Agent: Intercepting Yu Manli at the start!

Chapter 108 all started because of this mole!

The surrounding defense forces were completely unaware of the attack until after the explosions. This indicates that the attack was meticulously planned, repeatedly scouted, and precisely deployed, and was neither a spur-of-the-moment decision nor a mere accident.

The situation was urgent, and Zhou Xiao was the only one who knew the address, so he was not blindfolded and set off directly with them.

The journey was completely silent.

The convoy arrived at its destination.

All that remained were ruins—the entire Sugimoto machine gun factory had been reduced to charred wasteland, flames still licking at everything, thick smoke carrying sparks billowing into the air, and devastation stretching as far as the eye could see.

A car, burned to a skeleton, was parked inside the yard, and the bodies of several patrolmen were scattered on the ground; nearby garrison troops had set up a cordon, completely sealing off the entire area.

Ken Oshima jumped out of the car, his gaze sweeping over the ruins. His face twisted suddenly, veins bulged on his forehead, and anger almost burst forth from his eyes.

How could he not be furious? How could he not be horrified? Such a crucial intelligence and biochemical research center had been razed to the ground!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Just then, several short, sharp explosions rang out again—

The flames suddenly shot up three zhang (approximately 10 meters) high, and the heat wave, along with the shockwave, rushed towards him. Ken Oshima was caught off guard and staggered back several steps.

This is caused by the uncontrolled reaction of residual chemical agents when exposed to high temperatures.

The Sugimoto Agency has been stockpiling various toxic agents, flammable reagents, and biochemical experimental materials for years, which could easily lead to a chain of explosions if ignited.

The embers were still burning, the thick smoke had not yet dissipated, and the entire ruins continued to burn. The towering flames illuminated the night sky of Shanghai as if it were daytime, becoming the most dazzling and tragic cluster of "fireworks" tonight.

At that moment, the garrison commander, Yamamoto Tadashi, rushed over, stood at attention, and reported: "Reporting, General! The Sugimoto headquarters was attacked; the entire building collapsed. On-site confirmation—all personnel were killed in action; not a single survivor!"

"What?! Everyone's dead?!"

Enraged, Ken Oshima raised his hand and slapped Tadashi Yamamoto hard across the face.

Snapped!

The blow was crisp and loud, and so powerful that it instantly caused Yamamoto's cheek to swell and turn purple, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, and his jaw to chatter in pain.

"Baka! I entrusted you with guarding the Sugimoto Agency, and this is the result you've given me? Useless! Good-for-nothing!"

His voice was hoarse, his roar like thunder, "What use is someone like you to the Empire?!"

Witnessing the ruins firsthand was already infuriating; hearing the news that "not a single person survived" only added fuel to the fire, making his anger reach its peak.

It's important to know that the Sugiyama Institute not only has ordinary staff, but also a large number of top scholars and research backbones—including Professor Akihito Murakami from Waseda University.

Waseda University, one of Japan's oldest and most prestigious world-class comprehensive research universities, was founded in 1882. It has produced numerous outstanding talents and has a global influence. Many important Chinese military and political figures are also graduates of this university.

Akihito Murakami specializes in chemistry. During his time at the Ninth Research Institute of the Army, he was awarded the "Army Technical Merit Award" for his research and development achievements in highly toxic cyanide-based agents. He was later transferred to the Sugiyama Agency in Shanghai to lead a chemical weapons research project.

Now that this key expert has lost his life in Shanghai, Ken Oshima not only faces a difficult task to explain to the Army's Ninth Research Institute, but also doesn't know how to face the Cabinet and the Prime Minister. Once the news reaches Japan, it will undoubtedly cause a huge uproar in the country.

angry!

A furious rage that seeps into your bones!

Kenjiro Oshima understood better than anyone else: the truly deadly aspect of this explosion was never the collapse of bricks and tiles or the burning of documents.

Sites can be rebuilt, archives can be restored, and even if the original data is completely lost, it can be reorganized from backups or memories.

But the people are gone—all gone.

Those professors, researchers, and key technical personnel are all top talents, the rarest in Japan. The knowledge, experience, intuition, and judgment in their minds are irreplaceable and cannot be replicated.

As long as people are alive, Sugimoto can be reborn;

When a person dies, all ties are severed, leaving not even ashes behind.

reconstruction?

Impossible.

This is the real source of Ken Oshima's rage.

Furious.

All the anger was directed at Tadashi Yamamoto. If he didn't use his full strength, how could he vent his hatred?

In the end, Tadashi Yamamoto took all the blame.

He received a resounding slap, which made his scalp tingle with pain, but he didn't dare to even flinch, let alone utter a word of explanation.

Just then, a military policeman rushed in, stood at attention, and reported: "General, there is still one living Imperial soldier left at the gate!"

"Let's go, let's go take a look!" Ken Oshima's voice was as cold as ice.

At this moment, his eyes were already burning red with rage—the fire in his heart was even more intense than the burning ruins of the Sugimoto machine before him!

The complete dismantling of the Sugimoto Special Operations Unit was a fatal blow to Japan's special operations system.

Soon, Zhou Xiao and Oshima Ken arrived at the gate of the Sugimoto Agency. A Japanese guard lay sprawled on the ground, and two military police medics were kneeling beside him, trying to revive him, but he was already barely breathing and there was nothing they could do.

In his final moments before passing away, the man managed to utter a few broken words: "...Honda...Matsushita..."

Before he could finish speaking, his head lolled to the side and he fell silent.

The Japanese guard at the gate often saw Honda and Matsushita. He was not only the most trusted adjutant of Oshima Ken, the head of the Sugi agency, but also his personal driver. He had driven Oshima Ken in and out of the agency many times, so the guards naturally recognized him.

