Chapter 143: Three Summons

On the way back, Wei Liangbi and Ning Zhiheng sat in the same car. Watching Ning Zhiheng, Wei Liangbi could not help feeling a sense of inexplicable emotion.

As the direct executor of the case, Wei Liangbi knew that his junior brother had once again seized the highest honors. He knew that, barring any accidents, his junior brother would soon become one of the primary military commanders of the Operations Section, just like himself.

In less than a short year, his junior brother had advanced to this stage at an astonishingly unbelievable pace. From then on, the status of the two brothers within the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau would be vastly elevated, and no one could afford to ignore their existence.

Wei Liangbi smiled and asked Ning Zhiheng, "Zhiheng, this harvest is truly satisfying. This is yet another major case you have cracked. Now that it is entering the wrapping-up phase, how do you plan to proceed?"

Ning Zhiheng was also in a cheerful and delighted mood. Hearing Wei Liangbi's words, he pondered for a moment and said, "Today's operation was indeed successful, but I have always had a lingering question: between Meng Lesheng and Kong Shulan, who is the true superior contact?"

"One possibility, of course, is that Meng Lesheng is the true superior contact, and Kong Shulan is his assistant. That would be the best outcome, as we would still have the chance to continue our investigation and dig out other spy members through Meng Lesheng."

"The other possibility is troublesome: Kong Shulan is the true superior contact, and Meng Lesheng is merely her assistant. If so, this trail comes to a dead end! I estimate our harvest would end right here, in which case I will simply close the net, immediately arrest Tian Lijun and Su Yu, and wrap up this case!"

Wei Liangbi nodded. Suddenly thinking of something, he asked with a puzzled expression, "Do you remember the file bag that the section chief found in Meng Lesheng's safe just now?"

Ning Zhiheng nodded and replied, "Of course I do. Judging by the section chief's expression, that document must be quite important. Perhaps it will point to a new direction for future investigations!"

"That is a matter for later. I expect the director will personally inquire about the details of the case tomorrow, and everything will be up to the director to decide," Wei Liangbi said.

The night passed quietly, and early the next morning, Ning Zhiheng rushed to the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau. Just as he entered his office and barely settled down, the telephone on his desk rang.

He picked up the receiver, and Xiang Yan's voice came through.

"Come to my office immediately. The director has summoned us, and we are going together to report on the case!"

"Yes, Section Chief, I'm on my way!"

Daring not to delay, Ning Zhiheng hurried all the way to Xiang Yan's office. At that moment, Zhao Ziliang was also talking with Xiang Yan. Seeing Ning Zhiheng arrive, Zhao smiled and said, "We were just waiting for you, our top contributor. Let's go, the director is waiting for us!"

With that, Zhao picked up the official document bag and the cryptographic codebook from the desk, and the three of them hurried toward the director's office.

This was already the third time in the past few months that Ning Zhiheng had been summoned by the director. For a junior officer holding a lieutenant's rank, being summoned so frequently by the director was something unprecedented in the history of the Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau.

Inside the director's office, when Zhao Ziliang handed the document bag and the blue cryptographic codebook to the director, the look of delight in the director's eyes could simply not be concealed.

He opened the blue codebook, leafed through it carefully, nodding continuously, and said happily, "This is not easy. This is yet another massive harvest. The previous encrypted codebook was treated like a priceless treasure by our experts, providing immense help to their decryption work. Sending this codebook over as well will greatly advance their progress!"

Having said that, he raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the faces of Zhao Ziliang and the other two men, finally resting on Ning Zhiheng. With another smile, he said, "Zhiheng, I have found that you are not only a capable general, but also a fortunate one! You have been with our Military Intelligence Investigation Bureau for less than a year, yet you have not only cracked two major Japanese spy cases and personally arrested several important Japanese spies, but you have also successively captured two crucial military codebooks. I must say, your work is exceptionally outstanding!"

Facing the director's unreserved praise, Ning Zhiheng immediately snapped to attention and said modestly, "This subordinate dares not take the credit. It is entirely due to the proper command of the two section chiefs. I merely stumbled upon good fortune and am unworthy of your praise, Director!"

Both Zhao Ziliang and Xiang Yan felt a warmth in their hearts. Ning Zhiheng's performance was obvious to everyone—truly astonishing—and now his polite and appropriate response pushed them to the forefront, making them nod inwardly in approval.

The director laughed heartily, pointed at Ning Zhiheng, and said to Zhao Ziliang and Xiang Yan, "The waves of the Yangtze River push the ones ahead, and your juniors have already caught up!"

Zhao Ziliang laughed aloud, "Our Operations Section is full of talent, and Liangbi and Zhiheng are the standout among them. They are fully worthy of your praise, Director!"

The director smiled and nodded, saying no more. He picked up the document bag again, opened it to take out the documents inside, and read through them carefully. His expression gradually grew serious, and he asked Zhao Ziliang in a deep voice, "Besides you, who else has seen this document?"

As he spoke, he cast his gaze toward Xiang Yan standing to the side. Zhao Ziliang quickly replied, "Aside from me, no one else has seen it. After wrapping up the operation yesterday, I didn't go home; I rested in the office for the night, and this document and codebook have never left my person!"

Xiang Yan smiled bitterly and spread his hands, saying, "Director, you can verify this. I haven't seen a thing. The section chief kept his mouth completely shut and didn't leak a single word!"

