Chapter Summaries

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.