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

Inside Yang Xia's cabin, Yang Xia suddenly opened his eyes, a mouthful of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. Seeing this, Meng Yin quickly stepped forward to support him: "Sir! How are you? Are you alright?"

Yang Xia waved his hand, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said weakly, "I'm fine, it's just that my internal energy was too depleted. I'll be fine after a rest. However... we've discovered the secret of the goods from the Nebula Kingdom."

Meng Yin's eyes lit up: "What is it? Could it really be something detrimental to the Yan Kingdom?"

"It's more dangerous than we imagined,"

Yang Xia's expression turned serious. "Those boxes are full of explosives, and in huge quantities. Their destination is a port in eastern Yan. I suspect they want to blow up the port and disrupt our maritime trade routes."

Upon hearing this, Meng Yin's face turned deathly pale: "What? Explosives? This...this is too insane! The eastern port is one of the most important trading ports in our Yan Kingdom. If it is destroyed, the consequences will be unimaginable! My lord, we must find a way to stop them immediately!"

Yang Xia nodded, his eyes resolute: "That's right, we must stop them. Immediately send someone to contact the nearby Yan Kingdom navy with a signal flare and have them come to our aid as soon as possible. Also, go and inform Ni Qing to take stock of the weapons and ammunition on the ships and prepare for battle. Once the navy arrives, we will immediately launch an attack on the Xingyun Kingdom's fleet and we must not let them transport the explosives to the eastern port."

"Okay! I'll get on it right away!"

After saying that, Mengyin hurriedly ran out.

Yang Xia leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and began to circulate his internal energy to recover. He knew that the upcoming battle would be extremely difficult—the Xingyun Kingdom's fleet was not only guarded by soldiers but also carried a large amount of explosives; if detonated, the consequences would be unimaginable. But for the safety of Yan Kingdom, he had to go all out, no matter the cost, and absolutely could not allow the Xingyun Kingdom's conspiracy to succeed.

Meanwhile, aboard the Nebula Kingdom's fleet, John was unaware that Yang Xia had uncovered his plot. Standing on the deck, gazing at the distant sea, he pondered: if he could successfully reach the eastern port by tomorrow morning and deliver the explosives to his accomplices, his mission would be complete. With the Yan Kingdom's port destroyed, their Nebula Kingdom could seize the opportunity to take over Yan Kingdom's maritime trade market, and he would receive a hefty reward from above.

Little did they know, a crackdown targeting them was quietly brewing.

After recovering some of his internal energy, Yang Xia returned to the deck. At this moment, Meng Yin had already sent someone to launch a signal flare; the red flare drew a dazzling arc across the night sky, flying into the distance. Yang Xia gazed at that arc, his eyes growing even more resolute: "Nebula Kingdom, your conspiracy ends here!"

He knew that the Yan Kingdom's navy would arrive soon. At that time, he would personally lead his fleet, together with the navy, to intercept the Xingyun Kingdom's fleet at sea and completely thwart their conspiracy.

No one noticed where the puppet had disappeared. Only the real Louis, locked in the storage room, remained unconscious, completely unaware of what had transpired outside.

Yang Xia moved very nimbly, keeping an eye on the movements of the Nebula Kingdom's fleet while waiting for the navy to arrive.

Thanks to Louis, the "first mate"

With his identity, Yang Xia traveled freely on ships in the Nebula Kingdom. The crew members he encountered along the way, whether sailors wiping the decks or laborers tidying ropes, would all stop what they were doing and respectfully nod and greet him. "First Mate Louis, greetings."

The voices rose and fell, and Yang Xia nodded slightly in response, deliberately mimicking Louis's usual slightly dignified expression, without arousing any suspicion from anyone.

He walked steadily down the ship's corridor, his gaze subtly sweeping over the rooms on either side. Most rooms were filled with the crew's personal belongings or stored supplies such as fresh water and food, except for the one at the end of the corridor with a sign that read "No Entry."

The room with the wooden sign, with two soldiers holding long spears standing at the door, was clearly where the mysterious goods were stored—this was exactly the scene when the puppets investigated earlier, confirming Yang Xia's guess.

"How long have you been guarding this place?"

Yang Xia walked up to the soldier, deliberately lowered his voice, and asked in a routine manner.

