Spy war in the Republic of China, peak undercover

Lu Yang sat in the passenger seat, his body swaying slightly with the car body, feeling the airtight oppression inside the car.

He didn't look back, but he could feel the scrutiny of the eyes behind him, piercing his spine like a substance.

The private car stopped behind a black sedan at the end of the street. The night was dark, and the streetlights were dim, stretching the shadows of the trees. The agent in the passenger seat, a lean man, swiftly got out and walked to the back door of the car in front, bowing and speaking to the person inside. A moment later, the agent returned and opened the back door of Lu Yang's car.

"Get out of the car, Commander Lu."

The agent's voice was low.

Lu Yang opened the door and stepped out, stopping a few steps in front of the car in front. He made no other unnecessary moves, simply waiting quietly. He knew that for an agent of his rank, he wanted to meet with Lin Shaopu, a Major General and Deputy Director of the Military Intelligence Department headquarters. Since Lin Shaopu was already dead, the person sitting in the car must be someone close to the Director, or perhaps Dai Yunong himself. In either case, a thorough search was impossible; that was the rule of the Military Intelligence Department. Those who didn't understand the rules wouldn't get very far.

Two men in Mao suits and top hats emerged from the shadows on the street. They approached Lu Yang quietly and lightly, then, without a word, searched him thoroughly, inside and out. Their movements were professional and swift. After the search, one of the men opened the passenger door of the car in front and said to Lu Yang, "Go in."

Lu Yang said nothing, obediently walking to the car door. As he bent down to get in, he casually glanced around. The driver's seat was empty. He didn't look again, and after a quick glance, he got in without a word.

The car door closed, and silence fell inside. From the back seat, a deep voice spoke, getting straight to the point without any nonsense.

"Have you searched Liu Yiguang's residence?"

Lu Yang nodded without looking back.

"Yes, sir."

"How do you know me?"

Lu Yang replied, "Sir, I went to the Shancheng Special District Headquarters yesterday and had the honor of chatting with several brothers from the special operations team." He lied a little and did not say that he knew Dai Yunong's code name by monitoring the radio.

"What did you find?"

The conversation then changed and returned to the original question.

"Sir, I have found some evidence that Liu Yiguang is a Japanese spy."

"What's there?"

"Sir, there are two radios, two code books, two hand-crank generators, four pistols, and some magazines and bullets."

"Have you seen the code book?"

"Yes, sir. I have read it. There is Japanese writing on it, so I dare to call."

"Since you're certain that Liu Yiguang is a Japanese spy, why didn't you notify the Shancheng Special District instead of coming here to inform the Special Operations Group? And why did you even want to meet with me privately? What's your purpose?"

"Reporting to the commander, I accidentally had a conflict with the military police from the Military Police Headquarters. Five of them are still being held by me..."

"Shancheng District can handle this kind of small matter for you. There's no need for me to intervene. Tell the truth!"

The tone of the person behind him became a little impatient.

"Yes, sir! Sir, I have applied to go to Shanghai—"

Lu Yang paused, but there was no sound from the back seat as before, which made him, who was used to the question-and-answer format, feel a little uncomfortable. He could feel the scrutiny of the eyes behind him, as if they were looking through him.

"Sir, I want to be a lone eagle."

Lu Yang finally revealed his true purpose for calling the Special Operations Group. In Military Control Commission jargon, a "lone eagle" refers to a person who acts alone, focusing on completing missions and orders, regardless of the means. Only those with absolute loyalty could be considered a lone eagle. This was both a way of expressing loyalty and a way of gaining maximum freedom of action.

"Lone Eagle——"

The two words rang out from behind Lu Yang. The voice was a little pensive, as if pondering something. After a while, the voice rang out again.

"Tell me, besides the evidence that Liu Yiguang is a Japanese spy, what else did you find?"

"He's really an old ghost who's used to eating fishy things. He can smell the stench right away." Lu Yang muttered to himself, but his expression remained calm. He said calmly, "Sir, I also found a small treasury—"

He paused, wanting to see the deputy director's reaction. To his surprise, the man in the back seat remained silent, seemingly uninterested.

At this point, it was impossible to back down, so he continued, "There's over 100,000 US dollars in the small vault, as well as some gold bars of various sizes, and a considerable amount of French currency. Due to time constraints, I haven't counted the gold bars and French currency yet."