Chapter 61: All explained

"They are from the City Government Secretariat, Secretary Feng Yan and Secretary Zhao Chunlin." Yanping Tarou's consciousness gradually faded, with only one thought left in his head.

Confess for leniency, and be reborn sooner.

... Telegraph Bureau operators Yang Wanting and Ma Rusong, and Land Administration Bureau Secretariat Secretary Xu Linfeng.

Judge Huang of the Judicial Bureau, Reporter Sun of the Songhu Daily...

As this old devil slowly revealed the spies he had planted, Zhang Haifeng and Lin Dayou's expressions grew increasingly astonished.

Damn it!

Songhu City was practically being turned into a sieve by Japanese infiltration, with spies planted by the Japanese in nearly every trade and profession.

"A Ren, you say this old devil is so cooperative—could he be trying to confuse our view and make our investigation harder?" Lin Dayou suddenly stopped taking notes, suspiciously glancing at the pangolin.

He then looked toward Chen Yongren.

Damn it.

This is too bizarre—I've never seen such a cooperative Japanese spy, let alone this old thing being the head of the entire East China Special Higher Section.

The "Great Memory Restoration Technique" didn't work; this guy just spilled everything, and it's all high-value intelligence?

Chen Yongren could naturally confirm that this information was completely true, but it wasn't good to directly affirm it.

After Lin Dayou's reminder.

Chen Yongren also thought that, before future interrogations began, they should indeed go through a procedure just for formality.

Japanese spies A Ren't even considered human; as long as they're beaten down to half-conscious and can still talk, it's fine.

Hearing that, Zhang Haifeng cracked his knuckles, grinning savagely as he prepared to give Yanping Tarou some extra intensity.

Chen Yongren didn't stop him either.

They had no professional torture tools like chili water, tiger bench, or branding irons.

But this is a bookstore, where paper is never lacking, so Yanping Tarou comfortably enjoyed a water torture session.

Lin Dayou also used a dagger to smash the wooden board, cutting out thin, sharp wooden strips, stabbing them under his fingernails and then prying them up…

Ten fingers connected to the heart—his fingers had already been broken by Chen Yongren, and doing this again made the old devil struggle like a boar awaiting castration.

Of course.

Yanping Tarou's mouth was stuffed with a cloth, so he could only keep moaning.

After going through the procedure.

The old devil lay on the ground, barely alive, his fingers and toes stuffed with wooden sticks, blood pouring out.

"Everything I said is true, I really didn't deceive you." Yanping Tarou wanted to cry but had no tears.

This information is truer than true—why don't they believe it?

"Whether true or false, we'll verify it ourselves." Chen Yongren snorted coldly and asked: "Besides them, what other spies have you planted?"

Yanping Tarou replied without hesitation: "Beside your General Zhang, there's also a long-hidden spy—I don't know exactly who."

"He voluntarily sent the intelligence, so we learned that you've secretly dispatched troops to Songhu and are preparing to meet Mayor Yu."

"This information happens to match what Secretary Feng and Secretary Zhao passed along."

"If he hadn't taken the initiative to contact us, I wouldn't have known he existed at all."

Chen Yongren felt a chill in his heart.

Because of mind control, everything Yanping Tarou confessed was true—unless this bastard was also deceived, there would be no problem.

Even the unit where General Zhang serves actually has a spy.

If we let him continue passing information, things would become serious.

Lin Dayou and Zhang Haifeng stared at each other?

How does it feel like this matter keeps getting bigger?

Chen Yongren asked again: "Keep talking—why are you here?"

"You've caused too much destruction at Shanghai Station; Sakai Mieko is dead too. To smoothly assassinate General Zhang and Mayor Yu, I can only personally take command..." Yanping Tarou's eyes flashed with weariness.

As a result, he hadn't even warmed his seat before being caught.

"To avoid alerting the enemy, we're just scouting the hotel; we'll only formally deploy before tomorrow's meeting." Yanping Tarou said.

Just as he was speaking, a rhythmic knocking sounded outside.

"Thump—thump thump—thump—thump thump thump~"

Hearing that sound, Yanping Tarou's face changed drastically; he looked at Chen Yongren in disbelief and blurted out:

"Emergency contact signal—has something gone wrong with the operation at Huamao Hotel?"

Chen Yongren gave Zhang Haifeng a look.

Zhang Haifeng immediately understood, took his dagger and headed downstairs; shortly after, he heard fighting sounds and a few muffled groans.

After a while, he saw Zhang Haifeng dragging an unconscious guy back up to the second floor.

"Who is he?" Chen Yongren asked directly.

"I placed a scout outside Huamao Hotel to make absolutely sure—besides inside the hotel, I also planted someone outside." Yanping Tarou's face was ashen.

"First, to report that all is well and notify other agents to carry out their missions."

"Second, if anything unexpected happens, he can immediately inform me to retreat."

Everyone else had already come knocking, yet he was the one to come report.

Obviously, something big had gone wrong at Huamao Hotel, preventing him from breaking free in a short time.

Looking at this unconscious Japanese spy, Chen Yongren silently thought, "What a pity."

The mishap happened too fast—no one expected General Zhang and Mayor Yu to arrive early.

This caused the Japanese spies ambushed at Huamao Hotel to be exposed, and moreover, the ones tasked with reporting danger were all captured.

The remaining Japanese agents, seeing no one, would surely sneak down immediately if they weren't addled—looks like we'll have to figure out later how to root them out.

Yanping Tailang continued: "I mainly contact the section chiefs of other regions via radio; as for how they contact downwards, I don't know."

The radio is in the hidden compartment in the wall beside my desk.

Hearing this, Lin Dayou immediately perked up, feeling around the location Yanping Tailang mentioned, and found a shortwave radio.

"Codebook, where is the codebook?" Lin Dayou asked.

Yanping Tailang then said another piece of information that excited Chen Yongren.

The codebook is currently in the consulate, in the hands of the newly appointed chief of the China Special Higher Section, Prince Qichuan Gong Qinwang.

In order for him to quickly familiarize himself with information from all parts of China, I, whenever I receive a telegram from other regions of East China, will report it to him.

Another big fish! Chen Yongren perked up.

I don't know what reward the system will give for killing him.

Lin Dayou cursed, "Damn it!" He wanted to go into the consulate to get the codebook, but the difficulty had greatly increased.

"What is your next mission?" Chen Yongren asked.

Yanping Tailang said in a low voice: "A few days ago, besides the intelligence from the talks, we also learned that your 2nd Division's Reinforcement Brigade and 2nd Regiment had changed into Security Team uniforms and secretly stationed at Hongqiao Airport and other strategic locations."

Hearing this, Chen Yongren's heart sank.

So when I reported this information, the War Ministry decided to advance on both fronts.

We will launch the assassination tomorrow.

The Songhu-based Marine Corps then prepared to provoke at the airport, creating a dispute.

And using this as an excuse, they would force your Security Forces in Songhu to withdraw, dismantle all defensive works, and take the opportunity to reinforce troops in Songhu.

If the assassination succeeds, everyone will be happy.

Your internal affairs will fall into chaos.

At that time, the moles we have planted in your government will also spread rumors, causing your citizens to panic and refuse to go to war with us.

Once the Acting Mayor agrees to our terms, all of Songhu will come under the control of the Locust Army.