The soldier on the left immediately straightened his back and respectfully replied, "First mate, we have been guarding this place since we left the port, changing shifts every two hours without a moment's rest."

"Well, well done."

Yang Xia nodded slightly, his gaze falling on the brass lock on the door. "The captain just instructed me to check the cargo's sealing again. Open it."

Without the slightest hesitation, one of the soldiers pulled out a key and deftly unlocked the brass lock. With a "click..."

With a soft sound, the door was slowly pushed open, and a smell mixed with wood and metal wafted out.

Yang Xia took a deep breath and stepped into the room. The room was more spacious than he had imagined. More than twenty black wooden crates, each about half a person's height, were neatly arranged on both sides. The edges of the crates were secured with special copper nails, and the gaps were coated with dark red sealing wax, obviously to prevent moisture during transportation. He walked to the crate closest to the door, squatted down, and gently ran his fingers over the lid—the crate was made of hard wood, and when tapped, it made a dull sound, unlike ordinary pine or cedar.

"Were these boxes all intact during the previous inspection?"

As Yang Xia asked questions, he pretended to carefully examine the sealing wax.

The soldier behind him quickly replied, "First mate, we check the sealing wax every time we change shifts, and we haven't found any signs of prying or damage."

Yang Xia hummed in agreement.

He let out a sound, said no more, and instead drew a small dagger from his waist—this was something he had prepared beforehand, and its shape was exactly the same as the utility knife Louis usually carried. He gently pried open the sealing wax with the dagger, and then unscrewed a few copper nails, his movements slow and steady, avoiding making too much noise while ensuring that no unusual marks were left.

The soldiers beside him watched his actions without a trace of suspicion on their faces—after all, First Mate Louis was in charge of supply supervision, and inspecting the goods was his duty.

As the last copper nail was removed, Yang Xia took a deep breath, placed his hands on the lid of the box, and slowly lifted it open. The inside of the lid was lined with a thick layer of oilcloth, still covered with fine sawdust, clearly for cushioning and moisture protection. He reached out and lifted the oilcloth, and the sight that met his eyes made his pupils shrink slightly—beneath the oilcloth, there was a dense, even layer of light brown pine sawdust, piled up so smoothly that almost no gaps were visible.

"Strange, what are they going to do with so much pine shavings?"

Yang Xia deliberately frowned, pretending to be puzzled as he muttered to himself, while his fingers secretly inserted into the wood shavings and gently stirred them. The pine wood shavings were dry and fine, with a slightly prickly feel. He probed downwards along the gaps in the wood shavings, and his fingertips quickly touched a hard object.

At that moment, Yang Xia's heart skipped a beat. He cautiously observed the soldiers at the door while carefully peeling away the surface layer of pine shavings. As the shavings were gradually removed, the black metal casing was revealed—the outline of the rifle! He continued digging deeper, and more parts were exposed: barrel, stock, magazine… a row of brand-new rifles!
"It really is firearms and ammunition..."

Yang Xia's heart sank, but his face remained calm. He roughly counted that this one wooden box alone contained at least fifty rifles, as well as several boxes of ammunition stacked beside it, with the logo of the Nebula Kingdom's Military Industry Bureau printed on the ammunition boxes.

Just then, his gaze fell on the corner of the wooden crate—there seemed to be something different hidden there. He reached out and brushed aside the sawdust, revealing several cylindrical gray objects. These objects were slightly larger than a fist, covered with a layer of oiled paper, the edges of which were tied with hemp rope, and each had a thin fuse attached to its tip. They looked somewhat similar to ordinary explosive charges, but with a more regular shape.

"what is this?"

Yang Xia feigned curiosity, picked up a gray object, and brought it to his nose to smell. A faint sulfurous smell filled the air, mixed with a peculiar, pungent odor—a smell he had seen described in textbooks from the Yan Kingdom's military academy—it was phosphorus!
"Could it be a phosphorus bomb?"

Yang Xia's heart skipped a beat. Phosphorus incendiary bombs are extremely flammable and adhesive; once detonated, the flames are very difficult to extinguish, and they can even burn underwater. They are extremely destructive to personnel and equipment, and are weapons strictly restricted internationally. The fact that Nebula Nation was secretly transporting such a weapon suggests their motives are definitely not simple!
He suppressed his shock, placed the gray object back into the wooden crate, and then carefully examined the other crates. As expected, each crate was filled with firearms and ammunition; some even contained phosphorus-incendiary rounds. A rough estimate suggested that the entire warehouse contained enough weapons to equip at least a full battalion!

