cicada

Chapter 1546 Extra (Inside and Outside the High Walls 4)

Two years ago, in Xiaoliuqiu.

Shen Dongxin sat idly in his new office. The bronze "Deputy Director" sign on his desk was polished to a shine, but it did nothing to change his current awkward situation.

After the Nationalist government moved to Xiaoliuqiu, the Party Affairs Bureau, which was reorganized from the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, was reorganized again, changing from a party intelligence agency into the Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of the Interior of the Executive Yuan, and its political status was reduced by more than one level.

Shen Dongxin, the deputy director of the Party Affairs Bureau, was automatically demoted to a staff member of the Ministry of the Interior of the Executive Yuan. Although he still held the title of deputy director, his influence was much less than before.

In the past, wherever he went, everyone in the National Government would respectfully address him as Deputy Director Shen, or even Director Shen.

Now, those with good tempers nod at him as a greeting, while those with bad tempers ignore him completely, treating him like air.

This situation made Shen Dongxin very uneasy. Without influence, he could not access high-level classified intelligence, and without access to intelligence, he could not complete his mission in Xiaoliuqiu.

After staring blankly behind the table for a while, Shen Dongxin got up, put on his suit jacket, and prepared to meet with his superior.

Just as he was about to leave the room, the phone rang. Shen Dongxin turned around, picked up the receiver, and heard the voice of his old friend Zuo Zhong on the other end.

"Dongxin, come here. The Second Bureau needs the cooperation of the Investigation Bureau for an operation."

After saying that, Zuo Zhong hung up the phone. Shen Dongxin slowly put the receiver back, his expression becoming serious.

His childhood friend and close confidant is now the number one figure in the KMT's intelligence system, and the Second Department is the core institution of the KMT's intelligence system. The case that can get the other party and the Second Department involved must be quite significant.

As Shen Dongxin pondered, he drove his car toward the Ministry of National Defense, sending a coded message to his superior halfway there: "Waiting for contact."

An hour later.

Shen Dongxin met Zuo Zhong, and He Yijun served them both coffee and quietly left. After the door was completely closed, Zuo Zhong took out a document and handed it over.

"Look, the target is someone in the military. The higher-ups suspect that this person is connected to the underground party. In order to prevent anyone from tipping off the suspect, I have decided that your investigation bureau will be in charge of the investigation."

Taking the document from his hand, Shen Dongxin joked, "I'd like to see who it is that can make Zuo Junzuo take it so seriously."

As he spoke, he opened the first page of the document, where the names and photos of the people were clearly visible.

Shen Dongxin immediately looked up, his face full of suspicion, and asked, "Is there some mistake? How could Vice Minister Xun be a member of the underground Communist Party?"

Zuo Zhong's tone was icy: "Are you kidding me? Just check it out."

Perhaps feeling that his words were too blunt, he then explained a couple more points in a more serious tone.

"To tell you the truth, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics has secretly recruited Lao Zheng, the head of the underground party in Xiaoliuqiu. This matter is currently top secret."

"The target is the first important mole that the other side has revealed. According to Lao Zheng, there are many moles of the underground party infiltrating the Nationalist government, including your Investigation Bureau."

"Therefore you need to select reliable people to carry out the investigation, otherwise once the news leaks out, the case will be difficult to solve."

Shen Dongxin's head buzzed, and he almost dropped the document. The underground party leader had been turned? How could that be?
He composed himself and pretended to be skeptical: "I heard that Lao Zheng was arrested once two months ago, but escaped during transport. Could it be that he has fallen into the hands of your secret service again?"

Zuo Zhong didn't answer directly, but sighed: "You should know that I don't pay much attention to the work of the Security Bureau now, to avoid suspicion."

"But according to reports from below, after escaping, Old Zheng did not leave the island immediately, but instead went to see his lover."

"The Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (BIS) deployed personnel near his lover's residence, and Lao Zheng was soon arrested again. After days of torture, he expressed his willingness to cooperate with the Party and the State."

Shen Dongxin was furious, but also relieved. Because of his special identity, he had no horizontal connections with the underground organization in Xiaoliuqiu, otherwise he would have been one of Lao Zheng's pledges of allegiance.

Zuo Zhong continued, "I'll leave the case to you. Yi Jun and I are going to Europe to recuperate for a while."

"Recover? How long?" Shen Dongxin asked in surprise.

"One to two years, maybe longer. It's time for us veterans to make way for the newcomers."

Zuo Zhong's answer was tinged with sarcasm, and Shen Dongxin immediately understood that it was related to the movements of the upper echelons of the National Government. When someone is promoted, someone else will naturally be demoted.

The two chatted for a while longer before Shen Dongxin left with the documents, and Zuo Zhong finally felt relieved.

When Lao Zheng first arrived in Xiaoliuqiu, he reported his situation to Lao K and his superiors. Before his superiors could take any action, Lao Zheng was secretly arrested by the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics.

To save him, Zuo Zhong did a lot of work, helping Lao Zheng successfully escape the spies. But unexpectedly, this guy couldn't change his ways; he abandoned the evacuation for his lover and betrayed his undercover comrade after being arrested a second time.

