Chapter 256: ‘High-End’ Japanese Spy?

I don't want to get up...

I don't want to get up...

I'm so tired...

I don't even have the strength to open my eyes...

It's been a long time...

I reach out and feel around. There's no one here.

Oh, the sisters should be up by now. Two against one. They won by a landslide.

Those two vixens...

'Ring ring ring...'

'Ring ring ring...'

Suddenly, the bedside phone rang.

Too lazy to answer. Someone in the hall below should answer it. Peilan should be downstairs.

As it turned out...

'Phone call,'

someone next to me said groggily.

It sounded like Peixue's voice. Oh. She's still here. I don't know where she's huddled up. I didn't even feel her just now.

'Your sister's on the phone...'

'My sister went out early this morning. She's not home.'

'What did she go to do?'

'To deposit the money! You gave her so much money, she had to deposit it.'

'Wasn't it already in the form of a bank draft?'

'My sister said she should divide it into several accounts. That way it'll be safer.'

'Oh...'

Zhang Yong had to try hard to get up and answer the phone.

Luckily, the phone was by the bed. He struggled to get over there. Reaching out, he picked up the receiver.

'Hello...'

'Captain, there's a foreigner here to see you.'

'Who?'

'He said his name is Stevenson and he was sent by the Paramount Nightclub.'

'Oh...'

Zhang Yong tried to pat his head.

Damn it. Last night really drained my body. Even my brain is drained.

Damn...

It's hard to come back to my senses.

I remember. Paramount Nightclub. The gunfight that happened before. It was specified that I investigate.

But then I hurried off to Jinling. I put the matter aside for the time being. But the Americans are stubborn. They insisted that I investigate it myself. I would rather have waited until now.

Perhaps they learned that I had returned from Jinling. So the American came to my door in person. There was no way to refuse.

Everything else had to wait. This matter had to be dealt with first.

So I tried to get up.

'Business?'

'Yes.'

'I'll go prepare breakfast.'

'Good!'

Pei Xue also got up.

She helped Zhang Yong get dressed. Then she came down to eat breakfast.

The maid had already prepared breakfast. Zhang Yong hastily ate a little. Then he drove back to the office.

The person who called just now was Yang Zhi. He is also handling it now.

Almost everyone else is a roughneck. They don't know how to deal with foreigners. Yang Zhi knows a little English. He can barely communicate.

These days, knowing a foreign language is really very important.

If Zhang Yong knew Japanese, he would have pretended to be Tojo!

Really.

He would have shouted out 'Nogaya Kintaro'.

I don't believe it, Tojo called you, and you dare to continue hiding.

Damn...

Unfortunately, he doesn't. He only knows a little broken English.

The foreigner Stevenson is very tall, with brown hair, and stands out among everyone else.

A brief exchange of pleasantries. Zhang Yong then leads the team to the Paramount nightclub.

It was still morning, and the Paramount Nightclub had not yet opened for business. Only the cleaning staff were there.

Stevenson took Zhang Yong to see the boss, Fred.

'Captain Zhang.'

'Mr. Fred.'

The two met. They shook hands. Then they sat down separately.

Fred was an old man. He was in his sixties. He wasn't in very good health. He was at the end of his life.

An old foreigner, he had travelled a long way to China to do business. It was quite a hardship, just thinking about it.

It was hard now. It would be even harder in the future.

If it's after 7 December 1941, there may still be great danger.

The Japanese were so fanatical that they declared war on Britain and the United States. They sent troops to sweep through the concession. Those British and American foreigners who didn't evacuate in time suffered a lot.

'I don't care about the process. I just want results,' Fred's eyes were clouded.

'No problem,' Zhang Yong nodded.

This is for the best.

Anyway, his methods of investigation are indescribable.

Everyone else investigates cases methodically and based on evidence. He just makes things up. He grabs whoever he can find.

In theory, if you arrest enough Japanese spies, the truth will eventually come to light.

So, I'm sorry, all you Japanese spies in Shanghai, you're going to have to suffer again...

'How long will it take?'

'About a month!'

'Good!'

Fred was very satisfied.

Zhang Yong immediately took his leave.

Of course, he couldn't investigate inside the Paramount nightclub.

Three months passed, and all traces were erased.

Just as he was about to leave, a red dot entered the map range. The red dot kept heading towards the Paramount nightclub.

Zhang Yong watched the other person approach without saying a word.

In the end, it turned out to be a middle-aged man. He was wearing a grey suit. He was wearing a bow tie. He looked simple and honest.

'Who is this?' Zhang Yong asked curiously.

'This is my personal assistant, Mr. Jin Bufan,' Fred introduced.

Zhang Yong: ?

Personal assistant?

That means he has a lot of authority, right? And knows a lot of secrets about the Paramount?

Awesome, the Japanese spy has actually infiltrated the Americans. What is this for?

It feels like it's targeting the Americans!

Suddenly, I remembered Liu Xi.

Is she a Japanese spy? Who is she targeting?

Maybe she's not targeting the Chinese?

Perhaps they were targeting the Americans?

Hey, the picture suddenly became clear. Suddenly, I felt that many doubts were resolved.

In fact, in the eyes of some 'high-end' Japanese, the Chinese are no longer worthy of being their opponents. What they are targeting is the Polar Bear, or the United States of Beauty.

Relatively speaking, the United States of Beauty is even more desirable. After all, it involves the vast Pacific Ocean.

The Japanese invaders have always wanted to turn the Pacific Ocean into their own inland sea.

