svetikya Chapter 126 Belief is the strongest armor!
Chapter 126 Belief is the strongest armor!
As soon as Zhou Xiao left the archives, he darted into the nearby restroom, quickly took off his general's uniform, and rolled it up with his military cap, leaving no trace at the scene.
After escaping, he quickly left the military police headquarters and burned his entire uniform in a secluded corner.
After doing all this, he quietly returned to the special operations headquarters.
Special Operations Headquarters, Chief of Intelligence.
Zhou Xiao took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and didn't let his emotions show too much.
Of all the operations I've carried out, this one was the riskiest, had the highest chance of being exposed, and was the most difficult.
The chimney structure itself is a dead end—it seems like you can get in, but in reality, it cuts off your escape route; there isn't a single point on the entire roof where you can hang a rope for support. Trying to rappel in? It's simply not feasible unless the two of you work together seamlessly and support each other at the bottom.
The Japanese went to such great lengths to set up this scheme with only one goal: to capture our agents who had infiltrated the classified archives.
Fortunately, fate intervened—not only did they successfully obtain the "Project Celestial" list, but they also conveniently killed Yoshinori Shirakawa, the highest-ranking Japanese military officer stationed in Shanghai.
This person is a tough nut to crack that countless people have been eyeing for years, wanting to get rid of, simply because he is based in Shanghai and is heavily guarded, so they have never found an opportunity to strike.
Now his body lies dead in the archives room; when it will be discovered is entirely up to luck.
Zhou Xiao closed his eyes for a moment, then reviewed the scene one by one—the traces were cleaned up, the chain of evidence was broken, and not a single hair was left behind.
Absolutely foolproof.
Having been undercover for so long, this was the closest I'd ever come to having my identity exposed. Fortunately, it all ended without serious incident, and the story had a happy ending.
Obtaining the "Project Celestial" list would be a monumental achievement. This intelligence could sway the course of the war, even reverse a national crisis and save the nation from collapse.
A soft knock sounded on the office door.
Zhou Xiao: "Come in."
A moment later, Lan Yanzhi pushed the door open and entered, closing it behind her.
She walked quickly to Zhou Xiao, her voice extremely low: "Zhou Xiao, isn't it time to stop?"
"The situation in Shanghai is too tense right now. The Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai station has invested too much. If this continues, the entire line may be wiped out."
"I recommend that all disruptive actions be stopped immediately."
Zhou Xiao nodded: "We can stop now."
He had already taken advantage of the chaos to break into the archives and obtained the list; continuing the act would only be superfluous.
The more frequently the Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) operates, the higher the risk of it backfiring.
"Immediately notify the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai station to suspend all operations. But our Special Operations Headquarters needs to get moving—mobilize all personnel immediately, and at the same time request the locations of several contact points from the Military Intelligence Bureau so we can 'take them out'."
"We can't let all this work go to waste."
As long as the Special Operations Headquarters launches a high-profile attack, directs the encirclement and suppression from the front line, and takes the opportunity to eliminate several Kuomintang strongholds, and with the rapid restoration of security in Shanghai, the credit will naturally go to them.
These solid achievements are the stepping stones for Zhou Xiao to climb the ranks.
Lan Yanzhi paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Zhou Xiao, you've got a really clever plan."
Zhou Xiaolang laughed: "In this circle, it's either you take me down or I take you down. Whoever is slower is unlucky."
As per his instructions, the Special Operations Headquarters immediately launched a full-scale investigation, cracking down on various disturbances while secretly protecting several high-ranking officials of the Wang Jingwei regime.
Zhou Xiao personally led the team and destroyed three liaison stations of the Military Intelligence Bureau in Shanghai, seizing a radio and a codebook—a truly solid victory.
Two days later, the entire city of Shanghai returned to peace.
To outsiders, this was yet another instance of the Special Operations Headquarters, or rather, Zhou Xiao, turning the tide once again.
