Echo had been groggily going along with whatever people around her were doing, and by the time her mind cleared up, she was completely surrounded by the shimmering blue waves of the ocean.
As the startled fish darted past her, her first instinct wasn’t excitement-it was fury.
She couldn’t swim! Who the hell thought it was a good idea to toss her into the sea?
When her eyes finally focused on the dark, looming hull of the ship ahead, it all returned to her. She had somehow managed to crawl her way up using nothing but the oxygen tank and propulsion device strapped to her back.
Echo, finally fully conscious, slapped herself a few times to snap out of it. Grinding her teeth in anger, she shook a fist at the sky, swearing that when she got back, someone was going to pay for this. How dare they shove her into a mission while she was out of it! She was going to make them regret it.
She removed the heavy equipment from her back and hid it well, knowing she’d need it to make her way back. Without it, she’d surely end up at the bottom of the sea. She even set down the communication device attached to the oxygen tank, having no clue it could have been used to contact anyone.
“Shit, what did they send me down here for?” she muttered to herself, tapping her head as she tried to push down the waves of nausea rising in her chest.
Grumbling, she continued to sneak deeper into the ship.
The place was huge. That was her first impression.
As she crept through the various corridors and compartments, she couldn’t get over just how big the ship was. She had never been on one before, but this thing made Ryan’s ship look like a toy in comparison.
She didn’t know what her mission was-no one had told her-but she figured she was probably supposed to look for weapons, given Ryan’s objective.
One level, then another. Echo had no idea what any of the ship’s devices or layouts were. She didn’t know the difference between the bow or stern, entrances or exits-she was just following her gut, hoping to stumble across something useful.
Suddenly, a faint voice reached her from a distance. She immediately quieted her steps and crept closer, inch by inch.
“Boss, do you think they’ll come after us?” A voice, faint but clear, drifted over from not too far away.
“They’ll definitely come. They’re not the type to just take a loss,” a thick nasal voice replied, making it hard to distinguish who was speaking.
“That’s true. With such a big hit, even if Adolph could swallow it, the Dark family won’t let it slide. Fine by me-if they’re coming, I’m ready.”
“Trading my life for my family’s lifelong wealth and fortune? Worth it,” the thick nasal voice added.
Echo frowned, rubbing her still dizzy head as she listened to the exchange. It didn’t take long for her to realize what was going on.
These two had nothing left to lose-they were clearly planning to go down fighting. That could only mean one thing: there was something seriously off about this ship.
It took Echo a moment to fully grasp the situation, slower than usual thanks to her lingering dizziness.
Once the thought clicked, she carefully pressed herself up against the barrier separating her from the two men.
If these guys were the leaders, they probably knew a lot.
Forget wasting time searching for weapons-capturing them would be a much quicker way to get answers. After all, taking down the leader first was a rule that never changed, no matter what era it was.
Steel walls. Big, thick steel walls. Echo felt around for what seemed like forever, but she still couldn’t find a door lock.
If there had been a lock, she could’ve easily slipped in without a sound.
But no lock? What was she supposed to do?
She wasn’t like Ryan, who could just blow things up with firepower.
So, listening to the voices coming from the other side of the wall, she could only sigh in frustration.
“I refuse to believe I can’t figure this out,” Echo muttered to herself, ducking past obstacles as she moved sideways, looking for another way through.
If this spot didn’t work, there had to be somewhere else that would.
It got darker the further she went. Pitch black. But Echo was trained to navigate in the dark, so despite the lack of light, she could still see well enough to make her way forward.
After a good while of feeling her way around, turning corners, and making a few guesses about her location, she finally reached a solid iron door with a high-tech lock.
Echo’s lips curled into a smirk. A lock? What a joke.
She fiddled with the ring on her finger, which looked cheap and unremarkable but was far from ordinary. From a hidden seam, a thin, sharp wire extended, soft like silk but sharp as a blade.
Echo didn’t bother trying to crack the code or mess with the system. Instead, she slipped the wire into the most crucial part of the mechanism. Like a human arm, a lock only worked because of its joints-break those, and it was as useless as a limp piece of metal.
“Idiots. Who uses a keypad lock?” she muttered under her breath.
Was there any lock she couldn’t break? The more advanced, the easier it was to deal with. In fact, the more sensitive it was, the less effective it was against her tools. The old-fashioned locks were more of a pain.
As the heavy door slowly opened, Echo slipped inside without making a sound.
“Damn.” Echo rarely cursed, but seeing row after row of shipping containers made her groan.
She’d been so sure she had calculated the exact spot where those two guys had been talking, but she was way off.
It felt like she’d been hit in the head. How was she supposed to know that the layout of a ship was completely different from that of a car or plane? She had been basing her guesses on those kinds of designs, but it was way off the mark.
The containers were massive, way bigger than she expected. She glanced around, and the end of the line wasn’t even in sight.
Echo frowned slightly. These containers were probably full of the weapons Ryan was looking for.
But those guys she overheard weren’t just messing around-there was definitely something fishy going on here.
She didn’t rush, though. Instead, she calmly circled the nearest container. No strange smells, no signs of an ambush, nothing that felt off. She pressed her ear against the metal, but there wasn’t even the sound of breathing.
Echo’s expertise was theft, so her senses were highly trained, especially in closed environments. Even the slightest sound or disturbance would catch her attention. It was a skill essential to any master thief.
She closed her eyes and focused again.
Nothing.
The whole place was eerily quiet.
Echo raised an eyebrow and placed her hand on the container. It felt cold and dry to the touch, showing no signs of tampering or danger. There was nothing on it that suggested it had been altered in any way, and it posed no immediate or hidden threats.
Echo noticed the fine wire from the ring on her finger and carefully avoided the container’s main door. Instead, she slowly sliced into the back corner of the special steel container. Under the thread as thin as silk, the metal cut through, revealing its contents.