"Kid, let me crush your bones first, then we'll take you to Vancouver to see a doctor." The big man grinned maliciously and punched me.
I took a step forward, twisted my body to the side and grabbed his wrist, then used the momentum to push him forward, causing his massive body to lurch forward. I added another kick from behind, striking his buttocks, and he slammed to the ground with a thud. Then I stomped on his back, pressed the dagger against his neck, and shouted in a deep voice, "Don't move!"
The blade of the dagger was pressed against the back of his neck, and he immediately froze. I made a threatening gesture: "Quick, give me the car keys! Or else I'll..."
Before I could finish speaking, a pretentious voice suddenly came from inside the car…
"Oh my God! What happened?"
A tall, thin man jumped off the vehicle. I couldn't see his face clearly in the darkness, but he was wearing a hat tilted to one side on his head—a captain's hat from a ship.
I vaguely felt that the voice was somewhat familiar. In the short time I was stunned, the person had already pushed through the crowd and walked up to me. He looked at me with surprise and said, "My God, it's you? Oh my God, Mr. Chen... um, Mr. Chen Yang, I remember I sent you to Vancouver a long time ago. It's been several months. How did you become so disheveled? Good heavens, you look like a homeless person."
I was stunned.
The man in front of me was wearing a captain's hat, tall and thin, with facial features showing signs of mixed Eastern and Western ancestry. When he smiled at me, he revealed slightly yellowed teeth from cigarette smoke, but his smile was very friendly, and his eyes held a typical sly smile, like someone pretending to be weak while actually being strong.
Upon seeing this person, I was taken aback for a moment, then immediately remembered, released the dagger from my hand, smiled, took a step back, and released the guy on the ground.
"It's you? Captain Wick? I'm not mistaken, am I?"
"Oh, this is so frustrating! You can't even confirm my name? You know, I once saved your life!" The guy laughed exaggeratedly.
Yes, he's right, he did save me.
The man before me was the same one who had jumped into the sea when I first arrived in Canada. After drifting for many days, he was finally pulled from the water by my boat. This Captain Wick had accepted two packets of cash I had earned on the smuggling boat as payment and safely brought me ashore.
Wick was the same as always, but his clothes were a bit dirty, and his hat was worn more askew than before. He looked at the dagger in my hand and laughed, "What's wrong? Do old friends need to bring this when they meet?"
Without hesitation, I sheathed my dagger and went to shake his hand. But Wick didn't shake my hand; instead, he gave me a tight hug. After we separated, he looked at me and shook his head, saying, "Mr. Chen, it's been so long, how come you're still so destitute? Have you been living a life of homelessness for almost a year?"
I laughed and cursed, pointing to my clothes, and said, "Damn, have you ever seen a homeless person wearing Armani?"
“Oh!” Wick’s eyes lit up immediately: “So you’ve struck it rich? But why are you…” He pointed at me.
At this moment, the guy on the ground got up, limped over to Wick's side, glared at me angrily, and looked very annoyed.
"Alright, Victor, don't be upset. This Mr. Chen of ours is an old friend of mine. He's the one who once escaped from Martin's ship all by himself! He must be quite skilled. It's not shameful that you're no match for him." He patted the burly man on the shoulder, looked at me, and narrowed his eyes: "Oh, so, Chen Yang, are you in trouble? Do you need any help?"
Depend on!
The way he looked at me was as if he'd seen a sucker.
I'm very familiar with that look in his eyes; I've experienced it firsthand once! Just a year ago, I boarded his ship, and this guy took two whole travel bags of US dollars from me and sent me ashore... Damn, two whole bags of money! But when I left, he only gave me a bag of clothes and a little change.
Captain Wick was probably the cunning type of businessman, but his only redeeming quality was that he was relatively law-abiding. His greed was open; he wouldn't resort to underhanded tricks to harm you once the terms were agreed upon. As for his exorbitant demands, that was something I was willing to accept. Besides, at least he did save my life! If I hadn't boarded his ship, I would have died at sea long ago.
To put it simply, he was a greedy bastard, but also a rather endearing one.
“Yes, Captain Wick, I need help. I need to get to the city as soon as possible!” I looked at him. “I must hitch a ride with you.”
Wick chuckled, then turned to his men and called out, “Guys, we have an extra guest. Hmm, Victor, you idiot, get to the back of the cargo hold and make room for our guest.”
I said sincerely, "Thank you, Captain Wick... I will definitely repay you when I get back to the city."
