The Sea Breeze Brings the First Bounty Poster

The Dawnbringer had barely docked at Greenleaf Island's outer harbor when dozens of bounty posters were swept across the pier by the sea breeze.

Su Hang raised a hand and caught one.

His full face was printed on the paper, the scar through his right eyebrow clearly visible. Beneath it was a line of bold black text.

Pirate Su Hang. Bounty: 30,000,000 Beli. Dead or alive.

There were no fewer than six charges listed: attacking the Marine 16th Branch, plundering military supplies, embezzling stolen funds, coercing merchants, manipulating disaster victims, and organizing an illegal armed fleet.

Lorne's expression darkened the moment he finished reading.

"They didn't mention the rescued laborers, didn't mention that Hawk's Private Vault was left untouched, and didn't mention Grayfin kidnapping fishermen. Even the grain delivered to Cocoyasi Village became evidence that you manipulated disaster victims."

Qi Hai tore down another poster and glanced over the seal in its lower-right corner.

"East Blue Marine Headquarters issued it directly. The investigation in Graystone Port isn't even over, and they've already decided on the charges."

Lorne lowered his voice.

"The bounty itself isn't that high. The trouble is the merchant ships. Thirty million is enough to make plenty of people break their contracts, and enough to make every port along the way refuse us supplies."

Outside the pier, several merchant ships that had been preparing to join the escort had already begun pulling back their gangplanks.

Some tore down the Dawnbringer's flag, while others simply raised sail and left the harbor.

Su Hang watched them without stopping them.

Lorne pressed a hand against the contract chest.

"If we let them go, tomorrow night's medical escort will have only the Dawnbringer left. Brand's medicine fills three ships. One old grain ship can't protect them."

"Anyone who stays because we hid the bounty will still run the moment they see a warship."

Su Hang spread the bounty poster across a wooden crate.

"Bring me a copy of Hawk's Private Ledger."

Lorne paused.

"You're going public with it?"

"Print everything. Who Hawk took money from, where the weapons went, how much remains in the private vault. Nail copies of the ledger beside the bounty posters and send them to every merchant ship we've escorted."

Qi Hai looked toward the harbor patrol tower.

"The Marines will say the copies are forged."

"Then include the serial numbers on the three-party seals, the names of the supervising Marines, and the vault's storage location. Anyone who doubts it can check at West Lighthouse."

Lorne understood immediately.

"The bounty poster gives only a conclusion. We'll put out everything that can be verified."

Su Hang pressed down on the bounty poster.

"Don't decide for the merchants. Let them choose for themselves."

Half an hour later, the first batch of printed pages covered the pier.

The Marine bounty posters were on the left, copies of Hawk's Private Ledger on the right.

There were no excuses beneath them, only the location of West Lighthouse in Graystone Port, the seal serial numbers, and the inspection results from two supervising Marines.

A captain who had been about to cancel his contract squeezed up to the board and stared at it for a long time.

"My ship was trapped in the outer harbor by Grayfin. The Dawnbringer rammed a way through. The bounty poster says Su Hang plundered merchant ships, but I didn't lose a single crate of cargo."

Another merchant frowned.

"The Marines can't all be lying."

Lorne handed him a printed page.

"Then check the seals. West Lighthouse is still there, and the private vault is still there. We won't stop you."

"What if I can't verify it?"

"The contract is void, and any escort fees already paid will be refunded double."

The man took the page, but he did not lower his sails again.

More and more merchants gathered around.

Some questioned it, some checked the dates, and some pulled out the escort vouchers they had received that day, comparing the ship names against those in the ledger.

The charges nailed down by a single bounty poster were pried open one verifiable detail at a time.

The merchant ship that had been the first to tear down the Dawnbringer's flag slowly docked at the pier again.

Its captain did not apologize. He merely ordered his sailors to raise the flag again.

"I won't speak for pirates."

He shouted across the water.

"I only know that the Dawnbringer escorted my cargo home!"

The second ship raised its flag immediately afterward.

"Not a single Beli was missing from Graystone Port's private vault! I saw the seals myself!"

