Guns.
All guns.
Real, high-quality military-grade weapons.
Echo raised an eyebrow as she looked at the neatly arranged firearms, some already fully assembled while others were just parts-the gun shells and bodies separated, gleaming in the dim light.
There was nothing strange about it at first glance, but the fact that everything seemed too normal, paired with the conversation she overheard, made her even more suspicious. She took off the ruby earring from her ear, crouched down, and started searching through the weapons inside.
No reaction. Nothing at all.
She nearly overturned all the guns in the back, but still no signs of anything unusual. Just as she was about to give up and stand, something caught her eye- a small button-like object buried at the bottom of the container.
At the same time, Ryan stood on the ship, his expression icy as he stared at the diving gear hidden in a corner.
When he got to the lower deck and realized they had lost contact with Echo, he knew something was wrong.
Now, seeing the equipment stashed away, he was furious. What kind of idiot thinks seasickness would make her lose all sense and intelligence?
“Mr. Ryan.” A figure fully equipped with diving gear suddenly appeared from the shadows, speaking to Ryan in a low voice.
Ryan glanced at him, barely holding back his rage. “Did you find her?”
The man lowered his head. “Mr. Ryan, we’re still searching. She isn’t at the stern, and we’re moving toward the bow now. The teams sent to the other ships haven’t reported back either. I… Mr. Ryan, we’ve got something.” The man’s voice suddenly stopped, then tightened with urgency.
At the same moment, a gunshot rang out from a nearby disguised warship, followed by Adolph’s voice over the comms. “Ryan, I’ve already sent people onto several of the warships. They belong to Cecily.”
Ryan’s voice turned cold. “Confirm the cargo. Leave no one alive.”
“Of course.” Adolph’s response was accompanied by a sinister laugh, the bloodthirsty tone impossible to hide.
Before Ryan could cut the comms, gunfire erupted on the previously quiet ship.
The man standing beside Ryan said coldly, “Mr. Ryan, we’ve engaged the enemy.”
Ryan grunted in acknowledgment, his eyes colder than ever as he glanced once more at the diving gear stashed in the corner.
His words were chilling, each one deliberate, “Except for the woman, I don’t want to see anyone left alive.” With that, he turned and walked toward the bow, not bothering to check on anything else.
“Yes, sir.” Just as cold and decisive as Ryan, the man at his side quickly relayed Ryan’s orders through his comms.
The gunfire outside kept getting louder, but Echo, deep in the ship’s hold, remained completely oblivious as she focused on studying the small black dot in front of her.
The soundproofing was so good that no matter how intense the gunfight was, she couldn’t hear a thing.
Each container she opened had this same black dot in the same spot. It kind of looked like a timer, but not really. It didn’t seem like an explosive or any kind of listening device either.
What on earth was this thing?
Echo frowned, not feeling lightheaded anymore as she continued her search, moving further toward the back of the hold.
The containers here all seemed to be filled with guns-nothing else. After going through several, she could tell their weights weren’t that different, but to someone like Echo, who made her living with her hands, even a small difference was easy to pick up.
One box felt wrong.
Opening the suspicious box, Echo saw it was filled with square blocks-definitely not guns. She reached in to pull one out, but as she lifted the lid slightly, she felt a tug.
She immediately froze. They were all connected. Lifting one carefully, she noticed a thin wire linking the blocks together. Echo raised an eyebrow and examined it more closely.
Meanwhile, Ryan was making his way to the captain’s quarters without any resistance.
The gunfire on his ship had started to die down, while the fighting on the nearby warship intensified.
He didn’t need to see it to know that most of the defense forces were stationed on the warship, while this one barely had any protection.
He kicked open the half-closed door to the captain’s quarters, spotting two tough-looking men already restrained by his own guys.
Ryan coldly glanced at them, then ignored their angry, grim faces as he took the captain’s seat and adjusted the ship’s surveillance system.
As the camera feeds jumped around, Ryan saw that his men had almost taken complete control of the ship. They were spread out-some checking the weapons, others patrolling-covering every corner. But there was no sign of Echo.
His expression darkened.
“Ryan, what the hell are you doing? Stealing our cargo? What’s your deal?” one of the restrained men barked, his voice full of bravado but clearly hiding fear.
Ryan turned to him with a cold stare, noticing the mix of anger and trembling in the man’s eyes.
Narrowing his own eyes, Ryan said icily, “I told you, I don’t want to see any men.”
“Understood, sir. My apologies,” Adolph’s subordinate immediately stiffened and, without another word, dragged the two men outside.
Two muffled grunts followed, and the man next to Ryan knew the two men were done-the beauty of a silenced pistol.
Suddenly, a massive explosion echoed across the sea, and Ryan raised an eyebrow as he turned to look.
The farthest of the disguised warships erupted in a fiery blast, flames shooting into the sky as the entire ship was engulfed in a blazing inferno. The intense heat waves hit them even from that distance, distorting the air from the sheer power of the explosion.
In the distance, Adolph’s warship, which had been barely visible before, began to slowly approach, its commanding presence impossible to ignore as it closed in.
“Ryan, that was beautiful. When are you gonna get me one warship too?” The ship’s comms screen suddenly switched, showing Adolph’s grinning face.
Ryan looked at his smirking lips and the excitement in his eyes, and coldly said, “Just this once.”
Adolph laughed and replied, “Come on, you know I wouldn’t have fired if I thought it’d be a threat to you. I calculated the range and the blast radius-it wasn’t even close to your ship.”
Ryan’s face remained stony as he said in a deep voice, “Doesn’t matter.”
Adolph’s smile faltered as he pouted, “Man, you’re always so picky. But look at that-I launched one torpedo, and the result speaks for itself.”
He didn’t need to boast. Ryan could hear it. Adolph’s torpedo hit, and the heavy gunfire from the other disguised warships quickly died down.
They might be military ships, but that didn’t mean the people delivering the goods knew how to use them.
Adolph had Cobra on his side, which made a big difference. These delivery guys probably didn’t have anyone skilled enough to handle real combat.
“Boss, we’ve taken control of the other two ships as well.” The screen flickered, and Hawk’s face replaced Adolph’s.
Ryan nodded and said in a low voice, “Search every inch.”
Even though the ships had decent firepower, taking them down this easily meant they had to be cautious.
“Understood,” Hawk replied without hesitation.
“Boss, let’s head back to the ship. I’ll take care of finding Echo. After all, this isn’t our vessel,” Bill, who had been sitting behind Hawk, slid into view on the screen and addressed Ryan.
Bill and Hawk had been surprised when Ryan ordered them to pick him up and bring him onto the ship. They later realized the clumsy person struggling was Echo.
Since it was Adolph’s crew, Bill and Hawk had been busy giving orders and hadn’t noticed who was boarding the ship. When they found out it was Echo, they were concerned, especially hearing she got seasick and clearly couldn’t swim.
But what surprised them most was that Ryan himself had gone on board to find her.
Ryan frowned slightly and said coldly, “I know what I’m doing. You two focus on your tasks.”
Hawk and Bill exchanged a glance and nodded before ending the call.
Ryan’s icy gaze swept over the controls in the captain’s room, and he activated the ship’s public announcement system.
Without glancing at the green light that blinked on, he said coldly, “Echo, you have one minute to show up in the captain’s quarters.”
His voice was cold and commanding, echoing through the ship.