My years of espionage

Chapter 2004 It's better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn't!
Cheng Qianfan was very surprised by Araki Harima's sudden visit.

It was even somewhat unexpected.

"Araki-kun, when did you come to Nanjing?" Cheng Qianfan asked Araki Harima as they walked and talked in the garden.

“I just arrived this morning,” Araki Harima said, glancing around. “Is there a problem with the study?”

Previously, when he visited Kentaro Miyazaki, the two usually had private conversations in the study. But now, Kentaro Miyazaki was talking to him in the open garden, which he found rather strange.

"I'm not sure," Cheng Qianfan said. "After all, the house was provided by Chu Mingyu's side; it's just for safety reasons."

He told Araki Harima, "After all, if my true identity is revealed, it will cause a lot of trouble."

……

Araki Harima nodded.

Cheng Qianfan is now Chu Mingyu's trusted assistant and has even been personally received by Wang Tianhai. He is hailed as a young and promising member of the Kuomintang. Such a status is quite special. If Wang Tianhai's regime were to find out that Cheng Qianfan was actually a Japanese imposter, it would definitely cause a huge uproar within Wang Tianhai's regime and could even become a significant diplomatic dispute.

Although the Wang Jingwei regime dared not really do anything to the empire, it was ultimately better to avoid trouble. Most importantly, once things got out of hand, Kentaro Miyazaki, the person directly involved, would inevitably become the one to be sacrificed.

……

"The Nanjing Special Higher Police have apparently discovered clues related to the Shanghai Special Intelligence Bureau, so I came to Nanjing urgently," Araki Harima said.

"The Shanghai Special Operations Team?" Cheng Qianfan looked surprised, then asked with delight, "Have you found any leads on Xiao Mian?"

"No, we've only found some leads about the Shanghai Special Operations Group," Araki Harima said. "I don't have the specifics yet."

He took the cigarette from Kentaro Miyazaki, lit it, took a puff, and said in a low voice, "In fact, when the Nanjing Special Higher Police discovered clues about the Shanghai Special Intelligence Group, they did not notify Shanghai."

Cheng Qianfan immediately understood that someone within the Nanjing Special Higher Police had secretly tipped off those in Shanghai.

"Araki-kun has come to see me..." Cheng Qianfan said thoughtfully, "If this were in Shanghai, I might be able to offer some small assistance, but in Nanjing..."

“Xiao Mian and his Special Intelligence Division are our old adversaries. We can say that we are the Shanghai Special Higher Police officers who have fought against Xiao Mian the longest,” Araki Harima said, his tone somewhat emotional. “Although we haven’t met with the Nanjing Special Higher Police yet, I have a feeling that we might actually get important clues this time.”

He said to Kentaro Miyazaki, "Perhaps the capture of Xiao Mian and the Shanghai Special Intelligence Bureau will happen today, at this very moment."

……

“So I thought I should let you know about this,” Araki Harima said to his friend, flicking his cigarette ash.

"If we can capture Xiao Mian this time and completely destroy the Shanghai Special Operations Bureau, that would be wonderful," Cheng Qianfan said.

As he spoke, a hint of hesitation appeared on his face.

Araki Harima noticed his friend's expression and smiled, saying, "Miyazaki-kun, between us, let's speak frankly."

"I don't quite understand why you, Araki-kun, have this intuition that we might be able to uncover important leads for the Shanghai Special Operations Bureau," Cheng Qianfan said. "I just have some doubts."

Araki Harima nodded slightly, signaling Miyazaki Kentaro to continue.

“We’ve been fighting the Shanghai Special Operations Bureau for so long in Shanghai, but we haven’t been able to get any crucial clues.” He frowned and looked at Araki Harima, asking, “But we’ve only found suspected clues in Nanjing. Why do you think we’ll have a bigger breakthrough in Nanjing?”

“So that’s what you were wondering about.” Araki Harima smiled and said, “That’s not surprising at all.”

"It is precisely because the Shanghai Special Intelligence Bureau is extremely cunning and cautious that we have been fighting them for several years without making any progress," Araki Harima said. "Under these circumstances, the possibility of Nanjing gaining unexpected benefits is even greater."

