Chapter 39: Internal Strife
Chen Yang waved his hand at the other party, indicating no need for thanks.
It wasn’t that he wanted to save Sonoda Kumakichi’s life, but the moment the explosion sounded, a realization had already flashed in his mind; given the position where the two of them had been standing, even if the crystal lamp fell, it wouldn’t have taken Sonoda’s life.
Unless Chen Yang pushed Sonoda Kumakichi further inside, but that would cause big problems; his mission was to hide his identity and go undercover in the puppet agency, not to exchange his own life for that of a military advisor.
“Clatter.” The door opened, and a burst of footsteps came; the Iwai Agency agents guarding the door rushed in immediately upon hearing the huge noise from inside.
Iwai Koichi stood on the stage directing, telling all the traitors present, big and small, not to panic and to leave in sequence according to the directions.
The Iwai Agency agents, while escorting people out, also did on-site screening work to check if any strangers had mixed in.
A perfectly good reception had turned into this mess, and Iwai Koichi also felt he had lost face.
Shanghai, consulate.
After arranging the attendees into the evacuation passages, Iwai Koichi angrily led people back to the consulate.
Chen Yang originally thought of leaving with the crowd, but Iwai Koichi had Chen Yang go back with him.
The reason was simple: Sonoda Kumakichi said that when the bomb exploded, Chen Yang reacted quickly and pulled him aside.
In other words, Chen Yang likely observed changes in the expressions of the people at the scene.
Today’s gathering consisted entirely of New Government internal personnel; outsiders had no idea about this gathering at all.
The fact that the other party could place a bomb in the VIP Hall position led Sonoda Kumakichi to deduce that the problem was most likely with the internal personnel.
In the consulate’s second floor office, Chen Yang sat in the office drinking coffee,
After waiting a long time, footsteps sounded outside the door, and Iwai Koichi hurriedly walked into the office holding a report.
“Senior Iwai, how did it go?”
Iwai Koichi sighed: “The New Government side had no casualties, but Lieutenant Morishita of the military advisory group was hit by crystal lamp debris due to untimely evasion and has been confirmed dead.”
“This is big trouble now.”
Chen Yang asked puzzledly: “Senior Iwai, just a lieutenant—what influence could that have?”
Iwai Koichi sighed: “This Lieutenant Morishita was originally from the Nanjing Special Services Section; his purpose in joining the military advisory group was to handle the establishment work of the Nanjing Special Affairs Committee.”
“Currently, all structures of the New Government already have candidates; with Lieutenant Morishita’s accident, the establishment work of the Nanjing Special Affairs Committee will have to be paused for a while.”
“But the homeland is already secretly preparing a new intelligence agency, aiming to cooperate with the Nanjing Special Affairs Committee and use the new agency to control intelligence work in the southern region.”
“With his death, we have to send someone new to replace his position, and moreover, it has to be someone like him who understands the New Government situation and is a professional talent proficient in intelligence work.”
“Sigh, in short, it’s very troublesome now, and I don’t know what to do.”
At this point, Iwai Koichi let out another long sigh, and the room fell into a period of silence.
Iwai Koichi suddenly asked Chen Yang: “Mr. Chen, before the explosion happened, did you notice anything unusual?”
Chen Yang frowned and said: “Senior Iwai, I really didn’t notice anything unusual.”
“However, before such a reception is held, the venue must have been checked multiple times—didn’t you discover any problems beforehand?”
Iwai Koichi frowned and said: “The Shanghai Horse Racing Chamber of Commerce is not like other venues; there are British and Americans involved here.”
“Their security work is always done well, and moreover, we booked the VIP Hall, so security should be even tighter.”
“Who would have thought such an oversight would occur; the consulate has already lodged a protest with the International Settlement Municipal Council.”
“Demanding that they give an explanation.”
Chen Yang nodded slightly; knock knock knock, another burst of knocking sounded, and the Iwai Agency deputy head of agency, one of the China affairs investigation team members, Inukai Ken pushed open the office door and walked in.
Seeing there was someone else in the office, Inukai Ken appeared somewhat hesitant.
“Inukai, is there some new discovery?” Iwai Koichi stood up and said: “No matter, Mr. Chen is here to assist us in handling this explosion case; we’re all insiders, no need to be so reserved.”
Inukai Ken’s expression eased slightly, and he handed the documents he carried to Iwai Koichi.
“Your Excellency Iwai, the investigation team has just completed a re-investigation, and they seem to have found some new clues.”
“The VIP Hall experienced a sudden power outage around seven in the morning, causing the entire VIP Hall to be in a blackout,”
“After the incident, hall manager Wes immediately sent someone to the maintenance department to have them send people over to repair it.”
“The electrician who came to repair fixed the power outage in just over ten minutes.”
“But after investigation, the maintenance department stated they did not send anyone and received no such notification.”
“And the female server who went to notify clearly remembers that when she ran to the maintenance department, a smiling middle-aged man received her, and after listening to her request, he readily grabbed his tools and went with her to the VIP Hall to fix the fault.”
“The on-site servers can also confirm that the person was indeed wearing the Horse Racing Chamber of Commerce maintenance department’s employee uniform.”
“If everyone is telling the truth, I believe the problem lies with this repairman.”
“This person is very likely a Revival Society agent who came specifically to sabotage the gathering.”
“Both the power outage and the explosion case were his doing.”
Iwai Koichi listened carefully to his analysis while flipping through the report Inukai Ken had delivered.
After a while, Iwai Koichi nodded: “Inukai’s analysis makes sense; it seems the truth isn’t so mysterious after all.”
“Inukai, have Takahashi lead a team to question those who had contact with that repairman and see if they can make a composite sketch.”
“No matter what, even if we have to turn all of Shanghai upside down, dig that person out for me.”
“Hai.” Inukai Ken bowed slightly; after a moment’s hesitation, he said again: “Your Excellency Iwai, fifteen minutes ago, I received a call from Lieutenant Colonel Matsui of the Joint Special Higher Police Affairs; he asked if we needed the Special Higher Police Affairs to intervene.”
Iwai Koichi’s face instantly darkened upon hearing this: “What? Does Inukai think that with the strength of the Iwai Agency and the consulate, we can’t deal with a single Revival Society agent?”
“Since when does the Ministry of Home Affairs’ agency get to meddle in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ work?”
“Inukai, if you think the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ work doesn’t suit you, I can write you a transfer report; I’m sure Colonel Fujita would be happy to have you work for them.”
Inukai Ken shuddered all over, hurriedly bowed and said: “Sorry, Your Excellency Iwai, I didn’t mean that; I’ll go arrange the action right away.”
With those words, Inukai Ken hurriedly retreated.
Chen Yang looked at Iwai Koichi, whose face was ashen, and sighed slightly.
So it wasn’t just the New Government; even among the Japanese camp, it was the same.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs looks down on the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Navy looks down on the Army.
Internal strife, unavoidable everywhere.
About to enter the third round; those with votes, vote; those without, drop some comments—the effect is about the same…
