Genius Agent

Chapter 2 is really a spy

Next to the breakfast stall is a charming teahouse.

In a private room on the second floor facing the road, Takuma Mizuno, the head of the intelligence group of the Japanese Special Higher Police in Shanghai, was leisurely brewing tea at the table.

Takuma Mizuno was a typical Japanese soldier, full of contempt for the Chinese and ruthless in his methods.

The Special Higher Police received a mission to assassinate Xie Hanzhang, a Chinese intellectual who had been attacking the Empire in the newspapers.

The mission was supposed to be carried out by the action team, with the intelligence team responsible for finding out where Xie Hanzhang lived.

However, after the investigation, Takuma Mizuno changed his mind.

Six months ago, he was transferred from Northeast China to Shanghai to serve as the head of the intelligence group of the Shanghai Special Higher Police.

When he was in Northeast China, he arrested many Chinese spies.

He was a member of the Special Service Department, the Party Affairs Investigation Department, and the Red Party, and repeatedly distinguished himself in battle, eventually being promoted to major.

Mizuno discovered that Xie Hanzhang's sudden move was because the Red Party had sensed his danger and deliberately moved him to a new place to hide him.

Can moving house help you avoid it?

For Mizuno Takuma, it was impossible. As long as Xie Hanzhang was still in Shanghai, he was confident he could find him.

In just three days, Mizuno found Xie Hanzhang's new address.

Since Xie Hanzhang has a Red Party member behind him, Mizuno doesn't plan to hand this task over to the action team. He wants to capture this hidden Red Party member, follow the clues, and take down more Red Party members.

He had been in Shanghai for six months and had not yet made a single significant contribution.

This is a good opportunity for him.

After finishing his tea, Mizuno Takuma stood up. The room was very nice; he had specially arranged for blinds to be installed so that they could see clearly outside from inside, while people outside could not see them.

Through the window, Mizuno Takuma could see part of what was happening in Xie Hanzhang's courtyard.

The surveillance points he set up were already in place, and no matter who came to see Xie Hanzhang, or whether Xie Hanzhang went out to meet with the Red Party, they could not escape their surveillance.

Mizuno had absolute confidence in his arrangements, and after arriving in Shanghai, he intensified the training of intelligence agents.

The vendors monitoring the two intersections outside have all received professional training; they have done the same job for at least a month, so no one will notice anything unusual.

……

At No. 5 Qingyu Lane, Xie Hanzhang washed the pots and pans and returned to his bedroom.

He dried his hands, sat upright at the table, spread out the letter paper, thought for a moment, then immediately picked up the pen and began to write with great effort.

The Japanese are despicable; they occupied Northeast China and slaughtered its people. The Kuomintang is incompetent, rampant with corruption, and instead of striving to drive the Japanese out, it engages in internal strife every day.

With warlords everywhere, each faction only thinking about its own interests, Xie Hanzhang was heartbroken and helpless.

He was a scholar, physically weak, but he could use his pen to awaken more Chinese people.

Alas! Do our four hundred million compatriots look upon our land today? The Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River have fallen to the horseshoes of the Japanese invaders…

Xie Hanzhang was excited and his thoughts flowed freely. Before long, he wrote a short piece called "Awakening the World".

After finishing writing, Xie Hanzhang carefully picked up the letter and read it word by word to ensure that he had expressed his true feelings and that the reader could feel the crisis of the nation's impending doom.

After revising a few parts that he felt were not good, Xie Hanzhang rewrote it, folded it up, and put it in an envelope when he was satisfied.

He knew the Japanese wanted to assassinate him, but could they really scare him with death threats?

No, he was not only unafraid, but he also wanted to continue fighting.

Xie Hanzhang understood that his articles had repeatedly offended the Japanese, and that was why he wanted to write more articles to expose the true colors of the Japanese.

The Chinese people must not harbor any illusions; the danger of national subjugation is already upon us.

