Chapter 151: The Great Round-Up

(Wishing everyone a happy Lesser New Year!)

Although Ren Qiang had a general idea of when these radio stations typically booted up, by a little past five in the afternoon, they had only managed to check four of them.

Three remained unchecked, but despite the long hours, no one showed any sign of impatience.

That was because throughout the better part of the day, everyone's pockets had grown bulgingly full—all gains from extorting bribes and shaking down locals.

With money to be made, patience naturally abounded; many even wished they had a few more locations to check.

Sunshine Grocery Store.

Gao Fei’s expression was extremely grim. All day long, the Special Service Directorate's monitoring vehicles had been endlessly cruising back and forth along Yihe Road.

Though he was unsure what the directorate was investigating, Gao Fei had halted all radio transmissions to avoid exposing anything to their agents.

"Go call Tian Yaopeng over," Gao Fei instructed.

Tian Yaopeng arrived shortly and asked with a puzzled look, "Sir, you're really being too hasty. I haven't contacted my people yet, and the intelligence you wanted is not in my hands."

"I didn't call you here about intelligence," Gao Fei paused, then asked, "You know that the Special Service Directorate's monitoring vehicles have been patrolling nearby all day, right?"

"I had no idea. But why would they appear here? Could it be that your side left some trace and got targeted by the directorate?" Tian Yaopeng asked, his heart skipping a beat.

"Unlikely. If they had really caught even a hint of a clue, given the directorate's overbearing style and their philosophy of rather executing the innocent than letting a guilty person escape, they would have already broken down our door," Gao Fei said with absolute certainty.

"That's true," Tian Yaopeng nodded.

"I called you here to ask how well you know the telecommunications surveillance equipment used by the directorate's communications department," Gao Fei said with deep concern.

"I know a bit about it, but that equipment is quite easy to fool. As long as you keep changing your transmission locations and don't stay on the air too long, you'll be fine," Tian Yaopeng replied casually.

"That's a relief. I was genuinely afraid they might track us down via our radio signals. Still, just to be safe, it's best to maintain radio silence for a while," Gao Fei let out an involuntary breath of relief.

However, neither of them knew that the communications department was now equipped with brand-new monitoring equipment.

Both their detection range and response time had been vastly enhanced.

Outside, the sky had grown completely dark.

Bai Zeshao glanced at the still-busy Ren Qiang and said to Qin Shuai, "Old Qin, looks like we'll be working overtime tonight."

"Overtime is overtime; it's hardly unusual for us," Qin Shuai said lazily, leaning back in the car seat with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"True. Oh, take this money and send someone to Diyilou to buy some good food for the brothers," Bai Zeshao said, handing all the cash he had extorted today straight into Qin Shuai's hands.

"You're the only one rolling in wealth who treats money like it's nothing," Qin Shuai teased, accepting the money without hesitation and tucking it away.

"Get lost. You think I'm some rich second-generation heir? I just run a small business on the side," Bai Zeshao laughed and cursed playfully.

"Alright, enough of that, I can't argue with you. But maybe we should buy some liquor to warm ourselves up?" Qin Shuai suggested, clearly tempted.

"No alcohol. If something comes up tonight and it messes up the mission, we'll all be in deep trouble. How about this—use the rest of the money to buy cigarettes and hand them out to the brothers," Bai Zeshao said, changing his mind and giving instructions.

"Fine, we'll do it your way," Qin Shuai conceded without further insistence.

Deep into the quiet night.

At around eleven o'clock, Bai Zeshao and his team finally finished checking all the identified radio locations.

Yet one radio station had failed to turn on the entire time. This was a station the Special Service Directorate had previously discovered, but due to technical limitations, they had never been able to pinpoint its exact location.

"Xiaobai, do you think that last radio station is the Japanese transmitter we've been looking for?" Liu Xiaobai asked, looking at Bai Zeshao.

"Most likely. Our monitoring vehicles have been patrolling the streets continuously; these Japanese aren't fools—they obviously wouldn't dare turn it on," Bai Zeshao said with certainty.

"Does that mean we wasted the whole day running around for nothing?" Liu Xiaobai asked, somewhat disheartened.

"How could it be a waste? At the very least, the fact that this normally active station remained silent tonight proves our directional search was correct," Bai Zeshao said with a smile.

In truth, Bai Zeshao had left some things unsaid. Through the intercept records of communications between the Japanese and Qi Zhengyi, combined with the surveillance data of their chats,

he was now almost certain that the Japanese lair was located along Middle Yihe Road, even if the exact building remained unconfirmed.

"What do we do now?"

Everyone instinctively looked toward Bai Zeshao, waiting for him to make the call.

"What can we do? Go home, of course. It's already late, so everyone back to their own beds," Bai Zeshao said with a smile.

"Xiaobai, this is no time for jokes or trying to be humorous," Liu Xiaobai reminded him. "Tomorrow is the higher-ups' final deadline, yet we still haven't made any major breakthroughs. Of all people, you're the one with the most devious tricks—hurry up and think of something!"

"I'm not joking. Let's head back," Bai Zeshao said with complete seriousness.

"Xiaobai, are you serious?" Liu Xiaobai clearly found it hard to believe.

"Of course I'm serious. Do I look like I'm joking? Go back, get a good night's sleep, and prepare for a major operation tomorrow," Bai Zeshao stated firmly.

"A major operation? I knew you'd have a way! Tell us, what kind of major operation?" Liu Xiaobai asked eagerly.

The others looked at Bai Zeshao with equal curiosity, all desperate to know what brilliant scheme he had up his sleeve to break the current deadlock.

"A massive raid." Meeting everyone's inquiring gazes, Bai Zeshao softly uttered those three words.

"Have you lost your mind? If a massive raid were actually feasible, why would we bother deploying monitoring vehicles, wasting time and exhausting vast amounts of manpower and resources? You know the complications involved just as well as anyone!" Liu Xiaobai was the first to object.

"Of course I know what a massive raid implies. After all, Yihe Road is a main thoroughfare in Shanning, home to numerous shops connected to high-ranking government officials, not to mention relatives of military bigwigs. But I'm not a fool either," Bai Zeshao chuckled lightly and said calmly.

"What do you mean?" Liu Xiaobai asked instinctively.

"I'm only talking about raiding the commercial shops along Middle Yihe Road, not conducting a blanket search of everything," Bai Zeshao explained.

"Even so, the obstacles will be immense," Liu Xiaobai countered.

"So what? Do they really think our Special Service Directorate is easy to push around? If anyone dares to obstruct our work, we'll simply slap them with a charge of colluding with the Communists. If that doesn't work, we'll accuse them of conspiring with the Japanese. With national hatred and public fury running high, let's see who dares to step out and block us," Bai Zeshao said, his voice laced with cold intent.

Hiss!

Everyone, including Liu Xiaobai, was taken aback by how ruthless Bai Zeshao's plan was, and they couldn't help but draw a sharp intake of breath.