Chapter 45

"Master?"

Tang Wen paused in surprise, but didn't dwell on it.

No matter how much Zheng Hai begged, he had already demonstrated supernatural ability—he couldn't let the two go.

Even if he screamed "Master," calling him a god wouldn't help.

Tang Wen was merely considering how to clean up, how to leave as few traces as possible.

After kowtowing for a long time, Zheng Hai cautiously lifted his head and saw Tang Wen still holding the shotgun—his heart tightened.

Of course, he had just kidnapped the man and waved that black five-star badge around—no one would easily swallow such an insult.

Zheng Hai's eyes rolled, then he suddenly shouted:

"Let me go! I have a money trail worth at least ten million!"

Hearing the number ten million, Tang Wen's expression finally shifted, but then he sneered:

"If you could get ten million, why would you need to rob me for fifty thousand?"

"I'm telling the truth—and only you, Master, can get that ten million!"

Zheng Hai hurriedly explained:

"This shipment failed not just because I'm being watched, but because the operation's been leaked.

The ship we dealt with didn't just carry cars—it carried a lot of white powder. The harbor police had already noticed. They intercepted us because our boat was the fastest, suspecting it carried that stuff."

"White powder?"

Tang Wen raised an eyebrow—he'd gotten mixed up with this stuff.

Smuggling cars or phones was just tax evasion; white powder was a whole different level of trouble.

In any era, the state crushed this stuff with lethal force.

Compared to it, the words "Tax-Free No. 1" didn't even matter.

"You dare touch white powder?"

"I wouldn't dare! Since I joined Brother's gang, I've been forbidden to touch any powder—anyone who does gets punished immediately and thrown out of the gang.

If I'd known this shipment had white powder, I'd rather die than take part."

Zheng Hai shook his head like a rattle drum, desperately distancing himself, then continued:

"The crew on that freighter knew about the white powder—they left port right after unloading the first batch.

These twenty cars—nineteen of them are still in the harbor warehouse, impossible to move out now.

Master, if you just take those nineteen cars, selling them for ten million would be a breeze."

"They know me—Master Tang, take me with you, then find a way to strike them. I'll help you unload the goods—all the money's yours!"

Tang Wen now realized Zheng Hai thought he'd merely hidden the minivan like a fantasy novel's space ring, able to pull it out again.

In reality, that minivan had turned into raw resources—taking the harbor's cars was a daydream.

More importantly, Tang Wen had no interest in such dealings—the profit from one ship was already huge; no need to risk himself.

Zheng Hai fully believed ten million would sway Tang Wen—but the latter remained unmoved, suddenly shifting the shotgun's aim toward Anan, who had already retreated several meters.

During his exchange with Zheng Hai, Anan had been stealthily slipping backward underwater and was nearly at the end of the pier.

Anan, caught, raised both hands and offered a sheepish smile.

"Climb up!"

But what awaited him was Tang Wen's cold voice—the man had lost patience and slowly raised the shotgun, beginning to aim.

Two shotgun blasts—perfect.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot!"

Anan scrambled up the pier like a crawling dog, when suddenly, the sound of a car came from the beach.

Tang Wen turned his head slightly and saw a familiar ten-wheel truck.

Chen Yonggui, half his body sticking out of the cab, had spotted Tang Wen standing there and immediately stomped the accelerator straight toward the pier.

When he jumped down, carrying the bag of money, he confirmed that Tang Wen had subdued two bandits.

"Little Tang!"

Chen Yonggui snatched up the Type 56 from the truck and sprinted onto the pier in a few strides.

Seeing the two bandits ashen-faced, he immediately raised his rifle without hesitation:

"Was it you two who dared to kidnap people from Dawan Village?"

"Uncle, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!"

But the village chief paid no attention to their pleas—he blew a long, sharp whistle.

Less than a minute later, four trucks packed with villagers charged through dust and arrived; over a hundred villagers, armed with tools, surged around the beach.