“Alright.” Wick waved his hand, a sly smile on his face. “Consider it a free service for me. I always treat my regular customers well. Besides, you paid too much last time, didn’t you?” He winked at me.
After getting in the car, Wick and I sat in the front row, while his men sat in the cargo hold at the back.
Wick sighed, pulling a dirty handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat from his face. He let out a long breath: "God, thank goodness for you. Otherwise, I'd have an excuse to get rid of these bastards. These guys have been at sea for too long, there's no way to shower at sea, and the car reeks of a hopeless stench... Look, things are much better now."
He had barely finished speaking when he glanced quickly at a guy driving a car and gave him a friendly smile: "Oh, I didn't include you, my dear Michael."
At my request, the car sped off. I gave them my address and asked them to take me to a hospital first. Because Xiluo had told me that after Eighth Master was assassinated, he was taken to that hospital.
"Alright, my friend, now you can tell me what terrible thing happened to you... Were you robbed?"
"No," I said through gritted teeth. "It's just that I just jumped from several thousand feet in the air, my first time ever skydiving. So I was a bit disheveled."
Wick blinked. "Skydiving? At night? In this weather? Good heavens, you're a weirdo."
I gave a wry smile and offered no explanation. Then I countered, "And you, Captain Wick? It's so late, are you taking your men to Vancouver?"
“Yes.” Wick pinched his nose. “These guys have been at sea for too long, they have too much pent-up energy with nowhere to vent. I’m taking them to Vancouver, to find some women to cool off, and then have a good drink or two… That’s life for sailors.”
As the car sped away, I looked at Wick and thought to myself, "I never expected you to help me at such a crucial moment, Captain Wick. Thank you so much."
“Oh, I almost forgot, starting tomorrow, you don’t have to call me Captain Wick anymore.” Wick smiled slyly. “You should call me Mr. Wick, or Chairman Wick.”
"Oh?" I was a little surprised.
“Yes, business at sea is getting harder and harder.” Wick’s expression became more serious. “So, I’ve registered a fishing company and bought a few more fishing boats. Now, my ‘Wick Fishing Company’ has four fishing boats. I just returned from my last voyage, and I’ve handed over the captain’s position to my first mate. From tomorrow onwards, I won’t have to go out to sea anymore. I can just sit in my office, drink coffee, and wait to count the money. No need to worry about the police or the coast guard. From now on, I’ll be doing legitimate business!” He smiled at me. “Oh, by the way, I have to thank you for that too. The large sum of money you paid me last time helped me a lot. Without that money, I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford to buy three more boats.”
"Oh? Congratulations then." I hesitated for a moment, then asked doubtfully, "But... can a fishing company make money? Your previous business..."
Wick should understand what I'm trying to say.
Although he used to only have one boat, he was engaged in illegal businesses such as smuggling and illegal immigration, which were naturally very profitable! Now that he has four boats, doing legitimate fishing business... may not be as lucrative.
Wick is a smart man, so he naturally understood what I meant. He sighed, lowered his voice, and this time spoke in Chinese! After all, he is of mixed race, and his Chinese is quite good.
“You don’t know, something happened at sea recently. Doing business is too dangerous now. I’ve already made enough money, and my men all have families to support. I can’t let them take risks. From now on, when I open this fishing company, all my men will have food to eat, and more importantly, they will be safe… they won’t lose their lives in a muddle.”
I glanced at Wick in surprise.
He must be a seasoned veteran of the sea trade. Could there be something wrong with his line of work?
“Sigh, it’s still the struggle between the Vietnamese and the Chinese.” Wick scoffed. “Don’t you know what’s going on this year? The drug plantations in South America are having a bad harvest. The whole of North America needs to get drugs from other places, so the Vietnamese, the Indians, and the Chinese gangs are all trying to get ships… Ships are the most important thing right now! Many of my colleagues used to be involved in smuggling, drug trafficking, and human smuggling, but I didn’t want to get involved with drugs… Damn it, I, Captain Wick, have a great reputation in this industry. I deliver on time and never have any problems, but now everyone’s coming to me to help them transport drugs. The Chinese are one thing, and the Indians are another. But those Vietnamese monkeys are just too annoying! They’re a bunch of lunatics. An old friend of mine, also a captain, refused the Vietnamese, and last week he died at sea. His ship was burned and sunk, and all sixteen crew members died.”
Vietnamese!
A glint of light flashed in my eyes.
