I Start with a Mysterious Island

The sun was so scorching that anyone who stayed out in it for too long would easily get heatstroke. Any normal person would have chosen to find a shady spot to hide from it.

But this boatman, wearing a straw hat, didn’t bother finding a shady place to escape the heat. Instead, he kept rowing, steering his small boat toward some distant point.

A few minutes later, a large, leafy tree came into view in a wild field beside the small river.

Under the shade of the large tree stood two men wearing sunglasses.

One of them was 1.7 meters tall with a round face and long, dyed-blond hair. He had a tattoo that looked like a tiger, an earring, and a thuggish air about him. One look was all it took to know he was a lowlife.

The other man was 1.9 meters tall, with a square jaw, a clean-shaven head, and thick eyebrows. His body was a mass of knotted muscle; at first glance, you might mistake him for a gym instructor. But if you looked closer, you could sense a faint, fierce aura emanating from him.

"Tie, the delivery guy’s here," said the thuggish, blond-haired man with the tattoo, turning to the bald man beside him as he spotted the small boat heading their way.

Hearing this, Tie Qiu Heng gave a slight nod. ’I’ve waited all these days in Rongcheng to pick up the goods with you,’ he muttered to himself. ’It’s about time.’

"Can’t be helped, Tie," the thuggish man explained with a smile. "The Superpower Administration Bureau in Rongcheng has been cracking down hard lately. The delivery guy didn’t dare make a move."

"Zhao San, do we go to him, or do we wait for him to come to us?" Tie Qiu Heng asked the thuggish man beside him.

"We go. The delivery guy never comes ashore," Zhao San said.

Then, Tie Qiu Heng and Zhao San walked toward the riverbank, waiting for the approaching boatman.

In the distance, a man and a woman in uniform were hiding in the tall grass.

They held small binoculars, watching Tie Qiu Heng and Zhao San walk toward the riverbank through a gap in the grass.

"Wang Qi, looks like those two are our targets," Liu Jialin said.

"Yep! Those two idiots still think the person on the boat is the delivery guy they’re waiting for," Wang Qi said with a laugh.

"We can move closer now. The second Qian Qiang hands them the goods, we make our move," said Liu Jialin.

"Mhm." Wang Qi nodded, and the two began to slowly approach the riverbank.

......

"Hey! You sure kept us waiting!" Zhao San shouted at the approaching delivery man.

The dark-skinned delivery man replied with a look of resignation, "Couldn’t be helped. The Superpower Administration Bureau has been cracking down hard lately. I’d rather not get caught and thrown in jail..."

Half a minute later, the dark-skinned delivery man brought the small boat to a stop at the bank.

"The goods?" Zhao San asked.

"The money?" the dark-skinned delivery man shot back.

When the delivery man asked about the money, Zhao San immediately opened the black briefcase he was carrying. Inside were one hundred Spirit Stones, worth five million yuan.

When the dark-skinned delivery man saw the Spirit Stones in the briefcase, a cold, sharp glint flashed almost imperceptibly in his eyes.

"You’ve seen the money, now hurry up and give me the goods. It’s so hot out here, I feel like I’m about to get heatstroke. This isn’t our first deal, so stop dragging your feet..." Zhao San said impatiently, feeling dizzy from the sun.

Nearby, Tie Qiu Heng watched the dark-skinned delivery man, his face expressionless.

’For some reason, this dark-skinned delivery man feels a bit off. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, though.’

"Just a moment," the dark-skinned delivery man said before turning and walking to the stern of the boat.

He pried open a plank on the small wooden boat, pulled out a package wrapped in oil paper, and casually tossed it to Zhao San on the bank.

"Fuck! Are you crazy? You can’t just toss this stuff around! If it had fallen in the water, it would’ve been ruined."

Zhao San frantically caught the oil-paper package and cursed angrily at the boatman.

"Money," the dark-skinned delivery man said curtly.

"What’s wrong with you? Your temper’s even worse than before."

Zhao San grumbled under his breath and was about to toss the briefcase full of Spirit Stones over, but Tie Qiu Heng, who was beside him, reached out and stopped him.

"Zhao San, check the goods first. You can give him the money after."

"Huh?" Zhao San froze for a moment.

’He wouldn’t dare try to cheat me unless he has a death wish,’ he thought. ’Besides, I’ve worked with this guy many times. There’s no need for this.’

However, he remembered that Tie Qiu Heng was sent by the organization specifically to help with this pickup. ’My status is way lower than his; I can’t possibly go against his wishes.’

So, Zhao San nodded obediently and reached out to tear open the oil-paper package.

"RRRIP..."

He tore open a corner of the oil-paper package, revealing black powder inside.

Black Powder, also known as Happy Powder, came from a new species of plant that had mutated due to the free-floating Spiritual Energy in the air.

When the fruit of this plant matured, it could be ground down into a black powder.

If an ordinary person consumed it, they would become euphoric and experience hallucinations. Even Cultivators would be affected by Happy Powder.

Furthermore, because Happy Powder was extremely addictive, its sale was strictly prohibited by the government, making it a controlled substance.

If anyone was caught selling Happy Powder, the lighter sentence was ten to twenty years in prison. The heavier sentence was death—no chance for prison food at all.

Despite the severe legal penalties, the astonishing profits from selling Happy Powder were too great a temptation to resist.

Happy Powder had been around for forty or fifty years. Despite a major government crackdown over the last decade or so, it remained impossible to stamp out.

There were always desperadoes willing to cross that line for the money.

Zhao San tore open a corner of the oil-paper package. Looking at the black powder inside, he stuck out his pinky, dabbed it in the powder, and licked it.

"BLECH! What is this taste? It’s bitter as hell! This isn’t Happy Powder at all... You fucking tricked me with fake shit? You’re asking to die!"

Realizing the goods were fake, Zhao San flew into a rage and roared at the delivery man.

Beside him, Tie Qiu Heng’s brow furrowed. He looked at the man on the boat and asked, "You’re not the delivery man. Who are you?"

"I’m the one sending you to prison," the dark-skinned delivery man said, his face expressionless.

......