Surprise attack on No. 76: the agents' days are numbered

Shen Yan looked up at the clock on the wall. It was 8:20 p.m., just the right time to move on to the next step.

Shen Yan opened Li Shiqun's wardrobe and picked out a suit to change into. He nodded at the Clone, who had already changed into Zhang Lu's clothes.

Time to go.

They went down to the garage on the mansion's first floor.

Li Shiqun's car was still parked there. The key had been found on Zhang Lu.

The Clone drove while Shen Yan sat in the back. The car left the mansion, turned into the French Concession, and headed toward No. 76.

At 9:10 p.m., at No. 76 headquarters.

The lights were still on in the gray Western-style building. The sentry at the gate saw Li Shiqun's car and snapped to attention with a salute.

Wearing Li Shiqun's face, Shen Yan stepped out of the car.

He strode toward the building.

The first-floor corridor was lit by glaring white fluorescent lights that hurt the eyes. The man on duty was dozing behind his desk. Hearing footsteps, he jerked his head up and saw Li Shiqun. He hurried to his feet.

"Director Li."

"Notify everyone to gather in the conference room. Remember, everyone!" Shen Yan's voice was quiet, but his tone left no room for doubt.

The staff on duty didn't dare delay and split up to spread the word. They notified everyone on the first, second, and third floors, without leaving out even the people in the holding cells.

Footsteps sounded in the corridor, hurried, as though someone were running. Some came out of the dormitory with their clothes still unbuttoned, fastening them as they walked. Some carried teacups, drinking as they went. Others yawned until tears came to their eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone on duty on the first, second, and third floors had gathered in the conference room.

Twenty-one people in all.

Shen Yan sat at the conference table. A small red-copper stove stood on it, with a delicate carrying handle and fine trailing-vine patterns engraved on its body. The charcoal burned brightly without a trace of smoke, and a silver kettle murmured softly atop the stove, its water just boiling.

"The Japanese military's high command hasn't been very satisfied with No. 76's work lately," Shen Yan said evenly, as though remarking on the fine weather. "You know the reasons yourselves. Someone higher up wants to investigate, so we need to prepare in advance. This is fine tea obtained from the Japanese high command, a reward for everyone's hard work these past few days."

A low-ranking agent, the most junior of them all, showed excellent initiative. He stepped forward with a tray and poured everyone in the conference room a cup of tea.

The leaves were premium Longjing, the brew clear and fragrant.

"Thank you for your consideration, Director!"

Suspecting nothing, everyone raised their cups and tasted the tea.

"Excellent tea!"

"It really is excellent. There's a different kind of savory freshness to it... is that fish?"

Three minutes.

The first to fall was the operations team leader sitting at the front. He was holding his teacup when his head dipped and he slumped onto the table.

A subordinate beside him hurried over and shook him, trying all the while to make excuses.

"Director Li-he-our team leader has been working too hard lately..."

But before he could finish, he fell too. Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth-like dominoes, they fell one after another.

Some collapsed onto the table, others onto the floor.

The conference room fell silent. Only the light overhead hummed.

Shen Yan looked at the bodies covering the floor and nodded in satisfaction.

Pufferfish toxin was seriously overpowered. It wasn't affected by boiling, burning, or exposure to the sun. It truly was an essential remedy for home and travel, murder and silencing witnesses!

[Ding! Killed 21 No. 76 agents. Good and Evil Points +6,100]

He stood and put the bodies in the conference room into his space.

Then he checked the minimap.

In the entire building, aside from him and the Clone, there were no living enemies left.

Shen Yan went down to the basement.

The stairs were narrow, lit by a single dim yellow lamp shining on the concrete steps. Water seeped through the walls, which were icy to the touch. The air was thick with the smells of mold, blood, and disinfectant.

The entire underground corridor was lined with No. 76's holding and interrogation rooms.

Shen Yan took out two military canteens filled with diluted liquid from the little red bottles. He and the Clone took one each and opened the prison door.

The door was heavy and creaked as it opened. Hot air rushed out, carrying a sour stench. Eight people lay on straw on the floor, covered in wounds.

