The intelligence department delivered the message promptly. Ning Zhiheng informed Yi Hua'an, and his order reached Mu Yu two hours later.
Luo Xingchao rushed back to the headquarters of Special Agent No. 76. As soon as he got back to his office, he immediately called Cui Yuanfeng and Bi Wenxiang over.
He first asked Cui Yuanfeng, "What has Wu Shicai been doing these past two days?"
Cui Yuanfeng has been responsible for developing informants within the Special Agent Headquarters. Under the guise of the Japanese and with Luo Xingchao's current identity, this work has been progressing smoothly. Almost every powerful cadre in No. 76 has informants he has bribed and placed around him. Wu Shicai, as the captain of the action team and Li Zhiqun's trusted confidant, is naturally no exception.
Moreover, Luo Xingchao had specifically instructed him to keep a close eye on Wu Shicai's movements these past few days, so as soon as Luo Xingchao asked, he immediately replied, "This guy has been making a lot of moves lately. He has swallowed up all of Sheng Zhiyuan's businesses and is looking for someone to take over and liquidate them. Sheng Zhiyuan's family members have also been arrested and are being tortured in a casino in western Shanghai. It seems that Sheng Shiyuan was behind it all, hiding most of the assets, and Wu Shicai is trying to get that money back."
Furthermore, his men are scrambling to extort money from several merchants in western Shanghai, arresting them and trying to blackmail them. I think he's desperate because of this debt, but his losses this time are huge, and making up for them won't be easy.
Upon hearing this, Luo Xingchao quickly asked, "Do you know which merchants have been arrested?"
“There are three in total: Wang Hongyun of Anfengyuan Trading Company, Pang Xingwen of Shunjia Department Store, and Wang Chang, the owner of Huajin Township Cotton Mill. They are all merchants with some wealth in western Shanghai. Now, the merchants in western Shanghai are all terrified and fear that Wu Shicai will come knocking on their door.”
Upon hearing this, Luo Xingchao couldn't help but feel disappointed. Cui Yuanfeng's surveillance of Wu Shicai was already quite thorough, but Wei Hongde's name wasn't on the list. He pressed on again, "Only these three people were arrested? Did your informant, Changshan, mention Wei Hongde's name?"
Changshan was an informant bribed by Cui Yuanfeng. He was a follower of Wu Shicai. Although he was not a trusted confidant, he could not be kept in the dark about many things.
“Wei Hongde?” Cui Yuanfeng and Bi Wenxiang exchanged glances. Having worked in Shanghai for so many years, they were naturally very familiar with this famous Shanghai real estate tycoon.
Luo Xingchao then explained the situation in a low voice: "The intelligence department has sent word that Wei Hongde, a real estate tycoon in the concession, was kidnapped the day before yesterday at noon. The kidnappers demanded an exorbitant price of three hundred thousand US dollars. They believe that Wei Hongde is very likely in Wu Shicai's hands. The higher-ups have ordered us to find Wei Hongde's exact whereabouts by tomorrow night so that they can prepare for a rescue operation."
Bi Wenxiang asked suspiciously, "Does Wei Hongde have connections with the intelligence department?"
Luo Xingchao nodded: "It's hard to say. The intelligence department has been operating in Shanghai for so long, it must have a lot of connections in the concessions, and it may even be involved with Wei Hongde."
“Wei Hongde is one of the wealthiest men in Shanghai, a Chinese director of the Shanghai Municipal Council in the International Settlement. He is rich and powerful, and it is said that he has the background of the British consul. Does Wu Shicai really dare to make a move against him without any scruples?”
Luo Xingchao said, "He's willing to do anything to make up for the losses. I estimate that he's suffered a huge loss this time. No matter how wealthy these Shanghai merchants are, they can't come up with the money in a short time. So it's quite possible that they'll choose a tycoon like Wei Hongde."
Bi Wenxiang was speechless: "Three hundred thousand US dollars! Wu Shicai is really asking for the moon. I think he's not only going to make up for the deficit, but also to make a huge profit."
Cui Yuanfeng said, "Chang Shan didn't mention Wei Hongde, but he's not exactly Wu Shicai's confidant, so there are some things he might not know. I'll go find him and ask him for clarification."
Luo Xingchao immediately said, "We should act without delay. We need to have a result by tomorrow night. Oh, and there's one more detail. When Wei Hongde was kidnapped, the kidnappers used two cars. They even drove Wei Hongde's car back to the city. It was a pure white, brand-new American Buick, very valuable. There are only a few of those in all of Shanghai. You can start from this point and see if you can find Wei Hongde's whereabouts."
This is a crucial clue!
Cui Yuanfeng quickly nodded and agreed, "Don't worry, it's easy to hide a living person, but this car has obvious features and is a big target. I will definitely be able to find it."
"Baili Auto Repair Shop!" Bi Wenxiang seemed to remember something and couldn't help but say it out loud.
Seeing that the other two people were looking at him, Bi Wenxiang quickly began to explain.
It turns out that recently, there have been a number of car theft cases in Shanghai. Many car owners have reported the thefts to the police. These car owners are all wealthy businessmen or prominent political figures. They have put a lot of pressure on the police. The police had no choice but to put in a lot of effort to investigate. After all, they are local strongmen and have some tricks up their sleeves. They actually found some clues.
They discovered that the theft of these cars was the work of local Green Gang members, and even identified some suspects who were experts in breaking and entering. However, these people had a special identity: they were operatives from the 76th Special Agent Headquarters, who were actually Wu Shicai's subordinates.
They also discovered that Wu Shicai ran a car repair shop in western Shanghai called Baili Car Repair Shop. Ostensibly, it was a car repair business, but in reality, it specialized in remodeling stolen cars, removing the codes from the engines, repainting them, and finally sending them to the surrounding areas of Shanghai for resale. This business was extremely profitable with no investment, and it was another way for Wu Shicai to make ill-gotten gains.
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