Special District 9

“Are you the one who wants to get through the border?” the voice of a man sounded from the phone. “I had something to attend to earlier, so I couldn’t answer the phone.”

Delight and relief spread across Qin Yu’s face as he replied, “Yes, we’re intending to cross the border. Can we leave right away?”

“Where are you at the moment?” the other party asked.

Qin Yu was a little hesitant to answer the question right away, so he fell silent.

“Ah, there’s no need to be afraid. I’m just asking if you’re close to the border,” the other party added upon noticing Qin Yu’s apprehension. “Forget it, I’ll give you an address, and you can come right over.”

“We can leave tonight, right?” Qin Yu asked.

“Yes, that’s not a problem.”

“Alright, tell us the address.”

“Jot it down somewhere…” The other party recited the address of a place before hanging up the phone.

…

Nanyuan Residential Area was located in the vicinity of the border, which was also the reason why Qin Yu chose to hold the trade at this location. The group walked through the barren land for around half an hour before they arrived before a wall several meters tall. It resembled the wall which the old United States had built on California’s border.

At the very center of the wall was an imposing cement pillar, and inscribed on it were the words ‘Capital of Special District 9, Fengbei’. Beneath the wall was a road around twenty meters wide, electric fences with a live current running through them, and a few military vehicles.

Qin Yu and his group settled down in a ditch and rested quietly for a moment before he dialed the earlier number once more.

“Hello, I have arrived at the place you mentioned.”

“Do you see the Immigration Office located at the left of the road?” the other party’s side seemed to be a little noisy, so he had to raise his voice quite a bit.

“I see it,” Qin Yu replied with a nod.

“There’s a garage behind the building. I’ll meet you there.”

“Hm?” Qin Yu was a little surprised. “Do I head there directly?”

“Yes, you can come right over.”

“What if we bump into the patrols?” Qin Yu felt that the instructions were a little ridiculous.

“Damn it, just come over. Nothing will happen,” the other party replied calmly. “Those who are on shift today are all in this. You don’t need to worry.”

“Alright then.”

“Un, see you then.” The other party hurriedly hung up his phone.

Qin Yu pondered on the spot for a moment, but he still felt very uncertain about this. So, he called Old Li and asked, “Uncle Li, is the person you got reliable? He doesn’t seem to be very professional in his job… He didn’t even answer the call earlier.”

“Those working in the military are different from the dealers on the street. They are used to acting as they please,” Superintendent Li replied. “I ask a favor from a senior for this, so there should be no problem.”

“Alright, got it,” Qin Yu nodded. “We’ll be making preparations then.”

“Alright, go ahead and do whatever you need to.”

Qin Yu hung up the phone before beckoning everyone to stand up, saying, “Let’s go. We’ll be heading there directly.”

…

Twenty minutes later, the group walked alongside the ditch and took a detour around the Immigration Office before finally arriving at the garage.

Qin Yu was worried that he would be spotted by the patrols, so he immediately contacted the other party once more.

A moment later, a person rushed over from the Immigration Office. He walked over to the metal fence near the garage with his torchlight as he shouted, “Where are you?”

Qin Yu hesitated for a moment before he got up and said, “We’re here.”

Following Qin Yu’s voice, the person flashed his light over before exclaiming in astonishment, “Holy shit, there are so many of you? The number I got was less than this!”

“Something happened, so there are a few more of us,” Qin Yu said as he assessed the other party from outside the metal fence.

The other party was wearing a thin winter military uniform and a pair of casual boots, an unconventional attire for a soldier that was supposed to be on duty. There was a strong scent of tobacco on him too.

“Here, come in!” the soldier opened the door to the metal fence as he beckoned everyone in.

Qin Yu came in as he asked softly, “Are you on duty?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” the soldier asked.

Qin Yu couldn’t help but feel deeply bewildered by the other party’s attire.

“Ah, you feel that my attire looks weird, is it?” The soldier noticed Qin Yu’s gaze, and he answered with a smile, “Do you know what place is this? This is the capital’s Garrison Troops, which has three battalions regiments stationed by the borders. Even the mayor doesn’t have the power to interfere in our work!”

