Hawk Didn't Take a Single Beli of Dirty Money

There was no door at the base of West Lighthouse.

Alan circled along the damp stone wall, his palm stopping beside a drainage channel.

The fish-man's nails scraped away a layer of salt crust, revealing the Black Gear mark hidden beneath.

"The entrance is underwater."

Lorne rolled up his trouser legs.

"The grain ship is still docked at the outer harbor. I only have two hours to come back. You'd better not tell me Hawk hid the money at the bottom of the sea."

"Money fears water. People fear being discovered even more."

Su Hang looked at Alan.

"Can you open it?"

Alan leaped into the reservoir.

A moment later, the sound of an iron chain snapping taut came from the bottom of the pool.

The stone wall slid inward, revealing a narrow passage only wide enough for one person.

The four of them descended the stairs.

At the end lay more than twenty tin-plated iron chests, while unopened medicine was piled along the walls.

On the other side hung arms transportation contracts, each stamped with a branch seal.

Lorne pried open the nearest iron chest.

Golden light covered its bottom.

"Beli, gold bars, gemstones—at least sixty million."

He looked up at Su Hang.

"That's enough to buy three ships capable of entering the Grand Line."

Qi Hai stood at the entrance with his arms folded.

"You want to take it?"

"This money came from victims. If we leave it for the Navy to seal away, who knows whether it'll end up in the hands of the next Hawk?"

Lorne grabbed a stack of Beli.

"Su Hang has no ship, no permanent port, and no stable supplies."

Alan's voice turned cold.

"Neither did those miners have homes."

Lorne let go.

"I didn't say we should take it all. Take some to buy a ship, escort the rest away—it's better than letting the money stay locked up here."

Su Hang picked up an arms contract.

The contract was for harbor-defense cannons, but the delivery records listed the Black Gear Workshop.

Thirty light cannons, seven hundred rifles, along with large quantities of chains and explosives.

"Once we divide it privately, Hawk's accomplices only need to say one thing—pirates looted the private vault, and the contracts and lists were planted afterward."

Lorne frowned.

"You're planning not to take even one Beli?"

"Not a single Beli."

"Then where will the ship come from?"

"Let those willing to do business with us provide one."

Lorne looked at the chests full of cash.

"Why would merchants trust a wanted ability user?"

Su Hang nailed the contract back onto the wall.

"Because with all this money in front of me, I didn't reach for it."

Footsteps came from outside the narrow passage.

Three representatives from the local merchant association entered in turn, each followed by two laborers who did not know one another.

Qi Hai took out a temporary seizure order issued by Thorne.

"The private vault will be inventoried jointly by survivors, the merchant association, and the inspection team. If any chest leaves the lighthouse, all three parties must confirm it."

Lorne looked at Su Hang.

"You called people here beforehand?"

"Qi Hai did."

Su Hang said.

"If I chose the witnesses myself, people would still say they were my own people."

Qi Hai lifted the lid of the second chest.

There was no money inside, only wooden ankle tags and lists of trafficked people.

Behind every name were their island of origin, age, physical condition, and transfer destination.

Alan grabbed the top sheet.

"Deerskin Town, forty-three people."

He kept flipping through the pages, his fingertips tightening more and more.

"I know these two fishermen. This woman's child is on the grain ship. And him... he was sent to a northern mine."

Su Hang pressed down on the papers.

"Separate those confirmed alive, confirmed dead, and missing. Don't draw conclusions from memory. Leave it blank if you aren't sure."

"You think I might recognize them wrong?"

"I'm afraid their families will receive false news a second time."

Alan glanced at him, then dragged over a wooden crate and sat down.

"Give me a pen."

The public inventory continued until noon.

The cash was divided into three portions: compensation for victims, harbor repairs, and disaster victim resettlement.

Money without confirmed owners was sealed on the spot, with the keys entrusted separately to the three parties.

Su Hang did not interfere repeatedly, speaking only when disputes arose over the rules of distribution.

"Those who were sold get paid first."

One merchant association representative spoke.

"The gun emplacements and warehouses were destroyed too. The harbor needs repairs."

"The emplacements can wait a day. Wounds can't."

Qi Hai took over.

"The medicine will not be sealed away. After the batch numbers are checked, send it directly to treat the laborers. Every crate will be opened jointly by a doctor and a rescued victim, to prevent anyone from swapping them along the way."

