I Saved Them, But I Won't Take the Blame for You

"The southwest wind carries the smell of gunpowder from the western warehouse!"

Mia climbed the mast of the grain ship and pointed toward the western side of the harbor.

"The airflow has been pouring underground. The powder magazine is west of the warehouses, so the place where they're holding people should be east!"

Su Hang raced along the alley wall.

"How are the fuses laid out?"

"The main fuse is laid with the wind to burn fastest. If Hawk wants to collapse the ground at the same time, he must have backup powder."

Qi Hai jumped down from the signal tower.

"There are twenty guards at the western warehouse's main entrance. An underground waterway leads to the branch's inner harbor. I'll enter through there."

Alan handed the child to Lorne.

"I'll lead the way. The waterway's iron gate is locked, and there are two more sluice gates inside."

Qi Hai looked at the wound on Alan's wrist.

"Can you still go underwater?"

"A fish-man dying in the water would be a joke."

Alan leaped into the harbor.

Qi Hai took off his officer's coat and sidearm, clamped his saber between his teeth, and jumped in after him.

Su Hang vaulted onto the warehouse roof.

"Mia, watch the smoke."

"What are you going to do?"

"Make everyone at the main entrance see me."

He stomped through the ridge tiles.

Boom!

Broken tiles crashed into the warehouse gate, and the guards all looked up.

Su Hang stood at the highest point of the eaves, his black hair tossed by the hot wind, blood still seeping through the bandage on his right arm.

"Where is Hawk?"

The guard captain drew his saber.

"Attacking a Navy battery is no different from rebellion! Drop your weapon!"

"How many people are locked in the warehouse?"

"They're all serious criminals."

"Bring out their names, charges, and trial records."

The captain's face darkened.

"The Navy doesn't need to explain its cases to pirates!"

Su Hang gave a quiet laugh.

"If you can't answer, don't hide behind the word justice."

Gunfire erupted.

Su Hang leaned back, and a bullet grazed his forehead.

His right leg immediately stretched out, wrapping around the roof chimney as his whole body swept down along the roof.

Bang! Bang!

Two guards were slammed into a stack of wooden crates.

Su Hang did not land. He grabbed a crossbeam with his right hand and used the rebound to swing back onto the roof.

"He's stalling!"

The captain raised his saber toward the rooftop.

"Send ten men up there! The rest guard the main entrance!"

That was exactly what Su Hang wanted to hear.

Deep in the waterway, Alan found the first iron sluice gate.

Thick chains wrapped around the gate's axle, and the lock itself was covered by an iron casing.

Qi Hai raised his head from the water.

"Move aside."

His saber came down three times in succession, sparks bursting from the chains.

The fourth strike broke the iron ring.

Alan pushed open the sluice gate.

"Someone's ahead."

Two guards approached with lanterns.

"Who's in the waterway?"

Qi Hai burst from the shadows, striking one man's wrist with the back of his blade before ramming his shoulder into the other's chest.

Before either could draw a gun, Alan dragged them into the shallow water.

Qi Hai pinned one of them down.

"Where are the laborers being held?"

"I don't know!"

Alan bared a mouthful of sharp teeth.

"He smells like Black Gear."

The guard immediately changed his answer.

"The eastern dungeon! Forty-seven people in total, including miners sent from Deerskin Town!"

"Where is the powder fuse?"

"The main valve is on the warehouse's second floor. The backup fuse is controlled personally by the colonel!"

Qi Hai knocked him unconscious with a backhand blow.

"Alan, open the cells. I'll find the backup fuse."

At the warehouse's main entrance, Su Hang had already drawn away more than half the guards.

He did not force his way in, merely shifting continuously between the rooftop and the beams.

Bullets chased his afterimages and punched through the tiles. The more frantically the guards fired, the more scattered their formation became.

Hawk hid in the second-floor control room, holding a torch over the main fuse.

"Su Hang, you saved the twelve aboard the ship, but can you save the forty-seven underground too?"

"You can light it."

Su Hang stared at him through the window.

Hawk's wrist paused.

"You think I don't dare?"

"You dared to fire cannons at children. Of course you'd dare to blow laborers to pieces."

Su Hang hid his right hand behind the damaged eaves. His index finger silently lengthened and slipped into the warehouse through a crack in the wall.

"But you haven't lit it all this time, which means there's something in there you can't bear to burn."

Hawk's pupils shrank.

"Bullshit!"

He slammed the torch down.

Sizzle!

The main fuse caught, racing along the corner of the wall toward the western powder magazine.

At the same time, Su Hang's extended finger passed through a ventilation window and hooked the second-floor main valve.

With a hard pull!

Crack!

The copper channel connected to the main fuse came loose on the spot.

The flames reached the break, lost their supply of powder, and quickly died out.

Hawk stared at the empty valve mount.

"When did you—"

"While you were talking."

Su Hang withdrew his finger and smashed through the window.

