Recaps

Long Wu defeated the three men sent after her and learned they had been dispatched by Hong Laoliu, one of Boss Jin’s men. After meeting Chen Fan and Cao Bin, she agreed to join Chen Fan in exchange for ten large gold bars, which he promised to provide the next morning.

• Long Wu shot and killed the three attackers after forcing their leader to reveal that Hong Laoliu had sent them.
• Chen Fan and Cao Bin emerged from hiding, and Cao Bin introduced Chen Fan to Long Wu.
• Chen Fan questioned Long Wu for killing her attackers, and she challenged his understanding of justice.
• Chen Fan offered Long Wu a place with him, and she demanded ten large gold bars.
• Chen Fan agreed to pay Long Wu and gave her his trading firm’s address to collect the gold the next morning.

Chen Fan opened the Chen Trading Company and welcomed Long Wu and her newly freed brother, Long Si. Long Si asked why Chen Fan had rescued him and admitted he had little hope of rebuilding the Four Seas Gang, but Chen Fan urged him to rely on his brains.

• Chen Fan handed Long Wu the gold bars, then spent several days preparing the trading company for its opening.
• Chen Fan opened the Chen Trading Company with a busy celebration attended by business friends and workers.
• Long Wu arrived with Long Si, whom Chen Fan had paid ten large gold bars to free from captivity.
• Chen Fan brought Long Si to his office, where Long Si asked what Chen Fan wanted from him in return for the rescue.
• Long Si said he had lost the Four Seas Gang and asked Chen Fan to protect Long Wu if he died.
• Chen Fan asked whether Long Si wanted to reclaim what he had lost and told him to use his brains.

Chen Fan learned that the young visitor Lin Su was a highly trained operative with ties to both the Fuxing Society and the Chinese Red Party. Lin Su, assigned to investigate the failed 11:19 Case, left the trading house after observing Chen Fan.

• Chen Fan asked Long Si whether he wanted to regain his lost power, then offered him shelter at his warehouse near Huishan Wharf.
• Long Wu warned Chen Fan that a young woman in the store was an exceptionally skilled gun expert because she controlled her breathing and barely made a sound.
• Chen Fan checked the system and identified the visitor as Lin Su, codename Autumn Cicada, an operative of the Fuxing Society and the Chinese Red Party.
• Chen Fan approached Lin Su, offered her tea, and noticed a faint scar on her left middle finger.
• Lin Su watched Chen Fan while considering her orders to investigate the failed 11:19 Case, then set down her cup and left the trading house.

Jin Xiangyu visited Chen Fan’s trading firm and offered him five thousand silver dollars to move a secret shipment through Shiliupu Wharf. Chen Fan accepted the job, though Jin Xiangyu did not reveal what the goods were.

• Chen Fan returned to the trading firm on the fifth day of the New Year and found Long Wu handling his office work.
• Jin Xiangyu arrived and teased Long Wu before Chen Fan brought her into his office.
• Jin Xiangyu asked Chen Fan to move an undisclosed shipment through Shiliupu Wharf, saying her usual contacts had backed out.
• Chen Fan initially refused, but Jin Xiangyu offered five thousand silver dollars for the job.
• Chen Fan accepted Jin Xiangyu’s offer, and she left after again commenting that Long Wu should join her opera troupe.

Chen Fan told Cao Bin that Jin Xiangyu’s suspicious shipment likely involved the Green Gang and connected Old Knife Handle to the betrayal that led to his father’s arrest. He left Cao Bin with his plan to take over Old Knife Handle’s entire operation.

• Chen Fan slipped away from the trading company and went to Shiliupu Wharf to tell Cao Bin about Jin Xiangyu’s offer to move a shipment for five thousand silver dollars.
• Chen Fan and Cao Bin suspected the shipment was a trap and reasoned that the Green Gang had helped keep its details secret.
• Chen Fan linked Old Knife Handle to the Green Gang and concluded that someone had betrayed his father three years earlier.
• Cao Bin tried to rush off and kill Liu Laoliu, but Chen Fan urged him to think beyond revenge.
• Chen Fan told Cao Bin he wanted everything Old Knife Handle had and proposed that they take control of the operation together.

Chen Fan planned to seize Old Knife Handle's operation and sought intelligence on him, while Old Knife Handle revealed that he intended to use Chen Fan as a diversion for a shipment. Jin Xiangyu objected when she realized Chen Fan could implicate her to Zhang Xiaolin.

