Spy game? Stop guessing, I really am an undercover agent!

There's a problem with Chapter 213, I'll take responsibility.

南田沉默片刻，提出最后一种设想：“藤田大佐，你说有没有可能是减法或者加法？7-6=1，6-2=4，组成14；5-3=2，6-2=4，组成24？但1424又代表什么？”

“或者乘法？7x6=42，6x2=12，组成4212；5x3=15，6x2=12，组成1512？”

Fujita frowned and said, "With such random combinations, we can come up with countless possibilities."

He sighed, stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the street: "Old Zhong risked his life to deliver this message because it must be extremely important."

“Every minute we delay, the Red Party could gain access to this information one step ahead.”

"Numbers can be interpreted in many ways. Major Nantian, you are in charge of continuing to investigate the possibility of phone numbers and coordinates; Director Chen, you are in charge of verifying the possibility of the book's password. Also, Zuo Mingquan was the first person to monitor Lao Zhong's whereabouts. I want to know if there is anything else he has that we don't know about."

"Go back and organize this intelligence carefully, and report back immediately if you find anything."

"Hai!" the two replied in unison, and quickly left the office.

Fujita stood alone at the table, staring at the mysterious set of numbers.

As the sun gradually set in the west, it stretched his shadow longer and longer.

“7662—5362,” he muttered to himself, “Old Zhong, what exactly are you trying to tell them?”

6 p.m., French Concession, safe house on Avenue Joffre.

The indoor lighting was dim.

Lin Xueli and Zhang Jianliang sat facing each other, with paper and pen spread out on the table between them, covered with various combinations of numbers and calculation formulas.

"Still not right." Zhang Jianliang threw down his pencil in frustration. "We've tried every possible mathematical combination all day, and it's completely meaningless. What exactly is Lao Zhong trying to tell us?"

Lin Xueli stared silently at the set of numbers: "7662-5362".

His fingers tapped the table unconsciously, and the number that Old Zhong shouted with his last breath before he died clearly represented absolute secrecy.

Lin Xueli suddenly spoke up, "Old Zhong was in a critical situation at the time. He needed to convey a message that we could understand but the Japanese couldn't. What was it that he knew and that we also knew?"

"Could it be a number from the codebook?" Zhang Jianliang suggested.

Lin Xueli shook his head: "Comrade Special Envoy, you may not be familiar with the structure of Shanghai's intelligence system."

"First of all, we are all vertically connected, with each person being an individual node, linked by those above and below."

"Secondly, we have a clear division of labor. Lao Zhong and I are both on the reconnaissance line, responsible for intelligence gathering."

"The sending and receiving of intelligence would be done by a combination of secret agents and telegraph operators."

"Old Zhong doesn't have the codebook, and he couldn't possibly know it."

"Besides, Xue Lian is one of the people who know about the communication codebook. Old Zhong knows that Xue Lian has been arrested. He would not transmit such information using the numbers in the codebook. It would be very likely that the Japanese would find out."

"I think maybe we're overcomplicating things."

"What he was trying to say must be something we've had contact with, but the Japanese don't know about it yet."

"For example, his safe house."

At this point, Lin Xueli's eyes suddenly lit up: "I remember there was a bookshelf in his safe house."

“Once, when we met at the safe house, he remarked that if the revolution could succeed, he would become a writer and write down our story of fighting against the Japanese, so that future generations would know how difficult it was for us back then.”

"Nobody knows about this, if he's trying to tell me."

"The sixth book on the seventh shelf!" Lin Xueli quickly wrote down 7 and 6.

"Page 6, line 2!" Zhang Jianliang continued with the second 6 and 2. "7662!"

“Then 5362?” Lin Xueli’s eyes lit up. “The third book in the fifth section, page six, line two? Or…”

Zhang Jianliang had already grabbed his coat: "To the safe house! Now!"

"No, it's too dangerous!" Lin Xueli reached out and pressed him down. "You don't know the situation there, so leave it to me."

Zhang Jianliang checked the pistol at his waist: "It's precisely because it's dangerous that we have to go. If the Special Higher Police get the stuff first, then Lao Zhong's death will have been in vain."

"Besides, the carrier pigeon has already been exposed. He met with plainclothes officers from the Special Higher Police using forged documents."

"The time interval is too short. If there are Special Higher Police or Nanjing agents near the safe house, he will be exposed immediately."

"Right now, it's just the two of us who can work together."

"Go in and get the intelligence, I'll keep watch outside for you."

“Absolutely not,” Lin Xueli insisted. “Listen to me, the Japanese are conducting a full-scale manhunt right now. You’re a new face, and you’re likely to be targeted if you appear near a safe house.”

“I have a client who lives in that place. I’ve been there a few times. Even if I get cornered, I can get away if anything happens, and no one will suspect me.”

"It's actually harder to get things done when there are two people together."

"This..." Since Lin Xueli had already said this much, Zhang Jianliang no longer insisted.

"Okay, I'll wait for your message here. The phone will ring three times and then hang up, which means you've evacuated safely."

"If I don't get a call before midnight, I'll think of something else..."

Lin Xueli nodded, picked up his hat, wrapped himself in a thick scarf, and left the safe house.

Shanghai, French Concession, Rue Albert, safe house.

Lin Xueli arrived quietly outside the alley where Lao Zhong lived.

After observing his surroundings, confirming that the Japanese hadn't discovered him, he pulled his scarf up to cover most of his face. Then, familiar with the area, he circled around to the back of the alley, climbed over an abandoned courtyard wall, and silently arrived at the back window of Old Zhong's house. He carefully pried open the latch and slid inside. A thin layer of dust covered the study, but the books on the shelves were still neatly arranged. Following the numerical instructions, Lin Xueli found the sixth book in the seventh shelf: *The Rise and Fall of Shanxi Merchants' Money Shops*.

