Daily Intelligence, an Unexpected Discovery

At six in the morning, dawn was just breaking.

[Ding! Daily intelligence broadcast - time: 6:00 a.m.]

[Today's key intelligence]: At 2:00 this afternoon, a batch of classified documents will be transferred from Hongkou to the Zhabei Kempeitai Headquarters by the intelligence department of the Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force Command. The escort will consist of one detachment (22 men), traveling via North Sichuan Road. The documents concern the Japanese army's latest plans to encircle and suppress anti-Japanese forces in Shanghai.

Shen Yan opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for two seconds.

Then he sprang upright.

The Intelligence Forecast Function-it was that powerful!

He quickly washed and dressed, his mind already racing through possibilities.

One detachment, 22 Japanese soldiers. Classified documents, plans for an encirclement and suppression campaign.

If I can intercept them...

He suppressed the excitement in his heart and told himself to stay calm.

First, he had to verify the intelligence. The system had never been wrong, but before taking action, he had to scout the area himself.

Second, he had to consider the consequences. Hijacking Japanese military vehicles was on a completely different scale from killing a few ronin and agents. Once he made his move, the Japanese and collaborationist forces throughout Shanghai would be thrown into an uproar.

But so what?

Shen Yan straightened his police uniform in front of the mirror. Looking at the young face reflected in it, he suddenly smiled.

Let them raise hell.

He had the system backing him up anyway.

What the hell is there to be afraid of?

Just then, the system's notification sounded in his mind again.

[Ding! Host's official promotion to third-rank police officer detected. Corresponding privileges unlocked!]

[System Shop - third-rank police officer section now open!]

Shen Yan's eyes lit up.

Here it is!

With a thought, he brought up a pale blue system panel before his eyes.

The previously dim third-rank section was now fully lit, displaying row upon row of equipment, skills, and supplies.

The third-rank section really was different.

Pistols were no longer anything special. There were rifles, semi-automatic weapons, military ammunition, tactical skills-everything he could want.

Shen Yan's gaze instantly settled on one gun.

[M1 Garand Semi-Automatic Rifle]

[Quality: standard military issue]

[Range: 450 meters]

[Rate of fire: semi-automatic, fed by an eight-round en-bloc clip]

[Features: high power, high accuracy, exceptional reliability; the primary rifle of the US military in World War II]

[Unlock requirement: third-rank police officer]

[Price: 800 Good and Evil Points]

There was a matching skill beside it.

[Rifle Mastery (beginner)]

[Effect: greatly improves rifle aiming, reloading, malfunction clearing, and shooting on the move]

[Includes: steady rifle hold, rapid aiming, trajectory prediction, rapid en-bloc clip loading]

[Price: 300 Good and Evil Points]

Shen Yan didn't hesitate.

"Purchase the M1 Garand and Rifle Mastery (beginner)!"

[Ding! 1,100 Good and Evil Points deducted]

[Ding! M1 Garand Semi-Automatic Rifle ×1 deposited in System Space]

[Ding! Rifle Mastery (beginner) activated. Synchronizing related muscle memory, techniques, and knowledge...]

A warm current surged through his entire body.

Gripping the gun, shouldering it, aiming, controlling his breathing, judging trajectories... Countless pieces of information were engraved into his body as though he had been born knowing them.

With a slight thought, Shen Yan brought an M1 Garand into his hand.

The rifle had a long, slender body, a subdued sheen on its steel parts, and a wooden stock that felt solid in his grip.

Its lines were rugged and full of power. The moment he picked it up, he knew-this was a weapon truly made to kill on the battlefield.

He gently pulled the bolt.

"Click."

The sound was crisp and clean, without the slightest sloppiness.

He pressed an eight-round clip into the magazine, producing another solid metallic snap.

The rifle's most distinctive feature was that, after the last round was fired, the en-bloc clip would automatically eject with a clear, loud "ping"-both a warning and a deterrent.

A .30-06 rifle round was powerful enough to punch through Japanese bulletproof steel plate in a single shot, let alone a human body.

In an era when the Japanese army still used manually operated Type 38 bolt-action rifles,

The semi-automatic M1 Garand offered overwhelmingly superior firepower.

With it, he would no longer have to rely solely on a pistol and ambushes when facing Japanese squads.

Shen Yan took a deep breath and returned the rifle to System Space.

His gaze turned razor-sharp.

While patrolling that morning, Shen Yan was a little distracted. He had to come up with a perfect excuse to send Old Chen away.

As he was thinking, Old Chen suddenly clutched his stomach and cried, "Ow!"

"No, no, that poached chicken last night might not have been fresh. My stomach's acting up. Keep patrolling on your own; I'm going to the latrine."

Shen Yan felt a warmth in his heart.

This old man-this is what they mean when they say age brings cunning.

He was touched, but his face was full of concern:

"Godfather, are you all right? Want me to go with you?"

"Go on, go on. Do I need company to use the latrine? You like the smell?!" Old Chen waved him off and hurried into an alley with his legs squeezed together.

After a few steps, he suddenly stopped. "Be careful patrolling on your own! Don't be reckless. If things go wrong, run first. As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood!"

With that, he walked away without looking back, as though he had made some kind of decision.

Shen Yan watched him leave, almost laughing aloud.

He turned and headed toward North Sichuan Road, walking neither fast nor slow, like a regular patrol officer on his beat. He even nodded in greeting to several vendors he knew along the way.

