Chapter 42 Reassurance, Probing, and Deep Shock: If the first mate were lying...

In fact, when Fu Ze discovered that one of the accompanying executives was missing before departure, he had already guessed that the person might have secretly stayed on the ship.

But he quickly dismissed the idea himself.

The reason is simple—

No executive is willing to provoke Cummins alone.

Although he and Yuan Jianxing had only been in L City for a few days, they had already truly experienced the enormous influence of the Kangming Group in the city.

This group has a presence in everything from clothing, food, housing, and transportation to education, healthcare, and even banking and insurance.

It's rare to see a brand that's unrelated to Cummins Group. But when I asked around, wow, it's a subsidiary brand of Cummins Group.

So it's no wonder that the adjudication bureau and the enforcement officers here have been unable to crack this tough nut.

Regardless of the executives' own wishes, their family members and friends often work for Cummins or indirectly benefit from Cummins.

From a broader perspective, even if Cummins Group engaged in some illegal or disorderly conduct, other government departments would absolutely not allow the adjudication bureau to easily issue a judgment against Cummins Group, given the jobs and tax revenue it provides.

Therefore, even though the adjudication bureau had clear evidence, after a long delay, the person in charge of the case file was transferred, and those scattered documents were hidden deep in layers of system folders, and no one could find them anymore.

So when Fu Ze recognized Yuan Jianxing, he was indeed somewhat surprised, but his main emotion was—

Peace of mind.

I feel exceptionally at ease.

In terms of status, Yuan Jianxing was an executive officer who was "demoted" to V City and had no connection with the deeply entrenched interest groups in L City.

As for his purpose, Yuan Jianxing had made it clear to me at the hotel that he was there to bring down the Kangming Group.

In terms of ability...

Although he is currently a junior executive officer from outside the region, Yuan Jianxing's job mainly involves dealing with trivial matters that local executive officers don't like to do, and he even has to outwit and outmaneuver those with ill intentions who want to take advantage of him.

However, after the discovery of contraband in the young master's car, much of the initial sarcasm and malicious attacks subsided.

This is a kind of worship and awe of the strong that is etched into the genes of all living beings.

Oh, except for Fu Ze.

As someone who shares a room with Hara Kenshin and sees him struggling with that stubborn tuft of hair every morning using strong hairspray, he now looks at Hara Kenshin like a pet that spins around and bites its tail.

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Getting back to the main point, now that it was Yuan Jianxing himself who remained on the ship, Fu Ze's task became much easier.

Although it's unclear what Hara Mihoshi is planning, there's no doubt that Badger Tooth's plan will not be completed as expected.

The thought that this guy had almost put him in a difficult position made Fu Ze furious.

But when he thought about how Badger Tooth was about to be punished by Harami Hoshi, he felt a sense of schadenfreude.

Stop. I can't let Yuan Jianxing's appearance affect my emotions anymore.

In short, given the current situation, all I need to do is provide cover for Yuan Jianxing, and I'll leave the rest to him.

That's right, that's how much Fu Ze believed in Yuan Jianxing.

Having made up his mind, Fu Ze quietly retreated from his current observation point back to the deck, straightened his wrinkled clothes, and calmly walked towards the cargo area at the stern of the ship.

-

Badger Tooth wasn't surprised to see Fu Ze.

He adjusted his glasses, which had been slightly askew by the sea breeze, and offered his usual words of concern: "It's windy at sea; you might catch a cold. It's better to stay inside."

"No need." Fu Ze stood in a slightly sheltered spot, put on his uniform jacket, and walked to Badger Tooth's side. "I'm more afraid of getting cold than of catching a cold."

Looking at the other person's empty collar, Badger Tooth said meaningfully, "How could that be? If you can't make it at the Tribunal, we welcome you home anytime."

Fu Ze gave a forced smile: "But why do I have this feeling that once I lose my executive officer status, you'll immediately pack me up and send me to Alexei's bed to apologize?"

Having said all that, there's no need for subtle digs; just lay it all out and save yourself some brainpower.

“Alexei’s family is well-off, and he recently landed a big contract. He’s a hot commodity within the Cummins Group,” Badger Tooth coaxed. “If you really go with him, you’ll reap the benefits in the short term.”

"Would you sleep with a rhinoceros horn for a promotion?" Fu Ze squinted, glancing sideways at Badger Tooth.

Badger Tooth said frankly, "I can't, but you look like the type who would climb onto the Harami Star Bed."

Fu Ze immediately exclaimed, "I didn't expect you to be so good at judging people."

Badger teeth: ...

Today he truly witnessed what it means for "sincerity to be a killer move" and "shamelessness is invincible".

"Let's get down to business." Fu Ze raised his chin and gestured towards the loading area diagonally below. "What's the arrangement?"

They've already outmaneuvered each other, and the people have managed to stay on the ship unharmed until now through their own abilities. Badger Tooth no longer needs to conceal the contents of Fu Ze's plan.

"The core of the plan is still what you reported to Rhinoceros Horn at the boxing ring, nothing has changed." He said calmly, "But the problem is that [Teleport] can only be used twice consecutively in a short period of time."

Fu Ze suddenly turned his head to look at Badger Tooth.

Within a short period of time? Twice?

"Is it okay for you to tell me something so confidential?" he asked, half-believing. "Last time at the furniture store, I didn't even finish saying the word 'key' before Rhinoceros Horn stepped on me and knocked me to the ground."

