Qi Hai's Final Military Order

At dawn, a Navy patrol ship sailed into Graystone Port.

There was no 16th Branch flag at its bow, only a Joint Inspection order.

When Major Thorne stepped onto the dock, fifty fully armed Marines followed behind him.

Hawk immediately struggled to his feet.

"Thorne! Qi Hai colluded with pirates and launched a mutiny. Arrest every last one of them!"

Thorne did not look at him.

"Seal off the western warehouse and count the rescued personnel. Divide the evidence into three sealed sets. No one is to handle it alone."

Two squads of Marines immediately moved out.

Hawk's face turned ashen.

"Didn't you hear what I said?"

"I heard you."

Thorne removed his gloves and inspected the temporary shackles on Hawk's wrists.

"You stand accused of human trafficking, shelling civilians, and destroying evidence. Until the charges are cleared, you are not qualified to give me orders."

Hawk roared.

"I'm a colonel!"

"Now you're a suspect."

Thorne raised a hand.

"Replace those with Navy shackles. Hold him in solitary confinement."

Two Marines escorted Hawk away.

Only then did Thorne walk over to Qi Hai and take out a document stamped with Headquarters' seal.

"The commander of the 16th Branch is implicated in this case, and Major Qi Hai disobeyed orders. Under the Joint Inspection Regulations, Graystone Port is now under my temporary command."

Qi Hai removed his sidearm.

"Fine."

"Hand over your saber too."

Qi Hai gripped the scabbard and did not let go at once.

"Hawk ordered the shelling of a grain ship and the execution of underage witnesses. Twelve of my subordinates can testify to my disobedience."

"I will investigate."

"During the investigation, the children cannot remain at the branch."

"They are witnesses in this case."

"They are also civilians who nearly died under the branch's cannons."

Thorne held his gaze for several seconds, then reached out and took the saber.

"The command transfer is complete. From this moment on, you may not mobilize a single Marine."

"Understood."

Thorne turned to Su Hang.

His gaze first fell on the right arm wrapped in burn-treatment bandages, then shifted to the stretch marks left between the rooftop and the gun emplacement.

"Windmill Village's harbor, the sunken supply boat, the blue-banded water barrels on the grain ship, and an unnamed rubber ability user."

Su Hang leaned against the notice board.

"You tracked me down fast."

"You're quite good at leaving traces."

Thorne took a glass tube from his adjutant. Inside was a blood-red scrap of skin taken from the edge of a blue-banded wooden barrel.

"This thing shrinks after leaving the body. Yesterday, someone saw you stretch your arm more than twenty meters and pull a cannon barrel off course."

"So?"

"You're the target who escaped from Windmill Village."

The Marines on the dock raised their rifles at the same time.

Lorne stepped in front of the grain ship's gangplank.

"Major Thorne, this ship carries twelve children, forty-seven laborers, and relief grain bound for Frostleaf Town. If you want to make an arrest, don't block the shipping lane."

"The grain ship may be inspected."

Thorne looked at Su Hang.

"He must stay."

Alan stood in front of the children.

"You're going to arrest the man who saved them right after you rescued them?"

Thorne's voice did not change.

"Hawk's crimes do not make Su Hang innocent. Attacking a gun emplacement, infiltrating a naval port, and evading pursuit—every charge must be investigated."

Su Hang raised a hand, signaling Alan to step back.

"Are you planning to start a war now?"

"I'm planning to arrest you."

"There are fifty-nine witnesses here and four hundred sacks of relief grain. Once Seastone rounds start flying, it's hard to say who dies first."

Thorne rested a hand on his gun hilt.

"Are you using civilians to threaten the Navy?"

"The civilians are behind me, and behind you too."

Su Hang pointed at the local dockworkers.

"If a fight breaks out, Hawk's men will use the chaos to burn the evidence. You won't be able to stop me, and you'll drag the people we just rescued back into cannon fire."

Thorne remained expressionless.

"That is not a reason for you to resist arrest."

"I never said I would."

Su Hang took the thin ledger from Alan's hands.

Hawk's private records listed the cuts from every transport route, the handover codes for the Black Gear Workshop, and the personal seals of several branch officers.

"Let the grain ship leave port, and I'll give you this. I'll stay and submit to questioning."

Thorne did not reach for it.

"The Navy does not make deals with wanted targets."

"Then consider it a suggestion."

"A suggestion with conditions is still a deal."

Lorne frowned.

"Do you actually want to investigate Hawk or not?"

"I do. That is why both the evidence and the suspects must remain."

Thorne pointed at the grain ship.

"The rescued laborers may be sent to a safe island by the Navy. The children will be transferred to a nearby base. The Morning Bell Caravan will remain here pending investigation."

One child immediately grabbed the hem of Alan's clothes.

"I don't want to go to a Navy base."

The other children began backing away as well.

Thorne saw the numbered wooden tags still hanging from their ankles, and his fingers paused on his gun hilt.

