Chapter 105: The Death of the Eagle

Chapter 105 The Death of the Eagle

Dongsheng is a small dock, with only small cargo ships and fishing boats anchored there.

Because of the operation to seize 64 boxes of gold, Director Gao personally took charge this time.

They divided into three strategic locations.

One was on a fishing boat, led by Dong Yushan, with ten Green Gang members helping.

Another was behind a seafood wholesale store near the dock, guarded by Green Gang members, with Chai Ronghui assisting.

The third position was on a nearby hillside, where a shed served as the command center, with Director Gao and Xiao Zepeng stationed there.

Around five o'clock, two trucks pulled into Dongsheng Dock.

The cargo on each truck was light, and the boxes were small.

Director Gao, peering through binoculars, instantly recognized the boxes.

Yes, these were the wooden boxes that had disappeared two years ago, containing the batch of gold.

He stood up excitedly: "These are the boxes without a doubt."

Hearing this, Xiao Zepeng's eyes lit up as well.

How much would 64 boxes of gold amount to?

She Kun, the cargo escort, brought about ten men, and Guang Touli arrived shortly after, accompanied by three or four burly henchmen.

The numbers were lower than the Eagle's earlier estimate.

This was a positive development!

Watching them unload and load the cargo, their plan was to strike only after the cargo was loaded and the ship had departed.

With numerous unrelated fishermen and crew members on the dock, they couldn't make their move there.

Moreover, seizing the ship and making a quick escape was the most convenient option.

The unloading and loading process was slow, and as soon as they finished, Guang Touli left without delay, driving away.

Xiao Zepeng muttered under his breath, "If we'd known, we could've saved the money on the Green Gang and handled this ourselves."

They could have saved a fortune.

Director Gao, envisioning the 64 boxes of gold soon in their possession, dismissed the minor expense as trivial.

"Move in the moment they leave the dock."

Xiao Zepeng: "The ships are ready. I have one ship, Chai Ronghui has another, and Dong Yushan's ship has been waiting at sea. Our three ships will encircle them, leaving no room for error."

Director Gao nodded in agreement: "No sign of the communists today. Let's focus on securing the cargo first."

For once, the two were in complete agreement.

After all, this time they were in it for personal gain, not for the party or the country.

*

After a twenty-minute swim, Cui Yuan finally emerged from the water.

He quickly scrambled ashore, and the sea breeze that had felt warm just moments ago now cut through him like a knife.

After only a few steps, he suddenly heard a sound behind him.

He spun around and fired two shots.

Bang! Bang!

The shots were fired, but there was no one behind him.

Suddenly, a fierce blow landed on the back of his head, causing him to stagger and nearly fall.

Instinctively, he swept out with his foot.

Unfortunately, it only knocked down one person, which did little good.

A group of people seemed to emerge from nowhere, and in a matter of seconds, they overpowered him.

*

Before long, his comrades had already boarded the ship and taken their positions.

Shortly after the small cargo ship carrying the gold set sail, three boats from the Special Service Department launched in pursuit.

Director Gao stood atop the hill, gazing into the distance.

It grew dark early, and even with binoculars, it was impossible to make out the distant scene clearly.

He decided to descend the hill with his bodyguards, deeming it safer to be in the car.

Xiao Zepeng's boat initially trailed slowly behind the small cargo ship. After following for some distance, he noticed the signal lights on either side drawing closer.

That was the ship of Dong Yushan and Chai Ronghui.

Seeing the time was ripe, Xiao Zepeng ordered an acceleration, and in less than three minutes, they caught up with the cargo ship.

Before they could close in, someone started shooting at them, and Xiao Zepeng fired back with a machine gun.

Since it was three ships against one, and the cargo ship had fewer people, they were quickly overpowered and unable to fight back.

"Director Xiao, I see someone jumping overboard to escape."

Xiao Zepeng then sprayed bullets into the water.

Soon, Dong Yushan was the first to board the cargo ship, and Xiao Zepeng quickly ordered his ship to pull alongside and waited to board.

Dong Yushan had already searched the ship: "Director, the guards have all fled."

Xiao Zepeng immediately became suspicious. He ordered the others to stay behind, and only he, Dong Yushan, and Chai Ronghui entered the cargo hold.

Seeing the neatly stacked small boxes, unless the guards didn't know there was gold inside, they wouldn't have surrendered so quickly.

The boxes were all locked. Chai Ronghui took two shots at the lock of the outermost box, successfully bending it.

Opening the box, they saw it covered with high-quality red velvet.

Chai Ronghui, who had never seen anything like it, exclaimed, "Such fine velvet!"

Underneath the velvet must be something valuable.

Everyone gathered around.

As they peeled back layer after layer of the fine velvet cloth, suddenly, there was a 'click' sound...

Damn it!

Xiao Zepeng suddenly realized that the contents were explosives!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

But it was too late. One box of explosives detonated the others, and the entire ship was instantly engulfed in flames.

Hearing the explosion, Director Gao, at the foot of the mountain, looked up.

In the distance, he saw a large fireball in the middle of the sea, with three smaller ones around it.

