The individuals on the list were spread across the entire country, with over a dozen small teams dispatched from the Capital City alone.
Thanks to the prior deployment of everything, many were taken away while still asleep, before they could even grasp the situation.
After their arrest, faced with overwhelming and irrefutable evidence, these individuals, hoping to atone for their crimes by meritorious service, disclosed much of what they knew.
Thus, people who were not originally on the list were also identified and investigated one by one.
Even after these individuals were apprehended, people still spoke of the matter with a lingering sense of shock.
Who would have thought that those seemingly honest, low-profile colleagues at work were secretly engaged in such treasonous and self-serving activities?
Because of this incident, major ministries and commissions in the Capital City also launched rounds of self-inspection and self-correction campaigns.
Simultaneously, with the cooperation of local police officers, personnel from the embassy in Gaul arrested Chi's mother the following morning.
Chi's mother's attempts to deny the charges were futile. Comrades from the Public Security Bureau had already retrieved, from the vault of the Capital City Bank's head office, a series of evidence documenting their years of activities within China: illicit trade of cultural relics, gold smuggling, corruption and bribery of officials, and engagement in sabotage operations.
It could only be said that the very source of their success also led to their downfall.
They had once used these documents to control others, never imagining that these same materials would ultimately become a double-edged sword, turning against them.
In addition to these documents and account books, the public security comrades also discovered over a dozen boxes of large and small gold bars in the vault, along with several hundred thousand in combined Chinese currency and US dollars.
Most importantly, during subsequent interrogations, the public security comrades made a startling discovery.
Takeda had been carrying out a secret mission all along.
Codename: 'Falcon'!
The action team consisted of forty-eight members.
According to the original plan, they were to execute a secret assassination during the opening ceremony of the October military-wide competition.
The specific target was still unknown to the action team members at that time.
While they were unaware, Huo's fourth uncle, who was familiar with the guest list for the opening ceremony, broke into a cold sweat upon learning of this discovery.
This was his first year in a promoted position, and he was responsible for Capital City's national defense and security work.
If such an incident had truly occurred right under his nose, even if the attempt failed, he would have faced severe repercussions as well.
Amidst his lingering fear, Huo's fourth uncle couldn't help but feel relieved.
At his level, achieving merit was secondary; the most crucial outcome of this operation was the complete dismantling of the elaborate intelligence network painstakingly built by the Japanese.
The potential losses averted were simply incalculable.
"We owe all of this to my niece-in-law; these are her accomplishments," Huo's fourth uncle said without stinting his praise when discussing the matter.
"Indeed," Fourth Aunt Huo agreed wholeheartedly, sighing with emotion. "That child is not only a blessing to eldest brother's family but also to ours."
Recalling the past, she added, "Back when the young couple had just married, she helped your Public Security Bureau crack a difficult major case, and later helped you upgrade the facial feature database."
"Thanks to that, the efficiency of our public security system in handling missing persons cases has improved immeasurably."
Fourth Aunt Huo's words were no exaggeration. In these times, not everyone had the means to have their photograph taken.
Especially in the outskirts of the Capital City, many families didn't even have a single photo when their daughters or children went missing.
Without the facial feature database templates, where would they even begin to search in the vast sea of people?
Speaking of this, Fourth Aunt Huo suddenly remembered something. "Didn't you mention before that several embassies were interested in this template system and wanted to ask Sisi to customize a set for them?"
This matter wasn't classified, and since Fourth Aunt Huo worked within the public security system, she naturally knew a bit about it.
She had simply forgotten amidst all the other matters.
"What, have they changed their minds?"
"Not at all."
Huo's fourth uncle smiled and explained, "It's just that our niece-in-law has been quite busy lately. I told them she doesn't have the time right now."
"Further discussions will have to wait until she finishes her current project."
"They're willing to wait?" This somewhat surprised Fourth Aunt Huo.
"Of course. A good meal is worth waiting for, and the wait will be worthwhile."
Sensing something more in his words, Fourth Aunt Huo gave him a playful glare. "Stop being coy. Tell me, what's really going on?"
"It's nothing much. I just explained the situation to them, saying she genuinely couldn't spare the time. And guess what?"
"They thought I was playing hard to get. So, on top of the originally agreed terms, they offered an additional ten percent."
"Just look at how this turned out!" Huo's fourth uncle chuckled, spreading his hands. "So, I reluctantly agreed, of course."
Naturally, he had already discussed this with his niece-in-law beforehand.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed so readily.
Hearing this, Fourth Aunt Huo also laughed. "That's also a testament to Sisi's capability. If it were anyone else, they would have walked away long ago, not wait patiently and even offer more money."
Her tone was full of pride as she spoke.
As if remembering something else, she asked, "Since Sisi has rendered such great service this time, hasn't the higher-ups shown any recognition?"
"Of course they have," Huo's fourth uncle said. "There is a bonus, though not a large one, just one thousand yuan."
Fourth Aunt Huo was momentarily taken aback upon hearing this.
It wasn't that she thought it too little, just somewhat unexpected.
Previously, catching a single enemy agent had earned a reward of one thousand.
This time, they caught over a hundred people, and it's still only one thousand?
Noticing the confusion in her eyes, Huo's fourth uncle explained, "This arrest operation was top-secret. The higher-ups are doing this to protect her safety."
"Some things cannot be discussed openly, let alone celebrated with great fanfare."
"That's true," Fourth Aunt Huo could understand after hearing his explanation.
However, "What's that expression on your face?"
Being a married couple for many years, she immediately noticed something off about Huo's fourth uncle's expression.
Huo's fourth uncle then smiled and said, "The official reward is only that much, but I've been thinking, something doesn't quite add up."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it. While these matters shouldn't be discussed publicly, it wouldn't be difficult to give a larger bonus privately, especially since it wouldn't come from the official unit funds."
"But the higher-ups are holding back. I suspect there might be other forms of reward later on."
Hearing this, Fourth Aunt Huo perked up immediately and pressed, "Could it be they plan to remove the 'non-staff' designation from her status?"
After a moment's thought, she felt it unlikely.
Jiang Si had made her stance clear long ago; she had no intention of joining the public security system formally.
Becoming a non-staff affiliate was merely for convenience in handling matters.
"The reward might not necessarily be for her personally," Huo's fourth uncle reminded her. "There's also the possibility of compensation being directed towards family members."
"Family members?" Fourth Aunt Huo caught on. "You mean, on Tingzhou's side?"
"Mm-hmm," Huo's fourth uncle nodded. "Tingzhou's appointment notification should have been issued long ago in principle, but the higher-ups have been holding it back. Clearly, they are hesitating whether to have him return to the Capital City at the same level or use this opportunity to promote him?"
"At this critical juncture, our niece-in-law has accomplished such a great deed. The higher-ups will have to take that into account, at least to some extent."
Husband and wife are one entity, sharing both glory and disgrace—that saying is not just empty words.
To elaborate further, the higher-ups had previously held him back once due to reasons of avoiding the appearance of favoritism.
If they suppress him again this time, it would be rather unreasonable.
"That's true," Fourth Aunt Huo agreed with a nod. "When it comes down to it, our family is actually benefiting from this and getting a huge advantage."
Huo's fourth uncle, newly appointed to his position, has now accomplished such a significant achievement.
This is also a very good thing for him.
Outsiders have no idea how many people envy him for having such an intelligent and capable niece-in-law!
