The deck was covered in disgusting slime. Despite being solid wood, it felt strangely elastic underfoot, as if stepping on the flesh and blood of some creature.
The air was thick with the heavy stench of fish and blood, while eerie, rustling whispers echoed in the ears.
In the gloom, it felt as though countless twisted entities were crawling, their soft, scratching sounds stirring fear from the depths of the soul.
Yet, facing such a nightmarish scene, while his nerves tightened and his heart raced, Lynch faintly felt something was amiss.
Why should I be afraid?
Since the two parties were in a cooperative relationship, and Walker was the representative of the mayor's side, Davis would not dare to touch him as long as they had not truly fallen out. The scene the other party was putting on was nothing more than an attempt to intimidate Walker and seize the initiative.
I am here to collect the goods. I am Walker of the Rangers. If even Walker isn't afraid, what do I have to fear?
If I could easily deceive Roben and Walker, I could just as easily bluff these pirates.
Even if I were truly exposed, at worst I could set the ship on fire and use the three seconds of invincibility to charge out.
There is nothing left to fear.
Bolstered by this courage, Lynch actually relaxed. Under the crimson moonlight, he walked with his usual expression past the two rows of human walls to the entrance of the lower deck. He looked inside, then turned back and commanded the one-eyed deep one: "Light."
"Huh?"
"I don't want to hear any more of your nonsense; I've heard too much on the way here. Either you light the lamp and bring it to me, or you let Davis come up himself."
"Walker, Walker, you're getting bolder. You..."
However, Lynch didn't listen to him continue and turned directly to walk toward the ship's rail.
Whoosh. Several tentacles on the deck immediately stood up, looming over Lynch, while several sluggish sailors also surrounded him.
Seeing this, Lynch actually felt more at ease. He raised his cane, pressed it against a puppet sailor, pushed him aside, and sneered: "I said, bring the lamp or get out of the way. Otherwise, regardless of any agreement we have, it will be declared void."
The deep one's fish face twisted. He glared at Lynch in anger for a long time, but seeing he remained completely unmoved, he could only spit in frustration and retrieved a lantern from the corner of the deck, shoving it into Lynch's hand.
"Hmph, that's better. Let's handle the business first today; we can settle our accounts slowly later. I, Walker of the Rangers, welcome you to come find me anytime."
Ignoring the twitching deep one, Lynch lit the lantern and swaggered down to the lower deck.
The cabin was equally eerie.
The entire ship was like a giant organism. The wooden walls had grown a layer of disgusting blood vessels. Touching them through his gloves, he could even feel a pulse in his fingertips, as if blood were truly flowing within.
"Ah~~~"
A desperate wail suddenly rang out by Lynch's ear. Borrowing the light from the lantern, he turned his head and realized he was not alone.
Several human sailors were likewise trapped in the corridor, only they had been covered by those 'blood vessels.' Their entire bodies were merged with the walls, with only half their faces exposed. As if startled by Lynch, their brows and eyes twitched as they emitted shrill, miserable screams.
Seemingly attracted by the screams, several cabin doors in the corridor opened. A few drunken, fish-headed deep one pirates poked their heads out, pointing at Lynch and laughing without restraint.
Damn, are the pirates in this world all into such heavy tastes?
Lynch sighed inwardly, walking forward with a straight face. He stepped past the onlookers and the heads that occasionally emerged from the walls screaming, heading straight into the captain's cabin where the music played.
And so, for the first time, Lynch saw the wanted criminal, the "Slave Owner" Davis, up close.
He was also a deep one reeking of fishy odors, wearing a filthy captain's uniform. His appearance was nearly fish-like, the gills on his neck opening and closing, his exposed skin covered in fine fish scales, and the surface coated in disgusting slime.
He had human limbs, but eight tentacles extended from his chin, making his head look extremely bizarre, like an octopus.
He was at least a mid-level existence, his strength perhaps slightly inferior to Mr. V, but in this cramped captain's cabin, a wave of pressure surged toward him.
He was currently sitting at a piano, his chin tentacles nimbly striking the keys, playing a melody Lynch had never heard before. The playing was fluid, but the tune was incredibly oppressive. Lynch only listened for a few seconds before feeling waves of irritation, as if he might lose emotional control at any moment.
"Clang."
Eight tentacles struck the keys simultaneously, and the music stopped abruptly. A low, harsh sound, like sawing wood, emerged from Davis's mouth. As his mouth opened and closed, his tentacles writhed along with it, looking particularly comical.
