Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Zhao Shanhu and his team of security personnel instantly surrounded Fang Wen. A dozen special forces soldiers formed a human wall, firmly protecting Fang Wen in the middle, their guns pointed warily at the surroundings. Zhao Shanhu's face was ashen as he urgently urged, "General Manager, it's too dangerous! You must evacuate with us immediately and return to the headquarters building! We'll handle things here!"

Fang Wen remained unmoved: "No need to retreat. Leaving now would be playing right into the enemy's hands."

He felt the small bronze cauldron in his inner pocket; the intermittent vibrations not only didn't stop, but became increasingly rapid, even stronger than the warning when the assassin made his move.

Clearly, the danger is not over yet; this assassin is just the first wave, and there are more to come.

He explained, “If we leave the venue now, the enemy will be able to ambush us on the way to headquarters. It’s better to stay here. This place is closed and controllable. As long as I don’t go out, I can drag out the rats hiding in the shadows, and the people outside can’t do anything to me.”

Zhao Shanhu and Gong Xiuneng exchanged a glance and instantly understood Fang Wen's intention.

"Gong Xiuneng, take this assassin to the back area and interrogate him thoroughly. Make sure he finds out all his accomplices, the rendezvous point, and the follow-up plans!" Fang Wen ordered in a deep voice.

"Yes!" Gong Xiuneng replied, picking up the assassin who was still convulsing on the ground and dragging him towards the back of the venue like a dead dog.

Although the assassin inexplicably collapsed and convulsed, causing the assassination to fail, he was filled with self-blame.

At the same time, Fang Wen looked at Zhao Shanhu and quickly made arrangements: "Immediately arrange for manpower to seal off all entrances and exits of the venue and temporarily prohibit entry and exit. All attendees, staff, and reporters must remain in the venue and are not allowed to move around at will; send people to search all hidden corners such as the backstage area, rest rooms, and storage rooms to see if there are any hidden weapons or explosives."

"Understood!" Zhao Shanhu didn't dare to delay and immediately turned around to mobilize the security team members and the special operations team members of the independent regiment to act quickly according to Fang Wen's plan.

The special forces soldiers were well-trained and quickly restored order to the scene. They used their guns to keep the panicked crowd at bay and shouted at everyone to squat down. The originally chaotic venue was gradually brought under control.

The British Governor-General of Burma was quite frightened after the incident, and seeing the situation, he couldn't help but step forward.

"Fang, this is not a good thing. You have to release him."

Fang Wen also understood that he couldn't keep people under control indefinitely, as it would be detrimental to him in terms of public opinion.

He told the governor, "Give me 30 minutes. If there's no result in 30 minutes, I'll let them leave."

The governor had nothing to say and simply waited 30 minutes.

At the back of the venue.

Gong Xiu dragged the assassin into a room, closed the door behind him, and the room had no windows, only a dim light bulb. The oppressive atmosphere made the assassin tremble all over.

Gong Xiu slammed him to the ground without a word, and immediately used the Dislocating Bone Hand technique, his fingertips precisely gripping the assassin's wrist joint and twisting it sharply.

With a soft "crack," accompanied by the assassin's heart-wrenching scream, his wrist joint was dislocated.

But soon, the assassin could no longer make a sound. His jaw joint was dislocated, followed by his foot joint, and then his tendon-splitting hand.

Excruciating pain swept over the assassin's entire body like a tidal wave. His body convulsed violently, and he instantly lost control of his bladder and bowels. A foul, fishy smell filled the room, and blood kept gushing from the corner of his mouth. He was curled up in pain, and his consciousness began to blur.

"Let me give you a heads-up, this is just an appetizer." Gong Xiuneng's eyes were icy, and his tone was chilling. "I'm asking you, who sent you? How many accomplices do you have? Where are they hiding? What are your plans for the future? If you don't tell me honestly, I have plenty of ways to make you wish you were dead."

The assassin was in so much pain that he was covered in cold sweat. He nodded repeatedly and made whimpering noises, seemingly trying to get Gong Xiu to release the restrictions on his body.

Gong Xiuneng snorted coldly and reached out to help him straighten his dislocated chin. Just then, the door was pushed open, and Fang Wen walked in, stopping him: "Wait, don't move yet."

Gong Xiuneng was taken aback and immediately stopped.

Fang Wen walked up to the assassin, looked at him, and said coldly, "In recent years, intelligence organizations have been using a new method to prevent leaks: inserting hollow poison sacs into molars, filled with cyanide. As long as you bite through the outer shell of the poison sac, you will be poisoned and die instantly, avoiding torture and forced confessions."

