Chapter 87

In the secret door that was indistinguishable from the surrounding wall, Dongku found the Maitreya Buddha he had given to Mugu on his first visit. Inside, he discovered hundreds of jade artifacts, porcelain items, and some high-quality objects that even an amateur like Dongku could recognize.

In the secret room, Dongku also found the deposit slip from the Harbin Dazheng Bank, an account without a name, a password, and the seal required for withdrawal. The size and pattern of the seal matched the one he had found earlier.

The already collapsed Mugu Qingye did not put up much resistance and revealed the password and method for the deposit, which matched the information on the slip. The deposit could be withdrawn at any time with just the password and seal.

Dongku, carrying the last box of items, turned to look at the three bodies whose heads were drooping bonelessly. He whispered, "You can take your wife and children back to your hometown, but your bodies will stay in China as fertilizer!"

After everything was packed, Dongku looked at the nearly full truck and whistled. "This stuff is really something. It almost took a whole truck to carry it."

He turned back, closed the door, and walked towards the soldiers on guard with four bottles of sake.

"You've worked hard. Mugu has had too much to drink, don't disturb him. Keep an eye on the bank."

The two soldiers smelled the alcohol on the lieutenant's breath and, seeing the sake from home, did not dare to argue. They thanked him politely and watched the two trucks leave...

Before dawn, the two groups waiting at Beifeng Mountain and Dahuishan received the telegram Dongku sent before he left. They quickly unloaded the supplies from the trucks. Dogdan and Liu Hai abandoned the trucks in the forest at the fork between Mishan and Baoqing, and returned to help the Tiger Tooth members transport the artifacts from Dongdaoling to Heixiagou. The hunters divided the grain and hid it in several locations on Beifeng Mountain, fully believing Dongku's words that they could get more grain from the Japanese if they ran out.

After dawn, Dongku went to Hulin and arranged for a truck with Uncle Cheng, stating that he was sending money to Harbin. At the edge of Dahuishan, he loaded all the gold and silver and selected ten hunters with good temperaments, armed with pistols and crossbows, to accompany the truck to Harbin.

Although they encountered inspections on the way, when the checkpoint saw the boxes of silver dollars and the special pass from Liu Rujì, no one dared to cause trouble. The Mishan garrison even escorted them out on motorcycles, thinking it was wealth being transported to Harbin by some high official.

By nightfall, after a day of frantic travel, Dongku successfully arrived at the secret base.

By this time, Du Fei and Li Kaishan had already left Harbin for Shandong two days ago. Dongku handed part of the silver dollars to Liu Baicheng and rushed to Longxiang with the remaining gold and silver.

Liu Rujì had already returned from Fengtian and was doing the final renovations at Longxiang.

"Mr. Liu, I might not be able to make it for the opening. Get everything ready and open the business."

"You're not even going to attend the opening? You're really a hands-off boss," Liu Rujì said, speechless.

"Ha ha! Isn't this delegating authority? You can take full charge as long as you don't cause the Chinese to hate you. Remember, you're a businessman. Don't let the Japanese do evil in the restaurant, and don't let the Chinese cause trouble that might provoke the Japanese."

"That's no problem. I'll follow this principle at Heizui and handle it well," Liu Rujì said confidently.

"In the underground garage, there are over a thousand kilograms of gold. Have it melted into ten-kilogram bars by a goldsmith, stamped with the Longxiang logo, and deposited in the Dazheng Bank. Also, get all the registration documents for Longxiang in order."

"A thousand kilograms!" Liu Rujì exclaimed, covering his mouth. This was equivalent to tens of millions of silver dollars, not just a currency exchange with Japanese yen.

"Um-hum," Dongku nodded. "Over a thousand. Also, the silver dollars and silver ingots inside should be transferred to Mr. Shao. Leave two million silver dollars in the restaurant for emergencies."

"Sure, that's not a problem. If it's deposited here, Mr. Shao can withdraw it in Shanghai, where there's a Dazheng Bank in the concession area," Liu Rujì said casually, unaware of the enormous amount of silver.

After giving these instructions, Dongku left Huzi to continue learning Japanese and culture, and took Shanzi, Liu Zhong, and the ten hunters with him on the train to Lushun, then on to Qingdao.

When Dongku arrived in Qingdao and met the Iron Arhat, Du Fei, and Li Kaishan, who had arrived earlier, he was impressed by the power of the secret base.

In just a few days, they had recruited two thousand farmers, five hundred construction workers, and five thousand students, with more on the way. These students were mostly teenagers, including some female students. All other personnel were also in place and had boarded the ships.

