CHAPTER 61: CHAPTER 61: NOTHING GAINED

Without Aiven’s command, Gary shouted and led the sailors, drawing their firearms and surrounding Lionhead and all his subordinates.

Although it seemed most of them didn’t know the inside story, at the very least, they were accomplices and could not be easily let go. Even the crew on the merchant ship was ordered to disembark and undergo inspection.

"Put your hands on your head, squat down!"

Aiven knew that the severity of this matter was beyond his handling, so he immediately sent his sailors to report to Gel.

Aiven himself then approached Lionhead, scrutinizing him for a moment. He slightly released the aura of an Extraordinary level: "Speak, who are you? What is your purpose in doing these things?"

Lionhead’s body stiffened, intimidated by the Extraordinary level aura emanating from Aiven, as if he were being watched by a large predator in the mountains, not daring to move. The last thoughts of resistance in his heart melted away like ice and snow.

"Don’t, don’t kill me, I was just following orders...!"

...

In no time, a large group of people came rushing from the direction of the island.

It wasn’t just Gel, who had been notified. Led by Vice Admiral Snite, the highest-ranking officer of the Third Fleet here, and accompanied by two Martial Arts Faction major generals from the First and Second Fleets, all the senior Navy officers on the island had gathered!

Actually,

Apart from the duty personnel and ship captains, most senior officers participating in the celebration were housed together in a hotel. When Gel reported the situation to Vice Admiral Snite, the other officers were also present. Upon hearing that someone was planning a bombing attack on the celebration day, none of them could sit still.

How could they stay calm?!

They knew that if there were significant casualties during such a major Kingdom event, not only might they be held accountable and removed from their positions, but their future careers would also be severely tainted.

Not only the main officers, but everyone present would be implicated, no one could escape!

When they arrived at the dock in a hurry, the interrogation was already over. This seemingly formidable Lionhead Barry was not actually tough, and after a bit of intimidation, he spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube.

"Well done, Captain!"

Under the friendly gazes of the high-ranking officers, Aiven handed the interrogation records to Vice Admiral Snite. The three major fleets may have differences in strength but did not have a subordinate relationship. At such times, naturally, the decision-making was left to the highest-ranking Vice Admiral.

What surprised Aiven was that among the crowd, he spotted "Zorro," dressed formally in military uniform. There was no way to avoid it now, so he pretended to be unconcerned, handed over the statement, accepted Vice Admiral’s praise and encouragement, and then stepped to the side.

He didn’t know that the two had already met before, and it was this "Zorro" who had given him the warning.

When everything settled, foreseeing the possible development, "Zorro" had already rushed back to the hotel to change clothes and then followed the large group openly to watch the scene.

Lionhead’s statement circulated among the officers, but each of them frowned slightly because there was not much valuable information in it, almost nothing useful.

This main perpetrator, Lionhead, was just a small leader in a black organization called the "Blood Hand Gang," hired anonymously by someone to make some arrangements at the celebration venue according to their requirements. Who was the employer? What was their motive? He knew nothing...

His task was merely to dismantle these fireworks shells, reload them, then disguise them as normal fireworks to be sent to the celebration. He was even unaware of the ultimate effect when the fireworks were ignited.

His deputy’s statement was similar, with only a bit more detail than Lionhead. These people were actually taking on private work, borrowing the name of the Blood Hand Gang, and even the higher-ups in the gang were unaware of the matter.

"Your Excellency, General, it really has nothing to do with us..."

Simply put, these two guys were just tools, knowing nothing but execution.

Aiven and the officers could believe this because the gunpowder chiefs who arrived later from the warship unanimously believed: This must be the work of an Alchemy Master!

The energy released by the concocted gunpowder was less than the original, but the sparks after the explosion were extremely lethal. If they were to fall on the celebrating crowd, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Used well, it could be more destructive than military-grade gunpowder of the same weight, with the most terrifying aspect being the subsequent severe burn injuries.

However, this new type of gunpowder had the issue of extreme instability and could only be prepared temporarily before use. So having two kinds of fireworks was both a precaution against inspection and a practical necessity.

Most maliciously, after being fired, the first to suffer were precisely those below in the "fireworks" explosion range, as the anonymous employer had no regard for these guys’ survival.

Furthermore, "Blood Hand Gang" kind of black organizations are reckless when paid enough, not caring at all about who the employer is.

Moreover, such gang forces were quite different from pirates. Pirates could hide in the vast sea, but these gangs had to rely on the civilized world to survive. They might mess around in gray areas, but wouldn’t dare openly oppose the Kingdom’s officials.

Thus, the possibility of their upper echelons having contact with the employer was very low.

However, the trail ends here—no progress, only a bunch of discarded pawns, no resolution to the underlying issue. If the mastermind wishes, a new attack could be orchestrated at any time.

The group fell silent.

At this moment,

Aiven didn’t hide that he had discovered the issue due to someone else’s warning and also submitted two crossbow bolts, suggesting they might learn something from the informant.

Vice Admiral Snite discreetly glanced at his son when he took the crossbow bolts.

"Let’s find this friend of ours. If he can spot the hidden assailants, he might help us a lot in the future, maybe even know more about what’s going on," proposed an officer from the First Fleet.

"I second that! We can’t ignore any clue."

"I second that! This island is not that big; it shouldn’t be too difficult to find someone."

"No, if he hasn’t shown up, it’s clear he doesn’t want direct contact with the Navy, and exposing him could easily invite Black Hand retribution. We’re the Navy, not ruthless pirates," Vice Admiral Snite directly vetoed the proposal.

The others thought the Vice Admiral’s reasoning was indeed sensible, so they didn’t bring up the matter again.

Ultimately, without any clear ideas arising, the Vice Admiral could only order all Navy personnel to be incorporated into security positions, raising the celebration’s defense level to ensure that the seven-day event went off without a hitch.

Then.

Deploy some young people in civilian clothes to mingle with the crowd, preemptively gauging the island’s populace movements, and paying attention to people with suspicious behavior. At the same time, they arranged for the Communication Seagull capable of long-distance flight to report the situation to Navy headquarters, awaiting instructions.

Nonetheless, feeling somewhat reluctant, an interrogation expert had Lionhead and his deputy taken away for separate questioning. As for their eventual outcome, no one cared anymore.