Picking up the envelope, Xie Hanzhang stood up without hesitation. He wanted to publish the article as soon as possible so that more people could see it.

Hu Huai'an was slowly walking towards the school.

Today he was wearing a gray robe and black-rimmed glasses. There were many people dressed like him in the French Concession, so he didn't attract much attention.

Hu Huai'an was a member of an underground organization in Shanghai. The organization suffered heavy losses in Shanghai in its early years and has only recently begun to recover.

Hu Huai'an mainly does propaganda work and is not a professional agent. However, due to the dangerous nature of his work, he has received several training sessions and understands how to protect himself in harsh environments.

Xie Hanzhang was a friend he had known before, and he greatly admired Xie Hanzhang.

Not long ago, the organization learned important intelligence that the Japanese had repeatedly warned Xie Hanzhang to no avail, so they prepared to assassinate him.

Xie Hanzhang's articles were too sharp; the Japanese wouldn't allow such a Chinese person to speak out.

After being persuaded by Hu Huai'an, Xie Hanzhang finally agreed to move.

The environment around Qingyuli is nice, there are schools nearby, and it's a popular place to live in seclusion. Xie Hanzhang moved here five days ago.

Hu Huai'an advised him not to write so many critical articles recently, and even if he did, not to publish them under his real name.

Although a pen name cannot conceal the writing style and people will still be able to tell that it is written by him, it is still better than nothing.

Unfortunately, Xie Hanzhang wouldn't listen at all. He not only wrote, but he also published it under his real name every time. Now the Japanese have their eyes on him, and he's in danger.

"Brother Yuncheng, I'm full, so I won't be going to your place today."

After eating and drinking his fill, Horiuchi Sousuke patted his belly in satisfaction. The information he had obtained from Su Yuncheng was extremely valuable, and many people at the school now wanted to know the specific situation that was happening in China.

Even some teachers can become his clients. If all goes well, he can sell this information to multiple people and make a good profit.

"Go back to school as soon as possible, and don't go anywhere else."

Su Yuncheng gave instructions, when he suddenly noticed that the shoeshine vendor who had been secretly watching him had turned around and was looking at a man who was walking out of Qingyu Lane.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced to the side and saw that the peanut vendor was also secretly watching the man.

Was he the target of two Japanese spies?

Su Yuncheng had received training and understood that when monitoring someone, they wouldn't keep secretly watching them if the other person wasn't the target.

Xie Hanzhang strode out of Qingyu Lane. There was a mailbox diagonally opposite, and Xie Hanzhang walked towards it.

He will send this manuscript to the Li Bao newspaper, which frequently publishes his articles.

"Mr. Xie, what brings you out?"

Hu Huai'an happened to arrive here, only about twenty meters away from Xie Hanzhang. Upon seeing Xie Hanzhang, he was slightly startled and quickly walked over.

Hu Huai'an was very vigilant, scanning everyone around him, including those in the buildings along the road.

Su Yuncheng immediately sensed that someone was observing him. The other person's emotions were tinged with suspicion, but not much; it was a normal emotion arising from vigilance towards the surrounding environment.

"Old Hu, I came out to mail a manuscript, what brings you here?"

Xie Hanzhang was delighted to see Hu Huai'an. Since the letter hadn't been sent yet, he could ask Hu Huai'an to take a look at the article.

Su Yuncheng had already noticed them. Ever since the people came out of the alley, the two vendors had been staring at Xie Hanzhang.

It can be confirmed that this person is their target.

Su Yuncheng was working for the Japanese, but he was Chinese; being the newspaper editor was just his job.

Even when helping Muto Tomohiro gather intelligence, Su Yuncheng didn't report all the information. He never reported information that was harmful to the Chinese people and could be concealed.

Su Yuncheng didn't like the Japanese, but he was very good at disguising it, and no one could see his true thoughts.

"I'll call you a car."

