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

"Well then... please wait a moment while I fetch a jar of my prized wine to specially entertain Captain John. We can take this opportunity to enjoy a few drinks together."

"This will not only help pass the lonely time at sea, but also allow you to sample the fine wines of my Great Zhou Dynasty and see if they suit your taste?"

Using the excuse of getting some wine, Yang Xia asked John to wait where he was while he hurriedly returned to the cabin.

Upon entering the cabin, he immediately activated the weather controller, quickly adjusting the wind and humidity parameters over the sea. After some precise calculations, he set the storm's formation time to be half an hour later.

With everything prepared, Yang Xia casually picked up a jar of fine aged wine, returned to the deck with a broad smile, and loudly proclaimed to John:
"Captain John—the wine is ready, please bring your men!"

"On behalf of all the crew members of the Great Zhou Dynasty, I warmly welcome you all!"

Yang Xia finally relented and allowed John to lead his men onto the ship. A sinister smile unconsciously flashed across John's face, fleeting but not escaping Yang Xia's notice.

John had his men carry large and small bags of supplies onto Yang Xia's ship one after another. Throughout the journey, Yang Xia wore a smile and behaved with humility and politeness, displaying the demeanor of a true host.

As soon as John and his men boarded the ship, Yang Xia stepped forward to greet them warmly:
"Captain John... I'm so sorry to have troubled you to bring so many things."

John glanced at Yang Xia and replied calmly, "It's nothing... It's just some food and drink, nothing valuable."

Yang Xia and John stood side by side at the bow of the ship, exchanging a few words as they faced the vast ocean.

Suddenly, John's face darkened, and he abruptly turned around, glaring at Yang Xia and saying:
"Yang Xia... I've come today with a 'big gift' for you. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised when you see it."

"How about... I have someone present the 'gift' right now? I hope you'll accept it."

Seeing John's sarcastic tone, Yang Xia simply sneered and replied:
"What does Captain John mean by this? Why does it sound like he's about to turn on you and become ruthless?"

"If I have offended you in any way, please tell me."

"good very good!"

John, enraged, laughed and shouted at his men, "Bring the man up!"

At John's command, two of his men grabbed a man and ripped off his hood—revealing Louis's face!

John sneered and questioned Yang Xia, "Yang Xia... I'd like to ask you properly, do you know this person?"

Although Yang Xia was shocked, seeing the situation before him, he immediately realized that John had probably discovered that Louis had been impersonated.

However, his expression remained calm and composed as he replied casually:

"Captain John is joking. I have never met this brother before, let alone know him."

John turned to Louis and demanded, "Tell me! Do you know Yang Xia or not? Tell me the truth!"

Louis glanced up at Yang Xia, then turned to John and slowly shook his head. A barely perceptible sneer flickered across Yang Xia's lips as he stared at John with eyes as sharp as ice blades, awaiting his next reaction.

John realized he couldn't get any explanation from Yang Xia, and the anger he had been holding in was about to burst out.

The moment his gaze met Yang Xia's, he clearly felt the almost defiant calmness and mockery in the other's eyes. This look made John feel like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat, an unnamed fire burning inside him with nowhere to vent.

This made him even angrier, and he turned around abruptly, venting all his anger on Louis, who knew nothing about the matter.

"Useless! Utterly useless! Get out of my way!"

John roared at Louis and even slapped him hard across the face.

"Tell me! Did you drink too much alcohol, which is why you're starting to lose your mind and talk nonsense?!"

"This is utterly outrageous! I'll cripple you today! Look at the mess you've made!"

Louis, clutching his burning cheek, looked at the furious John and protested with a heart full of grievance:

"Captain John... I didn't, I really didn't! Why won't you believe me?!"

"Every word I have said is true, I swear to God!"

"I really saw it, and I didn't drink a single drop of alcohol. You can't wrong me like this!"

Louis kept explaining, trying to clear his name and eager to get to the bottom of this strange affair.

A huge question lingered in his mind: why would someone who looked exactly like him appear out of nowhere? The more he thought about it, the more chills ran down his spine, and he had no idea how to explain it to convince everyone. Louis was extremely anxious, but he couldn't find a way to defend himself.