Since the pier couldn't hold so many, many villagers simply waded through the water.

"Tang Wen, are you alright?"

"We came to help you—who dared touch our village?"

"Drag them back and make them kneel before the ancestral hall!"

"Tie stones to them and sink them—offer them to Mazu!"

"..."

The villagers swarmed in chaos, effortlessly dragging the two men up like dead dogs, cheering and dancing as if carrying trophies.

But many faces showed disappointment, mourning the lost chance to show off their strength.

In under a minute, Zheng Hai and Anan were covered in bruises and their hair was torn into a mess.

"Make way, make way!"

The lame old man pushed through the crowd and slapped Zheng Hai hard across the face—then, unsatisfied, swung again in the opposite direction.

Then, with a bruised nose and swollen face, Zheng Hai was sprayed in the face with spittle from dialect he couldn't understand, until finally the old man proposed:

"We can't let this kid go. We brought cannons; shoot him dead."

As soon as the words fell, a chorus of approval erupted from the crowd.

Hearing there were cannons, Zheng Hai forced his eyes open and looked around, only to discover that there really seemed to be two cannons in the beds of two trucks!

Although the cannon barrels looked very thin, they were still big cannons!

Zheng Hai struggled violently, but under the crowd's restraint it was utterly useless; he could only watch helplessly as he was dragged away.

Tang Wen, who had been squeezed to the point of nearly falling into the sea, was no less shocked than Zheng Hai; they were actually going to use cannons? Was the village's martial virtue so abundant?

And which bastard dragged this thing out?!

Tang Wen hurriedly grabbed the village head, urging him to stop it, otherwise things would truly escalate.

Chen Yonggui reacted even faster than him; he had beaten two kidnappers to death with his fists and feet without blinking an eye, and he feared no one.

But if cannons were truly used, it would certainly invite trouble.

He hurriedly squeezed into the crowd, stood in front of everyone, and roared:

"Put them down! This is vigilante justice. If anyone wants to sit in a cell, I won't stop you, but don't implicate everyone else!

These two kidnappers were caught by Little Tang; how to handle them must be decided by him!"

Since the village head had spoken, the rowdy villagers could only quiet down, turning in unison to look toward Tang Wen.

Under the gaze of all, Tang Wen smiled and said:

"Let them go."

"Let them go?"

Whether villagers or the captured Zheng Hai, none could quite believe it; even Chen Yonggui's eyes widened.

Zheng Hai and Anan reacted first; taking advantage of the villagers' inattention, they broke free, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed in ecstatic joy:

"Thank you, Great Master! Great Master has a generous heart; I will never forget this life-saving grace. From now on, I will follow your lead, ready to face boiling water or blazing fire, to stab myself in the back for you!"

Tang Wen stepped closer, nodded, and said:

"Remember to be a good person from now on."

"Yes, I will absolutely reform my heart and mind; from now on, I will do good deeds every day."

Zheng Hai nodded hurriedly, then added, with a touch of flattery:

"Great Master, I have another piece of news. Anan might not be dead. I fear he was captured and might implicate you. If you trust me, I will go and solve this trouble for you."

Zheng Hai mentioned it offhandedly to thank Tang Wen, but also because he worried his former subordinate might betray him.

Now that he had decided to attach himself to a great expert's thigh, he certainly could not allow any hidden dangers.

However, Tang Wen's expression changed, but he quickly returned to normal, waved his hand, and said:

"Go, get in the truck. I'll ask you back at the shipyard."

Zheng Hai offered another round of thanks, then, overjoyed, squeezed out of the crowd with Anan.

The villagers' gazes were filled with incredulity and anger, but they could only watch helplessly as the two tumbled and crawled their way out.

As Zheng Hai approached the truck, seeing the heavy machine gun on the roof, he shuddered all over, feeling fear again for his earlier recklessness.

Fortunately, Tang Wen let him off the hook; otherwise...

