NOVEL NEXT Chapter 460: 447 smuggling
In the pitch-black night sky, the stars were strewn across it as if a black curtain had been embedded with densely packed jewels.
On this vast black curtain, the most bright and dazzling object was still that full moon. Moonlight spilled onto the sea, making the undulating waves reflect its light, while the surrounding tranquility made the sound of the waters exceptionally clear.
In such an environment, sitting in a small wooden boat and strenuously rowing with both oars, was not a particularly romantic affair.
Or rather, rowing on the fearsome seas under such conditions was an extremely terrifying experience.
You would feel the profound depths beneath your feet, and in the unseen waters, there surged unknown terrors, sensations that would engulf you, filling you with dread towards this mystery.
However, although a suffocating fear spread across the sea making one's muscles uncontrollably tremble, and even though the cold sea breeze continued to interweave constantly, as if hands devoid of warmth were brushing over every inch of one's skin, the person rowing still mechanically repeated their movements.
He was an old fisherman and, even though he knew that setting sail at such a time was not wise, he still resolutely did so.
In his view, this might be the only way out for him and all the people he knew. He kept moving his oars, and there was someone else sitting at the bow of the boat, their face obscured by a canvas cloth.
In their path lay a shadow like an enormous monster; the shadow was getting closer and closer, and now, with the help of the moonlight, its rough outline could be seen.
Finally, as the outline grew larger and larger and the ends were no longer visible, the small boat crashed into the sands and became stranded. The old fisherman jumped out, struggling to push the boat to shore.
On the beach, there were remnants of wood used to secure cargo and severed ropes. A crab, seemingly sensing danger, quickly scurried into the crevices of the rocks, never to be seen again.
"Grandpa..." the person who had been covered in the tattered canvas suddenly spoke up, calling out timidly.
"Shh! Keep quiet!" The old fisherman helped the slight figure off the boat, and before he could say anything more, a faint light drifted by in the distance.
Soon, several people carrying torches passed by along the makeshift road, chatting and laughing as if discussing something delightful.
The old man pressed down on the head of his granddaughter beside him, motioning for her to keep silent. After those lights had moved off into the distance, he turned to look at the small boat he had dragged onto the sand.
He seemed reluctant to leave the boat, staring at it for a long while, but finally, he shifted his gaze. Taking his granddaughter by the hand, they stumbled through the bushes and onto the rough road.
The road was marked with ruts, clearly overused. Not far from there was a light; the old fisherman, pulling his granddaughter, headed towards it.
Being able to find a village here was proof of its prosperity–on the island where they had previously lived, such bustling places had become a rare sight.
Hand in hand, the two of them walked along the road toward the bright light. Only upon approaching did the old fisherman realize that what they had found was not a village but a campsite.
The campsite was vast, filled with tents as far as the eye could see. Some places had fires burning, and figures could be seen bustling about.
The fires seemed not merely for illumination but arranged in a spectacular line, stretching into the distance.
With the help of both the firelight and moonlight, the old fisherman could make out that it was a wider road. These people appeared to be constructing a major road.
"Grandpa... I'm hungry," the little girl nestled in the old fisherman's arms said in a soft whimper, lowering her voice.
"Don't worry... child, don't worry. We'll have something to eat soon," the old fisherman consoled his granddaughter, licking his parched lips and gritting his teeth as he led her towards the brightly lit campsite.
When they got close, pushing aside the weeds, the old fisherman approached a tent. Inside, snores rose and fell in succession, and a nauseating smell of sweat permeated the air around the tent.
It was only then that the old fisherman realized that it was not just inside the tents; plenty of people were also sleeping on the ground outside, clearly indicating that the living conditions were not great.
Some leaned against the tents snoring, others rolled over using someone else's leg as a pillow, slapping occasionally to ward off mosquitoes with sharp slapping sounds.
"Who's there!?" Just as the old fisherman was about to move forward, a stern voice came from behind, startling him.
As he turned around, the old man was instantly filled with terror. He couldn't help but tighten his grip on his granddaughter's hand, causing the little girl to cry out in pain.
Because there, standing in front of him, were two Shenwu soldiers holding long knives, wearing Shenwu military uniforms, although somewhat tattered.
He wanted to turn back and flee, but as soon as he turned, he saw that the people previously sleeping soundly by the tents were angrily getting up, grumbling, "What's the noise... What's going on?"
