pertwk Chapter 184 Suppressing Intelligence Again Leads to Her Withdrawal
Chapter 184 Suppressing Intelligence Again Leads to Her Withdrawal
"What happened? What happened?" Just as Ma Hongxi left, Liu Yan's voice came urgently. She had heard the explosion and seen the commotion downstairs. She quickly ran upstairs, walked to Yan Shuo's side, and followed his gaze into the distance, her face full of confusion and a little panic. "What place is that? How could there be an explosion?"
Yan Shuo withdrew his gaze, his tone now calm as he said lightly, "I don't know. I've already sent Hongxi to check, and we'll have news soon."
Liu Yan frowned, her gaze still fixed on the black smoke in the distance, and muttered softly, "Judging from that direction, it seems to be an area with many foreign companies and restaurants, and there are usually many foreigners coming and going. The security isn't bad. Who would be so bold as to carry out an explosion in a place like that?"
Yan Shuo chuckled, patted her shoulder, and said casually with a hint of helplessness, "Alright, stop overthinking. Let's go downstairs and calm the guests down. No matter what's going on, life has to go on. We can't let the guests panic and try to skip out on the bill, or we'll lose a lot of money."
Liu Yan was stunned for a moment, then rolled her eyes helplessly, slapped his hand away, and scolded, "Uh, okay! Only you have such a big heart. What time is it, and you're still thinking about customers skipping out on the bill?"
Despite saying that, the panic on her face subsided considerably. She turned and walked downstairs, muttering to herself, "I know, I know, I'll go and reassure the customers and make sure no one skips out on their bill."
Watching Liu Yan hurriedly descend the stairs, Yan Shuo looked up at the black smoke in the distance again. The smile on his face gradually faded, and his expression became serious again.
Two streets away, there were many foreign firms and restaurants, and many foreigners came and went. It was no accident that an explosion occurred at this time. It might even be related to the Japanese puppet regime, or even to Jack Vaughn, whom he wanted to deal with.
He leaned against the balcony railing, tapping his fingertips lightly on the railing, patiently waiting for news from Ma Hongxi. His mind was already calculating how to deal with the situation if the explosion was indeed related to the Japanese puppet regime or involved outsiders, so as not to affect the various plans of the Shanghai station or put himself in a passive position.
Downstairs, Liu Yan was calmly reassuring the agitated guests, gently explaining that the explosion was still far from the tavern and there was no need to panic. She would occasionally crack a joke to distract the guests, and the originally chaotic hall gradually returned to order.
Upstairs, Yan Shuo kept his eyes fixed on the dissipating black smoke, a hint of vigilance and ruthlessness hidden in his eyes. No matter who was causing trouble behind the scenes, anyone who dared to stir up trouble on his turf would not have a good end.
Yan Shuo always regarded the foreign concessions as his own private territory, and he would not tolerate anyone acting recklessly there. Even the Japanese puppet regime and the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics had to defer to him.
About an hour later, the sound of a car stopping came from downstairs. Immediately afterwards, Ma Hongxi hurriedly went upstairs and pushed open the office door, her face still covered in dust.
"Sir, I've found it." Ma Hongxi walked quickly to Yan Shuo and respectfully reported, "A newspaper's printing warehouse was blown up. There were a lot of newspapers piled up in the warehouse, which looked like propaganda materials for a protest. It's highly likely that it's related to the Communist Party."
Yan Shuo paused, his tone cold and devoid of emotion: "Hmm, who did it?"
Ma Hongxi scratched his head, his tone confident yet tinged with a hint of sarcasm: "Sir, is there even a question? It's definitely either the 76th Division or the Special Higher Police. Could it be the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics? With their limited abilities, do they have the guts or the capability? Hehe!"
"I'm asking you, who did it?" Yan Shuo's tone instantly turned cold, his eyes grew colder, and he showed no patience. His repeated words were full of pressure, clearly showing his displeasure with Yan Shuo's frivolous smile.
Ma Hongxi's heart skipped a beat. He quickly suppressed his smile and said seriously, "Well, I asked a few eyewitnesses nearby. They said it was a group of about ten people dressed in black and wearing black masks. They first drove away the guards at the warehouse entrance, then rushed in. A few minutes later, they hurriedly ran out, got into a car, and left. Then the warehouse exploded. To be able to act so brazenly in the concession, it must be someone from the 76th Division."
"So, you're not entirely sure, you're just guessing?" Yan Shuo raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with impatience, his gaze fixed on Ma Hongxi.
"I'm not entirely sure, but it's almost certainly 76!" Ma Hongxi quickly explained, his tone becoming increasingly firm. "The Special Higher Police always cherish their reputation. Their name is already bad enough, so they would never do something like this themselves. They would only order 76 to do it. That way, even if something goes wrong, they can always shift the blame to 76. They wouldn't be stupid enough to walk into the line of fire themselves."
Yan Shuo was silent for a moment, then calmly instructed, "Oh, continue the investigation. Take a few men and go conduct a thorough search again. Make sure you find out exactly who did it, and don't overlook anything. By the way, about that Communist Party member I asked you to investigate before, the one dragging 'blood' around near Yiyuan, have you found out anything? What's the situation?"
"We've found out, sir. That wasn't a real Communist at all; it was just bait!" Ma Hongxi hurriedly reported. "It was a trap deliberately set by the 76th Division. That so-called 'wounded Communist' was actually a 76th Division agent. And the 'blood' on the ground wasn't human blood at all; it was all pig's blood! That guy had been loitering around Yiyuan for several days, 'fishing' everywhere. Anyone who dared to come forward to rescue him would be surrounded and captured by the 76th Division agents who were lying in ambush."
"Who's in charge of this? Ji Chuan?" Yan Shuo frowned, his tone tinged with doubt. "Isn't Ji Chuan supposed to be keeping a close eye on our Military Intelligence Bureau? When did his second team change tactics and start doing this kind of fishing operation, getting involved with Communist Party matters?"
"It wasn't Ji Chuan who was in charge; it was Wu Sibao who led the operation," Ma Hongxi quickly said. "This time, 76 dispatched quite a few people. The first team was the main force, Ji Chuan's second team was responsible for support, and Huang Tiejun also sent people to cooperate in the third team. In total, there were about two hundred people involved, and they have already arrested more than a dozen people who were deceived in the past few days."
"Why didn't you report such a big matter to me in time?" Yan Shuo's tone instantly turned cold again, a hint of ferocity flashing in his eyes. "It's been more than ten days since this happened, have any of our Military Intelligence Bureau personnel been arrested?"
Ma Hongxi's face paled, and she quickly explained, her tone tinged with grievance: "Sir, this matter was originally assigned to Lin Manqiu, and I thought she had already reported it to you. However, she has been busy these past few days integrating all the secret outposts and document forgery matters at the Shanghai station. She has too much to do, and probably forgot, which delayed her report."
"Useless!" Yan Shuo muttered under his breath, his tone full of dissatisfaction. He immediately ordered, "Take all the intelligence-related work from Lin Manqiu and hand it over to Shen Yanqing. If she dares to suppress intelligence or delay things again, I'll dismiss her from her post!"