Luo Xingchao led his team back to the intelligence headquarters, arranged for his subordinates to handle the follow-up matters, and then returned to his office.
But a short while later, they heard hurried footsteps, and after only two knocks, the door was pushed open from the outside.
Luo Xingchao immediately frowned. Since Li Zhiqun left the Special Agent Headquarters and took charge of the work of the agency himself, this place has become the most important place in the Special Agent Headquarters. Even the directors of various departments have to be careful and polite when they come here to report on their work. No one has ever dared to be so presumptuous.
But when he looked up, he saw that the person who came in was Wu Shicai, the captain in charge of operations at the Special Agent Headquarters. In this compound, only Captain Wu dared to barge into his office like this.
"Director Luo!" Wu Shicai's face showed obvious anxiety as he walked a few steps to Luo Xingchao.
Luo Xingchao smiled and stood up to greet him, saying in a gentle voice, "It's Brother Shicai, what a rare guest! I haven't seen you for the past two days. What brings you here today?"
He always tried to be gentle in his dealings with people, especially Wu Shicai. He knew that Wu Shicai was Li Zhiqun's true confidant, who controlled the intelligence headquarters' operational power and was the person he needed to be most wary of. Therefore, he was always very polite to Wu Shicai.
Wu Shicai paused for a moment at Luo Xingchao's polite words. Besides managing casinos and opium dens in the western part of Shanghai, he also engaged in extortion and blackmail, trying every possible way to make money.
When Li Zhiqun was around, Wu Shicai was somewhat restrained. Now that Li Zhiqun has gone to Nanjing, Wu Shicai has no one to restrain him and has become even more unrestrained. He rarely handles his daily work and often doesn't come to the Special Agent Headquarters for several days at a time.
Normally, Li Zhiqun would delegate fieldwork tasks like handling assassination cases in the concession to Wu Shicai, but now Wu Shicai doesn't care at all and Luo Xingchao takes care of them. However, the more Wu Shicai does this, the more relaxed Luo Xingchao becomes, and it saves him from getting in his way.
Today, Luo Xingchao's casual question led Wu Shicai to mistakenly believe that Luo Xingchao was somewhat dissatisfied with his laxity. He dared not show Luo Xingchao any displeasure and hurriedly explained, "Director Luo, there have been some problems with the venue in western Shanghai recently, so I've been a bit overwhelmed these past few days..."
Seeing Wu Shicai's anxious explanation, Luo Xingchao knew he had misunderstood him. He gestured for him to sit down and said with a smile, "Brother Shicai, you've misunderstood, you've misunderstood. I was just saying it casually. Come, sit down and let's talk!"
As soon as the two sat down on the sofa, Wu Shicai couldn't wait to ask, "I heard Sheng Zhiyuan is dead?"
Luo Xingchao looked at Wu Shicai with surprise, then nodded and said, "That's right. Just this morning, an assassination occurred in the International Settlement. Sheng Zhiyuan, chairman of the Shanghai West District Business Association, along with two bodyguards, was killed in the street by Kuomintang agents. I just went to retrieve his body. What? Brother Shicai, do you have a past with this Sheng Zhiyuan?"
"Sigh!" Wu Shicai clapped his hands in frustration. He had many Green Gang disciples under his command, so he was well-informed. Not long after the assassination of Sheng Zhiyuan, he received the news and rushed back as quickly as possible to ask Luo Xingchao about the situation.
“Sheng Zhiyuan was the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce in western Shanghai. He had many connections with our Special Agent Headquarters. We had shares in many of his businesses, so the stakes were very high. His death would be a significant loss for us. Director Luo, I want to handle this case personally. What do you think…”
Seeing Wu Shicai's strong reaction, Luo Xingchao's heart stirred. He had originally thought that Sheng Zhiyuan was just an ordinary traitorous businessman, but now it seemed that the relationship between Sheng Zhiyuan and Wu Shicai was not so simple. There must be some unknown financial dealings between the two, or even more secretive transactions. So Wu Shicai couldn't sit still when he heard the news of Sheng Zhiyuan's death.
However, since Wu Shicai had spoken, Luo Xingchao couldn't refuse. Logically speaking, as the captain in charge of field operations, it was reasonable for Wu Shicai to handle this case. It was just that this guy had only been concerned with making money and had been slacking off lately.
After a moment's thought, under Wu Shicai's expectant gaze, Luo Xingchao slowly nodded and said, "Alright, I was originally going to hand over the follow-up investigation to Cui Yuanfeng. Since you know the situation, then take over this case. I have too many things to do here and can't handle it all."
Upon hearing Luo Xingchao's agreement, Wu Shicai quickly nodded and said, "Thank you very much, Director Luo. Leave this case to me, and I will definitely handle it well!"
With a warm smile, Luo Xingchao kindly advised, "Brother Shicai, the case occurred in the concession area. When you investigate, try not to go too deep. Military intelligence activities are rampant there, so be careful when you go in and out!"
Wu Shicai readily agreed, then got up to take his leave and quickly departed.
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