Chapter 65: Display of Ability

Chapter 65 Demonstration of Capability

"It is indeed quite inappropriate for the Special Service Section to work in such rudimentary conditions. Tomorrow, I will allocate a special fund for you to renovate the office. The Empire is never stingy when it comes to rewarding meritorious personnel," said Sadaaki Kagesa with a smile.

On the coffee table sat a uniform set of white porcelain teacups, all brand new. The police officers of the Special Service Section had boiled water and scalded each cup one by one. Nanako Namazo, Nina Liu, and the recently surrendered Jinlu Zhang served as the meeting's attendants, responsible for making and pouring tea. This could be considered high treatment indeed.

Ten minutes later, Akiki Akagi, the Deputy Director of the Police Department of the International Settlement's Municipal Council, arrived. He was in his forties and wore a neat, crisp police uniform. His appearance made the atmosphere of the meeting room much more solemn—he was, after all, a noble of the Empire.

"Your Excellency, I have long admired your great name, and I ask for your kind guidance and support in the future!" Xu Ruiyang hurriedly bowed deeply.

"Xu-kun, I have also heard that you are an expert invited by Kagesa-kun from the Central Security Bureau of Manchukuo. You have successively cracked two espionage cases, received commendations from the Empire, and been awarded a medal by His Majesty the Emperor. Truly, you show extraordinary talent! Just two months after arriving in Shanghai, you have already pushed your work to such a stage!"

"You are a meritorious servant of the Empire. If you need any help in the Settlement in the future, just give me a call! When you have free time, come over to my office and sit for a while. We can exchange experiences with each other!" Akiki Akagi also bowed slightly, his demeanor quite amiable, even carrying a smile.

Li Shiqun and Ding Mocun, sitting nearby, felt an extreme bitterness in their hearts upon seeing this scene. When they paid courtesy visits to Akiki Akagi, he couldn't even be bothered to speak with them and didn't even offer them a seat. Yet toward Xu Ruiyang, who had produced results, he was exceptionally enthusiastic.

Saburo Miura, Masami Maeda, Sadaaki Kagesa, and the others also felt extremely surprised upon witnessing Akiki Akagi's reaction. This Excellency's arrogance was notoriously well-known, and his personal background as a direct descendant of a Japanese samurai family was formidable. Who would have expected him to be so approachable toward Xu Ruiyang?

"Your Excellencies, this is the first time the Special Service Section of the Shanghai Police Department has invited higher-level departments to listen to a briefing. As the Section Chief of the Special Service Section, I will now provide a phased, comprehensive overview of our work over the past two months. I ask your Excellencies not to spare your guidance where there are shortcomings."

"After the Special Service Section was established, I found that there were not many usable resources. We neither knew the personnel situation of the Military Statistics Bureau's Shanghai Station nor possessed ready-made intelligence channels. Trying to search for targets among the millions of people in the International Settlement and the French Concession was extremely difficult."

"Back in Manchukuo, I started out as a patrolman. To me, the two Concessions are nothing more than a collection of precincts. The ones who are most familiar with the flow and changes of personnel are the beat cops."

"Over the past two months, the Special Service Section has secretly developed more than 160 beat cops as internal informants for our section, monitoring every single street. They receive a fixed subsidy issued by the Special Service Section, and for every piece of intelligence they provide, after verification, there is also a bonus to be earned. Through this, I built an intelligence network belonging to the Special Service Section."

"This time, capturing Chen Mingchu, the Personnel Section Chief of the Military Statistics Bureau's Shanghai Station, was an accident. Although he had long been targeted by the Special Service Section, I did not want to arrest him yet. My plan was to cross-reference the activity ranges of known targets and sort out all Military Statistics Bureau agents, Central Statistics Bureau agents, and underground party members across the Settlement areas!"

