Agent: Intercepting Yu Manli at the start!

The surrounding area immediately erupted in laughter.

Zhou Xiao knew perfectly well that this excitement was exactly what he wanted—he and Li Xiaonan had been paving the way in that direction all along.

Furthermore, regarding the incident at the MGM cabaret, his public humiliation of Du Mingsheng was no spur-of-the-moment act. He intended to use Du Mingsheng's mouth to spread the news like wildfire throughout the film industry: Li Xiaonan was someone Zhou Xiao was protecting.

To put it bluntly, it's about creating hype.

After all, the film industry has always been a place where people love to gossip.

Three days later, at the Special Operations Headquarters.

Office of the Chief of Intelligence.

Feng Manna walked briskly to the desk and said in a clear voice, "Director Zhou, we just intercepted three Kuomintang agents and they have been locked up in the dungeon."

Zhou Xiao raised his eyes: "From the Military Intelligence Bureau? Have they spoken yet?"

"Not yet." She shook her head. "The interrogation team is putting pressure on him, and I don't think he'll last more than tonight—these kinds of people are too tough for more than three hours."

"Would you like to see it?"

"No need," Zhou Xiao waved his hand. "You have full authority to handle this."

He knew in his heart that it was not the right time to show himself. The more concealed his identity, the longer he could remain hidden.

After a pause, he suddenly asked, "What's the latest news about Lan Yanzhi?"

Feng Manna was taken aback: "Third Brother, you've noticed something's wrong too?"

Zhou Xiao chuckled: "It's too obvious. Lan Yanzhi is outstanding in every way—skill, intelligence, and courage. Aoki Takeshige let her in either because he valued her talent, or—he had already grasped her weakness and was using her family as a rein to lead her by the nose."

Feng Manna frowned: "But she's been so meticulous lately, not even her breathing rhythm is off."

Zhou Xiao leaned back in his chair, his gaze calm: "Anyone who comes with an ulterior motive will eventually make a mistake. We just need to keep a close eye on her and wait for her to let go on her own."

Lan Yanzhi was the most deeply buried pawn in his game, and also the most solid shield protecting his identity.

The two briefly exchanged a few more intelligence reports, and Feng Manna had just turned to leave—

Jingle Bell……

The phone rang suddenly.

Zhou Xiao reached for the receiver: "This is Zhou Xiao."

On the other end of the line, Aoki Takeshige's deep and efficient voice came through: "Director Zhou, Section Chief Feng, come to the Special Higher Police immediately." He hung up before he finished speaking.

Zhou Xiao put down the microphone and looked at Feng Manna: "Manna, Section Chief Aoki has summoned you. Depart immediately."

The two quickly boarded the car and headed straight for the Special Higher Police.

Inside the section chief's office, Aoki Takeshi stood with his hands behind his back by the window. Hearing the sound, he turned around and swept his gaze across the two men like a knife: "Director Zhou, Section Chief Feng—in the entire Special Operations Headquarters, I only trust you two."

"Right now, there's a top-secret operation that can't be done without you."

Zhou Xiao and Feng Manna both felt a pang of anxiety. Just by looking at Aoki Takeshige's expression, they knew this matter was of utmost importance.

Feng Manna immediately stepped forward: "Please give the order, Section Chief!"

"Very good." Aoki Takeshige opened the safe, took out a brown paper envelope, and slowly unfolded it: "This is the 'Currency War' secret order issued by headquarters. Take a look." He then handed the document to Zhou Xiao.

Zhou Xiao unfolded the book and read it carefully; the words were cold and piercing.

With the destruction of China's financial system as its core, the plan aimed to paralyze the economic lifeline of the War of Resistance against Japan; support the Wang Jingwei regime in rebuilding its currency system; and ultimately embed itself into the financial framework of the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere"—codename: Project Shirt.

The two read it in silence, their expressions growing increasingly serious.

Aoki Takeshige's lips curled slightly, his eyes sharp as an eagle's: "Successfully accomplishing this is better than annihilating 100,000 enemies."

Zhou Xiao felt a slight chill on his fingertips—it turned out the Japanese had already turned their guns around, aiming straight for his money bag.

