Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 533 Special Agents in Action, Television Camera Helmet
The two rickshaws returned to the street outside the alleyway leading to the bar.

Fang Wen and Gong Xiuneng paid the fare and got out of the car.

It was already 5 p.m., but it was the busiest time of day for the street, with cars parked all along the roadside.

Smoothly dressed young men with slicked-back hair and glamorous socialites in cheongsams stood chatting on the street.
Meanwhile, on this street, there were also vendors carrying loads of goods and hawking their wares, old men from the Qing Dynasty who used to play with birds in cages but had whips twisted in their hands, and women leading their children home in a hurry.

Looking at all this, Gong Xiuneng couldn't help but say, "It's been a long time since I've seen such a prosperous place. I'm afraid even Chongqing can't compare to this place."

"Of course. With the fall of Shanghai and Guangzhou, a large number of wealthy people either went to the southwest or to Hong Kong, and the wealth they brought passively contributed to Hong Kong's prosperity. Let's go to a bar."

After Fang Wen finished speaking, he waited for the car to pass before crossing the road to the other side of the street.

There are already people in the alley; they're probably heading to the bar.

Following these people, Fang Wen arrived at the entrance of the bar and went inside.

Inside, neon lights were flashing, a band was playing music, a singer was performing, and people were dancing on the dance floor.

Meanwhile, bartender Xiao Liu was also very busy, mixing drinks for the guests one by one.

He saw Fang Wen standing by the bar, walked over and whispered, "There are too many people, I can't get away. Here's the key to the back door, you can go through by yourselves."

The key was pushed over from under a glass of wine.

Fang Wen took the wine glass and pulled the key away from it.

Immediately, he and Gong Xiuneng left the bar, went to the back door, and seeing that no one was around, used their key to open the back door and went inside.

Amidst the noise, he walked through the corridor to the back of the bar, opened the cellar door, and entered.

The moment the cellar door closed, the noise outside also disappeared.

After a night, Fang Wen got up early and woke up Gong Xiuneng.

"Change your clothes; this outfit won't do for a cleaner."

"Oh." Gong Xiuneng got up and took out two sets of ordinary short jackets and trousers from his bag.

After changing into these clothes and messing up his hair, Fang Wen disguised himself and Gong Xiuneng.

Because he needed to stay inside the building for a long time, overly deliberate disguise would be counterproductive, so Fang Wen only made facial modifications.

I put a hairy black mole on my right cheek, and my skin tone darkened.

Gong Xiuneng made his face look fatter and darkened his skin tone.

By doing this, the two of them started to look somewhat like the locals.

The only problem is that he and Gong Xiuneng are a head taller than the locals.

But there are tall people among the Cantonese, so that's not a problem.

After doing all that, the two men, dressed in white short-sleeved shirts, opened the cellar door and came out.

Hearing the commotion, Xiao Liu came over to check. Upon seeing two strangers, he immediately became alert and picked up a wooden stick.

"Who are you? I know martial arts, so don't mess around."

Fang Wen spoke up: "Take a closer look and see who I am?"

Xiao Liu was stunned. After examining them for a while, he hesitated and asked, "The two comrades from Yan'an? Why do you look different now?"

"We might appear before you in different guises in the future. Here's a secret code: whenever you hear someone say 'wine grapes' to you, that's me."

Using inverted words related to wine as a code word is something that is rarely used in everyday language, but it is very suitable for making contact.

Xiao Liu noted down the code and prepared to tell it to his superior. He then cooked noodles for Fang Wen and the other person for breakfast.

After eating the noodles, the two left the bar.

At 7:30, the two arrived outside the HSBC building.

The security manager hadn't arrived yet, so the two waited where they were.

After a while, a young man in a suit walked out of the building and strode over.

He said in Cantonese, "Were you two ordered by my father to come and do something?"

Gong Xiu couldn't understand what he was saying, but Fang Wen did. It meant, "Were you two sent here by my father to do some work?"

He replied, "Hey. My name is Liang Dalin, and his name is Liang Erlin."

The young man replied, “My name is Liang Yuzhao. Since we’re all relatives, I’ll definitely take care of you. Come with me, I’ll take you to the General Affairs Department. Once you’re hired, work hard. Also, don’t speak Cantonese there, speak Mandarin.”

After giving his instructions, he led Fang Wen and the other man into the building.

On the third floor of the building is the "General Affairs Department," which is responsible for managing cleanliness and hygiene.

Liang Yuzhao told Fang Wen and the other man to wait outside while he went in first, then came out and said, "You two go in, I won't keep you company. You have to work hard from now on."

After saying that, he left.

Fang Wen and Gong Xiuneng entered the General Affairs Department, which was filled with a lot of things, like a warehouse.

There was no section chief's office, but a fat man in a cubicle beckoned to the two of them: "Come here."