As for Ning Zhiheng, he simply remained silent. Given his rank, it was entirely impossible for him to come into contact with such confidential documents.

The director placed the documents back into the file bag and carefully put them away.

At that moment, the secretary entered and reported, "Director, Section Chief Gu and the others have arrived."

"Let them in," the director nodded in agreement.

"I asked them to come so we can hold a discussion on this case," the director stated.

Soon, Gu Zhengqi and Bian Ze walked into the office. The moment Zhao Ziliang saw Gu Zhengqi, the smile on his face could no longer be contained. He let out a hearty laugh and said to Gu Zhengqi, "Oh! Section Chief Gu, you helped us a huge favor this time. If not for the intelligence you planted, our Operations Section wouldn't have so smoothly captured the ringleader of the Japanese spies and recovered the radio and codebooks. Ah! Thank you for your hard work, Section Chief Gu!"

Hearing Zhao Ziliang's words, Gu Zhengqi felt a surge of annoyance in his heart. This fellow kept insisting that he had helped them, which implied that the case was led primarily by the Operations Section, while the Intelligence Section had merely played a supporting role.

Damn it, why did those words sound so familiar? Weren't those the exact words he used to say to Zhao Ziliang?! He was especially sensitive right now and felt thoroughly irritated by Zhao Ziliang's casual remarks, yet because Zhao Ziliang was currently holding all the cards, he had no room for retort.

"Not at all. We are all serving the Party-State, so naturally we do our utmost and help each other!" Gu Zhengqi refused to lose face and retorted.

"Alright! Stop trading barbs. Have a seat, both of you!" The director couldn't be bothered to watch the two of them bicker and waved his hand impatiently.

He looked at the people before him and said, "Let Xiang Yan give the case statement first, and then we will discuss what measures to take next!"

Xiang Yan nodded, gestured to the others, and began to recount the details of the case, explaining every step of the measures taken since he took over the investigation in careful detail.

In particular, he highlighted Ning Zhiheng's brilliant performance—including tracing Tian Lijun's activation signal sent out through the *Minsheng Daily*, as well as his exceptional analysis in screening targets in Er-ma Alley. The logic of his deduction was clear, practical, and highly efficient, immediately causing the eyes of the director and the others to light up, prompting them to nod in succession.

Xiang Yan also intentionally wanted to show goodwill toward Ning Zhiheng, elaborating extensively on his performance. Besides, elevating Ning Zhiheng's image meant elevating the image of the Operations Section, which benefited everyone.

He described every single step in meticulous detail, leading right up to the arrest operation the previous night.

"That is the situation! Right now, Meng Lesheng is still in the military hospital. The bullet was extracted last night, and his life is not in danger. We plan to conduct a preliminary interrogation of him first. If he stubbornly resists, once his physical condition is fit to withstand torture, we will crack his mouth open, and I believe we will make even more significant breakthroughs!"

As Xiang Yan finished his concluding remarks, the director couldn't help slamming the table in applause!

"Brilliant! This operation can be called flawless. Your Operations Section did a wonderful job! Look at that, young people's minds are indeed fast! They unraveled the threads one by one and neatly wrapped up the case!" the director said with a smile.

"Director, our Intelligence Section also contributed greatly this time. Our mole led Su Yu around in circles without arousing a shred of suspicion. He performed exceptionally well," Gu Zhengqi quickly interjected.

The entire process of the case had been monopolized by the Operations Section, leaving their Intelligence Section with only this single point they could bring up.

"Mm, the mole in the Intelligence Section certainly deserves immense credit. The work was done well," the director acknowledged with a smile.

In truth, both Gu Zhengqi and Zhao Ziliang were his old subordinates, but Gu Zhengqi's mind was indeed sharper than Zhao Ziliang's, and he truly possessed superior skills in intelligence gathering, which was why the director relied on him somewhat more heavily. As for the undercurrents of rivalry between them, the director had always been fully aware of it, but he simply never exposed it. After all, as long as they didn't genuinely sabotage each other and affect the work, he preferred not to say too much.

"Director, now that the case is entering its final stages, Meng Lesheng's identity has been confirmed; he is undoubtedly the ringleader of the spy network, and this person is the key to whether the investigation can proceed further. I propose that our Intelligence Section take charge of his interrogation. After all, our previous interrogation of the Black Sparrow was extremely successful, and we hold an advantage in this aspect!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhao Ziliang and Xiang Yan naturally refused to sit idly by. This Gu Zhengqi was truly insatiable; whenever there was meat to be had, he wanted a share, and now he was trying to snatch the spoils of victory right out of their hands!

"Section Chief Gu, by saying that, are you implying that our Operations Section doesn't know how to interrogate prisoners? Or that only people from your Intelligence Section know how?" Zhao Ziliang said bitterly.

"I didn't say that, but your Operations Section always applies too much force. Meng Lesheng is currently seriously injured; if you handle the interrogation, it would be bad if a good thing were turned into a tragedy," Gu Zhengqi said with an innocent spread of his hands, maintaining a serious expression.

The two men traded barbs back and forth, once again initiating a contest over jurisdiction for Meng Lesheng's interrogation.

"Enough! Let the Operations Section handle the interrogation!" The director grew utterly impatient listening to them and slammed his fist down on the desk, shouting the final order.