"Walker, I'll give you a chance. You'd better explain clearly why you didn't fulfill your responsibility half a month ago and notify us of the intelligence in time. If you don't give me a satisfactory answer, even if all agreements are voided, I won't let you leave alive."
"Explain what?" The one-eyed deep one had already let Lynch roughly understand the stances of both sides. Lynch didn't feel intimidated at all and countered, "Don't you have any idea what you've done yourself? How do you expect us to notify you? We are the ones most afraid of you having an accident; who knows what you might blurt out if you get into trouble? We were so scared we couldn't sleep for days. And now you want me to explain? I'm the one who wants an explanation from you."
A few vague words without any substantive content left Davis completely silent. After a long while, he snorted heavily:
"But you took no substantive measures against that detective. Not only did you not 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 move against me."
Hell, it really was my own fault. Lynch sighed inwardly and explained for Walker: "Of course we had substantive measures. Didn't we lead him into this troublesome affair and deliver him right to your doorstep? You didn't kill him even after following him the whole way?"
"Don't treat me like a fool, Walker. Behind him stands a top-tier Soul Severer of a fallen god. A single glance from them cleared away hundreds of cold spiders; this is no secret in Rhine. And the Dreamer I tricked into provoking him had strength even I feared, yet that person solved them with a casual wave, not even leaving a corpse behind. I don't want to provoke such a powerful enemy."
Has the rumor developed to this extent? Well, it's not 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 the work for us? If he weren't charging ahead, you wouldn't have been able to get the item."
"True. Watching him being tricked makes me feel at ease, especially when he thought his plan succeeded while he moved the guards away. It was truly delightful." The bizarre fish face bore a ferocious smile, and Davis's low voice carried deep malice, "It's a pity I had to get it myself in the end. It would have been even better if he had delivered it by hand."
"Don't worry, there will be opportunities." Walker's exterior revealed a subtle smile, "It seems you have successfully obtained the item."
"Of course."
The tentacle-covered face displayed a gloomy and triumphant smile. Then, the tentacles under his jaw writhed, and he produced a crimson, rhombus-shaped gem from his uniform. The moment the gem appeared, the entire captain's cabin lit up, and the temperature in the cabin even rose by several degrees.
Hiss, is this the Flaming Red Lips? It's beautiful indeed.
Lynch's breath hitched, and he stared at the gem, his eyes fixed. With its luster and crystal clarity, the charm of jewelry was sometimes irresistible even to men.
He subconsciously reached out, intending to take the gem, but with a curl of his tentacles, Davis withdrew it.
Huh? Lynch narrowed his eyes at Davis.
"Did you forget 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 them into giving up the gem tonight had reached its most critical moment.
He didn't know what the other party wanted or what their agreement was, but that didn't matter. Lynch took a deep breath and feigned wariness:
"You don't trust us and are unwilling to come ashore to deliver the gem. Do you think I would bring the reward out to sea for you? If I did that, I'm sure you would be very happy to take both the gem and the reward, including my life. So you must give me the gem first. After I confirm it is correct, I will deliver your reward tomorrow."
"Hmph, do you think I'm a fool?" Davis's eyes were sinister, and his tentacles stirred, "I'm also afraid you'll go back on your word. I won't give you the gem without receiving the reward."
"Actually, you don't need to worry at all," Lynch said earnestly, "because we are afraid of you, but you are not afraid of us. You hold the weakness we fear most."
"Hmm?"
"If you take the reward and don't give us the gem, we have no way to deal with you; we'd just have to accept it, right? But you're different. If we take the gem, we must give you the reward. Otherwise, if you simply reveal our dealings to the newspapers, we'll all be finished. Not to mention, if we trick you, you can easily move against our ship, and our losses would be incalculable. So you hold our two most fatal weaknesses; are you still worried we won't keep our word?"
"Hmm..." The expression on Davis's fish face relaxed, seemingly finding it quite logical. "Heh heh, I have kept the evidence of those few matters. If you dare to trick me and don't deliver the reward tomorrow, I will give all the evidence to every newspaper and let you be completely ruined."
"Don't worry, I swear in the name of the twelve major gods by the lives of the entire Walker family that I will never trick you."
Davis scrutinized the earnest and sincere Lynch up and down. His tentacles writhed again, and he brought the gem out once more.
"Then, I will deliver the gem to you by hand. If you dare to go back on your word, just wait for war."
"Absolutely not."
Lynch took a deep breath, doing his best to keep his arm steady, and reached out toward the gem, finally gripping the crimson gem in his hand.
It was indeed delightful.
Rate on N.U.
