Hong Kong variety show: The mastermind behind the scenes is emerging.

Macau, Rua Nova.

As the most bustling street in Macau, this place still retains its rich Portuguese charm. The cobblestone streets, the arcade-style buildings on both sides, and the aroma of egg tarts and pork chop buns in the air make this gambling city both languid and bustling.

Amid the bustling crowd, a young man leaned against a telephone pole on a street corner, slowly munching on a freshly baked pineapple bun.

He looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, thin, with pale skin, and wearing a faded gray jacket. A pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose made him look like a recent college graduate or a junior accountant in an office building.

Refined, thin, and unremarkable.

This is everyone's first impression of him.

But if someone observes closely, they will notice that behind the lenses of those gold-rimmed glasses, those slender eyes are devoid of any warmth. Furthermore, he always seems to intentionally or unintentionally bury his face, making it difficult to see clearly.

Although his gaze was fixed on the street scene, his focus remained fixed on the two adjacent gold shops across the street.

His name is Fu Longsheng.

Behind this name lies a code name that even Taiwan's intelligence agencies keep secret—"Shadow".

He once belonged to Taiwan's highest-level special operations group, an elite unit specializing in eliminating "traitors" and carrying out overseas assassinations. He was proficient in firearms, hand-to-hand combat, demolitions, and most importantly—infiltration.

After retiring, unwilling to live a stable but low-paying life, and even less willing to be a bodyguard for those bloated politicians, he chose to cross the sea to this land full of gold and opportunities.

"Three minutes left."

Fu Longsheng glanced at the cheap Casio digital watch on his wrist, chewing on a pineapple bun, and silently doing calculations in his mind.

Based on his observations over three consecutive days, 10:03 AM was the break between security shifts at the two jewelry stores. It was also a window of opportunity where patrol officers had just passed through the intersection and needed at least five minutes to turn back.

"Get ready."

Fu Longsheng spoke in a low voice into the miniature microphone on his collar.

At the other end of the street, a Toyota Hiace van with dark tinted windows slowly started moving. Inside sat his two temporary partners: Ah Gou and Da Tou. These two were gambling addicts he'd met at the casino; they weren't particularly skilled, but they were obedient, greedy, and had decent driving skills.

……

"squeak--!!"

The instant the clock struck 10:03.

The Toyota van suddenly accelerated, screeching as it braked, and came to a stop across the sidewalk between the two gold shops, blocking the view of passersby.

"Let's do it!"

Fu Longsheng threw away the pineapple bun in his hand, his original refined demeanor vanishing instantly, replaced by a chilling coldness.

He put on a mask, pulled a Remington shotgun with its barrel sawed off from his pocket, and did so with fluid, astonishing speed.

"Splash!"

The car door opened, and Ah Gou and Da Tou rushed out carrying a sledgehammer and a travel bag.

"Robbery! Get down!!"

Fu Longsheng took the lead, rushed into "Zou's Gold Shop", and fired a shot at the ceiling.

"boom!"

The deafening gunshot shattered the crystal chandelier and also jolted the nerves of the shop assistants and customers.

"ah--!!"

The screams had barely begun when Fu Longsheng leaped onto the counter. Ignoring the panicked crowd, he fired three shots at the three display cases like a precise machine.

"Splash!"

The glass shattered.

"Load the goods! Only gold bars and gold jewelry! No diamonds!"

Fu Longsheng calmly gave instructions while keeping watch at the entrance with his gun raised. His eyes scanned the street like radar, and no movement escaped his notice.

Later, the neighboring "Tianfu Jewelry" suffered the same fate.

The whole process was incredibly fast.

No nonsense, no beating around the bush.

"Forty seconds left." Fu Longsheng glanced at his watch.

"Boss! There's too much! We can't fit it all!" Big Head shouted excitedly, the bag in his hand already heavy.

"Go! Don't be greedy!"

Fu Longsheng gave the order decisively.

Just as the faint sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance, the three of them had already climbed into the van.

