Invisible Security Guard
Chapter 469 - 468: Bribing with Money

Chapter 469: Chapter 468: Bribing with Money

After squatting in the container for three days, Yusuf Zuck couldn’t stand it anymore. The smell inside, from eating, drinking, and all bodily functions confined to a single box, was giving him a headache.

Apparently, Luciano and Alfredo Meskill had stronger willpower than he did. Having done time before, they were accustomed to this kind of suffering.

On the third night, Yusuf Zuck opened the container and jumped out.

Luciano and Alfredo Meskill also jumped out, with Alfredo Meskill clutching a dagger, which Old Xu had given him for self-defense when they boarded the ship.

"We can’t hurt anyone, everyone on this ship is Chinese," Yusuf Zuck glared at Alfredo Meskill and added, "Besides, we’re using someone else’s ship, so we should be grateful. I’ll go and talk to them." Yusuf Zuck had a bag with him containing US dollars, renminbi, and Hong Kong dollars—over a million in total.

Moreover, he had already familiarized himself with the layout and personnel of the ship through telekinesis during these three days. Aside from the captain, there was a steward, who was also a tire merchant. As long as he could communicate well with these two people, they wouldn’t have to stay hidden in the container anymore.

Yusuf Zuck straightened his clothes and, holding the bag, headed towards the steward’s room.

Since it was night, everyone else was resting. Yusuf Zuck made his way to the door of the steward’s room without anyone noticing.

"Knock, knock, knock." Yusuf Zuck knocked on the door politely. The steward, who had already gone to bed, suddenly sat up.

"Who’s there?" asked the steward, puzzled.

Yusuf Zuck thought for a moment. "I’m a crew member; the captain sent me to ask you something."

The steward worked for the tire company, and the ship was leased by their company for ocean cargo transportation, so there wasn’t much familiarity between them.

"Coming." When the steward opened the door, Yusuf Zuck darted inside.

The steward was a middle-aged man in his forties, a business manager of the tire company, aboard the ship to oversee the transaction.

"Who are you? I’ve never seen you before," asked the steward in surprise, recognizing that Yusuf Zuck wasn’t one of the crew members he had become familiar with over the past few days.

"Manager Liu, right?" Yusuf Zuck greeted the steward with a clasped-hands salute.

"Who are you?" Manager Liu asked nervously.

"Don’t be nervous, just listen to me," said Yusuf Zuck with a smile. "My two brothers and I were drinking on the dock, and we all had too much. But when we woke up, we found ourselves packed in a container, already at sea. We can’t go back now!"

"You’re stowaways!" Manager Liu was shocked by Yusuf Zuck’s revelation. Although there were many ways to stow away, the most common was hiding on a cargo ship, some of which even secretly smuggled people.

"That’s not the right way to put it. We were just drunk!" Yusuf Zuck chuckled.

"What do you want from me?" Manager Liu was still very tense. This man said he had two brothers, and those capable of stowing away might be up to no good—murderers or worse—and now the safety of the entire ship was at risk. He worried about the prospect of these three potentially dangerous criminals aboard.

"Manager Liu, I have nearly a million here, let it be our passage money. We’re all Chinese, and Chinese don’t harm other Chinese. Besides, your ship has already set sail and can’t go back. Once the ship reaches its destination, we’ll disembark ourselves, and we won’t cause any trouble for you!" Yusuf Zuck opened his bag and poured out all the money inside.

"But I don’t have the final say here. I’m just a representative of the supplier, accompanying the cargo. The captain is in charge of the ship!" Manager Liu glanced at the money, tempted, but he knew that on the ship he was a guest, not the master.

"You can have a say," Yusuf Zuck smiled. "Just say the three of us are employees of your company. You arranged for us to stay in the container. Of course, you’d have to share some of this money with the captain too."

"But... but... " Manager Liu was at a loss.

"Just one word, and you could have fifty thousand. Manager Liu, it’s not illegal. Besides, we’re all Chinese. Please help us!" Yusuf Zuck bowed deeply to Manager Liu.