"When he sensed that he was being watched, my subordinates in the Special Service Section felt they could no longer wait, so they arrested him. Consequently, through him, we also captured three other section-level members of the Military Statistics Bureau's Shanghai Station. On the surface, this looks like a resounding success, but to me, it is a failure..."

For over an hour, Xu Ruiyang used fluent Japanese to provide a detailed introduction of his work. Supported by more than 300 secret files and a massive amount of written records, he demonstrated the achievements of the Special Service Section. With the facts laid out before their eyes, no one could possibly question his capability.

As soon as the briefing concluded, those present broke into a warm round of applause!

Akiki Akagi's eyes were filled with admiration. As an intelligence expert among Japan's foreign affairs police, he knew better than anyone just how much substance and value Xu Ruiyang's plan possessed.

"It is no small feat. Starting from scratch, Xu-kun relied on meticulous thinking and superb skills to dig out his desired targets bit by bit. By employing the correct direction and the correct operational methods, he has achieved a thoroughly satisfactory result."

"You are a thoroughly competent Special Service Section Chief, worthy of the Empire's attention and cultivation. You must maintain this intelligence network well; it is an important tool for dealing with anti-Japanese organizations in the future," Akiki Akagi remarked, offering rare praise.

"Since Chen Mingchu knows Wang Tianmou's general whereabouts, we must organize a force to keep him under close surveillance. The Special Service Branch will give you its full assistance to overthrow the Military Statistics Bureau's organization in the Settlement in one fell swoop," said Saburo Miura.

"General, I have not yet questioned Chen Mingchu in detail regarding Wang Tianmou. I would like to request the cooperation of the Special Service Branch. For such an important figure, it is better to carry out the surveillance and arrest under the guidance of the Special Service Branch," Xu Ruiyang said.

Li Shiqun and Ding Mocun exchanged glances, the jealousy in their eyes practically bursting forth. If the Special Service Section were allowed to capture Wang Tianmou as well, wouldn't the future Agent Headquarters end up being trampled beneath the feet of the Special Service Section?

They also felt a certain degree of regret. It was their own procrastination that had led to this outcome; had they absorbed Xu Ruiyang under their command sooner, it would have been them basking in the glory at an occasion like this!

After the briefing concluded, Saburo Miura decided to hold a celebratory banquet for the Special Service Section that evening in the name of the Garrison Headquarters. Daytime was obviously unsuitable for such activities. Subsequently, most of the people departed.

Setsuzo Okamura, Kiyoshi Tsukamoto, and Nanako Namazo specifically stayed behind. The Special Service Section handed over the entire list of Military Statistics Bureau turncoats provided by the informants to the Special Service Branch for handling.

Counting both lists together, there were several dozen people, but the Special Service Section only had nine police officers, making it utterly impossible to carry out such a massive arrest operation on their own.

"The Special Service Branch did not provide any resources to the Special Service Section, yet we get to reap the benefits of a major meritorious service for free. Xu-kun, on behalf of the Special Service Branch, I express my gratitude to you," Setsuzo Okamura said with a smile.

"I am deeply honored by Section Chief Okamura's kind hospitality; naturally, I must respectfully obey. However, these four individuals have already been detained for three days. I believe this has already alerted the Military Statistics Bureau's Shanghai Station, so the two lists do not hold much high value anymore. Even if we catch them now, they will only be small fry," Xu Ruiyang replied with a smile.

"Those two lists are not actually important; the most crucial target is Wang Tianmou. Yunzi, you must closely cooperate with Xu-kun. This is the first time the Special Service Branch is capturing a Military Statistics Bureau agent of this caliber," Okamura said.

"Miss Yunzi is an elite among the Empire's agents, and the Special Service Branch is staffed with talents meticulously cultivated by the Empire. The Special Service Section will not interfere in how Wang Tianmou is captured, so as to avoid any mistakes."

"Such high-difficulty technical work is handled much more skillfully by the Special Service Branch. The police officers in the Special Service Section lack sufficient experience, and I would worry that they might mess things up!" Xu Ruiyang said.