Delivered in Person

The deck was covered in disgusting slime. Though it was made of hard wood, stepping on it gave a bizarre sense of elasticity, as if he were treading on the flesh of some living creature.

His nose was filled with a heavy stench of fish and blood, while eerie rustling whispers echoed in his ears.

In the gloom, countless twisted entities seemed to be crawling, the rustling sounds evoking a deep, instinctual fear from the bottom of his heart.

Yet, facing this nightmare-like scene, even as his mind tensed and his heart raced, Lynch faintly felt that something was off.

Why should I be afraid?

Since the two sides were in a cooperative relationship, as the representative of the mayor's faction, Davis wouldn't dare touch Walker as long as they hadn't completely fallen out. The only reason the other party put on this show was to intimidate Walker and seize the upper hand.

I'm here to collect the goods. I am Walker of the Rangers. If Walker isn't afraid, what do I have to fear?

If I could easily trick Roben and Walker away, I can easily bluff you pirates too.

Even if I'm exposed, at worst I'll set the ship on fire and use my three seconds of invincibility to break out.

There's nothing left to fear.

With his courage bolstered, Lynch relaxed instead. Under the crimson moonlight, he walked with an ordinary expression past the two rows of people to the entrance of the lower deck. Peering inside, he turned back and ordered the one-eyed deep one, “Lantern.”

“Hmm?”

“I don't want to hear any more of your nonsense. I've heard too much of it along the way. Now, either you light the lantern and bring it over to me, or you have Davis come up himself.”

“Walker, Walker, you're getting bolder and bolder, you...”

However, Lynch didn't listen to him finish. He turned right around and walked toward the gunwale.

Whoosh. Several tentacles on the deck immediately stood erect, looming over Lynch, while a few sluggish sailors also closed in.

Seeing this, Lynch felt even more reassured. He raised his cane against a puppet sailor, pushing him aside, and sneered, “I said, bring the lantern over, or get out of my way. Otherwise, whatever agreement we have is void.”

The one-eyed deep one's fish-like face contorted. He glared at Lynch for a long moment, but seeing that Lynch was completely unmoved, he could only spit in anger, grab a lantern from a corner of the deck, and shove it into Lynch's hand.

“Hmph, that's more like it. Business first today. We can settle any other scores slowly in the future. I, Walker of the Rangers, welcome you to look for me anytime.”

Ignoring the deep one whose fishy face was twitching, Lynch lit the lantern and swaggered down beneath the deck.

The cabins below were just as bizarre.

The entire ship was like a giant living organism. A disgusting layer of blood vessels had grown over the wooden walls. Touching them through his gloves, his fingertips could even feel a throbbing sensation, as if real blood were flowing inside.

“Ahhh...”

A wail of despair suddenly rang out by Lynch's ear. Turning his head with the help of the lantern's light, Lynch realized he wasn't alone.

Several human sailors were also in the corridor, except they had already been covered by those 'blood vessels.' Their entire bodies were integrated into the walls, with only half of their faces exposed. As if startled by Lynch, their features twitched as they let out shrill, agonizing screams.

Seemingly drawn by the screams, several cabin doors in the corridor swung open. A few drunken, fish-headed deep-one pirates poked their heads out, pointing at Lynch and laughing wildly.

Damn, do the pirates in this world all have such twisted tastes?

Lynch sighed inwardly and strode forward without looking left or right. Passing by the spectating deep ones and the human heads occasionally popping out of the walls to scream, he walked straight into the captain's quarters where the music was playing.

Thus, for the first time, Lynch got a close look at the wanted criminal, the slave owner Davis.

He was also a deep one who exuded a fishy stench. Wearing a filthy captain's uniform, his appearance was highly fish-like. The gills on his neck opened and closed, and his exposed skin was covered in fine fish scales, coated in disgusting slime.

He also possessed human limbs, but eight tentacles extended from his chin, making his head look extremely bizarre, like an octopus.

He was at least mid-tier, with strength perhaps slightly inferior to Mr. V's, but inside this cramped captain's quarters, a heavy sense of oppression rushed over Lynch.

At the moment, he was sitting before a piano, the tentacles on his chin nimbly striking the keys to play a tune Lynch had never heard before. It was played fluidly, but the melody was incredibly depressing. After listening for only a few seconds, Lynch felt a wave of irritability, as if his emotions might spiral out of control at any moment.

Clang.

The eight tentacles struck the keys simultaneously, bringing the music to an abrupt halt. A low, harsh voice that sounded like wood being sawed came from Davis's mouth. As his mouth opened and closed, the tentacles wiggled along with it, looking exceptionally comical.

“Walker, I'll give you a chance. You had better explain clearly why you failed to fulfill your responsibility and notify us with intelligence in time half a month ago. If you don't give me a satisfactory answer, even if all our agreements are voided, I won't let you leave here alive.”

