"Who!" The leading man turned his head suddenly, and the flashlight in his hand shone in the direction of Qin Yuan.

Qin Yuan reacted quickly, lowered his body quickly, hid behind a big tree, and his movements were neat and silent.

"You heard it wrong? Maybe it was the wind." One of them disagreed.

"Impossible, such a close sound is definitely not the wind." The leading man frowned, took out a dagger, and took a step closer to the direction of the dense forest.

Qin Yuan held his breath and quietly took out the knife on his waist, gently sliding his fingers across the hilt, ready to deal with emergencies at any time. He knew that if he was discovered, the other party would probably be anxious.

Just as the leader was about to approach, a burst of cheers came from the beach in the distance. It was the laughter of Zhou Hong and others playing games at the bonfire party.

The leader looked back and seemed a little hesitant. He frowned and whispered: "Forget it, don't worry, hurry up and leave. Don't make any troubles."

Several men nodded and quickly continued to carry the goods.

Qin Yuan took the opportunity to retreat quietly and walked around and left the dense forest. Instead of rushing to return to the bonfire, he stood in a hidden place, looking at the open space by the sea, and silently remembering the activity location and number of these people.

"These people are not simple." Qin Yuan calmly analyzed in his heart, "Since it is related to iron boxes and goods, they may have used this island as a transit station to conduct some kind of illegal transaction."

He took a deep breath, held the knife in his hand tightly, turned around and walked towards the bonfire. He knew that this was no longer just a chance discovery during the holiday, but a potential crisis.

"No matter what they are doing, I have to find out." Qin Yuan's eyes were calm and he made up his mind.

After returning to the villa, Qin Yuan sat on a chair on the terrace and quietly looked at the dense forest in the distance. He had already made a preliminary judgment on the situation on the island, but there was still a lack of key evidence. At the same time, the bonfire party had ended, and Zhou Hong walked back to the villa with a relaxed face.

"Instructor Qin, are you bored after leaving the party so early?" Zhou Hong said jokingly as she walked over.

Qin Yuan turned his head to look at her, his tone was calm but with a bit of deep meaning: "It's not boring, but I found something interesting."

Zhou Hong was stunned for a moment and stopped: "What's interesting? What's the matter?"

Qin Yuan did not answer directly, but pondered for a moment and asked, "Mr. Zhou, are there any other people in this island besides us tourists?"

Zhou Hong tilted her head, with a little puzzled expression: "No, this island is a private island, and only staff arranged by my friends and guests who occasionally come for vacation. What's wrong?"

Qin Yuan looked at her and his tone slightly heavier: "Then do you know, did I see some strangers in the jungle tonight?"

Zhou Hong's expression suddenly became serious: "Stranger? Are you sure? The staff on the island should know each other."

"I'm pretty sure." Qin Yuan's eyes were calm as usual. "I saw several men in camouflage uniforms carrying supplies. They were not using the equipment from the island, but an old off-road vehicle, dragging a batch of encapsulated boxes. Their behavior was very vigilant, obviously not ordinary staff."

Zhou Hong was obviously shocked by these words, and she couldn't speak for a moment. After a while, she took out her cell phone, frowned and said, "I have to contact the island owner and ask him if he had arranged someone."

She called the island owner’s friend, and the other party quickly answered.

"Zhou Hong? What's wrong? Calling so late?" The island owner's voice came from the other end of the phone, his tone seemed a little confused.

"Lao Lin, I would like to ask, are there other tourists coming to the island recently, or have you arranged other staff?" Zhou Hong asked directly.

The other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds, and then a chuckle came: "No, it's only one of you recently. I don't usually let you go to the island casually, and the staff are all fixed, so there will be no extra people. Why do you suddenly ask about this?"

Zhou Hong glanced at Qin Yuan and lowered her voice and said, "Instructor Qin just saw some strangers in the dense forest wearing camouflage uniforms and carrying things. Aren't they the ones you arranged?"

The tone of the island owner suddenly became serious: "Stranger? Carry things? This is impossible! The security on the island is very strict. Except for the speedboat and my authorization, outsiders cannot enter at all."