Seeing that Louis was still arguing incessantly, John felt he had lost face and became even more furious, scolding him:

"Shut up! Don't say another word! Aren't you embarrassed enough already?!"

"Get out—get out of here right now! Do you hear me?!"

"Captain John, please let me explain, I really didn't..."

"roll!!"

John snapped, kicking Louis twice. Caught off guard, Louis stumbled.

"Puff-"

A sudden thud echoed as something heavy fell into the water, followed by Louis's desperate cries for help. Yang Xia watched coldly, and even he found it somewhat unexpected that John would kick Louis into the sea.

"Help... Captain John, save me! Please, I don't want to die!"

Louis struggled desperately in the sea, looking utterly disheveled, no longer caring about appearances.

Yang Xia stood quietly to the side, silently watching the farce unfold, without uttering a single word from beginning to end.

It was like watching a poorly made farce; it seemed absurd and laughable. Louis thrashed about in the sea for a while before being dragged aboard by the other crew members.

A minor incident unfolded before Yang Xia's eyes, which he found quite interesting.

Yang Xia no longer intended to remain silent; he slowly walked over to John.

"Humph……"

Yang Xia let out a cold sneer, his face filled with disbelief as he questioned:
"Captain John, I really didn't expect that!"

"So you came all this way so early in the morning not to be a guest, but to confront me and demand an explanation!"

"Look at me, I'm only just now realizing all of this."

"However, I would like to ask Captain John: even if you are here to accuse someone, shouldn't you at least provide some evidence?"

"Why are you making such a fuss for no apparent reason? I really find it hard to accept. Can you give me a reasonable explanation?"

Yang Xia stared intently at John with a serious expression, no longer intending to pretend, and just wanting to see how John would smooth things over.

Upon hearing Yang Xia's question, John gritted his teeth and retorted sharply:
"Yang Xia... I have a question for you: what kind of explanation do you intend to give me?"

Yang Xia deliberately feigned curiosity and responded in a relaxed tone:

"Alright... Captain John, please speak. What kind of explanation do you want?"

John glared at Yang Xia, and after a long while, he said with a disdainful look:

"Tell me...why did you send me those problematic oilcloths? You clearly tampered with them!"

"You did all this on purpose, didn't you? I really underestimated your abilities, which gave you the opportunity to take advantage of me!"

"Since these tarpaulins are all substandard and don't meet the standards at all, why did you bring them to me? What are you up to?!"

When John directly questioned Yang Xia about the oilcloth, Yang Xia immediately put on an innocent and wronged expression.

"What... Captain John, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want! What do you mean by this?"

"Does Captain John of the Nebula Kingdom intend to frame me without any evidence? Isn't that going too far?"

Yang Xia, with his superb acting skills, began his brilliant performance.

He even showed a wronged and helpless expression, and sighed:
He even said with a wronged and helpless expression, "It's really a misunderstanding. It seems that all my good intentions have been taken for granted by Captain John."

The moment Yang Xia uttered those words, the atmosphere in the cabin froze. The surrounding crew members exchanged curious glances—everyone could tell that Yang Xia was right. When the oilcloth was delivered, Yang Xia not only refused to take a single penny but also specifically instructed that "this oilcloth has excellent moisture-proof properties and is perfect for protecting the cargo." Now, John was turning around and accusing the oilcloth of being of inferior quality, which was indeed somewhat unreasonable.

John's face flushed crimson, as if he'd been slapped in the face in public. He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white, but he couldn't utter a single word—he couldn't very well tell everyone that his ship was hiding prohibited weapons, could he? If exposed, not only would the responsibility for the oilcloth be investigated, but the entire fleet would be seized by the Yan navy.

Captain John,

Seeing that he was speechless, Yang Xia softened her tone, but the sharpness in her eyes did not diminish at all. "I know you are anxious about the damaged goods, but I can't say it like that. When I gave you the tarpaulin, I thought that our two fleets were in the same industry and we could help each other out. I didn't expect it to be given a reputation for being 'inferior'. If word gets out, people will say that I, Yang Xia, am stingy, giving you inferior goods as gifts."

