Although Da Xiong had been taken in, it didn't affect anyone's life. Days went on, and business continued. However, during his downtime, Su Tianyu occasionally felt a sense of boredom and restlessness.
People, it seems, are most afraid of routine. Over the past few months, every time Da Xiong got off work, he would come find Su Tianyu, following him around, calling him "Brother Xiao Yu" all the time. It was a constant presence in Su Tianyu's daily life. And then, all of a sudden, that familiar sound stopped, leaving a strange gap in his day.
On Saturday, during the day, Su Tianyu visited the detention center at the police station and deposited a thousand yuan into Da Xiong's account, along with the new set of living supplies his third sister had found in the junkyard.
Su Tianyu didn't mind giving Da Xiong the money—it wasn't much, and they were friends. He also had some sympathy for him. As for the supplies, it was even simpler. His third sister had always felt sorry for Da Xiong, who worked tirelessly at the factory. She saw that his family didn't care for him, so she had Su Tianyu bring him something. There were no ulterior motives behind it.
...
After taking care of Da Xiong's deposit, Su Tianyu spent the evening preparing for the delivery. The third-floor warehouse, which had been rented by Linda, was no longer usable, so a few days earlier, Su Tianyu used company funds to rent an old courtyard house near Haiyan Pit to store equipment and gather people before work started.
Around 7 p.m., Su Tianyu, along with his subordinate Zhang Hao, met with the White family and Kong family members at the courtyard house.
Tonight, Su Tianyu will be the main person in charge. The sea-based operation had become more stable, with everyone figuring out how to handle the deliveries and offloading. There was no longer a need for people like Bai Hongbo and Kong Zhenghui to tag along.
Gou Liuzi, a loyal underling of Yu Mingyuan, was responsible for formulating the delivery plan. He was the head of the operation. Once the cargo was offloaded, it would be transported to the courtyard house, where Bai Hongbo and Kong Zhenghui would take over and distribute it according to the sales channels.
The division of labor was clear, and the organization was well-structured—it was almost as if they were running a corporation instead of a smuggling operation.
...
By around 9:40 p.m., the crew at the courtyard house got the signal from the Coast Guard that the sea was calm, and it was time to load the goods.
Because Tang Baiqing had been dealing with some personal issues recently, he arranged for a friend from his department to coordinate with Su Tianyu. Although Tang Baiqing had work that night, he had taken the night off and was heading home early.
After receiving the call, Su Tianyu and a crew of more than twenty people headed to Haiyan Pit's beach. As per the usual routine, they boarded their boats, went out to sea, and retrieved the goods.
Zhang Hao led the group, piloting seven speedboats, disappearing into the water. Meanwhile, Su Tianyu brought the trucks around, set them up, and waited for the cargo to be unloaded onto the shore.
On the beach, Su Tianyu sat on a rock, enjoying the sea breeze while fiddling with his phone. The rest of the workers gathered nearby, smoking and chatting.
The first part of the operation went smoothly. Less than half an hour later, Zhang Hao called through the walkie-talkie, "The boats are here. We're loading up."
"Let me know when you're heading back," Su Tianyu replied.
"Got it!" Zhang Hao responded, then continued with the work.
...
By around 11 p.m., after all the goods had been loaded onto the speedboats, the transport ship left the loading area and began its journey to the port.
On the sea, the cold wind howled. Zhang Hao stood at the helm of the lead speedboat, shouting to the workers, "Make sure the topmost boxes are secure. Don't let them fall off. Use tarps to cover the cardboard boxes. We had five boxes soaked last time."
The workers quickly covered the boxes with tarps, securing everything tightly.
"Whirr...!"
Suddenly, the engine sounds of several boats came from both sides of the lead speedboat. Zhang Hao looked up and saw five or six speedboats approaching fast, their lights off.
"What the hell? Why are there boats here?" the driver of the lead boat muttered, looking at Zhang Hao. "What should we do? Should we keep going?"
Normally, it was rare to encounter other boats while working at night because Dragon City enforced a curfew, and boats without proper permits weren't allowed to leave the port. However, sometimes, they still run into other boats, especially those involved in similar illegal activities. These encounters usually involved no communication, and both parties just avoided each other.
Zhang Hao, thinking these were probably members of the Wharf Gang or other smugglers, responded quickly, "Just avoid them and continue as usual."
But to his surprise, just after he spoke, the five or six speedboats closed in, heading directly for them.
"Wait a minute—this doesn't feel right. It's coming straight for us!" one of the workers shouted.
The boats were moving fast, and in mere seconds, the five or six boats were upon them.
Zhang Hao saw the people on the boats—everyone was masked, holding machetes and long forks.
"Don't move!" the leader of the lead boat shouted, his deep voice booming. "Kill the engines!"
Zhang Hao hesitated for a moment before quickly grabbing the walkie-talkie and shouting, "Brother Xiao Yu, we've got trouble on the sea..."
"Didn't I tell you not to move? Didn't you hear me?!" The leader of the lead boat raised a spear gun, a weapon designed for catching medium-sized fish, which had a sharp arrow attached to a fishing line. Without warning, he shot it directly at Zhang Hao's leg.
"Thwip!"
The spear hit Zhang Hao's right leg, and he immediately felt his leg go numb.
"Boom!"
The leader of the boat yanked the fishing line attached to the arrow, as if pulling a dog on a leash. The arrow, still embedded in Zhang Hao's leg, made him cry out in pain. He collapsed on the boat, his face contorting in agony.
"Don't move, or I'll treat you like turtles and shoot you!" the leader shouted, his voice booming.
At the same time, the other boats moved in, and more masked men with spear guns surrounded the workers, forcing them to comply.
...
On the beach, Su Tianyu rushed to the boat, shouting, "Hurry, get on the boat!"
About fifteen minutes later, Su Tianyu's boat arrived at the area where the goods had been stolen. He saw over a dozen workers in the water, struggling to help each other. But the boats, the cargo, and Zhang Hao were all gone.