“Since the British took all of Naoto Yanagawa’s valuables and personal belongings, the blueprints must have fallen into their hands. How can you say they didn’t succeed?” Ning Zhiheng asked.
Huo Yueze explained: "According to Yong Feng's information, the British did not succeed this time. As soon as the Notting passenger ship docked, it was seized by the British garrison on the grounds of security concerns. It was taken to the dock and subjected to a thorough search, which is still ongoing. It is conceivable that the blueprints have not yet been obtained."
Moreover, even the passengers on the Nottingham were searched to varying degrees after disembarking. The British action this time was extensive, and their response was clearly somewhat hasty.
Ning Zhiheng immediately understood that if the British had succeeded, they would have left quietly and made a fortune in silence. They would never have done it so obviously and made such a big fuss, which was practically a complete break with the British.
After a moment's thought, he suggested another possibility: "Do you think the blueprints might still be on Yanagawa Naoto's three partners, and the Japanese are just creating a false alarm by crying 'stop thief'?"
Huo Yueze shook his head and said, "I don't think so. The technology transactions between the Japanese and Germans are very secretive. If the blueprints hadn't been lost, the Japanese wouldn't have reacted so strongly."
Besides, Naoto Yanagawa is the leader of these people. Such important top-secret information—if it were me, I would never entrust it to anyone else for safekeeping. Moreover, these three Japanese spies were detained by the British garrison for a period of time when they disembarked, and were thoroughly searched before being released after confirming nothing was found.”
Ning Zhiheng was very satisfied with Huo Yueze's quick thinking and thoughtful consideration of issues.
"Hmm, that makes sense!" Ning Zhiheng nodded slightly, frowning. "Then that's strange. The British put in so much effort, even going so far as to openly confront the Japanese, but in the end they gained nothing. Did those two blueprints grow wings and fly away on their own?"
Huo Yueze quickly said, "Yong Feng is also puzzled by the behavior of both sides. According to her judgment, the loss of the blueprints may be due to the involvement of a third party. Her people are still investigating the follow-up situation. She attended an intelligence meeting yesterday and rushed back to Hong Kong today. We have agreed that she will sell the blueprints to us as soon as there are any new developments."
"A third party? You mean someone is reaping the benefits? Who could it be?" Ning Zhiheng asked疑惑地问道.
Judging from the current situation, all the forces that can be thought of are doing everything they can to find the blueprints, which means that the blueprints have not yet reached their hands. So who is this third-party force?
Huo Yueze was also unaware of the situation, his gaze following Ning Zhiheng's movements.
Ning Zhiheng pondered for a long time, then shook his head in disappointment and continued, "It seems that relying on Yong Feng is impossible now. The blueprints have either fallen into the hands of a third party or are still in Hong Kong. They are unlikely to have reached Shanghai. We cannot just sit here and wait. We must take the initiative to search for them."
Suddenly, he thought of something and quickly asked, "Did Yong Feng only sell this information to you, or did she also have contact with others?"
“Others have also been in contact with me. I wanted to buy out this information, but Yong Feng disagreed. Others have been keeping an eye on her for a long time, especially Anderson and Phillips. This information will soon reach the ears of various forces.”
"Let's go to Hong Kong!"
Ning Zhiheng finally made up his mind. Once this news spread, all parties would know, and it would be difficult to get any results in the Shanghai intelligence market. This would cause them to concentrate their intelligence efforts in Hong Kong, and it would be a waste of his time to stay in Shanghai.
These two blueprints are extremely important and have too many implications. Both the underground party organization and the Chongqing headquarters require him to carry them out with all his might, so he cannot afford to be negligent in the slightest.
However, the intelligence department's resources in Hong Kong were limited. When Ning Zhiheng sent Shen Ling's intelligence team to Hong Kong, he specifically instructed that the Hong Kong intelligence team should serve the smuggling channels and only be responsible for commercial operations.
Therefore, the intelligence group's development in Hong Kong has been primarily focused on the economy. It already possesses sufficient economic strength. In addition to Fujiwara Company, other members of the intelligence group have established many peripheral enterprises, such as shipping companies, logistics companies, and real estate companies. On the surface, they are cooperative with Fujiwara Company, but in reality, they are all subordinate units of the intelligence group. With the limited manpower of the intelligence group, it has reached its limit in terms of development. As for intelligence work, it is limited to investigating and gathering information. In terms of strength, it is indeed not very strong.
Therefore, Ning Zhiheng decided to go to Hong Kong himself to investigate and search for information in hopes of finding something.
Upon hearing this, Huo Yueze hesitated for a moment. He cautiously said, "Chief, Hong Kong is currently in a precarious situation, with various forces gathered there, and danger lurking everywhere. Your position is far too important. If you were to encounter danger, the consequences would be unimaginable..."
"Alright!" Ning Zhiheng waved his hand. He couldn't worry about that now. The more complicated and unpredictable the situation, the more he needed to take charge personally so that he could adapt to changing circumstances and act flexibly. He always felt uneasy about staying in Shanghai to remotely manage things.
Furthermore, he has great confidence in himself. Since he joined the intelligence work, no matter what difficulties and obstacles he has encountered, no mission has been able to stump him so far. At the very least, he is confident that he can get out unscathed.
Seeing that Ning Zhiheng had made up his mind, Huo Yueze knew his superior's temperament; he was always decisive and ruthless, and once he made a decision, he wouldn't allow anyone to question it. So he nodded and accepted the order, saying, "Alright, the forces in Hong Kong are a bit weak. Just in case, I'll bring an action team with you."
"No, you stay here and keep an eye on the intelligence market. There's always a chance of something going wrong. If the blueprints really appear, don't miss the opportunity. No matter the cost, we must get our hands on them. As for Hong Kong, let Hongyi and Zuoqiang's action team go with me. Time is of the essence. I'll enter the concession this afternoon and then head to Hong Kong tonight."
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