Ryan reached out and took the black document envelope marked "Top secret" from the iron box, carefully prying open the red sealing wax with a small knife.
He pulled out the documents and read them closely in the dim light.
The Marine standing beside him craned his neck curiously and asked, "Ryan, what does it say? Is it some treasure map the World Government left behind?"
Ryan did not answer immediately. His eyes swept rapidly over the documents, and his expression grew uglier by the moment.
"It's not a treasure map." Ryan's voice turned cold. "It's a ledger of financial transactions between the New World's underworld magnates and the World Government."
"Underworld magnates?" The Marine froze for a moment.
"The King of Loan Sharks, Du Feld, the funeral industry magnate Piekro, and the warehousing magnate Giberson." Ryan pointed at the names in the ledger and said gravely, "These people launder over ten billion Beli through Titan Island every year. They also help the World Government transport people, sending abducted civilians here as slaves."
Ryan continued leafing through the documents. Suddenly, his hand stopped.
At the back of the stack was a red letter bearing a special seal. The writing on it was still fresh.
Reading its contents, Ryan murmured aloud, "'If Titan Island falls, immediately activate the Hound Plan. Dispatch elite killers to infiltrate the island and abduct its civilians and liberated slaves. Use the civilians' lives as leverage to force Lorne to surrender the Seastone processing technology and the Seraphim blueprints. If Lorne refuses, carry out a massacre on the island and utterly destroy the foundations of Fearless Fortress.'"
"What?!" the Marine beside him cried. "Those bastards are actually going after innocent civilians?"
"They have absolutely no limits when profit is involved." Ryan stuffed the documents back into the