The boss of a foreign organization called the police, claiming that he was defrauded by me

He looked up at the starry sky, its brilliance seemingly guiding him. Yang Xia took a deep breath, his gaze hardening—no matter the difficulties and dangers ahead, he would never back down. He was determined to uncover the secrets of the Nebula Kingdom and protect his country and people. Otherwise, all their preparations would be in vain, leaving them unable to explain themselves to the highest leaders of the Nebula Kingdom and jeopardizing their plans.

John stood on the deck, gazing in the direction of Yang Xia's fleet into the night, his fingers unconsciously tightening around the hilt of his sword. The sea breeze ruffled his clothes, carrying the salty taste of the sea, but it did nothing to dispel the anxiety in his heart. He felt that the calm of the night was like the calm before the storm, and Yang Xia's dark ship was like a lurking beast, ready to bare its fangs at any moment.

"Captain, the person has been pulled aboard!"

John's thoughts were interrupted by the adjutant's voice. He quickly turned around and walked to the ship's side, where he saw several crew members surrounding a soaking wet man huddled on the deck, his teeth chattering and seawater dripping from his clothes.

When John approached and saw the man's face clearly, he stopped abruptly, a look of surprise flashing in his eyes. He crouched down, his voice filled with disbelief: "Louis? How could it be you? Weren't you guarding the middle deck? How did you fall into the sea?"

Louis looked up, his face full of grievance. He wiped the seawater from his face and said in a hoarse voice, "Captain John, I... I heard some noise on the deck and thought I'd come and check it out. But it was too dark here, and I didn't see the steps clearly. I slipped and fell. Luckily, my brothers found me quickly, otherwise I probably would have lost my life in the sea."

As he spoke, he shivered and hugged his arms tightly: "The seawater is so cold. When I first fell in, I felt like all the bones in my body were frozen, and I almost didn't have the strength to struggle."

John frowned, looking Louis up and down. Seeing his pale face, purple lips, and soaked clothes, he didn't seem to be lying. His suspicions lessened slightly. He stood up, his tone slightly displeased: "Alright, stop complaining. If you hadn't been careless, this wouldn't have happened. Consider this a lesson; be more careful next time and don't be so clumsy."

Louis nodded quickly, as if afraid that John would scold him again: "Yes, yes, Captain, you are right. I will definitely pay attention next time and never make this mistake again."

"Go change into dry clothes quickly,"

John waved his hand and then instructed, "After you change your clothes, you will personally go to the middle deck to keep watch. You must be extra vigilant tonight. No matter who approaches, you must question them carefully. Under no circumstances can anyone touch those goods. Remember, this shipment is of vital importance to our Nebula Kingdom. If anything goes wrong, not only you and I, but even those above us cannot bear the consequences."

Upon hearing this, Louis's expression immediately turned serious. He nodded vigorously and said, "Captain, rest assured, I guarantee to keep a close watch on those goods. Not even a fly will be able to get a single step near the cabin!"

After saying that, he wrapped his wet clothes tighter around himself and staggered toward the crew's rest room.

John watched Louis's figure disappear at the end of the corridor before turning to his adjutant and saying, "Send two more men to patrol the deck, especially the sides of the ship. Make sure they keep a close watch and don't give Yang Xia's men any chance to take advantage."

"Yes, Captain!"

The adjutant responded and left.

Meanwhile, aboard Yang Xia's fleet, he was closely observing the movements of the Nebula Kingdom's fleet through a telescope. When he saw "Louis..."

After successfully entering the cabin, a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips as he whispered to Meng Yin beside him, "It seems the plan was successful; Louis did not arouse John's suspicion."

Meng Yin peered through the binoculars, his eyes filled with admiration: "Sir, your trick is brilliant! Using puppetry to create the likeness of Louis not only allows you to infiltrate the enemy's cabin but also to secretly investigate the cargo. However... this puppetry technique is powered by your own internal energy, so you must take care of your health and not overexert yourself."

Yang Xia waved his hand, his eyes still fixed on the Nebula Kingdom's cabin: "Now is not the time to talk about this. The puppet has already entered the middle deck. Next, we'll see if we can find the key information about the cargo. You continue to keep watch here, and if there are any abnormalities, let me know immediately."

