Espionage: You're tasked with spying, but you'll blow up the Special Higher Police?

136. This beating wasn't for nothing.

In the few minutes that the Japanese soldiers helped Zhou Hongyi out of the archives, he had already used the enhanced memory provided by the [Eye of Insight] and the color classification provided by the [Master of Deception] to quickly memorize all the folders his eyes scanned.

"Oh my... A great swordsman is indeed a great swordsman. Although we fought for more than fifty rounds without a clear winner, I was ultimately defeated by half a move... I've learned my lesson, Mr. Sasaki."

Seeing that Zhou Hongyi was still pretending, Kondo was both amused and exasperated, but in any case, his suspicions about the former had lessened somewhat.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright? Are you hurt?" Kondo asked, feigning concern.

Zhou Hongyi tried to stand up and move his legs. He didn't seem to be seriously injured. Just as he was about to pretend again, his body suddenly swayed and he half-knelt down. He suddenly couldn't use his waist.

"my waist……"

"Quickly, help Director Zhou sit down."

Kondo summoned two soldiers to help Zhou Hongyi into the house and sit down. He also called a military doctor to examine him, and the diagnosis was "soft tissue contusion," requiring rest.

"Hehehe~ I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Commander Kondo and Mr. Sasaki. It seems that my fighting skills have become a bit rusty from not using them for a long time."

Kondo smiled wryly, "Sasuke-kun, you can't be reckless in these kinds of situations. Luckily, you weren't competing with Master Sasaki in swordsmanship today, otherwise..."

"Ah... Commander Kondo is right, but how can a man back down in something like this? Besides, it's worth getting injured to spar with a great swordsman."

The Japanese medic sprayed some painkiller on Zhou Hongyi, and the group talked about the details of their sparring session. The atmosphere was much more relaxed than before.

Zhou Hongyi rubbed his lower back and suddenly asked, "By the way, Commander Kondo, when I was helped up just now, I saw a roster of merchant caravans traveling through Shanghai lying in my arms. Of course, I didn't open it; I know the rules. But it made me think that with the New Year approaching, the flow of goods in the market will be more frequent. I've heard that many caravans are smuggling goods... You must be quite familiar with the situation of those caravans, since it concerns the stability of Shanghai..."

Kondo's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, but he remained outwardly calm, smiling as he said, "Sasuke-kun, you're very kind. However, most of those caravans are just ordinary cargo transporters, mostly small businesses. Even if some are smuggling goods, it won't have a significant impact. As for maintaining order, that's naturally up to your police department to handle. But the situation has been rather unstable lately, and some people with ulterior motives might be eyeing these caravans, so you'll have to keep a close eye on them."

Zhou Hongyi understood that Kondo was just giving him the runaround and was unwilling to reveal key information, so he continued, "Of course, but I'm afraid that if we encounter any tricky situations, our police station might not have enough manpower."

Kondo inwardly scoffed, but didn't respond. He simply said he believed in Zhou Hongyi's abilities, and then sent someone to call Agui and Fusheng to help their chief back to recuperate.

"Brother, did the Japanese bully you? Fusheng... Fusheng is carrying steamed buns!"

Fusheng was unusually furious, as if he would rush in and grab the steamed buns and fight at the slightest word from Zhou Hongyi.

"Fusheng, keep your buns safe. I deliberately injured myself, and it wasn't for nothing. I've already found out some information. Let's leave here first."

After Zhou Hongyi and the others left, Kondo asked in a low voice, "Master Sasaki, what do you think of this person..."

Before he could finish speaking, Sasaki slowly shook his head and said, "He really doesn't know martial arts. He only uses street fighting techniques, and they're very clumsy. But... I always feel like something's not quite right... but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Perhaps we had too high expectations of him before, I was also a little surprised."

Kondo also sensed something was amiss, but Zhou Hongyi had no chance to act in front of Sasaki, so his skills were at least genuine.

Back on the truck, Zhou Hongyi immediately asked for paper and pen and began writing down the key information he had just seen.

He wrote down keywords that had been filtered by the "Master of Deception," including document identifiers and numbers, stamps and signatures at the bottom of the documents, and records of time and place.

"Bro, what are you writing? What's with 'early morning,' 'Chuansha County,' 'No. 5 Ditch,' and 'fifty tons'? What do they mean?"

Zhou Hongyi looked at Fusheng with considerable surprise and said, "Wow, that's impressive! When did you learn so many characters?"

Fusheng scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Hehe~ It was all taught to me by my older sister."

Zhou Hongyi knew that the "sister" Fusheng was referring to was Xiao Bei.

"Hmm, not bad, that deserves praise. These are the keywords I jotted down in the chaos. By analyzing these keywords, we can get some of the information we want."

Zhou Hongyi pointed to a row of numbers and said, "These numbers represent the date, weight, quantity, etc. Combined with the description of the specific materials, we can deduce the scale of the transportation. Large-scale transportation often requires stronger defense forces and more reasonable transportation route planning. For example, the transportation of this hundred tons of grain may require how many vehicles and how many people to escort it, all of which can be calculated."

There are also these numbering systems. Different action groups and projects within the Special Higher Police may have their own numbering systems. If the number starts with a specific combination of numbers or letters, I can make a preliminary judgment about the project category to which this document belongs. For example, the one that starts with 'TK-01' is related to material transportation, so we can focus on that aspect for further analysis.

Another thing I noticed was that the paper used in some of the documents was noticeably different from the others. Special types of paper might be used for specific classified documents, while waterproof or fireproof paper is often used for important operational plans. Also, the document format was important – was it a standard official document format, or did it include charts, tables, or other special formats? If it contained numerous charts, it was likely related to geographical routes, troop deployment maps, or similar content, all of which are crucial information for us.

Zhou Hongyi rattled off a bunch of things, not caring how much Fusheng could understand, and then started connecting the "keywords" to himself.

After a while, the whole sheet of paper was covered in scribbles, and it was almost impossible to tell what was originally recorded.

However, with the help of the [Master of Deception], an exceptionally important message came into Zhou Hongyi's view.

"Got it! Damn... this beating wasn't for nothing, it actually helped me find some clues, hahaha~~~ Let's go home~!"