Spy game? Stop guessing, I really am an undercover agent!

Chapter 247 You don't know you're wrong, you know you're going to die.

The atmosphere in the top-floor intensive care unit of Tzu Chi Hospital was as heavy as an ice cave.

All the staff, from doctors and nurses to agents of 76, held their breath and bowed their heads, like prisoners awaiting trial.

The air was thick with the stench of death that even disinfectant couldn't mask.

Li Qun and Ding Cun stood in front of Qian Shizhao's body, their faces extremely grim.

"Thump, thump, thump," a series of hurried footsteps sounded, and a Special Agent No. 76 quickly walked to Li Qun's side and whispered in his ear, "Minister Chen is here."

Li Qun's expression hardened slightly. He waved for the other party to leave and said to Ding Cun, "Director Ding, Minister Chen has arrived."

Ding Cun's lips curled up slightly, revealing a smile that was more like a grimace: "What's coming will come sooner or later, Director Li, there's no escaping it."

"Let's go, let's go greet them at the entrance..."

The two sighed simultaneously, and just as they reached the door, they heard heavy, hurried footsteps coming from the end of the corridor.

The leather boots clattered on the ground with a measured sound, each thud seeming to pound on everyone's heart.

Chen Yang, dressed in his impeccable land transport uniform, had a livid face, and his eyes, which were usually as sharp as a hawk's, were now burning with an almost tangible rage.

Behind him followed two mid-level officers from the Mei Agency, their faces grim.

Li Qun and Ding Cun were already waiting at the door of the ward. Both of them had a fine layer of cold sweat on their foreheads. When they saw Chen Yang appear, they quickly stepped forward and bowed deeply, almost bending their waists to a ninety-degree angle.

"minister!"

Chen Yang didn't even glance at them, and went straight into the ward.

Inside the ward, Qian Shizhao's body had not yet been moved. It lay quietly on the hospital bed, with a white sheet covering his head, leaving only a blurry human outline.

Two forensic doctors and on-site investigators were working carefully when they saw Chen Yang enter. They immediately stopped what they were doing, stood at attention, and saluted.

Chen Yang's gaze swept across every corner of the room. The windows were tightly closed, the curtains were drawn, and there were two guards at the door. There were no signs of a struggle inside. Everything seemed suffocatingly "normal."

"Tell me, what's going on?" Chen Yang's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling, metallic edge.

The technical officer from the Mei agency in charge of the on-site investigation stepped forward with a stiff upper lip, handing over a preliminary report with both hands. His voice trembled slightly as he said, "Minister Chen, the preliminary assessment is that Mr. Qian died instantly from a sharp object penetrating his heart. The murder weapon... should be this."

All eyes followed his gesture and focused on him.

On the tray lay a thin, long bamboo skewer stained with dark red blood.

The bamboo skewers were crudely made, the kind you see everywhere, but the tips were sharpened to an exceptionally sharp point, reflecting a cold light under the lamp.

"Bamboo...skewer?" Chen Yang slowly repeated the two words. "You mean a grown man was stabbed to death with a bamboo skewer in front of everyone?"

Chen Yang's voice was filled with disbelief and a furious rage triggered by extreme humiliation.

He turned his head sharply, his gaze like two sharp daggers, piercing Li Qun and Ding Cun.

"Director Li! Director Ding!" Chen Yang's voice suddenly rose, echoing in the ward like thunder, making everyone's eardrums buzz. "Tell me! What exactly are you doing?"

"You kept assuring me that 76th Division was known as an impregnable fortress!"

“Hundreds of people, hundreds of people! You were all there, three or four layers deep, guarding a wounded man! And what did you do? The murderer used a single… a single bamboo stick! Like a string of candied hawthorns, right under your noses, to kill Qian Shizhao!!”

Chen Yang grabbed the bloodstained bamboo skewer and almost shoved it into Li Shiqun's face: "Look! Look closely, everyone! This is the murder weapon!"

"It's not some high-performance explosive! It's not a sniper rifle! It's a fucking bamboo skewer! You bunch of trash! Fools! Idiots! Is the Empire keeping you here just to show how you get defeated by a bamboo skewer?!"

Li Qun and Ding Cun hung their heads even lower, their faces deathly pale, sweat trickling down their temples, yet they dared not wipe it away. Li Qun's lips trembled as he tried to explain, "Minister, Minister... we... we checked the identities of everyone who came in and out..."

"Verification?!" Chen Yang abruptly interrupted him, slamming the bamboo skewer onto the tray with a crisp clanging sound. "The murderer was wearing a nurse's uniform, pushing a cart, swaggering in, carrying out the assassination, and then swaggering out!"

"Your investigation is a complete joke! Where are your people's eyes? Do you expect to find out only when the killer puts a bomb by my bedside?"

