I Am Walker

“Good evening, Commander. Why are you back so soon?”

Suppressing the anxiety in his heart, Lynch maintained his sluggish movements, pretending to be slurring his words in a drunken stupor, repeating what Roben had said when he first saw Walker.

On the surface, he appeared completely plastered with no visible flaws, but in truth, his heart had long since tightened into a knot, and he didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.

As Walker's gaze swept across his face, Lynch's heart pounded faster and faster:

'Neighbor bless me, neighbor bless me. He won't notice. He's blind.'

【I don't care about this kind of thing.】

Whether Lynch's prayer had actually worked or not, Walker didn't even look at him. He simply swept his gaze around the carriage. “You actually didn't throw up inside. Not bad, kid. Have they not arrived yet?”

Lynch shook his head vigorously, letting out a long sigh of relief in his mind, feeling a sudden wave of ease wash over him.

Phew, the first hurdle is cleared.

The reason he dared to take such a risk was because he gambled that a superior like Walker wouldn't pay too much attention to his subordinates, let alone know how they behaved when drunk. Although he had been somewhat confident, he had still been terrified. If he were caught, getting beaten up would be the least of his worries; the main thing was that he would completely lose face.

Now it seemed he had won the gamble, but... he had to get rid of this troublesome fellow, or else something would go wrong sooner or later.

Lynch narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment, then rubbed his eyes, pretending to slowly sober up. “A man smelling strongly of fish came by just now. He was acting very mysterious, but he already left.”

As Lynch spoke, he was muttering to himself. All of this information was fabricated based on his guesses. If he had guessed wrong, he would be exposed immediately. But he couldn't care about that now; he could only take a gamble and try.

“Huh?” Seeing Walker immediately frown, Lynch's heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, Walker only said displeasedly, “Didn't I tell you to make them stay?”

Whew, guessed right. They really are colluding with the deep ones. Lynch relaxed in his mind and forced a bitter smile. “Commander, I told him, but he wouldn't listen. He said there was some trouble on their end and they couldn't trade the goods tonight. He said they can only trade with you tomorrow. It seems they are only willing to trade with you.”

“Nonsense, of course they only recognize me. Damn it, what on earth went wrong for them to change the scheduled time?” Walker casually confirmed Lynch's guess and said irritably, “Didn't you ask him what the problem was? Did the plan fail and they couldn't get the goods?”

“He refused to say.” Lynch spread his hands. “He said they got the goods, but they didn't completely get them.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“I don't know either. In short, they just need some more time. When I asked him to clarify, he looked at me with total contempt, said I didn't know jack, and told me to just pass his exact words to you because you would definitely understand. He also said you must wait here for his notice and aren't allowed to take a single step away, or else suffer the consequences. Commander, is that man our superior?”

“What superior? Damn bastard. What does he think he is? Just a few deep ones, and they dare to give me orders?” Walker's face instantly turned incredibly ugly, and he growled viciously, “Anything else?”

“That's all. He seemed to be in a big hurry and left in a rush, saying he had to go back and keep working.” Knowing Walker was exactly this kind of person, Lynch watched his displeased expression, the corners of his mouth twitching upward in secret as he asked in a low voice, “Commander, are we going to obey his orders and keep waiting then?”

“Wait for what? We are Rangers, not members of their tribe. Why should we listen to a bunch of monsters?” Walker raised his hand and smashed his glass, saying angrily, “Forget it, let's wait one night. Otherwise, if we really mess up that lord's business, it won't end well.”

“True, maybe he really does have the authority to command us Rangers, and even make us suffer the consequences.” Seeing Walker hesitate, Lynch quickly added fuel to the fire before tentatively suggesting, “How about we compromise, Commander? You definitely can't obey his orders. Even Director Holf doesn't have the authority to order you around, so what does that fishy-smelling guy think he is? However, just to be safe, I'll watch here for the night. If he really shows up, I'll go to your house to notify you immediately.”

“No, you are also a member of the Rangers. Only I can command you. They are not worthy.”

“Commander, I'm too drunk to go home anyway, so I want to sober up here,” Lynch said with a slurred tongue. “It just so happens I can sleep here on your behalf—no, no, I mean, I can sleep here at the same time.”

“This has nothing to do with that bastard's demand?”

“Of course, I don't even know him.” Lynch wore the typical smile of an ordinary worker. “I only listen to your orders, Commander.”

“Fine, then you sleep here for now. Remember, you must act like this in the future. No matter the time, you must never lose the dignity of our Rangers.”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

Lynch secretly rolled his eyes but kept his hands respectfully at his sides, seeing off the resentful Walker. In truth, Lynch really wanted to ask for more information, but to avoid exposing his identity, he swallowed his questions back down.

He would have to rely on guesswork for now. He could ask the deep ones later; they wouldn't be as alert as Walker, making them much easier to pry information from.

Watching Walker hail a waiting hired carriage and leave in a hurry, Lynch finally let out a sigh, leaning back against the seat with a feeling of complete relief. He had finally managed to trick these two troublesome guys away. Next, the Rangers would just have to wait for the deep ones to deliver the goods to their door.

Should he sell their carriage and horse while he was at it? Forget it, he had never heard of anyone stealing and selling a police vehicle.

Disguising himself as Walker once again, he confirmed that he had made all the necessary preparations. Now, all he could do was leave the rest to time and hope that the deep ones would show up soon. Instead of worrying, Lynch cast aside all his burdens and curled up comfortably in the carriage. He chatted with Miss Valente outside the docks through the telepathic conch while picking up the fish and chips from the seat and stuffing them into his mouth.

Lynch had almost cried from craving them when he saw Roben eating earlier. Since transmigrating, he hadn't eaten this kind of deep-fried, high-calorie food. Reliving the experience now, he found the taste to be quite excellent.

He waited for a long time, so long that the free midnight snack was completely gone. Lynch was starting to feel drowsy, his eyes barely able to stay open, when he suddenly heard the horse outside let out a long neigh.

It seemed something had startled it.

Lynch's heart stirred, and he looked out the window. Sure enough, at some point, a bearded man dressed in coarse canvas clothes like a sailor had appeared not far outside the carriage, pointing toward the beach on one side of the docks.

Phew, the target has indeed arrived. But why is it a human, and an ordinary human at that?

Lynch shook his head, temporarily putting aside the questions in his mind. In Walker's guise, he stepped down from the carriage and walked toward the direction the bearded man was pointing.

The pitch-black shore was practically deserted. Only a small boat was moored by the water, and a deep one in tattered clothes wearing a single eye patch was sitting on it. Seeing Lynch, disguised as Walker, approach, the creature immediately stood up with a grin:

“Commander Walker, it's been a few days. You look a bit thinner. Hehehe, you didn't expect me to be the one picking you up this time, did you?”

Those words made Lynch's heart tremble. This one-eyed deep one had actually dealt with Walker before, and they might even have a bit of a grudge. Oh no, dealing with someone familiar made it far too easy to be seen through.

And what did he say? Pick me up? Holy shit, don't tell me the delivery spot isn't even at the docks.

“Hurry up and get on the boat. I'll take you to see the slave owner, Davis. He insists on handing the gem over to you in person.”

Hiss, what a small world. Didn't he only have a small piece of his tentacle left last time? How did he recover so quickly?

Enemies meeting like this... if he got exposed, dying would be the only fitting end, if only to entertain his spectating neighbor.

Should he go or not?

Lynch hesitated for a moment.