Chapter 417 - 407: Sailing Carnival 9

If they were poachers, The Adventurer’s Guild would usually have a record of them.

What kind of record, you ask?

A criminal record, of course.

Anyone lucky enough to run into them and capture them could claim the bounty directly.

Even if you didn’t catch them, there was still a reward for providing a solid lead.

[Name: Theodoric Graham

Sex: Male

Age: 193

Height: 203

A-Rank Wanted Criminal

Crimes Committed: Smuggling, poaching, theft, prison escape, murder of a high-ranking Federal Government official, assault on law enforcement.

Has engaged in multiple counts of smuggling and poaching of rare animals and sentient species, involving enormous sums of money. Apprehended three years ago for poaching and sentenced to five hundred years by a Federation court. Escaped two months later, murdering a high-ranking government official and killing or severely injuring several Federation officers in the process.

Bounty: Two billion gold coins.

Informants providing tips that are proven accurate will also receive a one-time reward of 100,000 Gold Coins.]

After listening to Patience, Moira Lynch looked at the unconscious Theodoric Graham and couldn’t help but marvel. ’This guy is really worth a fortune. Good thing I didn’t just toss him into the sea.’

That was a cool two billion.

"Patience, upload Theodoric Graham’s information immediately."

No sense in letting delays breed trouble.

[Understood.]

Even though she had already destroyed Theodoric Graham’s visual and equilibrium systems, and even knocked him unconscious, Moira Lynch took no chances. She rummaged through her pile of items, found a pair of handcuffs, and cuffed him.

[Master, a message came from The Adventurer’s Guild. They said they’ll send someone to pick him up in three days.]

"That fast? Looks like Theodoric Graham’s crimes were no small matter."

[They were not. If all goes as expected, now that he’s been captured, Theodoric Graham will be publicly executed by The Federal Government.]

"Right, can you ask them to come quietly? I don’t want to attract too much attention."

She wasn’t ready to reveal her identity just yet. After all, there was no telling if Theodoric Graham had other accomplices on board.

Theodoric Graham had been sticking close to the captain this whole time.

’This game has some nice surprises,’ she thought. ’How should I spend the two billion once it comes in?’

「A few minutes later.」

[They’ve agreed. They’ll message us when they arrive.]

"Good."

With that settled, Moira Lynch’s thoughts turned back to the shipping container from before.

’Considering Theodoric Graham’s identity, could that container be filled with rare animals he was smuggling?’

The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

After all, Theodoric Graham had gotten so agitated when she merely got a little closer to it.

In fact, if he hadn’t chosen to attack her back then, she might never have discovered his identity.

All you can say is that life is unpredictable. It all works out in the end.

Because of that incident, combined with the first mate’s mysterious disappearance, the atmosphere on the entire cargo ship had grown tense.

The captain emerged from his cabin and began leading the crew in a room-by-room search.

When it was Moira Lynch’s room’s turn, she calmly opened the door.

Looking at the captain, whose frame was wider than the doorway, Moira Lynch asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Someone saw you go to the back of the ship today, where the containers are kept," the captain said, getting straight to the point.

Moira Lynch nodded. "I did."

"What were you doing there?" The captain’s tone suddenly grew stern, his gaze sharp.

"Nothing much. Just curious. We were on patrol last night, and it occurred to me today that we never checked the container area. So I thought I’d go take a look."

Moira Lynch’s expression was placid, and the reason she gave was perfectly reasonable.

The captain’s ears twitched. A moment later, he slowly retracted his gaze. "I’ll arrange for others to patrol the container area from now on. You all stay away from there."

"Oh, that’s great. To be honest, the smell back there is unbearable."

Moira Lynch nodded, putting on a happy expression as if to say, ’This is just wonderful.’ It was as if she’d just gotten rid of a hot potato.

After closing the door, Moira Lynch breathed a silent sigh of relief, though her face remained impassive.

Outside, the captain shook his head at the crew member behind him. "It’s not her."

The captain was of the Long-Eared Tribe. One of their traits was exceptionally keen hearing—so sharp they could even hear the blood flowing inside a person’s body. An experienced member of the Long-Eared Tribe could even tell if someone was lying by listening to their heartbeat and blood flow.

Fortunately, while the Long-Eared Tribe had sharp hearing, it wasn’t clairaudience; they could only hear movements in their immediate surroundings. At any significant distance, their hearing was about the same as a normal person’s.

’Based on what just happened, that captain is definitely in league with Theodoric Graham. No doubt about it.’

However, she still needed this captain to pilot the cargo ship, so she had no intention of reporting him.

The captain was true to his word. He immediately arranged for guards to be posted near the containers around the clock, allowing no one to approach.

When it was time for dinner, the usually lively mess hall was completely silent. Everyone ate the food in front of them without a word, the air thick with the smell of Tuck Ganma.

Finally, someone couldn’t take it anymore. They bent over and started to dry heave.

Once one person started, a chorus of dry heaving echoed through the mess hall.

"Lunch was one thing, but why are we still eating this stuff for dinner? We were hired to pioneer a new shipping route, and this is what you feed us?!"

As soon as he finished, others immediately chimed in with their agreement.

Seeing this, Moira Lynch and her group decisively put down their food.

"Let’s go for a walk outside."

Shane Rhodes and the others nodded, then rose in unspoken agreement and headed out.

Out on the deck, Moira Lynch took out the fishing rod she’d bought earlier, while Kai York produced a portable grill from his Space Button.

There were two fishing rods, so Shane Rhodes and Caden York volunteered to do the fishing.

While they waited for a bite, the group started talking about the day’s events.

"I heard one of the first mates went missing."

"With something like this, either the guy disappeared on purpose, or he slipped and fell into the sea. The last possibility is that a player threw him overboard."

Obviously, the first two possibilities were unlikely.

They were almost certain a player had done it. The only question was who.

The others had no clue, but Hugh Finch looked toward Moira Lynch.

"That’s right, I did it."

Moira Lynch said, using the Communication Corridor.

"He made the first move?"

Knowing Moira Lynch as he did, Hugh Finch was sure the other party must have initiated the conflict.