"Ah, this tranquil and carefree state of mind feels like I'm floating."
With a sigh in his heart, Su Ming tilted his head back, gulping down a bottle of cola. He opened another one and placed the bottle on his stomach.
He later bought a few floral shirts himself, and the one he's wearing now is a yellow and black one. He liked this combination, but unfortunately, this shirt has 90% yellow instead of an even split, with a banana pattern...
Watching the sunset and the gentle waves of the sea, he decided to leave. It was getting dark, so it was time to head into the city for some food.
With a small breeze blowing, the smell of the sea filled his nostrils. He quite enjoyed this kind of life.
The key was that he still had a lot of money left. Things were really cheap in this era, a good meal often cost only a little more than one or two US Dollars. The money from selling jewelry was enough to last him for years.
However, to rest, it's better to go back to the mainland USA, prepare for business, and then maybe head to a beach like Miami.
Speaking of which, American girls should have sectioned swimwear by now, right?
This piece of information intrigued him... he should verify it.
Drinking down another bottle of cola, he stuck the empty glass bottle in the sand, brushed the sand off himself, and prepared to eat. After the meal, he would go back to the hotel for a nap, deal with immigration documents the next day, and then take a ship back to the United States.
The route was also optional. He could either take a passenger liner from Honolulu to San Francisco, then a train from the West Coast to the East Coast in New York.
Or take a luxury cruise directly, which usually traveled the Panama route, passing through the canal, and touring around to New York.
Of course, neither option was fast. Passenger liners were worse, and luxury cruises required frequent stops. No matter which one he chose, he'd be at sea for almost a month, and he'd probably get sick of the sea by then.
As he pondered how to civilianize airplanes as soon as possible for his convenience, he realized someone was standing next to him, blocking the light of the setting sun.
He turned his head and saw it was Butcher Old Zhang.
In his previous impression, he always felt butchers should be full of facial hair, fat, or muscular, like Zhen Guanxi mentioned in Water Margin.
However, in reality, Butcher Old Zhang was not particularly skinny, but definitely not fat. He looked very refined, more like a schoolteacher.
Because Su Ming now appeared as a Westerner but spoke fluent Chinese, and his hunting results were always good, with excellent handling of prey, Old Zhang thought he was a very capable person.
Old Zhang knew that in recent years in Europe, hunting was something only the wealthy could afford. Forests and mountains were bought up by landlords and turned into hunting grounds. The profession of hunters, who used to make a living by hunting, had long disappeared.
Occasionally, Su Ming would visit the market these days, either selling some prey to Old Zhang or buying some pork or lamb from him for a barbecue. Old Zhang was a nice guy, often giving him extra offal or scraps of meat.
But Old Zhang now appeared quite gloomy, not at all like his usual self.
"What's up? Closing up shop a bit early today, huh?"
Su Ming asked curiously while folding his chair and carrying it to the beach management office to return the deposit.
"Sigh, Mr. Wilson, you're a capable man, could you help us think of a way?"
Old Zhang began pouring out his troubles, but Su Ming had no idea what was going on.
Su Ming handed him a bottle of cola, signaling him to take his time. After much effort, he finally understood the middle-aged man's troubles.
It turned out to be a gang problem.
There were gangs in Hawaii too. After all, wherever there are people, there are Jianghu (rivers and lakes), especially since many of the Japanese who came here were already gang members before, and quickly formed organizations in the New Land.
But Old Zhang's problem wasn't with them; it was with the local gangs. Currently, they controlled the main island in Honolulu.
The issue started with protection fees. Due to infighting and shifts in control between gangs, Old Zhang had already paid protection fees four times this month.
This fee was not cheap at all. After these payments, he was struggling to make ends meet, and other vendors in the market were also suffering in silence.
Many of these vendors were Chinese who just wanted to live their lives well. However, kindness and honesty were often mistaken for weakness, and the gangs didn't see them as human.
So he came to Su Ming because Hawaii was, after all, an American territory, hoping Su Ming might know some officials who could curb the gangs' behavior a bit.
Who did Su Ming know? At this time and place, he knew no one.
But Su Ming had his own methods.
