Seeing that Luo Xingchao sat calmly without any sign of vigilance, Fan He gradually lowered his guard as well. He took his right hand off his waist, walked over a few steps, pulled over the only broken chair left in the house, and plopped down in front of Luo Xingchao.
He shrugged and forced a smile, saying, "Section Chief Luo, please don't make fun of me. I'm just destined to be poor. I'll never get rich. I'm content with just being able to eat my fill, and having a place to stay is good enough for me."
He was quite afraid of Luo Xingchao and dared not offend him, so he cautiously asked, "Section Chief Luo, you must have something important to tell me so late at night. If there's anything I can do to help you, please let me know."
Luo Xingchao was somewhat surprised by Fan He's attitude; it was clear that Fan He was being very polite.
"Old Fan, I know you're a bit short on cash, so I thought I'd give you some money to spend. What do you think?"
Fan He patted his chest and said readily, "Expenses? This means you really have something for me to do! Just tell me, as long as it's within my power!"
Luo Xingchao stared intently at Fan He and slowly said, "I'd like to inquire about Mr. Sun, whom you arrested a few days ago and placed in our Special Agent Department's apartment." He then placed a stack of banknotes on the table. "Don't worry, I won't let you work for nothing, Old Fan!"
To Luo Xingchao's surprise, Fan He, who should have been panicked, was unexpectedly calm. He grabbed the banknotes and said with a smile, "Section Chief Luo, whatever you want to ask, I'll tell you everything I know!"
Luo Xingchao couldn't help but laugh in exasperation. He had overestimated the quality of these thugs. It was true that as long as they had money, they had absolutely no bottom line.
He said coldly, "Old Fan, if you can't satisfy me, you won't get my money easily! Tell me, what's the background of that Mr. Sun? Why are there so many unfamiliar faces at the second location today?"
“You’ve come to the right person. I was involved in all of this.” Fan He chuckled, then leaned forward and deliberately lowered his voice. “This Mr. Sun’s full name is Sun Xiangde. He’s an agent of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. He surrendered on the day he was arrested. I was the one who tortured him. He confessed in just two hours. I heard that he was an old acquaintance of Director Li, so I arranged for him to stay in the apartment.”
A Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) agent! Luo Xingchao finally figured out Sun Xiangde's true identity. Fortunately, he wasn't from the Shanghai station of the Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB). He couldn't help but feel relieved.
"Then what about those unfamiliar faces today?" Luo Xingchao continued to ask.
Luo Xingchao received Ning Zhiheng's order to investigate Sun Xiangde's true identity, but he had no clue and dared not risk directly contacting Wu Shicai's men. Just as he was in a dilemma, his men discovered that many unfamiliar faces had suddenly appeared at the second location. Luo Xingchao instinctively felt that something was wrong, so he simply decided to risk contacting Fan He that night to obtain information directly. If Fan He refused to cooperate, he was prepared to silence him.
Fan He said with some disdain, "Those were all surrendered agents of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS). Sun Xiangde betrayed all his men and sent a message to lure these people out of the International Settlement. We set up an ambush, and they were all captured. Except for two people who resisted and were shot on the spot, the others surrendered as soon as they entered the interrogation room. These CBIS agents are nothing special."
Upon hearing this, Luo Xingchao was shocked. So many agents of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) had been captured so easily and surrendered to the enemy so quickly. Needless to say, the CBIS agents in Shanghai must have been wiped out once again.
“I heard that Sun Xiangde will be appointed as the director of the Second Division. Now that he has made a great contribution, it seems he will take office soon,” Luo Xingchao said.
"It's not that simple. Listen to Brother Cai, no, listen to the captain. Sun Xiangde has to catch a big fish before he can become the section chief," Fan He said mysteriously.
This startled Luo Xingchao. Losing so many Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) agents wasn't the end of it; they were going to catch a big fish? It must be someone with an even more important identity. This was top-secret intelligence.
"Tell me, how did he catch this big fish?" Luo Xingchao pressed.
Fan He looked at Luo Xingchao with a grin, then suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Section Chief Luo, why are you asking about these things?"
A fierce glint flashed in Luo Xingchao's eyes, startling Fan He. He quickly waved his hand and explained, "Section Chief Luo, please don't misunderstand. Actually, I know even if you don't say it. You are a spy planted by the Japanese in the Special Operations Department, right?"
Luo Xingchao was taken aback and remained silent for a long time. Fan He couldn't discern anything from Luo Xingchao's eyes, so he smiled ingratiatingly and continued, "A few days ago, I overheard Director Li talking to the captain. Director Li said that you are a spy planted by the Japanese in the Special Operations Department, responsible for monitoring everyone's every move. He told the captain to be careful when doing things and to be on guard against you, so that you don't get any leverage over him!"
It turns out that Luo Xingchao's identity as a Japanese informant was not a secret among the high-ranking officials of the Special Operations Department. For some reason, Tsuchihara Keiji did not try to hide it much, but instead directly ordered Luo Xingchao to serve as the head of the intelligence section. This alerted Ding Mo and Li Zhiqun, and even Wen Hao was startled by this sudden appointment. He did not expect that he had such an informant under his command, and that he had not noticed anything amiss for so long.
This time, the information that Sun Xiangde had been arrested was indeed reported by Luo Xingchao to Tsuchihara Keiji. The reason was that he had asked Dr. Chen, who had bandaged Sun Xiangde, and that this matter was not a secret and could be traced. If the Special Agents came to his door in the end, he would not be able to explain it.
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