Chapter 240: Monster

He Yuzhu steeled his heart and directly stored that ton and a half of gold into his space.

He wanted to see exactly what kind of reaction that bastard Regimental Commander Guo would have after discovering the cargo had been emptied out.

After collecting the gold, he scanned the other cargo; and it must be said, this Officer Chen truly possessed immense wealth.

Not only were there over a hundred thousand in cash Big Ocean, but there was everything one could want: furniture, bronzeware, Xuande Censer, and calligraphy and paintings.

He Yuzhu did not stand on ceremony; he collected it all, leaving not a single item behind.

He quietly crept close to those soldiers sitting together, moved his mind, and fifteen soldiers vanished into thin air.

He Yuzhu changed into a soldier's uniform and went down to the third cargo hold of the freighter.

This level was a warehouse for transporting cargo for mid-level Cadres, and the people inside were quite complex; there were guards wearing Guangtou Party Army uniforms, servants dressed as poor house-boys, and also burly Bodyguards.

These people had all gathered their own cargo in one place, and they were sleeping directly on the floor next to their piles of goods.

They figured the entire ship was being protected by Regimental Commander Guo's men, so they felt very secure and were all sleeping soundly, their snoring practically like thunder.

The air in the hold was foul, mixed with the stench of sweat, foot odor, and the strange smells of the cargo.

He Yuzhu held his breath and moved quickly between the piles of cargo, picking only the valuable things to target.

This cargo hold was also quite fat; hidden within several families' cargo piles were Big Yellow Fish and Small Yellow Fish, even more silver dollars, and crates of antique calligraphy and paintings.

He Yuzhu specifically picked items with large quantities and high value to sweep into his space; as for those that were only a small pile and looked like they had no profit, he couldn't be bothered to act and let them go.

Just like that, he searched level by level; after finishing all four cargo holds, he did it without anyone knowing or noticing, and not a single person stopped him, all of them assuming he was on patrol.

After working all night, the harvest was astonishing: there were two more tons of gold in his space, over three hundred thousand Big Ocean, and countless antique calligraphy and paintings.

He Yuzhu returned silently to the first cargo hold, lay down beside Su Qing, and fell fast asleep.

At the first light of dawn the next day, the entire freighter was like a pot that had exploded, with shouts and wails everywhere.

Regimental Commander Guo was the first to discover that the items in the Warehouse had gone missing, and he roared with a red face and thick neck: "All of you, search for me! Don't let even an ant escape!"

His subordinates did not dare to make a sound and began a carpet search.

Hearing these noisy sounds, He Yuzhu was afraid something would happen to Zhao Ying, so he returned to her room; by this time, she had already been woken up by the clamor.

She opened the door for He Yuzhu and asked: "What's going on outside? Was it you... who touched their things?"

He Yuzhu nodded and gave a bitter smile: "Yeah, I might have poked a hornet's nest this time."

Zhao Ying was calm: "You kid, when have you ever been honest?"

"I'm worried that this Regimental Commander Guo will jump over the wall in desperation, cause trouble for you, dig up that old business of you dealing with Bureau Chief Wang in Shanghai back then, and use it to blackmail you."

"If pushed too far, we'll just sail the ship back to the United States!" Zhao Ying said.

It seemed she had immense resentment over the freighter being forcibly requisitioned and already had some intention of going down with the ship.

"Thump, thump, thump!" The cabin door was rudely knocked upon.

Zhao Ying got up and opened the door.

Regimental Commander Guo stood blocking the doorway with a murderous look, followed by several soldiers holding guns.

"Miss Zhao! I suspect your crew stole my property! You must give me an explanation for this!" Regimental Commander Guo roared aggressively.

Zhao Ying flared up the moment she heard this and retorted without any courtesy: "Regimental Commander Guo, when you boarded the ship, you kept saying this ship was under your control and had nothing more to do with me, the shipowner. What, now that you've lost your own things, you want me to be responsible? You grown man who pees standing up, you handle things less openly than a woman like me!"

"I had fifteen people guarding the cargo, and overnight, both the people and the cargo are gone! Who else has such great ability besides you?" Regimental Commander Guo unreasonably imposed a charge upon her.

"If things are lost, then search! I couldn't possibly have taken your things and thrown them into the sea?" Zhao Ying said.

Regimental Commander Guo stiffened his neck: "On this ship, besides you, there's no other possibility for someone to make my fifteen brothers disappear without anyone knowing!"