He patted Old Zhang on the shoulder and carefully inquired about the gang issues, their areas of activity, and their lairs.
"Alright... I'll help with this, but after it's done, if anyone asks, you have to pretend you don't know anything, okay?"
"Alright, thank you, sir, you've saved us all."
Even though he didn't know how Su Ming would handle it, still, since he promised, they could only wait a couple of days to see the results.
Su Ming sighed again and said to him, "Chinese people must stay united when abroad; unity is strength."
Old Zhang nodded with a smile. This Mr. Wilson was truly an international friend, but the Great Qing had been weak for a long time, and over a decade ago, it had even lost its country. Yuan Datou was overthrown, and the country was currently divided among warlords. What did the future hold?
He smiled apologetically as he left, appearing very humble, which made Su Ming feel a bit heartbroken.
During this era, the status of Chinese people was low everywhere, and it was because the nation wasn't strong enough, thus lacking confidence. He wondered if Old Zhang took in what he said.
Gangs were like weeds; once cut, they'd eventually grow back. Su Ming could help them for a while but couldn't help them for a lifetime.
"Self-reliance and self-improvement are the only ways out."
Su Ming watched as Old Zhang's figure disappeared into the crowd, feeling an indescribable emotion in his heart.
He didn't go for dinner; instead, he returned to the small hotel and took out his Holy Statue Uniform and Godslayer.
................
Early the next morning, there was big news on the once peaceful island. Overnight, several gangs in downtown Honolulu were completely wiped out.
There were hundreds of people, causing great difficulties for the police who came to maintain the scene. They had to put in a lot of effort to piece together a recognizable corpse from the mountain of flesh.
Of course, this was Su Ming's specialty. This era was truly a golden age for assassins, with no surveillance, no satellites, and no one going out at night.
The blow had to be ruthless to set an example and delay the emergence of the next generation of gangs.
In just under half an hour, he had cleared out all four gangs.
They were far less competent than the gangs in Gotham, but their level of evil was about the same. At a glance, it was clear they were involved in all the businesses gangs could think of.
Su Ming directly transformed the Godslayer into Dual Blades, killed his way into the fronts of each gang's lair, and marched out the back, leaving only himself standing in the aftermath.
No difficulty, no challenge. Even if Old Zhang were willing to pay, he'd feel ashamed to take it. This kind of work was only worth about a couple of kilograms of pork, at most.
Deathstroke's mercenary services have always been billed with integrity, charging according to the work done.
This time, it was for free because he'd been in a good mood lately.
Of course, he didn't kill everyone. He intentionally left a few survivors. With their stories, and after this incident, it would surely slow down the growth of the island's gangs.
This event caused quite a stir. The next morning, as Su Ming went out for breakfast, even the lady selling pineapple buns at the hotel entrance knew about it, saying there were ghosts on the island last night and the gangsters died miserably.
This naturally alerted the American garrison, but besides blood footprints, they had no leads.
The few survivors were scared out of their wits, and when the police found them, their snot and tears blurred their faces. They kept repeating "black and yellow ghost shadow," "invulnerable demon," and "bells ringing in their ears"...
Even Old Zhang himself was quite scared. He didn't know it was Su Ming alone, but he was sure it had something to do with Mr. Wei. He seemed anxious while selling meat today, but the police didn't suspect him at all.
While the military and police played headless chickens, Su Ming was already on the cruise, heading out into the deep ocean.
After breakfast, acting as if nothing had happened, he went to the management section, bribed a small clerk, and easily obtained all his life documents. For the sake of US Dollars, the young clerk even gave him several reasonable suggestions.
Now his ancestral home was New York, and his parents had given birth to him in Hawaii before they unfortunately died of illness, making him a bona fide American.
With this identity, he could pass through customs legally, but at this time, there were only luxury cruises passing by Panama. He directly bought a first-class ticket, with his 'shark-proof suit' and 'surfboard,' boarding the white ship under the envious eyes of the dock sailors.
The luxury cruise was well-stocked with drinks, and he finally got to drink a Martini. At this moment, holding the wine glass, he stood behind the ship's railing, watching as the Hawaii Islands gradually disappeared from the sea's surface.