……

“I think I understand what you mean, Araki-kun.” Cheng Qianfan looked thoughtful. “You mean that Shanghai is Xiao Mian’s and the Shanghai Special Operations Bureau’s territory. They are old rivals with us and with the 76th Bureau. That’s why they are extra vigilant, while the people from the Shanghai Special Operations Bureau might be more relaxed in Nanjing…”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I meant.” Araki Harima nodded. “That’s why I rushed to Nanjing as soon as I learned that clues about the Shanghai Special Operations Bureau had been discovered here.”

"What does Section Chief Arao mean?" Cheng Qianfan asked immediately.

Araki Harima understood why his friend asked that question. Within the Special Higher Police, Arao Tomohiro both used and guarded against Araki Harima, or more precisely, guarded against him more.

"In the matter of arresting Xiao Mian and cracking the Shanghai Special Intelligence Bureau, Arao Tomohiro's interests are aligned with ours," Araki Harima said.

Cheng Qianfan nodded, but he still kindly reminded his friend, "The interests are aligned, but the specific contributions will vary."

……

“I understand.” Araki Harima nodded. “I’ll be careful.”

Araki Harima was quite pleased with his friend's reminder; only a true friend like Miyazaki would think of him so sincerely.

……

After Araki Harima left, Cheng Qianfan sat on a bench in the garden smoking, seemingly gazing at the sky in admiration, or perhaps deep in thought.

His first thought was, what was the purpose of Araki Harima's trip?
Is it a test?
Cheng Qianfan shook his head. He didn't think he had revealed anything. Besides, if it was a test, Araki Harima's test was too childish.

Therefore, the truth should be as Araki Harima said: it was because the two of them had fought together against Xiao Mian for many years that they now had a lead from the Special Affairs Department. Araki Harima was grateful for this and, knowing that Xiao Mian was in Nanjing, he made a special trip to Nanjing.

So, what clues did the Nanjing Special Higher Police discover?
Cheng Qianfan pondered, estimating that the enemy must have grasped some information about the Nanjing station of the Special Intelligence Bureau.

Was it Ada from Nanjing Station who betrayed the enemy and leaked relevant intelligence after being captured?

Cheng Qianfan was unsure.

He felt that this was the most likely scenario.

From this perspective, the information obtained from Araki and Harima seems to corroborate the fact that Ada was arrested and betrayed the party.

However, considering that both he and Qiao Chuntao had anticipated and prepared for the worst-case scenario that Ada might be in trouble, might be arrested, or even betray them after being arrested, the information they obtained from Araki Harima was of little practical value.

If the enemy only possesses information revealed after Ada's defection, it still poses a threat to the Nanjing station. However, the threat has been minimized and kept within manageable limits.

……

Cheng Qianfan was quite confident about the security situation at Nanjing Railway Station.

For Nanjing Station, the most pressing threat now is that the enemy has obtained photos of Qiao Chuntao and Xia Xiaoying, putting them in a very dangerous situation.

Fortunately, he already had a plan. This afternoon, Qiao Chuntao and her husband would come to the Cheng residence with the Wu family troupe. Once they were settled in at home, everything would be fine.

Thinking of this, Cheng Qianfan felt much more relaxed. He took a light drag on his cigarette and flicked off the ash.

At that moment, Cheng Qianfan frowned slightly.

He recalled Araki Harima's attitude and the words Araki Harima had said.

……

Araki Harima believes that the clues in Nanjing may yield unexpected results and breakthroughs.

The reason given is that the Shanghai Special Operations Office is located in Nanjing, which may not be as cautious as the one in Shanghai, and there may be unexpected oversights.

Just now, when he was discussing these things with Araki Harima, he was scoffing at it. Araki Harima was dreaming. He had great confidence in Nanjing Station and did not believe that there would be any fatal flaws there.

However, Cheng Qianfan is now deep in thought.

A fatal oversight, in a relative sense.

What may seem like a trivial mistake, if unnoticed by the enemy, will be fine. But once noticed by someone with ulterior motives, it could be a fatal oversight.

So, does Nanjing Station have this seemingly insignificant but actually fatal oversight?

Cheng Qianfan didn't know.

After all, Qiao Chuntao was in charge of Nanjing, and he didn't know much about the situation at Nanjing Station.

Cheng Qianfan's heart sank. He began to think carefully, analyzing and reflecting on the information he had, to see if there were any oversights.

This wasn't because he distrusted Qiao Chuntao; in fact, he didn't trust anyone.

He had already placed a great deal of trust in Taozi.

……

Cheng Qianfan pondered carefully, recalling and reflecting step by step, but found nothing he had overlooked.

wrong.

