Espionage: You're tasked with spying, but you'll blow up the Special Higher Police?

“Young Master Zhou, I like these two songs of yours more than any gift. Pete, open a bottle of our best foreign liquor, deposit it in Young Master Zhou's name, and I'll pay for it.”

"How could I possibly accept that? The best bottle of imported liquor isn't cheap."

Manyu raised her right index finger and gently touched Zhou Hongyi's lips, stopping him from speaking. Then she blinked, exuding her charm.

"Don't be so formal. Maggie will be performing these two new songs tonight, and the guests will be arriving soon. I'm going to the dressing room to get ready. Please have a seat, Mr. Zhou, and don't rush off!"

Zhou Hongyi felt quite uncomfortable when the other person pressed his finger to his mouth, but he still controlled his instinct to dodge, and even took the opportunity to grope the other person's hand like a lecher.

Manyu chuckled, turned and went behind the curtain, while Zhou Hongyi subtly wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

Although Manyu is indeed very charming, she is not Zhou Hongyi's type. Moreover, this woman is having an affair with Xiao Rizi, which has touched a fundamental principle for him. No matter how beautiful or charming she is, she is not worthy of Zhou Hongyi's attention.

As time went by, more and more guests entered the Paramount Ballroom. As usual, the musicians played some light music and jazz to warm up the atmosphere and get everyone into the mood.

Zhou Hongyi sat at the bar, watching each guest enter. Finally, all the people he most wanted to see tonight had arrived.

Mr. Ruoshui, the incarnation of "Bodhi," is still sitting in yesterday's booth.

Chen Fenglie, a tough guy with a big beard, stood in the corner of the crowd, hat up, holding a glass of wine.

Colonel Shimazu of the Special Higher Police accompanied a mysterious young man to a private room on the second floor.

In addition, Zhou Hongyi also saw the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) agent he had fooled away yesterday; he had returned.

"The Paramount Ballroom is really lively tonight. I wonder what would happen if I fired a shot at the ceiling right now?"

Of course, Zhou Hongyi was only thinking about it; he wouldn't actually do anything that crazy.

However, he had to meet with several people tonight, all from different factions, and on top of that, he had his own daily tasks to complete, so he was indeed quite busy. Not only that, he couldn't let these people notice anything amiss, and at the same time, he needed to uncover the secrets hidden deep within their hearts. Therefore... [Eye of Insight], activated!

Zhou Hongyi immediately activated the [Eye of Insight], focusing on Chen Gonghe, the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) agent, and extracting the information he wanted to know from the entries that appeared above their heads.

The news brought by "Bodhi" was roughly what Zhou Hongyi had expected. He had already conveyed the intelligence about "Fireworks'" defection to the guerrillas and the liaisons of other joint safe houses in Shanghai, instructing them to temporarily evade and cut off all contact with "Fireworks," and also changed the rendezvous code.

However, while this approach protected the safety of the liaison officers, it also severely damaged the intelligence network they had built up over many years.

Zhou Hongyi also noticed that "Bodhi" had come with a new mission: to assassinate a traitor. However, to his surprise, this mission was about to fall to him.

Meanwhile, the tough-looking Kuomintang assassin with the long beard also wanted to cooperate with Zhou Hongyi on an operation. However, it wasn't about assassinating a high-ranking official, but rather about investigating the route of a shipment of supplies that the official was secretly transporting.

As for that guy from the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS), he seemed to have gone back to contact his superiors yesterday, expressing doubt about Zhou Hongyi's identity. He came today to confirm it. His mission was still to assassinate Manyu and, before she died, to find a way to extract some information from her.

Based on the thoughts of these three representatives from different forces, Zhou Hongyi began to quickly organize his response in his mind.

Regardless of the circumstances, he must prioritize the "Bodhi" task while checking in; this is a matter of principle that cannot be compromised.

It wouldn't be difficult to help Big Beard gather information, and Big Beard was still half-believing him and in the evaluation stage. As long as they cooperated a few more times and showed their sincerity, they might be able to infiltrate the Military Intelligence Bureau.

As for that guy from the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, he was a bit like a stubborn mad dog. In order to prevent his recklessness from affecting his plans, Zhou Hongyi felt that this person had to be eliminated.

Thinking of this, Zhou Hongyi left the unfinished wine at the bar and prepared to go to the restroom. Before leaving, he gave a wink to the secret agent from the Central Bureau of Investigation who was watching him, signaling the guy to follow him.

The agent from the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics looked around, turned up the collar of his trench coat, put his hands in his pockets, and casually walked into the restroom.

Since the ball had just begun, the gentlemen hadn't drunk too much yet, and had no intention of using the restroom. So when Zhou Hongyi pushed open the sliding doors of the partitions, he found that the restroom was empty.

Immediately afterwards, the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics agent who had been fooled away by Zhou Hongyi yesterday slipped in, while Zhou Hongyi raised a finger and retreated into the toilet stall.

The spy squeezed in as well, closed the door, and lowered his voice, saying, "I went back yesterday and consulted my superiors. They said they didn't send anyone like you. Tell me! Who are you? What do you know?"

The Kuomintang agent got straight to the point, raising his hand slightly from his pocket to indicate to Zhou Hongyi that the pistol hidden in his pocket was pointed directly at him.

Zhou Hongyi frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Foolish! I've already said that you have no right to inquire about my rank, nor do your superiors. If it weren't for the urgency of the situation, I wouldn't have revealed my identity to you!"

The man was skeptical, and tilted his head, saying, "I want to assassinate that vile woman and force her to give me information. Why are you stopping me?"

Zhou Hongyi sighed and shook his head, saying, "Killing a dancer is nothing special. What I need to do is get in touch with the high-ranking official behind her. I've finally gained her trust, and today, Shimazu from the Special Higher Police is sitting in a private room on the second floor with that mysterious official. If you kill Manyu down there, it will be like alerting the enemy, and all my long-term plans will be in vain! Tell me, which is more important? Is it more important for you to kill a dancer, or for me to get close to the high-ranking official and steal intelligence?"

The Kuomintang secret agent who was listening was taken aback, but still somewhat puzzled.

"Now that your target has been identified, why don't we change our objective and assassinate that mysterious Japanese official, then extract the information you want from him? Wouldn't that be more direct and simpler?"

Zhou Hongyi rolled his eyes. How could this brainless guy only know how to kill? Can't he think of anything else besides killing?

He thought to himself that talking to this brainless guy wouldn't make much difference, so it seemed he could only let him serve the Party and the country ahead of time.

Zhou Hongyi pretended to think for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's fine. I'll go to the private room on the second floor to make contact with the target first. You lie in ambush in the crowd on the first floor. As soon as the target comes downstairs to a crowded place, you take the opportunity to kill him. Then take advantage of the chaos and noise in the dance hall to leave the cleanup to me. My identity cannot be exposed yet, so I can only assist you from the sidelines in this operation."

Upon hearing this, a hint of joy flashed deep in the eyes of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics agent. He had never intended to hand over the great achievement of the assassination to someone else, and now that Zhou Hongyi said this, he couldn't be happier, and he also believed the other party's words to some extent.

"Alright, then lure that high-ranking official to the first floor, and I'll find a way to take him out. Don't worry, my marksmanship is unparalleled within ten paces."

After the other person finished speaking, Zhou Hongyi noticed that a new entry had appeared above his head, with two words written on it: "[Bragging]".

"Alright, you're a crack shot within ten paces? I wish you success in your operation, but I still need to make some preparations. Wait for my signal to make your move, and don't let it all fall apart at the last minute."