"it is good!"

Mengyin immediately responded.

Yang Xia closed his eyes and focused his mind into the puppet's body. Through the puppet's perspective, he could clearly see the scene inside the Nebula Kingdom's cabin: every few steps along the narrow corridor stood a soldier, holding a long spear, their eyes scanning the surroundings warily. A faint metallic smell permeated the air, seemingly emanating from some kind of weapon.

Following Yang Xia's instructions, the puppet tried its best to mimic Louis's usual gait, slowly making its way deeper into the middle deck. Along the way, the soldiers it encountered only glanced at it casually, without questioning it further—after all, it was "Louis."

John himself had instructed the guards of the cabin, and everyone knew him well.

As Yang Xia approached the door of the room where the goods were stored, his heart began to race. He knew that opening that door would reveal the secret of the goods. But just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from around the corner of the corridor: "Wait, what are you doing here?"

Yang Xia's heart tightened. Looking through the puppet's eyes, he saw a figure resembling "Louis".

A person who looked exactly like him stood at the corner, looking at him with a puzzled expression. —It was the real Louis!

It turned out that after the real Louis changed his clothes, he intended to go directly to the middle deck, but halfway there, he suddenly remembered that he had left his key on the deck when he fell into the sea, so he turned back to look for it. Unexpectedly, just as he reached the corner, he saw "himself."

They were walking towards the cargo storage room.

The real Louis was instantly stunned. His eyes widened as he pointed at the puppet, his voice trembling slightly: "You...who are you? Why do you look exactly like me? Are you a spy sent by Yang Xia?"

As he spoke, he was about to shout, "Help! A spy has infiltrated!"

Yang Xia knew things were going badly. If Louis shouted, not only would the puppet be discovered, but the entire plan would be ruined. He acted decisively, maneuvering the puppet to rush forward. Before Louis could even utter a second shout, Yang Xia clenched his right fist and slammed it hard into the back of Louis's head.

"Boom"

With a muffled thud, Louis collapsed to the ground without uttering a sound. The puppet immediately stepped forward, covered Louis's mouth, dragged him to an abandoned storage room next to the corridor, tied his hands and feet tightly with rope, and stuffed him into a gap behind the storage shelf.

After finishing all this, the puppet dusted itself off, pretending nothing had happened, and continued walking towards the cargo storage room. Yang Xia opened his eyes, a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead—the series of actions just now, though swift, had consumed a considerable amount of his internal energy, especially when controlling the puppet to exert force precisely; a slight misstep could have revealed a weakness. He took a deep breath and once again focused his mind on the puppet's body.

By this time, the puppet had reached the door of the cargo storage room. Two soldiers stood at the door, and upon seeing "Louis"...

One of them approached and asked, "Louis, what brings you here? Weren't you supposed to be guarding the entrance to the corridor?"

Following the pre-prepared excuse, the puppet calmly said, "The captain just instructed me to come and check the cargo seals to see if they've loosened. After all, tonight's situation is special, so it's better to be careful."

The two soldiers exchanged a glance, but didn't think much of it—after all, John had consistently emphasized the importance of keeping a close watch on the goods, and checking the seals was perfectly reasonable. One of them stepped forward and unlocked the door: "Alright, hurry up and check it, we still have to stay here and guard it."

"it is good."

The puppet responded and went into the storage room.

The storage room was pitch black, with only a dim oil lamp hanging from the ceiling, barely enough to make out the scene inside. Through the puppet's eyes, Yang Xia saw rows of neatly stacked black wooden crates, each with a yellow seal bearing a strange symbol—an inverted triangle with two intersecting straight lines inside, exactly the same symbol described by the diver earlier.

The puppet walked to a wooden box, cautiously reaching out to pry open the seal and see what was inside. But just as his fingers were about to touch the seal, Yang Xia suddenly felt a pang of fear—he vaguely heard footsteps coming from the corridor, getting closer and closer.

"Oh no, someone is coming!"

Yang Xia's heart tightened, and he immediately manipulated the puppet to withdraw its hand, pretending to be checking the seal.