Zhou Hong's face changed slightly: "But what Instructor Qin saw with his own eyes, are you sure there is no one else?"

"100% sure!" said the island owner affirmatively. "If there are really strangers, it is likely to be an illegal invader. You must be careful now to avoid contacting them head-on. I will notify the security team to come and check."

After Zhou Hong hung up the phone, she turned to look at Qin Yuan. The ease on her face had completely disappeared, replaced by tension and worry.

"Instructor Qin, who do you think these people are? What do they do on the island?"

Qin Yuan's eyes were calm, but his tone was low: "From their actions, it may be related to smuggling. Whether it is the iron boxes I found on the seabed during the day or the boxes I saw tonight, it makes me feel that this is not something ordinary smugglers or tourists can do. More importantly, their actions are obviously organized and planned, and they may have even set their sights on this island long ago."

Zhou Hong frowned and said anxiously: "Smuggling? What should I do? This island is a private island. If it is used to do illegal things, wouldn't my friend be responsible?"

"So we need to confirm their purpose." Qin Yuan said lightly, with a calm judgment in his eyes, "Tonight's incident is just the beginning. The other party cannot appear here for no reason. The supplies they carry may be related to the iron box under the sea."

"The iron box under the sea?" Zhou Hong's eyes showed more doubts.

Qin Yuan briefly explained to her what she found during the daytime snorkeling: "The iron box was hidden very hidden. I wanted to get close to check it, but was stopped by the tour guide. He said it was a waste abandoned by the fishermen, but his reaction was too deliberate, which made me feel suspicious."

Zhou Hong's face turned even more ugly. She bit her lip, thought for a while and said, "What should we do now? Call the police?"

Qin Yuan shook his head: "No need to call the police for the time being. It is very far from the coastline, and it takes time for the police to come. Moreover, we have too little information at present. Rampant call to the police may alarm the enemy, and instead let these people retreat in advance."

"Then let's wait like this?" Zhou Hong was obviously uneasy.

Qin Yuan's eyes became sharp and he had a hint of confidence in his tone: "Don't worry, since they are here, it's impossible for them to do just one or two things. I will check it out tomorrow to see if I can find more clues."

Zhou Hong nodded. Although she was still nervous, Qin Yuan's calm attitude made her feel a little relieved: "Okay, then I'll listen to you all. But you must be careful."

"Don't worry, I'm responsible." Qin Yuan said lightly, then stood up and swept his eyes to the dense forest in the distance again.

The next morning, the sky had just turned white, and Zhou Hong was still sleeping soundly, and the villa was silent. Qin Yuan cleaned up briefly, pinned the knife he carried with him on his waist, and after confirming that his phone was fully charged, he quietly left the room and walked towards the dense forest where he discovered suspicious activities last night.

He deliberately avoided the possible paths that the island staff members had appeared and chose to go around the other side of the woods. The sun had not yet fully risen, and the light in the dense forest was dim, and occasionally the cries of unknown birds came from all around, making the primeval forest look even deeper.

After walking for about ten minutes, Qin Yuan began to notice some abnormal marks. The grass on the ground was stepped on a vague path, and there were signs of artificially pushing away the branches and shrubs. He squatted down and checked carefully and found that there were several clear footprints on the ground. The texture of the soil showed that these footprints were very new, obviously left last night or early this morning.

"These people are not slow." Qin Yuan sneered in his heart and continued to follow the footprints.

As footprints increased, a clearing area gradually appeared deep in the woods, and the terrain was slightly flat. Qin Yuan stopped from afar and observed for a while and found that there was a pile of piles of camouflaged objects in the center of the open space, covered with camouflage nets, and there were many wooden boxes and woven bags piled around.

Qin Yuan looked at all this carefully. The edge of the camouflage net revealed the sides of some boxes. There was no sign on the wooden box, but it was obviously processed. The edge of the box was reinforced with iron, which looked like an ordinary storage box.

He slowly approached the camouflage pile, swept his eyes sharply around, and after making sure there was no ambush, he squatted down and lifted up a corner of the camouflage net.

