Chapter 137 The Firefight

At the stern of the fishing boat, a dozen or so coast guards, wearing bulletproof vests and carrying firearms, followed the cables onto the deck, forming two columns and rapidly encircling the cockpit.

On the steps leading to the cockpit, shards of glass were scattered all over the place, the result of the coast guard's gunfire. On the deck directly in front of the stairs were stacks of gold bars in boxes.

The coast guards rushed up the steps, only to find the cockpit already ablaze. Flames leaped more than a meter high, engulfing the flammable seats, the personal belongings of the captain and first officer, and the folding beds used for rest.

"Put it out! Put it out!"

The coast guard leader shouted, and the men immediately smashed open the fireproof boxes near the cockpit, grabbed fire extinguishers and hoses, and began to fight the fire.

Downstairs, two coast guards opened the narrow crew cabin and found Feng Hai and a dozen or so members of the wharf gang inside. They were tied together, their mouths and noses sealed, unable to shout for help.

Upon seeing them, the leading coast guard immediately grabbed a walkie-talkie and shouted, "Team Leader Tang, we've found the wharf gang in the hold!"

Tang Baiqing, who was on his way, felt his head buzzing when he heard this.

Well, the people and the goods were all on the boat. There was no need for an investigation. They had been caught red-handed, and they could go straight to court.

"Release Feng Hai and let him handle the most difficult thing on the boat," Tang Baiqing reacted quickly, meaning that the coast guard should release Feng Hai temporarily to see if he could get the gold bars away as quickly as possible.

The coast guards did as they were told and untied Feng Hai and four others.

...

On the Longjiang River, several speedboats sped past the Donglong Bridge, searching along the water. They wanted to catch Kong ZhengHui and Su Tianyu, but the terrain here became very complicated once they passed the bridge. The surrounding area was full of diversion canals and drainage channels built by the water conservancy department to regulate the water level.

The surface of the Longjiang River was not narrow, and the further inland it went, the wider it became. Moreover, this was a tropical climate, and the banks were covered with lush trees and forests.

With drainage channels, diversion canals, and countless forests and green spaces on both sides, once the men went ashore or entered the drainage channels in the dark, where could the coast guard find them?

The robbery had been sudden, and those who rushed out of the gate to the scene were all coast guards who had been on duty in the port. They were completely unprepared, and when they rushed out, they were probably still half-asleep.

The coast guards searched aimlessly on the river for a long time, but they didn't see a thing.

In a dense forest on the shore, Su Tianyu ran ahead like a big wolfhound, with excellent physical strength.

"How did you get out?" Kong ZhengHui asked from behind.

"The coast guards are all behind us, how else would I get out? I crawled out of the lower deck!" Su Tianyu swung his long legs, his speed comparable to a track and field champion. "Hurry up, we have to go to another district!"

"Okay!" Kong ZhengHui's physical fitness was average, but he gritted his teeth and followed Su Tianyu.

...

Donglong Bridge.

Tang Baiqing rushed to the scene and got on a speedboat. "Where's the cargo?! Where's the cargo?"

"We can't move it, Team Leader Tang. There's too much cargo, and look at the shore!" the coast guard leader replied in a low voice.

Tang Baiqing looked to both sides of the shore and saw at least thirty onlookers standing on the Donglong Bridge. They were all vendors from the surrounding streets who did business at night. They had heard the gunshots on the sea and came to watch the excitement. Of course, this was after the coast guard had taken control of the area, otherwise they would not have been so close, afraid of being splattered with blood.

In addition to the onlookers on the Donglong Bridge, there were also a large number of people lying on the windows of the residential buildings on both sides of the shore, peeking down and taking pictures with their mobile phones.

Once they entered the Longjiang estuary, the residential area was on both sides of the shore. With such a big commotion on the sea, it was impossible for no one to pay attention!

Tang Baiqing's face turned pale with anxiety, and he roared, "Let Lao He and the others come over. Even if we have to carry it by force, we have to get the cargo away. I'll write the report tomorrow!"

The coast guard thought for a moment, then immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie to organize people to move the cargo and notify the coast guard on the road to send a car to meet them.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"

Just as Tang Baiqing was preparing to move the gold bars off the boat by force, sirens suddenly sounded on the shore. Six police cars drove over from the east and stopped directly next to the Donglong Bridge.

Tang Baiqing was stunned by the sight. He didn't know what to do and was exhausted!

More than twenty police officers got out of the six police cars. Their uniforms were completely different from those of the coast guard, and it was obvious that they were from the police station system.

The leading police officer walked to the Donglong Bridge, stretched his neck, and shouted to the coast guard on the speedboat, "I'm from the Zha Nan District Police Department. What's going on?!"

"...Smuggling!" the coast guard replied, gritting his teeth.

"Have you got anyone on board?" a police chief from the Zha Nan District Police Department asked again, stretching his neck.

The coast guard bit his teeth. "Yes, more than a dozen people!"

"Damn! This is too rampant. They're even smuggling on the inland river? What's wrong with the driver, smoking opium?" the man from the Zha Nan District Police Department said rudely.

The coast guard team did not respond.

"Brothers, once this ship passes the Donglong Bridge, we'll have to work!" the man from the Zha Nan District Police Department looked down and shouted again. "Don't move anything on the ship, we have to take a look at the scene!"

Tang Baiqing's forehead veins bulged, and he picked up the phone to call a contact in the Police Department, wanting the Zha Nan District Police Department to let it go and not get involved in this case for the time being.

"Buzz, buzz!"

Just as he took out his phone, before Tang Baiqing could dial, two media interview vehicles from Zha Nan District stopped directly behind the police cars.

The media staff in the car opened the door and got out, setting up their equipment as soon as possible.

"This is Waka News and Information. Tonight, a fishing boat broke through and rushed into the Longjiang estuary in our city, engaged in a gun battle with the coast guard team, and the ship is on fire. Okay, now we will interview the coast guard team and ask about the situation...!" The host babbled a few words to the camera and walked directly down the steps.

Tang Baiqing looked at the other party. "Fucking hell, this must be a trap!"

Fifteen minutes later, Xu Hu's car rushed to the shore. Before he could get out of the car, he saw that the media and the inland police had already blocked the Donglong Bridge.

Xu Hu picked up his phone and dialed Tang Baiqing's number. "Hello? Baiqing!"

"Team Leader Tang is being interviewed; I have his phone!"

"What the hell is he being interviewed for at a time like this? Is he using this as propaganda for his achievements?!" Xu Hu's mentality exploded on the spot. "Where's the cargo? Has the cargo left by water?"

"No, it's blocked on the ship!"

...

In an upscale apartment in the city, an old man in his late fifties, wearing pajamas, sat on the bed. "How did this happen?! The coast guard team takes so much money every year, and they can't even protect such important cargo?"

The next morning, a little after six o'clock, Guangji Island.

An Qiqi, wearing a very tight-fitting sportswear, stood in front of the tent door, doing stretching exercises.

Su Tianyu, Bai HongBo, Su Tianbei, and Kong ZhengHui walked back from a distance.

"Where have you been?" An Qiqi asked Su Tianyu.

"Morning exercise!"

"I don't believe you. You left in the middle of the night last night!" An Qiqi looked at him suspiciously.

"We couldn't sleep at night, so we took a walk," Su Tianyu replied perfunctorily and walked towards Yu Mingyuan.

Bai HongBo followed behind, looked at An Qiqi's suspicious eyes, and said in a low voice, "She seems to have found something. Should we silence her?"

Not far away, Yu Mingyuan sat under an umbrella, having not slept all night, holding three mobile phones, and stabbing the port's opponents one by one.