The assassin's expression changed drastically, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes.

Gong Xiuneng reacted instantly, immediately stepped forward, grabbed the assassin's cheeks tightly with both hands, forcibly pulled his mouth open, and carefully examined him by the dim light.

Sure enough, on the assassin's left molar, there was a slightly darker, loose denture with a faint black glint in the gaps, clearly hiding a deadly poison.

"General Manager, it really is there!" Gong Xiuneng said in a deep voice, carefully holding the false tooth with his fingers, then suddenly pulling it out completely. He threw it on the ground and crushed it with his foot, causing the black venom inside to seep out.

With no escape route of suicide via venomous fangs, the assassin's last psychological defenses completely collapsed. He knew he had no chance of escaping punishment, and if he didn't confess, he would only face even more cruel torture from Gong Xiuneng. He trembled all over and nodded repeatedly.

Gong Xiuneng then stepped in and set his dislocated jaw joint back in place. Although it was still painful, it was much better than the excruciating pain he had just experienced.

The assassin, panting heavily, paused for a moment before speaking haltingly: "I...I am a member of the Japanese Special Higher Police's Nanyang Special Agent Group. Three months ago, my superiors assigned me to join the Burmese Daily News to find an opportunity to interview you and carry out a close-range assassination. After the news of this equity transaction conference came out, my superiors contacted me and ordered me to prepare for the operation."

Fang Wen picked up the modified Leica camera on the table and ran his fingertips over the lens.

Now that he can use his superpowers at any time, he instantly scanned the internal structure with his mechanical senses and discovered that a miniature gun barrel was hidden inside the lens, with the trigger concealed in the camera grip. It looked exactly like an ordinary camera, making it extremely well-hidden. No wonder it was able to pass the initial rough security check smoothly.

"Who gave you this camera? Do you have any accomplices in this operation?" Fang Wen asked coldly.

The assassin's expression changed, his eyes darting around. He saw Gong Xiuneng clench his fist and immediately cried out in fright, "It was...it was my contact who gave it to me, and the fangs too! I was working alone and hadn't seen any of my accomplices, but before I set off, I saw that my contact had several more of the same fangs, which means...it means that besides me, there were other assassins who were also after you!"

"Who is your contact? What does he look like? Where does he live?" Fang Wen pressed, his tone growing colder. It was the Japanese Special Higher Police again. From China to northern Burma, and then to French Indochina, these spies were like a persistent ghost.

The assassin shook his head, his face full of bitterness: "I don't know his real name, I only know his code name is 'Python.' He usually disguises himself as a dockworker at Yangon's docks. I always meet him in an abandoned warehouse at the docks. He always wears a hat and a mask, so I haven't been able to see his face clearly. For this operation, he only told me to make the move at the meeting. I was so nervous that I smoked in the lounge, and when I came out to carry out the operation, my body went out of control."

His body wasn't out of control; it was a normal bodily reaction to being electrocuted.

Fang Wen pondered the assassin's words.

Was this guy's upline posing as a dockworker a spur-of-the-moment decision, or was he using his dockworker identity to gather intelligence on Mount Tai?
As the company continues to grow, Taishan Airlines has more and more branches, and some departments, in addition to their managers, hire a large number of local people to work.

There are two companies at the dock, one responsible for inland waterway shipping and the other for maritime shipping, and both of them employ some locals as laborers.

Thinking of this, Fang Wen went out and instructed Zhao Shanhu: "Send someone to headquarters and have them investigate the dock branch to see if there have been any suspicious dockworkers recently."

"Yes." Zhao Shanhu called over the two men, gave them some instructions, and then the two men left quickly.

Fang Wen then returned to the venue under the protection of special forces members.

After receiving a report from his subordinate, Zhao Shanhu, who was in the back row, jogged over.

"General Manager, we have checked the backstage area and the lounge. We found no hidden ambushes or weapons. We have also checked the personal belongings of the attendees one by one. So far, we have not found any other suspicious items."

There's none?
Bullet cameras are proof that real assassination weapons are not easy to detect.

Fang Wen touched the necklace on his chest and activated the X-ray vision ability of the Vertical Eye Gem.

He saw through the people in the hall. Subcutaneous flesh, fascia, bones, internal organs.

And their personal belongings.

Wait a minute, Fang Wen suddenly remembered the poison sac in the assassin's teeth.

This is a good entry point.

