LRAB Chapter 92 It Collapses Without a Tactic!
Chapter 92 It Collapses Without a Tactic!
Lan Yanzhi shook her head and smiled: "Zhou Xiao, I'm truly impressed now—luckily we're comrades-in-arms who fought side by side; if we were opponents, we probably wouldn't even know how we were defeated."
After this battle, she fully experienced Zhou Xiao's strategic abilities: step by step, leaving no room for error.
This is what a true top agent is like.
Strategize silently, and win decisively invisibly.
She used to think of herself as a top agent, but now she truly sees the distance between herself and Zhou Xiao.
When Zhou Xiao found the list of spies Feng Manna had planted within the Military Intelligence Bureau in her safe, he immediately saw through her scheme and took countermeasures, identifying Xian Daofeng as the real target.
The most crucial part of the plan was getting Dao Feng to personally attend.
On one hand, Zhou Xiao pretended to advise Feng Manna, implying that she should ask Xian Daofeng to oversee the battle; on the other hand, he subtly pressured Oshima Ken to tacitly allow Xian Daofeng to intervene.
With several underhanded maneuvers, Xian Daofeng indeed entered the game as scheduled.
Next came the core action of the first half of the plan—the precise assassination of Xian Daofeng and Lao Liu.
Zhou Xiao originally planned to personally create a false impression and clear his name, but he couldn't find a reliable gunman at the time.
However, with Zheng Yaoxian's arrival, the entire operation immediately became more meticulous. This veteran agent personally took on the role of sniper, accurately predicting that Xian Daofeng would appear in room 304 of the Lorfi Apartment, and then infiltrated the rooftop high ground in advance, waiting for the right moment.
This move created a strong illusion for the Japanese army: that the Military Intelligence Bureau could foresee the future and lock down Xian Daofeng's whereabouts in advance, and that there must be an inside informant behind him—pointing the finger directly at Feng Manna.
Immediately afterwards, Wan Zhichao, Song Mian, and a fake agent impersonating Lan Yanzhi appeared outside Shitai Department Store, further confirming the "authenticity" of the intelligence in Feng Manna's hands. Believing it to be true, she immediately led her team into the mall.
According to the original plan, Song Mian and Wan Zhichao intended to blow Feng Manna up inside the mall. However, Zhou Xiao rejected this plan and instead detonated the explosives the moment she rushed out of the Shitai Department Store.
The purpose of this arrangement was clear: to make Ken Oshima fundamentally question his loyalty to Feng Manna.
With his superb shooting skills and on-the-spot judgment, Zheng Yaoxian accurately and ruthlessly killed Xian Daofeng and Lao Liu.
At this point, all clues, timelines, and behavioral traces pointed to Feng Manna—she was confirmed as the mole who secretly communicated information to the Military Intelligence Bureau. The first half of the plan was successfully completed.
The second half, however, requires no personal intervention from Zhou Xiao; he simply needs to observe the situation and proceed accordingly…
According to Zhou Xiao's deduction, after Xian Daofeng was assassinated, Oshima Ken would definitely investigate thoroughly; and all the clues would eventually converge on Feng Manna.
The most ingenious part was arranging for Lan Yanzhi to buy a car.
This was precisely the crucial foreshadowing laid by Zhou Xiao.
He knew that once Feng Manna was suspected, she would do her best to prove her innocence, and would inevitably think that since Song Mian and Wan Zhichao were indeed the real agents of the Military Intelligence Bureau, then the "Blue Rouge" who appeared at Shitai Department Store at that time was also likely real—thus concluding that Blue Rouge was an undercover agent planted by the Military Intelligence Bureau.
As he predicted, Feng Manna, based on this logic, concluded that Lan Yanzhi's identity had been exposed and saw her as the only hope for a comeback.
However, Zhou Xiao had already arranged for Lan Yanzhi to go to the car factory to pick up the car in public, deliberately choosing a time when there were many people and inviting many witnesses—just to solidify her alibi.
