cicada

Chapter 1452 The Bed Collapsed
The next morning, the sun shone brightly.

Ban Jun straightened his collar and walked out of the room. The Japanese intelligence chief outside the door raised an eyebrow at him, his tone slightly mocking.

"Bansang, why not stay a little longer? As you people from the Republic of China say, the spring night is too short."

Just as Ban Jun was about to reply to the Japanese man's words, the oval-faced girl came out of the room and handed him a handkerchief, creating a tender atmosphere.

The onlookers smiled, completely unconcerned. This was a common tactic used by brothels to attract customers, and no one took it seriously.

After chatting for a few minutes, the group prepared to escort Ban Jun back to his residence. Unexpectedly, Ban Jun requested to meet Shibayama Kenshiro.

As for the reason, he explained softly, "Gentlemen, I am deeply grateful for Mr. Chai Shan's high regard for me."

“It is not my style to just take money and not do anything. I want to do something for the Locust Army and the new government as soon as possible.”

The spies beamed with joy; their mission was accomplished. The leader of the spies nodded with a smile and ordered the driver to change direction.

When everyone arrived at the advisory department, Chai Shan listened to Ban Jun's reasons and pondered for a long time before assigning him a position.

"Bansang, Jisang has been unwell recently and is receiving treatment in the Empire, so the new government's appointment of you will have to wait for a while."

"Alright then, you will temporarily serve as the military and political advisor to the advisory department, assisting me in formulating suppression and security operation plans."

Ban Jun readily agreed, thanked him a couple of times, and then got up to take his leave. Chai Shan escorted him to the door.

As the car drove away, Chai Shan suddenly asked the head of the secret service about the results of the surveillance on Ban Jun last night.

The head of the secret service had a strange expression and mumbled, "Everything is normal. Bansan is a real man; the bed creaked all night long."

Upon hearing this, Shibayama Kenshiro burst into laughter, lamenting, "Ban-san really doesn't know how to cherish a beautiful woman."

As he spoke, his smile gradually faded, and he gave an order to the head of the secret service while gazing at the bustling street.

"You must leak this information to the new government members as soon as possible. Ban Jun, an important intelligence agent of the underground party, has defected to the Locust Army."

"Hay."

The intelligence chief understood perfectly; the new government was a mixed bag, and there were definitely people from the mountain city and the Northwest among them.

Once these people find out about Ban Jun, the Nationalist government and the underground Communist Party will also find out, and then Ban Jun will have no way out.

"By the way, the surveillance can't stop," Shibayama Kenshiro added as a final sentence.

When the time is right, Chai Shan will arrange for Ban Jun to pledge his loyalty. Only then will he be completely at ease.

In the following days, rumors about Ban Jun's romantic affairs began to circulate within the Japanese puppet regime in Nanjing.

That morning, Du Ziteng stepped into the elevator of the Ministry of the Interior building. As the elevator went up, he heard a familiar name.

"Hey, have you heard? There's an underground Communist Party member named Ban Jun who defected to the Japanese."

"I heard that the Japanese even took that old man to a brothel for a whole night, and the bed collapsed."

"The bed collapsed? I heard it was the roof that collapsed?"

Inside the elevator, several high-ranking officials from the Ministry of the Interior whispered among themselves, and then they argued heatedly about whether the bed or the house had collapsed.

Du Ziteng walked out of the elevator with a smile, and when he returned to his office, he slumped into his chair.

Has our teacher really betrayed us?

The thought had barely crossed Du Ziteng's mind when he immediately shook his head. No, he hadn't been exposed yet, which meant that Ban Jun hadn't defected to the enemy, or at least hadn't completely surrendered.

Moreover, the Japanese made this matter public knowledge, which certainly wasn't for any good reason; they wanted to cut off Ban Jun's retreat route.

It seems we need to find a way to establish contact with Ban Jun. Du Ziteng knows his old comrade-in-arms needs his help, but how to establish contact is a problem.

At the same time, the Military Intelligence Bureau's agents in Nanjing also reported the matter to headquarters. Zuo Zhong frowned as he looked at the telegram.

He knew his old classmate well. Back when they were in police academy, the classmate would go hungry to save his military pay and send it to his family. Would someone like that linger in a dormitory?
People do change, but not this drastically.

After stroking his chin and thinking for a moment, Zuo Zhong guessed that it was true that Ban Jun went to the brothel, but there might be other hidden reasons.

The other side is probably doing this to gain the trust of the Japanese and create an opportunity for further infiltration.

However, according to the discipline of the underground party, Lao Ban is likely to be punished this time, as the Northwest is very particular about lifestyle issues.

Indeed, when Wei Baowei, the head of the local Jinling City government, learned of the situation, he immediately demanded that Ban Jun be severely punished.

However, the clerk offered a different opinion: "Ban Jun is an old hand in the underground and has his own style of doing things. I think we can't rush to conclusions. We still need to observe whether he has defected to the enemy."

Seeing that the Minister of Security still wanted to speak, the clerk stubbed out his cigarette and looked at the other man with a serious expression.

"We must trust our comrades and not fall for the enemy's counter-espionage schemes. The most dangerous thing about working behind enemy lines is not open attacks, but the ever-present hidden arrows."

His words were forceful and clear, and the Minister of Security stopped insisting and silently sat back down.