He adjusted his observation method and looked at people's heads.

Like an X-ray, people turned into skulls.

Their teeth are displayed in the form of bones, which allows Fang Wen to easily see the structure of the teeth.

He observed from his vantage point.

From left to right.

The gaze eventually settled on a thin, middle-aged man.

He has a false tooth, and there's something else inside the hollow part of the false tooth, a small oval shape.

Fang Wen whispered to Gong Xiuneng, "The one in the white suit, tall and thin, wearing a hat. After you subdue him, check his teeth."

Gong Xiu understood immediately. Instead of rushing directly to the target, he first walked to a local businessman on the other side who looked flustered and pretended to question him.

Just as everyone's attention was drawn to his action, Gong Xiuneng suddenly spun around and attacked, taking a step behind the tall, thin man in the white suit wearing a hat. He gathered all his strength in his hand and slashed hard at the back of the man's neck.

The man didn't even utter a sound before collapsing to the ground.

Gong Xiuneng then pressed the man to the ground, pried open his mouth in front of everyone, and broke off a false tooth.

"General Manager, another venomous fang has appeared; he's an assassin!"

A collective gasp filled the air.

No one expected that a second assassin would be hidden in the presence of so many celebrities, reporters, and consuls.

Zhao Shanhu immediately led his men forward, completely subdued the man, and searched his entire body.

"Bring that pen over here," Fang Wen said.

Zhao Shanhu brought over a gold pen. Fang Wen took the pen, twisted the pen body, and the gold pen split into two sections. The latter half of the pen barrel turned out to be a single bullet launcher tube, with a pointed bullet inside. As long as the mechanism at the end of the pen was pressed, it could be fired at close range.

Fang Wen weighed the deadly golden pen in his hand, his chill intensifying.

He activated the Perspective Gem again, his X-ray vision scanning over everyone's teeth, bones, and belongings.

Mechanical sensing is also fully deployed, taking into account the facial expressions and physical reactions of everyone in the venue.

One minute, two minutes...

No third fang was found, nor were any other hidden firearms or explosives.

Fang Wen turned and walked towards the still pale-faced British Governor-General of Burma, giving a slight bow:
"Your Excellency, two assassins have been captured inside the venue. Now, everyone may leave in an orderly manner."

The governor breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and nodded repeatedly: "It's good that they've caught them. I will have the army and police cooperate with your investigation. No matter who they are, they must pay the price."

Guided by security personnel, the still-shaken guests and reporters gradually left the venue.

The second assassin was taken to the back area, where Gong Xiu was able to torture him.

His testimony was almost identical to the first one:
He maintains a one-way communication channel, with his contact codenamed "Python." He will contact him under various aliases, including that of a dockworker at Yangon's docks.

His weapons and fangs were all provided by "Python".

Both interrogations pointed to the dock.

At almost the same time, inside the headquarters building.

Fang Shouxin was leading the entire administration department in a tense examination of two personnel files from the dock branch.

The two companies, one inland waterway shipping and the other maritime shipping, investigated all the porters they had hired in the past three months. They all had complete identities, local guarantors, and most of them were illiterate and only knew how to make a living by doing manual labor. They were not capable of organizing assassinations or contacting special agents, and even reading and writing were difficult for them.

"No, there's definitely something wrong." Fang Shouxin gritted his teeth. "Expand the scope, investigate all employees, not just the newly hired ones!"

The administration department continued its in-depth investigation, tracing everyone from the lowest-level laborers to clerks, bookkeepers, and dispatchers.

An astonishing clue suddenly surfaced.

There is a clerk at the port branch named Chatchai who has been with the company for more than three months.

The document states: Both parents are deceased; there is a younger brother and a younger sister, both of whom are married; the guarantor is a distant relative.

However, the results reported back by the dispatched administrative department investigators were:

His so-called younger brother and sister, along with their families, all mysteriously disappeared before and after he joined Taishan Company.

The guarantor listed on that personnel document had been reported to have "accidentally drowned" two months prior.

Fang Shouxin held the investigation report, his palms turning cold.

All these clues point to this man, Chhay. How could there be so many coincidences? His entire family has disappeared, and his guarantor has also died unexpectedly.

Those people were probably not his real relatives; they were already dead, trying to cover up his true identity.

He picked up the Taishan walkie-talkie and communicated with Fang Wen, who was a kilometer away.

"Found him. He's a 'venomous snake' hiding within our ranks, named Chatchai. Should we send someone to capture him now?" (End of Chapter)