He quickly flipped to page six, where the second line read: "Article 167: Rishengchang Bank pioneered remittance services, eliminating the risk for merchants of transporting cash."

Lin Xueli carefully examined the page and noticed a slight bulge in the lower right corner. He carefully tore the page open, and sure enough, there was a small brass key hidden inside! The key was engraved with the number "5362".

It turns out, 5362 is the safe's combination...

Lin Xueli breathed a long sigh of relief; Old Zhong must have put the confidential documents in the Jinshang Bank safe deposit box.

Indeed, those things are much safer in a safe than here.

After scrambling the books, Lin Xueli carefully put the key away. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard the sound of a car engine and hurried footsteps outside.

Lin Xueli immediately turned off the lights, slipped behind the curtains, and cautiously peered outside.

Three black cars sped up and suddenly stopped at the entrance of the alley.

Chen Yang got out of the car first, followed by more than ten secret agents who quickly dispersed and surrounded the entire alley.

Two plainclothes officers from the Special Higher Police got out of the car behind and spoke with Chen Yang, pointing in the direction of Lao Zhong's residence.

"They came really fast." Lin Xueli's heart sank. He hadn't expected Chen Yang to personally lead the team, and to arrive so quickly.

Chen Yang ordered his men: "You few guard the front and back of the courtyard, you come with me inside to search! Colonel Fujita has ordered that any suspicious persons be killed without exception!"

Lin Xueli realized he had to evacuate immediately. He gently pushed open the back window, preparing to return the way he came.

At this moment, Chen Yang was assigning tasks at the front door of the safe house.

"Captain Ling, according to the Special Higher Police's assessment, the clues are very likely in Lao Zhong's safe house."

"Take some men up there first to check the situation and see if you can find anything useful."

"Section Chief Gao, could you assist Xiaoshan Jun in patrolling the surrounding area, take Lao Zhong's photo, and ask him if he usually contacts anyone?"

"Or, you had a detailed conversation with someone."

The group bowed and dispersed with their respective groups.

Ling Jing led a group of people straight to the safe house upstairs.

This safe house was revealed by Wu Fuzhao and had been under their surveillance for a long time.

However, Zuo Mingquan was suddenly seriously injured, and Lao Zhong had already been captured, so the Jinling Special Service Committee did not report this to higher authorities.

Until today, Fujita suddenly asked Chen Yang to go back and organize all of Zuo Mingquan's previous action reports.

Gao Bin from the intelligence department reported the matter.

After Chen Yang notified Fujita Tsuyoshi, Fujita Tsuyoshi immediately called two plainclothes officers, Koyama Yukito and Kawanishi Bunta, to assist in inspecting the safe house.

However, they didn't expect that the item was actually there, and that someone had already taken it first.

After assigning tasks to his subordinates, Chen Yang stood by the car, lit a cigarette, and took a puff.

"Let me go! What do you want? Let me go!" A familiar voice came from afar.
Chen Yang was stunned; this wasn't Lin Xueli's voice.

Sure enough, the next moment Chen Yang saw Koyama Yukizo and Gao Bin shoving Lin Xueli as they walked over from one end of the alley.

"What are you doing?" Chen Yang stubbed out his cigarette and stepped forward to scold them.

"Chen Yang, it's so good to have you here." Lin Xueli immediately shouted that he was wronged when he saw Chen Yang.

"I was visiting a client when these two people, who I don't know where they came from, grabbed me on the street."

"Do you have no regard for the law?"

Koyama Yukiaki asked suspiciously, "Director Chen, do you know him?"

"Of course I know him. He's my older brother, Xiaoshanjun. What did my older brother do that you want to arrest?" Chen Yang's face darkened.

Koyama Yukito explained, "No, we just walked into the back alley and saw this gentleman coming out of it. We just wanted to take him back and ask him about it."

Chen Yang said to Lin Xueli, "Brother, why are you here at this time? Shouldn't you explain this to Xiaoshan Jun?"

“Oh, this is my client’s business card.” Lin Xueli was prepared: “Dang Xiangrong, Mr. Dang is a client of our company. Now that the Spring Festival is approaching, Director Pi Shaona asked us to visit the client before the Spring Festival to renew our relationship.”

"I went to his house, but unfortunately, Mr. Dang and his family had all gone back to their hometown for the Spring Festival."

“I learned about this from his neighbor. I had just left his house and walked to the alley entrance when I ran into these gentlemen.”

Chen Yang nodded: "Section Chief Gao, go and verify the situation. Brother, you ride back in my car first."

Koyama Yukito frowned slightly and said, "Director Chen, isn't what you're doing a bit inappropriate?"

Chen Yang said coldly, "What? Does Xiaoshan-jun suspect that there is something wrong with my elder brother or that there is something wrong with me?"

"Didn't I say to let Section Chief Gao verify it? Besides, if there really is a problem, do you think I can just run away?"

Koyama Yukito quickly bowed and said, "I'm sorry, Director Chen, that's not what I meant."

Chen Yang turned around, pushed Lin Xueli into the back seat of the car, closed the door, and said earnestly through the car window, "Brother, go home and rest early. Don't run around unnecessarily in the future."

After saying that, he instructed the driver to start driving immediately.

Gazing in the direction the car disappeared, Chen Yang's lips curled into a slight smile. At this moment, he was absolutely certain of Lin Xueli's identity.
(End of this chapter)