Qin Yu frowned upon hearing how arrogant the soldier was, but he wasn’t in a position to say anything either.

“Wait for me in the garage. Once the car is here, I’ll send you off immediately,” the soldier said with a heavy yawn.

Qin Yu walked over to the soldier and continued asking, “Why didn’t you answer when I called your phone earlier?”

“The darned inspectors are causing trouble again. All of a sudden, they started investigating what smuggling and stuff, and they took everyone from our shift away for interrogation,” the young soldier said. “We were all terrified, so we quickly hid all of our communication devices.”

“Is it safe to leave tonight given that they’re tightening the security today?” Qin Yu asked in bewilderment.

“Aiyo, those checks are just for show. They just want to get some money from us, that’s all,” the soldier said. “It’s no biggie, those on top have already resolved it. Our boss has given us the green light!”

“I see…” Qin Yu nodded unsurely.

A few minutes later, the soldier opened the doors of the garage and beckoned everyone over, saying, “Sit in there for a while. There’s water inside if you need it. You’ll be getting on the truck later on, and it’ll bring you right through the borders.”

“Thanks,” Qin Yu said. “Regarding the money…”

“No need for that. Our higher-ups have already given us the money for that. You just need to wait here,” the soldier said before locking the door and leaving the area.

…

In the brilliantly lit garage, Yong Dong sat down on a chair and gulped down a bottle of water before saying, “It’s true that the Garrison Troops wield a lot of autonomy in their operations, but these people seem to be a little out of it.”

“They don’t look too reliable,” Old Cat nodded in agreement.

“Old Li couldn’t have possibly come down to pick the people to escort us out personally,” Qin Yu remarked. “This is a channel we got from a connection of a connection. Anyway, we need to stay alert. As soon as we’re some distance away from Fengbei, we’ll get off the truck immediately and switch to another one.”

“If I knew that it was so lax here, I wouldn’t have thrown away our guns,” Old Ma said regretfully. “Do we still have any weapons remaining?”

“Yeah, seven pistols.”

“Distribute one for each person. Prepare yourselves.”

“Alright.”

Everyone started moving.

As everyone else was preparing their firearms, Qin Yu walked to the side and sent out a few messages on his phone.

…

Inside the garage.

Trepidation was the feeling that was shared by everyone at this very moment. There was a general lack of trust in the soldier’s ability to get things done.

The group waited for around an hour before the sound of a vehicle sounded outside the garage.

The garage door opened, and four military trucks parked in a row inside the garage. A soldier with a cigarette hanging on his mouth walked over and shouted to them, “We can go now.”

“Let’s go!” Qin Yu beckoned for everyone to get on the very last truck.

Qin Yu looked around the back of the truck and saw a few military coats which still had plastic wrapping on. He remarked, “This is a supply truck for delivering clothes.”

“I’ll be tagging along too,” the soldier said. “You can sleep in the clothes pile for two hours or so, and we’ll be done.”

“Alright,” Qin Yu replied.

The door to the truck was locked up, and soon, the truck began driving out of the garage.

While they were moving through the border, Old Ma, Yong Dong, and the others gripped their guns tightly. They were so nervous that they nearly forgot to breathe.

However, the truck successfully passed through the border checks, and after going through three customs, they were finally heading into the Development District.

It was only at this moment did everyone heave a sigh of relief. Old Cat even commented with a grin, “Just what kind of department is the Garrison Troops? I didn’t know they were so powerful!”

“They are the troops in charge of defending the capital, what do you think?” Yong Dong also looked much more relaxed as well as he spoke.

…

Two cars stopped in front of the entrance of Prosperous Dragon Pharmaceuticals’ headquarters, and Fatty Xing walked out of one of them.

“Mr Xing!”

Yuan Hua, who had been waiting all this while, immediately ran over.

Fatty Xing glanced at Yuan Hua with a frown before walking ahead into the office building without bothering to talk to him.

“Mr Xing, I know that I’ve erred in this matter. Please give me a chance to make up for it,” Yuan Hua shouted behind. “If you cancel your partnership with us, Prosperous Dragon definitely wouldn’t be able to grab Songjiang’s market anytime soon!”