• Chen Fan asked Cao Bin to find an informant to investigate Old Knife Handle before they seized his operation.
• Jin Xiangyu reported that Chen Fan had accepted the deposit on condition that he controlled how matters were handled at the docks.
• Jin Xiangyu pressed Old Knife Handle to explain how he would move the shipment without losing it to rival powers.
• Old Knife Handle revealed that he had used Chen Zhongming's sales to conceal a larger trade and then made him take the fall.
• Old Knife Handle planned to split the shipment between two docks and have Zhang Xiaolin's men catch Chen Fan's side while his own goods were unloaded elsewhere.
• Jin Xiangyu objected because Chen Fan could identify the shipment as hers and leave her answerable to Zhang Xiaolin.

Chen Fan learned that Jin Xiangyu’s shipment was tied to Old Knife Handle’s arms dealings and suspected Rui Qingrong was helping him operate in the French Concession. He realized Old Knife Handle meant to use him as a scapegoat, but planned to seize the goods instead.

• Jin Xiangyu sent Chen Fan a letter arranging a meeting at berth seven at Shiliupu Wharf the following night.
• Cao Bin told Chen Fan that southwest chieftains had sent arms through Shanghai using boats belonging to the Joyful Harvest Year and Hall Full of Joy theater troupes, and that another shipment was expected.
• Cao Bin reported that three years earlier, Rui Qingrong had taken opera performer Yue Jialing as his mistress after she performed at the Nanjing Grand Theatre.
• Chen Fan reasoned that Old Knife Handle had used Yue Jialing to recruit Rui Qingrong and intended to frame Chen Fan for the shipment.
• Chen Fan told Cao Bin to find a cargo boat so they could seize the goods, while he handled the other preparations.

Chen Fan took control of a cargo boat meant to make him a fall guy and diverted it to a hidden wharf in Yangshupu. He swapped its opium cargo for other crates and left the skipper unsure what would happen next.

• Chen Fan arrived at Shiliupu Wharf with Brother Bao's men and ordered Agen and the other cargo escorts off the boat.
• Chen Fan took command of the boat and forced the skipper at gunpoint to steer into the Yangshupu Waterway instead of Dongjiadu.
• Chen Fan's men uncovered opium hidden beneath salt in the crates and exchanged the boat's entire cargo at a small wharf.
• Chen Fan reassured the frightened skipper about his family, then told him to report everything he had seen if asked.

Zhang Xiaolin ordered his men to intercept an opium shipment, but Chen Fan’s decoy freighter passed inspection while Brother Bao and Long Si seized the real cargo. Brother Bao demanded two hundred thousand from its owner and gave Old Knife Handle’s men until three in the morning to pay.

• Zhang Xiaolin learned that a shipment was expected through Dongjiadu and ordered his men to seize it and question those responsible.
• Wei San’s men stopped Chen Fan’s freighter, searched its cargo, and let it pass after finding only tea bricks and tung oil.
• Old Knife Handle’s watchers saw the freighter sail away and sent a man to report the unexpected outcome.
• Long Si and Brother Bao’s men overpowered the smugglers at Warehouse Three on Shiliupu Wharf and took the opium shipment.
• Brother Bao told Agen to demand two hundred thousand from the shipment’s owner by three in the morning, then introduced himself as Brother Bao-the Bao in brutal.

Old Knife Handle learned that Chen Fan had stolen his Bazi goods and demanded two hundred thousand through a fighter calling himself Brother Bao. Realizing Chen Fan had backup, Old Knife Handle sent A Xiang to fetch Boss Jin and seek Fourth Master Rui’s fighters.

• Old Knife Handle waited at Shengping Theatre for news of Zhang Xiaolin’s men stopping the cargo boat, but Agen arrived bloodied and reported that Warehouse Three had been looted.
• Agen said Brother Bao had taken all the goods and demanded two hundred thousand, threatening to burn the shipment if Old Knife Handle did not pay.
• Lai Houzi reported that Chen Fan had switched the cargo in the Yangshupu waterway, so the boat that passed Dongjiadu carried no goods.
• Old Knife Handle concluded Chen Fan had found backup and ordered Agen to tell A Xiang to fetch Boss Jin and contact Fourth Master Rui.
• A Xiang warned Old Knife Handle that involving Fourth Master Rui’s men could expose the Bazi goods, but Old Knife Handle insisted that recovering the shipment came first.

Old Knife Handle led A Xiang and a large force to the Chen warehouse to seize the shipment and demand compensation from Chen Fan. As Old Knife Handle threatened him with dozens of armed men, A Xiang turned on him and held a knife to his neck.