Shen Yan stepped forward, opened the canteen, and poured a mouthful into each person's mouth.

Although the medicine had been diluted, the prisoners gradually regained consciousness.

They opened their eyes and saw Shen Yan before them.

"Li Shiqun! You bastard! Traitor! Sellout! I'll kill you even if I have to come back as a ghost!"

Shen Yan was immediately depressed.

He couldn't blame them. He had brought the scolding on himself.

He turned around and rubbed his face with both hands, immediately changing to another face. Let's go with Andy Lau's.

"Stop cursing! Did you get a good look? Cursing me just like that! I came to save you out of kindness, and this is how you repay me?!"

When they saw Shen Yan's face again, the prisoners froze on the spot.

"You... who are you?"

"Scavenger. If you don't know me, ask around after you get out. Now get up, all of you, and gather at the back door. The way's clear, and the people coming to meet you have arrived. Get moving."

"But..."

The prisoners exchanged glances, worried that this was another enemy trick-to let them go and then follow them to their liaison station...

Shen Yan saw through their thoughts at a glance. He turned and went out, took Li Shiqun's body out of his space, and dragged it inside.

"Believe me now?!"

Looking at the body on the floor, the prisoners began breathing harder.

"Pah! So you've got what was coming to you, Li! You deserved to die!"

They crowded around, wishing they could each cut off a piece of his flesh to take with them.

Shen Yan hurriedly stopped them.

"You need to get going, or soon you won't be able to. Are you all addicted to being locked up or something?"

Shen Yan took eight pistols and two boxes of ammunition out of his space and put them on the floor. People from the other cells also came out one after another, carrying guns.

They looked at the body on the floor, then at Shen Yan, as handsome as Andy Lau, and each cupped their fists in salute.

"Sir, your righteousness is admirable! Allow us to repay your great kindness in the future!"

"Go on, hurry. I'm still busy here."

Shen Yan waved a hand, cutting off their thanks, and urged them to leave quickly.

They nodded through their tears and helped one another toward the back door.

A moment later, a notification sounded.

[Ding! Rescued 18 underground party and Military Statistics Bureau personnel. Good and Evil Points +7,200]

It looked like Old Qian had received them.

Shen Yan went up to the second floor and entered No. 76's archives.

The door was locked. He pulled out a silenced pistol. Pfft. The door opened.

The archives room was small, with a desk, a chair, and eight filing cabinets against the wall. A desk lamp shone on an open file. The cabinets were locked, so he stuck a dagger into a gap, pried hard, and pulled one open.

Excellent, the first blind box had yielded gold!

Shen Yan had found one of his main objectives here-the roster, a complete list of all No. 76 personnel, with their names, positions, addresses, and contact information.

He put the roster into his space. He looked through the other cabinets as well, but there were too many files and not enough time to examine them one by one, so he simply put them all into his space.

He surveyed the room and, once certain he hadn't left anything behind, took a timed incendiary bomb out of his space. He set it to detonate at 8:30 the next morning, then tucked it behind a filing cabinet.

He signaled the Clone to do the same and plant timed incendiary bombs in every important department. He himself headed for the armory.

The armory had a heavy iron door, locked. It was twice as thick as the holding-cell door, and its lock was a size larger.

This wasn't something a pistol or dagger could open.

Shen Yan sighed and rummaged through his space for all the keys he had collected. He tried them one by one, struggling for more than ten minutes until, with the very last key, there was a click, and the iron door swung open...

Just look at my luck!

Shen Yan cursed as he pushed the door open.

The armory wasn't very large, a little over ten square meters. Iron shelves lined the walls, stacked with wooden crates marked with Japanese writing and numbers. Shen Yan pried one open. Inside were brand-new pistols, gleaming with oil. Another contained grenades. Another, rifles. Another, submachine guns. Another, ammunition.

He stopped opening them, or the readers would accuse him of padding the word count. With a grand sweep of his hand, he cleared the room out completely.

Shen Yan glanced at his watch. It was 11 p.m.

Time to go home. What a fulfilling day!

