Chapter 3: Attacking the Heart is Paramount

  In a dimly lit basement, an old ventilator maintained the life of Miyamoto Kentaro.

  "When will he wake up?" A middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance walked to the bedside.

  "He's lost too much blood and hasn't passed the critical period yet. Although he has a robust body, there's a good chance he'll pull through, but it will take several days for him to regain consciousness." A middle-aged man wearing a white coat walked over and checked on the ventilator's status.

  "We don't have that much time. The superior has given the order to investigate immediately. He is the only eyewitness and a specially trained spy, so he should be very clear about the situation at that time."

  "Only medicine will do." The man in the white coat seemed to have been prepared, pulling out a vial of medication from his bag. "It'll increase heart rate, speed up blood circulation and boost oxygen supply to the brain. After waking up, it can keep him conscious for half an hour."

  "What are the consequences?"

  "Backlight reflection. Half an hour later, the probability of sudden death is as high as ninety-five percent."

  The middle-aged man seemed to hesitate for a moment, then nodded. "He's almost dead now. A few days later, his information will be worthless. Use the medicine and let him wake up."

  As the medicine took effect, Miyamoto gradually came back to consciousness.

  He first saw two blurry figures, then a bright light shot into his eyes, and the two blurry figures also disappeared.

  "Kiyotaka Miyamoto, born in Sapporo, Hokkaido, is currently thirty-nine years old. He entered the University of Tokyo at eighteen and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in law at twenty-two, joining the Japanese military intelligence agency afterwards. Two years later, he graduated top of his class and became an overseas spy. Mainly active in Southeast Asia and South Asia, he has carried out missions in Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Bangladesh. Last month, he went to Pakistan to gather intelligence on the Pakistani military's new weapons. If I'm not mistaken, you're planning to hand over this intelligence to the Prime Minister who is visiting India."

  "You..." Just as he opened his mouth, his parched throat made Miyamoto's stomach churn with a wave of nausea.

  "I'm your fellow traveler." The middle-aged man exposed his face under the lamplight, "Li Cunxun, a senior agent of China's Military Intelligence Bureau. Three years ago, we met in Kuala Lumpur, you probably don't remember it anymore."

  Seeing that slightly familiar face, Miyamoto's heart was greatly shocked.

  It was indeed three years ago that he had seen this face in Kuala Lumpur, only then he didn't associate the hotel's parking attendant with a spy. What shocked Miyamoto even more was that the other party voluntarily exposed his identity and made it clear that he would never let Miyamoto leave this room alive.

  "You must be wondering how I knew all about you." The middle-aged man pulled over a chair and sat down, saying, "I also know that your original name wasn't Miyamoto Kentaro, but rather Kumano Tadashi. You have three older brothers, two sisters, and one younger sister. Your father was a fisherman, and your mother wasn't from the Yamato people, but an Ainu person. From a young age, you were looked down upon by others, and often suffered humiliation. As a result, you developed a strong and unyielding personality, and vowed to make something of yourself, to make those who had insulted you pay the price. Am I right?"

  "You...... you......"

  "Your father was a drunkard who often beat your mother and siblings, and even molested your 14-year-old sister after getting drunk. At the age of 16, you had your first * . At 17, you had your first sexual experience. Your wife used to be a third-rate actress and had shot five low-level pornographic films. Your son has smoked marijuana before and has a criminal record. You once suspected that your daughter was not yours and secretly took her for a paternity test. I can tell you," the middle-aged man stood up, picking up a glass of water, "everything about you is in my grasp. In front of me, you are like a naked baby, with no secrets to hide."

  The water cup was handed over to Miyamoto's mouth, and he drank it greedily.

  "We are all professionals, so let's not waste any more precious time." Li Cunxun didn't mince words. "You've seen my true face, so you must die. However, the value of death is different. If you cooperate with us, your wife will receive a large sum of money, and your son who is in middle school now, and your daughter who is about to enter elementary school, can complete their university education without becoming beggars or prostitutes. If you don't cooperate, they will all become third-class citizens because of your stubbornness and inflexibility, as well as your foolish loyalty to a government that has never treated you as one of its own people. Your fate is in my hands, while the fate of your loved ones is in yours."

  The sound faded away, and the room returned to its usual stillness, a deathly stillness.

  Miyauchi's mind was not calm at all. The opponent was a high-level spy, extremely proficient in attacking the heart strategy. In just a few words, Miyauchi's psychological defense line was completely destroyed. For spies who have undergone rigorous training, physical torture can only take effect after breaking through the limit, while psychological blows can directly destroy the spy's will to resist.

  "I'll cooperate with you." Miyamoto had no choice. "The things you want are in my digital camera, all of which I obtained from Pakistan. The password is the birthdays of my son and daughter. As long as you pay me and never bother my family again, I can give away the Pakistani military personnel who sold out intelligence."

