Agent: Intercepting Yu Manli at the start!

Chapter 155 contains a top-secret document!

Li Xiaonan carefully blew on the crispy crust while chewing, and asked in a low voice, "Zhou Xiao, you came all this way to see me, is there something you need?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Mr. Wang is holding a peace conference, and all participants will travel together on the 'Sakura' special train from Shanghai to Nanjing."

"These people are all rich and powerful, and have special statuses—they are all traitors who betrayed their country and defected to the enemy, as well as important officials of the Japanese military."

Li Xiaonan's brow twitched: "You want us to blow up that train?"

"no."

Zhou Xiao had already handed over the task of destroying the Sakura to the Military Intelligence Bureau.

If the underground party were to start anew, allocate manpower, and expend resources to do the same thing, it would be a complete waste of effort and could even lead to unforeseen complications.

According to the original plot of "The Disguiser", if two forces overlap in their actions on the same goal, it is very easy to expose each other's identities, and the risks far outweigh the benefits.

"I have other plans..."

He paused, his tone turning serious: "The Military Intelligence Bureau is in charge of the car bombing. But there's a top-secret document hidden on the Sakura."

"The information contained the Japanese army's plan to mop up the base areas in northeastern Anhui and Huaihai. This intelligence had to be intercepted before the train arrived—it was a matter of life and death for the entire base area."

Zhou Xiao's identity spans both the Military Intelligence Bureau and the underground Communist Party.

However, precisely because the document involved the safety of the base area, it could only be executed internally by the underground party and absolutely could not be delegated to the Military Intelligence Bureau.

Otherwise, his dual identity will be completely exposed.

Li Xiaonan immediately understood: "Understood. I'll pick a reliable comrade right away and get on the vehicle to pick up the package."

Zhou Xiao paused briefly, then asked, "By the way, is there a comrade named Cheng Jinyun in our underground Communist Party in Shanghai?"

According to the original plot of "The Disguiser", Cheng Jinyun is the female lead and has many interactions with Mingtai.

Objectively speaking, however, she was not a qualified undercover agent—especially in the heart of enemy territory, a place where life is lived on the edge.

His skills were mediocre, and his personal weapon was a scalpel or a paper cutter. His performance on the spot was extremely inconsistent, and he was far inferior to Yu Manli.

She was slow to react. For example, when the organization sent her aboard the Sakura to steal intelligence, she happened to run into a meticulous Japanese officer. After a few questions, she couldn't even answer which university she had attended, and her clues were full of flaws. If it weren't for Mingtai's timely rescue, she wouldn't have been able to even get into the carriage.

Her decision-making was also ill-considered. For example, during the rescue of the labor camp, she twice left the team without permission and disrupted the plan in order to save a person named "Manzai". She completely disregarded the discipline of the operation and the safety of other comrades, and put the priorities out of her mind. These things show that she is not suitable for long-term infiltration.

Putting aside her appearance, based solely on Zhou Xiao's experience of watching the entire series of "The Disguiser," Cheng Jinyun is indeed unfit for the important task, let alone capable of handling the perilous battlefield of Shanghai.

"Cheng Jinyun?" Li Xiaonan thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No. There's no such person on our underground party roster."

"What, are you looking for her?"

Cheng Jinyun is not there?

Sure enough, this parallel universe differs from the storyline in the TV series.

However, upon closer examination, it makes sense – this is a world where various espionage forces converge and merge.

Zhou Xiao shook his head slightly: "It's nothing, just a casual question."

"That document is extremely crucial, and the person chosen must be absolutely safe. You must personally oversee the process."

Since the organization did not assign Cheng Jinyun, he no longer cared who would take over.

"Okay." Li Xiaonan nodded in agreement.

Zhou Xiao suddenly spoke up again: "There's one more thing—is Ming Jing, the chairman of the Shanghai Ming Group, one of our people?"

Li Xiaonan was visibly taken aback, a hint of surprise flashing across her face: "How did you know?"

It's important to know that she and Zhou Xiao communicated through a single-line system.

This line leads only to her.

Other members of the organization only knew the code name "Lone Shadow" but did not know who Lone Shadow was; Zhou Xiao only knew about Li Xiaonan's situation and knew nothing about the other candidates, backgrounds, and positions of the underground party.

This arrangement is solely for the purpose of maximizing safety:

To prevent her from implicating Zhou Xiao after her arrest, and also to prevent Zhou Xiao from implicating the entire organization if he makes a mistake.

It is protected from both sides and is completely sealed.

Li Xiaonan: "Mingjing was a key pillar for our underground party's work in Shanghai. She was a staunch red capitalist who was of great help to us. What happened to her?"

Zhou Xiao: "You've been telling her to reduce her public appearances lately. With the peace conference about to be held, intelligence agencies from all sides are stepping up their networks and keeping watch everywhere."

He absolutely could not allow Mingjing to be caught by No. 76 for privately manufacturing explosives, which would then expose Minglou's true identity.

Now that he knew what would happen next, Zhou Xiao had to nip these potential problems in the bud.

Li Xiaonan: "Okay, I'll go arrange it right away."

With the intelligence and mission handover nearly complete, Li Xiaonan prepared to return, and Zhou Xiao also had to head to the Special Operations Headquarters.

Just before leaving, she took a few steps closer and whispered to Zhou Xiao, "Zhou Xiao, you're meeting with Feng Ling tonight, so be extra careful."

His tone was soft yet heavy, his eyes filled with unconcealed worry and unease.

Zhou Xiao felt a surge of warmth in his heart and nodded gently: "Don't worry."

He had always wanted to meet that comrade codenamed "Wind Chime".

If they can truly plant their own people within the Special Higher Police, they will have more confidence and composure in their future actions.

Tonight is the appointed time for "Wind Chime" and "Lonely Shadow" to meet for the first time.

The two had just finished exchanging messages on the street in a casual manner when Zhou Xiao drove straight to the Special Operations Headquarters.

……

Beiping, headquarters of the secret service.

Yoko Minamida and Yoshimasa Fujita, who were newly transferred to Shanghai and concurrently served as the head of the Special Higher Police Section and the commander of the Military Police, not only escaped assassination but also gradually stabilized the local situation—Doihara finally relaxed his brows slightly upon hearing this.

He fears most a repeat of the events that happened with Hirofumi Asano, which would be truly troublesome.

As for Liu Ke, who was purged? He was just a member of the Wang Jingwei regime; his life or death was irrelevant to the overall situation of the empire.

Office of the Director.

Early in the morning, Doihara had just sat down at his desk when he heard a series of hurried footsteps outside the door, followed by three short but forceful knocks.

Boom, boom, boom...

"Come in." Before the words were even finished, Yamamitsu Kazuji, dressed in a crisp military uniform, pushed open the door and entered, standing at attention to report, "Chief, we've found it!"

"We've located the Kuomintang agent within the Shanghai intelligence agency!"