32. The Single-Minded Assassin

"Mr. Zhou, I like these two songs of yours more than any gift I have ever received. Pete, open a bottle of our finest imported liquor and put it on Mr. Zhou’s tab; it’s on me."

"How could I let you do that? The finest bottle of imported liquor is not exactly cheap."

Manyu reached out with her right index finger and pressed it gently against Zhou Hongyi's lips, preventing him from speaking further. She then winked, unabashedly unleashing her charm.

"Saying things like that is being a stranger. Manyu is going to perform these two new songs tonight, and the guests will be arriving soon. I’m going to the dressing room to prepare. Mr. Zhou, please take a seat—don’t be in such a hurry to leave~"

Though Zhou Hongyi felt quite uncomfortable with her finger pressed against his lips, he suppressed his instinct to dodge and even acted like a rake, taking the opportunity to stroke her hand.

Manyu giggled and turned to enter behind the curtains, while Zhou Hongyi unobtrusively but vigorously wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

Although Manyu was truly alluring, she was not his type. Furthermore, the fact that this woman had ties with the Japanese touched upon his matters of principle; no matter how beautiful or charming she was, she would never catch the eye of Master Zhou.

As time passed, the number of guests in Paramount increased. The musicians played light music and jazz as usual to warm up the room, allowing everyone to settle into the mood.

Sitting at the bar, Zhou Hongyi observed every guest who entered. Finally, the people he most wanted to see that night had all arrived.

Mr. Ruoshui, the avatar of "Bodhi," was sitting in the same booth as the night before.

Chen Fenglie, the bearded tough guy, stood in a corner of the crowd, his hat pulled low, holding a glass of wine.

Colonel Shimazu of the Tokkō (Special Higher Police) accompanied a mysterious Japanese official up to a private room on the second floor.

Additionally, Zhou Hongyi spotted the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (Zhongtong) agent he had bluffed the day before; he was back.

"Paramount is truly lively tonight. I wonder what would happen if I fired a shot at the ceiling right now?"

Of course, Zhou Hongyi was only thinking about it; he wouldn't do anything so crazy.

However, he had to meet several people tonight, all from different factions, and coupled with his own "check-in" mission, he was indeed quite busy. Furthermore, he could not let these parties see anything unusual about him, while simultaneously digging into the secrets buried deep in their hearts. So... [Eye of Insight], activate!

***

Zhou Hongyi immediately activated the [Eye of Insight], focusing on the Zhongtong agent, Chen Gonghe, and extracting the information he needed from the entries appearing above their heads.

The news brought by "Bodhi" was much as Zhou Hongyi had expected. He had already conveyed the intelligence regarding the defection of "Fireworks" to the guerrillas and other contact persons at safe houses in Shanghai, instructing them to lie low, cut off all contact with "Fireworks," and change their rendezvous signals.

While this protected the safety of those contacts, the intelligence network they had built over many years had suffered a devastating blow.

Zhou Hongyi also saw that "Bodhi" had come with a new mission today: to "assassinate the traitor." To his surprise, however, this task was about to fall on his own shoulders.

The bearded tough guy, a hitman for the Military Statistics Bureau (Juntong), also had an operation he wanted to cooperate with Zhou Hongyi on. It was not to assassinate a high-ranking Japanese official, but to scout the route for a shipment of supplies the enemy was transporting in secret.

As for the Zhongtong brother, he seemed to have contacted his superiors after returning yesterday and was suspicious of Zhou Hongyi’s identity; he was here today to verify it. His assigned mission remained the assassination of Manyu, and to find a way to extract information from her before she died.

Based on the inner thoughts of these three representatives from different factions, Zhou Hongyi began to quickly organize his counter-strategies in his mind.

Regardless of everything else, while completing his check-in, he had to prioritize "Bodhi's" mission above all else; this was a matter of principle that could not be shaken.

Helping the bearded man scout for information was not difficult, and since the bearded man was still half-doubting him and keeping him under observation, a few more successful collaborations to demonstrate his sincerity might even allow him to infiltrate the Military Statistics Bureau.

As for the Zhongtong brother, he was like a stubborn, rabid dog. To prevent his recklessness from affecting his plans, Zhou Hongyi decided that this man had to be eliminated.

With this in mind, Zhou Hongyi deposited his unfinished drink at the bar and prepared to go to the restroom. As he left, he gave a wink to the Zhongtong agent watching him, signaling the fellow to follow.

The agent looked left and right, turned up his trench coat collar, and walked into the restroom with his hands in his pockets, looking as casual as possible.

Since the dance had just begun, the gentlemen had not yet had enough to drink and had no desire to use the facilities. After pushing open a few partition doors, Zhou Hongyi found the restroom completely empty.

The agent whom Zhou Hongyi had bluffed the day before slipped in behind him. Zhou Hongyi held up a finger and retreated into a stall.

The agent squeezed in as well, closed the door, and lowered his voice: "I went back and asked my superiors yesterday. They said they never sent an operative like you. Speak! Who exactly are you? And what do you know?"

The agent got straight to the point, his hand in his pocket lifting slightly, indicating that he had a pistol hidden there, aimed directly at Zhou Hongyi.

***

Zhou Hongyi frowned slightly and whispered, "Fool! I already told you, you are not qualified to inquire about my rank, nor are your superiors! If this matter weren't urgent, I wouldn't have exposed my identity to you!"

The man was half-convinced and tilted his head. "I’m going to assassinate that cheap woman and squeeze the relevant information out of her. Why are you stopping me?"

Zhou Hongyi sighed and shook his head. "What kind of achievement is killing a dance girl? The one I need to get close to is the high-ranking Japanese official behind her. I’ve finally gained her trust. Today, Colonel Shimazu of the Tokkō is sitting in a private room on the second floor with that mysterious official. If you shoot Manyu downstairs, it will be no different than 'beating the grass to startle the snake,' and my long-term layout will go down the drain! You tell me, which is more important? You killing a dance girl, or me getting close to a Japanese official to steal intelligence?"

The Zhongtong agent was stunned, but still somewhat suspicious.

"Since your target has appeared, why don't we change our objective? Let's assassinate that mysterious Japanese official and force the information you want out of him. Wouldn't that be more direct and simple?"

Zhou Hongyi rolled his eyes. How could this blockhead only think about killing? Could he not think of anything else?

Thinking it over, he realized that saying more to a blockhead like this would be of little use. It seemed he would have to let him sacrifice himself for the Party-State a little ahead of schedule.

Zhou Hongyi pretended to ponder for a while and nodded. "That's also a way. I will go to the second-floor private room to make contact with the target first. You lie in wait in the crowd on the first floor. As soon as the target comes downstairs to a crowded area, you take the opportunity to complete the assassination. Use the chaos and noise of the ballroom to withdraw. Leave the cleanup to me. My identity cannot be exposed, so for this operation, I can only assist you from the sidelines."

Upon hearing this, a flicker of joy appeared deep in the Zhongtong agent's eyes. He had never wanted to hand over the credit for the assassination to anyone else; now that Zhou Hongyi had said this, it was exactly what he wanted, and he trusted the other man's words a bit more.

"Fine. Then you lure the Japanese official to the first floor, and I will find a way to take him out. Rest assured, my marksmanship has never failed within ten paces."

After the man finished speaking, Zhou Hongyi noticed an extra entry appearing above his head—it read two words: [Braggart].

"Alright, 'never misses within ten paces,' is that so? I wish you success in your operation. But for now, I still have some preparations to make. Watch for my signal to act; do not let all our efforts go to waste."