He Yuzhu really couldn't listen to this anymore on his bunk; he sat up with a start and said coldly: "Surname Guo, you're spewing dung. There are over two hundred of your people on this ship, and you lost the goods, yet you come to find our Boss to take the fall? You, you motherfucker, are just a rascal!"

"You stinking Bodyguard, where is there any room for you to speak?" Regimental Commander Guo immediately aimed his gun at He Yuzhu's head.

He Yuzhu was completely fearless and said: "So what if I'm a bodyguard? What kind of thing are you? You're just someone guarding the house for the officers above! I call you 'Officer', and you really think you're something special?" He Yuzhu's sharp tongue did not lose the upper hand at all.

"I don't have time to bicker with you!" Regimental Commander Guo waved his hand, "Search! Search this room thoroughly for me!"

He sent four soldiers in, who turned the only three trunks He Yuzhu and the others had upside down, but the result was naturally nothing found.

Regimental Commander Guo cursed and swore, taking his men away in a huff.

After Regimental Commander Guo left with his men, the cabin temporarily returned to quiet, but Zhao Ying's heart was in a state of agitation and she couldn't settle down at all.

She walked to He Yuzhu's bunk and said in a low voice: "Zhuzi, I see that the one surnamed Guo is already red-eyed with anxiety. He will definitely go find trouble with the captain and the sailors. I'm afraid those sailors will tell about you making those steel materials disappear."

"Don't be afraid!" There was no nervous expression on He Yuzhu's face; he only rubbed his brow, appearing somewhat exhausted.

"Sister, I was too tired last night. Let me nap for a while; I'll be able to think of a way once I've rested."

Seeing him say this, Zhao Ying couldn't press him further; she returned silently to her own bunk, lay there fully clothed, eyes open staring at the cabin ceiling, her heart in a mess.

Su Qing sat quietly on a chair in the corner of the room, not saying a word, wondering what she was thinking.

He Yuzhu fell asleep quickly, but he didn't sleep for long; an hour later, he woke up, his eyes much clearer.

He stretched, casually said "I'm going to the bathroom," and got up to leave the cabin.

He found a deserted corner and slipped into his space.

Late at night, two freighters cut through the waves, sailing on the dark sea.

Regimental Commander Guo was interrogating two sailors.

He asked viciously: "Tell me, does this ship have any special cabins, so-called secret holds?"

Li San was shivering with fear and said tremblingly: "Officer, I, I only became a sailor for the Eastern Shipping Company four months ago; I really don't know anything."

"You're not going to talk, are you?" Regimental Commander Guo glared at him viciously.

"Officer, I really don't know anything!"

"Snap! Snap!" Two lashes whipped onto Li San's body, and he shouted: "Officer, spare me! I really haven't been on this freighter for long!"

Just at this moment, a piercing howl, completely unlike a human voice, suddenly pierced the silence, seemingly coming from the deck.

Regimental Commander Guo was startled and immediately ordered five subordinates: "You lot, hurry to the deck and see what that sound is!"

Five soldiers took their Submachine Guns, bit the bullet, bolstered each other's courage, and crept up the gangway onto the pitch-black main deck.

The sea breeze whistled, blowing their clothes until they snapped and fluttered.

Just then, a sharp-eyed soldier lowered his voice and cried out, "Over there!"

In the direction of the bow, a blurry black shadow could be seen.

Its form was extremely strange, like a large crocodile, with eyes as bright as light bulbs and a large tail dragging behind it.

"Surround it!" the leading Squad Leader growled.

The five men quickly spread out, encircling the shadow in a fan shape, but just as they closed in, the four soldiers in the lead suddenly vanished, and the monster disappeared as well.

The last soldier, being further away, watched helplessly as his companions "vanished" before his eyes; terrified out of his wits, he scrambled and crawled back to the cabin.

He slammed open the cabin door where Regimental Commander Guo was, forgetting even to report, and collapsed to the floor with a deathly pale face, pointing outside while his teeth chattered: "Gone... they're gone! All... all of them are gone!"

"What's gone? Speak clearly, damn you!" Regimental Commander Guo threw down his whip and grabbed the soldier by the collar.

The soldier's eyes were unfocused as he gestured incoherently: "Mon... monster! Like a very ugly big fish, it had a long tail, dragging on the deck... eyes... the eyes were green! As soon as the brothers got close... they, they were gone! It... it ate them!"

After hearing this, Regimental Commander Guo loosened his grip and stumbled back a step, his arrogant air instantly replaced by fear: "Are you saying that monster can really eat people?"

"I saw it with my own eyes, sir!"