pertwk Chapter 125 Shirakawa Yoshinori!
Chapter 125 Shirakawa Yoshinori!
Yoshinori Shirakawa walked up to the safe and immediately noticed that the bookshelf that was covering it had been moved, and the safe door was now clearly exposed.
Conventionally, this row of bookshelves should have completely covered the box, but now it has been moved aside, leaving gaps.
Zhou Xiao was so focused on closing the safe that he didn't have time to put the bookshelf back in its place.
This unusual situation made Yoshinori Shirakawa frown and quickly scan his surroundings.
The room was unusually quiet, with nothing amiss.
He muttered to himself, "Oshima-kun, still so careless?"
Before he finished speaking, he reached out and twisted the handle of the safe.
Since he knew the location, he naturally had the key and remembered the password.
Seeing this, Zhou Xiao sighed inwardly: If I had known that this old devil was going to open the box, why would I have bothered to pick the lock?
Just as Shirakawa Yoshinori was concentrating on entering the password and turning the lock cylinder, Zhou Xiao knew—the time had come.
He sprang up, taking three steps in two, and in a few swift movements, he had already flashed behind Shirakawa Yoshinori.
Whoosh!
puff!
A thin steel needle, swift as lightning, accurate as a ruler, and ruthless as a poisonous fang, pierced straight through Yoshinori Shirakawa's left temple.
The so-called fatal spot is not a fictional invention—the human body does indeed have such fatal parts.
One strike and they are dead, with no chance of escape.
There are a total of 720 acupoints in the body, of which 108 are vital acupoints. Although 72 of these acupoints may be severely injured, they may not be fatal. The other 36 acupoints are the true "fatal points," which are divided into four categories: numbness, dizziness, minor injury, and severe injury, with nine acupoints in each category, totaling 36.
The temple is one such area: a severe blow can cause fainting and tinnitus in mild cases, or even death on the spot, without even a chance to blink.
The instant the needle pierced his brain, Yoshinori Shirakawa's body went limp, his eyes rolled back, his consciousness vanished instantly, and he collapsed silently to the ground.
Zhou Xiao reacted quickly, catching his falling body with one hand and gently laying him flat on the ground.
He knew that there were listening devices all around, and that the slightest bump or thud would send the military police outside breaking down the door.
Assassinating Yoshinori Shirakawa is far more difficult than simply "killing with one blow"—it requires both absolute lethality and absolute silence.
If the two were to engage in a fierce fight, even a heavy breathing session could expose them.
But Zhou Xiao did it: his actions were swift, silent, and clean.
Looking at the corpse of Shirakawa Yoshinori on the ground, Zhou Xiao silently prayed: "To Zhang Zuolin, the warlord of the Northeast, and to the countless compatriots who died at the hands of this old devil, today I have avenged you. May you rest in peace."
He did not expect that his infiltration of the archives to steal the "Project Celestial" list would lead to the capture of a Japanese Army general, Yoshinori Shirakawa.
Such a bloodthirsty criminal deserves to be killed; it would be an injustice to heaven and earth if he were not!
After eliminating Yoshinori Shirakawa, Zhou Xiao immediately began the process of evacuating the classified archives.
The fact that Yoshinori Shirakawa personally delivered it to him was a completely unexpected and delightful surprise, a generous gift bestowed upon him by God.
This man has a long list of murders and his crimes are too numerous to count: he secretly planned the Huanggutun Incident and then protected the ringleader; afterwards, he instigated a series of wars, making him a complete war maniac.
The Military Intelligence Bureau, the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, the underground Communist Party, and various anti-Japanese armed forces repeatedly plotted to assassinate Yoshinori Shirakawa, but all attempts failed.
No one expected that it would be Zhou Xiao who would ultimately end his life of crime.
Stepping through the iron shoes, there is nowhere to find it, and it takes no effort to get it.
Zhou Xiao never expected that a mission to infiltrate an intelligence database would lead to the accidental killing of a Japanese general, thus achieving such an unexpected feat.
Life can be unpredictable and full of unexpected joys.
Yoshinori Shirakawa probably never understood until his death: I was just here to check some information, how did I lose my life?
He was probably the most humiliating and absurd general to die in the entire Japanese army that invaded China.
However, he did find some solace before his death—he recognized who had committed the crime, and he had even met that person before: Zhou Xiao, the head of the intelligence department of the Special Operations Headquarters.
As Shirakawa Yoshinori collapsed into Zhou Xiao's arms, his consciousness rapidly fading and his life about to end, he looked up and recognized that face: it turned out that the intelligence chief of the Special Operations Headquarters was actually an anti-Japanese patriot.
