Chapter 009: The First Mission from Military Intelligence

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Li Haibo hesitated briefly, then blew his whistle and ran toward the scene. A powerful curiosity drove him to find out what consequences this attack had wrought. When he arrived, the sight before him was devastating: the driver and front-seat bodyguard of the lead car were dead, while the two bodyguards in the back were severely wounded.

In the middle vehicle, the driver and a bodyguard sat in the front, while in the back sat a gaunt old man and a strikingly flamboyant woman in a qipao; all four had been shot multiple times and died instantly. The old man, in particular, had clearly been a primary target of the gunmen and was utterly lifeless.

The rear vehicle fared slightly better: of the four inside, one was dead, one lightly injured, one hurried to the nearest phone booth to call for help, and the last paced anxiously at the scene.

As for the five assailants, each had been shot in vital areas and were evidently beyond saving.

Wait—Li Haibo suddenly noticed one of the fallen was a comrade from his own unit who still showed a faint sign of life. He rushed over and carefully turned his comrade over. The comrade weakly opened his eyes, barely recognizing Li Haibo, and gasped, “You came... to support...?”

“Uh... yes!” Li Haibo replied hastily, feeling a turmoil of emotions.

“Weren’t... there supposed to be heavy weapons?” the comrade’s voice grew weaker, laced with confusion and regret.

“Uh! They’re in the back!” Li Haibo could only answer vaguely, a flash of pity in his eyes.

“That’s good... I thought... that bald bastard... lied to me!” With those words, the comrade’s eyes closed slowly, his body going limp.

“Damn it, that bald bastard, betraying even his own!” Li Haibo cursed inwardly, grief and anger swelling in his heart as he watched his comrade’s last breath slip away.

The police arrived swiftly, including the three monkeys who had just left. Seeing no further danger, everyone pulled out whistles and blew them vigorously.

Li Haibo stood up helplessly, watching the unfolding scene.

Soon, many vehicles arrived: ambulances, police cars, and military police trucks.

Li Haibo and a few others whispered together. As the first officers on the scene, they couldn’t leave just yet.

At that moment, Scarface Six approached, bowing and leading a tall Japanese officer. Though average height among the Chinese, this man was unusually tall among the Japanese.

Scarface Six pointed at Li Haibo and his group, saying, “Commander, these are the first police officers to arrive.”

Then his expression changed as he addressed Li Haibo: “Li Haibo, this is Commander Yamashita of the Tokkō (Special Higher Police). He has questions for you, and you must answer truthfully!”

“Reporting, Commander, ask whatever you wish. I will speak fully and truthfully...” Li Haibo began.

Yamashita waved his hand and asked, “When did you arrive at the scene?” His Chinese was precise and clear.

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“Reporting, Commander, I was there early—before they even fired a shot!” Li Haibo answered honestly.

“Hm! If you were there early, why didn’t you step forward to stop them? You just stood by and watched our good friends of the Great Japanese Empire be murdered in the street? Are you in league with these anti-Japanese elements?”

“That’s not true, Commander! I wanted to help, but we had no guns, only these lousy sticks,” Li Haibo said, shaking the stick in his hand. The monkey trio raised theirs in agreement.

Yamashita looked at Scarface Six, puzzled.

Scarface Six broke into a sweat and hurriedly explained, “They just joined the force and haven’t been issued firearms yet. Tomorrow, tomorrow they’ll get them for sure!”

Yamashita gave a noncommittal grunt. “The public security situation is very severe now.” He glanced meaningfully at Li Haibo and turned away.

Scarface Six glared sharply at them.

Li Haibo pretended not to notice—after all, he was told to answer truthfully.

...

The next morning, Li Haibo went to the breakfast stall near the alley as usual. “Uncle Ma! A serving of wontons, please!”

“All right! Up early today, Xiaobo?”

“Newsboy! Bring a newspaper!” Li Haibo sat down confidently.

The newsboy promptly handed him a paper. “Brother Bo! Two copper coins, please!”

Li Haibo ate while scanning the headlines: Anti-Japanese elements kill in the street; the chairman of the Maintenance Association injured and hospitalized; dozens of innocent bystanders dead or wounded at the scene; widespread outrage across Shanghai...

As he read, a bulky, corpulent figure sat opposite him, loudly calling, “Boss! I’ll have a serving of wontons!”

Li Haibo looked up and thought bitterly: That bald bastard!

“Been to your place several times lately but never saw you. Thought you might have died on the way back to Shanghai,” Sergeant Liu broke the silence.

“Got held up on the road for a few days,” Li Haibo replied casually.

“You can read?” Liu asked, curious.

“Can read, but not so good at writing.” The original owner of this body was a primary school graduate, so reading the newspaper was no problem.

Though Li Haibo was a university graduate, the era used traditional characters, so it wasn’t a lie.

“The paper says the Maintenance Association chairman was injured and sent to the hospital?”

“Dead. Shot seven times, died on the spot.”

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“And our brothers...?”

“All dead. Not one survived.” Sadness flickered in Li Haibo’s eyes.

“Sigh! The anti-Japanese cause is the nation's life and death matter. Sacrifices are inevitable...” Sergeant Liu tried to reason.

“Nonsense! That’s just wanton killing.

Yesterday’s spot was totally unsuitable for an ambush—no escape route. And you lied to the brothers about heavy weapons support.” Li Haibo lowered his voice, cutting off the bald man’s words with anger.

“Ah... well...!”

“I won’t carry out any more suicidal missions!” Li Haibo said firmly.

“You wouldn’t defect to the Japanese, would you?” Liu asked warily.

“Nonsense! If I had, you wouldn’t have made it through yesterday!”

“You’re a policeman now?”

“Just joined two days ago!”

“Can you get a pass?”

“No!”

“A good citizen certificate?”

“Impossible!” Li Haibo scoffed. Getting a certificate from the Military Intelligence Bureau? He might as well be asking to die!

“There’s an assassination mission now...”

“I just said I won’t do suicidal tasks!” Li Haibo frowned.

“This is assassination, not public killing. No strict deadline—can be done within a week!” Liu hurried to explain.

“Send someone else!” Li Haibo refused without hesitation.

“All your brothers from the batch died yesterday!” Liu informed helplessly.

“Damn it!” Li Haibo cursed under his breath.