cicada

Chapter 1424 Collapse
"Jingle Bell……"

Li Shiqun slowly opened her eyes from her sleep, reached for the phone on the bedside table, and put it to her ear.

"Director, something terrible has happened! The detention center has been attacked, and all the prisoners have escaped!"

Listening to the report on the other end of the phone, Li Shiqun, who was still a little dazed, felt as if ice water had been poured over his head, and he immediately woke up.

He quickly stood up, putting on his coat as he shouted into the microphone, "Protect the scene, notify the military police and garrison, and immediately seal off the area around Jesfield Road and the exit routes from the city."

It must be admitted that Li Shiqun remained very calm, and indeed possessed the composure of a great general who could remain unmoved even when faced with a collapsing mountain.

Just as he hung up the phone and was about to head to Jessfield Road to check on the situation, the phone rang again, the ringtone sounding rather jarring.

"Hello? Who is it? Speak up."

Li Shiqun, holding the microphone in one hand and fastening the buttons on his collar with the other, asked rather impatiently.

"Hehe, Deputy Director Li, I have evidence here of a meeting between the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Japanese moles. Are you interested?"

The caller's voice was hoarse and muffled, as if he was faking it, and what he said was even more unexpected, leaving Li Shiqun stunned on the spot.

“I need $20,000. I’ll hand over the evidence as soon as I see the money.”

“I will visit you at your residence in an hour. The 76th Division has been infiltrated by the Military Intelligence Bureau. I only trust you. There can be no one else at the transaction site.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the phone was hung up.

Li Shiqun put down the microphone, secretly sneering to himself, thinking, "They really think I'm a fool."

The incident at No. 76 was just a coincidence, and the evidence against the mole of the Military Intelligence Bureau came knocking on his door. What a coincidence! Someone must be trying to stall him.

But then I thought, what if it really is true? That would be a waste of a golden opportunity.

After a brief hesitation, Li Shiqun made a phone call to Wu Sibao, during which he made the necessary arrangements for the pursuit and investigation.

Now that things have come to this, he has to take a gamble; Okamura should realize that he is being monitored by the 76th.

If it cannot be proven soon that Okamura is a mole in the Military Intelligence Bureau, Shibayama Kenshiro will no longer support him, and he will then face the full-scale retaliation of a military police captain.

Li Shiqun sat on the sofa, patiently waiting for the caller, while the traitor at No. 76 Jisifeier Road was extremely busy.

"What do you mean 'missing without a trace'?! Can so many living people grow wings and fly away?!"

Wu Sibao opened his blood-red mouth wide and shouted at the secret service leaders present.

"Captain, I really didn't find anything," a spy chief cried out, feigning innocence.

"The guards at the headquarters gate and the patrol personnel inside the compound did not find anyone sneaking in or leaving. Only the guard on duty at the detention center was murdered."

Wu Sibao was even angrier. The guard's death meant that the enemy had infiltrated their ranks. This time it was an ordinary staff member who died, but what if the killer targeted him next time?

Furthermore, the enemy's primary objective should be to rescue people or silence witnesses, and among the detained prisoners, only one person has such value.

Gui Youguang!
It seems highly likely that the murderer was a member of the Military Intelligence Bureau. If Chen Gongshu hadn't been living in the witness room on the top floor, he probably would have disappeared without a trace.

Thinking of this, Wu Sibao's eyes darted around: "Go and bring Chen Gongshu out. Isn't that Chen one of the elites of the Military Intelligence Bureau? Let him see where the problem lies. By the way, where is Director Ji?"

"Yes." The head of the secret service responded, then added, "Director Ji and Deputy Director Jiang of the Sixth Division went to Nanjing. They reportedly took the train last night."

As he spoke, the man ordered a few junior agents to go to the rooftop and bring Chen Gongshu to the scene.

After examining the traces and corpses left in the detention center, Chen Gongshu's expression turned grim: "The one who carried out the operation was the Military Intelligence Bureau's special operations team. Only they could have accomplished such a brilliant operation."