• Old Knife Handle and his men waited near the Chen warehouse until A Xiang arrived with fighters sent by Fourth Master.
• Old Knife Handle's men broke into the warehouse and found Chen Fan, Long Si, Brother Bao, and their men waiting in defensive positions.
• Old Knife Handle demanded the return of the two-hundred-thousand-dollar shipment and offered to settle for fifty thousand, while Chen Fan accused him of betraying Chen Laosan.
• Old Knife Handle threatened to kill Chen Fan and revealed that he had brought seventy or eighty men and weapons.
• A Xiang pressed a short blade to Old Knife Handle's neck, shocking everyone as Old Knife Handle demanded to know why his longtime subordinate had betrayed him.

Chen Fan helped A Xiang turn against Old Knife Handle, who was killed and whose death was disguised as a romantic elopement. Chen Fan then faced the threat of Rui Qingrong, Boss Du’s powerful confidant, and wondered how to proceed.

• A Xiang confronted Old Knife Handle over decades of unpaid labor and resentment, and Chen Fan persuaded him that Old Knife Handle had exploited him.
• Cao Bin revealed that Old Knife Handle’s supposed men were actually Chen Fan’s allies, leaving Old Knife Handle with no support.
• A Xiang refused Old Knife Handle’s offer of money and agreed to take over Shengping Theatre after Old Knife Handle’s death.
• Chen Fan ordered A Xiang to kill Old Knife Handle and arranged a false story that he had eloped with Jin Xiangyu.
• Rumors about Old Knife Handle and Jin Xiangyu spread through Shanghai, while Chen Fan worried about confronting Rui Qingrong.

Chen Fan sought a secret arms supply to protect himself from Rui Qingrong and asked Yamada Ryosuke to arrange a meeting. Yoshino Tomokazu consulted his uncle about Chen Fan as a possible business partner, and Yoshino Takehiko questioned whether the information about Chen Fan was true.

• Chen Fan decided that he needed a secret arms channel and sent word to Yamada Ryosuke through A Xiang and Fatty Wu's cousin, Translator Liu.
• Yamada Ryosuke told Yoshino Tomokazu that Chen Fan had requested a meeting and argued that Chen Fan could be a valuable connection.
• Yoshino Tomokazu chose to consult his uncle, Yoshino Takehiko, before deciding whether to work with Chen Fan.
• Yoshino Tomokazu described Chen Fan's background and abilities, and Yoshino Takehiko asked whether he could be sure the information was true.

Chen Fan hosted Yamada and his companions at Inoue Cuisine, using drinks and hired hostesses to build a relaxed atmosphere before discussing business. As the gathering grew rowdy, a drunken Yamada left the room to check on Chen Fan’s hostess.

• Yoshino Takehiko urged Yoshino Tomokazu to meet the person he was interested in before the opportunity passed, and Tomokazu left after sensing his uncle’s concern.
• Chen Fan received Yamada’s invitation through his assistant Hyoda Isamu and went to Inoue Cuisine with dried seafood as a gift for Inoue Shinichi.
• Inoue Shinichi arranged the Pine Room and hostesses from the Cherry Blossom Dance Hall at Chen Fan’s request.
• Yamada arrived with Major Yoshino and Shimura, and Chen Fan welcomed them into the private room for drinks and entertainment.
• As the guests drank and the atmosphere loosened, Yamada noticed Chen Fan had no hostess and drunkenly went to look for one.

Chen Fan spent the night drinking with Fujiwara Kyoka, unaware of her high rank until Inoue Kazuhiko arrived and she identified herself as chief of the Tokkō Cipher Section. Her revelation left Yamada, Yoshino, and Shimura sobered and stunned.

• Yamada brought Fujiwara Kyoka to Chen Fan, mistaking her for a drinking companion, and Chen Fan apologized for the mix-up.
• Fujiwara Kyoka drank with Chen Fan, asked about his age and name, and said she felt they had met before.
• Fujiwara Kyoka drank heavily and kept Chen Fan from discussing business with Yamada that night.
• Inoue Kazuhiko arrived, recognized Fujiwara Kyoka, and reacted in shock when she drank with Chen Fan.
• Fujiwara Kyoka announced that she was chief of the Tokkō Cipher Section, an honorary imperial colonel, and a senior official in the Empress's Household.

After a drunken party left Chen Fan alone with Fujiwara, they woke up together the next morning, and Fujiwara threatened him into keeping the night secret. Chen Fan left the conversation speechless as Fujiwara insisted she would punish him even if she revealed what happened herself.