Zuo Zhong has no intention of getting involved in this matter. The enemy is not stupid; the more he does, the more flaws he will reveal.

There was nothing he could do, because of his questionable actions in Xuzhou, Bengbu, and Pingjin, some people had begun to suspect him, and the other party had even installed a bugging device at his residence.

If he were exposed, not only would his own safety be at risk, but what would happen to those long-term plans concerning the future of the nation and the country?
The only option now is to have Shen Dongxin lead the remaining forces in Xiaoliuqiu to carry out either eliminating traitors or rescuing them.

Two days later, just as the Investigation Bureau began a large-scale secret investigation, Zuo Zhong opened his mobile phone and sent a telegram. A large number of people, including Vice Minister Xun, quickly disappeared.

Meanwhile, a safe house belonging to the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was attacked. More than a dozen masked men killed everyone inside and then set it on fire.

A newly appointed high-ranking official in the Nationalist government was furious upon learning of this matter and ordered Zuo Zhong to conduct a thorough investigation, but after a long time, no results were found.

First, there are quite a few people who know about the situation, involving multiple agencies such as the Second Department, the Bureau of Secrecy, and the Investigation Bureau.

Secondly, the murderer was highly professional and left almost no clues.

In order to quell the anger of the higher-ups, Zuo Chong simply resigned from his positions in the Second Bureau and the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, retaining only the position of Director of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, and immediately set off overseas to recuperate.

That high-ranking official originally wanted to use this case to control the intelligence system. Although the underground party members were not caught, the goal was achieved.

To appease the public, the other party personally went to the airport to see Zuo Zhong and He Yijun off. Before parting, they told Zuo Zhong with reluctance that they hoped he would recover his health as soon as possible and strive to make new contributions to the party and the country in the future.

The plane quickly took off. Looking at the islands gradually shrinking outside the window, Zuo Zhong chuckled and felt completely relaxed.

If we don't leave now, when will we? Are we going to stay here and play Boom Beach and sing "Southeast Ascetic Mountain"? I'm not doing that anymore!

Two years later.

Also on the plane, Zuo Zhong received a copy of the Lefty Daily from a flight attendant. The front page featured a black and white photograph.

In the video, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshida is giving an anti-war speech, and the assistant standing next to him is none other than Finance Minister Hayashi Fuichiro, who is known as a rising star in Japanese politics.

Many people believe that after Yoshida's term ends, Hayashi Fu is the most promising candidate to become the new prime minister.

Because Lin Fu not only had the support of traditional Japanese political forces and the imperial family, but the Allied forces were also very satisfied with this collaborator, as evidenced by the several American officers who came to show their support.

Surprisingly, one of the Americans was of Asian appearance, and the other officers treated him very politely.

If any members of the U.S. intelligence system were present, they would certainly recognize him as Ji Dawei, the newly appointed director of the CIA's Asian Studies Office and a former Kuomintang agent.

Among the audience, Ryosuke Hase, head of the Special Higher Police Section 1 of the Metropolitan Police Department, and Bunta Takikawa, the second president of Shimizu Trading Company (the mole who was turned along with Fu Hayashi), were in the front row, smiling and clapping as they looked at the stage.

Turning to the second page, you'll find a moving account of Mr. Mei, a Chinese lawyer at Temasek, advocating for workers' holidays.

The reporter commented that although Temasek's independence cause has just begun, with pioneers like Mr. Mei, the people of Temasek will surely succeed in shaking off the exploitation of the colonizers.

When Zuo Zhong saw his younger brother Zuo Jun's pseudonym appear in the report, the corner of his mouth slightly raised, but he caught a glimpse of a wedding announcement in the notice.

Two days later, Takagi, the deputy director of the Korean War Education Bureau, will marry Ms. So Ching-min at the Seoul Catholic Church.

Quickly skipping over these less important messages, Zuo Zhong focused his attention on an essay and compared it with the codebook in the space.

After being deciphered, a coded message containing information on the recent troop movements of the US and Korean forces appeared on Zuo Zhong's phone screen.

He glanced at He Yijun and her child in the seat next to him, then pressed the send button with his thumb.
-
mountain city.

A fat man who claimed to be surnamed Dai came to a pickled mustard tuber factory. He always had a smile on his face, worked diligently and responsibly, and never had any conflicts with anyone, but there were exceptions.

Whenever the workers mentioned Zuo Zhong, a major Kuomintang agent, this worker would fly into a rage and hurl insults at Zuo Zhong in the local dialect of Chongqing, as if the two had a deep-seated hatred between them.

The workers secretly speculated that perhaps Lao Dai's family had died at the hands of secret agents, and the kind-hearted workers stopped mentioning Zuo Zhong.

Years later, Dai Gongren, wearing an advanced worker sash, stood on the stage. Halfway through the commendation ceremony, a group of police officers with serious expressions walked into the auditorium.

Seeing this, the fat man revealed a smile that was more like a grimace and roared to the sky: "You surnamed Zuo! I'll haunt you even as a ghost!"

① It should be the name of another organization, but we can't write that organization, so let's just call it the Special Higher Police.