“You don’t know, but I actually have some connection with the Big Circle.” Wick’s words startled me. I stared at him, wide-eyed. “The Big Circle? You?”
Wick misunderstood the reason for my surprise and laughed, "Yes, the Big Circle. But I'm not a pure-blooded Chinese. I'm a local-born Chinese, and within the Big Circle, I'm just on the periphery, and I don't belong to the Big Circle. I just have connections with them and often help them transport things. My friend, you're not afraid of me because I'm from the Big Circle, are you? I know the Big Circle has a bad reputation in Canada; many people think they're murderers..."
Peripheral members? Cooperative relationships?
I see.
Indeed. The composition of the Big Circle is quite unique. While other gangs desperately expand and recruit, the Big Circle is the most focused on "bloodline" among all gangs. It's very difficult to become a true member of the Big Circle unless you're a pure-blooded Chinese! For example, I've been assigned a territory with Ciro, and there are about a dozen or twenty underlings in that territory, as well as many people in the restaurant. These are all underworld figures, but only Ciro, Ciro, and the nine brothers we brought from the auto repair shop are considered true members of the Big Circle! The others are just peripheral members.
Seeing that I didn't speak, Wick assumed I was just surprised and didn't care. He continued, "I'm friends with Big Circle. I've helped them transport things and people before. But recently, it seems the Vietnamese are going to fight Big Circle to the death. I'm just a businessman, and I don't want to get involved in fighting. My men and I are sailors, not soldiers. So, after thinking it over, I've decided to retire. I'll start a company and live a peaceful life."
"Well, that's a good decision." I sighed and didn't say anything more.
Wick smiled, but a strange glint flashed in his eyes: "To be honest, I probably would have needed a while to make this decision, but today, on our way back from the sea, I witnessed some terrible things. That scene prompted me to make this decision... Sigh, I went ashore two hours ago and immediately called a company to tell them I've decided to buy their fishing boat... I thought I might have had to think about it for a long time."
"What's wrong? What is it?"
Wick's facial muscles twitched, and he ripped off his captain's hat, smeared his face vigorously, and looked at himself with a strange expression, as if he had seen something terrifying.
“Hell, it’s utterly hell!” he exclaimed, his eyes narrowing with fear. “On the eastern coast, about twenty nautical miles from the shore, there’s a small island. Originally, there was nothing on it except an abandoned lighthouse. But I know that recently some people have been living there, I think they’re from the Big Circle. When I was returning from a sea voyage, I passed by the island and planned to sell them some food and fresh water. But this time, I just arrived on the island…”
A thought struck me, my eyes flickered, and suddenly everything became clear to me!
island?
island!!
Living in the Big Circle on the island?!
I instantly understood…it must be drugs!! The drugs Eighth Master got through Hong Da weren't hidden in the auto repair shop anymore; they must be hidden on that island! If, as Wick said, that island only has an abandoned lighthouse, then it's a perfect natural place to store things!! And it's isolated from the outside world; no one will go there, the risk of exposure is minimal…and it's very safe on the island!!
"And then?" My heart tightened when I thought of this. From Wick's words, I understood that something unfortunate must have happened!
Wick took a deep breath: "Dead men! All dead men!" The muscles at the corner of his eye twitched, and then he suddenly became agitated. He took out a cigarette from his mouth, lit it for himself, and because his hand was trembling, it took him three tries to light it.
After taking a drag of his cigarette, Wick calmed down a bit. He said in a deep voice, "It's not that I've never seen a dead person before, or that I've never killed anyone... but that kind of killing method is cursed even in hell!"
Part Two: The Road to Success, Chapter Twenty-Five: Blood Debt
"I originally came to the island with my first mate first. Although I have a good relationship with Daquan, I know that the people on the island are very cautious. I had approached the island once before, but only the first mate and I were allowed to go. If I brought more people, I was worried that there would be some misunderstandings."
I remember there used to be someone standing guard on that abandoned lighthouse. The quality of life on the outer perimeter of the Greater Ring Road is getting worse and worse, but the core of the Greater Ring Road is still quite efficient. But this time, when I went to the island, I saw that there was no one on guard at the lighthouse.
The island wasn't big, and the surrounding reefs were jumbled. There was only one passage on the east side that allowed a ship to dock. It was just me and the first mate; he wasn't armed, and I only had a gun. I planned to go aboard and negotiate first. The cargo was on my ship, and if there were no problems and the negotiations went smoothly, they would send their own people to my ship to unload it, but they wouldn't allow my people to go ashore.
