Chapter 620: Smuggling
The conversation has reached this point, it's certain that money would be used to pave the way. Zhou Kai placed one hundred thousand yuan on the table. The hundred thousand yuan was wrapped up in ten bundles, forming a thick wad that still felt heavy in hand.
"Speak." Zhou Kai exhaled a puff of white smoke.
The snakehead tucked the money into his bosom, then said, "I've written the address on this paper; just go find it according to this address."
"What if we can't find anyone at this address?" Zhou Kai asked coldly.
"Before six o'clock tomorrow evening, they would have already contacted snakehead to prepare to set sail." The snakehead smiled and said, "As long as you go to Tongluo Bay according to this address before tomorrow evening six o'clock, you will definitely find them."
"So, they will leave Hong Kong Island before tomorrow evening six o'clock," Lin Chuan asked.
"Exactly," the snakehead nodded and said, "Brother, we both are in this underworld business, I speak clearly without ambiguity, this information is absolutely correct. I, Huang San, have been in these three places across the straits for so many years, I still have that credibility."
"Alright!" Lin Chuan nodded and asked, "What time do they set sail in the evening?"
"At eleven o'clock," the snakehead glanced at Lin Chuan, saying, "I'll give you a friendly price, fifteen thousand per person, to get you across to Hong Kong."
"Okay," Lin Chuan immediately nodded.
"Then good, let's regroup here at eleven o'clock tonight, I will send someone to take you out to sea," the snakehead contentedly walked away with the hundred thousand.
Zhou Kai and Lu Dapao quickly asked, "Brother Chuan, are we really letting him take away the hundred thousand yuan?"
"What else can we do?" Lin Chuan asked.
"What if this guy is tricking us?" Zhou Kai and Lu Dapao asked.
"He can't trick us," Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Look, the shop is still here. Since this store has been here for so many years, it means that the snakehead's credibility is trustworthy. Let's first go to the hotel to rest, and come back later."
Then, they immediately left.
Eleven o'clock in the evening. Lin Chuan and his people returned here.
The nighttime in Shenzhen was even busier than the daytime. There were many people on the street, and this shop was still open. Ten minutes before eleven o'clock, a tall man approached and asked, "Are you three going out to sea?"
"Yes!" Lin Chuan nodded.
"Follow me," the tall man glanced at them.
Then, the three immediately followed him and left the shop. They went around a flyover, then boarded a minibus, which already had quite a few people staring timidly and vigilantly as Lin Chuan and his group boarded. There were mostly men on the bus, with a few women too.
Lin Chuan and Zhou Kai took seats at the back of the bus. The bus was stuffy, and the driver didn't turn on the air conditioning. The driver was lying on the steering wheel sleeping, utterly ignoring the stuffiness inside the bus.
As soon as Lin Chuan and his group boarded, the driver started the bus, and finally, the air conditioning kicked in, providing relief to everyone.
The bus drove forward, winding around, through a grove of trees, over a small hill, and approaching an inner bay.
When the bus stopped, the scar-faced driver stood up and shouted, "We've arrived, everyone off."
"Where is this?" the people asked.
"Get off the bus quickly!" the driver was too lazy to explain.
At this moment, the leading snakehead spoke up, "Get off first, and keep it down!"
A bunch of people got off the bus, about twenty or so.
After everyone disembarked, the minibus immediately left. Everyone was silent, and the snakehead checked his watch, anxiously waiting on the spot.
"Brother Chuan, what are they planning to do?" Zhou Kai asked, with a cigarette in his mouth."Waiting for the boat," Lin Chuan replied.
At that moment, several flashes of light suddenly appeared on the dark sea. The snakehead quickly turned on a light in his hand and covered the lens with his hand, emitting Morse code.
Soon, the sound of an engine approached. A speedboat rushed in swiftly.
"Get on the boat," the snakehead hurriedly said.
Splash...
More than twenty people scrambled onto the boat.
Lin Chuan and Zhou Kai were among the last to board. Subsequently, the speedboat swiftly left the bay and raced into the deeper waters of the ocean. The sound of the engine tore through the dark night. Everyone huddled inside the cabin. The snakehead stood on the deck, scanning the sea surface. It would be troublesome if they encountered patrolling sea police. If not, everything would go smoothly.
Fortunately, the speedboat quickly crossed the patrol line of the Hong Kong sea police and soon reached international waters.
At this moment, everyone saw a gigantic oil tanker anchored on the vast sea.
The speedboat soon reached below the cruiser, and people on the cruiser's deck were ready to receive them. After matching the Morse code signals, a staircase was immediately lowered from the deck.
"Get on the boat!" the snakehead hurriedly said.
People began to rush to climb up onto the cruiser again.
"Fuck, the whole smuggling process is so troublesome," Zhou Kai cursed discontentedly.