"They're stealing the truck!"

At Tang Wen's loud shout, everyone's gaze turned toward them.

The village head reacted first, shouting urgently:

"The kidnappers are trying to steal the truck; they're trying to escape!"

Zheng Hai and Anan froze instantly, looking at Tang Wen in the crowd with disbelief, wanting to say something.

But it was already too late; the next second, a. 22 caliber sporting rifle bullet shot out from the direction of the gossipy old auntie.

Bright red flowers bloomed one after another on their bodies, and they swayed uncontrollably left and right.

After a crackling sound like setting off firecrackers, Tang Wen finally spoke loudly, pretending:

"After being caught, the kidnappers managed to break free by sheer luck and actually tried to grab weapons from the truck! If everyone hadn't reacted quickly, we would have been subjected to their poison hands!"

The crowd fell silent for a moment, then quickly echoed in agreement:

"Yes, it was too dangerous just now; these two bandits were truly vicious."

"Indeed, there are even autocannons on the truck; what if they had taken control?"

"And heavy machine guns; one sweep would mow down a whole area; too dangerous!"

"..."

Hearing the last few sentences, Tang Wen's face turned black; he turned his head, grabbed the dazed Tang Er, and asked through gritted teeth:

"Who told you to drag these things out?"

"Ah, the village head said to take all the gear."

His gaze turned to the village head, who also had a splitting headache.

Two anti-aircraft guns in total; peace and quiet would be hard to come by from now on.

"The truck is gone?"

On the truck, Chen Yonggui listened to Tang Wen's fabricated story of being hijacked.

In his account, the truck had disappeared somewhere unknown; he had been transferred by Zheng Hai via boat to Golden Sand Beach.

Hearing that a van was missing, Chen Yonggui was heartbroken:

He had originally thought of adding a public vehicle for the village; how much it would have facilitated the villagers' travel.

Fortunately, Tang Wen immediately offered to donate a truck, to be used specifically as a shuttle to the town.

Forget about the city; driving without a license and registration is simply not good.

This worry reminded Chen Yonggui instead, and he patted his chest, promising to solve it.

Isn't it just a license plate and a driver's license? In this era, how many people drive first and then buy... take the exam for the certificate?

Even at a driving school, if you are willing to bleed a bit, you can even have the instructor guide you hand-in-hand through the exam; you could ride a wall and still pass with a perfect score.

The two discussed intensely all the way, and then the topic inevitably shifted to how to handle those two machine guns.

Chen Yonggui stated that the village had many people and many eyes, and there would always be those who love to gossip, advising Tang Wen to throw them away.

The latter nodded vigorously like a pestle pounding garlic, agreeing that once they returned to the shipyard, they would recycle all these things.

However, when the convoy returned to the village, a 212 had stopped on the road at some unknown time.

Yang Tai stood by the roadside, saw the truck, hurried forward a few steps, and then retreated at an even faster speed.

What did he see?

Five uniform military-green trucks, machine guns mounted on the hoods, cannon barrels sticking out more than halfway from the cargo beds, and the beds filled with people holding long and short weapons.

Outside the cargo bed of the last truck, two human-like things were hanging?

Yang Tai instantly felt dizzy and disoriented, suspecting he had returned fifty years ago.

It is already 6991; are there still bandits on such a large scale?

He and the driver scrambled to jump onto the vehicle, just about to run, but were directly blocked by the big truck in front.

"It's over. I, Yang Tai, spent my life teaching and educating, and governing the people of this region, yet bad luck struck and I met bandits."

Yang Tai had originally come to the village as a routine matter, especially wanting to see if there was any development at the Gaijin Shipyard.

As a result, he had just heard the terrible news from the villagers that Tang Wen was kidnapped, and now he himself was deep in danger.

No wonder they dared to kidnap people in broad daylight; it turned out to be such a group of audacious bandits!

Just as the township head felt sorrow rising from within, he saw Chen Yonggui open the car door and jump down.