"No wonder John guarded this place so tightly..."

Yang Xia slowly stood up, having already made his judgment. While the Nebula Kingdom outwardly maintained peaceful trade relations with the Yan Kingdom, it was secretly transporting large quantities of weapons, likely intending to instigate conflict within Yan's territory or to support opposition forces there. If these weapons fell into the hands of criminals, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Now was not the time to panic; he had to get the message out as quickly as possible and find a way to stop the weapons from reaching their destination. He smoothed out the pine shavings, covered them with the tarpaulin, picked up the copper nails and sealing wax, and pretended to have just finished inspecting them. He told the soldiers at the door, "The seals are intact. You continue to guard this place. No one is allowed to approach without my order."

"Yes, First Mate!"

The soldiers responded in unison.

Yang Xia turned and left the room. The soldiers immediately locked the door and returned to their posts. He walked along the corridor towards the deck, his steps seemingly steady, but his heart was already churning with turmoil. Reaching the corner of the corridor, he confirmed that no one was around, and quietly pulled a small signal device from his pocket—a newly developed miniature communication device from Yan Country, capable of transmitting encrypted signals to his own fleet without making a sound. He pressed the button on the device, indicating "Large quantity of firearms, ammunition, and phosphorus rounds detected."

The message was sent out.

Soon, the communicator vibrated slightly—it was Mengyin's reply, containing only two words: "Received, standby."

Yang Xia put away his communicator and quickly walked onto the deck. The wind was stronger than before, and the waves crashed against the ship with a loud "whoosh."

The sound of something. He stood at the edge of the deck, gazing in the direction of the Yan Kingdom fleet in the distance, and began to plan his next move.

"With so many weapons being transported by the Nebula Nation, they must have someone to receive them. If we can find their rendezvous point, we can wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

Yang Xia frowned in thought, "But the most urgent thing now is to stop these weapons from advancing. Should we just take them by force? No, there are soldiers guarding the other ship. If we engage in firefight, it could easily detonate phosphorus bombs, and we would be in trouble too."

Just then, several sailors were tidying up fishing nets on deck. Seeing Yang Xia approach, they immediately stopped what they were doing. Yang Xia, quick-witted, deliberately put on a stern face and said to them in a deep voice, "All of you, be on your guard! The captain just received word that there might be pirates in the nearby waters. From now on, everyone will take turns on watch, patrolling every half hour. Especially around the cargo hold, there can be absolutely no mistakes—this cargo is related to the safety of our entire fleet. If it's lost or damaged, we'll all lose our heads!"

Upon hearing this, the sailors' expressions immediately turned serious, and they all nodded in response, "Yes, First Mate! We will definitely keep watch!"

Yang Xia nodded in satisfaction, then added, "I'll go check the situation at the bow. You all stay here and keep a close watch. Report to me immediately if anything happens. Remember, no slacking off. If I find anyone abandoning their post, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

After saying that, he walked towards the bow of the ship.

Watching the sailors diligently patrolling, Yang Xia's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile. His words, seemingly emphasizing defense, were in reality a signal to the Yan Kingdom fleet—"Pirates are on the move."

It was a pre-arranged code, meaning "we can begin the operation."

The order to "guard the cargo hold" was a reminder to Mengyin to pay close attention to the location of the cargo hold and prepare for a surprise attack.

Reaching the bow, Yang Xia leaned against the railing, pretending to gaze at the sea, but actually awaiting further news from Meng Yin. The sea breeze brushed his cheeks, carrying the salty taste of the ocean, and his gaze grew even more resolute. The Xingyun Kingdom's conspiracy had been exposed; the next step was to thwart their plans, intercept these weapons, and prevent them from posing any threat to Yan Kingdom.

"Since you dare to secretly transport weapons, don't blame us for being impolite."

Yang Xia thought to himself, "Instead of letting you use these weapons against Yan, we should capture them and use them to protect Yan."

Just then, his communicator vibrated again. He looked down and saw a message from Meng Yin: "Ready to move at any time. Should we wait for naval support?" (End of Chapter)