Putting Li Shiqun's face back on, Shen Yan walked out of the building.

The Clone had finished planting the bombs and was waiting quietly in the car.

When the car reached the gate, the sentry saluted again.

Shen Yan nodded. "Thanks for your hard work! I'll give you all promotions and raises tomorrow!"

"Thank you, Director!"

The sentry excitedly raised the barrier and saluted as he watched Shen Yan leave.

At 7:30 in the morning, Shen Yan was eating breakfast at home.

Nian'an sat across from him, her mouth stuffed with steamed bun. Her big eyes stole glances at Shen Yan as one little hand slipped under the table and dropped a small slice of soy-braised beef onto the floor.

Big Yellow, lying on the floor, glanced up at Shen Yan, then crawled forward in a sneaky, doggy fashion and licked the beef into his mouth. His tail wagged and his eyes narrowed, as though he were smiling.

Shen Yan pretended not to see, but he was delighted. Like owner, like dog; each of those two was cleverer than the other.

The phone rang. Old Chen answered it, and after listening for a few moments, his expression changed.

"Shen Yan, it's the Special Higher Police. Section Chief Kuroiwa wants you at No. 76 headquarters immediately."

Shen Yan put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and stood up. "What happened?"

"I don't know. He said to hurry."

Shen Yan put on his coat and pointed a warning finger at the little girl. He walked out as she pulled a face at him. Fang Yuan was waiting in the car and started the engine.

"No. 76 headquarters," Shen Yan said.

Fang Yuan pressed the accelerator, and the car pulled out of the alley. Shen Yan leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. Fang Yuan glanced at him in the rearview mirror but said nothing.

At 8:20, Shen Yan arrived at No. 76 headquarters. Several black sedans were already parked at the gate. Kuroiwa Masao stood in the courtyard, his face ashen. Lu Tinghui stood behind him, head lowered, holding a folder. Beside them stood a middle-aged man of medium height and a little on the thin side, with a slightly hunched back. He wore a dark suit, his collar meticulously buttoned, and gold-rimmed glasses.

Shen Yan looked at him closely.

Name: Ding Mocun (originally named Ding Juchuan)

Sex: Male

Identity: Director of the Wang puppet regime's No. 76 agent headquarters (nominal head), member of the Wang puppet regime's Central Standing Committee, minister of social affairs; formerly Chinese Communist Party → Central Statistics Bureau → Military Statistics Bureau → Japanese puppet regime, later secretly communicating with Chongqing

Good and Evil Points: -9,999 (extremely evil)

Current thoughts: *Li Shiqun has finally slipped up. He wanted to sideline me, did he? Let's see how he dies this time.*

"Section Chief." Shen Yan walked over, snapped to attention, and saluted.

Kuroiwa glanced at him. "You're here. This morning, the Special Higher Police called the duty room here, but no one answered. We tried the other departments' phones, and it was the same. The sentry at the gate said only Li Shiqun came and went once last night; no one else entered or left. Now that everyone's here, let's go in together and see who gave them the nerve to sleep on the job in broad daylight!"

Shen Yan looked at the building. The lights were still on, the windows were shut tight, and there was no sound at all. The curtains were drawn, so he couldn't see inside. The sentry at the gate was gone, and the duty room door stood open with no one inside.

"Section Chief, something's wrong."

Shen Yan's voice was quiet.

"With so many of us standing here and making this much noise, the people inside couldn't possibly have failed to hear us. I suspect something has happened at No. 76. I'm afraid the people inside aren't sleeping..."

Kuroiwa's fingers paused.

"I think we should have the No. 76 personnel who are here go in and check first," Shen Yan continued. "They know the layout. You can go in once they've confirmed it's safe."

Kuroiwa was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

Ding Mocun, standing to one side, picked several No. 76 men and told them to go in first. They held their guns ready, pushed open the main doors, and entered the building.

8:30 a.m.

Boom!

The first bomb went off. Not one, but twelve. Flames burst from the first-floor windows, showering the street with shards of glass like torrential rain. The second-floor curtains were consumed by fire and swept out the windows by the blast, falling through the air like burning butterflies. Part of the third-floor roof collapsed with a roar, tiles clattering into the courtyard and sending dust billowing into the sky.