• Fujiwara chased the other guests and hostesses out, leaving Chen Fan alone to drink with her.
• Outside the restaurant, Yamada, Inoue, Shimura, and Yoshino worried about Fujiwara's powerful family and agreed to keep quiet about the evening.
• Chen Fan woke at the Yamato Inn beside Fujiwara, who called him Kyōichi and then questioned him when she realized where she was.
• Fujiwara remembered telling Chen Fan to stay with her, dressed, and warned him not to tell anyone about the night.
• Chen Fan asked what would happen if Fujiwara revealed the secret herself, and she threatened him anyway, leaving him with nothing to say.

Chen Fan asked Yamada Ryosuke to urgently procure weapons because powerful enemies might soon target him, while Yamada agreed to try. At Rui Qingrong’s hideout, Chang Jiu connected Chen Fan to the missing shipment and the disappearance of Old Knife Handle and Jin Xiangyu.

• Fujiwara told Chen Fan to take care of himself before leaving, and Chen Fan returned to his trading company in Shanghai.
• Yamada Ryosuke visited Chen Fan, who requested long guns and heavy weapons to defend himself against an imminent threat.
• Yamada Ryosuke agreed to contact Yoshino and try to arrange a shipment that day, with Chen Fan offering to pay market prices in silver dollars.
• Chang Jiu reported that Gao Laoquan suspected the story of Old Knife Handle and Jin Xiangyu running away together was false.
• Chang Jiu said Chen Fan had delivered a shipment that disappeared before Old Knife Handle vanished, and Rui Qingrong asked whether Chen Fan’s father was Chen Zhongming.

Rui Qingrong learned that Chen Fan was the son of a man killed by Old Knife Handle and ordered an attack on Chen Fan’s warehouse. Meanwhile, Yoshino Tomokazu sought arms for Chen Fan, and Yoshino Takehiko rejected his plan to falsify transit losses before proposing a different method.

• Rui Qingrong recognized Chen Fan as the son of Chen Zhongming, whose death Old Knife Handle had caused, and suspected Chen Fan of killing Old Knife Handle.
• Rui Qingrong warned Chang Jiu that Chen Fan was too skilled to confront directly and ordered his men to raid Chen Fan’s warehouse that night.
• Yoshino Tomokazu told Yoshino Takehiko that Chen Fan wanted arms and argued that supporting him would benefit their future cooperation.
• Yoshino Tomokazu proposed diverting weapons from a shipment bound for the Peace and National Salvation Army by reporting transit losses, but Yoshino Takehiko rejected the plan.
• Yoshino Takehiko suggested they pull a switch to get Chen Fan the weapons.

Yoshino Takehiko arranged to switch real firearms for scrapped ones during a sale to the Peace and National Salvation Army, while Chen Fan prepared an ambush for Rui Qingrong’s men. Chang Jiu led dozens of attackers into the warehouse and was caught in a deadly barrage, ending with Chen Fan confronting him.

• Yoshino Takehiko explained how to replace the real firearms with scrapped ones and assured Yoshino Tomokazu that the Peace and National Salvation Army would not dare expose the scheme.
• Yoshino Tomokazu authorized the operation, Shimura removed five crates of scrapped guns, and Yamada Ryosuke delivered the real supplies before swapping them for scrap and meeting Chen Fan.
• Chen Fan and his men waited in the warehouse after learning Chang Jiu had approached Cao Bin, and Brother Bao warned them that sixty or seventy attackers were approaching.
• Chang Jiu led his men into the warehouse, where Chen Fan’s armed men and two machine guns were waiting.
• Chen Fan’s forces opened fire, killing and wounding the attackers, and Chang Jiu begged for his life as Chen Fan picked up his axe and told him times had changed.

Chen Fan forced Chang Jiu to reveal the location of Old Fire Crow’s main warehouse and killed his brother to bind him to Chen Fan’s side. Chang Jiu led Chen Fan’s group to Datong Warehouse on Foch Road and warned him about its hidden sentries and secret passage.

• Chang Jiu revealed that Datong Warehouse on Foch Road concealed Old Fire Crow’s main warehouse, guarded by Yue Zheng, and said Yue Zheng knew where Old Fire Crow was staying.
• Chen Fan made Chang Jiu kill his wounded brother, then forced the other surviving men to make the same choice.
• Ma Xiaotian’s Cleaners squad removed the bodies, and Chen Fan ordered Chang Jiu to lead the group to the warehouse.
• At Datong Warehouse, Chang Jiu warned Chen Fan that hidden sentries watched the front and suggested entering through the back door.
• Chang Jiu told Chen Fan that Yue Zheng alone knew the location of a secret passage inside the warehouse.

