Holding the original shares, they fought all the way to the Korean War!

"Come on, eat it while it's hot."

She greeted them and went into the kitchen to bring out two dishes and several freshly steamed buns.

Zhou Tianyang sat down at the table.

Zhou Kui also sat down opposite him.

None of the three spoke.

The silence didn't feel awkward; rather, it felt like a tacit understanding that people had long been accustomed to.

Zhou Tianyang ate quickly, but he chewed each bite very carefully.

He knew that after finishing this meal and leaving through this door...

I don't know when I'll be able to sit at this table again for a meal.

Wang Lan sat beside him, not touching her chopsticks, but just watching her son eat.

Her gaze lingered on Zhou Tianyang's face, as if she were trying to etch his current appearance into her memory.

About ten minutes later.

Zhou Tianyang put down his bowl, swallowed the last piece of steamed bun, and then stood up.

Wang Lan also stood up and turned to walk into the kitchen.

A moment later, he came out carrying a heavy cloth bag and handed it to Zhou Tianyang.

"This dry ration is enough for you to eat for several days."

Zhou Tianyang took the cloth bag and weighed it in his hand.

Besides dry food, there were also some boiled eggs inside.

He didn't open it; he simply slung the bag over his shoulder.

Then he looked at his mother, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something.

But in the end, he only shouted once.

"daughter."

Wang Lan's eyes reddened, but she didn't let the tears fall; she just nodded vigorously.

Zhou Tianyang then looked at his father.

Zhou Kui also stood up, walked up to him, and patted him on the shoulder.

Be careful on the road.

"Um."

Zhou Tianyang responded, then turned around and strode towards the back door.

He didn't look back, but he paused slightly when he reached the side gate.

Then he pushed open the door and went out.

The back alley was deserted; it was already broad daylight.

He walked quickly along the alley without looking back.

When we returned to the abandoned brick kiln, the sun had already risen.

Ma Yong was squatting on a stone outside the kiln entrance.

The moment he saw Zhou Tianyang's figure appear in the distance, he visibly relaxed, stood up, and quickly went to greet him.

"Commander, you're back."

"Um."

Zhou Tianyang took the cloth bag off his shoulder and handed it to Ma Yong.

"Distribute the dry rations to the brothers."

"Now that we've eaten, let's continue our journey."

Ma Yong took the cloth bag, asked no further questions, and turned to walk into the cave dwelling.

A moment later, the soldiers' hushed voices could be heard coming from inside the cave.

Zhou Tianyang stood outside the kiln entrance and took one last look in the direction of Suzhou.

The outline of the city wall is clearly visible.

He looked at it for a few seconds, then looked away and turned to shout into the cave.

"Comrades, let's set off after we finish eating; we still have a long way to go."

A response came from inside the cave dwelling.

He stood there, waiting for the soldiers to come out one by one.

After the last soldier came out, Zhou Tianyang also started walking and took the lead in the group.

Suzhou City receded further and further behind them, while the winding mountain road ahead led towards Shanxi.

They still have a long way to go.

But Zhou Tianyang knew.

This trip to Shanghai has come to an end.

His family lives in Suzhou.

His troops were waiting for him to return to Shanxi to continue the fight.

……

Time passed little by little.

The temporary command post of the Shanghai Special Higher Police was filled with smoke.

Kenzo Sato sat behind a table with a thick stack of search reports in front of him.

The same line of text was written at the end of each copy.

No suspicious persons have been found so far.

He had read these reports countless times, until his fingers ached and his eyes were sore.

But those words remained unchanged, like rows of silent mockery.

Three days.

Hata Shunroku gave him three days.

The countdown started at 4:30 p.m. that day and ended at 4:30 p.m. today.

It is now 3:07 PM, with one hour and twenty-three minutes until the deadline.

Kenzo Sato looked up and glanced at the clock on the wall.

The pendulum continued to swing slowly, and with each swing, his temple throbbed.

He stood up and paced back and forth in the room a few times.

The group leaders in the room all kept their heads down; no one dared to look at him or make a sound.

The search over the past two days has exhausted most of the Special Higher Police's resources.

The Japanese concession was turned upside down, the Chinese concession was searched twice by house, and the main entrances and exits of the French concession were kept under close surveillance for three days.

Even the main highways outside the city were checked day and night.

They didn't even manage to catch a single hair.

The sniper seemed to have vanished into thin air, or perhaps he had never existed at all.

Kenzo Sato stopped in the middle of the room, placed his hands on the edge of the table, and stared down at the pile of useless reports on the table.

His shoulders were slightly tense, and his breathing was a bit heavier than usual.

Just then.

A series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

Then the door was pushed open.

A Japanese soldier from the Special Higher Police strode in, his face revealing an expression he couldn't hide.

"Section Chief!"

The man stood at attention, his voice a few decibels louder than usual.

"In that alley in the east of the city, we raided a Kuomintang intelligence station and arrested sixteen people!"

Kenzo Sato suddenly raised his head, his gaze lingering on the man's face for a moment before he slowly straightened up.

"Military Intelligence Bureau?"

"Yes, Military Intelligence Bureau."

The man nodded vigorously, his tone filled with eagerness to claim credit.

"That intelligence station was very well hidden. It took us two days to figure out their comings and goings patterns."

"The attack happened around noon today. Everyone inside was subdued; not a single one escaped."

"They also found a radio and three coded telegrams that hadn't been destroyed yet."

Kenzo Sato's eyes lit up slightly.

That brightness was fleeting, quickly replaced by something heavier.

He went back to his desk and sat down.

He placed his hands on the table, remained silent for a few seconds, and then spoke, his voice a few decibels lower than before.

"Where is he?"

"The interrogation is underway in the backyard interrogation room."

Kenzo Sato stood up.

"Let's go take a look."

When Kenzo Sato pushed open the door and walked in, the air was filled with a strong smell of blood and sweat.

There were six people tied to the iron chair, both men and women, all of them disheveled and ashen-faced.

Kenzo Sato's gaze swept across the faces of those people one by one, and then landed on a man in his early thirties.

The man's mouth was split open, and his left eye was so swollen that it was barely a slit.

But his right eye remained open, with a calm that was extremely unsettling.

Two Special Higher Police officers standing nearby were pouring cold water over his head.

Water streamed down his face, mixing with blood and dripping onto the ground.

"Have you confessed?"

Kenzo Sato's voice was neither too loud nor too soft.

"not yet."

The person next to him answered, their voice tinged with helplessness.

"He's very stubborn; he didn't say a word even after several rounds of questioning."

Kenzo Sato didn't say anything; he just stood there watching the man.

After being doused with cold water, the man regained some consciousness and his right eye slowly focused, landing on Kenzo Sato's face.

He looked at Kenzo Sato, his lips moving slightly as if he wanted to say something.

But in the end, he said nothing and simply looked away.