Chapter 311 - 249: The Ominous Premonition Came True

’So this Canglan Society is pretty formidable,’ Lin Li grumbled to himself.

He wasn’t afraid of the Canglan Society’s threats. After all, while his current strength wasn’t exactly top-tier, he wasn’t someone who could be easily pushed around.

If people from the Canglan Society came looking for trouble because he had captured Tie Qiu Heng and his group, it wasn’t like he couldn’t fight back.

Besides, his strength was improving very quickly. If the Canglan Society sent someone stronger than Second Order High Rank to cause him trouble, he’d probably have surpassed that level by the time they found him.

Even if the worst happened and he was no match for the person from the Canglan Society, he could just hide out on the Mysterious Small Island for a while.

But afterward... now that he had made an enemy of them, he would definitely double down on his training. Once he was stronger, he would be sure to seek revenge.

’Letting a grudge go unsettled isn’t my style. If they come looking for a fight, I’m definitely going to give them one.’

"Lin Li, I’m quite curious. How did you take down Tie Qiu Heng and his group all by yourself?" Liu Jialin asked, her curiosity piqued.

Liu Jialin had assumed Lin Li’s cultivation level was the same as hers, Second Order Middle Stage.

If she had faced Tie Qiu Heng’s group alone, she obviously wouldn’t have been able to capture them, yet Lin Li had managed it.

Liu Jialin had wanted to ask about it earlier when she went with her colleagues to take custody of Tie Qiu Heng’s group.

But with her colleagues present at the time, it wasn’t a good moment. Now that it was just the two of them, she naturally wanted to know how Lin Li had done it.

"How did I take them down? I just rushed in, gave them a good pummeling, and that was that," Lin Li said with a smile.

"..." Liu Jialin was left speechless by Lin Li’s completely unremarkable explanation.

However, she didn’t press the issue. Since Lin Li was unwilling to elaborate, she decided to let it go.

* * *

After nightfall, on a dock along a remote stretch of the city’s riverbank, stood a man in a black tank top.

Facing the wind blowing off the river, the man held a flashlight and flashed it a few times toward the pitch-black surface of the water in the distance.

The flickering light shone from the dock, and before long, the sound of a ship’s engine carried over the dark river.

Then, a ship laden with cargo emerged from the darkness of the river, eventually pulling up and docking securely at the pier.

"Why are you the only one here? Where are the guys for the unloading?" After docking the ship, the captain came out onto the deck with his men and asked the man on the pier, confused.

"You’re half an hour late. They saw you weren’t showing up and went to the warehouse to play cards," the man in the black tank top said irritably, clearly annoyed that the ship was late.

"We didn’t want to be late! We would’ve been here ages ago if a patrol boat hadn’t suddenly appeared on the river," one of the ship’s crew members explained.

"A patrol boat?" the man in the tank top repeated, questioning the crewman’s explanation. "This stretch of the river rarely sees any boat traffic. Patrol boats almost never come out this way."

"But we saw one, I’m telling you. That’s why we didn’t dare approach. We only started moving again after it left..." the crewman said.

"Alright, enough about the patrol boat. Just get the cargo unloaded," the captain said impatiently, giving the man in the tank top a look that told him to hurry up and get his men out to unload the goods.

’Damn it. Late and still so arrogant. After we finish unloading, I’m reporting you to the organization,’ the man in the tank top cursed inwardly. He then pulled a phone from his pocket and made a call.

"The ship’s here. Stop playing cards and get out here to unload."

After he hung up, the doors to a warehouse dozens of meters from the pier opened, and more than ten tall, burly men came out one after another.

"They’re finally here."

"If they were any later, I would’ve thought something happened to the ship."

"No kidding. The Superpower Administration Bureau has been cracking down lately. They’re never late, so for them to be late this time... something really could have happened."

The man in the tank top frowned as he listened to his men chattering. "Alright, shut up. Let’s get this job done so we can get some rest."

Hearing their leader’s rebuke, the noisy crowd immediately fell silent. They began to board the ship and carry the cargo off toward the warehouse.

Several hundred meters from the pier, on a small hilltop, a group of uniformed people watched the distant pier through the hazy night.

With the naked eye, it would be impossible to see what was happening on the pier from that distance and in such conditions.

However, everyone in the group was holding a pair of newly developed night-vision binoculars from the Spiritual Energy Research Institute, giving them a clear view of everything happening on the distant pier.

As the leader of this operation, the valiant Wang Jing watched through her night-vision binoculars as the group on the pier began unloading cargo from the ship.

She knew the big fish they had been waiting for had finally surfaced. It was time to make their move.

"Let’s move out."

Wang Jing lowered her binoculars, spoke to her colleagues, and took the lead, stealthily making her way toward the distant pier.

* * *

The moon, which had been hidden by clouds, was revealed as a gust of wind scattered the overcast sky.

Freed from the clouds, the bright moon could once again reveal its beautiful face to the world.

Silvery moonlight spilled across the land, instantly illuminating the previously pitch-black river.

The gently flowing water reflected the moon’s brilliance, its shimmering surface a beautiful sight.

The ship docked at the pier bobbed gently with the river’s current.

Standing on the ship’s deck, the captain watched the man in the tank top and his companions swiftly move crate after crate of contraband off the ship, and he nodded in satisfaction.

’Another ten minutes or so,’ he calculated, ’and this entire shipment I’ve smuggled in should be completely unloaded.’

"Strange, why do I feel so uneasy tonight?"

For some reason, an unsettling feeling lingered in the captain’s heart as he stood on the deck.

He let out a long breath and looked up at the magnificent full moon, hoping the beautiful night view would dispel his unease.

"Put some muscle into it, everyone! There’s not much cargo left. Let’s hurry and get it all unloaded.

Once this is all done, I’ll take you all out for a good meal," the man in the tank top shouted to his companions, glancing at the few remaining goods on the ship.

"Boss, just a meal? No other... activities?" asked one of the burly men, sweat dripping from his face, as the others all turned to look at the man in the tank top.

"Of course it’s not just a meal. After we eat, I’ll take you somewhere to have some real fun," the man in the tank top said with a grin. His companions understood his meaning and began to snicker knowingly.

Just as the man in the tank top and his companions were about to speed up their work, a clear, cold voice suddenly drifted out from a dark grove of trees nearby.

"Want to have some fun? I’m afraid you won’t have the chance for a very long time."

Everyone on the pier heard the clear voice and froze, their movements coming to a halt.

A moment later, the color drained from their faces.

Wang Jing and her colleagues burst out from the trees, quickly surrounding the group that was unloading cargo on the pier.

"Damn it, it’s the Investigators!!!"

The captain, who had been admiring the moon just a moment before, instantly recognized the uniforms of the people surrounding them and screamed in terror.

* * *