The First Counter-Recruitment in a Jail Cell

The crossbows rose, their bolts aimed at the witness cells.

Leaning against the iron bars, Su Hang ignored the bolts and stared at the leader's belt instead.

Three rings of keys, a branch-issued bronze badge, and half a seal smeared with red wax.

"Before you kill anyone, figure out how you're going to explain it."

The masked man turned his crossbow toward him.

"Trying to stall for time?"

Su Hang shook the Seastone chain around his right wrist.

"The cell doors are intact, and all the witnesses are dead. The Marines will know at a glance that someone broke in. Does Hawk want to silence them, or pin the blame on Qi Hai?"

Qi Hai stood inside the cell opposite, slowly winding a hanging chain around his palm.

The leader did not answer.

Su Hang smiled faintly.

"If you want to fake a jailbreak, you need to release the Devil Fruit user first. If you want to fake an internal conflict, you need to put me beside Qi Hai. Hawk didn't even teach you that much?"

One of the assassins spoke in a low voice.

"Don't listen to him. Just do it."

Su Hang looked at him.

"And then? Burn the jail? Destroy the testimony? Then go beneath the lighthouse and move Hawk's hidden stash?"

The man's shoulders stiffened.

The leader whipped around.

"Shut up!"

Su Hang understood now.

"So the private vault really is in the lighthouse."

The assassin tightened his grip on the crossbow, raising the bolt again.

But the leader grabbed his arm and stared at the Seastone Handcuffs on Su Hang's wrist.

"Let him out and move him beside Qi Hai. Once everyone's dead, smash open the drain and make it look like the two of them escaped together."

"He's a Devil Fruit user."

"He's been in contact with Seastone too long. He can barely stand. Ordinary shackles will be enough."

The cell door opened.

Two assassins supported Su Hang from either side.

The leader took out a key, removed the Seastone Handcuffs, replaced them with an ordinary iron chain, and shoved him into the empty cell beside Qi Hai.

The iron door slammed shut.

Strength flowed back into his limbs.

Su Hang did not move immediately. He merely flexed his numb right hand.

The leader headed toward the laborer witnesses' cell.

"Kill them first, then the quartermaster. Finally, burn the contracts and names in the lighthouse vault. Leave the port before dawn."

Qi Hai asked coldly, "What did Hawk give you?"

"Major, you've already been expelled. You still think you can interrogate people?"

Su Hang pressed his index finger against a crack in the wall.

"He hasn't been expelled yet. As for you, you'll soon be recorded in another testimony."

His finger quietly stretched out, slipping through a gap between loose bricks in the wall and curling around toward the back of the corridor.

The keys were on the leader's belt.

With a light hook.

The bronze ring slipped free and rolled along the base of the wall into the shadows.

Su Hang withdrew his finger, and the keys had already fallen into his palm.

Click.

The cell lock turned.

The leader abruptly looked back and saw only Su Hang still standing behind the iron bars.

"What was that sound?"

Su Hang tilted his chin.

"Your men are shaking. They might dare kill pirates. But when it comes to killing chained children and laborers, their hands might not be so steady."

"Quit sowing discord!"

One assassin stepped forward angrily and smashed the back of his blade against the bars.

Su Hang suddenly grabbed the cell door behind him, stretched out both arms, and pulled the entire iron door open as far as it would go.

The hinges let out a piercing crack. Just as the assassin realized something was wrong, Su Hang released it.

Boom!

The heavy iron door violently swung back and struck the blade.

The saber snapped in two, and the broken fragment spun into the wall.

The assassin took the edge of the door squarely in the chest and was sent flying several steps, crashing into the two behind him.

"Move!"

The leader pulled the trigger on his crossbow.

At the same time, Qi Hai flung out his chain.

The chain passed through the bars, wrapped around the crossbow arm, and yanked it downward.

The bolt grazed over Su Hang's head and buried itself in a wooden beam.

Su Hang stepped onto the cell door, his rubber legs compressing backward.

Bang!

He shot forward sideways, his shoulder slamming into the leader's chest.

Before the man hit the ground, Su Hang's right arm had already wrapped around two iron bars and seized another cell door on the other side.

He pulled it tight.

"Let go!"

The second cell door slammed back into the corridor, shattering two military crossbows at once.

Wood splinters and bowstrings lashed across the assassins' faces, forcing several of them to stagger back.

Qi Hai picked up the broken saber from the ground and held its blunt side forward.

"The two on the left are mine."

"Don't kill them."

"I know you want testimony."

Qi Hai stepped into the corridor, sweeping his chain across their ankles.

One assassin fell. Just as he reached for the dagger at his waist, the blunt side of the saber smashed into his wrist.

Bone cracked.

The scream had barely left his mouth when Qi Hai drove a knee into his chin, smashing him back onto the ground.

On the other side, three assassins rushed toward the laborer witnesses' cell.

Su Hang gripped the iron bars on both sides of the corridor with both hands, pulling his body back into the shape of a bow.