Lorne lifted a crate of hemostatic medicine.

"This batch was supposed to be delivered to Frostleaf Town."

Su Hang spoke.

"Give half to the wounded in Graystone Port. The other half goes with the grain ship. Transportation will be paid from the resettlement fund, and the Morning Bell Caravan will charge its usual rate."

"You're still making me charge money?"

"A trade route built on someone working for free every time won't go far."

Lorne paused, then handed the medicine crate to a sailor.

"I'll give you that."

The three merchant association representatives signed the seals together.

Harbor workers stood outside the lighthouse, watching crate after crate of medicine being sent to temporary clinics.

The sixty million Beli remained there.

But the news had already spread throughout Graystone Port.

The merchant association waived the docking deposit the Morning Bell Caravan had originally needed to pay.

Five damaged merchant ships volunteered to join the next escort, and even the shipwrights were willing to start work first and collect payment after they reached Greenleaf Island.

Lorne handed several new contracts to Su Hang.

"You didn't take sixty million, yet you got five ships and credit lines at three ports."

"Money can only be spent once."

"Credit can go bankrupt too."

"So someone has to keep watch."

Su Hang turned his head toward Qi Hai.

Qi Hai finished reading the last arms contract.

"I only agreed to watch you deal with the private vault."

"Now you've finished watching."

"Don't get cocky."

Qi Hai placed the contract into the sealed chest.

"Hawk's remnants are still out there, and there's no proof the trade route can work. I'll board your ship for now. If I find you crossing the line, I'll leave at any time."

"Where's your sword?"

"The Navy took it."

Su Hang picked up a military saber from Hawk's collection in the corner, drew it half an inch, then pushed it back into its sheath.

"This one's too poor. Keep it for chopping wood. I'll get you a better one later."

"Take care of yourself first."

A system screen unfolded at that moment.

[The low-tier event-type opportunity has deviated.]

[Original high-probability outcome: the private vault is fought over, evidence is destroyed, and all parties accuse one another.]

[Current outcome: the assets have been publicly distributed, and trade route credibility has been initially established.]

[Reward obtained: Trade Route Credibility Mark.]

[Effect: records the host's public commitments and fulfillment results, which may be displayed to partners. Does not possess compulsory trust effects.]

Su Hang scanned the final line.

"At least it doesn't directly turn people into idiots."

Lorne didn't hear clearly.

"What did you say?"

"I said, what else hasn't been inventoried?"

At the deepest part of the private vault stood a glass cabinet.

There were no jewels inside, only a palm-sized bronze navigational compass.

Its dial had no east, south, west, or north, yet its markings were divided into seven layers.

The needle glimmered pale blue, and tiny cloud patterns covered its edges.

Mia was not here, and no one recognized the words on it.

Lorne opened the cabinet.

"Hawk's private collection. Its origin wasn't registered. If you really want it, you can take it."

Su Hang placed the compass in his palm.

The needle immediately began to turn, first pointing above the lighthouse before slowly shifting toward the outer harbor.

"Appraise it."

A merchant association representative inspected it for a moment.

"An antique, origins unknown. Based on the bronze and craftsmanship, eighty thousand Beli."

Su Hang wrote an IOU and pressed his fingerprint onto it.

"Payment upon reaching Greenleaf Island. If the original owner appears, they may redeem it at a fair price."

Qi Hai asked.

"You're leaving an IOU even for an ownerless compass?"

"If I don't leave one today, tomorrow someone will say the thing I took was worth eight million."

Lorne looked at the IOU and shook his head.

"You really make life hard for yourself."

Everyone left the lighthouse and returned to the outer harbor by boat.

The grain ship was docked beside a patrol vessel, and Mia had just carried the last crate of medicine onto the deck.

As Su Hang stepped onto the gangplank, the blue needle in his palm suddenly trembled violently.

It was not pointing at the sky, nor was it pointing toward the distant sea.

The needle dipped low, crossing the edge of the dial and locking onto the ground beneath his feet.

Su Hang looked up at Lorne.

"How many times has this ship's lower hold been searched?"

"Three times. We even tore out the hidden compartments."

Mia crouched down to examine the compass, and her expression slowly changed.

"It isn't pointing at the cargo hold."

She raised her hand and knocked beneath the deck.

"It's pointing at the keel."

The compass needle was not pointing north. It had been pointing at the bottom of the grain ship all along.