"bat!"
When Luo Xingchao heard Li Zhiqun mention this name, he was immediately startled. Of course, he remembered this name very well. Back when Sun Xiangde was arrested by Li Zhiqun, he had implicated the high-ranking Kuomintang agent Bat. It was Luo Xingchao who had bribed Wu Shicai's men to find out the whole situation and report it to the intelligence department.
Later, the intelligence department acted in time and used explosives to destroy the coffee shop where they were meeting, which almost killed Sun Xiangde and ruined the Seventy-Sixth's capture plan. Bat disappeared without a trace and never appeared again. He never expected to hear that name again today.
Seeing Luo Xingchao's surprise, Li Zhiqun continued to explain: "Bat is a senior agent of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS), and also an intelligence agent personally developed by Su Yuannan, the former district head of the Su-Hu region. He has provided the CBIS with a lot of top-secret intelligence. According to our judgment, this person should be a mole hiding inside the Japanese intelligence agency."
His identity was top secret, known only to Lu Yuannan. Therefore, although the entire Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Zhongtong) in the Shanghai-Suzhou region was wiped out, this "Bat" escaped. After Shen Le took over, he came to Shanghai and, while trying to win over Hu Yunhe, also reawakened this "Bat." We judge that this "Bat" is very likely part of the same intelligence group as Luo Jiana. Therefore, they should share a carrier pigeon. In other words, if we follow this lead and find the carrier pigeon, we can uncover this "Bat"!
Luo Xingchao finally understood that the reason Li Zhiqun valued this intelligence line so much was not only because it could lure out Shen Le, a big fish, but also because this intelligence line could actually implicate "Bat," which was an important target that the Japanese and Li Zhiqun had been searching for.
Li Zhiqun continued, "Hu Yunhe's identity is now beyond doubt. As for why he abandoned the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' intelligence network, we'll investigate that later. Now that we have the opportunity, we can't let it go, and we must act quickly, otherwise even this line might be in trouble."
Luo Xingchao had now grasped the entire picture and felt confident. He said, "Director, with you personally handling this case, I believe we will soon see some results."
Li Zhiqun looked somewhat helpless and waved his hand, saying, "At present, I can only take over personally. To be honest, we have suffered too many losses of cadres in the past few months. A major upheaval has replaced almost half of the middle and senior-level cadres. Deputy Director Wang also died in a plane crash. The new cadres lack qualifications and experience. Talented people are hard to come by!"
Li Zhiqun's words came from the heart. When he was in the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, his position and status were not high, so he did not have any reserve talents. As a result, when he set up the 76th Special Agent Headquarters, he had to borrow Ding Mo's name to recruit people and set up the framework.
Afterwards, his subordinates gradually became more capable, and just when he felt that he had grown strong and powerful, he suffered a heavy blow from the Shanghai intelligence department, almost bringing him back to square one. Now he is indeed finding it difficult to continue.
Luo Xingchao and Li Zhiqun chatted for a while longer before Luo Xingchao got up to say goodbye and leave.
Li Zhiqun, carrying the entire case file and the pieced-together legal tender banknotes, rushed to the Yingzuo Agency to report the progress of the case to Qingqing Zhengliang.
When Qingqing Zhengliang heard Li Zhiqun's report that the mole had been found and that he had personally seen the two halves of the legal tender banknotes being pieced together, he was very pleased. He said to Li Zhiqun with satisfaction, "Mr. Li, you did a great job this time. I didn't expect you to be so quick. You found the mole in just over a month since you returned to Shanghai. This will make things much easier."
"Yes, but this time it was mainly because Luo Xingchao discovered the contact point at Shanghai Station that Hu Yunhe was forced to show up. Otherwise, it wouldn't have gone so smoothly."
Qingqing Zhengliang nodded and said, "That's right. I've said it before, Luo Xingchao is quite capable. After you take up your post in Nanjing, you can entrust many things to him with peace of mind."
At this point, fearing that Li Zhiqun might misunderstand, he continued, "Of course, the work here in Shanghai is more important, so you still need to take care of it."
Li Zhiqun knew that although he had obtained the position of Minister of Police in the puppet government, his main strength was in Shanghai, which was his base. Moreover, Yingzuo Yushu had previously instructed him that Shanghai was of great importance. As an external organization of Yingzuo Agency, the Special Agent Headquarters had to hold its ground in Shanghai. Therefore, his work thereafter would mainly focus on Shanghai.
There was another reason: Wen Hao in Nanjing had become too powerful. The 21st Division had been extremely effective in suppressing anti-Japanese forces in Nanjing and had achieved remarkable results. It had become the main intelligence agency for traitors in Nanjing. The Japanese felt that there was no need to transfer the 76th Division to Nanjing, so the headquarters of the 76th Division remained in Shanghai.
Even Li Zhiqun himself was unwilling to give up Shanghai, a land of great potential. Compared with Shanghai, Nanjing was ultimately too small. To this day, its population is only over 600,000, and its economy lags far behind Shanghai.
However, Shanghai has a population of over three million, and is surrounded by wealthy areas. Its economy is the most developed and prosperous in Asia. At present, the Special Agent Headquarters controls almost all of Shanghai's shady businesses, including gambling, prostitution, and drugs. Every year, Li Zhiqun amasses countless riches from these activities. This is also the essential source of funding for Li Zhiqun to maintain such a large organization as the Special Agent Headquarters. Therefore, Li Zhiqun would never hand over such an important base to others.
Hearing Qingqing Zhengliang's words, Li Zhiqun knew that the Japanese still trusted him, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly replied, "Please rest assured, I will arrange the work properly, and there will be no problem with the work in Shanghai."
Qingqing Zhengliang nodded and continued, "Now that the mole has been found, Feng Sinian, you can take him back to the Special Agent Headquarters for detention. It will be easier to interrogate him. Our Shadow Agency will also be moving to Nanjing in the next few days. We only have a few people left here, and we don't have many people to take care of.
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