"Qian Shizhao's death is not just the loss of one of Mr. Wang's key officials; it is also a great mockery of the security capabilities of the Japanese intelligence agencies!"

"If this gets out, No. 76 will become a laughing stock among Shanghai's intelligence agencies, and as the person directly in charge of No. 76, I will lose all face!"

"The port explosion was a warning! The hospital assassination was the execution! It was all part of a plan! They slapped the plan right in your faces, and you couldn't even touch the hem of their clothes!" Chen Yang's voice was distorted with extreme anger. "Within 76, either everyone is a good-for-nothing, or there's more than one rat hiding there!"

These last words, like icicles, sent a chill down Li Qun and Ding Cun's spines.

Chen Yang took a deep breath, his eyes turning cold and cruel again, and commanded, word by word:
"First, completely block the news! The cause of Qian Shizhao's death must be kept strictly confidential from the outside world. The official line is that his old injuries recurred and he could not be saved! Anyone who dares to divulge even a single word will be treated as a traitor!"

"Secondly, Director Li, Director Ding! I'm giving you forty-eight hours! Within forty-eight hours, find the murderer! Live or dead, I want to see the body!"

"Furthermore, you two will cooperate with Major Kinoshita to thoroughly investigate the interior of 76! Isolate and interrogate all suspicious individuals! Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free!"

"Third, this is no longer a simple assassination attempt, but a full-scale intelligence and psychological warfare campaign launched against us by hostile forces! From this moment on, all relevant units shall be on high alert! I will personally report to headquarters!"

After a pause, Chen Yang's gaze turned cold as he raised a finger and pointed it directly at Li Qun's nose: "Director Li, you'd better sort this out quickly. If you can't, I'll deal with you..."

After saying that, Chen Yang stopped looking at Li Qun and Ding Cun, whose faces were ashen, turned around abruptly, and strode out of the ward with an almost tangible aura of malevolence.

The sound of leather shoes striking the ground rang out again, but it was heavier than before, as if each step was on ruins.

A deathly silence fell over the ward. Li Qun slowly straightened up, his face ashen, his eyes filled with lingering fear and a kind of madness driven to the brink of despair.

The 48 hours Chen Yang gave them wasn't a deadline, it was an ultimatum. If they couldn't find the murderer, or a scapegoat of sufficient weight, then he and Ding Cun would likely have to use their own lives to quell the storm.

"Investigate! Investigate to the death!" Li Qun growled at his subordinates like a wild beast, his voice carrying the strain of a cornered animal fighting for survival.

Shanghai Municipality, Meizhou Municipality.

Chen Yang's anger, fueled by Qian Shizhao's death, burned even more fiercely.

In particular, he was eager to prove his abilities to Sato and resolve the rumors as soon as possible.
However, not only have the 76th Bureau failed to trace the source, but they also took it upon themselves to use Qian Shizhao as bait, leading to his murder. Fortunately, the Mei Agency's investigation has made progress. While reviewing all of Yasuda Nobuo's social relationships and communication records before his disappearance, a seemingly insignificant clue has surfaced...

The records of several brief phone calls made from the Shanghai-based South Manchuria Railway Investigation Bureau to a now-defunct forwarding number in the Beijing News during a critical period before the rumors broke.

This abandoned number was found to be connected to a secret contact point used by Nobuo Yasuda.

Further investigation revealed that all the indirect evidence pointed to Aoki Tomohiro, the director of the Shanghai branch of the South Manchuria Railway Bureau's Investigation Department.

Although there is no direct evidence that Aoki Tomohiro was involved in spreading rumors, his contact with Yasuda and his position gave him access to a great deal of inside information!
In particular, his past unpleasant "business dealings" with certain individuals in the military logistics system provided him with the motivation and the means to achieve them.

In Chen Yang's view, this was enough.

He needed to give his superiors an explanation, and he also needed a sufficiently significant target to deter those who wanted to harm him and to restore the authority of the Mei Agency.

Aoki Yukichi, a mid-to-high-level official at the South Manchuria Railway Company, was a suitable "achievement"—not too big, not too small.

In Shanghai, the South Manchuria Railway Shanghai Survey Bureau office building, located on North Sichuan Road, remains a bustling scene.

Staff members moved about carrying documents, and the telephones rang incessantly.

Inside the director's office, Aoki Tomochiro was discussing an analysis report on the flow of goods in Central China with several subordinates.

Suddenly, a sharp, screeching sound of brakes came from outside the office building, followed by the chaotic, heavy thud of leather boots.

The door was violently pushed open, and a group of Japanese agents dressed in khaki military uniforms, with Meiji Agency armbands wrapped around their right arms and fully armed, swarmed in and instantly took control of all the exits and passages in the first-floor lobby.

The employees were stunned by the sudden turn of events, and the air in the entire office area seemed to freeze.