He shared his guess, then added, "People don't just disappear for no reason. Since nothing has been found outside, the problem must be inside. There must be a secret passage in 76!"

"Search for me!"

Wu Sibao waved his hand, and hundreds of traitors immediately launched a thorough search. Soon, someone discovered the hole in the storage room floor.

Chen Gongshu and Wu Sibao squatted outside the cave and looked inside. They found that the cave was pitch black, and even with a flashlight, they could not see everything. There was also a strange smell in the air.

Chen Gongshu felt he had smelled this slightly pungent odor somewhere before. After thinking for a while, he suddenly widened his eyes.

"Mr. Chen, what's wrong? Did you remember something?" Wu Sibao narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Yes."

Chen Gongshu looked down at the tunnel, then at the door, got up and walked into the courtyard, pointing to the Western-style house across the street and asking about the owner's background.

Wu Sibao was puzzled and quickly called over the head of general affairs. The residents near No. 76 were all registered by the general affairs department.

When the head of general affairs arrived, he adjusted his glasses and answered Chen Gongshu's questions truthfully, but in his words, he completely absolved himself of any responsibility.

"Across the street is No. 75 Jessfield Road. The owner is a Japanese businessman named Nagashima. He lived here before we moved to Jessfield Road. The intelligence department only conducted a basic investigation, and everything is normal."

“He was on Long Island these past two days, but we didn’t notice anything wrong with him. The brothers who were looking for witnesses went to check, but he doesn’t seem to be home.”

A cold sweat broke out on Chen Gongshu's back, and a certain idea in his mind became even more firm. He suppressed his fear and made two suggestions to Wu Sibao.

“Captain Wu, based on the tunnel's layout, the exit is likely in house number 75 or in the same direction. I'd like to personally lead a team to investigate.” “As for you, you can screen the staff inside. I've seen the detention center's iron gate; there are no signs of forced entry. This proves the murderer had the key and knew the detention center's structure and layout.”

Wu Sibao glanced at him suspiciously, wondering if Chen Gongshu was planning to escape, but quickly dismissed the idea.

Chen Gongshu helped No. 76 capture Gui Youguang. The Military Intelligence Bureau was definitely not going back. Even if the other party escaped, where could he go? He couldn't possibly go to the Northwest.

Having determined that Chen Gongshu's chances of escaping were slim, Wu Sibao agreed to his suggestion, but still arranged for an elite team to protect him.

When Chen Gongshu walked out of the gate of No. 76, his back was already soaked with cold sweat. He discussed with the agents accompanying him: "Let's search from far away to near. Maybe we can block the murderer at the exit."

The agents nodded repeatedly. If the exit was far from 76, they could move faster on the ground and indeed have a chance to intercept the killer.

So the group walked along No. 75 for several hundred meters, and when they saw that there were no other buildings ahead, the search team stopped.

Without wasting any words, Chen Gongshu immediately knocked on the door of a cement house. As soon as the homeowner opened the door, he rushed in.

The agents of No. 76 were stunned; this was the first time they had ever seen such an active traitor.

The traitors exchanged smiles and lifted their feet to walk into the house, but before they could even take a step, they were lightly sent flying out.

Ten seconds ago, Wu Sibao gathered all the staff on duty last night on the lawn in front of the building. Just as he was making his tough remarks, an ominous premonition made him turn around and look at Building No. 76.

Inside the building, several traitors were still discussing whether to go down into the tunnel when suddenly a bright light shone down below. Their eyes stung, and their retinas were burned.

After the intense flash, there was a deafening roar that tore the heavens and the earth apart. A stream of air at thousands of degrees Celsius surged out of the cave entrance, instantly vaporizing the nearest traitor. Then, the ground was overturned by a massive burst of energy.

Building No. 76, constructed of reinforced concrete, was torn to shreds like paper, and buildings within a hundred meters of the explosion's epicenter were razed to the ground.