Wait for Fang Wen and the other person to arrive.

The fat man spoke up, "Liang Yuzhao has already given instructions, so you can rest assured and get to work. Cleaning won't be difficult. What are your names?"

After Fang Wen and Gong Xiuneng revealed their aliases, the fat man recorded them on the form.

"I know you can't read, so I've filled out your onboarding forms for you. Now, I'll show you around the work environment."

He got up, awkwardly walked to the shelves, and asked Fang Wen and the other person to take out the cleaning supplies they needed. Then he led the two of them upstairs.

Cleaning is not an easy job. According to the requirements, every floor must be cleaned, and you can't take the elevator. You have to go up the stairs and sweep up the trash in the stairwell as well.

This kind of work is not physically demanding, but it is very time-consuming.

The advantage is that you can access most areas inside the HSBC building.

There are some places you can't go to, such as the vault and the CEO's office, where there are dedicated staff responsible for hygiene.

Therefore, during the cleaning process, Fang Wen and his team began to look for suitable sniping and observation points.

Around noon, he and Gong Xiuneng met at the General Affairs Section to exchange information.

"Commander, I see a passageway to the east. The view down there is excellent."

"I saw it too, but it's easy to spot in the corridor. Are there any other places?"

"The room on the east side of the sixth floor seems to be empty, but it doesn't say which department it belongs to."

Just then, the chubby head of the General Affairs Section returned from outside, muttering, "They don't provide meals here. I don't get to eat what those foreigners eat. You have to bring your own lunch."

As he spoke, he took out his bundle, untied it to reveal the metal lunchbox inside, and couldn't help but swallow his saliva before even starting to eat.

Fang Wen walked over and said with a fawning smile, "Section Chief, it's alright to go hungry for a meal. We'll bring our own food tomorrow. But there are some things I don't understand about work."

"What is it? Speak up," the chubby section chief replied while eating.

"I still don't know which rooms need us to clean and which don't."

"Oh, this. You two are only responsible for cleaning the public areas; you don't need to worry about anything else. Oh, by the way, here's a document; please deliver it to the post office." The chubby section chief took a document from the drawer and placed it on the table.

The Postal Services Department was a bank department in this era, primarily responsible for business dealings between the post office and the bank.

Their office area is on the sixth floor, but in the west section.

"Okay." Fang Wen picked up the documents and quickly went upstairs.

After going from the third floor to the sixth floor, he did not go directly to the post office, but went to check the east area.

The passageway that Gong Xiu mentioned did indeed offer a good view, but it provided absolutely no concealment.

However, the room next door was also in a good location; looking out the window from the room, one could see the area where the traitor Wang was located.

Just then, a woman in a cheongsam walked over and asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a new cleaning staff member. My section chief asked me to deliver some documents to the post office, but no matter how much I knock, no one opens the door."

"Country bumpkin," the woman said softly, then turned back and said, "This is our post office's storage room, it's empty. You need to go that way."

"Oh, okay." Fang Wen turned and ran in the correct direction of the post office, looking just like a newly hired cleaning staff member.

After delivering the documents, he left the post office but did not go downstairs. Instead, he observed the surroundings and, when no one was around, went to the East District and quickly opened the door with a wire.

He entered, immediately closed the door, and then observed the room. There were only some junk boxes and a row of shelves, but nothing was stored inside.

On the east wall, there is a closed glass window.

The windows were fogged up, making it impossible to see what was happening outside.

He walked over and took a closer look.

Although the windows are decorated with patterns, this way the people outside can't see what's going on inside.

All you need is a small opening in the window to let the gun muzzle protrude and allow you to use a scope to observe the area below.

After confirming that this was a good observation and sniping position, Fang Wen left the room and went downstairs.

We've got the sniping and observation points; now we need to get the equipment.

Carrying two large bags during the day is definitely not an option.

Therefore, Fang Wen decided to come over at night.

Late at night, the bar was still bustling with activity. Fang Wen and Gong Xiuneng left with their bags, approaching the HSBC building in the darkness.

Two Sikh guards stand watch at the entrance of the building at night.

Of course, it wasn't about barging in directly through the front door.

The two went around to the back.

Their target was the window on the third floor. They had already loosened the latch during the day, so once they could reach the window, they could open it and get in.

However, it is 13 meters high, and can only be climbed by following the protrusions along the side of the wall.

Gong Xiuneng said in a low voice, "Commander, I'll do it."

He took a few steps back to get a running start, then suddenly sprinted out, using both legs to push off the wall, and instantly soared 3 meters into the air.

He then tried to grab onto a protrusion on the outer wall, but his hand slipped and he fell.

Fang Wen reached out and caught it.

"No, it's too slippery, you can't hook it with your fingers," Gong Xiuneng said.

