Chapter 1 Six Forty AM

At 6:40 a.m., the plane arrived in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., in District One. The group took three SUVs and headed for the city.

At this time, Hu Zi still hadn't called A-Hua, but Su Tianyu wasn't worried. He sat in the car and said to A-Hua, "Don't panic. He said he wanted you to have the money ready before six o'clock, which is probably just to increase the pressure on you. He won't necessarily show up right now. We still have time to prepare."

"Yeah, I know," A-Hua said, wearing a tracksuit and with her beautiful hair standing up, looking very calm.

"Is the money ready?" Su Tianyu asked Zhou Tonghui again.

"It's ready." Zhou Tonghui glanced at his watch and said, "But they only said to prepare the money in District One, but not which city. Are they just messing with us?"

"The initiative is in their hands. There's nothing we can do if they're messing with us," Su Tianyu said helplessly. "Let's wait for news."

"Yeah, that's all we can do."

The group discussed while driving quickly to downtown Washington, D.C.

...

Around District One, in a small town.

The head of the human traffickers was sitting in a fast-food restaurant with a dozen of his brothers, eating pizza and tacos, and drinking coffee.

Outside, a strong man walked in with a black leather bag, bent down and sat next to the head of the human traffickers, and said softly, "Payday. It's all here."

"Okay, we'll distribute it in the car later," the head of the human traffickers nodded slightly.

At this moment, Hu Zi, who was sitting next to him, walked over with a hamburger in his right hand, and said with a chuckle, "Brother, I have something to discuss with you."

"What is it?" the head of the human traffickers asked.

"Well, the job is done, and I want to go out and relax for a couple of days." Hu Zi lowered his voice and said, "My girlfriend Mengmeng is pregnant... I want to go and be with her."

The head of the human traffickers asked very honestly, "Damn, how long have you been out here? How did she get pregnant? Are you sure it's yours?"

"It should be." Hu Zi was also conflicted. "Didn't she come to Alan Town to see me last time?"

"Make sure you get it right. In this day and age, one hole gets used by a hundred guns. You can't even tell who planted the seed and who harvested the fruit." The head of the human traffickers' words were very pleasant. He opened the black leather bag, took out 60,000 yuan from it, and said, "It's not easy to earn money, don't waste it all on women. Here, this is yours."

Hu Zi was a little surprised. "This is a lot this time."

"This time the job was more dangerous, so Boss Wang increased the rations."

"Hehe, thanks, Brother. I'll go first then." Hu Zi nodded and bowed as he picked up the money.

"Don't disappear on us. Five days at most. We're going to another place to open a new company later," the head of the human traffickers instructed.

"Got it!" Hu Zi nodded.

Five minutes later, Hu Zi took a taxi to Washington, D.C.

On the way, Hu Zi pondered for a long time before calling A-Hua again.

"Hello?"

"Have you got the money ready?" Hu Zi asked.

"It's ready. Who are you? How's my husband? You have to tell me clearly. I don't even know who you are...!" A-Hua asked anxiously.

"Don't ask. Go to Washington, D.C. Wait for my call there," Hu Zi said, and hung up the phone.

In the car, Hu Zi lowered the window, lit a cigarette, and looked a little apprehensive and excited.

It seemed that those who made their living in the martial world were inevitably stained with various vices. Gambling, prostitution, drugs, heavy drinking—these problems were rampant among them as if they couldn't be avoided.

Perhaps because money came too easily, or perhaps because they lived a life where they might not see tomorrow, these people were open-minded and accustomed to living for the moment. In short, they lived very unhealthy lives.

Hu Zi was like that. He didn't really love women, and he didn't drink much with others, but he loved to gamble. He hadn't even graduated from middle school, but he loved to study financial investments like stocks and funds.

The result was obvious. Hu Zi had lost countless 60,000 yuan sums. In fact, he owed a lot of debt, including money he shouldn't have borrowed.

Under these circumstances, Hu Zi was tempted by the 500,000 yuan that Fei Pingsheng mentioned, but he didn't intend to really take care of the bald guy, because he simply didn't have the ability. Once the kidnapped people arrived on the island, they were no longer the responsibility of the human traffickers, and he couldn't intervene at all.

So his motive for contacting A-Hua was very simple: he wanted to cheat and rob!

With this in mind, Hu Zi took a taxi to Washington, D.C., planning to find two local friends to do this with him.

...

On the road to the checkpoint to Washington, D.C., Su Tianyu sat in the car and said to A-Hua, "Remember, when you go to meet him, I'll have Monkey and Lao Hei with you. Just say they're your brothers who came to help deliver the money."

"You can only bring two people. They definitely won't show up if there are too many," A-Hua reminded softly, her heroic eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes, we'll be outside. They'll go in with you," Su Tianyu nodded.

"Okay, I got it," A-Hua nodded in response.

The group discussed their strategy while driving to the Washington, D.C., checkpoint.

Today was probably a weekend, so there were a lot of cars jammed around the Washington, D.C., checkpoint, with long lines stretching for several kilometers, all waiting to be checked.

Lao Hei drove the car to the side of the road, yawning, and said, "Let's wait a while!"

Less than two kilometers ahead of Lao Hei and the others, an old SUV drove out of a fork in the road. Sitting inside was Su Tiannan, who had also come to Washington, D.C., on business.

The two vehicles passed each other. Su Tiannan drove away from the checkpoint, planning to take a detour to enter from another place, because he had Zhang Taotao in his trunk, and it would be troublesome if he was caught.

...

After 1:00 p.m.

Su Tiannan drove to the gate of a well-known business school in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and waited quietly.

At the same time, on Island Number Seven.

Fei Pingsheng and the other kidnapped people were forcibly examined and then sent to the detention area. Only then did they realize that this was not a place to test drugs at all. The surrounding area was full of iron nets, iron gates, and armed soldiers. The people who examined them were all professional doctors who looked very old.

Everyone was terrified, not knowing where they had come.

Inside the security building on the island, Wang Zhen, smoking a cigar and wearing an expensive suit, stood by the window and said softly, "The people are safely in place. We won't have any delivery pressure for a while. We can start working on Xiao Er's matter."

"Yes," Kang Zhengzhong nodded. "This time, I'm definitely going to kill that Su Tianyu!"

"Okay, prepare tonight, and tomorrow you call Su Tianyu to prepare to exchange hostages with him." Wang Zhen pointed to Kang Zhengzhong and said, "This time, you can't lose your touch! Lao Er must come back, and you must snipe that Su Tianyu for me outside the district!"