Chapter 004: Beautiful Spy

Zhang Hua took out the camera, disassembled it with tools, glanced at it, and said: "This is a communicator"

At this moment, someone had already gone up to take down the flag. Lin Yuan smiled and nodded, turned around to go back, and couldn't help but mock his earlier thoughts.

Lin Yuan immediately called for the company commander, who hurriedly said: "This is not my mistake; it was instructed by Reporter Shen to hang it this way. This matter was approved by the political commissar, who said it was for filming a television program. After the filming, it was supposed to be taken down, but just after we finished filming, the enemy attacked, and we forgot to remove the flag."

Zhang Hua has been engaged in confidentiality and counter-espionage work for over a decade. After listening to Tang Fan's account, he nodded and said: "Comrade Tang's analysis is not without merit. Captain, what do you plan to do?"

"Could it be that she..." Lin Yuan felt a surge of excitement in his heart. As the youngest captain in the Chinese military, he was only 28 years old. To hold such a significant position at the age of 28, his abilities, which far surpassed those of his peers, were undoubtedly unquestionable. His excellence was also impossible to conceal. During his university years, there were girls who admired him, but in his heart, there had long been a beloved one—the Navy. He once thought that there would be no place for any other girl in his heart, but her appearance made him feel that everything was different.

Tang Fan continued, "She was not part of our production team at the beginning; she was only transferred from another unit a few days before we boarded the ship. The leader who introduced us had quite a high rank. At first, I didn't pay much attention, thinking she might have connections. Later, I noticed something was off. Her Leica M9 camera was identical to mine. I had been using my camera, which I had for over ten years, and I was very familiar with it. However, when I borrowed her camera once, I found it to be much heavier than mine. Moreover, she never used that camera. Once, a colleague's camera ran out of battery, and he wanted to borrow hers, but she made excuses to decline. She is a very warm-hearted person, and I couldn't understand why she wouldn't lend her camera to that colleague."

Zhang Hua hesitated for a moment and said, "We should secretly monitor her; such matters must not be made known to a wider audience. The infiltration of enemy spies on the aircraft carrier will surely cause widespread panic."

Could it be that our return to the past is a conspiracy of the enemy nation, and she is just a spy from the enemy? Lin Yuan thought of this and couldn't help but laugh out loud; this idea was simply too absurd

He had just taken a few steps when a man approached him. Lin Yuan turned around, and the man smiled and said: "Captain, hello, I am a photographer from CCTV Channel 7. My name is Tang Fan, and this is my identification."

Thus, the three individuals arrived at Shen Wanqing's cabin door. Zhang Hua extended his arm to block Lin Yuan and Tang Fan, walking alone to the door. He carefully examined the gap in the door, then pointed to the upper left corner of the gap and said: "Look here, there is a hair stuck. If someone had entered her cabin, this hair would have fallen out, and she would know. It seems to be the work of a skilled person"

Lin Yuan nodded slightly and told the company commander to go ahead with his tasks. He silently contemplated the commander's words. The journalist mentioned, Shen Dajizhe, referred to Shen Wanqing, a reporter from the Military Channel of China Central Television. Thinking of her, Lin Yuan felt a sudden softness in his heart. When he first saw her, he was struck by her beauty—her lively big eyes, fair skin, and the way her white T-shirt and light blue skinny jeans accentuated her slender figure. Remembering her, Lin Yuan felt a sudden warmth in his heart. At the gala held before the aircraft carrier set sail, she transformed from her usual sharp and capable self, appearing in a light pink long dress that made her look as radiant as a peach blossom after the rain.

Lin Yuanda was taken aback; could it be that his recent speculation was correct

Why shoot there

Why do we return to the past? Who benefits from our return to the past? These questions are entangled in his mind, and the time traveler paradox swirls in his thoughts. The time traveler paradox is: If time travel is possible, then why are there no travelers from the future among us? A reasonable explanation is the existence of parallel universes; we leave our original universe and enter another universe. In this way, it is equivalent to our disappearance from the original universe. Who benefits from the disappearance of an aircraft carrier? Of course, it is our enemy nation!

Zhang Hua cautiously opened the door, took off her hair, and placed it in a bag. She entered quietly, and the lock on the cabinet was the kind typically found in households, so it didn't take much time to unlock it. Tang Fan pointed, indicating that it was the camera inside the cabinet

Because the wind is strong there, it is very effective when it flutters. Our technicians can replace the rear mast with one from the Qing Dynasty.

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "Follow me." Subsequently, Lin Yuan led him to the Confidentiality Office. Upon seeing the captain's arrival, Director Zhang Hua quickly stood up to greet him. Lin Yuan waved his hand and then said, "Comrade Tang, this is Director Zhang from the Confidentiality Office. Please introduce the situation to him."

Lin Yuan furrowed her brows and asked, "What do you mean by having a problem?"

Tang Fan then said, "Captain, I believe that Shen Wanqing has issues."

Lin Yuan said: "The situation is quite urgent now, and we do not have much time. Is it possible to secretly search her cabin?"

