Hong Kong Film: Short mules have no future, I am in charge of Hong Kong

Chapter 212 Testing Our Bottom Line

"Boss, these boxes look like high-value cargo." A pirate shouted excitedly, holding an electric cutting tool in his hand.

"Stop talking nonsense and open it quickly!" the pirate leader urged impatiently.

The cutting tool made a sharp buzzing sound, sparks flew, and the lock of the container was quickly cut. After the first box was opened, rows of tightly packed electronic devices were revealed, and each box was marked with an import mark.

"We're going to make a fortune now!" A pirate couldn't help but cheer excitedly, and then began to move the equipment out of the boxes and piled them on the deck.

"Check the other boxes quickly!" the leader ordered coldly, his eyes never leaving the goods, as if he was calculating the profits these devices could bring.

On the other side, the young crew member in the cockpit stared with wide eyes, watching the pirates wantonly destroying the cargo, his fingers tightly grasping the floor. In his mind, Su Hanze's instructions before sailing emerged. Those words about responsibility and trust now became an echo that pierced his heart.

"Enough!" The young crew member finally couldn't help but yell, and his voice was particularly loud in the cockpit.

The pirate leader stopped and slowly turned to look at him, a hint of teasing flashed in his eyes: "Oh? Boy, what do you want to say?"

"These goods don't belong to you!" The young crew member gritted his teeth, his voice filled with anger and unwillingness, "If you steal them like this, even if you can get away for a while, you will definitely not escape the punishment of the law!"

The pirate leader was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. The other pirates followed suit, and the entire cockpit was filled with mocking laughter.

"Sanctions? Hahaha! Are you kidding me?" The leader walked up to the young crew member, squatted down, and tapped his face lightly with a dagger. "This is the high seas. Laws? Sanctions? You are so naive."

"You won't succeed." The young crew member stared at the leader, his tone full of determination, "Mr. Su won't let you go, he will make you pay the price!"

Hearing the three words "Mr. Su", the pirate leader's laughter suddenly stopped. He frowned and his eyes became dangerous: "Su Hanze? So this ship is his."

The atmosphere in the cockpit instantly became more tense. The leader stood up and looked at the other crew members coldly. Then he waved his hand and said, "Drag everyone to the deck. I want to see how long they can hold out."

The crew was roughly dragged out of the cockpit by the pirates and knelt in the middle of the deck. The sea breeze was biting and raindrops began to fall sporadically. Several pirates piled the goods in their hands aside, obviously preparing to evacuate.

"Boss, the coast guard is coming soon, we have to leave quickly." A pirate pointed to the sea in the distance, where several flashing lights could be vaguely seen.

"Wait a little longer." The leader said coldly. His eyes swept over the crew members kneeling on the ground and finally stopped at the young crew member. "You are right, Su Hanze will not let us go, but the problem is that he can't save you either."

The young crew member's body trembled slightly, but his eyes remained firm.

The leader raised the dagger in his hand and slowly approached the young crew member, with a sneer on his face: "You think you are brave, but your courage can't save this ship, nor can it save yourself."

The rain fell on the blade and slid down the sharp edge. Under the night, everything on the cargo ship fell into deep darkness.

The rain was getting heavier, and the deck of the cargo ship was slippery as a mirror. The crew knelt in the cold wind, shivering with cold, but anger and fear were intertwined in their eyes, and no one bowed their heads and accepted their fate. The young crew member Xiao Zhang raised his head and stared at the pirate leader in front of him with stubborn eyes. His body was shaking, but not because of the cold, but because of the anger he was holding back.

"Kill me." Xiao Zhang's voice was low, but it was filled with fearlessness. "Even if you take the goods, you can't run away. Mr. Su's influence covers the entire Southeast Asia. What you did today will make you pay the price sooner or later."

The leader raised his eyebrows slightly and looked down at him, as if he was looking at a small beast that was fighting back. He slowly squatted down, dagger dangling beside Xiao Zhang's cheek, raindrops sliding down the blade, his voice was as cold as a knife: "Price? Boy, you must have made a mistake. Today we are not paying the price, but your lives in exchange for our goods."