Hawk spun toward a hidden compartment in the wall.

"The main fuse is cut, but I still have a backup!"

Three pull rings were hidden inside the compartment.

Hawk grabbed the middle one and yanked it down viciously.

In the underground powder magazine, a small powder keg immediately began to emit white smoke.

The backup fuse only connected to nearby charges and did not pass through the main valve at all.

Qi Hai had just rushed into the western passage when he saw the burning fuse rushing toward him.

"Everyone get down!"

His saber slashed down.

The fuse rope snapped, but the sparks at its tip had already slipped into the keg's opening.

Too late.

Boom!

The blast wave flung Qi Hai away, and his saber flew from his hand and embedded itself in the wall.

Three large powder kegs nearby were knocked over. One of their lids cracked open, scattering black powder across the floor.

The flames were rolling toward it.

Su Hang smashed through the second-floor floorboards and plunged straight down.

"Get away from the powder kegs!"

Qi Hai looked up, blood covering the corners of his mouth.

"Why did you come down? Get everyone out!"

"Alan is already leading them out."

Su Hang wrapped both arms around the burning small powder keg, then sharply stretched his waist and abdomen.

His rubber body wrapped around the keg layer by layer, leaving only a narrow opening facing the roof.

Qi Hai's expression changed drastically.

"Let go! The flames will burn through you!"

"The shockwave is faster than the fire."

As soon as he spoke, the powder keg exploded completely.

Bang!

Su Hang's body instantly swelled, and the heat scorched vast patches of his skin black.

His rubber flesh blocked most of the explosion's impact, leaving it to burst only through the gap above his head.

The warehouse roof exploded open with a roar.

A pillar of flame shot into the sky, while shattered wood and tiles flew toward an empty patch of ground.

Su Hang held the toppled large powder kegs down with all his strength, preventing the sparks from igniting them.

Su Hang fell to the ground, white smoke rising from his arms.

Qi Hai lunged over and tore away Su Hang's burning clothes.

"Are you insane?"

"I'm still alive."

"Half a breath later, and you would have been burned through!"

"So I wasn't late."

A tremendous crash of iron doors collapsing came from the eastern dungeon.

Alan smashed through the final door, and forty-seven shackled laborers staggered out of the passage while supporting one another.

Some were covered in mine dust, while others had feet so badly rotted they could barely touch the ground.

"Head for the waterway!"

Alan stood guard at the rear.

"Those who can swim, carry those who can't! Leave the chains behind as evidence for the Navy!"

Hawk crawled out of the second-floor ruins and tried to sneak toward the back door.

Mia stood by the gap in the roof and swung the Cloud Gauge down hard.

Smack!

A bloody gash opened across the back of Hawk's hand.

"Trying to run?"

"I'm the branch commander!"

Hawk rolled over and drew his gun, but Su Hang's stretched foot had already kicked the barrel.

The gun spun out of the warehouse and lodged in an empty wooden crate.

Hawk saw the laborers and Navy soldiers around him, and his knees suddenly gave way.

"Don't kill me! I can confess!"

Su Hang walked up to him, blood still dripping from his burned right arm.

"Just now, you used forty-seven lives to threaten me. Now you know fear?"

"It was all orders from above! Human trafficking had existed for a long time. I was only responsible for the Grey Stone Island stretch. Without their authorization, how could I have used the naval sea lanes?"

"Names."

"I can tell you, but you have to promise not to kill me!"

"You have no right to bargain for promises."

Su Hang grabbed Hawk by the collar and dragged him outside the warehouse.

Port merchants, sailors, rescued laborers, and Qi Hai's subordinates had all gathered before the notice board.

Military supply documents moved up from underground lay piled at Lorne's feet.

Alan pulled a thin booklet from the inner layer of Hawk's collar.

"It has the Black Gear Insignia on it."

Hawk suddenly reached out to snatch it.

"Give it back!"

Alan pinned his hand beneath his foot.

"So you know this thing can't stand the light of day."

Su Hang threw Hawk beneath the notice board.

"The man is here, and so is the testimony. Qi Hai, you decide how to deal with him."

Qi Hai pressed a hand to his injured ribs.

"You won't kill him?"

"Killing him is easy. Making everyone know who gave the orders, who transported the people, and who opened the door for him—that's the hard part."

"You can take the evidence away."

"And let them say pirates forged everything?"

Su Hang looked toward the watching crowd.

"The originals will be guarded separately, and copies sent to every island. Hawk will be watched jointly by the laborers, merchants, and marines. No side may contact him alone."

Qi Hai asked.

"You still believe the navy can try him?"

"I believe you dared to cut the fuse just now."

Su Hang stopped in front of him.

"My ship could use someone who'd dare to push a cannon barrel aside. When this is over, come with me."

Qi Hai fell silent for a moment, then sheathed his saber.

"Saving us doesn't mean I'll go with you. I haven't given up on the navy yet."