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

Next, he used the same method to tamper with five adjacent wooden crates. With each cut, he carefully adjusted the angle to ensure the oil appeared to have "naturally seeped out."

It was done by hand, not by human intervention. After doing all this, he deliberately smeared some engine oil on the corner of his clothes and even smeared some dust on his cheeks to make himself look like he had been "busy in the cargo hold for a long time".

“John, it’s not that I’m forcing you, it’s just that you’re treating this shipment too much like a treasure.”

As Yang Xia tidied the oilcloth, he sneered inwardly, "When you see this 'horrific scene' later, I'll see if you can still remain calm."

After everything was ready, Yang Xia deliberately slowed his pace, feigning exhaustion.

His body emerged from the cargo hold. His hair was covered in sawdust, his clothes were stained with grease, and his face was streaked with ash; he looked utterly disheveled—even more so than when he delivered the message.

"Ship, Captain!"

When Yang Xia saw John, it was as if he had seen a savior, or as if he was about to cry out in fear. "It's really, really bad! The tarpaulin isn't just leaking oil, it's torn! Several wooden crates have holes in their tarpaulins, and all the machine oil has leaked into the crates! I just lifted the lid of one of the crates and took a look, and the ammunition boxes inside were all covered in oil. If this continues, the ammunition might get damp and become ineffective!"

John could no longer remain calm. He shoved Yang Xia aside and rushed into the cargo hold: "Take me to see!"

Yang Xia quickly followed, pointing to the wooden crates he had tampered with earlier: "Captain, look here! And here! These tarpaulins have tears, and the engine oil leaked in through these holes! I just touched the ammunition boxes, and the surfaces are a bit damp!"

John crouched down and, with trembling hands, lifted a piece of tarpaulin. Sure enough, there was a noticeable tear on the inside of the tarpaulin, and the machine oil around the tear had soaked through the tarpaulin, leaving oil stains all over the wooden crate below. He then lifted the lid of another wooden crate, inside which ammunition boxes were neatly stacked, but the surface of the boxes was indeed covered with a thin layer of machine oil, and there were even some damp marks.

"Bastards! A bunch of useless trash!"

John suddenly stood up and kicked the wooden crate next to him, making a loud clang.

A loud bang shook the ammunition boxes inside. His face flushed crimson, his eyes blazing with fury, and his voice boomed so loud it hurt the ears, "What were my orders before we set off? I told you to check every tarpaulin and every wooden crate three times! Is this how you checked them? You didn't even notice the tarpaulin was torn, and you only discovered the engine oil had leaked into the crates! If this batch of ammunition is truly defective, you will all be executed!"

The crew members standing nearby and "Louis"

Everyone lowered their heads, no one daring to speak. Yang Xia deliberately lowered his head even further, his shoulders trembling slightly, as if frightened by John's anger—but in reality, he was secretly laughing: John's emotions had been completely disrupted, and now was the perfect opportunity for the Yan Kingdom fleet to make its move.

A soldier guarding the cargo hold mustered his courage and whispered, "Captain, we really checked it before we set sail, and the tarpaulin was all in good condition. I don't know how it suddenly tore... Could it have been torn by nails on the wooden crates during the journey?"

"Bumps? Nails?"

John laughed angrily, "Why did these few get torn when none of the other wooden crates were ripped? And all in the same spot? Do you think I'm stupid?"

The soldier was so frightened that he immediately shut his mouth and dared not argue any further.

John, panting heavily, scanned everyone present, his gaze finally settling on "Louis".

On his body: "Right now, take some men and move all the oil-soaked wooden crates to a dry place. Use clean cotton cloths to wipe the oil off the ammunition boxes! Then find some new tarpaulins and cover all the wooden crates again, making sure there is no more oil seepage! If you can't clean them properly, or if you can't find new tarpaulins, you'd better jump into the sea and feed the fish!"

"Yes! Yes! I'll do it right now!"

Yang Xia quickly agreed and turned to the crew members beside him, "Quick! Come and lend a hand, move these wooden crates to the empty cabin next door! Be careful not to damage the ammunition boxes!"

The crew members didn't dare to delay and immediately surrounded the crates, carefully lifting them. John stood to the side, his hands clenched into fists, his eyes fixed on the crates being moved, muttering curses under his breath: "A bunch of useless bastards... If anything goes wrong with this shipment, I'll make you pay..."

