Chapter 670: Broadening the Path to Wealth

I love you for walking alone in the dark alley...

Zhang Yong poked his head out to take a look at the narrow alley outside. It was indeed very dark.

If it weren't for the light from the grocery store shining through, I'm afraid I could describe it as pitch dark.

There were no electric lights in the grocery store either. There were two gas lanterns hanging outside. They gave off a dim yellow glow.

It looks even more eerie.

There is no one around.

The map shows that there are no white dots in the surrounding area.

In other words, there are no living people. But it is unclear whether there are any dead people.

This requires a Japanese spy to answer.

The grocery store owner is brought up. Sit. A small bench.

On the counter is the gold Buddha that Zhang Yong just 'received'.

It's so bulky.

There is no place to store it.

Hey, it's a pity.

He can't even try to steal it. What a shame.

The rag in the grocer's mouth was removed. He remained silent.

'Let's get straight to the point,'

Zhang Yong said slowly. He made sure to enunciate each word clearly.

He believed that the grocer's hearing was normal. This guy is a Japanese spy. Not only is he normal, he's also very good at what he does.

Sure enough, when the name Yu Daoxin was mentioned, the Japanese spy's expression changed slightly.

The Japanese spy was surprised. He didn't expect Zhang Yong to mention this most important issue right away.

His world spun.

Everything went dark.

'You can bite your tongue and kill yourself,' Zhang Yong added, 'I won't stop you.'

The Japanese spy subconsciously bit his tongue. He wanted to bite hard.

However, the pain made him give up.

He didn't want to commit suicide.

Because he still had too many questions.

How did the other party find him? Why did they know about Yu Daoxin?

Logically, there were no outsiders in the situation. There were only a few key figures. Could it be that someone had leaked the information?

Or was it possible that he had been betrayed?

Otherwise, how could this Zhang Yong have come straight to the door?

Coincidence?

No. Spies don't believe in coincidence.

In the spy business, all coincidences are traces of human intervention.

So...

He had been blown.

On this unsuspecting night, it was over.

Betrayal was the most likely scenario.

The more he thinks about it, the more he feels that way.

Silence.

Zhang Yong is in no hurry.

He is enjoying studying the golden Buddha.

In fact, he is calculating its price. How much does it weigh? 12 kilograms? How much is gold per gram?

Because it is made in the shape of a golden Buddha, the price cannot be calculated simply using the price of gold. It should be at least 100% more expensive. In other words, double the happiness...

No, double the money. Zhang Xiaolin is indeed rich.

Envy...

How can I get this traitor's money?

Rob it?

I don't think so.

It would make too much noise.

Zhang Xiaolin has probably already sided with the Wang family.

He'll probably be on good terms with Ding Muchun's three locations. They'll all be in the same gang from now on. They must have been in contact long ago.

With the Wang family behind him, he'll be more passive if he goes it alone.

He'll have to do it in secret...

Suddenly, the map prompts that someone else is arriving.

He also has the golden symbol.

This is great...

Someone else has sent money.

What a wonderful night...

Hurry up and hide the golden Buddha. Then get ready to receive guests.

No...

What guests? Ugh...

But it seems like receiving guests. Although others are delivering stolen goods.

'You...'

The Japanese spy suddenly spoke.

Zhang Yong did not turn his head, but reached out and pointed. Tell him to shut up.

Shut up.

Don't disturb the delivery person.

Otherwise, if the delivery person turns back halfway, I'll kill you.

'You...'

Ritsu was unwilling to accept this.

He felt ignored. Humiliated.

He was clearly ready to start confessing. In the end, the other party didn't care? He had to say, he was very shocked.

Could it be that in Zhang Yong's eyes, his value was... worthless?

'Shut up!' Zhang Yong roared in a low voice.

'Someone's delivering a package,' Zhang Yong continued, "if you dare to give the alarm, I'll break your legs.'

'You..." The Japanese spy looked incredulous.

This guy...

actually wants to take the stolen goods?

No. What do you mean?

I'm a spy after all. Am I not more important than stolen goods?

Baka!

I really want to swear.

But I dare not.

Because he believes Zhang Yong's warning.

If he messed up Zhang Yong's good deed, Zhang Yong would definitely make him suffer more than death.

He didn't want to die.

What he feared even more was torture.

Because of a scene from not long ago, it was very memorable to him.

Why let yourself suffer for the sake of a delivery person?

So he obediently kept quiet. At the same time, he secretly observed Zhang Yong's every move. Looking for a flaw. He hoped to find Zhang Yong's weakness.

As long as it was human, it had a weakness.

Zhang Yong was human. Of course he had one.

Once you find a weakness, you can take targeted measures. A cure that hits the mark, and kills.

At least, it can temporarily save your life.

Silence...

Dim light...

The delivery man is getting closer.

This guy seems to be more careful than the previous one.

