The Bravest

After work, Lin Jie sneaked out without alerting anyone in the Intelligence Department. Today he was going to monitor the clinic in person.

"What a good place," Lin Jie put on makeup, changed several rickshaws, and circled around the clinic within a kilometer, but could not find a suitable place to be used as a fixed monitoring point. The clinic is located on a street in a low-rise residential area. The strange thing is that this short street is lined with one-story tiled houses on both sides, and only the clinic is a two-story building. Behind the small building is a messy shack area. If someone enters it, they can't be caught at all. Moreover, the second floor of the clinic itself is a good place to monitor the surrounding residential areas.

In order not to alert the enemy, Lin Jie spent two days, with Liu Sheng and Liu Yidao, putting on different makeup and taking turns walking and observing. There was no way to confirm that this clinic was a stronghold, so he could only gamble on his luck and wait for Liu Yang to show up and arrest him directly. If it was really a stronghold, then everyone would be caught red-handed. If it was wrong, it would be a misunderstanding, but it would still alert the enemy.

There was no way out. An urgent message came from the Military Control Commission that the letter of surrender would expire in three days. Lin Jie guessed that Zhang Wu would make some move in Chongqing within three days and would no longer be able to hide it.

Lin Jie thought that there was a 70% chance that this was Liu Yang's contact point. He went to No. 76 to find Ono from the gendarmerie and told him about Liu Yang's story starting from the time when Zhang Wu assassinated Li Shiqun, and all the way to the various anomalies that had been discovered so far.

"Mr. Ono, I also know a little about the Chongqing intelligence network. So far, the reason should not have been found, but Zhang Wu has not been in trouble. This is not right. I have a hypothesis. The assassination failed. Zhang Wu and Liu Yang had a plan from the beginning, which was to leave some clues and let Zhao Yilong find Liu Yang. After being tortured, Liu Yang pretended to give out Zhang Wu's fake death and hiding place in exchange for a more advantageous position than Zhang Wu as the deputy director of the intelligence department. Then Zhang Wu was successfully arrested. Liu Yang took the initiative to persuade Zhang Wu to surrender, and also proposed that Zhang Wu go undercover in Chongqing. After Zhang Wu returned to Chongqing, he gained trust and then betrayed our intelligence network. Mr. Ono, is this hypothesis very likely?"

"Well, this possibility is not small, especially since the price Chongqing paid is much smaller than the gains."

"Yes, and it was just a backup plan after a failed operation. That's why the Military Control Commission used high-level undercover agents to carry out assassinations. So, Ono-kun, I think we can take a gamble. If we lose, it's just a misunderstanding, and there's no loss. What do you think, Ono-kun?"

"Okay, let's take a gamble. Tell me about your plan." Ono didn't care about the consequences of losing the bet. The Japanese would not take care of Liu Yang's emotions and face. That was Lin Jie's business. If it was true, it would be a great achievement for him. However, before there was substantial evidence, Ono would not report it to his superiors.

"Ono-kun, the location of the base is not conducive to surveillance, so we can't go fishing. I have arranged for a lot of people to go to the clinic to see a doctor. As soon as Liu Yang appears, the people inside will take action immediately, and the people outside will follow and rush in to arrest him. In this way, a few people are enough, and there is no need to get too close to avoid alerting the enemy."

"This way, it's easy to make mistakes and fail to catch them alive, or even let them escape." Ono was worried that there were too few people.

"Mr. Ono, we don't have to catch him. As long as we can prove whether Liu Yang is a fake surrender and whether he is still in contact with the Military Control Commission, and verify whether Zhang Wu is related to the destruction of Chongqing's intelligence network, we will achieve our goal. An exposed undercover agent is worthless. If we send too many people, there will inevitably be loopholes. If Liu Yang is alarmed and he doesn't show up, then my hypothesis will always be a hypothesis and meaningless."

Ono did not reply immediately. He thought carefully for a moment. "What Lin-san said makes sense. We should not be greedy. We should achieve our goal. The rest depends on God's will. If Liu Yang is really problematic, the personnel sent to Chongqing to reorganize the intelligence network will be in danger. However, we cannot panic without evidence. Liu Yang is irrelevant. Zhang Wu is important to us. We cannot easily disrupt Zhang Wu without evidence. Three days. If there is no movement from Liu Yang for three days, I will propose to Chongqing to strengthen prevention. Go and prepare. I will send a few plainclothes officers from the military police to support you."