As Zhou Xiao had planned, Mingtai deliberately left the gatekeeper alive so that he could publicly identify Honda and Panasonic.

Honda Panasonic?

Upon hearing this name, Ken Oshima's face turned ashen.

Those were his trusted confidants, whom he had personally promoted and relied upon!

The secrets I know are too numerous to count!

The exact location of the Sugimoto headquarters is just one of the most inconspicuous things.

Not long after, his adjutant Yasuda rushed over and whispered, "General, a Special Higher Police vehicle has been found in the compound, and there is a body inside... It's Honda-kun."

Ken Oshima, his face tense, walked back to the car, lifted the curtain, and peered inside.

Honda Panasonic's body was covered in blood; his knuckles and toenails had been gouged out, and he had layers of old and new wounds. The bullet that pierced his heart was clearly the main cause of his death.

This horrific state clearly indicates that the person had been subjected to torture to extract a confession.

Ken Oshima suddenly remembered that the secret clerk in the secret service had mentioned that Honda and Panasonic had taken leave around 10 p.m. that night.

But now that I think about it, it wasn't a request for leave at all. I was clearly kidnapped and imprisoned by anti-Japanese patriots back then!

It was only then that he truly realized: things had been strange from the very beginning.

"Baka yarou!!"

His face twitched, his anger erupting like molten lava. He abruptly drew his pistol and repeatedly pulled the trigger at Honda Matsushita's body—

boom!

boom!

The Japanese officers were issued "turtle box" pistols with limited power, which could not kill people beyond fifty meters; but now, at close range, the bullets hit the corpses and still splattered clusters of dazzling blood spots, the visual impact of which was so strong that it was suffocating.

crazy!

Even though the man was already dead, Ken Oshima continued to fire wildly as if out of control until the magazine was empty.

He has concluded that the reason why the anti-Japanese forces were able to accurately locate the Sugimoto Agency's stronghold must be because after Honda and Matsushita were arrested, they could not withstand severe torture and finally revealed the core secrets.

"Traitor! Disgrace to the Empire!" he roared, his voice ripped apart.

Originally, with the Sugi Agency completely eradicated, Ken Oshima, as its commander, would inevitably face severe punishment—accountability from the General Staff was a certainty, and a seat in the military court was probably already prepared.

But now he discovers that the person who stabbed him in the back is the one he trusts most, which is tantamount to handing the knife handle to the enemy and then stabbing it into his own heart.

It was his people who betrayed him and destroyed the entire Sugimoto Agency.

This was the final straw that broke the camel's back—adding crimes upon crimes, leaving him with no way to defend himself!

Zhou Xiao watched the situation unfold quietly, and seeing Oshima Kengoku's furious outburst, he felt more at ease.

Clearly, the destruction of the Sugimoto Agency was a heavy blow to the enemy. Otherwise, this cunning and shrewd Japanese general would never have lost his composure like this.

But he remained silent and didn't say a word.

At this point, adding another word to stir up trouble would seem contrived and counterproductive.

When he ran out of bullets, Ken Oshima threw the empty gun at Matsushita Honda's corpse, roaring to the sky, "Traitor to the Empire! Damn it!!"

Despite all precautions, he never expected that the one who would deliver the fatal blow would be his most trusted adjutant, Honda Matsushita.

Given the current situation, Oshima Ken is almost certainly doomed—the entire Sugimoto organization has been wiped out, with no key members surviving; and the one who leaked the address was his trusted adjutant. With so many crimes committed, even seppuku wouldn't be enough to atone for them.

At this moment, Ken Oshima was on the verge of collapse. He suddenly turned around, grabbed Zhou Xiao's shoulders tightly, shook him violently, and screamed, "Director Zhou! Tell me, why did he betray the Empire? Why?!"

Zhou Xiao then slowly spoke: "General Oshima, please don't get agitated. Judging from the injuries on Honda-kun's body, he must have suffered greatly before he died."

"No one but the Military Intelligence Bureau could use such ruthless methods to extract confessions."

"General, do you remember the assassination attempt at the Shanghai Grand Hotel? That was also carried out by the Military Intelligence Bureau."

"After their assassination attempt on Section Chief Sendo Kaede, they set their sights on you—after the failed attempt at the Grand Hotel, they turned their attention to your closest friend, Honda."

"Honda was covered in wounds, probably subjected to various torture instruments. He finally couldn't withstand the Kuomintang's torture and was forced to reveal the location of the Sugi Agency headquarters."

"But this is absolutely no excuse for betraying the Empire!" Ken Oshima roared, his voice hoarse. "He's a traitor, a utterly despicable traitor!"

"If he hadn't betrayed the Empire, the Military Intelligence Bureau would never have been able to find the address of the Sugi Agency—our most secret and core stronghold was completely uprooted! This crushing defeat was all because of this traitor."

"He doesn't deserve to wear a military uniform! He doesn't deserve to call himself a soldier of the Empire!"

With witnesses and physical evidence readily available, the finger pointed directly at Honda and Panasonic. Ken Oshima immediately declared: Honda and Panasonic, traitors to the empire.

If vengeful ghosts and zombies truly exist, Matsushita Honda might indeed have transformed into a resentful corpse puppet after his death—

He was wronged to the core.

He took the blame for all of Zhou Xiao's crimes, endured torture but never uttered a single word, and was ultimately accused of treason.

He gritted his teeth and persevered with the indomitable spirit of Bushido, but instead of earning the title of martyr, he was branded as a traitor.

How could he not be wronged?