He keeps looking back. He's taking three steps for every one forward. Sometimes he deliberately takes a step backwards.

He keeps going back and forth. He's taking his time.

However, Zhang Yong is in no hurry.

Intelligence shows that there is only one place to collect dirty clothes.

No matter how the other party twists and turns, it will eventually appear in front of him.

He just needs to wait.

Sure enough, after ten minutes, the white dot moved closer.

It was less than 100 metres from the grocery store. At this point, he had already entered the encirclement of Shi Hu and the others. He could arrest him at any time.

But there was no need. Zhang Yong signalled for the target to be placed in front of him.

Soon, the target appeared.

It was an old man. No disguise. Very cautious.

Zhang Yong had an intuition that the person might not be an ordinary delivery person. Or maybe he wasn't a delivery person at all.

Why did he have this intuition? He didn't know. It just felt so strange.

'You don't come here often,' Zhang Yong said, taking the initiative.

'I...' The old man looked a little awkward. It was obvious that he had been caught by Zhang Yong.

Well, he really wasn't a delivery person.

If he was, he would be familiar with the place.

It seemed that the other party's excessive caution was not without reason. The other party was also afraid of being trapped by him.

'Okay. What have you brought?'

'I...'

The old man took out a parcel.

The kind of parcel that ordinary people use. Made of cheesecloth.

Yang Xiuchen also had one.

Zhang Yong glanced at it and said expressionlessly, 'You're not our delivery person. We want to reduce the price by 20%. Think carefully.'

'20%...' The old man muttered, frowned, and hesitated.

Zhang Yong didn't say a word.

Is 20% a lot?

He had no intention of paying at all!

Everything that came here was stolen goods. Since it was stolen goods, of course he was ripping off the rip-off artist.

It was a pity that he hadn't discovered this channel before. Now that he had, of course he was going to take advantage of it. He was going to fleece every single one of them.

'I'm not selling anymore...' the old man finally decided.

Zhang Yong snapped his fingers.

The old man immediately sensed that something was wrong. Someone appeared from behind. They blocked him in the middle.

'You guys...'

'Give it to me!'

Zhang Yong said with a poker face and snapped his fingers.

Shi Hu then snatched the cheongsam wrapper and put it on the counter while holding the old man in check.

'You...'

The old man was shocked and angry. At the same time, he was very scared.

Zhang Yong reached out and tried to untie the cheongsam wrapper. He failed. It was tied in a knot. So he went straight for the scissors.

After cutting it open, he found that it was actually full of all kinds of gold necklaces and jade necklaces. There were also some jade bracelets and the like. The gold necklaces weren't anything special. But the jade necklaces were crystal clear and emerald green, and seemed to be top quality. Presumably they were worth a lot of money.

There were also a lot of them. There might be 30 or 40 pieces. It was impossible to estimate their exact value. But it was certain that whoever owned these things was definitely a wealthy family. Or rather, they were the kind of top-notch family. They were even super top-notch. It was possible that a top-notch jade necklace was worth tens of thousands of dollars.

'Where did you get it?' Zhang Yong asked.

So many ornaments, not simple! The old guy is capable.

The old guy stammered...

Zhang Yong took out a dagger and put it on the counter.

'I, I...'

'From which bank?'

'I, I...'

Zhang Yong nudged his mouth.

Shi Hu and the others dragged the old guy away.

The old guy immediately realised that it was not good, and hurriedly shouted, 'It's the Fengtian Bank, it's the Fengtian Bank...'

'What?' Zhang Yong was stunned.

Fengtian Bank?

He knew the name. It was similar to the Manchurian Xinxing Hotel. Both were properties of the puppet Manchukuo regime.

Shanghai was truly a chaotic place. It was full of all kinds of strange things. The Nationalist government did not recognise the existence of the puppet Manchukuo regime. However, Kawashima Yoshiko and the others could travel in broad daylight. They were even honoured guests of the Nationalist government.

The so-called Fengtian Bank was actually owned by Kawashima Yoshiko and others. However, it was not very big.

Zhang Yong had driven past the bank several times. He had never noticed any Japanese people inside. So he didn't pay much attention to it.

'Did you rob the bank?'

'No...'

'Fess up.'

'I... I took it from the safe.'

'You opened the safe?'

'No, someone else did. I just took what was left.'

'Someone else did?'

Zhang Yong straightened up. This was a lot of information!

Someone had opened the safe. But the old man was able to get so much gold and silver jewellery from it. What did that mean?

It was not normal!

'What happened?'

'A few days ago, someone opened a dozen safes...'

'Someone? Who?'

'I don't know...'

'What do you do?'

'I'm a night watchman...'

'Go on.'

'I found the safe open, with all kinds of gold and silver jewellery scattered on the floor. So I hurriedly picked up some valuables and ran away immediately. I've been hiding out for a few days. I heard that you can receive goods, so I, well...'

'Wait a minute!'

