Chapter 118: The Plantation District

“Do you still want to wander outside?” Long Si stared at Mo Fei, his gaze sharp and threatening.

Mo Fei chuckled softly. “If not, then I won’t.”

“Do you have anything for self-defense? Lend me something.”

Facing fully armed opponents unarmed outside is a reckless act.

Long Si frowned and glanced at Long Er.

“He knows a bit about white phosphorus grenades,” Long Er said, a hint of disbelief in his eyes.

In his mind, after Mo Fei had used a white phosphorus spray can, he should have realized its destructive power and wouldn’t consider using it again.

But now it seemed this guy was addicted to burning explosions.

If someone can casually wield an internationally condemned weapon like white phosphorus grenades, why would he even need a bodyguard?

Director Wang could have just sent him to the Shan State; maybe the film industry would lose an award-winning actor in a few years, but the Shan State would gain a rising star.

Or perhaps the person Director Wang hired wasn’t actually a bodyguard, or the one needing protection wasn’t Mo Fei at all, but someone else.

With such strange thoughts, the group reached the border, verified their documents, and crossed into the Shan State.

Mo Fei hadn’t expected his first trip abroad to be to such a notorious place.

But judging by the surroundings, it looked no different from ordinary villages back home.

As he looked around, Long Si, wearing sunglasses, came up beside him and handed him another pair. “Put these on.”

Mo Fei put them on and immediately felt as if the world darkened. “Wow, what’s the point of these? Like to make people think we’re tough or something?”

“No, covering your face means fewer people recognize you,” Long Si said, grabbing the luggage and leading the way.

“Fewer people recognize me?” Mo Fei couldn’t believe it and tugged Long Er’s sleeve. “Am I really that embarrassing?”

Long Er twitched the corner of his mouth. “She’s already generous enough to give you her sunglasses.”

Then he followed Long Si.

Mo Fei was left baffled. “What does that mean? Embarrassing or not?”

The Shan State’s Shan region is a hotspot for poppy cultivation, with the planted area expanding each year, now exceeding ninety thousand acres.

Long Si spoke fluently in the local dialect with armed farmers and slipped several large-denomination US bills from his pocket.

---

“Wow, this ticket’s even more expensive than Disneyland,” Mo Fei muttered.

“It’s not that expensive,” said a thin man in a floral shirt with gold teeth, approaching them. “You’re in the mainland; you don’t get to see such vast flower fields.”

“Miss Long, long time no see,” the man with gold teeth exclaimed with delight, reaching out mischievously toward Long Si. “Last time we met was—”

“Before you had gold teeth,” Long Si sneered, pressing her pistol against his wrist. “Or I’ll give you a golden hand instead.”

The man laughed awkwardly and withdrew his hand. “Got used to it, got used to it.”

“You’d better get used to changing that habit,” Long Er stepped forward.

The man’s expression brightened as if noticing Long Er for the first time. “Brother Long! Why didn’t you greet me? I would have sent someone to pick you up!”

“Should be Brother Long Er, right?” Mo Fei whispered, “Just paid for the tickets and acting all polite. Who can’t see through that?”

The man’s smile faltered. “Is this your boyfriend, Miss Long?”

“No,” Long Si replied coldly and emotionlessly.

“I’m Brother Long Er’s boyfriend,” Mo Fei added, shrinking behind Long Er. “Just a male friend.”

The man’s smile was barely holding on.

What an old, stale joke.

“I’m just showing him your plantation, nothing else,” Long Er said, fearing Mo Fei might offend the man further.

“Oh, that’s easy!” The man laughed again. “I’ll personally take you on a tour. I guarantee you’ll feast your eyes!”

He spoke in the local dialect to the armed militia standing nearby.

Soon, an off-road vehicle pulled up before them.

The man climbed into the passenger seat first. “Let’s go now.”

Long Er grabbed the railing and climbed in.

Long Si waited until Mo Fei settled in the back seat before leaping in herself.

As the vehicle started moving, Mo Fei finally understood why off-road vehicles were the most common in the Shan State, both in films and reality.

The poppy cultivation areas were mostly dirt roads; the road conditions were terrible. People prone to motion sickness would be lucky not to vomit their stomachs out. Ordinary cars would have their chassis battered to pieces.

The vehicle passed through a banana plantation, then across a wasteland, finally stopping before a fenced-off earthen house.

---

Behind the house stretched an endless field enclosed by an electrified fence, filled with lush green plants.

Tall stalks bore green spherical flower buds yet to bloom.

“The electric fences are already live here,” Long Si said, pulling down her sunglasses to take a closer look. “The plantation covers about two hundred acres, not the largest scale though.”

The man with gold teeth nodded approvingly. “Miss Long has seen the world. This isn’t the biggest plantation under our control, but it’s the closest to us.”

He communicated with the guards, and the gate was opened.

The man gestured them in. “You two aren’t strangers here. I wonder if this new friend is scared?”

Mo Fei followed Long Er naturally, wondering, “Why would I be scared?”

If he had enough weapons and ammunition, others would be the ones afraid.

Besides, even without ammo, he had two giants beside him.

Scared? Not at all. Even if the sky fell, tall men would hold it up.

“Impressive,” the man gave a thumbs-up. “Nowadays, people back home tremble at the mention of poppies, demonizing them completely.”

He gestured toward the vibrant plants and the green buds. “Look, just this little thing supports countless people in the Shan State.”

“Planting requires no special skills, the climate is ideal, profits are high, costs low. Such a great cash crop. Bananas, by comparison, need pollination, harvesting, storage, transportation—limited profit and exhausting work.”

The man spoke earnestly, though everyone present thought he was nonsense.

If it were truly a good thing, it wouldn’t be illegal to cultivate.

This was a cancer that destroyed willpower, weakened bodies, and ruined lives.

“These are our eyes, our lifeline,” the man said proudly. “And our money vault!”

Mo Fei curled his lips.

Though he knew the world could never be free of evil, confronting it so directly still made him nauseous.