The matte-black smuggling speedboat bounced violently over the grey, choppy waves of the Yangtze Estuary.
Cold salt spray whipped against the reinforced acrylic windshield.
Twin modified American diesel engines screamed at full throttle, spewing thick black exhaust across the grey morning water. The digital GPS speedometer read sixty-two knots.
Murong Jie stood behind the steering wheel, his knuckles white as he wrestled with the helm. He wore an expensive fur-collared flight jacket, his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat and sea spray.
Behind him in the open cargo deck, Song Zihao sat on a stack of sixty heavy olive-drab ammunition cases.
Song Zihao unlatched the nearest crate with trembling fingers. Inside lay gleaming twenty-four-karat gold bars, each stamped with the seal of the Jiangnan Textile Worker Pension Reserve. Three billion yuan in stolen bullion, bearer bonds, and untraceable bearer notes.
[Target: Murong Jie. Goodness Score: 7/100. Embezzler, fugitive corporate thief.]
[Target: Song Zihao. Goodness Score: 8/100. Parasitic cartel heir, accessory to murder.]