"What’s this got to do with me? Why should I be involved?" Manager Liu wanted more money, but the fear of getting involved kept him undecided!

"Let’s go find the captain and see what he has to say!" Yusuf Zuck rolled up the bag, grabbed the cash, and walked out!

Manager Liu’s eyelid twitched: "Wait a second!"

"What?" Yusuf Zuck turned around, smiling.

"I’ll go talk to the captain and take the money to him. He might not take it from you!" Manager Liu said, extending his hand.

"Sure thing, thanks for the trouble, Manager Liu!" Yusuf Zuck directly handed the bag to him.

Actually, choosing to contact Manager Liu first was a decision he made after three days of observation.

"You go ahead, come back to my room in half an hour." Manager Liu waved his hand.

"Alright." Yusuf Zuck turned and really left this time. He knew Manager Liu would hide the money. He wouldn’t take all the cash to the captain; he’d be greedy for the larger part and give only a small portion to the captain.

As expected, after Yusuf Zuck left, Manager Liu quickly took the cash out of the bag, then pocketed six hundred thousand for himself, leaving only three hundred thousand in the bag.

...

Half an hour later, Yusuf Zuck returned to Manager Liu’s room, where a thirty-something-year-old captain, dressed in work clothes, was also present. Despite his youth, the man was indeed the captain.

Actually, the captain was also an employee, working for the ferry company!

"You can stay, but you must follow orders. If we encounter a patrol at sea, you need to hide beneath the deck. Furthermore, once we reach our destination, a hovercraft will be lowered; you’ll have to get on and go ashore yourselves. During any stop at a supply port, you must not disembark or appear on deck. Normally, you can move around on deck, but you must wear work clothes!" the captain instructed, looking at Yusuf Zuck.

"To be honest, this is the first time I’m doing something like this. But what puzzles me is, why leave China if everything is fine there? Don’t you know that once you’re abroad, you become an illegal immigrant? And besides, the law in China has become more humane now, hasn’t it? Even if you’ve committed murder, you might not necessarily get the death penalty. I hear they don’t hand out death sentences so easily these days."

"We haven’t broken the law; we just want to go to San Francisco to seek our fortune," Yusuf Zuck replied to the captain with a fist salute.

"Okay, I won’t ask any more questions. But don’t get any wrong ideas. You’re free to board the ship, but don’t blame me if you try something sly. The crew on this ship is skilled, and we have guns..." the captain patted his bulging waist.

"We’re already grateful, and if we had wrong intentions, I wouldn’t have handed over the money, right?" Yusuf Zuck wanted to laugh. Where the captain patted wasn’t a gun at all, but just a pair of pliers. He was just bluffing.

"That may be so, but call your men up to the deck," the captain nodded.

When the three of them exited the room and stood at the front of the deck, Yusuf Zuck gestured towards the mountainous piles of containers.

Luciano and Alfredo Meskill pretended it was tough, slowly climbing down from the containers—not jumping, but climbing.

In reality, with their skills, both could have easily leaped onto the deck in a few bounces, but Yusuf Zuck forbade such showiness to avoid alarming these men.

"I’m Over, and he’s Chick, sorry for the trouble," Alfredo Meskill said very politely, continuously making fist salutes and offering cigarettes.

Luciano also rarely showed an awkward smile that was uglier than crying.

"Next to Manager Liu’s room there’s another cabin. The three of you can squeeze in there. Tomorrow morning, I’ll get you some work clothes," the captain didn’t say much else. He didn’t alert the authorities, partly because he took money, but also because even if he did call the police now while in international waters, it wouldn’t do any good. If the other party intended any harm, by the time the police arrived, they’d all be shark food. So why not make the easy money?

Moreover, he and his crew weren’t new to this business; in fact, many of the crew members’ families had taken their ship abroad. Smuggling a few people overseas wasn’t a big deal.