Chapter 675: Anomalous Change

Upon Chen Yongren's order, the Special Search Group members promptly responded and each went about their duties.

Cunxi Gong also followed Chen Yongren, driving to a concealed military warehouse in the outskirts of Northern Peace to inspect the recent movement of equipment and any damage.

Because this warehouse is the largest and most concealed, Chen Yongren decided to go there first to check the situation.

If he hadn't obtained the information from Gangcun Ningci, Chen Yongren truly wouldn't have known that such a large warehouse was hidden outside Northern Peace.

The warehouse is built on a mountainside, covering about three mu, and year-round stores enough supplies for a division's combat, with roughly a company's troops stationed there.

After all, this is already considered rear territory, so Gangcun Ningci did not deploy too many troops here.

"You two are the Chief Commander and Commander Cunxi Gong, right?"

Seeing Chen Yongren and Cunxi Gong get out of the car, Company Commander Lieutenant Yeshan Zijī stepped forward with a smile and slightly bowed.

Chen Yongren smiled and nodded.

Yeshan Zijī's smile widened, he bowed a little deeper: "Welcome, commanders. Thank you for coming to inspect despite your busy schedules!"

Since we need to conduct an internal investigation, we certainly need to find a suitable starting point.

Especially given the current lack of evidence, we cannot lightly launch a major operation, so Gangcun Ningci avoids causing panic and chooses to use the inspection work as a pretext.

"It's you who have it tough, guarding the warehouse for the locust army in such harsh conditions." Chen Yongren patted Yeshan's shoulder, looked around, and remarked.

"Hai!" Yeshan Zijī respectfully said to Chen Yongren: "As a soldier of Younger Brother Country, this is simply my duty; there's no hardship to speak of!"

"Hey, Younger Brother Country has soldiers like you—what's there to worry about failing to achieve great things?" Chen Yongren smiled and nodded: "If you have any needs, just bring them up; within reason, I will certainly try to meet them."

"Thank you for your concern, Commander; we're living well here with no problems!" Yeshan Zijī exclaimed excitedly.

On that point, Yeshan Zijī was not lying.

Don't let the poor environment fool you—there's plenty of profit to be made, many places for graft, and endless gains to be had.

Even if given Yeshan Zijī the rank of colonel, he wouldn't want to change it.

Seeing Yeshan Zijī's little thoughts, Chen Yongren remained calm: "Yeshan, lead the way; let me see what you've accomplished."

"Hai!" Yeshan Zijī responded and led the way ahead.

Cunxi Gong remained silent the whole time, staying by Chen Yongren's side.

Yeshan Zijī then brought Chen Yongren, while Cunxi Gong inspected the warehouse's supplies and introduced its various facilities.

After making the rounds and returning to the temporary rest room, Chen Yongren put on a show: "Hey, Yeshan, the warehouse is indeed well organized under your management."

"Hai!" Yeshan Zijī replied sharply.

"Immediately bring the records of your equipment movements from the past two years; we need to cross-check them." Chen Yongren added.

"Cross-check?"

To prevent anyone from causing trouble in the warehouse, this is quite normal; Yeshan Zijī didn't think much of it, accepted the order, and left.

Cunxi Gong followed up, and only after confirming that Yeshan Zijī had left did he carefully close the door, sit opposite Chen Yongren, and nod.

"Chief Director Sir, why two years' worth of records?" Cunxi Gong asked.

"Warehouses normally have regular wear and tear; what if this gang uses that as a loophole to selectively scrap weapons?"

Speaking of this, Chen Yongren grew somewhat irritated: "Cunxi, never mind me—what do you think?"

"As things stand, everything seems normal; Yeshan is just a bit clever, maybe exploiting the allowed wear and tear for personal gain, but he probably lacks the courage to tamper with munitions."

"Besides, this is Northern Peace."

"The Northern Peace Special Agency, North China Army Headquarters, Asia Development Institute, and other departments are all here; even if he wanted to act, he'd have to consider the consequences."

"Such a cushy warehouse guard post surely has more than one person watching him; if Yeshan Zijī dared to cause trouble, his political rivals would certainly seize the chance to attack him."

Saying that, Cunxi Gong laughed: "Of course, this is just my guess."

"Whatever the truth may be, we still need to examine the warehouse's equipment movement records to make an accurate judgment."

"I hope so." Chen Yongren sighed helplessly: "Even if there are paper records, we can't fully trust them; we must check each one for any irregularities."

"Finally, we also need to match them with the local receipt records."

"Chief Director Sir, you really are cautious." Cunxi Gong laughed.

"This is of great importance; without caution, how can we proceed? We must not wrongly blame innocent warriors, nor let any resistance fighter slip through!" Chen Yongren said sternly.

"If they falsify the records, it will also affect our investigation."

Cunxi Gong then smiled and reassured: "Chief Director Sir, don't worry; as long as we have patience, we will surely find any suspicious points."

So far, despite checking, we haven't found any suspicious points—claiming not to be upset would be false.

"I hope so." Chen Yongren said helplessly.

As the two were speaking, another knock sounded at the door.

"Chief Commander, Commander Cunxi Gong, the records you requested have arrived!" Yeshan Zijī's voice called out.

"Hey, bring them in quickly!" Chen Yongren said, his face lighting up with joy.

Yeshan Zijī hurried in with a stack of documents: "Chief Commander, these are the documents you requested; all equipment movement records from the past two years are here."

Chen Yongren gave a noncommittal reply.

Upon hearing that, Yeshan Zijī said no more, placed the documents on the table, gave a slight bow, and said: "Chief Commander, Commander Cunxi Gong, I'll leave you to your work."

"I'll come again at dinner time to let you know."

Having said that, Yeshan Zijī turned and left.

Chen Yongren then picked up the documents, handed a few copies to Cunxi Gong, and said helplessly: "Cunxi, let's not waste time—let's hurry and check for any loopholes."

Cunxi Gong nodded slightly and began to examine the documents seriously.

……

Just as the two were carefully reviewing the documents, the North China Army Headquarters also experienced a major incident.

With the cleansing operation imminent, Gangcun Ningci and Anda Ershisan were in the war room together, looking at the map and mentally calculating the attack route.

All the staff officers also bustled around the dining table.

Although the fifth battle plan miscarried, but for this sweep, the two old devils were full of confidence; no matter how they simulated, they would achieve a complete victory.

Suddenly.

A sudden urgent telephone ring interrupted their simulation.

"Ding-ling-ling~"

"Hello?"

The staff officer nearest the phone picked it up, heard the voice on the other end, straightened up, and said to Okamura Ningci: "General, it's a call from Chief Matsuzaki!"