“Explain what?” The one-eyed deep one's words earlier had already given Lynch a general idea of the dynamic between the two sides, so he wasn't afraid at all, responding sharply, “Don't you have any idea what you did yourself? How were we supposed to notify you? We were the ones most terrified of you getting into trouble. Who knew what you would blabber out if you got caught? We were so scared we couldn't sleep well for days back then. And yet you're asking me for an explanation? I should be demanding one from you!”

A few vague words without any actual substance completely silenced Davis. Only after a long while did he let out a heavy snort.

“But you didn't take any substantial action against that detective. Not only did you fail to kill him for me, but you even gave him quite a few rewards. This makes it hard for me to believe you weren't using him to make a move on me.”

Damn, it really was his own doing. Lynch sighed inwardly and explained on Walker's behalf, “Of course we took substantial measures. Didn't we lure him into this trouble and deliver him right to you? Don't tell me you followed him all this way and still didn't manage to kill him.”

“Don't treat me like a fool, Walker. Behind him stands a top-tier Soul Severer of a fallen god, who cleared hundreds of cold spiders with a single glance—that's no secret in Rhine City. Furthermore, even I was wary of the Dreamcaller's strength, whom I tricked into provoking him, yet that person disposed of him effortlessly without even leaving a corpse behind. I have no wish to anger such a powerful enemy.”

Had the rumors already reached this extent? Well, it wasn't a bad thing. Lynch wore a subtle smile. “You don't want to, and neither do I. Isn't it better to keep him around to do our work for us? If he hadn't been charging ahead in front, you wouldn't have been able to get the item either.”

“True. Watching him get fooled made me feel incredibly at ease, especially when he lured the guards away, thinking his plan had succeeded. It was truly delightful.” A hideous smile appeared on the bizarre fish-like face, Davis's low voice dripping with deep malice. “A pity I still had to retrieve it myself in the end. It would have been even better if he had delivered it to me in person.”

“Don't worry, there will be opportunities.” A subtle smile appeared on Walker's face. “It seems you have successfully obtained the item.”

“Of course.”

A dark, smug smile appeared on his tentacle-covered face. Then, the tentacles under his chin wriggled, and he pulled a crimson, diamond-shaped gemstone from his uniform. The moment the gemstone appeared, the entire captain's quarters lit up, and the temperature in the cabin even rose by a few degrees.

Hiss, so this is the Flaming Red Lips? It really is beautiful.

Lynch's breath hitched, his eyes locking onto the gemstone. Its luster was warm and gentle, crystal clear; sometimes, the charm of a jewel was simply irresistible, even to men.

He subconsciously reached out, intending to take the gemstone. However, with a sweep of his tentacles, Davis pulled it back.

Hmm? Lynch narrowed his eyes and stared at Davis.

“Have you forgotten something?” Davis's cold voice said. “Where is the reward you promised me?”

Lynch's heart tightened. He knew that whether he could successfully trick him out of the gemstone tonight had reached the most critical moment.

He didn't know what Davis wanted, nor did he know what agreement they had made, but that didn't matter. Lynch took a deep breath and said, feigning caution:

“You don't trust us and refuse to go ashore to deliver the gemstone, so do you think I would just bring the goods out to sea to give to you? If I did that, I'm sure you would be more than happy to keep both the gemstone and the reward, and take my life while you're at it. Therefore, you must hand the gemstone to me first. Once I confirm it is correct, your reward will be delivered tomorrow.”

“Hmph, do you take me for a fool?” Davis's eyes were sinister, his tentacles twitching restlessly. “I'm just as afraid of you backing out. I won't give you the gemstone without receiving the reward.”

“Actually, you have absolutely nothing to worry about,” Lynch said very earnestly. “Because we fear you, but you don't fear us. You hold the leverage over our greatest weakness.”

“Hmm?”

“If you were to take the reward and not give us the gemstone, we would be completely powerless against you and would just have to accept it, right? But it's different for you. If we take the gemstone, we must give you the reward. Otherwise, you'd only need to leak the matters between us to the newspapers, and we would all be finished. Not to mention, if we were to trick you, you could easily target our ships, and our losses would be incalculable. Since you hold our two most fatal weaknesses, why are you still worried about us breaking our word?”

“Hmm...” The expression on Davis's fish-like face softened, as if he found this highly reasonable. “Hmph, I still have the evidence of those matters. If you dare to trick me and fail to deliver the reward tomorrow, I will hand all the evidence over to every newspaper and ruin you completely.”

“Rest assured, I swear by the lives of the entire Walker family to the twelve major gods that I will never deceive you.”

Davis scrutinized Lynch's solemn and earnest face from head to toe. His tentacles wriggled again, pulling the gemstone back out.

“Then, I shall hand the gemstone to you personally. If you dare to back out, prepare for war.”

“Absolutely not.”

Lynch took a deep breath, keeping his arm as steady as possible. He reached out toward the gemstone and finally held the crimson jewel in his hand.

It was indeed delightful.