Everything was ablaze? Everything had exploded?!

Was this... a trap?!

Director Gao, terrified, bolted toward his car.

As he ran, he noticed his bodyguard was gone.

He frantically ran to his car; luckily, the driver was still there. He opened the door, got in, and ordered, "Drive, quickly!"

There was no response.

A gun was pointed at him.

The person in the driver's seat wasn't his driver—it was Guang Touli!

Director Gao was instantly stunned, his heart racing like a drum.

Guang Touli smiled and said, "Director Gao, you should feel honored. I came personally to see you off."

Director Gao was caught completely off guard. He couldn't help asking, "What about Cui Yuan?"

Guang Touli replied, "Cui Yuan? Someone else will handle him. He's higher up, so naturally, someone higher up will take care of him."

Director Gao's mind went completely blank. Today was indeed a trap, but he couldn't figure out how he'd been caught.

Guang Touli spoke gently, "If you can't figure it out, don't waste your time. Wang Liu wanted me to tell you: he'll put your office to good use."

So that's what happened?!

Wang Liu had already switched sides?

No wonder!

Bang!

Director Gao wanted to say his last words, but unfortunately, Guang Touli had no interest in listening.

Cui Yuan had all his weapons removed and was thrown onto a fishing boat.

*

Blood flowed from his head, dripping onto his eyelids. He blinked furiously, but still couldn't make out the cabin's interior.

He felt dizzy and cold all over.

Although the situation was tough, he hadn't completely given up hope of survival.

The small boat rocked noticeably with the waves.

Not only was he in pain all over, but he also felt nauseous.

Before long, he finally saw a pair of polished leather shoes walk in.

Several more people followed behind the leather shoes.

Lifting his head, he saw a familiar face.

He managed a weak smile. "I wasn't wrong. It really is you."

Looking back, he also saw Deng Kuan.

Someone brought a stool, and Zhao Zhiao sat down, looking at Cui Yuan.

Cui Yuan sneered, "Is this how all you Communists are? Appearing and disappearing mysteriously! Secretive! You never treated us as comrades."

Zhao Zhiao scrutinized him. "If we had truly considered you a comrade, we'd have fallen into your trap and been dead by now, Eagle."

Cui Yuan was puzzled. "How did you know I would come ashore here?"

Zhao Zhiao: "I had people tailing you for a long time. We found out you had another backup car, a small beat-up one, parked in the woods nearby. When you were in danger and wanted to escape, I guessed you would choose the shore closest to that car."

So that's how it is.

Cui Yuan asked again, "When did you start suspecting me?"

Zhao Zhiao, not afraid of Cui Yuan escaping, patiently explained, "After you killed Longjing (Dragon Well). Because the place where you killed Longjing, logically, you shouldn't have known about it. Moreover, someone overheard you accusing him of betrayal as you killed him. That made me even more suspicious. Also, we intercepted your call to Ji Shuping."

Cui Yuan had almost forgotten about Ji Shuping. "What did you intercept?"

Zhao Zhiao: "You admitted to Ji Shuping that you were also part of the Ji family's vendetta. I immediately thought of you, the one who killed Ji Shutong. But I quickly dismissed that idea since the Eagle's voice on the phone didn't match yours. And while you were in prison, the Eagle was still giving orders to the Secret Service Bureau. So, the Eagle probably wasn't you. Until..."

He took out an old gold watch. "Until Uncle Tan, the janitor at the Hong Kong office, pawned this watch and sent you the money."

Deng Kuan, standing by, added, "When I sneaked into the secret room on the third floor of the Hong Kong office, I saw this gold watch and even took a photo."

Cui Yuan hadn't anticipated this would be the key to his exposure.

"Why didn't you suspect Uncle Tan was the Eagle?"

Zhao Zhiao: "We also followed Uncle Tan and discovered he was indeed quite complex. He was likely one of your operatives, specifically responsible for delivering notes to the Secret Service Bureau and waiting in the secret room every day at one noon for possible calls from subordinates. He was in charge of transmitting information. Moreover, his social circle was minimal; he never interacted with outsiders, maintaining a diligent routine between work and home. If he were the Eagle, he'd have confined himself to the mundane tasks of office cleaning."

Deng Kuan also shared his analysis. "It was you who arranged for Longjing (Dragon Well) to lure me into the secret room to steal your work plans. Given that, you shouldn't have had Uncle Tan sit in the storage room smoking a cigarette to distract me as I left the secret room. You intentionally used Uncle Tan to muddy the waters."

Cui Yuan's mind was clearer now, but drenched, he shivered from the cold.

"You guessed correctly. But... could I have a cigarette? Deng Kuan, please, a cigarette."

Deng Kuan remained still.

Zhao Zhiao glanced at Brother Bing, who then handed a lit cigarette to Cui Yuan.

Cui Yuan took several deep puffs, finally feeling somewhat warmer.

"Thanks!"

Zhao Zhi’ao stared at him, his gaze cold: "Now it's your turn. How did Dragon Well betray you?"

Cui Yuan: "How did you start suspecting Dragon Well?"

Because of Wang Muxun's dream.