When Ken Oshima sent people to verify Lan Yanzhi's whereabouts that day, all the evidence clearly showed that she spent the entire morning at the auto repair shop test driving, signing invoices, and inspecting vehicles, and never set foot in Shitai Department Store. The so-called "Military Intelligence Agency agent Lan Yanzhi" was thus exposed without any evidence.
Feng Manna's last straw was broken.
Ken Oshima completely lost trust, and Feng Manna was subsequently arrested and imprisoned.
The entire plan was meticulously crafted and flawless.
The most brilliant touch in the second half lies in first misleading Feng Manna with fake blue rouge, and then using irrefutable evidence of real blue rouge to refute this misjudgment.
It both preserved Lan Yanzhi's true identity and became the final blow that broke Feng Manna.
That's really clever.
Even now, recalling the entire process, Lan Yanzhi still couldn't help but admire him: "Zhou Xiao, your game of chess was absolutely brilliant. What was going on in your head? How could you calculate every single move so precisely?"
At this moment, her gaze towards Zhou Xiao carried a hint of genuine admiration.
Zhou Xiao remained calm and simply replied, "Killing Xian Daofeng was never my ultimate goal."
Lan Yanzhi's heart skipped a beat: "This isn't the end? You still have a backup plan?"
Of course, there's a backup plan—to destroy the core of the counterfeit currency printing operation and seize the list of personnel from "Project Celestial."
However, there are currently no leads.
The only certainty is that the death of Sendou Feng was an indispensable stepping stone.
He smiled slightly and said softly, "It's a secret for now."
Having piqued everyone's interest without revealing the answer, Lan Yanzhi was itching to know what was going on. She rolled her eyes in exasperation: "So mysterious."
But she didn't press the matter further.
Elock Church in Shanghai.
Zhou Xiao secretly met with Song Mian and Wan Zhichao here.
Yesterday, the three of them did indeed enter Shitai Department Store together, but when Feng Manna led her people to storm in, they couldn't even see a trace of them—because there was a hidden passage deep inside the mall!
This secret passage was personally supervised and built by Song Mian and Wan Zhichao. Its original purpose was to provide an escape route in case Japanese and puppet agents raided the liaison point.
As the operation commenced, the secret passage was reopened, leading directly to the neighboring residence.
After entering the mall, they quickly turned into a passageway, and then an explosion occurred—the entire passageway, along with its entrance, collapsed and was buried, completely erasing any trace of their escape.
This is precisely why they were able to stand here safely even after the mall was reduced to ruins.
The reason for choosing to blow up Shitai Department Store was twofold: firstly, to completely eliminate this Kuomintang stronghold and leave no future troubles; and secondly, to block the investigation—if the scene was not destroyed, the Special Operations Headquarters and the Special Higher Police would definitely keep a close eye on the place and conduct repeated investigations, and it would be difficult to guarantee that they would not find any loopholes.
Safety first; we'd rather abandon our strongholds than take any risks.
A liaison point, replacing a Special Higher Police section chief—worth it.
Upon seeing Lan Yanzhi, Song Mian's first words were: "Yanzhi, you're on the front page! The news of Xian Daofeng's death has shaken the entire city this morning."
Wan Zhichao quickly added, "This operation was brilliant, eliminating the head of the Special Higher Police in one fell swoop. I'll recommend you for commendation immediately."
For the sake of confidentiality, Lan Yanzhi only informed them of the overall plan, without revealing any other details.
She nodded and said, "This operation went very smoothly."
"With the successive removals of Aoki Takeshige and Sendoh Kaede, the two former Special Higher Police chiefs, the Military Police will inevitably launch a counterattack. The Military Intelligence Bureau should go into hibernation and suspend all public activities."
Wan Zhichao and Song Mian nodded in unison.
The Military Intelligence Bureau has made such a big fuss this time that it will have to quiet down for a while before it can allow Lan Yanzhi to regain her footing and continue her undercover work.