When Lin Jie was ready to wait for Liu Yang to take the bait, Liu Yang was actually preparing to evacuate. Three months ago, Zhang Wu assisted the Military Intelligence Bureau in cracking the Japanese intelligence network in Chongqing. Due to the cooperation of the Military Intelligence Bureau, a certain price was paid. In addition to creating a fake large arsenal for deception, several real targets were also provided to the Japanese. Only in this way did they gain the trust of the Japanese and truly come into contact with the Japanese intelligence network. The Military Intelligence Bureau was able to follow the clues and gradually grasp the various strongholds of the Japanese intelligence network, and then unified the network, so Zhang Wu did not enter the target suspected by the Japanese.

The Japanese would not accept defeat and they again sent a large number of agents to lurk in Chongqing. The Military Control Commission had already learned this from the news sent back by Liu Yang. Zhang Wu had been investigating this reorganized intelligence network by taking advantage of the Japanese's trust, and now it was almost time to close the net. Once the net was closed, there was a great possibility that Zhang Wu would be exposed. Although the Japanese had not yet investigated the cause of the last incident, if one or two incidents happened, Zhang Wu would definitely be the focus of suspicion, and Liu Yang, who was related to Zhang Wu, would also be the focus of investigation by the Japanese. This was the purpose of the Military Control Commission to withdraw Liu Yang as Lin Jie's token of surrender.

Of course, the Military Control Commission would not completely block Liu Yang's path. Even if the personnel were about to be exposed, they were valuable and would not die in vain to cooperate with Lin Jie. Therefore, Liu Yang received the intelligence that he was going to evacuate in three days, which was a warning. He could not evacuate in advance. Liu Yang had to hold on for three days. If he evacuated in advance, he would alert the enemy and the Japanese intelligence network in Chongqing would be alarmed, resulting in the failure of the net. Therefore, Liu Yang had to evacuate in three days, and Lin Jie's side would be invalid in three days. Since Liu Yang did not know the existence of the surrender plan, the actions of Liu Yang and Lin Jie were real contests, so as not to leave any loopholes and make the Japanese suspect Lin Jie. If Lin Jie cracked the case of Liu Yang, the hidden agent of the Military Control Commission in No. 76, then Liu Yang would have proved to the Japanese that Lin Jie was reliable, and his trust would increase significantly.

Sacrificing Liu Yang, a hidden agent who was about to be exposed, to improve Lin Jie's status was the Military Control Commission's plan of surrender. The price of the plan's success was Liu Yang's head.

In order to avoid any future troubles, the Military Control Commission did not directly tell Lin Jie about Liu Yang's evacuation route, which was the clinic, and did not even mention Liu Yang's evacuation. This was also to prevent Lin Jie from being affected if he failed. As for whether the plan would succeed or not, it all depended on Lin Jie's own ability.

Today is Liu Yang's last day, and he is still working as usual. After get off work in the afternoon, Liu Yang will go directly to the clinic to meet with the people at the liaison station there to arrange the evacuation.

It was past five in the afternoon, and there were still ten minutes before the end of get off work. Liu Yang packed his things leisurely. There was nothing special, everything was the same as usual, except that Liu brought two pistols with him today. Before going out, Liu Yang simply loaded the bullets into the guns and inserted them back into the chamber. In fact, doing this could easily cause an accidental discharge, but Liu Yang was inexplicably irritable today. Under the calm surface, Liu Yang vaguely felt danger, but after a day of observation, he did not find anything unusual. It might be time to evacuate. This broke the usual calm. I guess I was too sensitive.

Liu Yang walked out of the gate of No. 76 and looked back. He was finally leaving this damn place. It had been almost a year. In order to crack the Japanese intelligence network in Chongqing, after Zhang Wu's assassination of Li Shiqun failed, he executed Plan No. 2 and was captured. After being tortured, he pretended to surrender and betrayed Zhang Wu. After Zhang Wu was captured, Liu Yang personally persuaded Zhang Wu to surrender and planned a plan for Zhang Wu to lurk in Chongqing. After paying a huge price, three months ago, he finally destroyed the Japanese intelligence network in Chongqing in one fell swoop. However, the Japanese, unwilling to fail, once again sent a large number of personnel to sneak into Chongqing. Fortunately, they were discovered by him. He hoped that Zhang Wu would make another contribution this time. Unfortunately, he and Zhang Wu could no longer hide. Damn little Japan, I'm leaving. See you later.

He called a rickshaw and headed straight for the contact station. When he was almost there, Liu Yang got off the rickshaw more than a hundred meters in advance, went into a grocery store, bought a pack of cigarettes, and stood at the door, slowly lighting one, looking at the people passing by on the street. All of them had a sense of life, but there were a few more beggars on the street every few days, poor children around ten years old, among them was a girl, about thirteen or fourteen years old, with a black face, barefoot, and tattered clothes, the color could not be distinguished, the little girl was being bullied by a teenage gangster, who was pulling and tugging. Damn the world, damn the Japanese, Liu Yang sighed.