This was difficult to explain, so Zhao Zhi’ao chose not to: "There’s too much going on, I forgot. It’s not important. You answer me first."

Cui Yuan had no choice but to say: "After you suspected Dragon Well, I thought, since Dragon Well was already exposed, I might as well make good use of it. I arranged for Dragon Well to lure Deng Kuan into the secret room, where he placed the August transfer list work plan in a drawer, aiming to mislead you and facilitate our transfer of important supplies. Who knew, Dragon Well actually put a newspaper with news of my imprisonment into the drawer as well. Originally, I could have had no apparent connection to this matter, but he deliberately dragged me into it. You must have started to notice me then."

Zhao Zhi’ao nodded; indeed, he had harbored some vague suspicions about Cui Yuan at that time.

Cui Yuan continued: "Dragon Well hoped that by using your hands, he could kill me. Then, he could continue to impersonate Eagle and issue orders to the Special Operations Division. He thought I was unaware of his little scheme. So, I killed him purely to eliminate a traitor; he got what he deserved."

"So, Dragon Well and Uncle Tan were both your shadows and mouthpieces."

Cui Yuan: "Exactly."

Deng Kuan questioned: "Why did you choose to be turned by me back then?"

Cui Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly: "Interesting. I wanted to see what big fish the Communist Party had in Hong Kong. Moreover, if the Nationalist Party completely failed and couldn’t even hold onto Taiwan, I could still choose to truly work for you. Unfortunately, you didn’t trust me at all, never letting me know anything, always guarding against me. If you had trusted me, perhaps I really could have become a good comrade of yours."

Advance to attack, retreat to defend—what a clever plan!

Deng Kuan snorted coldly: "Your heart isn't in the right place; you could never truly be one of us."

Cui Yuan didn’t argue, he took another drag of his cigarette: "You had already escaped, so why did you come back?"

Deng Kuan: "To avenge Yang Liu."

Cui Yuan swallowed hard: "You succeeded."

Zhao Zhi’ao saw right through him: "People like you only care about profit; compatriots, colleagues, friends—in your eyes, they're all just pawns to be sacrificed at any moment. I think this time you definitely wanted to take the 64 boxes of gold for yourself, didn't you?"

Cui Yuan retorted: "How did you guess?"

Zhao Zhi’ao: "Because, over at Dongsheng, you didn’t call the police at all."

Cui Yuan admitted that he wanted to take the gold for himself, "Men die for wealth, birds die for food—it's just human nature."

Zhao Zhi’ao thought of Linghu, "Also, this time the entire secrecy department was wiped out, you played a significant role!"

"Dealing with clever people like you is quite interesting." Cui Yuan didn’t think he was wrong, he smiled: "You guessed correctly; I deliberately disobeyed orders, rescued Miss Xu early, and gave Qin Hai the chance to send up a flare, letting Linghu know that Pei Xing's mission had failed. Once something like this starts, there’s no turning back. Linghu had no choice but to kidnap Mrs. Xu. Once she acted, the risk of overall failure would skyrocket. I bet correctly; you really lived up to my expectations."

Zhao Zhi’ao coldly rebuked: "So, using others to kill, especially your own people, is a skill you all excel at!"

Cui Yuan immediately thought of Wang Liu, who had also used others to kill him.

"Boss Zhao, you’re right. Look, all along, the most despicable and incompetent Wang Liu actually used you to eliminate us all! Isn’t that laughable?!"

Deng Kuan didn’t see it that way: "Wang Liu isn’t like you. He has principles."

Cui Yuan laughed bitterly: "Having principles means killing everyone in the Special Operations Division? I heard him say you rounded up all my people at Dongsheng Pier!"

Deng Kuan: "Wang Liu didn’t kill everyone in the Special Operations Division. We don’t kill without reason. Those who died at Dongsheng Pier were people who had it coming. Moreover, when Wang Liu discussed cooperation with me, he saved a few of his men. Those men went on a mission with him today."

"Maybe." Cui Yuan finished his cigarette, knowing arguing was pointless. "Can I get another one?"

At Brother Bing's signal, the underling standing nearby handed him another cigarette.

Just as the cigarette was being handed over, Cui Yuan, with a small sharp knife that seemed to appear out of nowhere, grabbed the underling. Before he could make his next move, two gunshots rang out.

Deng Kuan and Zhao Zhiao almost simultaneously fired two shots at Cui Yuan.

Cui Yuan collapsed onto the boat's deck.

The already somewhat shaky fishing vessel instantly began to rock violently.

Brother Bing swiftly moved over and pointed his gun at Cui Yuan.

Cui Yuan was already struggling to breathe, but he felt at peace with dying this way, as it meant he wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

He had no regrets.

Meanwhile, at Hongsha Bay, Wang Liu, after sending the police away, drove his crew out for a meal.

Xiao Wu asked curiously, "Did they wrap things up at Dongsheng Pier?"

Wang Liu replied, "Who knows? Another day, another dollar. Today, I'm treating everyone to a good meal!"

"Thanks, Brother Liu!"

Wang Liu cheerfully whistled a tune.