Xiao Zhang gritted his teeth and said nothing. If he said even one more word, the situation would become more dangerous. The older crew member next to him, Lao Zhou, sighed softly, leaned forward, and used all his strength to block Xiao Zhang: "He is just a young man who wants to show off. If you have anything, come to me."

The pirate leader sneered, stood up, and looked at Lao Zhou coldly: "An old immortal wants to be a hero? Fine, I'll help you."

He gestured to the people behind him, and two pirates immediately stepped forward, holding Lao Zhou on the left and right. Lao Zhou struggled desperately, but his physical strength was obviously inferior to that of the other party. He gritted his teeth and growled: "You beasts, come at me if you dare, don't touch them!"

"Touch them? Who said I'd let any of you go?" The leader sneered as he approached and kicked Lao Zhou on the knee. Lao Zhou fell heavily to his knees, groaning in pain, but still gritted his teeth and said nothing.

The pirate leader turned around and looked at the little man with tears in his eyes among the crew. A cruel smile appeared on his face: "You, come here."

The little guy was called Ayong, the youngest of the crew. His eyes were full of fear, and his legs were so weak that he could hardly stand up, but he still trembled and took two steps forward, trying to hide his fear.

"I..." A Yong's voice was as thin as a mosquito. He lowered his head and did not dare to look the leader in the eye.

"Raise your head." The leader ordered coldly, and the dagger in his hand slowly slid across his chin. "Tell me, do you have any other valuable cargo on the ship? Don't make me look for it myself."

A Yong's teeth chattered, and he glanced at Xiao Zhang standing beside him. Xiao Zhang shook his head slightly, signaling him not to speak. A Yong swallowed his saliva and tried to make his voice sound calm: "No more... The things on our ship are all those on the list."

"You're lying!" The leader grabbed Ayong by the collar, lifted him up, and threw him heavily on the deck like a piece of rag. His face showed strong disgust, "You guys are more stubborn than the other. It seems that you won't tell the truth unless you teach me a lesson."

As he spoke, he turned around and pulled out a gun from his waist. Raindrops dripped down his hand onto the deck. He pointed the muzzle of the gun at Old Zhou, who was already covered in wounds, and his eyes were as cold as if he was looking at an insignificant stone: "Start with him." "Stop!" Xiao Zhang yelled, and suddenly struggled to stand up. His voice was full of despair and anger, "The goods you want are all in the cargo hold. We have nothing else! Please, let them go!"

The leader did not shoot immediately. Instead, he turned his head slowly and gave a mocking smile: "Finally you spoke? Unfortunately, it's too late now."

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a loud whistle sounded from a distance, breaking the dead silence on the sea. Everyone was stunned, including the pirates, their movements were frozen for a moment. Then, several strong lights appeared faintly in the distance. They were the unique lights of the Coast Guard patrol boats, approaching this side quickly.

"The coast guard is here!" a pirate on the deck shouted, with obvious panic in his tone.

The leader frowned, his eyes darkening instantly. He stared fiercely at the crew on the deck, gritted his teeth and cursed in a low voice: "Trouble."

"Boss, we should retreat!" A pirate came forward and whispered, "Their people are very close. If we delay any longer, we won't be able to escape."

The leader waved his hand, signaling his men to move the already stacked cargo onto the speedboat as quickly as possible. He glanced at the crew kneeling on the deck again, his eyes cold and his tone grim: "No one can be left alive."

Several pirates reacted immediately and pointed their guns in the direction of the crew. At the critical moment, the voice of the Coast Guard came from the sea: "Attention, ships ahead! You have been surrounded. Stop all actions immediately, otherwise we will take compulsory measures!"

The bright light illuminated the entire deck of the cargo ship, and the Coast Guard patrol boat was already close at hand. The pirates' movements suddenly stopped for a moment, and the leader gritted his teeth and quickly ordered a retreat: "Take what cargo you can carry and get on the speedboat immediately!"

Several pirates quickly gave up their plan to kill the crew and instead quickly evacuated with the cargo. The leader took one last look at the trembling crew and snorted coldly, "You are lucky."

In less than a minute, all the pirates jumped onto the speedboat. The roar of the speedboat's engine was harsh and shrill in the rain. They quickly sailed into the darkness in the distance and disappeared in the heavy rain.

