A minute after Li Haochen left, dozens of divers armed with submachine guns arrived at the sea area. Upon seeing the corpses and the empty iron boxes, the man in the lead angrily kicked an adjacent iron chest.
Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Simon, the boss of the 18th Street Gang. He had initially thought that a few boxes of gold, worth hundreds of millions of US dollars, were not enough to warrant his personal attention. However, after receiving a call from his behind-the-scenes superior not long ago, he couldn't afford to neglect it, as one of the gold boxes contained classified documents.
He didn't know and didn't want to know what kind of secret it was. If the person who called him was so anxious, it must be top-secret information, which was why he had to come in person. To his surprise, he encountered such a scene, and his anger was understandable.
Back on the ship, Simon immediately issued an order, "Mobilize all the brothers in the gang to investigate this matter. Seal off this sea area, and I want to see this shipment of goods in front of me within three days. Do you understand?"
"Yes..."
While Simon was sealing off Monterey, Li Haochen had already stealthily made his way to the rocky area near the shore, found the previous hidden spot, and entered his space.
At this moment, Li Haochen's face was pale. It was unavoidable; his wounds had split open and were bleeding, and a bit of seawater had seeped in. The feeling was like a burning red iron searing his skin, hot and painful.
He felt a sense of relief as he took off his diving suit, but the bleeding intensified. He didn't tend to it immediately but endured it, went to take a shower, and after cleaning and bandaging his wounds, he changed into clean clothes and went outside.
At this time, the sky was already showing a faint white glow. He had to hurry.
Half an hour later, Li Haochen appeared on the beach. The sky had already brightened, but it was still early, and there was no one around.
"Gulp..."
Li Haochen had been rushing to escape the place and hadn't eaten anything. He was genuinely hungry now. It was impossible to get food from his space at the moment, and the shops and restaurants along the way were not open this early. Moreover, with the injury to his leg, he was limping slightly, and he felt that the wound on his thigh was also starting to bleed, which was just adding insult to injury.
There was no other choice but to find a bench nearby to rest. However, he felt uneasy and thought it best to leave this accursed place as soon as possible.
The nearest bus stop was still a half-hour walk away, which he couldn't manage. After some thought, he decided to call the taxi driver who had brought him here the day before to pick him up.
"Oh, esteemed Mr. Huaxia, do you need a ride?"
Li Haochen was surprised that the driver remembered him as soon as he answered the phone. This was very convenient.
"Thank you for remembering. Yes, it's the same place I got off. Oh, if it's possible, could you please bring me some breakfast? I can't find anything to eat at this hour. Thank you!"
"Hahaha, no problem, I'll be there soon. I was just on my way to my grandmother's place, which isn't far from here. Please wait a moment."
After hanging up the phone, Li Haochen felt much better. The driver was not far away, which was good news. He didn't want to stay here for another moment and wished he could leave this cursed place immediately.
As the driver had said, he arrived quite quickly, only twenty minutes after the call, which greatly exceeded Li Haochen's expectations.
"Sir, thank you for waiting. This is a fruit pie made by my grandmother. I'm not sure if it suits your taste."
"Thank you. I'm sure your grandmother's cooking smells wonderful."
Li Haochen's words made the driver very happy. He put Li Haochen's backpack in the trunk and opened the passenger door.
Seeing Li Haochen limping into the car, the driver, with curiosity mixed with concern, asked, "Sir, what happened to your leg?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I accidentally fell and hit the rocks by the sea. It hurt a lot, hehe!"
"Oh my god, that must have been very painful. I've experienced something similar before. I got several large cuts from oyster shells, and I haven't dared to go to those places since..."
The driver was quite interesting and didn't fear awkward silences, recounting his past experiences. Li Haochen listened while eating, and whether it was due to hunger or something else, he found the fruit pie truly delicious. He didn't leave a single crumb, eating it completely clean.
Li Haochen's behavior also caught the driver's eye through the rearview mirror. He smiled, seeing it as respect and thus feeling very pleased.
"This fruit pie is really delicious. Thank you to your grandmother. I'll definitely visit her if I have the chance next time."
The driver knew this was just Li Haochen's polite remark and simply smiled.
With the conversation over, only nostalgic classic songs played. Looking at the scenery flashing by the window, Li Haochen finally relaxed. In just over an hour, he would be completely out of here.
He was fantasizing about being with his wife tonight... wait? Why did they stop?
Li Haochen was bewildered. He looked ahead and exclaimed, "What the heck!"
Seeing several tattooed men blocking the road ahead with guns, Li Haochen's heart sank a few times. His face changed, a fine layer of sweat broke out on his forehead, and his hands clenched involuntarily as his mind raced to devise a plan.
"Don't worry, they're just looking for an important person and won't harm anyone else."
Seeing Li Haochen's nervousness, the driver comforted him.
Li Haochen inwardly gave a wry smile. The important person they were looking for was him. Who knew if they would leave any clues? If they did find him, he would have to resort to hiding in his space, even if it meant revealing his secret.
Wait, how did the driver know they were looking for an important person? As he was pondering this, the inspection had already reached Li Haochen.
"You, get out and accept the inspection. Also, when did you come here, and where have you been?"
Looking at the dark muzzles, Li Haochen was frightened. Just as he was about to get out for inspection, the driver rolled up his sleeves, revealing a tattoo on his arm, and said, "Brother, one of us."
The man glanced at the gang emblem on the driver's arm and nodded. "And who is this?"
"Oh, this is a member I recommended. He's about to become one of our brothers."
"Hmm, not bad. Although he's Asian, the gang is short of manpower right now. Bring him back first, but he can only be an outer member. He needs to be vetted before officially joining. No backdoor deals, understand?"
"I understand. By the way, do you have any news about the person they ordered us to find?"
"Hey, it's been so long, they've probably left already. We're just putting on a show for the higher-ups. Right, open the trunk, I need to check it, just a routine check, so I can report back."
"Okay, okay, thank you for your hard work."
The man lowered the gun pointed at Li Haochen and walked to the back. Soon, the sound of rummaging through things could be heard. After a few minutes, he returned to the front with a smile. "Well, there's nothing out of the ordinary. You can go."
The driver nodded to the man and calmly started the car, waving goodbye as they drove off.
The car gradually picked up speed. Li Haochen, feigning composure, counted the minutes. After two or three minutes, he finally let out a sigh of relief, thinking, "That was terrifying!"