Surrounded by a group of officers, Chen Yang strode in expressionlessly.

He was still wearing his crisp army uniform, his eyes as cold as the Siberian wind as he swept over the panicked faces.

"Where is Aoki Yuki?" Chen Yang's voice was not loud, but it carried a hint of authority.

A clerk, startled, quickly pointed upstairs: "In...in the director's office on the second floor..."

Chen Yang said no more and led his men up the stairs, his leather boots making a dull, oppressive sound as they stepped on the wooden steps.

Mei's agents quickly followed and took control of the second-floor corridor.

"boom!"

The office door was suddenly pushed open by a Mei agency officer, the loud noise startling Aoki Tomohiro and several of his subordinates who were inside, causing them to stand up in fright.

When Aoki Yuki saw Chen Yang appear at the door and the group of menacing Mei Agency agents behind him, his face instantly turned pale.

Forcing himself to calm down, Aoki adjusted his glasses and forced a smile: "Section Chief Chen? This is the South Manchuria Railway Bureau of Investigation. What brings you here? Why are you making such a fuss?"

Chen Yang walked into the office step by step, his gaze fixed on Aoki like a hawk, completely ignoring the few subordinates who were trembling with fear.

“Aoki-kun,” Chen Yang’s voice was cold and direct, “regarding the case of former South Manchuria Railway employee Yasuda Nobuo fabricating false information, spreading rumors, slandering Imperial officers, and disrupting logistical stability, it has now been determined that you are closely related to this matter. Please come with us back to the Ume Agency to assist in the investigation.”

"What?" The color drained from Aoki Tomohiro's face instantly. "Section Chief Chen, you can't do this without evidence. This is absolutely a frame-up!"

“I, Aoki Tomochiro, am utterly loyal to the Empire. How could I possibly participate in such a treasonous act! My relationship with Yasuda Nobuo was merely a normal working arrangement, I…”

“Normal contact?” Chen Yang sneered, interrupting his explanation. “During a sensitive period, frequently contacting a traitor who was later proven to have fabricated rumors? Director Aoki, who do you think this explanation can convince?”

Two fierce-looking military police officers immediately stepped forward and grabbed Aoki Tomohiro from the left and right.

"What are you doing?! Let me go! I am the director of the South Manchuria Railway Bureau! You can't arrest me without evidence! I want to appeal to the South Manchuria Railway Bureau headquarters! I want to see General Kagesa!" Aoki Tomochiro panicked completely. He struggled and shouted, his gold-rimmed glasses tilted to one side, making him look extremely disheveled.

The agents of the Mei Agency didn't care about any of that and roughly dragged Aoki Tomohiro away.

Aoki's struggles were futile against the well-trained military police, and his shouts sounded particularly jarring in the quiet office building.

The South Manchuria Railway employees stared in disbelief as their director was dragged out of his office like a dead dog, down the corridor, and down the stairs.

"What are you trying to do?" Aoki Yusei struggled desperately, gripping the corridor railing tightly with both hands as if making a last-ditch effort, and shouted angrily, "Chen Yang, you're just a transport officer, you have no right to have the Mei Agency arrest me."

"You're overstepping your authority; you can't do that."

“It’s indecent, Director Aoki. What you’ve done is really indecent.” Chen Yang said slowly, “Director Aoki, you are, after all, a descendant of the second head of the Special Higher Police, Lord Aoki Nobuyuki. How can you act so brainlessly?”

"If I didn't have evidence, would I dare to arrest you myself?"

"Now you know fear, but you shouldn't have teamed up with Nobuo Yasuda to spread rumors about the Logistics Department colluding with the Transportation Department in the first place."

"What? You dare to do it but not admit it!"

Aoki shuddered, but still insisted on shouting, "Chen Yang, don't frame me! What evidence do you have?"

Chen Yang sneered, "Evidence? When we get to the interrogation room at the Mei Agency, I'll personally prove it to you."

“No, no,” Aoki suddenly exclaimed, “It was all Yasuda Nobuo’s doing. I only made a few phone calls to him. I knew nothing about the rumors.”

Well, the bad guy came out on his own. I thought Aoki Tomohiro could at least hold out for a day or two, but who knew he would confess without any torture.

"Chief Aoki, so you're really afraid I'll kill you?"

"In that case, you shouldn't have given Yasuda those bad ideas, using rumors to sow discord between the Logistics Department and the Transportation Department."

"They can't take us down now, and they're panicking terribly."

"Ha, Chief Aoki, you don't know you're wrong, you just know you're about to die..."

"Give it to me, take it with you..."
P.S.: [While under observation in the ICU, my recovery is better than expected. I'm trying to write about 4,000 words a day, and I'll keep going. Please don't mind the quality; I'm doing my best!]

(End of this chapter)