After finishing a cigarette, he threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out with his foot before walking towards the clinic. About thirty meters away, a rickshaw passed by Liu Yang and soon stopped at the clinic. A fifteen or sixteen-year-old kid got off the rickshaw and hurried into the clinic. Liu Yang subconsciously squatted down to tie his shoelaces and watched the rickshaw leave. The billboard outside the clinic that was collecting medicinal materials said that they were collecting angelica today, indicating that the evacuation point was safe. Liu Yang stood up and continued to walk forward until he reached the outside of the clinic and entered the barber shop opposite the clinic. The barber shop was not doing well today, with only one customer. "Please wait a moment, it will be ready soon," the owner said when he saw a customer coming in. "Okay," Liu Yang replied, and sat casually on the tattered wooden sofa, looking at the street outside the door.

After a while, the fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy who had just come in by rickshaw and entered the clinic came out in a hurry, carrying several packets of medicinal materials wrapped in paper. The clinic was still open for business. Liu Yang stood up, said sorry, walked out of the barber shop and walked into the clinic. There were no customers in the clinic. When the gentleman sitting in the clinic saw Liu Yang come in, he nodded, then turned to his apprentice who was busy tidying up the medicine cabinet and said to go and prepare it. The apprentice said okay and turned to go into the back hall.

Liu Yang was about to greet the doctor at the clinic when he heard a arrogant and childish voice from behind, "Xiao Lan, just follow me, I will pay for your grandmother's medicine today and in the future." He turned around and saw the gangster dragging the little girl into the clinic, looking as arrogant as he could be. Liu Yang wanted to teach the gangster a lesson, but he resisted the urge and turned back to the doctor.

At the moment when Liu Yang turned back, the gangster rushed over and threw Liu Yang to the ground, sitting on his back. The little girl raised a pistol in both hands and shouted at the waiter who was about to stand up, "Old man, don't move." Unfortunately, she was too young, and even the pistols in her hands were shaking. The waiter was frightened by the sudden situation and didn't dare to move for a while.

After all, Liu Yang was a veteran agent and in his prime. He immediately pushed aside the gangster and was about to stand up when Lin Jie, who had already rushed to the door of the clinic, shot Liu Yang in the shoulder from behind. Liu Yang reacted very quickly. With his back to the enemy, he had no way to fight back. He had to roll on the ground to avoid Lin Jie's continuous shooting. Relying on his familiarity with the terrain of the clinic, he rushed into the back hall of the clinic. The old man in his fifties or sixties who was sitting in the clinic was awakened by the gunshots. He took out a pistol and was about to raise it when the gangster rushed over and knocked him down, and snatched the gun from his hand. The old man was no longer able to resist.

Lin Jie shouted to the gangster, "Liu Sheng, don't let the old man suffer." Then he held the gun with both hands and pointed it vigilantly at the back hall. He slowly approached the small door of the back hall and fired at it, but he didn't go in. One reason was that Lin Jie was afraid of death, and the other was that Lin Jie wanted to leave Liu Yang a glimmer of hope for escape. After emptying the bullets in the pistol, Lin Jie replaced the magazine with a new one. Looking back, he saw Liu Yidao also rushing over. He said to Liu Sheng, "Follow me." After firing two more shots, he grabbed a chair that fell beside him and threw it in. When he heard no response from inside, he rolled into the back hall of the clinic.

Liu Sheng was the gangster. His makeup skills were really good. People who were not familiar with him could not recognize him at all. In addition, although Liu Sheng went in and out of No. 76, he had never met Liu Yang. The gangster was Liu Sheng's true character. After hearing what his elder brother said, Liu Sheng understood that it would be difficult to die after entering the door of No. 76. His elder brother was still soft-hearted. Liu Sheng took out a small pill and handed it to the old man who was pressed under him. He whispered, "There is no way. It's the world. You won't suffer if you take it." The old man's eyes lit up, turned his head hard, opened his mouth, and Liu Sheng stuffed the pill into his mouth. He watched him swallow it.

Liu Sheng turned around and shouted, "Xiaolan, don't be afraid. Yidao, take good care of Xiaolan, I'll go help big brother." After that, he went straight into the back hall of the clinic. Only Liu Yidao and Xiaolan, who was frightened by the gunshot and turned pale, were left in the lobby of the clinic. Even so, Xiaolan still held the gun tightly in her hand. This cold pistol would give her a sense of security in this dark age.