This ambition is super ambitious.

And back then, the warships of the United States of America forced their way into Japan's country gates, which made many 'high-end' Japanese people want to take revenge.

Under these circumstances, it is understandable that they stepped up their espionage on the United States of America.

Yamamoto Goro, himself, was the military attaché in the United States.

Later, the attack on Pearl Harbor also relied on the information provided by spies.

At this time, the United States of America was still in the grip of deep isolationism. It did not want to get involved in external affairs.

The United States of America army was also at its lowest ebb at this time.

The army seems to have only a hundred thousand people?

The navy has more people, and it also has aircraft carriers and battleships. But they only care about their own affairs. They didn't take the rise of the Japanese seriously enough.

Even at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, it seems that the US army had only expanded to about 300,000 people.

This fully shows that the United States itself was not prepared for battle.

So, in terms of counter-espionage, it was basically a blank. It seems that the CIA has not yet been established? Espionage seems to be the responsibility of the FBI?

Therefore, Liu Xi and the others may be 'high-end' Japanese spies?

"Captain Zhang. Hello.'

'Hello. Assistant Jin.'

Zhang Yong shook hands with the other person enthusiastically. Judging the other person's financial resources.

Jin Bufan, assistant, Japanese spy...

Will these identities add up to 10,000 taels of silver?

Shake his head.

There shouldn't be...

Sigh, no energy.

There are fewer and fewer wealthy Japanese spies.

It seems that I still have to act on Zhang Xiaolin sooner rather than later. Rob him of his money.

'Captain Zhang, are you free this evening?'

'For what?'

'Our nightclub is putting on a very exciting show this evening, and I'd like to invite you to come and enjoy it.'

'Oh, yes, I have time. I have time.'

'Then I'll be waiting for you at the door this evening.'

'I wouldn't dare. Do I need to pay?'

'Of course not. It's all free.'

'Oh, that's good. That's good. If it's free, I'll definitely come. Definitely.'

'Thank you, Captain Zhang, for your kind invitation...'

Jin Bufan's eyes flashed with a hint of contempt.

Ugly Chinese, heh. As soon as they heard it was free, they came crawling. A bunch of spineless guys.

'See you tonight, then. I'll go do my duty.'

'See you tonight!'

Jin Bufan saw Zhang Yong off.

Zhang Yong got into the car. They left the nightclub. Until the red dot disappeared.

He turned to Cao Mengqi and whispered, 'Investigate this Jin Bufan secretly immediately.'

'He's got a problem?' Cao Mengqi saw the signs.

'He's Japanese.'

'Huh?'

Cao Mengqi immediately understood.

Since this Jin Bufan is Japanese, then there is a big problem.

To say that the last shooting case would not have been possible without his planning. Traitors are often the most lethal.

'He wasn't there last time. Not on duty. At home.'

'It should have been deliberately arranged. Create proof of alibi.'

'Good guy. He's really cunning!'

'Be careful not to let him find out. If you can investigate, do so. If not, forget it.'

'I'll go myself.'

'That's fine!'

Zhang Yong nodded.

If Cao Mengqi went himself, he should be able to find some information.

Even if this Japanese spy's cover identity was flawless, there would eventually be corresponding information. It could also be obtained from the police station.

After finishing up here, he put Cao Mengqi down and drove to Si Ma Road.

First, he went to the New Era Photo Studio.

Shi Bingdao was not here. He said he was at the Social News Agency.

He turned to leave. Suddenly, he saw a young girl peek out from behind the curtain.

Huh, it's her. It seems like she hasn't changed much in the past three months.

Thinking about it, he felt a little amused. How much could she have changed in three months?

He went to the Social News Agency. Sure enough, he saw Shi Bingdao. Shi Bingdao hadn't changed much either. He was wearing a long gown. There were traces of ink on it.

That was the way it was for newspaper publishers at the time. Ink was often spilled on them. This was because the newspapers were printed on very old printing machines. There were not many workers. There was only one or two people. As the boss, Shi Bingdao also had to help out personally. He personally set the type, printed the newspapers himself, and then hired people to sell them on the street. The money earned was hard-earned.

'The boss is back?' Shi Bingdao welcomed him.

'Yes, I'm back. Where are the people from the 19th Route Army?' Zhang Yong picked up a newspaper at random.

There's nothing special in the news. It's all about family gossip.

He shakes his head. Frowns.

This won't work.

There's no circulation. It's definitely not going to make any money.

We need some gossip.

In present-day Shanghai, the best-selling newspapers are actually the tabloids.

These days, there's no news censorship. As long as you don't touch politics, there's no problem with a bit of sex. But you need to come up with something new.

If it's just a beauty pageant or something, everyone's already tired of it.

And beautiful women in swimsuits are no longer new.

Forget it, let's talk about making money later. Where there's a rush, there's a grab...

No,

it's a confiscation, confiscation, confiscation...

'They're all waiting for you to come back!'

'All gathered?'

'All gathered!'

'Go take a look!'

'Okay!'

Shi Bingdao took Zhang Yong to the outskirts of the city.

There was a village here. It looked a bit run-down. But there were really quite a lot of people.

'Where are they?'

'The whole village.'

'What?'

Jang Yong: ...

Oh my god!

The whole village?

Wait!

'How many exactly?'

'Three hundred!'

'What?'

'Actually...a little over three hundred.'

'I...'

Jang Yong was stunned.

Big brother, I just asked for a few informants!

You've got over three hundred for me?

Am I preparing to attack Shanghai Beach?