Chen Fan captured Rui Qingrong after Yue Zheng led him to the Fushengji shop, then forced him to surrender his property before ordering his execution. The chapter left Yue Jialing and Yue Zheng kneeling beside Rui Qingrong as Chen Fan told Long Si to kill all three together.

• Chen Fan and Brother Bao seized the warehouse, while Yue Zheng escaped through a secret passage and Chang Jiu stayed behind under guard.
• Yue Zheng reached Fushengji and told Rui Qingrong that the warehouse had been raided, prompting them to prepare to flee.
• Chen Fan arrived with armed men, beat Rui Qingrong, and forced him to sign over his businesses and property deeds.
• Chen Fan declared that Rui Qingrong still owed a life for the water torture he had inflicted and ordered his men to bind him.
• Long Si asked what to do with Yue Jialing and Yue Zheng, and Chen Fan ordered him to finish all three off together.

After consolidating his Shanghai business and learning that old associates were probing his background, Chen Fan received a coded activation order hidden in Shen Bao. He decoded the rendezvous location and recognition phrase, preparing to report back to his superiors.

• Shen Bao published a report claiming Rui Qingrong had died in a warehouse fire and Yue Jialing had fled with a fortune, though Shanghai veterans dismissed the story.
• Chen Fan expanded his trading business using Old Knife Handle's channels and made profitable deals with Yamada while waiting for Long Si to recover.
• Cao Bin reported that Hao Fugui, now called Hao Zhun, had become his dog and learned that former subordinates of Boss Du were asking about Chen Fan.
• In March, Chen Fan received his activation orders in a coded prose poem printed in Shen Bao.
• Chen Fan decoded Yuexiang Restaurant as the rendezvous location and “Open the door to good fortune, the God of Wealth reports in” as the recognition phrase.

Chen Fan met his liaison, Major Lin Su, and learned that his old identity had been declared dead while he was given the codename God of Wealth. Lin Su assigned him to kill Lin Maosheng, a suspected informant hiding inside the Japanese consulate in Shanghai, and told him he would be promoted to first lieutenant.

• Chen Fan arrived at Yuexiang Restaurant and confirmed the challenge and response with Lin Su.
• Lin Su identified herself as Chen Fan's sole liaison and told him his former codename, Buddy, had been declared dead and replaced with God of Wealth.
• Lin Su explained that Wu Bingsheng had been arrested by the Japanese after bringing Nanyang donations to Shanghai, and that Lin Maosheng was suspected of revealing his itinerary.
• Lin Su said Lin Maosheng was hiding in the Japanese consulate under the protection of the Iwai Agency, while Shanghai Station worked to rescue Wu Bingsheng.
• Lin Su assigned Chen Fan to kill Lin Maosheng and informed him that headquarters would promote him to first lieutenant.

Chen Fan used Lin Su’s information to approach the Japan Consulate in Shanghai under the cover of selling liquor, but the Logistics Department rejected him. He unexpectedly met Fujiwara Kyoka, who offered to get him in to see Yamazaki.

• Chen Fan asked Lin Su to identify the consulate’s Logistics Department head and operations, and she arranged a dead drop for the information.
• After receiving and memorizing the information, Chen Fan asked Long Wu to prepare details about imported liquor for a sales approach.
• Chen Fan and Ding Zongshu went to the Japan Consulate, where staff turned them away before they could see Yamazaki.
• Fujiwara Kyoka recognized Chen Fan and asked his name, but he pretended not to know her.
• Fujiwara told Chen that consulate procurement went through Mitsui Trading Company and offered to have Mr. Sugita escort him to Yamazaki through a side entrance.

Chen Fan used Fujiwara Kyoka’s recommendation to meet Logistics Director Yamazaki and pitch his trading firm as a supplier to the consulate. Yamazaki agreed to consider giving Chen an opportunity, just as another visitor arrived with a request.

• Fujiwara Kyoka sent Sugita Jirō to escort Chen Fan to the Logistics Department and recommend him to Yamazaki.
• Yamazaki initially tried to turn Chen away, but admitted Chen after learning Sugita had brought him on Fujiwara’s behalf.
• Chen presented his trading firm’s supply information and offered Yamazaki rare sake, winning his attention with lower prices and the gift.
• Yamazaki said procurement rules prevented the consulate from buying from Chen in principle, but promised to arrange a meeting about supplies needing a dedicated supplier.
• A visitor arrived and complained about Lin Maosheng before noticing Chen’s presence.