The December sea was far from calm.
Under the cover of darkness, numerous sampans headed toward the open sea.
It was impossible to determine direction at sea by eyesight alone, and the constantly changing delivery locations gave these smugglers constant headaches.
Recently, Fujian Province has been cracking down hard on smuggling crimes. No smuggling vessels dared to approach the shore anymore, instead conducting transactions 20 kilometers offshore. The profits from smuggling were too enticing – whether for the smugglers delivering goods or the locals involved in receiving them, the absolute profits could drive all sorts of people to break the law fearlessly.
With strict coastal surveillance, they moved their operations to the open sea.
Winter wasn’t typhoon season, and these skilled fishermen dared to receive goods using small sampans.
“Brother, times are tough lately, those marine police…”
“Shut up, you jinx, always bringing up bad omens.”
The people on the fishing boat were bickering, which was quite rare – most were accustomed to sailing in silence. The conversation was unnecessary; talking about good things would lower their guard while discussing bad things would affect morale. Only after securing the goods and safely returning to shore would this operation be considered complete.
Small electronics were still the most popular items – easy to sell and compact.
With larger vessels, household appliances would be the most profitable, especially televisions, which remained scarce commodities domestically.
Everyone was just trying to make a living – they had truly been frightened by poverty before!
Reform and Opening brought many opportunities, but people living by mountains survive by mountains, and those by water survive by water. Once coastal residents had tasted the quick profits from smuggling, how could they be content doing anything else?
Smuggling brought quick money; other small businesses were too slow!
Tonight was a major transaction – several large ships would arrive from Hong Kong, loaded with electronics, cigarettes, and other scarce goods. No single smuggler in Fujian Province could handle this shipment alone, so dozens of small boats headed toward the sea area for collection at night.
The ships’ masts flickered in and out of view under the moonlight.
The receivers couldn’t help but smile.
Tonight was calm – everyone would have a big haul!
The hunters who had been quietly lying in wait also smiled.
“Captain Zhou, we can close the net!”
“Report, I think we should wait longer.”
Zhou Cheng stood at the bow. Through his infrared night vision goggles, he could see far into the distance. He watched as the boats approached the cargo ship – there were already dozens of fishing vessels in view… but this wasn’t enough. Zhou Cheng felt these boats combined couldn’t handle tonight’s cargo. The big fish were always cautious, only showing themselves after confirming there was no danger.
Catching small shrimp and crabs was useless – since they were taking action, Zhou Cheng wanted to catch the real big fish!
“Captain Zhou, you’ll be responsible for your judgment!”
Zhou Cheng was just the deputy captain, and the captain who had developed the operation plan seemed displeased.
Everyone’s naval combat experience was purely theoretical, learned on the fly.
Patiently waiting for the big fish to take the bait was Zhou Cheng’s judgment based on experience.
“I’ll take responsibility!”
The communication suddenly cut off – clearly, the captain was quite angry.
Another 20 minutes passed. All the small boats had approached, exchanging signals, paying money, and moving cargo – everything swift and coordinated.
Some cargo had already been transferred when the shore-based command captain urged action again, but Zhou Cheng still firmly insisted on waiting.
“Captain Zhou, once they finish cargo transfer, they’ll scatter in all directions. It won’t be easy to catch them all without letting any slip through!”
Zhou Cheng was truly stubborn – they hadn’t noticed before, but now they felt it deeply.
The captain had given up trying to persuade Zhou Cheng and was about to issue attack orders over his head, as some boats that had finished loading were preparing to turn back. How could they call it a smuggling crackdown without catching them in the act?
Just then, the reconnaissance team reported back.
“Captain, behind the reef, a large ship is moving!”
“How could there be a large ship there?”
“The special terrain concealed it.”
This was a serious oversight!
Through night vision goggles, the people on this ship wore uniforms.
“Report, they appear to be marine police…”
Zhou Cheng also received the news and waited two minutes until the large ship appeared in his view.
“Captain, does Fujian’s marine police have operations tonight?”
“No!”
At least he hadn’t received any such notice.
Was it an impromptu operation?
The more Zhou Cheng watched, the more something seemed off. This suspected marine police vessel was flashing signals – yet the smuggling ships showed no reaction?
“Something’s wrong – these are smugglers in disguise!”
The big fish they’d been waiting for had disguised themselves as fishermen. Zhou Cheng smiled.
“Report, requesting permission to act!”
“Captain Zhou-“
“I’ll take full responsibility! All units, be alert to the marine police vessel that appeared last – this might be enemy disguise!”
“Unit 1, copy.”
“Unit 2, copy.”
“Unit 3…”
From lights going dark to sudden attacks launched from all directions at sea, the small fishing boats scattered in panic. Three units were responsible for driving them toward shore, where lurking team members waited to arrest them.
Some people drove their small boats randomly, believing they could escape if they avoided capture.
Even more people abandoned their boats and jumped into the sea – it was only dozens of miles to the shore, and good swimmers believed they could make it back.
Gunshots rang out amid the chaos as Zhou Cheng led people to surround several cargo ships. Those people were armed and daring to shoot!
“Damn it, how could tonight…”
How could there be a raid?
There was no time to investigate that now.
Those who dared to engage in this trade were killers.
They would kill ordinary people, kill their kind, and could be ruthless toward law enforcement. After all, if they could fight their way out, they could hide in the vast ocean – at worst, they’d abandon this route. Where could mainland police catch them?
“Don’t let a single ship escape!”
“Copy!”
The gunfire also stirred the blood of team members. They finally understood the pre-departure speech – this wasn’t a drill. Bullets would hurt when they hit, blood would flow, and one careless moment could cost their lives.
This firefight lasted over ten minutes before Zhou Cheng finally led people to approach the large cargo ship.
A thick smell of blood permeated the deck. A bullet grazed Zhou Cheng’s arm as he threw down a nearby team member, but his thigh was grazed by another bullet.
Zhou Cheng returned fire immediately.
“Captain Zhou…”
Zhou Cheng felt blood on his hand, and moved his leg, “I’m fine, didn’t hit bone or arteries.”
Zhou Cheng tore some cloth to bandage his leg for temporary bleeding control.
Everyone on the ship had been subdued, looking at Zhou Cheng, their leader, with vicious eyes. Zhou Cheng had people count the personnel and cargo – all needed to be accounted for. Some team members were injured, but no deaths had been reported yet – that was the best news.
There were still some trying to escape, turning their boats around only to collide with the cargo ship where Zhou Cheng stood. The violent impact made people lose balance. The trainees were still inexperienced – two people actually broke free from control, running toward shore, preparing to jump and escape by sea – Zhou Cheng instinctively fired twice, and both shots hit, but after a while, they only caught one person.
The other person had vanished without a trace, alive or dead unknown.
After searching around, Zhou Cheng could only order withdrawal!
Tonight, their operation had been very successful. The large ship disguised as marine police would surely lead to a major syndicate… What kind of people would dare impersonate marine police? Where did they get the uniforms? Where did they get the weapons?