Chapter 142: Encounter at Sea

When the cargo ship reached the harbor exit, the captives had to be transferred. At this point, the escorts were replaced with a new team. For Long Er, this was no problem at all—just eliminate one person and assume their identity.

As the transfer took place at the port, Mo Fei glanced around at the surrounding scenery. It was an ordinary harbor, bustling with cargo ships and crowds; everything appeared quite normal. The people seemed accustomed to seeing captives being escorted onto the medical ship, showing no surprise or concern.

Stepping onto the medical ship, Mo Fei’s heart tightened with anticipation. He understood that this was where everything truly escalated. Each captive boarding the ship was assigned a number. Mo Fei received number 1876, meaning there were 1,875 people ahead of him waiting to be slaughtered. The numbers made no distinction between men and women, so they had to find Li Momo among thousands of people, either to bring her off the ship or at least to buy time until the navy arrived.

No one doubted the navy’s arrival; among those numbered on the ship, at least one-fifth were nationals. This time, they were still confined to iron cages in the ship’s cabins to sleep. However, the medical ship was better than the cargo ship—there was less dampness, and the journey was smoother.

As the medical ship departed the harbor and headed for international waters, everyone on board stirred. Two people dressed as masked doctors studied a photograph carefully.

“Do you think we can find this person among over two thousand people?”

“Usually, TV shows and movies are post-processed. What if this photo’s been edited too, and the person looks completely different in real life?”

The one holding the phone swiped back and forth. “Look—pervert, fashionable white-collar, pervert, fashionable white-collar, and one assassin.”

“I’m not so sure about this,” the other replied calmly.

“If we don’t find them, the penalty comes out of your personal savings.”

“You’re so heartless!”

While they spoke, a nurse carrying files called out, “Doctors, prepare for surgery. You’re assigned to operating rooms 12 and 13.”

She handed the files over. “These organs require special preservation. The skin and bone marrow from the patient in room 12 also need to be separately stored.”

The two exchanged a glance, both feeling the pressure.

Each caregiver on the ship had their designated area. Long Er had no such reservations—he eliminated guards in each area he entered without fear of alerting anyone. Ever since he told Long Si to take Xiao Bai back to report to the police, this trip was destined to be anything but peaceful.

Given this, it was better to announce openly that someone intended to cause trouble on the ship, throwing the opposition into disarray.

As for whether the medical ship would turn back—so many people depended on those organs for survival. Who would dare to return? Just as they did not expect any trouble on board, some people, upon reaching an unattended area, thought the guards were simply slacking off. After all, it was the sea; no disturbances meant guards would get bored and daydream, a universal truth.

Considering Li Momo’s special identity, Long Er searched thoroughly from start to finish. Cages numbered 1 to 3 were already empty—likely a bad omen. He searched further and found nothing, nothing, nothing...

When he reached the second cabin, he unexpectedly ran into two doctors apparently there to collect bodies, accompanied by two armed guards.

Both sides froze for a moment.

The doctors spoke first in English, “Who are you?”

Long Er thought it over. These two doctors were not combatants; eliminating them wouldn’t take long. Or he could bluff his way through and find an opportunity later.

“Patrol,” Long Er replied in English, pointing to his identity badge.

Though suspicious, the doctors didn’t probe further and entered the cargo hold to select patients. Long Er followed openly, scrutinizing the captives inside the cages.

Once aboard, the captives were given no food; daily glucose injections sustained their lives. Before organ harvesting, dying was impossible—they were not humans but preservation containers for organs.

The doctors quickly identified their target and pulled someone from a cage.

Long Er glanced over, frowning. Mercenaries had their own ways to recognize people. Though the man’s clothes and hairstyle had changed, and he had grown a beard and thinned, Long Er immediately recognized him.

Wasn’t this the police officer who had chatted with Mo Fei in Yun City?

Why was he here?

Long Er didn’t bother pondering whether this unlucky cop was an undercover agent discovered or involved in some bizarre twist. Since he was Mo Fei’s friend and a police officer, that was enough.

As the doctors pushed the man toward the operating room, Long Er moved to intercept. With a twist of his wrist, he first snapped one guard’s neck, then plunged a dagger into the other’s throat without withdrawing it.

Within an instant, both guards were dead.

The doctors turned at the noise, only to see one guard skewered, the dagger’s tip protruding from the other side.

Long Er released the dagger; the corpse collapsed.

One doctor stared in horror, “Damn it! Someone’s causing trouble!”

The other quickly drew a gun, aiming at Long Er.

Long Er had planned to take them both out but hesitated when he heard instinctively spoken Chinese.

“Chinese?”

“You too?” the speaking doctor asked cautiously. “One-One-De-One?”

Long Er raised his chin toward the wheelchair-bound Officer Xiao Xu. “That’s a Chinese police officer.”

“Damn! A police officer?!” The man was startled. “Insane! These bastards won’t even spare the cops!”

“These bastards?”

“You’re not from the ship either.”

“No, you’re not,” the man muttered, “You even have an accent.”

Had they not been away from home too long, they would have recognized Long Er’s regional accent immediately.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, the man with the gun reluctantly lowered it but kept his finger near the trigger.

Suddenly, Long Er had a ridiculous thought.

Ordinary people wouldn’t seek to get on the medical ship—besides the sacrificial lambs, it was full of monsters disguised in human skin.

Since these two weren’t part of the ship’s crew, they must have a purpose.

Could it be—

“A protection mission?”

At Long Er’s words, the man who had just lowered his gun raised it again. “Who are you?”

The other exclaimed nervously, “Hey, how did you know?”

A suicide truck bombing—this was hard to evaluate.

No wonder they were tasked with protecting someone as unusual as Mo Fei; it turned out this group was anything but normal.