen completely baffled.
Xia Deyan was quite helpless when he heard Lin Hanwen's question. They had a general idea of Shadow's identity before, that he was a high-ranking member of the 76th Special Agent Headquarters, but this intelligence overturned that guess.
Because it was impossible for the intelligence headquarters to obtain such important information, he hesitated for a moment before answering uncertainly, "Perhaps Shadow has other intelligence channels!"
Lin Hanwen's face fell, and he shook his head, saying, "This explanation is too far-fetched. This intelligence is of great value, containing many high-level secrets. It is of great significance for our senior management to formulate corresponding countermeasures. Headquarters has been asking us to do our best to obtain it."
To be honest, I had been trying to get this agreement through other channels, and even contacted high-ranking Japanese officials, but the results were not good. I never expected to see it here. Shadow is truly a godsend.
However, headquarters will definitely inquire about the source of this top-secret intelligence to verify its authenticity. How should we respond?
Just answer truthfully!
Xia Deyan's expression turned serious, and he said decisively, "Comrade Qingshan reported the situation of the Shadow to headquarters before. The situation was special at the time. The previous Shadow suddenly sacrificed himself, and after the communication was interrupted, a series of major crises occurred. It was a coincidence that led to the current situation. Later, headquarters also approved this way of working. Facts have also proved that the value and role of the Shadow are irreplaceable. This one-way working method can better guarantee the absolute safety of the Shadow. Headquarters can understand this!"
Xia Deyan has absolute trust in Shadow. He and the previous two Shadows fought together for many years and were comrades-in-arms who shared life and death. Their feelings for each other go without saying. He was responsible for contacting this Shadow from the very beginning. He knew better than anyone the contributions Shadow had made to the organization over the years, so he would never allow any comments that expressed doubt about Shadow.
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