The two did indeed meet once.
But this posed no threat to Zhou Xiao.
The dead never speak.
Zhou Xiao was originally planning how to withdraw from the confidential archives room without anyone noticing, but Shirakawa Yoshinori delivered himself to his doorstep—it was like heaven was helping him out.
In retrospect, the only useful thing he accomplished after his death was helping Zhou Xiao find a way out.
Zhou Xiao had memorized the entire list of the "Heavenly Sound Project" but did not take the original document with him.
The decision not to take the list was deliberate: it was to lull the enemy into a false sense of security, allowing the Japanese army to continue its original plan, so that the anti-Japanese forces could capture all the hidden agents in one fell swoop.
Once news of the stolen list leaks out, the Japanese army will inevitably use secret channels to urgently notify spies scattered in non-occupied areas. These spies will immediately disappear or change their identities and go into deeper hiding places—at that time, they will become time bombs hanging in the rear.
If we miss this opportunity, it will be almost impossible to gather all these people again.
Therefore, Zhou Xiao must not alert the enemy.
This also makes it easier for him to continue to lie low.
After dealing with Shirakawa Yoshinori, Zhou Xiao immediately decided to use his military uniform to escape unscathed!
Climbing up the chimney to evacuate was clearly not an option—the roof had no reliable anchor points to hold the ropes up.
Although ropes could be tied at certain points, their load-bearing capacity was extremely weak and could not withstand the pulling force of a person rappelling down. If they really tried to force it, the moment the rope tightened, either the fasteners would burst or the entire roof would be torn off, creating a deafening noise that would immediately alert the Japanese soldiers at the military police headquarters.
The Japanese were indeed very cunning in their architectural fortifications.
Left with no other option, Zhou Xiao had to abandon the rappelling plan.
Having a rope without an anchor is a waste of effort.
Right now, Yoshinori Shirakawa has become his lifeline.
"Sizzle...rustle...ah..."
Zhou Xiao moved swiftly and quickly stripped Shirakawa Yoshinori of all his clothes.
Today he was wearing a full set of general's uniform, including a military cap, looking dignified and proper, just what Zhou Xiao needed.
This outfit became the key to his escape.
The so-called "golden cicada shedding its shell" simply means donning Yoshinori Shirakawa's military uniform, impersonating this Japanese general, and swaggering out of the archives room—once you cross that door, you've already succeeded halfway.
Zhou Xiao and Shirakawa Yoshinori are similar in build. Wearing the same uniform and with their hats pulled low to cover their faces, ordinary guards would have no way of distinguishing the real Zhou Xiao from the fake Shirakawa Yoshinori.
Moreover, the two military police officers at the gate were just ordinary soldiers; how could they dare to stop the highest military commander of Shanghai for inspection?
Zhou Xiao was quick and efficient, and soon he had dressed himself in the officer's uniform.
Surprisingly, the size was very close-fitting—it seems that the two have similar bone structure, shoulder width, and waist size, otherwise they wouldn't fit so well.
After putting on his military cap, he deliberately pulled the brim down, only revealing his chin and the tip of his nose, to avoid being directly scrutinized.
Once everything was in place, "Shirakawa Yoshinori" stood vividly in front of the mirror.
Judging from just his back view, even a long-time acquaintance might not be able to recognize him.
Zhou Xiao straightened his collar, straightened his back, and walked straight to the door of the archives room, gently pushing it open a crack.
As soon as the door opened, he strode across the threshold with steady, broad steps, his movements swift yet not flustered.
To avoid being exposed, he didn't utter a single word throughout the entire process, and even avoided using Japanese.
At this moment, two military policemen were standing with their backs against the wall outside the door. Zhou Xiao strode out, and in their sight, he was just a fleeting figure, and they didn't have time to see his face clearly.
Upon seeing that tall, upright figure, the crisp officer's uniform, and the imposing military cap, the two instinctively concluded that it was General Shirakawa.
Who dares to stop them? Who dares to ask questions?
They watched as Yoshinori Shirakawa walked further and further away, disappearing at the end of the corridor, before peering into the archives room—everything seemed normal, nothing amiss. Then, with a loud bang, they locked the door again.
The heavy iron door closed, and the archive room returned to darkness. Only in the corner did Yoshinori Shirakawa's body lie quietly, its body temperature slowly fading away.
The highest-ranking Japanese military commander stationed in Shanghai died in his own top-secret archives, unnoticed by anyone.
When the Japanese army discovers this, it will surely cause a huge uproar.