Milliseconds after the explosion, Wu Sibao and the small-time spies in front of the building were reduced to molecules. These executioners, whose hands were stained with the blood of their compatriots, died a quick and painless death.

According to nearby residents, flames rose dozens of meters high from the location of No. 76, and all the windows within a two-kilometer radius shattered.

As the smoke cleared, only a bomb crater remained at the original sites of No. 76 and No. 75 Jessfield Road. The bottom of the crater was quickly filled with groundwater, and a badge of the puppet government swayed twice on the surface of the water before slowly sinking to the bottom.

As for Chen Gongshu, after entering the house, he found a room and squatted in the corner, trembling with fear, with Zuo Zhong's smiling face constantly flashing through his mind.

Actually, back at No. 76, he remembered the source of that strange smell: RDX, a high-powered explosive supplied by the British to the Military Intelligence Bureau, which was also used in the Shanghai area.

But what frightened him more than the explosives was Zuo Zhong. The other party knew about the location of No. 76 before the establishment of the fake special agent headquarters, and had even dug a secret passage in advance.

The reason is simple: digging tunnels is no small project. If the Military Intelligence Bureau started construction after No. 76 moved in, it would be impossible to hide it from the eyes of the traitors.

Chen Gongshu also confirmed that the tunnel exit was in the villa at No. 75, and that the disappearance of the Japanese man named Changdao at this time was definitely not a coincidence.

He didn't tell Wu Sibao about this for two reasons: first, he was worried it would affect his escape; second, he had other concerns.

Through this incident, Chen Gongshu had reason to suspect that the Military Intelligence Bureau had one or more moles within the upper echelons of the puppet government in Nanjing or within the Japanese ranks.

These moles held high positions of power and even participated to some extent in the establishment of No. 76.

Therefore, he absolutely could not disrupt Zuo Zhong's plan; following the puppet government would only lead to certain death.

Just as Chen Gongshu had predicted, the explosives in the tunnel detonated. He knew from the sound alone that No. 76 was gone, and so were the traitors inside.

Li Shiqun did not receive any evidence at the mansion, but instead witnessed an explosion. He stood by the window looking towards Jisifeier Road, his body swayed, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Now that things have come to this, how could he not know that he had been tricked? He would rather be blown up together than just escape by chance.

No one would believe his explanations, no matter what evidence of Gangcun's collusion with the Military Intelligence Bureau or the mysterious phone calls. The Japanese would only suspect that he cooperated with the Military Intelligence Bureau to blow up No. 76.

It was at this time that Li Shiqun understood many things: the telegram that implied Xu Jili was a special agent in the mountain city, Gui Youguang who surrendered and confessed, and Gangcun who was suspected of being a mole in the Military Intelligence Bureau.

Unbeknownst to him, someone had laid a trap for him, and he had offended too many people without even realizing it.

Take Hase Ryosuke, for example. Ever since Shibayama Kenshiro took office, he seems to have never been to the Hase Agency again. That shrewd and resourceful agency director is a ruthless character with connections everywhere.

Li Shiqun gave a bitter smile. He figured the military police who were arresting him must have already set off from Nanjing. Gangcun was eager to tear him to pieces and would certainly not let this opportunity pass.

"Dingling bell~"

The phone rang a few times. Li Shiqun picked up the receiver with difficulty. There was no sound from the other end. After a long silence, a male voice suddenly said with a laugh.

"Good luck, Director Li."

With a thud, the phone fell heavily to the ground. Li Shiqun angrily threw the phone far away, then scrambled to pick it up a moment later.

He tried to contact Ji, Cheng Gongpu, and Zhou Fushui, but all he heard was deathly silence.

Li Shiqun was not the only one in despair, and it was not just No. 76 that was destroyed.

Those who are united in purpose will prevail, while those who are divided in their hearts will perish. The sham government, already rife with infighting, has had its last fig leaf torn away.

If Li Shiqun can be abandoned today, then so can others.

At this moment, the makeshift team that Ji had built up through indirect means and by seeking fame and fortune collapsed.