Qi Hai suddenly spoke.

"The nearby base shares military supply routes with the 16th Branch. Its involvement cannot be ruled out."

"You have already surrendered command."

"Then this is testimony."

Qi Hai looked at Thorne.

"You saw for yourself how long they were imprisoned in Navy waters. If you make the children board another warship now, they will not agree."

Thorne's voice was cold.

"Case witnesses cannot leave on a merchant ship."

"The Morning Bell Caravan follows fixed routes, with port records along the way. Have your patrol ship escort it. Once it reaches the safe island, seal the ship and inspect it."

"Are you telling me how to conduct an investigation?"

"I'm telling you which order won't make them jump into the sea."

Thorne fell silent.

Su Hang held the thin ledger up before him.

"Hawk's personal seal, the contact codes, and the profit shares are all in here. You want evidence, I'll give it to you. But the grain ship must leave first."

"And you?"

"I stay."

Lorne whipped his head around.

"You know the Navy is looking for you."

"I know."

"Your arm is burned this badly. If Seastone touches you again, you won't even be able to open an ordinary cell door."

"That's why you need to leave quickly."

Lorne stared at him for several seconds.

"I can stay."

"If you stay, who will deliver the grain to Frostleaf Town? Who will find these people somewhere to settle that doesn't pass through military supply depots?"

Su Hang tossed the private ledger at Thorne.

Thorne raised a hand and caught it.

"I did not agree to your condition."

"But you accepted the evidence."

"That only proves it has entered the Navy evidence-sealing process."

"That's enough."

Thorne flipped through two pages, confirmed the Black Gear insignia, and immediately handed it to his adjutant.

"Make two copies. Put the original in Headquarters' evidence case. Assign twenty men from the patrol ship to escort the grain vessel. Temporarily settle the refugees on Greenleaf Island when they arrive. No personnel from the 16th Branch may contact them."

Lorne looked at him.

"The Morning Bell Caravan may leave port?"

"You will still be subject to further summons."

"I'll leave contact information for every stop along the route."

Thorne turned to Su Hang.

"Hold out your right hand."

A Marine brought over a pair of Seastone handcuffs.

Su Hang looked at the dark gray cuffs.

"Cuff only one hand."

"You are in no position to bargain."

"If you cuff both hands, I lose my mobility. You know better than I do how many of Hawk's loyalists are still hiding in the branch."

Thorne's gaze darkened slightly.

"You think they would dare silence you after I take command?"

"Benns dared to act in Windmill Village. Why wouldn't Hawk?"

The name made Thorne pause for half a beat.

In the end, he removed one cuff, fastened it around Su Hang's right wrist, and locked the other end to the chain at his waist.

The instant Seastone touched his skin, Su Hang's knees sank.

The Nika Core fell completely silent.

Thorne reached out to steady him, then immediately let go.

"Can you stand?"

"If you cuff one more hand, I can't."

"Take him to the old harbor prison. Guard him separately."

Qi Hai suddenly turned toward his former subordinates.

"Attention, all hands!"

The twelve Marines instinctively snapped to attention.

Thorne frowned.

"You no longer have command authority."

"This is my final military order before the transfer."

Qi Hai looked at the Marines who had charged down from the grain ship with him and seized the signal tower.

"Escort the Morning Bell Caravan out of Graystone Port. Until it reaches Greenleaf Island, no one may take away the refugees, separate the children, or allow ships from the 16th Branch to approach."

The adjutant's eyes reddened.

"Major, what about you?"

"I gave the order to disobey. I led the seizure of the signal tower. I will stay and submit to investigation."

"We did it together!"

"Then finish what needs to be done."

Qi Hai looked toward the grain ship.

"Escort them. That is the last military order I give you."

The twelve men raised their hands in salute.

"Yes!"

Thorne did not stop them.

He merely ordered the patrol ship to clear the channel.

He watched as the grain ship slowly sailed out of the harbor, carrying the children and laborers.

After nightfall, the old harbor prison was silent.

Su Hang leaned beside the outermost cell door, his right hand shackled with Seastone.

Qi Hai was held across from him, while the quartermaster and the two laborer witnesses were kept separately.

Qi Hai opened his eyes.

"Did you hear that?"

"There are footsteps behind the west wall."

"Thorne arranged double guards."

"The guards outside didn't give the password."

Su Hang tried to raise his right hand, but the Seastone left his entire arm weak.

He could only feel behind his waist with his left hand. His dagger had long since been confiscated.

A faint scraping sound suddenly came from the corner.

A drainage iron plate was removed from outside.

A man with his face covered in black cloth crawled into the cell, gripping a military crossbow, with several shadows following behind him.

Qi Hai stepped up to the cell door.

"Who are you?"

The crossbow bolt was cocked.

The leader raised his blade and pointed it at the cell holding the witnesses.

"The colonel said no one in the prison can be left alive tonight."