The moment the truck's cargo doors opened, the movers could be described in one word.
Silence!
So silent it made their eyes widen in panic, so silent their bodies trembled, so silent fear was etched on every face.
Because the truck wasn't an empty carriage.
It was filled with armed police in camouflage combat uniforms and Hong Kong special police in black combat uniforms.
Had they looked closer, they would have noticed infrared beams trained on the first two rows of thugs.
The sudden silence lasted only for a moment.
The thugs behind, upon seeing the situation inside the truck, immediately yelled at the top of their lungs, "Boss, run! Inside there are..."
Before he could finish, the thug's head exploded, and he collapsed to the ground.
Before Xu Xiao behind him could react, the muffled pops of suppressed gunfire sounded again.
The thugs who had just begun to draw their pistols in retaliation were all shot and killed in the blink of an eye.
The next second, twenty armed police and Hong Kong special police stormed out of the truck's carriage, launching a brutal massacre on the criminals on the beach.
"Chen Guoyao, I'll fuck your mother!"
Xu Xiao, having been set up, roared in anger.
The desperate men of Yi He pulled out their pistols, covering him as he prepared to flee the scene.
As for Chen Guoyao, he had already hidden behind the truck when the movers fell.
The twelve gunmen he brought with him, highly trained, drew their pistols to prevent Xu Xiao from escaping.
Two of them, with incredibly precise aim, shot out the tires, preventing Xu Xiao from driving away.
Upon witnessing the twelve men's exceptional marksmanship, the desperadoes of Yi He immediately sought cover and began to retaliate.
Following this, the twelve gunmen split into two teams: one providing suppressing fire, the other advancing to capture.
Their seamless coordination, coupled with their almost supernatural marksmanship, rendered the members of Yi He utterly incapable of fighting back.
Some of the retaliating desperadoes had served abroad.
When they witnessed the tactical suppression employed by Chen Guoyao's twelve gunmen, they were suddenly jolted, and two words surfaced in their minds.
Soldiers!
Indeed, the twelve gunmen accompanying Chen Guoyao were not professional bodyguards.
They were all soldiers recruited by Zhang Ziheng from the military, and moreover, soldiers who had experienced actual combat.
On one side, desperate men with triad backgrounds.
On the other, well-trained soldiers, armed police, and special police.
The outcome of the battle on the scene was obvious: all of Yi He's forces were utterly crushed from all sides.
Within two minutes, the gunfire gradually subsided.
Looking around, the beach was littered with corpses, the sand stained a deep crimson with blood, appearing like a hellish Purgatory under the moonlight.
But no one paid attention to the battlefield; they continued with their tasks.
Xu Xiao was taken away by the armed police, the two hundred million worth of goods were reloaded onto the truck, and the fishing boat used for transport was deliberately run aground on the beach as evidence.
Moments later, the truck loaded with contraband worth two hundred million was the first to depart, heading towards Hong Kong's Central and Western District.
Chen Guoyao and his group boarded their vehicles and returned to the mainland.
After the convoy had left, the Hong Kong police department began to move in.
Upon seeing the sea of bodies, some of the newly recruited police officers couldn't help but shiver.
The deputy commissioner leading the operation showed no pity for the deceased triad members.
He beckoned to a nearby sergeant and instructed, "The gunfight at the pier will surely attract the media. Tell them it's a customs exercise by the police. The news from the beach tonight must not be leaked."
His trusted subordinate nodded gravely, glanced at the new officers left behind to work overtime, and then looked at the bodies of the Yi He triad members on the ground, asking in a low voice, "Officer Yan, most of the officers dispatched tonight are newcomers, and they've all had their backgrounds checked. Is there something big happening at the top?"
"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask!"
Officer Yan waited for his subordinate's frankness, but couldn't resist revealing a little more, saying, "After tonight, Hong Kong's triads will fall. The power struggle at the top is also nearing its end."
Upon hearing this, the sergeant immediately closed his mouth and directed the junior officers to move the bodies and clean up the scene.
...
Just as the gunfight at the pier concluded, conflict also erupted in Qing Kui District.
Currently, Bai Lian Sheng occupied half of Qing Kui, with only Yi He and Yi Qun triads remaining to contend with Bai Lian Sheng in the entire district.
But as news of Xu Xiao's secret abduction spread, A Cheng Rong immediately ordered the clearance of Yi He's territories.
At precisely 2:50 AM that night, three hall masters of Bai Lian Sheng led over a thousand of their thugs in a surprise attack on Yi He's establishments.
Within an hour, the leaderless Yi He was completely uprooted from Qing Kui District by Bai Lian Sheng.
Of the four hall masters in the triad, Ji Zai and Da Long were brutally hacked to death.
Of the remaining two hall masters, one was hospitalized with injuries, but later that night, he was finished off by Bai Lian Sheng's killers.
The last hall master, wounded, fled Qing Kui District, intending to escape to Taiwan.
However, the moment he boarded a boat, he was murdered by a bribed snakehead.
Thus, Yi He in Qing Kui District was utterly annihilated.
Yi Qun, as the last remaining notorious triad in Qing Kui District, upon seeing their ally uprooted by Bai Lian Sheng in just one hour.
The leader of Yi Qun, Wang Donghai, made the decision to surrender to Bai Lian Sheng and voluntarily cede all of Yi Qun's territories.
However, his decision was only supported by one-third of the members. The majority of the triad's elders and hall masters were vehemently opposed.
Those high-ranking members who chose to oppose also made private decisions.
They would eliminate Wang Donghai and his loyal faction, and then they would contend for the leadership position amongst themselves.
However, before Wang Donghai could surrender, the other elders and hall masters raised their flags in rebellion. A Cheng Rong decisively chose to swiftly attack Yi Qun.
Had Yi Qun not been in internal turmoil, Bai Lian Sheng might have had to employ some stratagem to take down Yi Qun.
But now, from Wang Donghai's initial move to surrender, disunity had already set in within Yi Qun.
Facing Bai Lian Sheng, whose morale was high and fighting spirit ablaze, Yi Qun, apart from the location of their main hall, could not withstand Bai Lian Sheng's full-force assault in any other neighborhood.
Those who were defeated and retreated to the main hall, the elders and hall masters, now all agreed with Wang Donghai's decision and chose to surrender.
Just as they were contemplating negotiating with A Cheng Rong after the night, a change occurred.
The mysterious gunmen who had previously swept through Bai Lian Sheng's main hall and bombed the former leader Da Yong Long reappeared.
Over ten large trucks charged into the street where Yi Qun's main hall was located.
Before the thugs guarding the main hall could even retaliate, over two hundred burly men, wearing bandit masks and wielding firearms, leaped from the trucks and opened fire on the street.
The collision between firearms and cold weapons, the outcome was obvious.
In less than a minute, hundreds of low-level thugs, desperate to save their lives, abandoned their knives and fled, disregarding any leaders or bosses.
Wang Donghai, the hall masters, and elders, who were trapped within Yi Qun's main hall, met the same fate as Bai Lian Sheng's former leader, Da Yong Long, all perishing in the inferno caused by the explosion.
Yi He and Yi Qun were wiped out overnight, and Bai Lian Sheng naturally became the number one triad in Qing Kui District.
With Qing Kui District now under Bai Lian Sheng's control, it also smoothly became the sixth largest triad in Hong Kong after the 1990s.
The other triads were observing the internal conflict in Qing Kui District.
However, in the midst of this turmoil, Yi He, one of the five major triads, could no longer stand by and prepared to march into Qing Kui District.