Below the lighthouse was a concrete platform. As I walked up, I knew something was wrong because I could smell a strong, pungent stench of blood. It was mixed with a faint smell of rust; I couldn't be mistaken. I hesitated for a moment. I told the first mate to turn back immediately, and then I had a bunch of men wait for me down there. If anything went wrong, they were to rush up.
There were originally five people on the island, and I got along quite well with them. They were all big shots in the industry, much older than me, practically my father's generation. My mother is Chinese, and I knew two of them when we lived in Chinatown.
Normally, there would be someone guarding the concrete platform beneath the lighthouse. The lighthouse has only one entrance, just below; once inside, there's only a spiral staircase leading up. I was carrying a gun. But as soon as I stepped into the lighthouse, on the very bottom floor, I froze.
There was blood on the ground, half congealed, half still wet. I stepped on it; it was sticky. My heart skipped a beat. Although I had a premonition, I was still a little panicked. Had everyone here all died?
I tried calling out, but there was no answer; only my own voice echoed in the lighthouse. God. That damned place. Outside, only the sounds of the waves and seagulls could be heard. To be honest, I really wanted to turn back and run away. But no matter what, I knew the local big circle, and we had some connections. Something had happened here, and I was just passing by; I couldn't ignore it. I had to see what was going on.”
"And then?" My face was already quite pale. "And then what did you see?"
Wick hesitated for a moment. Looking at me with some confusion, he asked, "Chen Yang, why are you asking these questions? Are you really that interested in the affairs of the Big Circle?"
I didn't answer his question. I just casually said, "You make it sound so scary, I just really want to know."
“Okay.” Wick sighed and continued his story…
"There was a lot of blood on the ground. Judging from my observation, if an ordinary person had lost this much blood, they would have died long ago. So I judged that the blood here probably wasn't from one person! There were also some footprints on the ground, all left by someone stepping on the blood that was about to congeal. I also saw drag marks on the ground, which were likely left by someone dragging a dead body away. But I was very puzzled at the time. If someone dragged the body away, why didn't they just cover up the traces? Why leave so much blood without cleaning it up?"
Later, I mustered my courage and climbed the stairs, reaching the top of the lighthouse in one go… To be honest, I, Captain Wick, have also faced life and death at sea! Even when facing that bastard Martin's blade, I didn't even blink. Oh, right, Martin is dead. I almost forgot, you escaped from his ship.”
Wick changed the subject, and I grew impatient, but I had no choice but to wait patiently for him to continue. Fortunately, Wick wasn't a talkative person and quickly got back to the main point.
"I was standing on the edge of the stairs when I saw it for the first time, and my legs went weak. I was so scared that I almost tumbled down the stairs. If I hadn't grabbed the handrail in time, I probably would have fallen down and broken my leg."
"What's on the lighthouse? Corpses?" My voice was hoarse. Regardless, they were all people from our circle!
“Um… to be precise, it’s… the head.” Wick closed his eyes, his face pale, his expression still filled with fear.
The following is what Wick told me, in fits and starts:
At the top of the lighthouse, facing the stairs, was a table—a very old table. One could imagine that these gangsters stationed here usually ate, played cards, and passed the time at this table. After all, life on a deserted island was quite monotonous.
But now, neatly arranged on this broken table are... their heads!
Five heads lay neatly in a row, their hair and faces covered in blood. Most horrifyingly, some of them hadn't closed their eyes even in death, their gazes filled with anger or fear, staring silently towards the stairs…
The heads were all cut off after the person died, and the cuts on the neck were very clean, indicating that they were made with a sharp instrument.
Wick hesitated for a moment, then told me something: such a cut could only have been made by the Vietnamese. The Vietnamese preferred a type of long knife, somewhat similar to a machete, well-suited for jungle warfare in the military. One of his ancestors had fought in the Vietnam War and brought back one of these knives.
More importantly, he also found several cigarette butts on the ground—Vietnamese Victory brand cigarettes. Wick even brought the cigarette butts back with him. He did this for a reason.
The feud between the Big Circle and the Vietnamese gangs was long over. This bloodshed would clearly be the start of another round of violence. Wick, who had unwittingly arrived on the island, worried that the Big Circle members would mistake him for the killer, given that he was the first person to arrive at the scene and that he himself had some underworld connections. Therefore, he left behind some evidence to try and clear his name.