Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 138: Revised: Volume 3 Chapter 39 Smuggling Ship_2

For the next two days, Fatty stayed in his room, feeling utterly bored as he perused documents. He only went to the dining hall for meals and occasionally visited the bar, but due to his special status, even in the intelligence department, he wasn’t allowed much interaction with others. On the third day, there was finally news about the smuggling ship, and with Clark’s help, Tian Xingjian used Boswell’s Disguise Potion.

Seeing your face transform into another in the mirror feels quite strange. Over twenty years, everyone becomes intimately familiar with their own face. People always believe in and are accustomed to the face in the mirror, rarely considering that in others’ eyes, their face looks reversed. Hence, many people experience a peculiar feeling when photographed or filmed, realizing that no one can truly understand themselves, sometimes not even themselves. Fatty stared at the unfamiliar face in the mirror, a face neither Tian Xingjian’s nor Zhang Yuan’s. It was merely some minor changes on his own face, yet it significantly altered his appearance. Fatty was a bit worried, ”If my incredibly charming face can’t be restored, that would be a huge loss.”

The transport ship carrying [Logic] and [Hurricane] landed in Condila City, where Clark, posing as a stowaway introducer, introduced Tian Xingjian to a short-statured Snakehead and paid a considerable fee. From here, Fatty knew he was embarking on a truly unknown journey.

Under the Snakehead’s guidance, Fatty quickly arrived at the docked smuggling ship in the suburban area. These smuggling ships entered through official procedures, as the Federation strictly controls flying vessels. No one could sneak a transport ship past global radar surveillance. Generally, two smuggling methods were employed: one involved entering through official channels and transporting contraband, like drugs, weapons, and energy, which were strictly regulated. After obtaining liftoff clearance through insider operations, the smuggling ships delayed their departure under the guise of maintenance, filled up with goods at a station, and then took off. The second method involved docking at secret bases in space, with small vessels from the ground responsible for transporting goods. Upon reaching the destination, the goods were typically distributed to recipients in space, who used various channels to bring the contraband into the country. Usually, the destination country turned a blind eye to urgently needed items, and such activities were even encouraged during wartime, with zero import tariffs on these goods.

Tian Xingjian soon saw the smuggling ship he would board, docked at a repair pier. It was an old [Apollo] medium-sized civilian transport ship with over a hundred years of history, looking incredibly decrepit. Some maintenance staff were still busily carrying out the final preparations on the transport ship.

This ship’s smuggled goods were not energy or weapons, the kind of items prohibited from export to Gazalin Empire. Instead, they were luxury goods strictly controlled by Gazalin Empire. According to the intelligence, the ship’s captain was quite skilled, with many prominent Gazalin nobles among his clients, providing significant assistance for such smuggling operations.

Guided and coordinated by the Snakehead, the transport ship crew signaled for Fatty to park his truck and Mecha in the luggage warehouse. Fatty meekly obeyed the orders of these burly crew members and parked his Mecha before being led onto the transport ship. The interior of the transport ship was as dilapidated as its exterior, especially the lower deck, dirty and chaotic, with a suffocating smell. Rust covered everything; broken electronic devices were piled in corners, and handrails in the hallways were wobbly. Fatty doubted if such a ship could even take off, fearing it might fall apart in space.

Fatty’s room was in the lowest deck’s crew quarters section of the transport ship, which had four beds, but three were piled with dust-covered discarded parts, clearly indicating that no one shared the quarters with him. A tall, burly crew member who led him in impatiently shoved Fatty into the room, dumped his luggage on the bed, glared at him, and said, ”Fatty, you know the purpose of this ship, right? Let me make it clear: don’t wander or touch anything. We are only responsible for taking you to Gazalin; whether you survive or not depends on your behavior. Don’t cause any trouble.” He waved his thick arm in a threatening gesture, adding, ”The dining hall is on the deck level. If you want to eat, go up there yourself. No one will bring you food here.”

Not caring about Fatty’s terrified reaction, the crew member turned to leave. At the door, he remembered something, turned back, and said to Fatty, ”By the way, don’t dirty this place. If I see it dirty when you leave, you’ll get a beating!” With a grunt, he heavily shut the door and left. Fatty looked around and thought, ”Damn, in this world, paying for travel and still suffering seems to be exclusive to stowaways. Tell me not to dirty this place. Damn, can it get any dirtier?”