The only point of doubt is that Ma Benze and Ada knew each other, and Ada had some understanding of Ma Benze. Ada's capture likely indicates that he has already betrayed the enemy. Could the enemy use Ada to trace Ma Benze?
He had previously discussed this with Qiao Chuntao.

Ma Benzai had a contingency plan with two good citizen certificates, which eliminated the possibility from the beginning that the enemy could trace the source back to Ma Benzai through Ada.

Therefore, there is nothing wrong with this only questionable point.

However, Cheng Qianfan breathed a sigh of relief, but then his brows furrowed again.

Despite careful consideration and finding no fault in his judgment, he still felt a lingering unease.

This unease stems from what Araki Harimaru said.

……

This feeling made Cheng Qianfan slightly irritable, and he forced himself to calm down.

Cheng Qianfan did not take this unfounded worry lightly.

This kind of unfounded worry can be understood as intuition.

Intuition is sometimes wrong, and sometimes right.

However, for agents on the covert front, when it comes to security issues, it's better to err on the side of caution than to disbelieve something is false.

Regarding Ma Benzai, this was the only questionable aspect, but after careful analysis and consideration, it was confirmed that there were no problems.

Since we're stuck on this point, let's investigate and verify it.

……

Cheng Qianfan waved to Li Hao.

Haozi jogged over.

"Has Chen Hu been settled?" Cheng Qianfan asked.

"They're all settled in." Li Hao nodded. "Tiger brought six people with him. As you instructed, Brother Fan, they all speak Nanjing dialect."

"Go see Chen Hu secretly," Cheng Qianfan said. "Have Chen Hu arrange for his men to go to Luobogou to scout out the situation."

"Is Brother Fan worried that something happened to Xiao Ma?" Li Hao asked in surprise.

……

"Maybe I'm worrying unnecessarily," Cheng Qianfan said. "Anyway, it's better to investigate to put my mind at ease."

"I'll arrange it right away," Li Hao said seriously.

Although Fan said he might be worrying unnecessarily, Li Hao still dared not be negligent and even took it very seriously.

Fan Ge's concerns are a signal that needs to be taken very seriously.

……

Nanjing Special Higher Education Class.

Honda Junjin jogged up to the second floor.

"Major." He pushed open the door to Nagashima Masato's office.

Then I saw Matsumoto Mayuto sitting there.

"Commander Matsumoto." Honda Junto immediately stood at attention and bowed respectfully to Matsumoto Mayuto.

“I’ve arranged for Honda to investigate Hu Yingju’s personal belongings to see if there are any valuable clues,” Nagashima Masato said to Matsumoto Mayuto. “Perhaps he has found some valuable clues, which is why he was so rude.”

……

“It’s alright.” Matsumoto Mayuto said with a smile, “I don’t care about these so-called formalities. On the contrary, I am very pleased with Honda’s work ethic.”

He looked at Honda Junto, "Honda, have you found a clue?"

“Yes, sir,” Honda Junto replied immediately.

Beside him, a strange look flashed across Nagashima Masato's eyes.

"Please speak," Matsumoto Mayuto said, nodding slightly.

……

"So, it can be confirmed that the box of pastries was purchased from this Qianmen Pastry Shop?" Matsumoto Mayu asked Honda Junto.

"Yes, the photos have been examined by several people, including the shop assistants and the owner. The two images corroborate each other, so they wouldn't dare to hide anything or lie," Honda Junto nodded and said.

He continued to report to Matsumoto Mayu, "We also got the timing right. It was an hour before Hu Yingju returned to Luobogou. He bought some pastries and went straight back to Luobogou."

"What do you think?" Matsumoto Mayuto asked, looking at Nagashima Masato beside him.

“Qianmen Pastry Shop is on Emerald Street.” Nagashima Masato came to the wall, pointed to a spot on the map with his finger stick, and said, “This place is surrounded by roads and can be easily accessed in all directions. In terms of terrain, it does meet the characteristics of a safe house that facilitates evacuation and dispersal.”

After a pause, Masato Nagashima pondered and said, "Suppose, suppose that Hu Yingju was indeed with Zhou Changliu the night he disappeared, then there is indeed such a possibility..."

He pondered for a moment and continued, "After leaving Zhou Changliu's hiding place, he bought a pastry nearby. Therefore, we can infer that Zhou Changliu is hiding near Emerald Street, or at least not too far from here."

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(End of this chapter)