The patrol boat of the Coast Guard approached the cargo ship, and the lights swept across the deck, illuminating the exhausted crew members. The crew members looked relieved for having survived the disaster, but more of it was deep anger and unwillingness. Xiao Zhang looked at the direction where the speedboat was going away, his fists clenched so hard that they made a creaking sound, and his knuckles turned white.

"They took away some of the cargo." An elderly coast guard walked onto the deck, took a look at the messy scene, and whispered, "But fortunately, most of the cargo is still there."

Xiao Zhang knelt on the deck, the rain running down his face. His voice was low and hoarse, "But the captain and Lao Zhou are gone..." He clenched his fists, tears flashing in his eyes, but he looked up at the coast guard stubbornly, "We must catch those bastards, they will pay the price for this!"

The coast guard nodded, with a hint of solemnity in his eyes.

The morning sun shone through the gaps in the curtains onto the floor. Su Hanze sat on the large sofa in the office, tapping the crystal ashtray beside him with his fingertips. There was a cup of coffee on the coffee table in front of him, steam rising, but he didn't take a sip. His eyes fell on the table, where several printed documents were neatly spread out. The contents on them made his face even gloomier than the light outside the window.

Ah Kuan pushed the door open with a complicated look on his face, holding a tablet in his hand. His pace was slower than usual, as if he was afraid of disturbing Su Hanze's thoughts, but he knew that if the news was delayed any further, it would only make the situation more passive.

"Brother Ze, we just received a detailed report from the Coast Guard." A Kuan handed the tablet over and said in a low voice, "Our cargo ship was attacked by pirates on the Southeast Asian route. The captain and two crew members... are gone."

Su Hanze took the tablet but did not open it immediately. His hand paused on the screen, his eyes slightly fixed, and then he slowly pressed the play button. A blurry video appeared on the screen, which was a clip shot when the coast guard patrol boat approached the cargo ship. The deck of the cargo ship was in a mess, the crew was trapped in a corner, several wounded were still being treated by emergency personnel, and the pirates' speedboat had gone far away.

The scene freezes at the moment when the captain's body is carried off the cargo ship. Su Hanze's eyes suddenly turn cold. He puts the tablet aside and slowly clenches his fingers into a fist: "Where is the cargo?"

"Some of it was stolen," A Kuan replied in a low voice. "The coast guard recovered some of it, but the most important batches of high-value goods were taken away by the pirates."

"Where are the crew members' confessions?" Su Hanze looked up at A Kuan, his eyes revealing a chilling look.

"They said that the pirates had a clear target and knew from the beginning which boxes contained valuable cargo." A Kuan's tone was filled with suppressed anger. "It's obvious that this was not a random attack, but someone leaked our cargo information."

"Someone leaked the information." Su Hanze's voice was so low that it seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. His fingers tapped slowly on the armrest of the sofa, and each tap seemed to hit Ah Kuan's heart. He was silent for a few seconds, then raised his head and asked, "Do you know which line the person is from?"

"We're still investigating, but there may be something wrong with our partners in Southeast Asia," A Kuan said through gritted teeth. "Several small customers who recently joined the platform are somewhat involved with local gray forces."

"Gray forces?" Su Hanze's eyes turned colder. He slowly stood up and walked to the window, with his back to A Kuan, overlooking the morning street scene of Hong Kong Island. His voice was low, but with unquestionable majesty: "A Kuan, tell them that anyone who plays tricks on my line must be prepared to bear the consequences."

"Brother Ze, I understand." Ah Kuan nodded, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes, "I will investigate personally and will not let any suspect go."

Su Hanze turned around and looked at him seriously: "Not only that. I want to know where those pirates came from, where the goods went, and who is backing them. This is not a simple robbery. They are testing our bottom line."

Ah Kuan frowned even more. Every word Su Hanze said was true. There was obviously a conspiracy behind this hijacking that was much more complicated than it seemed.

"Brother Ze, those crew members are still in the hospital in Hong Kong Island. They are very unstable. Do you want to send someone to comfort them?" A Kuan asked tentatively.

"Appease?" Su Hanze sneered, with a hint of coldness in his eyes. "Bring Xiao Zhang here, I want to ask him in person. This kid is bold and tough, he should know something useful."

A Kuan nodded immediately and turned to leave.

(End of this chapter)