Showdown

"Are you all back? Good, that saves me the trouble of looking for you again."

Unlike the stunned sailors, Li Mingyuan appeared quite relaxed when he saw the people before him.

"Which of you will go call back those who jumped into the sea? In these few minutes, they shouldn't have swum too far."

"You all know by now that the nearest island is Arlong Park. Without my protection, even if you swim to the island, it'll still be a dead end. The Arlong Pirates won't let you go."

Li Mingyuan's gaze swept over the sailors one by one. Meeting their timid eyes, he casually ordered, "If you don't want to die, do as I say."

"Why aren't you moving yet?"

Li Mingyuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Y-Yes!!"

The crewmen, who had still been frozen in shock, shuddered all over and shouted in unison.

No one dared question why Li Mingyuan had so naturally taken over command and begun issuing orders.

Even though the first mate, chief mate, boatswain, and other key officers were all among the crew.

Yet the instant their eyes met Li Mingyuan's, their courage naturally vanished without a trace, replaced by fear surging up from their hearts.

After sending the crew away, Li Mingyuan turned around and walked over to the captain, who was still unconscious.

He casually picked up a stool that had fallen nearby at some point, then walked toward the railing along the ship's edge.

Sitting on the stool, Li Mingyuan watched the several figures still swimming desperately in the sea, as well as the sailors who had leaped straight into the water at his command and were now chasing after them with all their strength, shouting for them to stop along the way.

Now that he had successfully dealt with the trouble aboard the ship, only the thief remained.

He already had a rough idea about that.

He just couldn't confirm it completely yet.

His order for the sailors to gather everyone back was also a test. Normally, after he had saved an entire ship of people and displayed his strength, anyone who wasn't brain-damaged or the thief would follow his orders. Otherwise, going ashore would only mean death.

But if any sailor felt guilty and wanted to run now...

There were still around thirty minutes before they reached land. No one could keep swimming underwater without coming up for air. Sooner or later, they would have to show themselves.

Li Mingyuan's left eye could use Kamui to distort space remotely and pull them into the Kamui Dimension.

As long as they dared surface, there was no way they could escape.

Li Mingyuan lightly tapped the railing with his fingers, his eyes fixed on the situation at sea. Yet from the corner of his vision, he never stopped watching one sailor on the deck, secretly observing every move he made.

"Um, excuse me."

"What should we do next? The ship is about to sink."

At that moment, someone who seemed to be the first mate hesitated in place for a long time before cautiously approaching behind Li Mingyuan. He tentatively said, "There are several emergency boats on board, but they can probably only carry some of us."

Li Mingyuan came back to himself.

He did not turn around, only saying, "I want one. Divide the rest among yourselves."

Hearing that, a flicker of delight appeared on the man's face as he asked, "Then while the ship hasn't sunk yet, can we load some cargo onto them?"

"Do whatever you want."

Li Mingyuan said indifferently.

"Yes! Thank you very much!!"

With that, the apparent first mate immediately waved behind him. Before long, several sailors dripping wet from head to toe emerged from the cabin hatch, carrying box after box of cargo.

These were goods from the upper cargo holds. Since the seawater had not flooded that high yet, they had been moved out in time.

Even though they could not take all the cargo under these circumstances, they still wanted to salvage whatever they could to reduce their losses.

The chief mate watched the sailors bustling about. He remained where he was, first glancing at the nearby Fish-Man corpses, then lowering his head to look at his soaked clothes. He silently sighed.

Just moments ago, down in the cabin, huge amounts of water had been continuously rushing upward. A Fish-Man corpse had even been washed up. Since he had been unable to tell who would win the battle on deck, he had specifically carried that disgusting corpse up to avoid angering the Fish-Men, placing it near the cabin entrance. But now the Fish-Men had lost, and that corpse, like the others, had become completely ignored, kicked carelessly into a corner.

What a disaster.

"First mate, the sailors who jumped into the sea are all back."

Not long after, the boatswain jogged over and nervously replied to the chief mate, "Should we gather everyone on the deck now?"

"Yes, bring them all onto the deck."

"If I'm not mistaken, that man over there intends to deal with the thief from before. Listen carefully: no one is to resist. If anyone shows signs of trying to flee, the people around them must restrain them immediately. We absolutely cannot let that person get away."

The chief mate gritted his teeth. "The main cargo on this ship was meant for trade with the Fish-Men. Even if it all sinks, as long as we catch the thief and make him hand over the treasures he stole last time, we can barely make up for some of the losses."

"We ended up like this largely because of that thief. Once I find out who stole the goods, I'll make him understand what hell is."

As he spoke, the chief mate clenched his fists until they creaked.

The boatswain felt a chill run down his spine at the sight, but he still nodded and took his leave.

A few minutes later.

Compared to the waterline from before, the rear decks of the cargo ship had now been completely submerged. It likely would not take more than five minutes for the ship to sink entirely.

Yet in stark contrast to the terrible situation about to unfold, the crew on the cargo ship's deck were not anxiously fleeing. Instead, every sailor still able to move stood in a neat line on the deck, as though undergoing some kind of inspection, chests out and heads raised as they faced a man's gaze.

Li Mingyuan strolled through the line of crewmen.

At times, he frisked the sailors before him. At other times, he walked straight past several crewmen as if he had not seen them.

Under Li Mingyuan's rapid inspection, he soon searched the entire line.

Finally.

He stopped in front of one sailor and quietly looked at him with a smile.

"Hand it over yourself, or I kill you first and search for it afterward. Pick one."

Li Mingyuan said softly.

Upon hearing Li Mingyuan's words, all the surrounding crewmen immediately widened their eyes. Almost at the same time, they instinctively turned their heads and looked toward him.

At that moment, a somewhat thin sailor with purplish hair stood carelessly before Li Mingyuan.

He spread his hands and opened his mouth with an unsurprised tone.

"Well, looks like I was exposed after all."