Seeds, tools, grain, and everything they could think of were fully loaded onto three hundred-ton cargo ships.

Dongku only learned in Qingdao that Du Fei was acquainted with the Iron Arhat, and the Iron Arhat admitted that Bai Xiaosheng was highly respected among the people of the underworld, and both he and Mr. Shao had once received favors from Bai Xiaosheng.

When Dongku learned that the crew of one of the cargo ships, including their families, had decided to stay, he was deeply impressed by Liu Baicheng's thorough and ruthless approach.

This was very clear. This ship was fully prepared by Du Fei when he met the Iron Arhat in Qingdao and learned of Dongku's requirement for a trusted captain. This was to prevent the other two ships from approaching the destination, even though they were also acquaintances.

A day after Dongku arrived in Qingdao, the last batch of students from Jinan boarded the ships, and the three cargo ships set sail from Qingdao Port under the cover of night.

Once out of the port, the three cargo ships turned off their lights. The lead ship navigated by sight, quietly merging into the sea.

Dongku was on the lead ship, which was to stay on the island, along with Liu Zhong, the ten hunters, Shanzi, Du Fei, Li Kaishan, and the Iron Arhat. The other ships were maintained by secret base personnel.

After a night and a day of sailing, as Liu Zhong and the others, who were not used to the sea, were vomiting uncontrollably, the ships entered the waters near Taiwan.

Dongku took a longer route and sailed slowly to cross the area where Japanese warships might be at night. Even the Taiwan Strait was not safe, as it had been under Japanese control for over forty years.

As night fell, Dongku ordered all the ships to turn off their lights. The ships behind, seeing no lights on the lead ship, also turned off their lights and increased their speed, flanking the lead ship on both sides, about a hundred meters apart.

When the two ships were close, Dongku ordered the lead ship to turn slowly. After the three ships turned in unison, they headed straight for the waters between Miyako Island and Okinawa.

Without satellite navigation, Dongku relied on his memory of the coordinates, looking at the stars, calculating the time and direction, and directing the ships. The captain, after receiving a few orders from Dongku, realized he was not unfamiliar with ships and bravely followed the commands.

The journey was smooth, and by around two in the morning, they reached the waters between Miyako Island and Okinawa.

The distance was over three hundred kilometers. Dongku believed they would not be so unlucky. Modern radar could not detect targets from dozens of miles away, and as long as they did not run into a Japanese warship head-on, they would not be detected. Although the war was not yet intense, Japanese warships had been frequently launched since 1933, and this was a busy period for testing their performance and parameters.

He kept a close watch on the sea, knowing that if the Japanese discovered their presence and confirmed they were Chinese, they would be happy to act as pirates.

While navigating, a faint light on the sea caught Dongku's attention.

When the lookout confirmed it was a ship's light, Dongku quickly ordered the engines to stop and the lights to be turned off.

The three ships successively turned off their engines and drifted on the sea by inertia. Everyone stared at the distant light, hearts in their throats, not daring to breathe.

Liu Zhong and the others had never experienced naval combat and did not know the terror of the sea, but those who often sailed knew that if the cargo ships were sunk, there was no way out. On the sea, how could cargo ships, which could only travel at a few knots, outrun warships that could travel at thirty knots? If the other side wanted to intercept them, there was no chance of escape, let alone with their cannons. Even a collision would destroy the paper-thin hulls of the cargo ships.

In the sound of the waves, the speed of the three cargo ships gradually slowed. As they drifted, Dongku's ship and the one on the left side got closer and closer, only about thirty meters apart, and the figures on the other ship were vaguely visible.

In the tense atmosphere, the distant light suddenly turned, like a large eye in the night, looking at Dongku and his group.

"They've been spotted!"

Everyone was shocked, and the flash of light was like the gaze of death, making everyone extremely nervous.

After a few seconds, the light slowly turned and headed towards Okinawa, gradually disappearing from the sea.

"Phew..."

Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief, knowing the danger had passed.

"Start the engines, full right rudder!"

With the danger over, Dongku shouted urgently.

The captain of the adjacent ship, hearing the engine of Dongku's ship, also quickly ordered a full left rudder.

The two cargo ships, with splashing water, slowly separated, avoiding a collision and the disaster that would follow.

"Damn! When I get submarines, I'll send all these show-off iron monsters to the bottom of the sea!"

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Dongku muttered to himself, ordering the cargo ships to maintain their course and proceed at full speed, leaving the area.

The engines of the cargo ships roared and gradually accelerated. They could leave the area and enter the Pacific before dawn.

However, less than an hour into the journey, the lookout shouted in terror, "Light on the left rear!"

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