Chapter 1 The Dilemma

Hearing what Fatty said, both Rouyi and I felt a thump in our hearts, and then we exchanged a tacit glance.

Now we were done for. Dodge had passed out before telling us the next step in his plan. We didn't know what to do next. We couldn't just drift aimlessly at sea, and the speedboat's fuel would only last for a little over an hour. If we couldn't find our destination in time, we would be swallowed by the ocean.

Rouyi and I looked at Jennifer again with mutual understanding—now we could only pin our hopes on that sea chart and Jennifer's navigation and driving skills.

After Fatty confirmed that Dodge's life wasn't in danger, he settled the unconscious Dodge in the speedboat's cabin, then turned to Jennifer and asked, "Jennifer, can you get to the location marked on the sea chart?"

Jennifer's tone was relaxed, as if she didn't see navigating at sea with the chart as a problem. She reconfirmed the location on the chart and said to Fatty, "No problem, I estimate we'll reach the target point in about ten minutes. It's not far from here."

Hearing Jennifer's words, Fatty, Rouyi, and I felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief.

However, I was still a little worried. I didn't know if Dodge had arranged everything properly, and I didn't know if there were any other dangers at the target point marked on the chart.

Meanwhile, the small team that had shot at Dodge on the shore was now staring blankly at the coastline. There was no speedboat nearby, not even a boat that could sail out to sea. They could only watch as we moved further and further away from the shore into the ocean.

Even if they went to South Port Wharf to find a boat now, they definitely wouldn't be able to catch up with us. The sea was vast, and searching for a speedboat on the ocean was like searching for a needle in a haystack. We gradually moved away right under their noses, eventually disappearing.

Fatty kept his eyes on them the entire time, until the tactical team became just a few small dots on the shore, until he couldn't see them anymore. Only after confirming that they wouldn't be able to chase us did Fatty relax and withdraw his gaze.

…

Ten minutes later, Jennifer really did drive the speedboat to the target area, to the target location. In that area of the sea, a lonely small fishing boat was anchored. The fishing boat was conspicuous but also hidden. At first glance, it seemed that the fishing boat was carrying out fishing operations.

Jennifer guessed that this should be the ship Dodge had arranged to pick us up, so Jennifer honked at the fishing boat. The people on the fishing boat heard the speedboat's horn and, without any hesitation, directly used the crane on the ship to hoist the entire speedboat and us from the ocean onto the ship.

We only discovered after boarding the fishing boat that everyone on the ship, from the captain and first mate to the sailors, had Asian faces.

Immediately afterward, we greeted each other. After some communication, we learned that these people were actually all Chinese.

The contact that Dodge made was actually with a Chinese fishing boat.

Were we going to China?

If that were the case, and Dodge had made this decision to go to China in such a hurry, I guessed that he might have wanted more than just to escape the pursuit of the Z organization.

Could Han Yu be in China now?

I couldn't be sure if my guess was correct. We would have to wait until Dodge woke up to know the specific situation.

I glanced at Dodge, who was being carried out of the speedboat by the sailors and was sleeping like a dead pig, and couldn't help but sigh.

I said to myself, "Grandpa Dodge, please wake up soon."

The people on this Chinese fishing boat were generally between twenty and thirty years old, mostly from Guangdong. They spoke Cantonese among themselves, and Fatty, Jennifer, and I couldn't understand Cantonese at all. Only Rouyi, who had a background in linguistics, understood a little Cantonese. According to her, she had also learned some Chinese dialects when she was studying Chinese, including Cantonese. Rouyi could communicate normally with the crew.

The crew members were nice to us, and the food on the ship was better than expected. Canned fruit and various meat products were readily available, as well as various frozen vegetables. It wasn't as difficult as the legends said.

The captain was from Guangdong, named Huang Jie, about thirty years old. He was very polite to us and was the only person on the ship who could speak a few words of English haltingly. As soon as we boarded the ship, he had the sailors settle Dodge, while he himself stayed around us, answering every question and fulfilling every request.

Huang Jie told us that although this small fishing boat looked like a fishing boat from the outside, and its main activity was fishing in the deep sea, what they actually did was smuggle various equipment and supplies from the United States to China for the use of Z organization members in China.

When Strange was alive, the main way the Z organization transported personnel and equipment to various countries around the world was by sea. To avoid exposing the transportation route, they transported very little equipment, rare materials, and personnel each time. The fishing boat and the crew were all Chinese, so the border inspection and customs inspection were not very strict. They would basically check it slightly and then release it.

When Strange was alive, this transportation route was strictly prohibited from transporting drugs and other dangerous goods, because the risk of smuggling by sea was very high. Once it was seized by customs or narcotics police, it would lead to a series of chain reactions, seriously affecting the activities of the Z organization.

An incident that occurred at sea more than ten years ago prompted Strange to strictly regulate the Z organization's maritime transport requirements, which has enabled this transport route to continue to operate stably and covertly to this day.