บท 24: Smuggled Goods

On the top deck, the original captive crew waited for the captain to arrive while they held onto assault rifles and surrounded the other crewmates that surrendered to the gang.

"Captain! Please spare me! You know I had no other choice! I didn't want to die!"

"We were forced to join them, captain! You know what happened! If I did not join them and operate the ship, they would have killed me!"

The surrender crew kneeled and pleaded the moment Klein Seymour arrived on the top deck.

Being surrounded by their former crewmates armed with assault rifles gave them the impression that they were about to be executed and made them stricken with fear.

"You can't forgive all of them, captain! I know some of them were forced to because the gang would have killed us one by one until they get enough people to sail the ship, but those people are guilty! Their hearts were not with us from the start!"

A few crewmates pointed their guns towards a few selected individuals within the surrounded group.

"Un, I know." Klein Seymour nodded and said warmly, "Everyone, get up. I know everything that happened. You guys did not do anything wrong."

"Thank you, captain. I knew you would understand…"

The surrounded crew said as they got up emotionally with tears.

"I did say you can get up?" Klein Seymour glared towards a specific individual within the group.

"You said, everyone." The person argued.

"I mean everyone belonging to my Seymour Fishing Corporation. Are you and your men still someone from my Seymour Fishing Corporation?"

Klein Seymour snickered coldly before asking, "Tell me, Mr. Reiner. Why did you betray the Seymour Fishing Corporation after how we treated you all these years? What benefits did they give you? Or have you always been a rat for another family?"

"Why don't you take a guess?" Mr. Reiner said casually without fear.

The man named Reiner wore a formal suit, quite the contrast to how the other crewmates were dressed. He appeared more like a businessman than a sailor or fisherman. Being 54-years old, he was also not much older than Klein Seymour.

"Or you can just tell me." Klein Seymour said threateningly and pointed the gun at Reiner's head.

"Do you think I will be afraid because you have a gun in your hand? I know you. You have never held a gun in your life. Do you even know how to use one?"

Click!

The safety of the gun was released, causing Reiner to become more somber and serious.

"Just answer the damn questions!"

"So you know how to use one after all. Nevertheless, it does not change anything. You won't be able to get any answers from me."

Reiner immediately moved.

"He's trying to escape. Shoot him!"

RATATATA!

The crew reacted quickly and fired, but Mr. Reiner moved too swiftly and dived into the sea in an instance. They rushed over to the edge, but the person was already gone from sight.

"What now, captain? We won't be able to catch him."

"Leave him be. Where else can he go in the middle of the sea? Klein Seymour furrowed his brows and added, "Still, I did not expect Mr. Reiner to be a Hunter. That was not the movements of a normal person."

"Right, he blindsided us all these years, but how is that possible? The country has very few dimensional rifts, and they are all strictly monopolized by the government. There is none in the Draco county."

"It's possible for ancient martial artists to move more quickly than that, but I have never heard of Mr. Reiner practicing ancient martial arts before."

"That's true. Makes one more curious about what they have been smuggling into the county. But before that, we need to finish dealing with these guys."

"How do you think we should deal with them, captain?" A loyal crewmate asked.

The remaining 4 traitorous crewmates, who were loyal to Mr. Reiner, shivered with fear.

"Captain, please spare us! We were wrong! We shouldn't have betrayed the corporation! We shouldn't have been blinded by greed!"

"Please, captain! I don't want to die!"

Klein Seymour sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before he reopened them and said, "I'll let everyone decide their fate."

"Hmph, I'd say we kill them. Five years of friendship, all for naught. Who knows if it was even real, to begin with! How dare they collude with the insidious Bloodmoon Gang behind our backs!"

"I agree! I remember they were gloating at the sidelines when the gangsters had their guns pointed at us! They do not care about us at all; why should we care about them?!"

The crew began to discuss heatedly.

Sometime later, everyone finished casting their votes, and a verdict was made. With only a few votes against killing and the majority of votes in favor of killing, the fate of the 4 traitorous crewmates was sealed.

"No, wait! Please don't—"

Bang!

A crewmate coldly fired, and the person slumped to the ground with blood gushing from between his eyebrows.

Bang! Bang!

A few more shots were fired, and the rest of the traitorous crew followed the person's footsteps to the netherworld.

"Get rid of the bodies and then get back to work. Garry, take the wheel and bring us home."

"Yes, captain!"

Garry immediately headed for the wheelhouse while the technical group went to check on the ship's condition. They were the ones in charge of maintaining and operating the ship.

Only the fishing group was left behind.

"The rest of you follow me to check out freezer hold 2 and see what they have been hiding inside."

"Yes, captain!"

As they headed down, they immediately bumped into Albion on his way up. Klein Seymour immediately greeted and asked, "Young Master Albion, you've settled your business?"

"Un." Albion nodded and asked, "Where are you headed? I thought we were meeting in the wheelhouse?"

"We are just about to go check on the Bloodmoon Gang's smuggled goods in freezer hold 2. Would you like to come and check it out with us?"

"Sure, I would also like to see it for myself."

Klein Seymour noticed how Albion spoke and asked, "You already know what is inside freezer hold 2, Young Master Albion?"

"Yeah, but I can only confirm once I see it."

"I understand."

Klein Seymour did not ask further. In any case, he was going to find out soon enough.

Moments later, the group reached the freezer hold 2, and the doors to the large freezer room were opened. Frosty cold air escaped the room as they entered, and the contents inside were soon laid bare to them.

"Oh my god, are these interdimensional creatures?! The Bloodmoon Gang has been secretly using our ship to smuggle interdimensional creatures! No wonder they have high-level Hunters! This explains everything!"

"But how did they get their hands on the bodies of these interdimensional creatures? What channels are they getting these from?! It seems like they are still alive! Do you know what that means?!"

"That's not important! What's important is that interdimensional creatures are all strictly controlled under the law! If the government finds out we are in possession of these interdimensional creatures, we will all be executed!"

Everyone was shocked badly.

On the other hand, Albion was still calm as he walked up the frozen creatures and touched the surface with interest.

"So these things are interdimensional creatures, huh? What are they exactly?" He spoke to himself.

Albion could tell that the creatures were not from this world with a single glance.

Underneath the frozen layer of ice, the binary numbers continued to run in sequence on the creature's pitch-black body like some computing calculations.

The creature appeared quite digital but very much alive.