The iron edge of the box was already a little rusted, but the surface of the box was still tightly closed. He tried to push it for a while and found that the box was very heavy and the things inside were obviously not light. He then gently pried open a gap with a dagger, and glanced across the inside, and saw a row of neatly arranged metal cylinders - bullets.

Qin Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly and made a quick judgment in his heart: these boxes contained arms.

He re-covered the camouflage net, stood up and looked around carefully. There was a hidden iron door on the edge of the open space, which was also covered with the camouflage net, almost integrated with the surrounding terrain. If you didn't observe carefully, it would be difficult to find that this was a man-built entrance.

Qin Yuan stepped forward and gently pulled the iron door, and found that the door was not locked. He carefully opened a crack and through the dim light, he vaguely saw a warehouse inside, with more wooden boxes and iron barrels piled on the ground. The air was filled with a pungent greasy smell, as if it was the residue of some chemical substance.

"It seems that this is their temporary stronghold." Qin Yuan calmly analyzed in his heart, "these people not only smuggled arms, but may also involve illegal transactions of chemical materials."

Instead of entering the warehouse rashly, he quickly took photos of the iron gate, boxes and iron barrels inside the warehouse with his mobile phone as a record. At the same time, he silently recorded the geographical location here in his heart to ensure that he could clearly provide accurate information to the police.

Just as he was about to leave, he vaguely heard footsteps and low-pitched conversations not far away. Qin Yuan quickly retreated into the woods and found a big tree to hide behind.

Several men walked over from the other side of the woods, one of them was the leader who carried the boxes last night. They carried several empty boxes on their shoulders, as if they were planning to return to the warehouse to replenish the goods.

"Move quickly, the boat will dock this afternoon, and the cargo must be loaded before." The leading man whispered, his tone with urgency.

"Boss, will it be discovered there? Didn't you say you heard someone nearby last night?" a man asked with a little hesitation.

"So what can I do if I find it? No one can threaten us in this area." The leading man sneered, "When the ship arrives, deliver the goods, we will evacuate it directly. Even if this place is exposed, it doesn't matter."

Several people continued to walk towards the warehouse, without any notice of Qin Yuan hiding not far away.

After those people entered the warehouse, Qin Yuan quietly left the woods and went around a big circle to return to the villa. At this time, Zhou Hong was awake and was having breakfast in the restaurant. When he saw Qin Yuan coming in, he hurriedly asked, "Where have you been? Why did you go out early in the morning?"

"I checked some things." Qin Yuan said calmly and handed her the phone, "You'd better see these things."

Zhou Hong took the phone and when she saw the photos of the warehouse and those wooden boxes and iron buckets, her face turned pale: "These... are the arms?"

"That's right." Qin Yuan nodded, "these people not only smuggled arms, but also may involve dangerous chemical transactions. They regard this place as a temporary stronghold and use the island's concealment and private attributes to cover up activities. According to my observation, they may have trading actions this afternoon."

Zhou Hong's fingers trembled slightly, obviously frightened by this discovery: "This... these people are so bold! This island is a private island, how dare they do these things here?"

"It is because it is a private island that they are more likely to hide their eyes and ears." Qin Yuan said lightly, "But the most important thing now is to ensure safety. I suggest you contact the island owner and ask him to call the police, and notify the local police to send someone to pick him up."

Zhou Hong nodded repeatedly, immediately took out his cell phone and dialed the island owner: "Lao Lin, the matter is more serious than we thought! Instructor Qin discovered the warehouse on the island, and those people were smuggling arms and other supplies. You must call the police immediately!"

The island owner on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then said firmly: "Don't act rashly, I will contact the police immediately and ask them to send someone as soon as possible."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Hong looked at Qin Yuan and said in a nervous tone: "What about us? What should we do now?"

Qin Yuan's eyes were calm and determined: "Let's keep calm first and don't expose his identity. Before the police arrive, I will stare at those people to make sure they won't notice it in advance. Leave the rest to me."

At night, the sea surface was as dark as ink, with only sparse starlight scattering on the waves, adding a faint light to the entire sea area. The island is still silent, except for the occasional rustling sound of the sea breeze blowing the leaves, the surroundings seem particularly peaceful.

However, in the clearings deep in the dense forest, there is an unknown activity hidden.
Chapter completed!