Ryan reached out and took the heavy black document pouch from the iron box.
"Ryan, what's in there?" The Marine beside him leaned closer and asked in a low voice.
"I don't know, but anything kept in a seastone iron box definitely isn't ordinary." Ryan tore open the seal and pulled out several sheets of parchment.
The parchment was densely covered in writing. By the dim wall lamp, Ryan carefully made out its contents.
The further he read, the grimmer Ryan's expression became.
"These are... records of secret transactions between the World Government and Gold City." Ryan's voice was low, carrying a trace of suppressed anger.
"Ryan, what exactly does it say?" the Marine asked with some urgency as he kept watch nearby.
Ryan pointed to the lines of writing. "It records in detail how Gold City used merchant ships to transport seastone weapons and poison gas shells manufactured on Titan Island to the New World's black market, and how the World Government laundered money through Gold City to funnel hundreds of billions of beli into the Seraphim project."
"My God, the World Government has been doing this in secret? If this document were made public..." The Marine's face drained of color.
"That's not all. There's also a contract drafted by CP0 and funded by Gold City." Ryan clenched the documents tightly, making the parchment rustle. "The group being hired is Dark Blade, an assassin organization in the Underworld. Their mission is to completely eliminate everyone who knows about the experiments on Titan Island, including the slaves and craftsmen we rescued."
"They want to silence them by killing them!" The Marine punched the wall in anger. "These people claim to stand for justice, but behind the scenes, their dealings are even filthier than the pirates'! Captain Lorne was right. This