Time flowed slowly, and several days passed in the blink of an eye. The rumors about Ban Jun not only did not decrease, but increased. Some people saw Ban Jun staying overnight at the brothel, especially his close relationship with the oval-faced girl, and the two of them were indulging in debauchery every day.

In addition, Ban Jun led a group of traitors to extort money and blackmail people, causing many businessmen great distress.

Inside a small building in Nanjing, the cries of children and women filled the air as the homeowner, with a forced smile, offered cigarettes to Ban Jun and the secret agent.

"Brothers, Advisor Ban, please don't hurt my wife."

Ban Jun glanced at the fat woman kneeling on the ground, wailing, and his lips twitched slightly. He thought to himself that it was really unnecessary. He swept his cigarette to the ground and snorted coldly.

"Boss Zhao, I'm on official business, so I'll pass on my cigarette. The brothers don't need yours."

"You should think carefully about how to explain to Commander Shibayama why the new government's grain is in your granary."

The traitors standing nearby also crossed their arms and looked on with sneers. They thought the other side thought they were beggars, since they thought such a big thing could be dealt with by a few cigarettes.

The boss Zhao mentioned by Ban Jun smiled bitterly. He had been extremely careful, but he still ended up being targeted by these bastards. It seemed he would have to pay a price today.

After a few seconds of silence, Boss Zhao made up his mind and looked up, saying, "Advisor Ban, please have the men stop first. We can talk things over."

"Hehe, why didn't you say so earlier?" Ban Jun waved his hand, shooing away the little spy who was searching the house.

After saying that, he casually sat down on the living room sofa, took out a silver cigarette case, and lit a cigarette.

Seeing this, Boss Zhao gave his family a wink, signaling them to go upstairs, and then quickly went forward to help Ban Jun light his cigarette.

This time, Ban Jun didn't want to offend the other party, so he let Boss Zhao light his cigarette and casually explained his purpose.

"Old Zhao, I'm not trying to make things difficult for you, but reselling military rations is a capital offense. Tell me, how much money are you willing to spend to save your whole family?"

Boss Zhao's hand trembled, and cold sweat immediately broke out on his back. This guy surnamed Ban was too ruthless; he was willing to kill an entire family at the drop of a hat.

As the match burned out, Mr. Zhao, who was already terrified, felt a sharp pain in his finger. He quickly waved his right hand to extinguish the match and bitterly held up two fingers to Ban Jun.

"Twenty percent, Advisor Ban, I, Zhao, am willing to give twenty percent of the net profit to the brothers, what do you say?"

"Four percent!"

Ban Jun made an outrageous demand, asking for almost half of the net profit.

"Twenty-five percent, that's really the most I can do." Boss Zhao looked pained and explained the reason.

"Consultant Ban, this business isn't just mine alone. I need to manage everyone from top to bottom. If I give you 40%, then I'll have to put money out of my own pocket."

"Thirty percent!"

Ban Jun stood firmly on the railway track, his gaze growing increasingly dangerous, as if he were about to arrest the other party if they didn't agree.

Mr. Zhao had no choice but to agree. Only then did the secret agents beam with joy as they escorted Ban Jun away from the Zhao family home and into the car outside.

Once he was sure the spies were gone, Boss Zhao spat on the ground, muttered curses, and picked up the phone to report the situation to his "partner," reminding him that he couldn't bear to pay 30% of the profits alone.

Mr. Zhao's experience was not an isolated case. Ban Jun led a group to "visit" a large number of Nanjing businessmen involved in illegal businesses and made a fortune.

He showed no mercy to unscrupulous merchants who were willing to risk their lives for money, and even personally executed several of them.

Ban Jun didn't keep any of the money he extorted for himself. Besides sharing some with his traitorous subordinates, he gave most of the rest to Chai Shan.

Despite Shibayama Kenshiro's constant talk of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, he was ruthless when it came to taking money.

Gradually, Chai Shan began to trust Ban Jun, after all, money doesn't lie, and besides, Ban Jun had blood on his hands.

Therefore, he began to allow Ban Jun to access some classified work, such as interrogation and screening.

Suspicious individuals captured by the Japanese puppet regime in Nanjing were handed over to the advisory department, and the secret prison where Ban Jun had been detained was one of the places where they were held.

Regardless of whether there is evidence or not, once a prisoner enters a secret prison, it is very difficult for them to come out alive.

After taking over the interrogation, Ban Jun first checked the prison roster. When he saw a photo, he stopped flipping through the documents.

The photo shows a young woman with a beautiful face; Ban Jun had met her in a secret prison.

The register recorded the woman's information: Lin Miaoyin, 24 years old, from Quzhou, Zhejiang Province.

"What is her crime?" Ban Jun asked the agent who delivered the roster.

"Report: This young woman may be a Kuomintang agent, but we haven't found any concrete evidence. Since the Lin family is a prominent family in Quzhou, we can only detain her temporarily."

The agent peeked out and replied, then his eyes darted around and said, "Advisor, your wife isn't around, and there's no one to take care of you. Commander Chai Shan asked me to inquire whether you should find a woman to serve you."

Ban Jun smiled as he looked at the photo, casually put Lin Miaoyin's picture into his pocket, and turned to walk out the door.

The spy curled his lip at the sight, feeling utterly contemptuous. Everyone said that underground party members were incorruptible and upright, but this guy surnamed Ban was a lecherous glutton.

(End of this chapter)