Next, Lan Yanzhi met with Song Mian and Wan Zhichao to discuss the upcoming actions and the key points of the intelligence they had just obtained. As for Zhou Xiao's matter, the three of them tacitly remained silent about it.
Half an hour later, Lan Yanzhi walked out of the Elock Church in Shanghai alone.
Watching her figure disappear into the distance, Song Mian turned to ask, "Station Chief, don't you think Rouge has a powerful backer?"
In fact, Wan Zhichao and Song Mian from the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai station did not play a major role in this operation—their main task was simply to appear at the Shitai Department Store and detonate the explosives.
The person who actually assassinated Xian Daofeng was not from the Kuomintang's Shanghai branch.
In Wan Zhichao's opinion, Lan Yanzhi couldn't possibly have set up such a large-scale scheme on her own.
He pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke, "I also think she has someone pulling the strings behind the scenes. But whoever that person is, they're at least on our side. Otherwise, why would they help us get rid of Xian Daofeng?"
Song Mian nodded in agreement.
Inside the bright and clear photo studio.
Guo Qiyun strode in, clutching the latest newspaper, and waved to Mingtai and Yu Manli: "Front page headline! The newly appointed head of the Special Higher Police, Xian Daofeng, was assassinated last night. The news is spreading like wildfire, and everyone says it was done by our Military Intelligence Bureau."
Mingtai took the newspaper, glanced at it, and shook his head, saying, "That Xian Daofeng is really unlucky. He only took office a few days ago, and he's already lost his life."
Yu Manli suddenly interjected, "Do you think... it might have been 'Hades' who did it?"
The word "Pluto" carried immense weight in the minds of the three men—he was an elusive figure whose schemes were flawless, and they were already completely convinced of his authority.
Mingtai shrugged: "Who can say for sure? To dare to kill the head of the Special Higher Police on the spot, that's certainly bold and ruthless."
Yu Manli's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly remembered the figure she had glimpsed in the movie theater a few days ago—if Zhou Xiao really was in Shanghai, then "Hades" was most likely him!
In terms of ability, seniority, and shrewdness, Zhou Xiao is fully deserving of this title.
Of course, this was just a fleeting thought in her mind, without any basis, relying entirely on intuition.
All three felt both respect and curiosity towards "Pluto".
To this day, no one has ever met this person, let alone knows their true identity. But the more mysterious they are, the more people are concerned about them. However, no one has dared to pry, knowing better than to do so.
Three days later, Zhou Xiao was discharged from the hospital.
The person who came to pick him up was Ken Oshima.
Ken Oshima's personal presence speaks volumes.
He deliberately stayed in the hospital for three whole days after being shot through the wound—just to distance himself from the situation and convince Ken Oshima that Sendoh's death had nothing to do with him.
To outsiders, Zhou Xiao was completely unaware of the situation and was merely a bystander who was accidentally injured by anti-Japanese elements during the operation.
No one expected that he would be the one making all the moves in the entire game, from beginning to end.
On the day he was discharged from the hospital, Ken Oshima came.
This means that Kenjiro Oshima trusts him. Otherwise, why would he need to come in person?
Upon seeing Zhou Xiao, Kenichi Oshima immediately grinned and said, "Director Zhou, congratulations on your recovery! You've had a hard time these past few days."
"I'm hosting a banquet at the Shanghai Grand Hotel tonight to welcome you. The Empire needs someone like you; please do me the honor of attending."
Zhou Xiao bowed slightly: "General Oshima, you've gone to a lot of trouble. I will definitely keep the appointment on time tonight."
Kenjiro Oshima laughed heartily: "Alright! Please—Director Zhou."
The two left in the same car.
The carriage was initially silent.
After a moment, Ken Oshima spoke first: "Director Zhou, while you were hospitalized, the Special Operations Headquarters was leaderless, and we urgently need you to go back and take charge."
"I don't think the job adjustments that Xian Daofeng made earlier were necessary. You will continue to be in charge of the Intelligence Division, while Chen Shen will continue to temporarily serve as the Director of the Operations Division."