**Time Period**: In 1937, after the Battle of Shanghai and on the eve of the city's fall. This Paris of the East was living through the darkest hours before dawn, with the dance halls and neon lights of the foreign concessions standing in cruel contrast to the ruins of the Chinese-administered districts.
- **Setting**: The story begins at an apartment building on Avenue Joffre, on the edge of the French Concession. It appears to be a tea warehouse owned by a French trading firm, but is actually a secret Juntong contact station. The winding Suzhou Creek divides the concessions from the Japanese-controlled zone, separating them into two worlds.
- **Intelligence Network**: The Juntong Shanghai station uses a “hive” structure, with each agent communicating only with their direct superior. The Tokko infiltrates the city through “Shadow Operations,” using radio direction-finding vehicles and a “ground net” of collaborators to encircle its targets from every side.