Imagining Fu Ze being trampled on the ground, Badger Tooth felt wonderful. "The matter of the key is currently kept relatively confidential within the Kangming Group, but it shouldn't be long before everyone knows about it."

Fu Ze asked cautiously, "Aren't you curious how I knew about the [key]?"

Badger Tooth rolled his eyes at Fu Ze. "You're Deer Ear's favorite student, so it's only natural that you know she got the [Key] power from Dragon Spine."

Fu Ze nodded knowingly.

Be very careful, and never deal with deer ears.

“While I’m not entirely clear on what the power of the deer ears is or what its limitations are, the rhinoceros horn’s [teleportation] certainly does have such a flaw,” Badger Tooth steered the conversation back to the main point. “Add to that the ship type restrictions for the license, and the time allotted for the executive officer to acquire the ship…”

Fu Ze quickly summarized: "In the end, we compressed the original three-trip transportation plan into two trips."

“Yes,” Badger Tooth added as a final touch, “Due to the limitations of the current cruise ship model, the second shipment will also require some cargo to be suspended underwater.”

Fu Ze pressed on, "Where will these contraband items be transported after they're [teleported] away?"

Badger Tooth, who had been talking so confidently, suddenly stopped and looked at Fu Ze with a "don't say I didn't warn you" expression.

"Okay, never mind." Fu Ze also backed away from probing. "So, is there anything I need to do?"

"There's nothing for you to do, everything's arranged. You can supervise if you're interested." Badger Tooth rested his hands on the railing in front of him, stretching his aching shoulders. "Or you could consider how to improve your image with Alexei?"

Fu Ze immediately shook his head: "I think I need to think about how to explain to my boss that I've been out all night on the ship fooling around and haven't produced any results. Like KPIs, OKRs and stuff, you know what I mean."

Badger teeth: ...

He may understand, but he doesn't.

But that didn't stop him from being greatly shocked.

This is the first time I've seen someone so dedicated to being an undercover agent.

-

After witnessing the entire loading process, Yuan Jianxing received the captain's arrival information from the first mate's communicator in his hand, and quickly returned to the ship.

As he made his calculations toward the captain's cabin, he did so once again.

There are currently twenty boxes of contraband being transported onto the cruise ship.

Judging from the paint on the boxes, this batch of contraband mainly consists of bullets, with a few boxes containing matching caliber firearms.

After loading the cargo, the cruise ship's waterline almost reached the warning level.

Considering that some of the next shipment will be loaded underwater, the total number of contraband items in the next shipment should be around forty boxes.

This number is actually quite alarming, enough to support two weeks of street fighting in a small area.

In addition, Yuan Jianxing also noticed that although the contraband mainly consisted of bullets, guns were also transported.

This move is very cunning.

Whenever threatened, the original transportation team can organize a counterattack formation on the spot.

Even an executive would find it extremely difficult to deal with a team like this.

While it's true that Hara Kensei is a consequentialist, that doesn't mean he's willing to accept sacrifices for no reason.

Therefore, the best approach is to nip the threat in the bud.

For example, preventing the shipment of those two boxes of guns.

Having made up his mind, Yuan Jianxing pushed open the door to the captain's cabin.

The room was filled with a very rustic aroma of food, which seemed quite out of place with the luxurious style of the entire cruise ship.

Upon seeing the first mate return, the captain quickly ate the food in his lunchbox, wiped his hands and mouth with a wet wipe from the bag, and returned to the wheelhouse.

Because of the excessive cargo load, the system warning on the panel has turned red, and the automatic driving system will remain disabled until the power source ratio is manually adjusted to the appropriate level.

As the various functional components were activated in sequence, the captain struck up a conversation with the first mate: "What's for dinner on board today?"

Since Yuan Jianxing didn't go to the cafeteria, he naturally couldn't know what they were eating.

He could only retrieve a sentence from the first mate's vocabulary in the records as his reply: "It's still the same."

"You young people don't know how lucky you are," the captain said, putting on airs again. "You'll understand when you get older and can't eat this or that anymore, and your family has to cook for you."

“It’s a good thing that people care,” the first mate suddenly said. “What’s the point of living like everyone on an assembly line?”

The captain had expected the first mate to start a verbal sparring match as usual, and he was prepared to press his advantage.

But to his utter surprise, the usually nonsensical and utterly rude first mate actually uttered a few human words today.

Combined with the other party's sudden correction of their driving habits...

Hmm, the first mate seems a little different today.

Overall, it's a positive change.

Meanwhile, three levels below the cockpit, watching the ship slowly start and gradually detach from the shuttle boat, Badger Tooth finally let go of the railing he had been gripping tightly.

So far, it's been a good start.

Once the first exercise is successful, the smuggling operation will be essentially over for that period.

He took a deep breath, hoping the cool sea breeze would soothe his heart, which was racing with tension.

This was quite effective, because he did indeed calm down.

Immediately afterward, his senses became active again, and he could feel the coolness surging from the sea.

Badger Tooth began to walk into the boat.

Because he had been outside for a long time, his fingers were a little stiff, so he was unable to turn the handle to enter the cabin immediately.

However, it was during this pause that he discovered something unusual.

Why are there such heavy breathing sounds around here?

The loading and unloading are all finished, who's still here?

Following the direction of the breathing sound, Badger Tooth pushed open the door to the storage room.

There lay a half-naked, unconscious man.

Who else could it be but the first mate?!

The moment Badger recognized the other, his scalp tingled.

But if the first mate is lying here, then who is steering the ship now?