The explosions merged into a continuous roar, shaking the ground like muffled thunder rolling through Shanghai's streets.

The whole building twisted and collapsed in the sea of flames. The men who had gone in first never came out. Someone was flung through a window by the blast and crashed onto the street, his whole body on fire. He rolled a few times and stopped moving.

Kuroiwa Masao stood in the courtyard, watching the fiercely burning building without expression. Ding Mocun's face had gone pale, and his legs were trembling.

Shen Yan, meanwhile, had immediately pressed Kuroiwa beneath him, shielding him completely.

When the explosions ended, only the crackle of burning wood remained.

Kuroiwa got up and pushed Shen Yan aside, staring at the sea of fire with an ashen face as belated fear washed over him.

If I'd gone in just now...

Shen Yan's caution had saved his life!

He turned and stared at Ding Mocun, who was huddled behind his bodyguard, the disdain in his eyes almost overflowing.

"Director Ding, this is the headquarters you manage! I'm sure Chairman Wang will be very interested in hearing your explanation!"

Ding Mocun gaped, feeling deeply wronged. You're blaming me?! How many lines have I even had?!

Kuroiwa glared at him.

"Shen Yan, take a team and bring Li Shiqun to the Special Higher Police. Alive or dead, I want to see him!" He turned to Lu Tinghui. "Seal off the train station and the docks. Arrest everyone suspicious! This is a provocation against the Empire!"

With that, he turned and got into his car, slamming the door. The car drove out of the compound and disappeared around the corner. Lu Tinghui got into another car and left as well.

Shen Yan stood in the courtyard, looking at the building, now a burned-out ruin. The fire was still raging, and the thick smoke stung his eyes. The sound of fire engines came from the distance, drawing closer and closer.

He turned and ordered Fang Yuan, "Mobilize the entire action squad. Search for Li Shiqun!"

The search was doomed to be futile. Li Shiqun had seemingly vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.

The manhunt went on for a full week, and Shen Yan found nothing. Kuroiwa didn't blame him too harshly. He knew in his heart that Li Shiqun had long since fled, and was probably sunning himself on a beach in Hawaii by now.

As for why he had done it, Kuroiwa thought it was simple. For a man who had served three masters, betrayal was an everyday affair as long as the price was right.

Ding Mocun, who had the same background as Li Shiqun, could clearly feel the Japanese and Wang Jingwei looking at him more and more strangely...

The search couldn't continue, but Shen Yan hadn't been idle. He was happily pursuing his side business.

Over the next few days, Shen Yan went on a killing spree!

More than thirty people on the Shanghai roster were still alive. Their homes were scattered across Shanghai, and Shen Yan had their addresses down to the house numbers.

The Clone had three days left to exist, and Shen Yan squeezed him to the limit like an unscrupulous capitalist.

He scouted locations by day and struck at night. Daggers, poisoned needles, silenced pistols-quiet, without a trace. He stowed the bodies in his space, and the people seemed to have vanished into thin air.

The people at No. 76 went mad. Some resigned, some fled, some hid at home, afraid to go out, and some wrote reports to Ding Mocun requesting transfers out of Shanghai.

But Ding Mocun had long since taken his family and bodyguards into the Japanese military police headquarters and refused to come out, no matter what!

Three days later, Shen Yan's Clone disappeared, and the skill entered its cooldown period. Only then did the wave of disappearances stop.

But the infamous No. 76, that den of evil in the history of China's War of Resistance, was already defunct in all but name.

As for Ding Mocun, he was dismissed for repeatedly refusing to carry out orders from Wang Jingwei and the Japanese. On the fourth day after he was expelled from the Japanese military police barracks, he was found dead aboard a cruise ship leaving Shanghai.

Three days later, his head appeared on Dai Li's desk and on the front pages of the major newspapers.

Because Shen Yan had only caused it and had not done it himself, the system awarded him only half the Good and Evil Points.

He wasn't very happy about that...