"Township Head!"

After confirming several times that it was Chen Yonggui, Yang Tai got out of the car in a fury, recognizing that the people on the cargo beds were all local villagers.

"Surname Chen, what kind of nonsense are you pulling again? Are so many people planning to rebel!

And this, this, this is a cannon, right? This truck is also military; where did you get these things!"

Chen Yonggui knew he had been caught red-handed and hurriedly pulled the reluctant township head to one side, whispering something.

The township head's eyes grew increasingly strange; he looked at Tang Wen, who wore an innocent expression not far away, and finally pointed his finger at Chen Yonggui, saying fiercely:

"You really know how to cause trouble. With so many people and so many guns and cannons, which side are the bandits?

I tell you, it's too late! I just called to report the case; you just wait for the Public Security comrades to come and handle it!"

Yang Tai flicked his hand and tried to leave, but Chen Yonggui hurriedly held him back:

"Don't, Township Head. We are all law-abiding citizens. These things were left behind by the militia company back in the day; we just forgot to turn them in for a while. Now we are turning them over to the Civil Defense Department."

"Nonsense! When did our township militia ever have such things? And this truck, where the hell did it come from!"

Seeing that the township head was still as unyielding as oil and salt, Chen Yonggui quickly waved to signal Tang Wen to come over, and then said:

"Township Head, Xiao Tang's shipyard just secured a big deal, selling a ship for four million.

He is going to prepare to build a road for the village, hire at least fifty people, and build an ancestral hall for the village. Look..."

Tang Wen looked at the village head, who showed no change in expression but seemed to have just spoken the absolute truth.

Hearing "four million," Yang Tai's attitude immediately changed; he looked at Tang Wen with some suspicion and asked:

"Can your factory really sell a ship for four million?"

"... Yes, it has been settled. We are preparing to sign the contract immediately. A small car came over this morning."

"I see."

Yang Tai lowered his head and thought for a moment, then as if remembering something:

"The militia company did seem to have two anti-aircraft guns back in the day for defense, after all, we often had planes here.

Wild chicken necks... captured! And these trucks also..."

"These aren't captured; the trucks are... imported!"

Chen Yonggui hurriedly interrupted the township head's spellcasting and shouted loudly:

"These are all imported antique cars. We are just making do with them; they are extremely hard to drive, and the old ones are terrible!

Your 212 is still good, the 212 is good!"

"Hmph!"

Yang Tai pointed at the two of them again; everything was contained in his gaze.

"Alright, just this once! You hurry up and take those things away. As for those two bandits..."

The township head glanced at the blurred corpses hanging there, closed his eyes expressionlessly:

"They saw you had so many people, panicked, jumped into the sea without looking for a way out; I'm afraid they can't be found."

Tang Wen and Chen Yonggui both sucked in a sharp breath and gave a thumbs-up:

"Only you could be this high!"

"Pack them in boxes with Shi Tou; if you tie them on, they will fall off."

After quickly humming this sentence in a low voice, the township head turned around and walked slowly toward the village as if nothing had happened, continuing his visit.

Chen Yonggui let out a light sigh and was about to organize people to act immediately.

However, Tang Wen held him back and asked a question:

"Uncle Yonggui, I want to inquire about some matters regarding Xiangjiang; is there a way?"

Xiangjiang, Kowloon Anti-Smuggling Bureau.

Looking at Li Chang, who was slumped over the interrogation table inside the cage, the officer in white shirt waved the confession in his hand and said to the rookie constable beside him:

"Find a time to contact this shipyard."

"Won't that tip off the snake?"

"Tip off what snake? We aren't arresting anyone. To put it plainly, building a few boats isn't illegal.

I'm saying the remaining four boats were bought with stolen funds and are stolen goods. We need to seize them. Seize them, do you understand?"

"One thousand horsepower. With this thing, are we afraid we can't catch anyone?"