"Let me try."

Fang Wen took the rope from Gong Xiuneng and hung it on his body, imitating Gong Xiuneng's running start.

To ensure he could reach a height of several meters, Fang Wen, who had never done this before, focused intently and mobilized his physical functions.

He suddenly rushed out, much faster than Gong Xiu Neng.

He then repeatedly kicked off the wall with both feet, and surprisingly ran diagonally upwards to a height of more than five meters.

Good heavens, Gong Xiuneng was dumbfounded. The regimental commander was even more like a chivalrous knight-errant who could leap across rooftops in a traditional Chinese novel.

Of course, gravity still took effect on Fang Wen. Although he could reach a higher altitude than Gong Xiu, he couldn't climb to a height of 14 meters in one go.

In the instant his sprint against the wall was exhausted, Fang Wen grabbed the protruding part of the outer wall with both hands.

This time, they caught it firmly.

With his hands as a fulcrum, his body is suspended in mid-air.

After a brief adjustment, he swung his body and swung out, his hands grabbing the next protrusion as he moved.

At this moment, Fang Wen felt like an extreme athlete on a cliff face, with a sense of being neither up nor down, and danger lurking at any moment.

But he has an advantage over extreme athletes.

His physical condition is three times that of a normal person, giving him superhuman strength, and his coordination and explosiveness are ridiculously high.

And so, through a series of perilous movements, he managed to climb out of the window in one go, finally putting Gong Xiuneng's mind at ease.

When they reached the window, Fang Wen hung one hand on the windowsill and used the other to open the window.

As the window opened, he climbed in and then dropped the rope down.

Gong Xiu, who was below, tied the handbag to the rope and was pulled up by Fang Wen.

Subsequently, Gong Xiuneng also climbed up the building using the rope.

The two opened the door to the General Affairs Department and walked through the quiet, dark building, going up to the 6th floor via the stairwell.

There, Fang Wen used a thin wire to open the door again and carried the two large bags into the room.

He then used a grinding wheel to make two round holes in the window, with the lower hole for the gun barrel and the upper hole for the scope.

It can also be used as an observation port for a telescope.

But it was nighttime, pitch black, and the only way for Fang Wen to see clearly was to put on his helmet and use his supernatural abilities to observe.

Instead of doing so, he planned to contact the anti-traitor team to coordinate the operation.

Afterwards, the two closed the door and returned the way they came.

Day three after arriving in Hong Kong.

At 5 a.m., Fang Wen and Gong Xiuneng went out to the residence of the anti-traitor team.

He knocked on the door.

There was a sudden commotion inside, and Fang Wen even sensed a murderous intent.

He didn't move, letting the other person observe through the peephole.

Then, the door opened, and Pan Suhuai, the captain of the anti-traitor squad, appeared.

"Come in and talk."

Fang Wen and Gong Xiuneng entered the room and got straight to the point.

"The Military Intelligence Bureau is also taking action, but they also don't know if it's Wang living there. We've found a suitable observation point. If we discover anything, we'll contact you via walkie-talkie. Make sure you have enough batteries and keep your walkie-talkies switched on."

Pan Suhuai also explained their current progress.

"We've discussed it with the Eagles and they'll stage an accident this afternoon to see if we can force the people in the house out."

"Okay, let's keep in touch today."

After Fang Wen finished speaking, he and Gong Xiuneng bought two servings of glutinous rice chicken and two bowls of rice noodles on the street for breakfast.

Around 7 a.m., the two, now disguised again, went to HSBC to continue their cleaning jobs.

On their second day at work, Fang Wen and Gong Xiuneng immediately got into work mode, cleaning each floor without being told what to do.

When they reached the sixth floor, Fang Wen, under Gong Xiuneng's guard, entered the room.

After that, the cleaning was left to Gong Xiuneng.

Fang Wen was assembling the equipment he had brought in the room.

The 98k sniper rifle has a range of 1000 meters.

A TV camera helmet used to activate supernatural abilities.

There is also a long-range monocular telescope.

He carefully removed the glass disc from the window, revealing a hole, and then extended a high-powered monocular telescope.

As the scope moved, the scene below appeared in Fang Wen's field of vision.

Hidden in the middle of that residential area is a private residence.

The house features artificial hills and ponds, with courtyards arranged in a pleasing, staggered pattern.

Plainclothes officers were stationed both inside and outside the compound, and there were even British police officers patrolling the perimeter.

In this kind of Chinese courtyard, unless the owner shows up, you really don't know where he is.

Fortunately, Fang Wen brought equipment that could activate superpowers.

He put on the TV camera helmet, activated his powers, and added X-ray vision.

The mechanical sensory perspective penetrated the walls and roof tiles of the house, revealing the interior.

(End of this chapter)