Su Yuncheng stood up and said to Horiuchi Sōsuke, then walked to the middle of the road and stretched out his hand.

The French Concession was bustling, and there were many rickshaws there.

"The car's here, Sousuke. Get back to school early. Next time, don't ask for leave; just call. Understand?"

Su Yuncheng called out to Horiuchi Sousuke behind him. He spoke in Japanese and was a little distance away from Horiuchi, so his voice was slightly louder.

However, it was only slightly louder; his voice was inconspicuous on this busy street.

Hu Huai'an was taken aback. He heard what Su Yuncheng said but didn't understand it, though he knew it was Japanese.

Japanese?

He is now particularly sensitive to the Japanese. The Japanese are planning to assassinate Xie Hanzhang, and he will instinctively be suspicious of any Japanese person who appears around him.

Su Yuncheng sensed that Hu Huai'an was watching him, and his vigilance intensified, becoming extremely cautious.

Hu Huai'an looked around again, and the shoeshine vendor and the peanut vendor immediately turned their attention to him.

However, Hu Huai'an still noticed something unusual and took a special look at them.

"Don't worry, Yuncheng, I won't let you and your brother-in-law down."

Horiuchi Sousuke walked over with a smile, got into the rickshaw, and Hu Huai'an grabbed Xie Hanzhang, saying, "Mr. Xie, let's go."

Hu Huai'an was a semi-agent, and countless bloody lessons over the years had taught him that he could never take chances.

The presence of Japanese people here is unusual; he must take Xie Hanzhang away immediately.

If it turns out to be a false alarm, they'll just have to walk a little further.

But if something really happens, he ignores it, which could cost him his life.

Hu Huai'an walked very fast, and Xie Hanzhang, not understanding why, was pulled forward by him.

The shoe-shining and peanut-frying vendors were taken aback. Xie Hanzhang was leaving?

Who is the person who wants to take Xie Hanzhang away?

They had just met the person and had not yet confirmed Hu Huai'an's identity.

In a private room at the teahouse, Mizuno Takuma was looking outside.

He spotted Xie Hanzhang as soon as he came out. Xie Hanzhang had brought five people with him. In addition to the two team members disguised downstairs, there were three other people with him.

This is mainly for surveillance and investigation, so we don't need too many people. He brought along some expert trackers.

If a real situation arises, the six of them will be enough.

"Send an emergency signal and give chase immediately."

Noticing that they were about to run away, Mizuno's two men acted decisively. After giving the order, one of his men immediately waved a flag. The two vendors noticed that it was a small red flag, abandoned their stalls, and ran away.

The team leader used a flag to give them orders, instructing them to give chase immediately and not let anyone escape.

Red indicates an emergency. You can disregard whether the target is alive or dead, but you must never let the target escape.

Su Yuncheng's eyes narrowed; they were indeed spies, after those two.

He didn't know the two men's identities, but he hoped they could leave safely. This was the French Concession, and there was a police post ahead. If they could get there, the Japanese spies wouldn't dare to do anything too outrageous.

"Mr. Xie, there are Japanese spies! Let's run!"

When they realized that someone was chasing them, Hu Huai'an immediately noticed that he had been pulling Xie Hanzhang along quickly, but now he was running.

【Bang】

Gunshots rang out suddenly. The two Japanese spies disguised as agents were closest to Xie Hanzhang. The peanut vendor saw Xie Hanzhang and Xie Hanzhang running and immediately opened fire.

The gunshots caused chaos. Horiuchi Sousuke, who hadn't gone far in the rickshaw, suddenly froze and hurriedly turned around.

"Brother Yuncheng, be careful."

This kid is not bad; he thought of Su Yuncheng first when he was in danger.

The driver didn't care about any of that. In this chaotic world, bullets don't discriminate. No matter who fires the gun, if someone gets hit by a stray bullet, it's just bad luck.

He pulled the cart with all his might, quickly turned into an intersection, leaned against the wall, and kept panting heavily.