Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

Chapter 1042 Paper Scroll

"Yes, yes, sir, I will be careful, I will be careful." The old watchmaker took the pocket watch with trembling hands, as if he were taking a hot potato.

He walked to the table against the wall that Yusuke had indicated, gently put down the toolbox and opened it. Inside were a dazzling array of delicate tools, gleaming with a cold metallic gleam, including screwdrivers of various sizes, tweezers, magnifying glasses, small hammers, oil bottles, and so on.

The old man took out a single-lens magnifying glass, placed it in his eye socket, and held it up to the bright light of the desk lamp. He then held the pocket watch in both hands and began to carefully examine the hinge of the watch cover.

He watched with great focus, and his originally fearful eyes seemed to shine with a professional light when they came into contact with the familiar mechanics of the clock.

He first used an extremely fine steel needle to carefully remove any tiny bits of dirt that might be present in the hinge gaps, and then dripped a tiny drop of special lubricating oil from the oil can onto the pivot pin.

After trying to open and close it a few times, the old man frowned.

The feeling of stiffness persists and has not been eliminated by lubrication.

He put down his pocket watch, raised his wrinkled forehead, and looked timidly at Yusuke Ichijo. After hesitating for a moment, he mustered his courage and said, "T-Tai-kun, the inside of this watch cover... doesn't feel like it's lacking oil or has anything dirty inside."

It seems... it seems there really is something stuck inside the hinge.

The usual method... might... might require opening the back cover to see what's inside.

"Open the back cover?" Yusuke Ichijo raised an eyebrow.

He was not a watch expert, but he had some understanding of the basic structure of such precision objects.

Beneath the back cover lies the heart of the pocket watch: its delicate and fragile movement.

He glanced at the old man's frightened yet earnest expression, then looked at the pocket watch.

If it's just a matter of the opening and closing not being smooth, it might be tolerable, but if there's really a foreign object stuck inside, it will inevitably damage the movement in the long run.

After a moment's hesitation, Yusuke Ichijo waved his hand and made a decision: "Alright, open the back cover to check, but I remind you to be careful. If you damage the movement..." He didn't finish his sentence, but the coldness in his words sent a chill down the old watchmaker's spine.

"Yes, yes! I understand! I will be extremely careful!" the old man assured him repeatedly, fine beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.

These Japanese officers are capricious; if I make even the slightest mistake, this old man might die here tonight.

The old man picked up his tools again, took a deep breath, and tried to steady his hands.

He selected a special watch opener of the perfect size, with a blade as thin as a cicada's wing.

He fixed the pocket watch to a soft cushion on the table, adjusted the angle of the desk lamp, and focused the light fully on the gap in the back cover.

Then, he held his breath and precisely inserted the tip of the watch opener into the extremely fine gap, rotating and applying force with an extremely steady wrist.

The whole process was so quiet you could hear your heartbeat.

Yusuke Ichijo also subconsciously took two steps closer, his gaze focusing on the old man's hands, which were steady beyond his years.

In the office, the only sounds were the faint clatter of metal tools against the watch case and the occasional distant whistle from outside the window.

"Click."

A very slight, crisp sound.

The metal back cover of the pocket watch was successfully pried open with a gap.

The old man carefully reached into the gap with a special pair of tweezers, and with a gentle pry, the entire back cover was removed, revealing the complex and precise movement inside the pocket watch. Layers of brass gears, slender shafts, glittering jewel bearings, and coiled mainsprings formed a miniature mechanical city, shimmering with a captivating metallic luster under the light.

However, neither the experienced old watchmaker nor Yusuke Ichijo, who was watching from the side, were drawn to the beauty of the intricate mechanics.

Because, right there in the narrow gap between the gear and the base plate, there was a small roll of paper, carefully folded into a thin strip!

The roll of paper was cleverly placed; it did not directly obstruct the operation of the main gears, otherwise the pocket watch would have stopped long ago.

One end of it gets stuck near the hinge bushing that connects to the watch cover, and it's this that causes that damn stiff feeling when the watch cover opens and closes!

The air seemed to freeze at this moment.

The old watchmaker stared in disbelief, his hand holding the back cover frozen in mid-air; he clearly hadn't expected to see such a scene.

Hiding something inside a watch movement was completely beyond his expectations.

As for Yusuke Ichijo, his pupils constricted the moment he saw the roll of paper!

After Zhou Zhengqing left Harbin, he stayed in Harbin and served as the captain of the military police for a few months.

Because Zhou Zhengqing taught the various intelligence agencies in Harbin a harsh lesson when he was there, the result was that those intelligence agencies would frequently report to the military police.

This led to Yusuke Ichijo being involved in a lot of intelligence work and experiencing some things.

Seeing this note hidden in the pocket watch, I quickly realized something...

He practically snatched the pocket watch and the back cover that had just been removed from the old watchmaker's hands, his movements so fast they created a gust of wind.

He first threw the back cover on the table, then gripped the watch body tightly with his left hand and quickly grabbed a pair of the finest tweezers from the old man's toolbox with his right hand.

His hands were extremely steady, but his slightly rapid breathing betrayed the turmoil in his heart.

Using the tip of tweezers, he carefully grasped the exposed end of the roll of paper from between the gears, held his breath, and pulled it out little by little, extremely gently.

The paper roll was very thin, about the thickness of a matchstick, and less than an inch long.

The paper is a thin paper that Yusuke has never seen before; it is extremely thin.

However, the folding was exceptionally neat and tight, clearly to minimize the volume as much as possible and to ensure that it could be securely locked in the intended position.

Yusuke Ichijo casually placed his pocket watch on the table, his entire attention focused on the small roll of paper.

He waved his hand, signaling his adjutant to take the terrified old watchmaker out first.

The adjutant understood and immediately helped the distraught old man out of the office, gently closing the door behind him.

Now, only Yusuke Ichijo is left in the office.

Under the lamplight, his expression shifted between light and shadow, while the hazy moonlight outside the window illuminated his half-lit, half-shadowed face, making him appear particularly gloomy.

Li Shouren claimed that the pocket watch belonged to his wife.

Why would an ordinary Chinese woman hide a scroll of paper in the movement of a pocket watch in such a secret way?

What's recorded here? Is it a will? A love letter? Or... something else...?

Yusuke Ichijo had a strong premonition; his intuition told him that this small scroll of paper was no ordinary object.

Did Li Shouren know there was something hidden in the pocket watch?