The few who sat up were indeed Goblins!
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It's over! I've actually broken into the Shenwu's territory; it's completely over!
I heard people saying that the Shenwu were defeated and someone's distributing food here, so I decided to try my luck for the last time, but who could have known there would still be Shenwu soldiers here.
Rumors are indeed deadly! The old fisherman tightened his grip on his granddaughter, as more and more Shenwu goblins started to stand up around him, he was almost in tears.
He knew he couldn't escape, he knew that today he was most likely going to die here.
However, the Shenwu goblin wielding the long knife seemed to panic even more than him after seeing his face; the blade trembling, his voice shaking as he shouted, "Someone help! There, there are two, two humans!"
The two who were on guard duty thought at first that it was just another reckless fool trying to escape, but unexpectedly they were only civilians.
So, the two on lookout were even more incoherent because they just couldn't understand why humans would come here in the middle of the night.
Confused and panicked, one goblin guard mustered the courage to ask, "I—I say, you, where did you come from? What are you doing here?"
While he was asking, some goblins had already run to the camp in the middle to give the alarm. They were all slaves brought here to build roads, even the foremen and sentries had no authority to deal with "Tang people".
And so, after a standoff, just as the old fisherman realized he might not die today, two soldiers carrying submachine guns and holding lanterns came over.
"What's going on here?" a soldier from Great Tang Group's security troops drawled at the goblin sentry who had signaled the alarm. He glanced at the Shenwu uniform on the goblin, which was already worn and tattered, his look full of disdain and disgust.
There was no help for it; there were no spare resources for clothing for these goblins, so they had to make do wearing the old military uniforms to distinguish their roles, barely sufficient for the time being.
"Si—Sir, we saw some suspicious figures, so we—we came over to check and saw, saw these two…" One of the goblin sentries hurriedly replied, his demeanor as reverent as if he had seen his own father.
The old fisherman also finally realized that these goblins were not Shenwu soldiers but were subordinates of these outsiders before him.
"Do you have identification cards?" The soldier in charge of watching over the goblin slaves shone the lantern on the old man's face and squinted as he asked.
Ever since they experienced the Kirov Airships and personally witnessed the spectacular sight of artillery destroying walls, the goblins rarely caused trouble anymore.
After executing some fools who fled into the mountains, the remaining goblins began to work obediently, struggling for their daily meal.
They elected foremen on their own and even formed a team of sentries to maintain order and keep watch. They managed themselves with clear divisions of labor.
All these were under the control of the Shenwu bear, who was brutally harsh on his own kind. If a project was delayed, the goblins would kill one of their own as a warning. As a result, the Great Tang Group's supervisory troops ended up with less to do.
So, the watchdog troops were reduced time and again, and it was common to see two or three Great Tang Group soldiers supervising over 3,000 goblin slaves building roads—a magnificent sight.
"Id—Identification card?" Of course, the old fisherman didn't have an ID card; he had only climbed onto the beach of Dongwan Island about an hour ago, where would he get an ID card from?
"Wow, a stowaway?" Seeing the old man's expression, another soldier, shouldering a Thompson Submachine Gun, laughed, "Such nerve, coming straight to us after landing... if the patrol team had found you, they might have shot you on sight."
"Exactly." The soldier with the lantern agreed, "Report to the company first thing in the morning, anyway, you'll need to check in."
"Please! My granddaughter hasn't eaten in two days! Just give us something to eat!" The old fisherman wasn't in the mood to understand what the two men before him were talking about, thinking of his hungry granddaughter, he steeled himself and knelt down.
This sudden gesture scared the two Great Tang Group security troops; they both didn't comprehend what the old man was doing for a moment.
"Hey, I say... don't do this!" One soldier didn't dare to approach to help him up, because according to safety regulations, they weren't allowed to approach an unidentified person before ensuring safety.
It was just the two of them; if they went to help and the other party was concealing a weapon and unexpectedly attacked, they might be at a disadvantage. So, he stood still and called out, "Don't be agitated!"
"We have food! But you need to get up first!" The other soldier almost pointed his submachine gun at the ready, while he took out a piece of bread from his pocket and began to coax, "Let's talk! I have bread here!"
"Gulping..." Behind him, the sight of bread made the watching goblins' saliva flow.
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I still owe 4 updates...
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