"boom--"

With a roar of its engine, the bread truck merged into the traffic, weaving through the complex alleyways before finally disappearing without a trace.

The entire process, from parking to leaving, took a total of three minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

The two gold shops suffered losses exceeding three million.

The surveillance footage from the scene didn't even capture a single clear face. When the police obtained the footage, all they could see were three masked figures moving with terrifyingly professional-looking movements.

……

Two o'clock in the afternoon of the second day.

An abandoned shipyard in Coloane, Macau.

The air was thick with the smell of rotting engine oil and seawater, and the rusty metal sheets creaked and groaned in the sea breeze.

This is a base of the underground black market.

"Water dragon, this is our goods."

Fu Longsheng threw two heavy travel bags onto the greasy table with a dull metallic clang.

Opposite him sat a middle-aged, overweight man with a burly face, bare-chested, and sporting a dragon tattoo across his shoulder. He was the biggest buyer of stolen goods in the area—Shui Shenglong.

Behind him stood six or seven henchmen armed with machetes and pistols, all staring menacingly at Fu Longsheng and his companions.

Shui Shenglong, with a cigar in his mouth, slowly unzipped his jacket.

The golden light instantly illuminated the dimly lit factory.

"Tsk tsk tsk, not bad quality."

Shui Shenglong picked up a gold bar, took a bite, and then spat. "But, things are tense lately. This batch of yours was just seized, and it's all numbered, so it's not easy to sell."

"Stop talking nonsense."

Fu Longsheng adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his voice calm, "I know the rules, it's 50/50. I want 1.5 million, in cash."

"One and a half million?"

Shui Shenglong laughed as if he'd heard a joke. "Handsome, is this your first day in the game? This batch of goods is too hot to handle. I'll only give you 30% at most. One million, take it or leave it."

"Thirty percent?" Ah Gou, standing behind Fu Longsheng, couldn't hold back any longer. "You fatso! You're double-crossing me! We agreed on fifty percent!"

"Fuck your mother! How dare you talk to Brother Long like that?!"

Shui Shenglong's henchmen immediately drew their guns and pointed them at Ah Gou.

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Shui Shenglong exhaled a puff of smoke, looking at Fu Longsheng with a mocking expression: "Handsome boy, you look so refined, you must be a scholar, right? Take my advice, take the money and leave. Otherwise..."

He patted under the table; there was clearly something hidden there.

"One million, not a penny more. And I'll deduct three hundred thousand as a 'handling fee'."

This was blatant bullying, but Shui Shenglong knew these three were unfamiliar faces from out of town and had just committed a crime, so they wouldn't dare cause trouble. In his mind, he had them cornered.

Fu Longsheng kept his head down, his glasses reflecting the light, making it impossible to see his eyes.

"Boss, you have to be honest in business," he said, his voice still soft and gentle. "Greed can kill you."

"Huh? A dead man?" Shui Shenglong slammed his hand on the table, grinning maliciously. "I'll show you what... today!"

Before he could finish speaking...

A sudden change occurred.

Fu Longsheng, who had been keeping his head down, suddenly moved his right hand.

A flash of cold light, like a venomous snake's tongue, swept across the table in an instant.

It was an extremely ordinary folding knife.

"Pfft!"

Shui Shenglong's trusted henchman, who was about to draw his gun, clutched his throat and collapsed, blood gushing from between his fingers.

"Do it!!"

The water dragon was startled and roared.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Gunfire erupted.

The cramped shipyard instantly transformed into a battlefield.

Shui Shenglong's men opened fire on Fu Longsheng and his two companions.

Although Ah Gou and Da Tou also had guns, their reactions were clearly a beat slower.

"ah!!"

Ah Gou was shot in the chest, screamed in agony, and fell into a pool of blood.

Before Big Head could even pull the trigger, he was riddled with bullets.

However, Fu Longsheng, the target, darted under the heavy iron table like a nimble gecko a second before the shot was fired.

"He's down there! Kill him!" Shui Shenglong roared.

Just then, the iron table was suddenly overturned.