These words left John speechless. He opened his mouth, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out, "Mr. Yang Xia, that's not what I meant... I just felt that this matter was strange and wanted to ask for clarification. I didn't mean to accuse you."

His voice grew softer and softer, his confidence waned, and his once taut shoulders slumped.

Yang Xia sneered inwardly, but pretended to suddenly understand: "Oh? So Captain John was worried about the cargo? You should have said so earlier! It would be too much of a waste to ruin our relationship over such a misunderstanding."

He took two steps forward, looking at John earnestly. “Since you say there might be a problem with the tarpaulin, how about this—you take me to the cargo hold and we can check together how badly the cargo is damaged. If it really is the tarpaulin that's making the cargo unusable, rest assured, Yan will not hesitate to buy all of this damaged cargo! You can name your price, and I will make sure you don't lose out.”

Upon hearing this, the surrounding crew members all showed expressions of surprise—everyone knew that the goods from the Nebula Kingdom were always kept very well hidden; not only outsiders, but even ordinary crew members in the fleet had never seen what was actually in the cargo hold. Yang Xia's words were clearly intended to take the opportunity to peek into the cargo hold, yet his words were so impeccable that no one could find fault with them.

John's heart skipped a beat; he knew things were going badly. How could he possibly let Yang Xia into the cargo hold? The consequences would be unimaginable if the guns, ammunition, and phosphorus bombs inside were exposed. But Yang Xia had already put it this way; refusing would only make him seem guilty. A thin layer of sweat beaded on his forehead, and his eyes darted nervously over the surrounding crew members, trying to find an excuse to brush it off.

"This... this is not necessary, right?"

John chuckled twice, his voice trembling slightly. "Actually, it wasn't damaged much, just a little bit of oil stain. It'll be fine after wiping it clean. You're being so polite, it's too much of a hassle to bring up buying anything."

Yang Xia raised an eyebrow in feigned surprise: "Oh? Really nothing? But didn't you just say that 'the goods were damaged'? I thought it was something serious. If it's really nothing, then I'm relieved. Otherwise, I'll feel guilty."

As he spoke, he deliberately glanced at John's face, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

John felt uncomfortable under his gaze and could only force himself to continue, saying, "It's really nothing! I was just too anxious and made a mountain out of a molehill. The oilcloth you gave me is very good; it's really effective at preventing moisture. I wronged you; please don't take it to heart."

As he spoke, he secretly pinched himself—why would he be willing to say such insincere things if it weren't to cover up the secret of the cargo hold?
Seeing his embarrassed state, Yang Xia suppressed a laugh and deliberately breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright! I was really afraid that my tarpaulin would delay your important business. You don't know how nervous I was when you said the goods were damaged, afraid that I would cause you trouble."

As he spoke, he reached out and gently patted John's chest, a gesture as intimate as that of longtime friends.

But this slap almost made John jump up. He suppressed the urge to shove Yang Xia's hand away and forced a smile that looked more like a grimace: "You're too kind. We're in the same industry, it's only right that we help each other out."

The crew members in the cabin, watching this scene, understood immediately—everyone could see that John was in the wrong, but was too proud to admit it. Some lowered their heads discreetly, hiding their smiles; others exchanged glances, clearly sensing that this "confrontation" was...

Quite interesting.

John felt a burning sensation on his face, as if he had been whipped. He had never felt so aggrieved in his entire life—he knew Yang Xia was behind it all, yet he couldn't find any evidence; the goods were severely damaged, but he could only say "it's nothing"; he was seething with hatred, yet he had to pretend to be all smiles. This feeling was more bitter than eating gall.

He cursed inwardly, "Yang Xia, you just wait! I'll remember this! One day, I'll make you pay double!"

On the surface, however, he could only continue to put on a smiling face, afraid that he might accidentally reveal a flaw.

Yang Xia took in John's reaction, secretly delighted. He knew John was like a cat on a hot tin roof, outwardly calm but inwardly in turmoil. If he continued teasing him, John might snap on the spot, making things worse. (End of Chapter)