He didn't notice at all, "Louis"

In the instant he turned, a fleeting, cold smile played on his lips; he failed to notice that the adjutant at the cargo hold door discreetly touched his ear—where a miniature communicator was hidden. Just now, "Louis"...

Reporting "oil seepage"

The entire process had been transmitted to Meng Yin's ears from the Yan Kingdom fleet via communicator.

Upon receiving the message, Meng Yin immediately contacted Yang Xia via an encrypted channel: "Sir, John has been lured into the cargo hold and his attention is entirely on the cargo. The deck guards have been weakened, and we can begin our operation."

While directing the crew to move the wooden crates, Yang Xia replied using a communicator hidden in his sleeve: "Wait five more minutes. After I've moved all their men to the cargo hold, you can approach in a small boat and come up the rope ladder at the stern. I'll meet you at the cargo hold door. Remember, be quiet and don't alert the patrolling soldiers."

"receive."

After hanging up the call, Yang Xia deliberately raised his voice and shouted to the crew, "Hurry up! The captain said that if this isn't resolved before dark, we'll all be punished! Also, send two more people to bring over all the new tarpaulins and cotton cloth from the warehouse, the more the better!"

Several crew members immediately ran to the warehouse, and two of the soldiers who were originally patrolling the deck were also taken by "Louis".

They called over to help move the wooden crates—the number of people in the cargo hold was increasing, while the guards on the deck were becoming increasingly scarce.

John stood in the middle of the cargo hold, watching the busy crew, his brow still furrowed. He occasionally bent down to check the damage to the tarpaulin, muttering, "How could it be so torn?"

"The ammunition must not break," they thought, completely unaware that danger was already creeping closer.

Yang Xia quietly walked to the cargo hold door and peeked at the deck—the Yan Kingdom fleet in the distance was still stationary, but he knew that Meng Yin's twenty elite sailors had already boarded small boats and, under the cover of night, were quietly approaching the Xingyun Kingdom's ships.

"John, your end is near."

Yang Xia silently recited the instructions, then turned and returned to the cargo hold, continuing to play the role of "anxiously dealing with the problem."

The first mate awaited the best signal to make a move.

Meanwhile, the crew members John had accused were now silently carrying wooden crates, their heads bowed. Their faces were filled with grievance—the tarpaulins had been checked before departure, so how could they have suddenly torn? But seeing John's furious expression, no one dared to defend themselves, and they could only swallow their grievances. In their hearts, however, they were already secretly rebelling: "The tarpaulins tore on their own, why blame us? This shipment is important, but aren't our lives important too?" They silently lowered their heads, their hearts already rebelling, unwilling to bear this responsibility.

John looked at the crew members, who seemed angry but dared not speak out.

His anger intensified at the sight of his men dawdling and lacking motivation. He was already distraught over the potential damage to the goods, and now, seeing his men procrastinating and showing no enthusiasm, he became even more enraged. He slammed his foot on a nearby wooden crate with a dull thud.

The sound echoed in the cargo hold, startling several crew members.

"What are you all standing there for?!"

John's voice boomed like thunder, his gaze sweeping over each crew member, "This is not the time to be aggrieved! Get to the cargo and salvage it! If this shipment really goes wrong, not only will you all lose your heads, but I'll go down with you!"

He took a deep breath, trying to suppress his anger, but his tone remained stern: "Now split into two groups! The first group goes to the warehouse and gets clean cotton cloth and new tarpaulin to wipe the ammunition boxes in the oil-soaked wooden crates clean, and then re-wrap them with new tarpaulin! The second group is responsible for counting and carefully counting how many wooden crates are oil-soaked and how many rounds of ammunition may be damp. The results must be accurate; there can be no mistakes!"

The crew dared not delay any longer and immediately sprang into action. Some ran to the warehouse to move supplies, some squatted beside the wooden crates carefully wiping the ammunition boxes, and others took out paper and pen to count and record the contents. The cargo hold was immediately filled with the sounds of footsteps, wiping, and the scratching of pens on paper.

sound.

Yang Xia (disguised as Louis) stood among the crowd, outwardly participating in the activities, but in reality, he was discreetly observing the entire cargo hold. He knew this was a "perfect opportunity" John had created for him.

—The cargo hold, which was originally under tight guard, is now being used for "rescue cargo".

With the crew focused on cleaning and counting ammunition, no one paid any attention to him, the "first mate."

The real actions.

"It's exactly what I expected."

Yang Xia sneered inwardly, his fingers stealthily tracing a stack of wooden crates. He used the pretext of "helping to move the crates" to...