Soon, the footsteps stopped at the door, and a familiar voice rang out: "Louis, how did the inspection go? Are the seals all in order?"

It's John's lieutenant!

The puppet turned around, mimicking Louis's usual expression as much as possible, and said with a smile, "Lieutenant, everything has been checked. The seals are all intact, and there's no sign of them being loosened."

The adjutant walked in, his gaze sweeping over the wooden crates, then at the puppets, his brow furrowing slightly: "Why are you acting so strange today? Usually when you're inspecting, you're already complaining about how troublesome this job is, why are you so quiet today?"

Yang Xia's heart leaped into his throat—had his adjutant seen through his deception? He forced himself to remain calm and manipulated the puppet, saying, "Hey, it's just that tonight's situation is special. The captain specifically instructed us, so how could I dare to complain? Besides, these goods are so important, it's always good to be careful."

The adjutant stared at the puppet for a few seconds, seemingly finding nothing unusual, then nodded: "Alright, you continue your inspection. I'll go check other places. Remember, report immediately if anything happens."

"okay!"

The puppet quickly responded.

Watching his adjutant's figure disappear through the door, Yang Xia finally breathed a sigh of relief—those few minutes had been more tense than fighting a tough battle. He dared not waste any more time, maneuvering his puppet quickly to a wooden crate. He gently pried open a corner of the seal with his small knife and carefully lifted the crate's lid.

Yang Xia's pupils contracted at the contents of the box—it contained rows of black cylindrical objects with intricate patterns engraved on their surfaces and a thin fuse attached to the top, resembling some kind of explosive! Moreover, each cylindrical object had the same inverted triangle symbol printed on its side as the seal.

"It's explosives..."

Yang Xia was filled with shock and disbelief. Why was the Nebula Kingdom transporting so much explosives, and why was their destination a port in eastern Yan? What were they planning? Did they intend to destroy the port facilities and disrupt Yan's maritime trade?
Just as Yang Xia was pondering, the puppet suddenly felt dizzy—the prolonged manipulation of the puppet, coupled with the tension just now, was almost depleting his internal energy. He knew he couldn't stay any longer and had to leave as soon as possible; otherwise, once his internal energy was exhausted, the puppet would lose control, and then he would truly be trapped with no way to escape.

Yang Xia manipulated the puppet to quickly close the wooden box, and then used pre-prepared glue to re-seal the torn seal, ensuring that no trace could be seen. Then, pretending to have finished inspecting, he walked towards the door and said to the guards, "Everything has been checked, the seal is fine, I'll go report to the captain."

The two soldiers nodded and did not stop them.

The puppet emerged from the storage room and walked along the corridor toward the deck. Along the way, Yang Xia tried to keep the puppet's gait steady to avoid arousing suspicion. But just as it was about to reach the deck entrance, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps behind him, along with John's voice: "Louis, wait!"

Yang Xia's heart tightened—had John discovered something? He manipulated the puppet to stop, turned around, and asked with a hint of doubt on his face, "Captain, did you call me?"

John strode over, his eyes fixed on the puppet's face: "The adjutant said you seemed a bit strange during the inspection of the storage room. I came to ask you if you're feeling unwell."

Yang Xia's heart was in his throat. He knew he absolutely couldn't reveal any weakness at this moment. He manipulated the puppet to rub his temples, feigning exhaustion: "I think I got a little dizzy from falling into the sea and getting cold. That's why I'm not very energetic when I speak. But don't worry, I'm fine. I'll be alright after a rest."

John stared at the puppet for a few seconds, seemingly trying to determine if he was telling the truth. After a while, he nodded: "Since you're not feeling well, go and rest. I'll have others keep watch over the middle deck. But remember, what happened tonight must not be told to anyone. If anyone else finds out that you fell into the sea and it affects morale, I will hold you responsible."

"Yes, Captain, I understand!"

The puppet quickly agreed, secretly relieved.

Watching John turn and leave, Yang Xia manipulated the puppet to quickly head towards the crew's rest area. Reaching a secluded corner, he could no longer hold on; his inner energy was completely exhausted, and the puppet instantly turned into a wisp of smoke, disappearing into the air. (End of Chapter)