The iron table, weighing over 100 pounds, was like a giant shield under Fu Longsheng's monstrous strength, slamming down on the group of henchmen with a whistling sound.

"boom!"

Two henchmen who couldn't dodge in time had their legs broken by the table, letting out pig-like screams.

Taking advantage of this opening, Fu Longsheng rushed out like a ghost.

At this moment, he removed his refined mask, revealing the fangs of a top assassin.

He didn't use a gun; he only had that folding knife in his hand.

For him, in such close-quarters melee, a knife is faster and more deadly than a gun.

"puff!"

Just as one of the henchmen turned his gun around, Fu Longsheng's knife was already plunged into his heart.

With a swift turn, the blade shredded the heart muscle.

Immediately afterwards, Fu Longsheng used the corpse as a shield to block the bullets coming from the other side, while simultaneously waving his right hand.

"call out--"

The folding knife flew out of his hand and accurately pierced the eye socket of another henchman who was changing his magazine.

"ah!!"

In just five seconds.

Except for Shui Shenglong, all the henchmen have fallen.

The ground was stained red with blood, and the smell of engine oil mixed with the stench of blood was nauseating.

"No...don't come any closer..."

Shui Shenglong was terrified when he saw the young man covered in blood, yet whose glasses hadn't even tilted.

He held a revolver in his hand, but his trembling hand made it impossible for him to aim.

"You...are you a human or a ghost...?"

Fu Longsheng approached step by step, his leather shoes making a "smack smack" sound as they stepped into the pool of blood.

He walked up to Shui Shenglong and reached out to grasp the trembling barrel of Shui Shenglong's pistol.

"I am the shadow."

Fu Longsheng said calmly.

Then, it snapped open suddenly.

"Snap!"

Shui Shenglong's finger bones were broken, and the pistol fell into Fu Longsheng's hands.

"You could have earned half."

Fu Longsheng pressed the gun to Shui Shenglong's forehead and said regretfully, "Unfortunately, you were too greedy."

"Don't kill me! You can have all the money! There's six million in the safe! It's all yours!" Shui Shenglong knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Thank you," Fu Longsheng pushed up his glasses, "but I prefer to carry it myself."

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out.

The water dragon's plump body fell backward, its eyes wide open in death.

The shipyard fell silent again.

The only sound was the crashing of the waves.

Fu Longsheng glanced at his accomplices, Agou and Datou, lying in pools of blood, his eyes showing no emotion. To him, these two were merely expendable pawns used to draw fire.

He walked to the corner, skillfully opened the safe, and put all the cash inside into bags. Then he picked up the two bags of gold again.

After doing all this, he took out a bottle of alcohol and began to carefully wipe away the fingerprints and traces he had left behind.

Calm, composed, and professional.

Like a surgeon who has just finished an operation.

Just as he had packed everything up and was about to leave with his valuables worth millions,

"Ring ring—"

The blood-stained red telephone on Shui Shenglong's desk suddenly rang.

In the empty, deathly silent factory, the sound of the bell seemed particularly eerie.

Fu Longsheng stopped and looked back.

Who would call a dead person at this time?

at the same time.

"Beep beep beep—"

The pager hanging on Fu Longsheng's waist also started vibrating.

That was an anonymous pager he had just bought specifically for this operation; apart from the two dead accomplices, no one should know the number.

He picked up the pager and took a look.

The screen displays only a short line of text:

[Answer the phone.]

Fu Longsheng's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.

An unprecedented chill ran down my spine and straight to the top of my head.

Is someone spying on him?

No, it's not just surveillance.

The other party even accurately predicted this moment, predicted that Shui Shenglong was dead, and predicted that he was standing next to the phone.

Fu Longsheng took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.

He slowly walked back to his desk, extended his hand, still wet with blood, and picked up the microphone.

"Feed?"

His voice was a little hoarse, his body was tense, and his muscles were ready to be used.

On the other end of the phone came a distorted voice, yet one that carried a hint of all-powerful laughter:

"Good afternoon, it's an honor to meet you, Mr. Shadow."

"Or... should I call you Fu Longsheng?"