The third ship said nothing. It simply hung the bounty poster and the escort contract together from its hull.

Lorne let out a breath.

"At least the medical fleet is complete."

Su Hang folded his own bounty poster and tucked it inside his clothes.

"Thirty million can't buy truth or lies. It can only buy more people willing to test their blades."

"You really don't care about being called a pirate?"

"I care."

Su Hang lightly rubbed the knuckle of his index finger.

"Once this paper goes up, I'll be searched whenever I enter a port, ship prices will go up, and anyone who signs a contract with the Dawnbringer will be implicated. The cost is real."

Lorne asked.

"Then why are you still making the sailing plan public?"

"The bounty poster sets the price. What we've done decides who we are."

Suddenly, synchronized footsteps sounded outside the pier.

Thorne led two squads of Marines into the dockyard. Their guns were not raised, but they sealed off both passages beside the Dawnbringer.

The merchants quickly backed away.

Thorne stopped before the bounty poster, his gaze sweeping over the copies of the private ledger posted beside it.

"Su Hang, East Blue Marine Headquarters has formally issued a warrant for your arrest. You are suspected of attacking a branch, seizing military supplies, and organizing an illegal armed fleet."

Su Hang stood on the gangplank.

"Finished reading?"

"Not yet."

Thorne opened the official document.

"No port may provide the Dawnbringer with weapons, gunpowder, or hull modifications. No merchant ship may accept its armed command. Upon locating the target, the Marines are authorized to detain it."

Lorne's voice turned cold.

"Does a medical escort count as armed command?"

"The order makes no distinction."

"The ships are carrying fever medicine and hemostatics."

"I'm only here to read the order."

After speaking, Thorne handed a seizure inventory to Su Hang.

The instant their fingers touched, he lowered his voice until only those nearby could hear.

"Don't take White Reef Channel."

Su Hang did not look down.

"Why?"

"The seven experimental torpedoes lost by the 16th Branch have been listed by headquarters as seized items. Their warheads contain Seastone. When they explode, they scatter net fragments."

Thorne's hand remained pressed on the inventory.

"The model and identification method are written on the third page. I can only prove that these things were once lost from the warehouse. I can't prove where they're buried now."

Qi Hai took the inventory and quickly flipped to the third page.

Seastone Trigger-Tracking Torpedoes. Seven experimental units. Equipped with hull acoustic signature recognition devices.

The seizure location field read: White Reef Waterway.

Lorne's eyes turned cold.

"The route Brand arranged. The torpedoes the Marines lost. This trap was laid from the moment the medicine ships set out."

Thorne took a step back and resumed his official tone.

"Su Hang, you are ordered to leave Greenleaf Island before sunset. Marine patrol ships will monitor the outer harbor but will not provide an escort."

"If you know there are torpedoes, why not close the channel?"

"There is no search warrant."

"You'll investigate after the ships sink?"

Thorne's jaw tightened.

"My current orders only require me to arrest you."

"Understood."

Su Hang picked up the Den Den Mushi loudspeaker and connected directly to the harbor's public channel.

"Tomorrow night, the Dawnbringer will escort three medical ships through White Reef Channel. The departure time, cargo seals, and crew lists will all be public. Any news ships or merchant vessels willing to accompany us as witnesses may follow at a safe distance."

Thorne stared sharply at him.

"Making the time public will only give the ambushers more time to prepare."

"They're already prepared."

Su Hang nailed the seizure inventory beside the bounty poster.

"Now it's their turn to decide whether they want to sink three ships full of medicine with stolen Marine weapons in front of every merchant ship."

The pier erupted in commotion.

Thorne remained silent for several breaths before turning and leading his men away.

As he passed Qi Hai, he slowed briefly.

"Don't mistake a warning for assistance. I've received orders to pursue you, and I still will."

Qi Hai spoke.

"Wait until you see clearly who you're pursuing."

The Marines withdrew from the dockyard as the setting sun pressed down on the experimental serial numbers of the seven torpedoes.

Lorne closed the contract chest, his voice low and tight.

"They don't want to arrest you. They want to use Seastone Torpedoes to sink the entire fleet to the bottom of the sea."