"You took the wrong path."

Both feet left the ground!

His rubber body snapped back with a thunderous rebound.

Su Hang hurtled through the center of the corridor, his feet kicking all three men's knife-holding hands in rapid succession.

The blades flew from their hands, and every wrist twisted outward.

The last man turned and ran.

Su Hang's arm shot over ten meters, his fingers hooking around the iron drain cover.

He yanked it up, and the cover slammed into the fleeing man's knees.

Thud!

The man dropped to his knees at the doorway, his nose smashing against the stone steps as blood poured over his face.

The leader crawled toward a fallen crossbow, still trying to destroy the red-wax seal at his waist.

Qi Hai stepped on his hand and pressed the broken saber beside his ear.

"Who gave you the order to silence them?"

"There was no order! We're Colonel Hawk's guards. We only wanted to get him out!"

Su Hang picked up the red-wax seal.

"You need fire oil to rescue someone?"

A line of tiny words was carved inside the seal: West Lighthouse, second floor, clear the vault after nightfall.

He tossed the seal in front of the leader.

"You can keep making things up. If even one item is missing from the lighthouse vault, Thorne will come looking for you first."

The leader's expression finally changed.

Orderly footsteps suddenly sounded outside.

"Old Port Jail! Everyone, drop your weapons!"

Thorne led his men through the main doors, their gun barrels quickly covering the corridor.

He first saw the assassins scattered across the floor, then looked toward Su Hang standing outside the cell door.

"Where are your Seastone Handcuffs?"

Su Hang tossed him the keys.

"They opened them for me."

Thorne caught the keys, recognized the 16th Branch jail number, and his voice sank.

"Where are the guards?"

Qi Hai answered, "In the duty room. They may still be alive. These men entered through the drain, carrying jail keys and branch access badges. Their targets were the witnesses and the quartermaster."

Thorne crouched to inspect the crossbows.

The 16th Branch armory serial numbers were carved into the frames, and the bolt grooves were coated with Blood-Sealing Poison.

The two assassins who were still conscious were dragged to the wall and shackled separately.

Su Hang pointed at the red-wax seal.

"After silencing everyone, they were going to clear out the West Lighthouse vault. I didn't speak the rest for them. You can interrogate them yourself."

Thorne stared at him for a moment.

"You had a chance to escape."

Su Hang kicked a dagger away.

"If I escaped, Hawk could claim I did everything tonight. Keeping two men alive is worth more than killing two more."

Before dawn, the duty guards were rescued from the storage room.

The military doctor confirmed that they had inhaled sleeping gas, and the signatures on the shift-change documents had also been forged.

The two assassins did not hold out for long.

One admitted he had been assigned by Hawk's confidant, while the other handed over a hit list hidden in the sole of his shoe.

The names, cell locations, and order of attack matched the scene exactly.

Thorne closed the final statement.

"The charges that Qi Hai colluded with pirates and released suspects have been dropped. Evidence that Hawk shelled civilians, trafficked people, and sent assassins to silence witnesses has already been sent to Headquarters."

Qi Hai asked, "What about my insubordination?"

Thorne took out another order.

"You had valid reasons for refusing the execution and taking the signal tower, so you will not be charged with rebellion. But you mobilized troops without authorization and assaulted your superior officer. The Marines will not allow you to remain in service."

The document was handed to Qi Hai.

Permanently expelled.

Qi Hai read it and folded the document neatly.

"What about my twelve subordinates?"

"They will retain their military status and be transferred to other branches. You took all the responsibility yourself, so they will only receive one disciplinary mark for disobeying orders."

"That's enough."

Qi Hai walked out of the jail, no longer carrying a saber at his waist.

Su Hang stood outside the door, dangling the Seastone Handcuffs from his fingers.

"Can you board my ship now?"

"You always recruit people right after they've been expelled?"

"That way, I don't have to pay the Marines a redemption fee."

Qi Hai did not smile.

"I won't be a pirate, and I won't rob things for you."

Su Hang put away the handcuffs.

"The position isn't subordinate. When I build a fleet, you'll be responsible for keeping watch on the captains. If you find an order crossing the line, question it publicly. If the time comes when you need to act, you can draw your blade."

Thorne looked up at him.

"You want to recruit someone whose job is to oppose you?"

Su Hang looked at Qi Hai.

"Recruitment says, 'Trust me.' Anti-recruitment only asks, 'Who's going to keep you in check?' My power will only keep growing. Someone has to dare stand in front of the cannons and say stop."

Qi Hai fell silent for a long while, then turned to look toward the western lighthouse.

"There's dirty money in Hawk's private vault, and possibly weapons and drugs as well. Let me see how you handle it first."

Su Hang raised a foot and walked down the stone steps.

"Fine."

Qi Hai picked up the Seastone Handcuffs and followed behind him.

"If you pocket the dirty money for yourself, I'll personally put Seastone on you."