Chapter 167: Chapter 167: Hand Over My People Chapter 167: Chapter 167: Hand Over My People Lin Qi followed the man to a pile of boxes, and as the man tore off the dust cover, it revealed numerous explosives inside.
Li Feng approached, took a glance, and was greatly alarmed, “These bombs look quite powerful. If they go off, this ship will be blown to smithereens.”
Lin Qi’s heart skipped a beat, thundering rapidly, “Are these explosives smuggled arms?”
Li Feng replied, “Unlikely… these explosives are old-fashioned; they wouldn’t fetch much on the market.”
Lin Qi was also puzzled, “Then what are these explosives doing here?”
Hearing the word ‘explosives,’ everyone else was scared witless and immediately fled the cabin.
“Someone’s running out!”
Upon hearing this, Lin Qi turned and felt a surge of urgency, “Don’t go out!”
Outside were people from the Black Mass organization. Once discovered…
Just then, a stern shout came from the deck outside: “Who’s there!?”
Soon after, the sound of urgent alarms began to ring.
Footsteps suddenly came from above.
From the deck above them, there was a rush of footsteps hurrying towards the direction of the cabin.
Lin Qi said, “Move quickly, we’ve been discovered.”
Everyone was on high alert.
Lin Qi said, “Look after yourselves!”
A crowd immediately swarmed out, flooding onto the deck.
Lin Qi also grabbed the little girl’s hand and dashed out.
The alarm reached the captain’s quarters.
A white-haired man was sitting on the sofa when the phone rang, and his subordinate urgently reported, “Boss, something’s gone wrong… I have two things to report to you.”
“All the ‘merchandise’ locked in the cabin has run out! Somehow, these people escaped from their cages, and their neck collars have been removed…”
The man’s face stiffened as he extinguished his cigar in the ashtray, “Recapture them.”
This is the open sea.
These “merchandise” were living people; they weren’t birds that could fly, nor fish that could swim underwater.
They had nowhere to escape.
Once they had run out, just capture them and lock them up again.
The man continued coldly, “And the other matter?”
“The Perseus Ship is being surrounded by unidentified armed ships!”
The man’s expression turned even grimmer: “Armed ships?”
He opened his computer and the radar showed a cluster of dense signal points moving closer to the Perseus Ship, the plethora of small signal points on the radar screen gradually expanding from kilometers apart to barely hundreds of meters apart.
The points spread incessantly, turning from green to red.
This change in color signified that these signal points were now dangerously close to the coordinates of the Ocean Monarch.
The man’s face grew slightly rigid.
He then switched the surveillance feed to the deck’s watchtower.
Among them, the largest armed cruiser was moored near the Perseus, directly anchoring, with a gangway connecting the two ships.
Subsequently, a well-trained group of mercenaries emerged onto the deck of the armed ship, fully armed.
The man recognized at a glance they wore the armbands of the Xiao organization.
They were mercenaries from the Xiao organization.
Each of the mercenaries was well-equipped, standing rigidly in formation, with a tall and slender figure stepping into the center of the frame.
Huo Tingdong, dressed in a suit, draped in a long military coat, with his black hair whipped about by the sea breeze, clothed in black – almost blending with the night sky.
The white-haired man suddenly stood up!
He stared intently at the screen, at that handsome face, momentarily thunderstruck as if struck by lightning.
He zoomed the camera in to the fullest, finally freezing the frame on Huo Tingdong’s face.
“Huo Tingdong…” The white-haired man parted his lips but could no longer utter another sound.
These dozen or so armed cruisers, they were all brought here by him.
These mercenaries were his hired hands.
The white-haired man asked, “How many people did they bring?”
His subordinate responded, “Unknown… but the origins of these dozen armed cruisers are extraordinary…”
The watchtower’s subordinate observed while reporting, “Among them, ten are equipped with triple-barreled cannons. There are an estimated over three hundred mercenaries on the deck.”
Each armed ship had three giant cannons, each of 460nm caliber, with a maximum range that could reach over forty kilometers.
This was heavy artillery belonging to the Xiao organization; aside from that, each of the Xiao organization’s mercenaries came with a clear price tag.
He knew Huo Tingdong, the man who held sway over half of the capital market; the mention of his name alone was enough to cause a seismic shift.
But what was the reason for this man to display such a powerful force, to send so many armed ships to surround his vessel, to mobilize such an array of troops?
Suddenly, another report came from his subordinate, “Boss, the other party is requesting a satellite signal connection.”
“Boss, your instructions, please.”
The white-haired man looked ashen.
After a long struggle, he managed to speak, “Connect with him.”
The connection was promptly established.
Huo Tingdong was tapping on a satellite headset, his voice cold as it transmitted through the satellite signal, “Dieter, my people are now on your ship. Now, immediately, I want you to hand over the person.”
The white-haired man’s face turned pale: “You…”
Huo Tingdong said, “What, surprised?” He paused, lifting his head to look at one of the monitors, “As the hidden leader behind this criminal group, it hasn’t been easy to ascertain your identity. As old friends, I suppose you’d also like to catch up. So, will you hand over the person directly, or do you want to talk first?”
Dieter smiled, “Huo Tingdong, you really have eyes everywhere, bringing such a large force to chase me down here? You’re asking for a person to be released, may I ask who?”
Huo Tingdong said, “You know exactly who. You killed Wu Xianjun to silence him – you knew he kidnapped someone from me.”
Dieter said, “I must apologize for that. It was the folly of my men to kidnap your person, so I killed them. But I run a business as do you; there are rules in business. The woman you want has already been sold. As you know, business is based on trust – money exchanged for goods. Besides… what kind of woman can’t you have? Is she really worth this huge fuss?”
Huo Tingdong said, “You have your rules; I have mine. To take my person, you need my agreement first. If you’re planning to snatch, then…”
He lifted his gaze to the camera: “This is the Public Sea. If you don’t hand over the person, I will kill you. But as an old friend, let me give you some advice – don’t refuse the toast only to drink a forfeit. If you won’t do it the easy way, I don’t mind doing it the hard way.”
Dieter said, “You are indeed arrogant! You also know this is the Public Sea, the land beyond the law. You want to kill me? Go ahead, you and your woman can die along with me in a mutual destruction.”