Printing counterfeit money? Issuing excessive amounts of real currency? No matter which path you take, in the end, it's the people's food tickets that will be crushed.

In that instant, a murderous intent surged within him: Aoki Takeshige must die.

Previously, killing Aoki was an option, except when Zhang Wanlin was in power; now, it's a situation where killing him is inevitable.

The time is ripe.

Fortunately, the other party was willing to entrust him with such core secrets—which precisely shows that his disguise had won their trust.

The deeper the infiltration, the wider the reach. For example, the Shan Project was a key entry point delivered right to their doorstep this time.

Feng Manna asked in a low voice, "Section Chief, what exactly do we need to do?"

Takeshi Aoki said slowly, "Our original plan to counterfeit money to disrupt the market was a poor strategy. Now, we're going to print real money—a massive amount of real money."

Zhou Xiao raised his eyes and looked directly at the other person: "If you're going to print real coins, you need a master plate."

"Not bad." Aoki Takeshige's voice was deep yet penetrating, his gaze sweeping over the two men like a knife. "I have definite intelligence—the four genuine banknote printing plates are currently hidden in Shanghai. Your mission is to quickly locate them and retrieve them cleanly and efficiently."

"With these master plates, we can continuously print banknotes that are indistinguishable from the real thing, directly attacking the other side's financial lifeline and disrupting the entire foundation of monetary credit."

"This is more deadly than annihilating a thousand troops."

Feng Manna and Zhou Xiao nodded in unison.

Aoki Takeshige's lips curled into a slight smile: "Of course, I've already laid out a two-pronged plan—overtly, a large quantity of counterfeit money is being produced at breakneck speed; covertly, I've already set my sights on a bank, preparing to use its channels to brazenly 'launder' the counterfeit money into the market!"

"A bank? Why would they issue counterfeit money for us?" Feng Manna's eyes darted around, and she blurted out, "Section Chief, are you planning to use the bank owned by Lan Yanzhi's father—Lan Changming?"

"You get it right away!" Aoki Takeshi lightly clapped his hands. "It's the Lan family bank. It has clean accounts, wide connections, and a solid reputation, making it the perfect 'legitimate cover.' The counterfeit money is currently in the final color-correction stage. The whole plan is proceeding steadily and surely."

If a massive amount of counterfeit money were to flood bank vaults and end up in people's pockets, the consequences would be extremely dangerous.

The first blow was the collapse of trust.

When ordinary people repeatedly receive counterfeit money, they not only lose their hard-earned money, but also sow seeds of doubt in their hearts—is this bill real today? Will the one tomorrow be fake too? When doubt becomes a habit, banknotes are no longer a certificate of credit, but a stack of waste paper that may be invalidated at any time.

The second danger is the plundering of wealth.

The Japanese used worthless counterfeit money to exchange for real gold and silver; then they quickly exchanged the real money for US dollars and gold, and secretly smuggled it out of the country. In the end, all the losses were silently borne by ordinary people.

Its harm is far greater than that caused by guns and cannons.

"Therefore, this mission is extremely important—if we can retrieve the master plate, we will hold the key to printing money." Aoki Takeshige's eyes blazed. "This is a top-secret operation; leaking even a single word will result in certain death!"

"Yes!" Zhou Xiao and Feng Manna straightened their backs and answered firmly.

Afterwards, Aoki Takeshige explained the details of the clues, the timeline, and the method of rendezvous, urging the two to set off immediately.

An hour later, the two walked out of the Special Higher Police building.

Feng Manna gazed at the hazy horizon in the distance: "If this round of currency war really succeeds, the War of Resistance against Japan may have to end prematurely."

Zhou Xiao nodded calmly: "It may not be a complete turnaround, but it will definitely be a heavy blow to the financial system of the Nationalist government and the anti-Japanese forces—the harder it is hit, the harder it will be to recover."

The two got into the car, the engine roared, each lost in their own thoughts.

Feng Manna was preoccupied with how to find the master copy first and make a name for herself; Zhou Xiao, on the other hand, was planning how to send the intelligence out.

