Michael Brooks's eyes lit up, and his tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed. “Guotai Hotel? Excellent.”

Blade smiled lightly and said, “I hope Mr. Brooks will use thunderous means to wipe out the entire New Group Two in one fell swoop, and then follow the trail to completely eliminate the Shanghai district of the Juntong.”

Chapter 0005 Familiarizing with the Terrain (Part 2)

In the past few days, Henry Clark went north to Caojiadu and Daxia University by the Wusong River, west to Shanghai West Railway Station, south to Xujiahui, and east to the Huangpu River, familiarizing himself with the entire Public Concession, French Concession, and the terrain of West Shanghai.

But as for the area around 76 Jessfield Road, he only made one round. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to learn more, but there were simply too many undercover agents in the vicinity. 76 was extremely vigilant—if a stranger showed up a few times, they would be tailed.

As for investigating inside 76, Henry Clark had already given up on that idea. The prerequisite for gathering intelligence was ensuring his own absolute safety. To get familiar with the terrain of West Shanghai, he often took rickshaws or taxis, and sometimes even disguised himself as a beggar.

He didn’t like to fight unprepared battles. Even though he had studied maps of Shanghai before coming, there was still a big difference between maps and the actual terrain. Henry Clark felt that the more thoroughly he prepared, the higher the chance of success for his plans, and vice versa.

He didn’t turn in Brian Carter’s wallet and that Browning pistol; the Juntong didn’t have a habit of confiscating all spoils. Even if Howard Grant found out later, he probably wouldn’t pursue the matter.

After arriving in Shanghai, apart from collecting his salary, Henry Clark basically had no operational funds. Every penny had to be used wisely. There were over fifty yuan in the wallet; besides covering his own expenses, he prepared two safe houses for himself.

One was at No. 7 Yannian Lane, at the east end of Jing’an Temple Road in the Public Concession, near Haige Road. It wasn’t far from Yuyuan Road and became his base for reconnaissance in the area. All his disguises were kept there. The other was near the Suzhou River, serving as a backup base.

After all this, Henry Clark was basically penniless.

As for Brian Carter’s Browning 1910 pistol, Henry Clark went to a hardware store and bought a file to remove the serial number. That Browning pistol had now effectively changed owners.

In the French Concession, whether Chinese, Annamite, or even French patrolmen and river police, all used Belgian-made Browning firearms. Chinese and Annamite patrolmen generally used 9mm Browning M1903 pistols. Informants and French patrolmen used 7.65mm Browning M1900 and 7.65mm Browning M1910 pistols, commonly known as “gun license pistols.”

As a special agent, the more weapons the better. Especially for him, sometimes using Juntong-issued guns was inconvenient. Besides, Browning pistols were in high demand on the black market, almost as good as hard currency.

Besides the area around 76 Jessfield Road, No. 5, Lane 433, Yuyuan Road was also an important target for Henry Clark. This was the The Green Family villa. There were many villas and mansions on Yuyuan Road, each with their own servants, and little interaction between households, so strangers coming and going didn’t attract much attention.

Every morning at 7:30 sharp, Helen Green left home, usually taking a ride with George Green and getting off at the guesthouse at No. 55 Jessfield Road. She claimed to outsiders that she worked at the guesthouse. After dropping her off, George Green would go to Zhihua Textile Mill at No. 2, Lane 122, Hatong Road.

But after work, someone often drove her home, and occasionally, she wouldn’t return until after dinner. Once she was home, she generally didn’t go out again.

Henry Clark observed for three days, and on two of those days, it was Michael Brooks who brought her back. This made Henry Clark quite worried—could there be something special between Helen Green and Michael Brooks?

Although Henry Clark and Helen Green had been betrothed since childhood, that was just a joke between his father and Helen Green’s father—it could be taken seriously, or not.

The information Howard Grant gave him said that Helen Green was not yet married, but didn’t say she didn’t have someone she liked. Since Helen Green had fallen into the water, in order to climb the social ladder, it wasn’t impossible for her to marry a traitor.

If that was really the case, the Corner Cannon Plan would have to be adjusted.

Now Henry Clark realized that Howard Grant probably came up with this plan on a whim after reading his file. He even wanted him to improve the plan, which meant the plan was full of holes and depended entirely on him to patch them up.

As for funding and personnel support, there probably wouldn’t be any. In fact, the higher-ups might not even care much about this plan.

Whether the Corner Cannon Plan succeeded or not, Henry Clark wasn’t too concerned. He just hoped his file would be classified as confidential, and it would be best if it could be sent to Chongqing for safekeeping.

No matter how worried he was, the Corner Cannon Plan had already been set in motion and could only be carried out. No matter how crude the plan was, or whether the higher-ups cared, Henry Clark had to make it succeed.

To grasp Helen Green’s true feelings, Henry Clark had to find another way. When Helen Green got off work, he observed her expressions separately outside the guesthouse at No. 55 Jessfield Road and across from No. 5, Lane 433, Yuyuan Road.

As for the relationship between Helen Green and Michael Brooks, perhaps he could glean some clues from her subtle expressions and movements. Henry Clark didn’t have anyone he liked, nor did he know what love was, but he knew that if someone was in a good mood, no matter how well they tried to hide it, there would always be traces to be found.