Li Zhiqun was startled when he heard Kitaoka Ryoko's introduction. He hadn't expected his opponent to be so fierce, one that even the Japanese were so wary of him.
However, he had just heard a familiar name and couldn't help but ask, "Ning Zhiheng? Isn't that the high-ranking Kuomintang official known as Ning the King of Hell?"
"You knew about this too?"
Li Zhiqun nodded and said, "The Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics and the Military Bureau of Investigation and Statistics have been fighting for so many years that they know each other well. I worked in the Nanjing Investigation Office before the war, so I have heard of this person."
Kitaoka Ryoko's eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "Oh, tell me, our Special Higher Police have been investigating Ning Zhiheng since before the war, but his level of secrecy is very high, and we know very little about him. To this day, we don't even have a single photo of him."
Li Zhiqun hesitated for a moment before saying, "I only heard it secondhand. Before the war, when he was in the Military Intelligence Bureau, he was already a leading young figure in the Military Intelligence Bureau and a backbone member of the Baoding faction in the army. I don't know the specifics, but I do know that he was ruthless and had killed countless people, so he was nicknamed Yama (King of Hell). Later, when the Battle of Shanghai broke out, he left the Military Intelligence Bureau headquarters. He returned to headquarters last year and was appointed as the director of the Second Action Division of the Military Intelligence Bureau, becoming one of the high-ranking officials."
Hearing this, Kitaoka Ryoko couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed. The Special Higher Police were already aware of these circumstances. She then asked, "Have you seen this person? What does he look like?"
“No, it’s very difficult to get in touch with people from the Military Intelligence Bureau, especially those in the intelligence field. Although Ning Zhiheng is famous, not many people have actually met him, but I heard that he’s not very old,” Li Zhiqun replied, shaking his head.
As expected, both Keiji Tsuchihara and Ryoko Kitaoka shook their heads. Tsuchihara said, "Since this person has been transferred back to the Military Intelligence Bureau headquarters, it has little to do with us anymore. What I want to know now is that since Sun Xiangde is a Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) agent, then the person who contacted him should also be a CBIS agent. However, the one who came to sabotage the entrapment operation was the Shanghai intelligence station. As far as I know, the CBIS and the Military Intelligence Bureau have always been two opposing departments. They never cooperate. How do you explain this?"
The feud between the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Zhongtong Bureau) has a long history. From the very beginning, the two departments have been at odds with each other, and their relationship is extremely hostile. Even the Japanese are well aware of this.
Li Zhiqun was also puzzled at this point, and he couldn't explain why.
"Who was the Central Bureau of Investigation agent who made contact with Sun Xiangde?" Kitaoka Ryoko asked.
"He is the leader of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' infiltrative team in Shanghai, codenamed Bat. According to Sun Xiangde's confession, this person has repeatedly passed on very important internal intelligence, and it is judged that he is very likely a member of our intelligence department. Some time ago, his intelligence team was cracked by the military police, and Bat managed to escape. Sun Xiangde came to Shanghai specifically to cooperate with Bat's operation. This time, he originally thought he could capture Bat, but unexpectedly, something unexpected still happened."
"bat?"
Keiji Tsuchihara and Ryoko Kitaoka were both taken aback, not expecting such a big fish to slip through their net. Tsuchihara perked up and quickly asked, "Tell me about the bat in detail."
So Li Zhiqun told them everything he knew about the bats. This time he dared not hide anything. Now that the trapping plan had failed, he had no more clues to follow up on the bats, so he had no choice but to hand them over to the Tsuchihara Agency.
After listening to Li Zhiqun's account, Tsuchihara Keiji said with regret, "Such an important mole escaped just like that. Li-san, you should have reported this information to us in time after you got it, and the result would have been different. But you were too eager for credit and wasted such a great opportunity. It was simply foolish!"
Keiji Tsuchihara felt increasingly regretful as he watched the big fish, Bat, slip away from him, feeling utterly unwilling to accept it.
"I'm sorry, I also wanted to catch this big fish myself and present it to the general, but things didn't go as planned. I didn't expect that the intelligence department would suddenly appear." Hearing Tsuchihara Keiji's reprimand, Li Zhiqun was so frightened that he quickly lowered his head and admitted his mistake.
Kitaoka Ryoko asked, "How did the intelligence department find out about your entrapment operation? Was your operation not secret and the information was leaked?"
Li Zhiqun inwardly groaned. They had finally asked this question. As expected, these Japanese were meticulous and wouldn't let such details slip by so easily.
He carefully considered his words before explaining, "Sun Xiangde has been arrested for quite some time now, and he was arrested on the street. There were many people involved in the operation, so I can't be sure who leaked the information. However, the time and place of his meeting are confidential. Only I and a few other personnel know them. I will go back and investigate carefully to find this mole and hand him over to the head of the agency!"
Keiji Tsuchihara waved his hand and slowly said, "No, you're wrong. The Shanghai intelligence department didn't know the location or time of the upcoming rendezvous either. They followed you to that Feng Hua Café."
These words immediately caused Li Zhiqun and Kitaoka Ryoko to exchange bewildered glances, wondering why Tsuchihara Keiji had made such a judgment.
Keiji Tsuchihara rubbed his forehead with one hand, clearing his mind, and spoke again: "If I were the Shanghai intelligence department, knowing the time and place of the rendezvous in advance, I would never take such a big risk to enter the encirclement you have set up. The risk is too great."
All I need to do is inform Bat that Sun Xiangde has betrayed us and that he shouldn't go to the meeting. This also shows that there is no communication channel between the intelligence department and Bat. They can only send a warning signal to Bat by destroying the rendezvous point. This also shows that Bat is unaware of this trapping operation.
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