At the middle section of North Sichuan Road, Shen Yan found an inconspicuous corner and stopped.

The view was open, allowing him to see everything happening along the street.

He casually surveyed his surroundings while opening the System Minimap.

The upgraded minimap could now cover a radius of 1,000 meters, with targets classified by color-

White was for civilians, yellow for Chinese collaborators and Japanese, red for the Communist Party, and cyan for the Kuomintang.

On the minimap, densely packed white dots of light were scattered like stars. Several yellow dots were moving in the distance, probably Japanese soldiers or agents on patrol.

Then he saw red.

More than one.

Seven or eight red dots were scattered through the buildings on both sides of North Sichuan Road. Their positions were concealed and well distributed; they were clearly lying in wait.

Shen Yan's pupils contracted slightly.

Communist Party members.

They had their eyes on the documents too.

He narrowed his eyes and studied the distribution of the red dots-four on the second floor of an abandoned shop on the east side, one by a third-floor window in the teahouse on the west side, three behind the grocery store at the mouth of the alley...

It was a classic ambush formation.

A smile curled at the corner of Shen Yan's mouth.

Interesting.

He wasn't the only one after the documents.

At 1:50.

The target appeared.

Three military trucks approached from the direction of Hongkou. The front and rear trucks each carried eight soldiers, while the middle truck had an enclosed cargo compartment carrying the classified documents.

Shen Yan watched the convoy approach slowly.

Counting the men in the cabs, there were 22 Japanese soldiers, armed with Type 38 rifles and one light machine gun.

Counting them up, there were only eight underground Party members. They weren't planning on making it back alive!

Shen Yan's gaze gradually hardened. He had already made up his mind.

Inside the buildings on both sides of North Sichuan Road, the underground Party squad members held their breath and focused. The moment the convoy appeared, the moment the convoy appeared, everyone's hearts sank, and the atmosphere instantly grew tense.

"Captain, there are too many of them, and their firepower is stronger than ours. With just a few of us and a few Mauser pistols, can we complete the mission?"

A young fighter's voice trembled. He gripped his gun tightly, his face full of anxiety.

"We have to!"

The captain spoke through gritted teeth, his tone firm, though a hint of resolve lay hidden in his eyes.

"The documents in that truck concern the safety of every comrade operating undercover in Shanghai. Even if it costs all of us our lives, we have to destroy them!"

The captain patted the fighter beside him on the shoulder and spoke softly to comfort him.

"In a moment, you draw the enemy's fire while I destroy the documents... After you get away, give this amulet to your sister-in-law. Tell her... to take Nannan back to the countryside."

"Captain..."

The young fighter's eyes reddened as he grabbed the grenades strapped around the captain's waist.

"Let me go! Nannan and sister-in-law can't be without you! I'm alone, with no ties or worries. Even if I die, I'll be able to see my parents!"

"Cut the nonsense! That's an order! The Japanese are close. Get ready to move!"

The convoy drew closer and closer. The fighters gripped their Mauser pistols tightly, waiting for the captain's order.

"Move!"

The captain gave the signal, and several of them immediately rushed out, ready to fight to the death.

But just then, more than 20 grenades came flying out from the roadside, landing precisely beneath the wheels and inside the cargo beds of the three military trucks.

"Baka! Enemy attack!"

Seeing the grenades rolling at his feet, a Japanese soldier went pale and shouted in despair.

Before the Japanese soldiers could react further, the grenades exploded together, overturning all three vehicles. The 22 soldiers lay scattered across the street, fewer than five still able to make a sound.

The captain stood in the street, staring dumbfounded as a burly, masked man in plain clothes approached from the roadside with a rifle. He fired as he walked, killing the enemies still struggling on the ground one by one.

After confirming that no flashing yellow dots remained nearby, Shen Yan walked unhurriedly to the back of the middle vehicle. He pulled open its already warped door, took a bulging briefcase from the hand of a Japanese officer who had died with his eyes open, and put it into his space. Turning, he waved to the dumbstruck underground Party members. "I've got the package. A Japanese patrol will be here any minute. Get out of here!"

With that, he turned and ran into a lane by the street, disappearing from sight.

"Captain..."

The young fighter pressed his lips together.

"Retreat! He must be one of our comrades!"

"Yes, sir!"

The young fighter grinned, a smile of relief at having survived appearing on his face-the captain didn't have to die, and none of them had to die!

Shen Yan went somewhere secluded and, after making sure no one was around, put the plain clothes and face covering into his space and changed back into his uniform. He then hurried back to the place where he had parted with Old Chen, stopping at a pharmacy on the way.

Spotting Old Chen strolling along the street from a distance, Shen Yan dusted himself off and walked over with a normal expression.

"Where did you wander off to?"

Old Chen asked as though in passing. He could faintly smell gunpowder on his godson, and when he recalled the series of explosions and gunshots he had just heard, a flicker of understanding passed through his eyes.

That brat! His nerve knows no bounds!

Shen Yan remained perfectly calm. Holding up the box in his hand, he smiled.

"Your stomach was bothering you, wasn't it? I went to buy you some medicine."

"At least you've got some filial devotion! Our shift's almost over. Come have a soak at the bathhouse with your godfather and wash off that sweaty smell."

Shen Yan sniffed himself.

He really couldn't fool the old man after all.

"Sure, let's have a soak! I'll scrub your back, Godfather."

With that, he pulled the old man toward the bathhouse. To anyone watching, they looked like a devoted father and son.