Under the guise of [himself], he walked deep into the cargo hold, his gaze quickly sweeping over every corner. Previously, when the puppet had scouted the area, he had only seen a few rows of wooden crates near the entrance; now, deep inside the cargo hold, he discovered that the number of weapons here was far greater than he had imagined.

Besides the rifles, bullets, and phosphorus shells we'd seen before, the cargo hold also contained several crates of heavy weapons—heavy machine guns with mounts, mortar shells encased in metal shells, and even several waist-high wooden crates, which, judging from their shape, were likely small explosive charges. These weapons were neatly stacked together, taking up almost two-thirds of the cargo hold space, while the remaining third was filled with medical supplies such as gauze, disinfectant, and first-aid kits.

"They actually prepared so many weapons..."

Yang Xia's heart sank. The appearance of heavy weaponry meant that the Nebula Nation's goal was far more than just "provoking small-scale conflicts"; they likely intended to launch a large-scale attack. The deployment of medical supplies indicated that they had long been prepared for a "protracted war."

All of this confirmed his earlier suspicions: the Nebula Kingdom was making thorough preparations to attack the Yan Kingdom.

While pretending to count the quantities, he silently made a mental note: "About 300 rifles, 50,000 rounds of ammunition, 200 phosphorus bullets, 10 heavy machine guns, 50 mortar shells, and unknown explosive charges... Medical supplies are enough to support a battalion for three months."

These data were etched into his mind like a brand, and each number made him increasingly vigilant—he had to pass this information to Mengyin as soon as possible, otherwise Yan would be put on the defensive if Xingyun Kingdom launched an attack.

Just as Yang Xia was focused on recording the supplies, a crisp "ding-dong" sound suddenly rang in his mind.

A sound—it was the timeout notification for the puppet technique. His heart tightened; he immediately realized that the puppet's control time was about to expire.

Immediately afterward, a cold notification echoed in his mind: "Host, please note that the puppet control time limit has entered its final ten-minute countdown. Please complete the mission as soon as possible and remove the puppet from the target's line of sight to avoid revealing your identity. After the countdown ends, the puppet will automatically dissipate. If it is not removed in time, it may cause energy fluctuations, which the target may detect as abnormal."

"Only ten minutes left?"

Yang Xia's heart raced instantly. He had thought he had enough time to investigate thoroughly, but he hadn't expected the deadline to arrive so quickly. The cargo hold was now full of crew members; if the puppet dissipated in front of everyone, it would inevitably arouse John's suspicion, and all their previous efforts would be in vain.

We must get out of here as soon as possible!

Yang Xia forced himself to calm down and began to think of a way to escape. He decided to simply say, "I want to leave."

That's definitely not an option. John is watching the cargo right now and won't allow him to leave at this time. Make an excuse to go to the deck? We already used "inspecting the cargo" as an excuse.

Having come under that pretext, going to the deck again would seem deliberate.

Just as he was getting extremely anxious, he caught a glimpse of a crew member clutching his stomach, squatting on the ground with a pale face. The crew member had accidentally gotten too much engine oil on himself while moving the tarpaulin and was probably feeling unwell from inhaling the smell of the evaporating oil.

Yang Xia's eyes lit up, and he immediately had an idea. He deliberately frowned, clutched his stomach, and feigned pain, his steps becoming unsteady. He walked to John's side, bent over, and said in a deliberately weak voice, "Captain... I... I'm feeling a little unwell. My stomach suddenly started hurting badly. It's probably because I got some engine oil in the cargo hold earlier, and I feel a bit nauseous... I'd like to go to the restroom first, but I'll be right back and won't delay the inventory!"

John, who was watching a crew member wiping an ammunition box, turned and glanced at him upon hearing this. (See "Louis")

His face was pale and his forehead was sweating, which didn't seem faked. Besides, the cargo hold did indeed reek of engine oil; while some people occasionally felt uncomfortable, no one thought much of it. He waved his hand impatiently: "Go and come back quickly! Don't dawdle; we're waiting for the inventory results here!"

"Thank you, Captain! I'll be right back!"

Yang Xia was secretly delighted, but quickly clutched his stomach, staggering as he walked.

He walked slowly toward the cargo hold door, deliberately slowing down and feigning excruciating pain to avoid attracting attention.

After exiting the cargo hold, Yang Xia quickened his pace, heading down the corridor towards the restrooms at the stern. (End of Chapter)