Zhuge Ling stopped him.

"I come to ask you whenever there’s something going on. You look quite bored by yourself. By the way, I forgot this time, I’ll bring you Unlucky Coffee next time."

Liu Zheng thought about it and decided not to give Zhuge Ling Dried Fish.

Those things even Niu Ma finds hard on the mouth; don’t want to mess up this kid’s teeth.

"I want an extra-large cup of Yangzhi Ganlu, less ice, low sugar, with pearls."

Zhuge Ling promptly said.

"So many demands, got it."

Liu Zheng waved his hand and left Zhuge Mansion.

Driving again to Seastar Street, this time Jiang Weisheng directly welcomed him at the door.

"Welcome Mr. Liu for visiting once again."

Jiang Weisheng smiled.

"Mr. Jiang is too courteous. Don’t go through all this next time, or I’ll feel embarrassed to come."

Liu Zheng said.

"Haha, alright, alright. Please come in."

Jiang Weisheng led Liu Zheng into Conch House and then had someone bring out a box.

Opening it, it’s filled with clamshells, coral, pearls, gems, and more.

"Are jewels also smuggled goods?"

Liu Zheng asked puzzled.

"It’s not only illegal items that are smuggled goods, anything that enters Metropolis and is sold without going through official procedures is considered smuggled goods."

Jiang Weisheng explained.

"Ah, got it. How much are these things?"

He asked.

"Since Mr. Liu doesn’t want dividends, consider these as a token of thanks."

Jiang Weisheng said.

"Alright, I’ll accept them. Infinite Heavenly Venerable."

Liu Zheng didn’t bother with pleasantries and directly stored the box into the Qiankun Ring.

"Time’s tight, won’t talk much, I’m off."

"Take care, Mr. Liu."

Leaving Seastar Street, he hurried to the meeting place.

After speeding for over half an hour, he followed the guidance of his pocket watch to an industrial area.

There are various large and small factories everywhere, with only a few high-rise buildings looking like residences, presumably employee dormitories.

Liu Zheng stopped in the middle of a crossroads, with the pointer inside the pocket watch spinning madly.

If the watch isn’t broken, then he’s arrived.

Liu Zheng didn’t hurry to get out of the car but first made a call to Ace.

"Brother Pai, I’ve arrived."

He said.

"Great, what’s the specific address?"

Ace asked.

"Let me check, it should be here at Golden Dragon Industrial Park."

Combining the route memorized coming over and the features of the industrial park, Liu Zheng identified his location.

"Not very familiar. Let me check it out."

Ace hung up the phone.

After over ten minutes, he called back.

"Found out, the person in charge around here is called Big Carby. If you get caught later, just say his name and call me and I’ll communicate with him."

Ace said.

"Will it affect you?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"No problem, as long as you have something to boost their performance. Of course, the premise is that the smuggled goods you receive shouldn’t be too outrageous, otherwise they’ll have to go by the book."

Ace warned him.

"Hope it won’t be."

Liu Zheng didn’t know what goods he was going to receive this time.

After the call, he called Silver Wolf.

Right now he’s still within the city limits, could encounter either the anti-smuggling team from the Security Department or the one from the City Supervision Department.

"I’ll send Lie Chang over, act as the situation demands."

Silver Wolf said after hearing him out.

He doesn’t have as much clout as Ace, he can’t resolve things with just a call.

But he can’t go himself either, that would leave no room for maneuver, so sending Lie Chang to represent him is most suitable.

"Alright, thanks, Brother in law."

Liu Zheng spoke affectionately.

"Hmm. Did you kill Bai Shanmin?"

Silver Wolf asked.

"That’s right."

"Good kill."

Silver Wolf smiled a bit.

Upon hearing the news, he deliberately made a call to Bai Shan Yiyi to express condolences, enraging the latter enough to smash both the landline and the desk.

"Was he close with Bai Shan Yiyi who competed for the position with you, Brother in law?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"Not very close, but not too far either. There are rumors in the department now that Bai Shanming’s death is related to me."

Silver Wolf replied.

"Huh? Won’t that be bad for you, brother-in-law?"