Zhang Yong realised that this was no ordinary matter.

Although Fengtian Bank was a small bank, it was definitely not one that ordinary people could break into.

There were guards. And guns.

This is the property of the puppet state of Manchukuo. It is protected by hardcore traitors with guns.

'Where are the guards?'

'They were all killed. Eight of them. All dead.'

'Oh?'

Zhang Yong felt more and more that there was something fishy about this matter.

An outsider killed eight armed guards? Opened more than a dozen safes?

But there was gold and silver jewellery all over the floor, yet he didn't take any.

So what was he looking for?

What was more important than gold and silver jewellery?

No.

There are too many strange things about this.

The point is, it seems that no one outside knows anything about this.

At least, Zhang Yong doesn't know anything.

Well, tomorrow he will have to ask around.

If there is any profit to be made from this, he will have to get a share.

Money is hard to come by these days, and he needs to find more ways to make it...

Cutting back won't help. He needs to find new sources of income.

He needs to attract spies from other countries. Attract money from other countries...

He wants to squeeze the flesh from his own people. After all, there is a limit. He wants to squeeze the flesh from the world powers. The income will be substantial. No matter which country it is, whether it is the United Kingdom, France, or the United States, a little bit of wealth leaking out from between the fingers is enough to support Zhang Yong for the rest of his life.

'Take it away first,'

Zhang Yong waves his hand. He tells someone to take the old man away.

There is no time to continue following up for now. We'll talk about it tomorrow. Tomorrow, I'll have time to go to the Fengtian Bank and take a look. For now...

Zhang Yong looks back at the Japanese spy.

A strange thought came to mind.

Recently, if you want to get false information, you still have to target the Japanese.

The problem is that the Japanese army doesn't have any valuable information.

To be precise, there is no high-level information that is worthy of the attention of the world powers. The United States is not interested in the Japanese army...

Wait...

Then there is only the Japanese navy.

As the only competitor in the Pacific, the United States Navy is still very concerned about the Japanese navy.

So, what does the Japanese navy have?

Ah, I remember. There is.

It's the battleship Yamato. Also known as the Yamato Hotel.

Construction will officially begin next year. It will be launched in 1940. It will enter service in 1941.

The construction of the battleship Yamato is the Japanese Navy's top secret.

The Americans didn't find out about its 460-millimetre main gun until the outbreak of the Pacific War.

It was thought to be 406 mm. It was the same class as the US battleships.

The Americans were definitely interested in information about the Yamato.

So the question is, how do you get hold of some serious information and expose the data on the battleship Yamato?

And then make a profit yourself?

The construction cost of the battleship Yamato, converted into US dollars at the time, was over 250 million US dollars. It was very expensive.

The cost of the USS Missouri battleship in the United States of America was only about 120 million US dollars.

The cost of an Essex-class aircraft carrier, not including the aircraft, was only about 70 million US dollars.

They were all money-guzzlers!

It wouldn't be too much to take a little of this petty cash for oneself.

His demands were not high. One hundred thousand US dollars. That would already be more than enough to satisfy him. Of course, it would be best if there were a million US dollars...

He would smile in his sleep.

He shook his head.

He felt that he was being too whimsical.

The content of the false information was there. But to expand on it, he would have to wait. Until Project 226 became a reality.

'You can speak now,' Zhang Yong turned to the Japanese spy.

After a slight pause, Zhang Yong slowly said, 'You must be very impressed by the death of Yu Daoxin.'

The Japanese spy's face was expressionless. However, his eyes betrayed him.

Obviously, he remembered the scene at the time.

'Where is Yu Daoxin's body?'

'Buried.'

'Where?'

'Next to it.'

'The exact location.'

'The seventh house to the west.'

'Good.'

Zhang Yong nodded.

At this point, there was no need for the other party to lie.

The person was not killed by this Japanese spy. The murderer was someone else. Presumably someone that this Japanese spy in front of him could not provoke.

'Who killed the person?'

'...'

'The Miyamoto family?'

'No.'

'The Hojo family?'

'No.'

'Mori family?'

'No...'

Zhang Yong listed more than a dozen Japanese surnames, all of which were denied.

It seems that the other party is not prepared to disclose it.

What should I do? There is still the rest of the night! I feel like there will be more delivery people coming.

Okay. Don't worry about work for now.

We'll talk about other things after dawn.

Suddenly, four red dots appeared. They were all armed. Moving towards the grocery store.

Zhang Yong: ???

Immediately raise your guard.

Four Japanese invaders! Armed!

What's going on?

Did they find out that the grocer's been arrested?

Or...

'Shi Hu!'

'I'm here.'

'Four Japanese invaders are here. They're armed.'

'Understood!'

Shi Hu immediately gave the order.

He turned around. He found the Japanese spy watching him. Shocked. Terrified.

After a long while, he managed to stammer out:

"How... how did you know?'