Although the positions of the Special Higher Police and the Military Police are currently vacant, Zhou Xiao knows that there must be spies in both departments watching their every move. This round of maneuvering will not be in vain; it will become a bargaining chip for the Japanese to trust him in the future, and a hard currency for promotion.
The turmoil of the past few days has finally subsided, and the Military Intelligence Bureau has completely gone into hiding.
Zhou Xiao finally had some free time to go on a long-awaited date—to see Li Xiaonan.
Evening, at the entrance of the film studio.
It was the same familiar scene: a black sedan was parked quietly, Zhou Xiao leaned against the hood, holding a bouquet of flowers in his hand, his gaze calmly fixed on the factory gate.
Before long, Li Xiaonan's figure came into view.
His friend beside him laughed and joked, "Little man, look, your sweetheart's here again!"
Li Xiaonan smiled, her cheeks slightly flushed: "What 'that person'... we're just friends!"
My friend waved his hand dismissively: "I don't believe you! Go on!"
"Bye-bye!" She waved to her friend, then turned and jogged towards Zhou Xiao, her face beaming with a bright smile: "Zhou Xiao, you're here!"
Zhou Xiao handed over the flowers: "These are for you. Do you like them?"
Li Xiaonan took it, brought it close to her nose and smelled it: "It smells so good, I like it, thank you."
Zhou Xiao laughed and said, "Why are you thanking me? Let's go eat."
The two smiled at each other and got into the car together.
Recently, a series of incidents have occurred in Shanghai: Kaede Sendoh was killed, the newly appointed head of the Special Higher Police, Hirofumi Asano, was assassinated, the headquarters of the Sugimoto Agency was destroyed by bombing, and Ken Oshima, the commander of the military police, was killed. In the end, the whole city was in turmoil, and a number of Japanese collaborators and traitors were eliminated one after another... Each and every one of these incidents is so numerous that it is astonishing.
All the clues ultimately point to one person—Zhou Xiao.
In the car, the two chatted about everyday matters before getting to the main topic.
Li Xiaonan said softly, "Zhou Xiao, congratulations. You've completed the task assigned by the organization beautifully."
Not only did they accurately locate and completely destroy the headquarters of the Sugimoto Agency, successfully thwarting the currency war plot, but they also exceeded their goal by destroying its biological weapons laboratory.
This battle dealt a heavy blow to the enemy's scientific research capabilities, with a large number of core experts dying on the spot. It was as if the backbone of the Japanese army had been broken, and they would not be able to recover in the short term.
Zhou Xiao's expression was solemn, and his voice was steady: "Congratulations to me? This achievement was all earned by risking my life."
If Li Xiaonan hadn't single-handedly stormed into the enemy camp and risked her life to assassinate Ken Oshima, Zhou Xiao would never have gained Oshima's trust, and the subsequent entire plan would not have gone so smoothly.
Li Xiaonan remained calm and said in a nonchalant tone, "This is my duty. If it really comes to a critical moment, all the comrades of the underground party in Shanghai are willing to step forward and pave the way and protect you with their lives for your infiltration."
"There's no need for sacrifice." Zhou Xiao shook his head. "We'll definitely hold out until victory."
Belief is the strongest armor.
Li Xiaonan nodded slightly, then changed the subject: "Zhou Xiao, the newly appointed head of the Special Higher Police, Asano Hirofumi, and Oshima Ken—these two men died one after another, weren't you the one responsible?"
"That's right," Zhou Xiao replied. "Are you familiar with Asano Hirofumi?"
"He's different from other section chiefs—he's ruthless and cruel, and he loves to torture people. He never acts based on evidence, only on intuition. Once he's got his eye on you, even if there's no concrete evidence or you're no longer of any use to him, he'll kill you without hesitation, either on the spot or tortured to death."
"People like this are more dangerous than venomous snakes. The slightest disturbance could catch their eye; once they've caught their attention, they won't even bother looking for evidence, they'll just eliminate them first."
"To ensure the safety and secrecy of my comrades, and to make our work in Shanghai more secure in the future, I asked the Military Intelligence Bureau to send Hirofumi Asano to his death the very night he arrived in Shanghai."