He asked worriedly.

"It sure is disadvantageous. This morning, the deputy director specifically called me over, saying colleagues shouldn’t let a little conflict escalate beyond control. But there’s an upside too; knowing Bai Shan Yiyi’s temper, she would have already come over to confront me. Instead, she just vented her anger on the table, showing that she’s afraid as well."

Silver Wolf said.

Of course, job rivalry can be bloody, but the weapons are soft knives and concealed arrows. Directly eliminating a competitor and their family only leads to endless trouble.

But since Silver Wolf truly had nothing to do with it, he didn’t worry about the consequences and just enjoyed the respect it brought.

"Haha, well, that’s an unexpected delight."

"Yeah. The Bai Nation’s influence is not small, so be careful too."

Silver Wolf reminded him before hanging up the phone.

After a while, Lie Chang came riding on a motorcycle.

It saw the spirit car but didn’t stop, instead just making a concealed gesture as it passed by.

Liu Zheng understood it didn’t want to be exposed too soon, so he didn’t call out to it, just watched it disappear at the street corner.

After Lie Chang completely disappeared, he finally got out of the car.

The pocket watch stopped ticking, then broke free from Liu Zheng’s hand and flew southeast.

A while later, several plain-dressed people approached from a distance.

"Bloody Restaurant?"

The leading person gave Liu Zheng a look and asked.

"Isn’t it obvious?"

Liu Zheng pointed at his uniform and said.

Meanwhile, he surveyed the smugglers in front of him.

The leader was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, with sparse hair and a large red nose, resembling someone who often orders a large beer at a bar and drinks all night.

The others had different appearances but shared a common trait of looking plain, blending into a crowd just like that.

Considering their stiff expressions, Liu Zheng surmised that they might be wearing human-skin masks or something similar.

"The order was from the Bloody Restaurant’s kitchen."

The smuggler leader emphasized.

"Salmon, come down."

Liu Zheng didn’t bother arguing, instead calling San Huamao down.

"You recognize it, right?"

He said, holding San Huamao.

"Hello, I’m Salmon Meow."

San Huamao raised a paw for a polite greeting.

"Recognize it."

Seeing San Huamao, the smuggler leader nodded.

"Since identity is confirmed, let’s quickly make the exchange; I’m pressed for time."

Liu Zheng urged.

The smuggler leader gave him a sidelong glance but said nothing, only gesturing to his companions.

Several smugglers stepped forward, taking out various colored chalks from their pockets.

They squatted down, drawing a formation on the ground composed of rhombuses, triangles, circles, and many symbols.

They clapped their hands on the formation, which then burst into bright light, causing a large fish tank to emerge from it.

Inside the tank was a big fish, seemingly half-dead, looking a bit like an anglerfish, but uglier. Tumor-like lumps covered its body, and snake-like tentacles grew from its eyes.

"Salmon, is it this one?"

Liu Zheng asked.

"Deep Sea Snake Lumps King Fish, it’s this one meow."

Salmon circled the tank for a look and then nodded. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"King fish?"

He gave the fish another look and indeed found a crown made of tumors on its head.

"Then let’s make the exchange. Infinite Heavenly Venerate."

Liu Zheng took out a box given by White Feather Chicken from the Qiankun Ring.

He didn’t know if the box contained money or something else, but it didn’t concern him.

"Freeze!"

Just as the smuggler leader was about to take the box, a loud shout came from behind him.

His body shook, and his first reaction wasn’t to look back but to look at Liu Zheng.

"It’s got nothing to do with me; I don’t need this money."

Liu Zheng shook his head and took out a few gold bars from the System Space.

"Transaction canceled then."

With the shiny gold bars and his carefree expression, the smuggler leader believed him for the time being.

"No need, just take the box and run. I’ll handle it my way."

Liu Zheng shook his head.

"Alright."

The smuggler leader quickly made up his mind, grabbing the box and leaving with his comrades, not even dealing with the formation on the ground.

"Sloppy work, smugglers these days are getting worse with each generation."

He shook his head but didn’t intend to help them dispose of the formation.