  Li Cunxun smiled faintly and said, "Money is not a problem, we are all professionals, and we all have professional ethics."

  Miyamoto closed his eyes, after a fierce mental struggle, and said: "The two officers are named Zairi and Yusuf. With your abilities, you can find out their true identities with just these two names."

  "This is still not enough."

  "Why? You..."

  "I need you to identify someone." Li Cunxun pulled out a stack of photos from his bag. "You took pictures of the suspects in the Hu Ma Ying Ling bombing case, but didn't get a clear shot of that woman's face."

  "You... what you want isn't the intelligence I gathered in Pakistan?"

  "Do you think it's possible to get valuable intelligence through Pakistan?"

  When Li Cunxun said this, Miyamoto suddenly woke up. He had risked his life to get two pieces of useless information.

  Li Cunxun handed the photos one by one in front of Miyamoto.

  When he got to the fifteenth one, Miyamoto nodded and said, "It's her. Although the hair color is different and the skin is darker, I can tell that the blonde girl is the person in the photo."

  Li Cunxun took back the photo and after a glance, he revealed a hint of a cold smile.

  "I've said everything, you should fulfill your promise."

  "Don't worry, is it necessary to deceive a dying man?" Li Cunxun put away the photo and stood up, "Is there anything else you want to entrust, hurry up."

  "I... I want to know, how did you find out who I am?"

  "Haven't you figured it out yet?" Li Cunxun put his hands on the edge of the bed. "After joining the Military Intelligence Bureau, all your files were transferred away, and your real name was thoroughly erased. In this world, only one person knows your real name."

  Miura Takeshi was startled, and the face of the person he trusted most appeared in his mind.

  "Tomorrow, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be deposited into your wife's bank account. After you're dead, they won't have any value to us, and we won't bother looking for a few innocent civilians."

  "Wait... there's one more thing."

  Li Cunxun stopped in his tracks.

  "If possible, tell Haruko for me that I'm sorry to her. For fourteen years, I've been deceiving her, and didn't even tell her my real name."

  Li Cunxin nodded slightly and said, "I will act within my power, you can rest assured."

  The basement is beneath a bungalow in suburban New Delhi.

  When Li Cunxun arrived at the study, three technicians had just finished processing the audio and video files.

  "It's all recorded, encrypting now."

  "Send this photo back together." Li Cunxun threw the white woman's photo onto the table. "As we guessed, it was the CIA behind the scenes. It just didn't occur to us that for such a trivial matter, the CIA would actually send their most formidable agent."

  "You look pretty good, standard beauty."

  Li Cunxun said after that technician who was joking around glared at him, "Finish the work as soon as possible, we will withdraw in half an hour."

  "Have we been exposed?" Another technician immediately asked.

  "It's unclear, we can't be the slightest bit careless." Li Cunxun pulled out a cigarette. "The CIA is making a big fuss, there must be some unmentionable secrets behind it. As long as there is any wind blowing or grass moving, they will suspect us. Although the Indian intelligence agency doesn't pose much of a threat to us, we can't underestimate the CIA's reaction speed."

  Three technicians did not dare to slack off and immediately took action.

  Before long, the agent who had accompanied Li Cunxun in interrogating Miyamoto arrived at the study.

  "Is he dead?"

  Bai took the cigarette handed over by Li Cunxun, took two puffs and shook his head, saying: "I didn't expect that his body is stronger than an ox, I'm afraid we need to use one more bullet."

  "Isn't he dead?" Li Cunxun slightly furrowed his brow. "It's best if he isn't dead, we can let him make the most of his remaining energy."

  "Aren't you going to kill him? Your appearance has already been exposed. If we let him live, we'll all be in danger."

  "Don't worry, the spy who has already collapsed mentally poses no threat to us." Li Cunxun extinguished the cigarette butt and threw it into a cup of concentrated sulfuric acid. "Find a way to keep him alive, arrange for transportation, you few send him to Lahore, hand him over to the station chief. I will arrive in Lahore two days later and then decide how to use him."

  "Old Li, kind-hearted and soft-handed, isn't your characteristic."

  Li Cunxun smiled faintly and said, "Stop nagging, go down and take a look, we'll leave in 25 minutes."

  Bai Wai didn't say anything more, he knew Li Cunxun would never change a decision once it was made.

  Twenty minutes later, Miyamoto and the respirator, along with four agents, got into a dilapidated van, while Lee Soon-woo drove a small sedan produced by Tata Motors behind them. Shortly after they left, a fireball engulfed the villa, rising into the night sky and illuminating the surrounding woods.

  At this time, Peng Maobang had just been woken up by a phone call.

  After listening to the latest situation report, Peng Maobang was also very surprised. In less than eight hours, the Military Intelligence Bureau had accurate information.