He knew all too well the consequences—once the Japanese got their hands on the original master copy, they would print money at full speed. Paper money flooded the market, and prices soared like a runaway horse: an egg that used to cost a copper coin would suddenly cost ten silver dollars; hard-earned savings shrank by more than half overnight—not that the money was less, but that it had lost its value, and its purchasing power was completely drained.

He was familiar with this kind of disaster. He had seen it before he transmigrated—in Zimbabwe, banknotes were printed in denominations of tens of billions, the paper money was so thick it could be used as bricks, and people carried sacks full of money to buy a bag of salt.

If Aoki Takeshige succeeds, the land of China may repeat the same mistakes.

Now that the Japanese have wielded the sword of currency war, Zhou Xiao is determined to first eliminate the one wielding the sword.

Eliminating Aoki Takeshige would, firstly, plunge the Special Higher Police into a command vacuum, causing their intelligence network to become sluggish and chaotic; secondly, it would inevitably derail or even abort the entire currency war, giving the Military Intelligence Bureau a precious breathing space to transfer its master copy.

This person must die.

Back at the special operations headquarters, just a dozen steps from the gate, Zhou Xiao caught sight of Lan Yanzhi walking towards him. A thought struck him, and he turned to Feng Manna, lowering his voice, "Manna, this plan absolutely cannot be leaked—especially not by our headquarters personnel during its execution."

Feng Manna understood and softened her tone: "That's right, whoever can get the master copy will get the biggest credit."

His voice was extremely soft, and his speech was very slow, as if he were afraid of disturbing the dust in the air.

An ordinary person standing ten meters away cannot hear anything at all—the sound of wind, cars, and people are all mixed together, and the distance is far.

But Lan Yanzhi could hear it.

Her hearing was extraordinary; she could clearly hear breathing even from ten meters away. Every word of this deliberately hushed whisper reached her ears.

Zhou Xiao's choice to speak at this moment was no accident—he wanted Lan Yanzhi to hear the words "Special Higher Police" and "Top Secret Plan."

This was the first pebble he truly wanted to pass out.

Sure enough, Lan Yanzhi paused, her heart skipped a beat, and her eyes lit up instantly—Top Secret? What top secret? Why bring it up now of all times?

Having successfully "lured" the fish, the next step is to "lay out the line."

You have to make her understand, but you can't reveal your identity. You also have to get her to investigate, write letters, and pass on the message on her own initiative. If you lose even a hair's breadth in this balance, you'll lose everything.

But Zhou Xiao already had a plan in mind.

Feng Manna looked up and saw Lan Yanzhi, her face darkening: "Yanzhi, where are you going?"

Lan Yanzhi glanced at the two of them sideways, her tone languid: "Headquarters's got nothing better to do than go out for some fresh air, is that not allowed?"

"We have work to do now." Feng Manna said crisply and efficiently, "Immediately tune and monitor all active radio stations in Shanghai, check for abnormal signals, and investigate suspicious call signs."

"Okay, then I'll go back." Lan Yanzhi turned and left.

I was originally planning to go out, but after hearing those whispers, my feet seemed to take root—I wasn't going anywhere. I stayed at headquarters, keeping a close eye on this "top secret" matter, to see where it would come from.

Feng Manna and Zhou Xiao returned to their respective offices.

To get Lan Yanzhi to "follow the vine to find the melon," you first need to give her a vine that is real, strong, and credible enough.

Zhou Xiao picked up his pen and swiftly wrote down the key points of Aoki Takeshige's currency war plan on the plain white letter paper, his handwriting sharp yet steady. After finishing, he carefully sealed this top-secret intelligence into a kraft paper document bag, and then personally locked it in the heavy brass-rimmed safe next to his desk.

The scheme had already been set up. All that remained was for Lan Yanzhi to come and retrieve it.

To conceal their true identities while ensuring the intelligence was delivered flawlessly—the safest and most discreet way was to let her "steal" it. This wasn't a loophole; it was the key Zhou Xiao himself handed over.

With everything arranged, he sat quietly at his desk, waiting for the perfect moment: those few minutes when Lan Yanzhi was alone in her office.