boyutpedia Chapter 88 Martial Law at the Dock
Chapter 88 Martial Law at the Dock
Yan Shuo understood and followed the soldier towards Kobayashi Kaoru's office. Kobayashi Kaoru had just returned from the infirmary, her complexion still not good. Seeing Kobayashi Kichiemon enter, she frowned slightly: "You're Kobayashi Kichiemon from the Prison Administration Department?"
"Yes! It is I!" Kobayashi Kichiemon immediately bowed respectfully.
"You've come to the Special Higher Police today to deliver intelligence?" Kaoru Kobayashi asked.
"Yes, Section Chief! I just handed you the report on the relevant clues about the military police prison. You also gave me 20 yen. Have you forgotten?" Kobayashi Kichiemon looked up, his face showing a slightly innocent and puzzled expression.
Kobayashi Kaoru recalled the events and realized it was true; his expression softened slightly. At that moment, a staff member from the telecommunications department walked in; he was the same person who had witnessed Kobayashi Kichiemon handing over the intelligence earlier.
"Chief, I can testify that Corporal Kobayashi did come this morning to submit some trivial prison information. He stayed for a very short time, handed in the report, and left. He did not have any private contact with anyone during that time."
With witness testimony, Kaoru Kobayashi completely put her doubts to rest.
He was already troubled by Tanaka Mihisa's matter, and now that he had confirmed that Kobayashi Kichiemon was just an ordinary informant and had nothing to do with the leak, he didn't bother to ask any more questions.
"Okay, I understand." Kobayashi Kaoru waved her hand impatiently. "The information you submitted is irrelevant, and you have nothing to do with this leak. You can leave now."
"Hi! Thank you, Section Chief!" Kobayashi Kichiemon bowed again, a relieved smile on his face, and turned to walk quickly out of the office.
As Yan Shuo walked out of Kobayashi Kaoru's office, he slowed his pace and regained his composure.
He glanced at the still tense atmosphere in the corridor, a barely perceptible smile curving his lips, and slowly walked towards the gate of the Special Higher Police Department.
The guard at the gate saw that he had a pass and verified his identity, so he was allowed to leave without any problems.
The moment Yan Shuo stepped out of the gate of the Special Higher Science and Technology Institute, he took a deep breath. The sunlight shone on his face, subtly concealing the sharpness in his eyes.
The Japanese sentries still held their rifles, their eyes scanning passersby warily. When civilians occasionally walked by, they instinctively hunched their shoulders and hurried along.
Yan Shuo raised his hand and glanced at the watch on his wrist. The hands pointed to 5:30 in the afternoon. The sky was gradually darkening, and the distant horizon was turning a hazy dark purple.
He strode to the car parked on the street corner, opened the door, and got to Pier 11 in the Eastern District before dark.
With a deep roar, the car merged into the traffic.
Most of the shops on both sides of the street had closed early, with only a few general stores still lit up. The banners hanging at the entrances that read "The Great Japanese Empire Will Surely Win" swayed slightly in the wind, looking particularly glaring.
"This world is unbearable..." The old man pulling a rickshaw next to him muttered under his breath, his voice broken by the wind. "I heard that there's martial law at Pier 11. I wonder what's happened this time."
The woman sitting in the car hugged her child tightly, her voice trembling with tears: "That's right, my family lives near the dock. I was just about to go and deliver some things, but the soldier stopped me and turned me away. He was very fierce!"
Yan Shuo listened to these trivial complaints and frowned slightly.
The car drove out of the city and headed towards the eastern district. The closer it got to the dock, the more Japanese military outposts it encountered along the way.
When they were about a mile from the dock, a roadblock suddenly appeared at the intersection ahead. Several Japanese soldiers stood in the middle of the road with their guns at the ready, surrounded by several Japanese agents in civilian clothes with sharp eyes, who were checking passing vehicles and pedestrians one by one.
Yan Shuo had no choice but to stop the car. The moment the window rolled down, a strong smell of gasoline mixed with the fishy smell of seawater hit him.
A Japanese soldier immediately stepped forward, pointed his gun at him, and shouted in broken Chinese, "What are you doing? Show me your identification!"
Yan Shuo calmly took out a forged merchant's certificate and handed it over. The soldier took it, examined it closely for a long time, then turned to the Japanese agent next to him and shouted, "Fujita-kun, take a look!"
The Japanese agent named Fujita approached, his eyes sweeping over Yan Shuo's face like a hawk's before he lowered his head to check his identification. He said coldly, "Martial law is in effect here. No entry! Only Imperial soldiers and Special Higher Police personnel are permitted!"
"Sir, I'm here to pick someone up. My relative is coming from out of town by passenger ship and will be docking at Pier 11." Yan Shuo deliberately feigned anxiety.
"Picking someone up?" Fujita scoffed, raising his hand to tap on Yan Shuo's car window. "No one, no matter who they are, is allowed in! Get out now, or you'll be treated as a traitor!"
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and two soldiers beside him immediately stepped forward with their guns, slamming the butts of their rifles heavily onto the ground with a dull thud.
Yan Shuo knew he couldn't force his way in, so he could only force a helpless smile and say, "Okay, okay, I'll be going now."
As he spoke, he slowly started the car and gradually pulled back into the shadows by the roadside to stop.
He pulled out his walkie-talkie and asked in a low voice, "Zhiyao, I've reached the outer perimeter of the dock, but the roadblocks are too tight; I can't get in. What's the situation inside?"
Li Zhiyao's slightly noisy voice came through the walkie-talkie, with the faint sounds of Japanese soldiers shouting and women crying in the background: "Captain, you've come at the right time. A three-story passenger ship just docked, and about 110 passengers disembarked. The women and elderly with children were pulled aside and isolated. The Japanese soldiers are searching them one by one, releasing them after they've been searched. The rest, regardless of age, have all been tied up; it looks like they're going to take them away."
"Oh?" Yan Shuo raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Are the Japanese so sure the target is one person? Logically speaking, the Military Intelligence Bureau sometimes arranges for a family to travel under the guise of a trip, although it's rare, it's not impossible."
"I also find it strange." Li Zhiyao's voice paused, and the reprimanding voice in the background became clearer. "I just overheard two Japanese spies chatting. They said it was a message from the secret communications team in Chongqing that they knew the target was going to take this passenger ship to Shanghai. But they didn't seem to know exactly what Shen Qing was dressed like, which is why they're arresting people on such a large scale."
"How many Japanese soldiers are there on site? Can we launch a full-scale attack?" Yan Shuo pressed.
"No way!" Li Zhiyao immediately refused, her voice urgent. "There are at least thirty Japanese spies and more than twenty Japanese soldiers, all armed. And there are many innocent guests here. If we start a war, we'll definitely injure civilians, and that would be a huge problem!"
Yan Shuo was silent for a moment, then tapped his fingers lightly on the steering wheel: "I understand. First, arrange for people to keep an eye on the license plates of those Japanese soldiers' vehicles and see where they take people. Also, pay close attention to whether anyone is being treated specially, such as being kept under house arrest or repeatedly questioned, to see if that person is carrying any special items."
"Understood! I've already sent someone to follow them. They'll let you know as soon as they have any news," Li Zhiyao replied.
After hanging up the walkie-talkie, Yan Shuo opened the aerial map in his mind.
The pale blue light spread out before his eyes, covering an area of only one kilometer in radius, but it was enough for him to see the surrounding road conditions clearly.
The map shows that it is 1.8 kilometers from his location to the passenger terminal. There are roadblocks at three intersections along the way, and each roadblock is heavily guarded. It is impossible to get around them.