Lin Yuan glanced at his identification, found no issues, and asked, "Do you have something to discuss?"

Tang Fan said: "Let me put it this way, I am particularly interested in spies and have read many books and watched numerous films on this subject. I suspect that Shen Wanqing is a foreign spy infiltrating the ship."

Tang Fan said: "Is it convenient to speak here?"

The flags of modern navies are quite complex. In addition to displaying the national flag and the naval ensign, various signal flags must be hoisted according to different situations. During visits or other ceremonial occasions, it is necessary to display the full flag or the substitute full flag. Moreover, there are strict regulations regarding the duration and arrangement of the full flag display. Consequently, the "Beijing" aircraft carrier has established a signal flag company specifically responsible for the hoisting of flags.

Shen Wanqing replied, "Yes, we are filming a documentary about aircraft carriers. We are hanging that flag to capture a series of images of the Beiyang Fleet, contrasting the weakness of the Qing Dynasty navy with the strength of the new Chinese navy. We will shoot a series of scenes with the dragon flag fluttering, and the audience will immediately think of the Beiyang Fleet. This was my idea." After saying this, she smiled.

Lin Yuan looked around and, seeing no one nearby, said: "If there is anything to discuss, please go ahead."

The Japanese warships in the distance have now ceased their artillery bombardment. Lin Yuan, familiar with the artillery range of Japanese ships in this era, noted that his aircraft carrier was already beyond their range. He lowered his head to glance at his watch: 11:10, nearly two hours remained until the outbreak of the Battle of the Yellow Sea. "The catapult is damaged, the deck is also compromised, and the carrier-based aircraft cannot take off. Even if repairs are made, it will take at least ten hours. Are we just going to watch the Beiyang Fleet suffer a crushing defeat?"

Director Zhang, you are an expert; what are your thoughts

These feelings of love and affection in his heart were merely fleeting moments. Soon, he pondered why she needed to change the flag, what kind of television show required such a production, and how unusual this was. Did her changing the flag have any connection to our aircraft carrier returning to the past?

By the small river in the fields, the red plum blossoms bloom, there is a young man, truly dear to my heart... This was the Russian folk song "The Red Plum Blossoms Bloom" that she sang that day. Her enchanting voice made even the most melodious birds feel inferior. He couldn't help but hum this song slowly in his heart. It was truly strange; after hearing her sing it once, it seemed he had learned it as well. "The maiden's longing grows day by day, I am a girl, how can I tell him?" As he hummed this line, she seemed to intentionally gaze into his eyes for a moment. Her enchanting voice made even the most melodious birds feel inferior. He couldn't help but hum this song slowly in his heart. It was truly strange; after hearing her sing it once, it seemed he had learned it as well. "The maiden's longing grows day by day, I am a girl, how can I tell him?" As he hummed this line, she seemed to intentionally gaze into his eyes for a moment

Lin Yuan was taken aback; her ability to infiltrate the aircraft carrier indicated that the spy network behind her must be extremely vast, and the core members of this network might very well be high-ranking officials within our military

Lin Yuanda was taken aback; that was the national flag of the Qing Dynasty! It was also the flag of the Beiyang Fleet!

Why did the Japanese open fire on our aircraft carrier? Lin Yuan thought to himself, his warship flying the flag of the People's Republic of China and the naval ensign of the People's Liberation Army Navy. The Japanese of this era must have never seen these two flags. They opened fire on us without even knowing who they were, which is simply unacceptable.

Lin Yuan lowered his head in silent contemplation, and Tang Fan continued: "All of this came to my mind later. The reason I thought of these things is that just after you left the auditorium, we were interviewing scientists from various systems in the auditorium. However, when the shelling started, she found an excuse to leave. After a while, the soldiers in the auditorium arranged for us to return to our cabins. Our reporters' cabins are situated close to each other. In the chaos, I mistakenly opened the wrong door and immediately saw her fiddling with that camera. The moment she noticed me entering, she appeared flustered and hurriedly tried to hide something. It was then that I suspected something was amiss. I felt that there was likely a communication device hidden in that camera."

Disturbed, Lin Yuan walked out of the command room and onto the deck. At this moment, Xu Feng had already been sent to the aircraft carrier's medical room; that kid was surely chatting away with the nurse. Lin Yuan thought to himself. Upon seeing the captain, the personnel on the deck stood at attention and saluted, but Lin Yuan quickly waved his hand, signaling them to continue their work. As he inadvertently looked up, he noticed that where the naval flag of the People's Liberation Army Navy should have been flying on the mast of the aircraft carrier, a dragon flag was fluttering in the wind

Zhang Hua thought for a moment and said, "No problem, this time I will go personally, and there is no need for the action team to follow."

Suddenly, he saw her; she was conducting an interview on the deck. At that moment, Shen Wanqing also spotted Lin Yuan and waved at him. Lin Yuan walked over, pointed to the dragon flag on the mast, and asked, "Was that flag put up by you?"