"What do you think? Smuggling is not a joke," Lin Chuan laughed, "They plan to use the inspection-exempt privileges of this international oil tanker for smuggling."
"No wonder," Da Pao nodded.
After boarding the tanker, the snakehead left with the speedboat. At this moment, the dark-skinned snakehead appeared.
"Pay up, everyone hand over the money," the man spoke.
People began taking out their money. At this moment, someone spoke up, "If we pay now, what if you don't take us there?"
"Exactly, what if we get caught by the coast guard halfway?" another woman said.
Smack...
Suddenly, a muscular man viciously swung his belt at the two individuals. Struck by the belt, they dared not make a sound and could only cover their wounds in silence. The muscular man shouted angrily, "Once you're on this boat, no one dares to not pay."
"You are robbers," the woman who had been whipped shouted.
"Heh, robbers?" the muscular man scoffed coldly. "Today, I might as well be a rapist too."
Having said that, the muscular man immediately began unbuckling his belt and slowly walked towards the woman. Terrified, the woman panicked and hurriedly ran backward.
"Brother Chuan!" Zhou Kai couldn't stand to watch anymore.
At this moment, Lin Chuan took a step forward, glanced at the dark-skinned man, and said, "Brother, there's a limit to everything. Don't go too far."
The snakehead looked at Lin Chuan, smiled, and said, "Alright, I'll give face to you, brother."
Upon finishing, the snakehead waved at the muscular man who immediately fastened his belt back and retreated to his original position.
Having been in this business for many years and encountered people of all sorts, the snakehead had a hunch when he first saw Lin Chuan that this young man was no ordinary person, but someone significant. Just for this reason, he had to give Lin Chuan some respect.
"Collect the money!" the snakehead laughed.
With the lesson learned, no one dared to disobey anymore. Everyone began handing over their money.
Soon, the tanker started up and slowly headed towards Hong Kong island.
Several hours later, the tanker docked at the Hong Kong island pier.
Although they had docked, it was not yet safe. In fact, docking was when it became the most dangerous, as they still had to evade the patrolling police to be safe. Quietly, the snakehead led everyone through the containers on this pier. Nearby, patrolling police were closing in.
Woof woof...
Dog barks sounded from afar, standing in front of Lin Chuan was the woman who had been hit by the belt. She trembled all over, clutching a handbag that seemed to contain something valuable. Lin Chuan gently patted her shoulder, saying, "Don't be scared, nothing will happen."
Trying to muster a smile, the woman said softly to Lin Chuan, "Thank you just now."
"You're welcome," Lin Chuan shook his head.
At this moment, the barking got closer.
"It's bad, the police are coming," the snakehead cried out, saying, "Everyone scatter, everyone scatter. Whether you can escape depends on your own skills now."
After saying this, the snakehead turned and fled, quickly disappearing into the night.
Having reached the territory of Hong Kong and suffered enough along the way, no one wanted to fail at such a critical moment. So, everyone immediately scattered in all directions.
"Brother Chuan, run!" Zhou Kai shouted.
"Don't!" Lin Chuan quickly grabbed Zhou Kai's hand, saying, "Let them run first."
A swarm of illegal immigrants at this moment rushed forward.
"There are people smuggling," the patrolling police shouted.
At this moment, the barking became even more intense, almost every one of the smugglers exerted all their strength to sprint forward. Once they cleared this pier, once they squeezed into the fore car ferry terminal, entering that bustling city, this smuggling attempt would be considered a success.
The police immediately pursued the sprinting crowd.
"Run!" Lin Chuan shouted.
The woman who had been whipped also ran with Lin Chuan and others, feeling a sense of security with Lin Chuan. They sprinted together, and the woman was no match for them. Lin Chuan immediately grabbed the woman's arm and rushed forward swiftly.
"There are more people here," a police officer shouted out.
"Quick, chase!"
Lin Chuan and others ran even faster.
Splash...
Unable to keep up with Lin Chuan's pace, and her arm being pulled, the woman quickly fell down.
"You guys... go on without me," the woman helplessly said, "I... I really can't run anymore."
"Hurry up, we've come all this way, do you really plan to give up now?" Lin Chuan hurriedly pulled her up. The woman, pale-faced, had no choice but to continue running with them.
Zhou Kai and Da Pao quickly cleared the way at the front. They tried to find darker and less crowded places to slip through. The police were mostly chasing the group of fleeing smugglers, thus their dispersed forces were significantly reduced.
The three, along with the woman, sprinted all the way.
If it were not for this woman, Lin Chuan and Zhou Kai might have already escaped without a trace. Because of this woman slowing them down, Lin Chuan and the others had to reduce their speed. Since they had brought her along, they had no choice but to continue with her.