The night passed quickly, and the brilliant morning sunlight pierced through the lingering darkness, casting rays of light over the ocean. The waves shimmered, bringing the scene to life as they rippled across the horizon.
In the open sea, three massive cargo ships were cutting through the waves, heading toward Australia under the rising sun. Each ship was heavily loaded, their waterlines sinking under the weight, making them look as if they might capsize from one wrong move. Alongside them were a few seemingly ordinary oil tankers, but to the trained eyes of Ryan and his crew, these were no regular vessels-the oil tankers were merely disguises for what lay beneath: warships. Real warships.
Using the global positioning system of the Ministry of Defense, Ryan watched the gray-marked warships appear clearly on the control screen. Every detail-speed, direction, size-was listed clearly on the adjacent system.
“It should be these ships,” Adolph said, nodding slightly as he looked at the screen. The information from the Ministry of Defense seemed accurate.
Ryan drummed his fingers on the captain’s console, watching the ships that appeared calm on the outside but were undoubtedly prepared for anything.
Ryan furrowed his brow and said, “Don’t forget what Cecily said.”
Adolph’s face darkened, and he replied, “I know, but we’ll only be sure after we check. We don’t have much time. Our reputation is on the line here, and we can’t afford to lose it.”
Ryan’s expression grew even more grim. He glanced at the ships on the screen, stayed silent for a moment, then nodded. “Send the team in to search.”
Adolph pressed a button, giving the order. On the connected screen, a group of fully armed divers emerged from the submarine led by Hawk, preparing to dive toward the three massive cargo ships.
Ryan and Adolph stood in the captain’s cabin, their eyes glued to the screen as the divers made their way toward the ships. The level of caution and seriousness on their faces was something rarely seen in either of them before.
The buyer was a major player in this arms deal. Since Ryan’s shipment was headed to the Middle East, warships weren’t necessary, so there was no way the cargo could include warships or such massive freight ships. This must have been equipment Cecily arranged herself. It was clear now that this deal was worth more than the $50 billion they’d initially thought-probably a lot more. Such a large-scale operation wasn’t something an ordinary person could afford, not even a country’s defense department had ever made a purchase this big.
This made it clear that whoever they were dealing with was no ordinary person. Combined with what Cecily had hinted at before, this whole situation was extremely dangerous.
“Cecily’s already arrived in Australia,” Adolph said after connecting to a signal.
Ryan didn’t show any reaction.
Cecily wasn’t stupid. The missing chip had likely clued her in on where it had been lost and who had taken it. Her rushing over wasn’t surprising at all.
Since Cecily didn’t have the military planes Ryan had equipped Adolph with, and couldn’t use special air routes, it made sense she’d be late-nothing shocking to either of them.
“Keep a close eye on her. Cecily isn’t a big deal herself, but the people she’s working with are no joke,” Ryan said coldly.
Adolph nodded. “We’ve been monitoring her from the start.”
Though Cecily was one of the few within the mafia with enough power to rival Adolph, she hadn’t taken too many losses, thanks to her connections. It was well known that she was working with someone significant, just as Adolph wasn’t directly producing weapons but instead managing the deals. This time, she had taken a big risk.
“Boss, all personnel have boarded the ships,” Hawk’s report came from the submarine.
Ryan nodded, his voice cold. “Keep full surveillance. We can’t afford to be careless anywhere.”
“Understood, Boss.”
Seeing how cautious Hawk was, with Bill assisting him, Ryan had confidence in their abilities. He then said coldly, “Get me a cup of coffee.”
There was no immediate response, but before Ryan could raise an eyebrow, a cup of coffee was placed at his side. He softened his expression slightly, took a sip, and immediately frowned.
“Who made this?” he asked as he turned around.
One of Adolph’s men, who had been following them, immediately lowered his head. “It was me, sir.”
Ryan’s expression turned sharp, and he scanned the captain’s room with a cold gaze. “Where’s Echo?” he asked sternly.
“I don’t know, sir. I haven’t seen her,” the man replied, standing next to Adolph.
Adolph, still focused on the footage being transmitted, glanced over and asked, “What’s going on? Wasn’t Echo supposed to be with you?”
Ryan’s face grew even colder. Raising his voice, he ordered, “Get Cobra here now.”
One of the men quickly left to carry out the order.
“Boss, you needed me?” Cobra had been stationed in the back, monitoring the sea and underwater activity. Upon hearing Ryan’s call, he rushed over.
“Where’s Echo?” Ryan demanded, his expression tense.
Echo had been with him the whole time-he’d even seen her before they split off into the submarines. Since then, he’d been focused on the incoming reports and hadn’t noticed her disappearance.
Echo wouldn’t dare to run away, not with her limited options, so where was she?
Cobra nodded and said, “Echo was feeling seasick, so I had her rest in the aft hold.”
Cobra hadn’t realized Echo got seasick until right before they split into the submarines. He’d noticed how pale she was, struggling to hold it together, but since Ryan was focused on other matters, he hadn’t reported it.
When Ryan heard Cobra’s explanation, the furious expression on his face softened slightly. In a cold tone, he ordered, “Go bring her up here.”
“Yes, sir.” Without Cobra even having to give the order, someone had already run off, accustomed to Ryan’s no-nonsense commands.
“Reporting to Boss-no one’s there. We checked the entire hold, and she’s nowhere on the ship,” the man quickly returned to report.
Ryan’s expression turned terrifyingly cold.
Cobra immediately sensed something was wrong too, his face darkening as he called over the person responsible for the division of personnel. “Did you send everyone from the aft hold onto the submarines?” he asked, his voice icy.
The subordinate, now fully aware of how dire the situation was, began to tremble and stammered, “I-I sent everyone down. I didn’t realize…”
“Shit! Ryan, look at this!” Adolph suddenly cursed, cutting the man off.
At the same time, Hawk’s voice came through from the submarine, “Boss, how many people did you assign to the ships? Why is there one extra?”
Ryan quickly turned to the screen, where he saw, beneath the three ships, a figure with diving gear struggling to swim toward them. The way they flailed about made it clear-if not for the oxygen tank and the propulsion device, they probably would’ve sunk by now. The person was slowly crawling up the ship’s hull like an exhausted worm, moving with painful slowness, looking utterly miserable.
Ryan was beyond furious. Rage erupted from him, and with a loud crack, the coffee cup in his hand shattered into pieces.
Ryan hurled the fragments to the floor and didn’t even look at Adolph before storming off, growling, “Take care of things here,” as he headed toward the lower deck.
That figure was all too familiar-it could only be Echo.
Echo, carrying an oxygen tank and propulsion device, had finally managed to crawl into the ship from below, collapsing into a dark corner, gasping for air.
Why? she thought. Why does she get seasick? This had to be some kind of cruel joke. Staring up at the ship’s ceiling, she felt completely drained.
She’d always flown for missions before, never traveled by sea. She had been excited about trying something new when she first joined Ryan on this journey.
But this was way too much “new.” Seasick, watching the endless waves rolling beneath the vast sky-it wasn’t thrilling; it was pure torture. Endless, nauseating torture.
Oh, God.
But that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was, Why is she here now?
How had she ended up investigating an enemy ship? She had only been seasick and resting in the aft hold-how did she end up on a submarine and then underwater?
Dear God, she can’t even swim!