Chapter 148: Arms

Already having whetted their appetites to the utmost, Chen Cao, upon seeing the trunk open, hurriedly snatched the flashlight from the hands of Hua Fo, aimed it directly at the chest, and let out a long breath. "Just as I thought! Inside is TNT explosive!"

Hua Fo twitched his nose, gazed into the chest at the neat rows of square blocks wrapped in oiled paper and thoroughly waterproofed, and smiled. "It seems my sense of smell hasn't faded yet!"

Lu Tianming and Stanley, seeing that nothing untoward had happened, exchanged glances and burst into hearty laughter.

Chen Cao, however, felt no joy in his heart at that moment. He lowered his body, squatted down, and stared at the evenly distributed explosives. The scale and net weight printed on each piece of oiled paper were extremely clear. Chen Cao gently lifted a block of explosive, weighed it in his hand—it should have been a hundred-gram charge—put it down, and carefully scanned the perimeter of the chest. He found no manufacturing marks or producer labels whatsoever, yet this professional method of storage far surpassed what ordinary arms dealers could manage.

Hua Fo's smile had also vanished. He said to Chen Cao, "Chen, this doesn't look too good. Perhaps, as Stanley suggested, we should go outside and see what those iron chains are attached to."

Chen Cao said quietly, "Yes, I think we need to overturn our previous assumptions once again." With that, he hefted his weapon and strode directly out of the cabin.

Hua Fo paused, looking at Chen Cao, then swapped the dying batteries in his flashlight for fresh ones, clicked it back on, and followed him out. Reaching the doorway, a sudden thought struck him. He turned back to Stanley and Lu Tianming and warned, "You two won't be foolish enough to mess with these explosives!"

Stanley, who had just experienced a narrow escape from death, waved his hands frantically. "I wouldn't dare! This stuff is just... just too terrifying. Right, Lu?"

Lu Tianming chimed in hastily, "Rest assured, I will take good care of this stuff. I am a professional, you can count on me!"

Hua Fo said coldly, "That's good. Before we return, don't do anything stupid, understand?" With that, he turned and walked out.

The rain was still drizzling ceaselessly. As Hua Fo walked down the corridor, the rustling sound of iron chains scraping against the ship's railing echoed from the deck below. Presumably, Chen Cao was hauling in the chains underneath.

The moment Hua Fo hurried over, he saw Chen Cao straining to drag a wrist-thick iron chain, leaning against the wall for support. Seeing Hua Fo approach, Chen Cao quickly said, "I just tested these chains. It seems this one isn't fixed in place. This fellow is quite heavy, come and give me a hand!" Hearing this, Hua Fo didn't hesitate. A sudden flash of insight crossed his mind, and he quickened his pace, placing his hands on the chain. Chanting in rhythm with Chen Cao, the two of them pulled the chain in one synchronized heave.

"Put your back into it, it's coming up!"

"Could it be gemstones? I bet those bastards went to extraordinary lengths to sink and secure these things underwater!"

"Stop talking nonsense, it's almost up, pull..."

With a splash, as Chen Cao and Hua Fo exerted force together, a two-meter-square chest surfaced, looming indistinctly in the rain and leaving the two men dumbfounded.

A gleam flashed in Hua Fo's eyes. Excitedly, he adjusted his flashlight to its maximum brightness and aimed it at the bobbing chest. "Hey, buddy, what do you think is in there?!"

Chen Cao, still hauling on the chain, said, "Cut the chatter and let's haul it up first!"

Thrilled at the prospect of hidden treasure—the wealth of the empty ship having long since vanished into thin air—Hua Fo pulled with all his might. Before long, the two of them dragged the chest onto the corridor, breathing heavily. Benefiting from their previous experience, the duo quickly got the hang of it; they pried open the lid with a dagger and forced it up together. With a creaking sound, illuminated by the beam of the flashlight, they stared at the contents of the chest and were instantly struck speechless.

"Weapons! The chest is packed entirely with weapons—light machine guns, submachine guns, rifles... various firearms filled almost every corner of the chest, and they were likewise professionally waterproofed. These pitch-black guns were all too familiar to Hua Fo and Chen Cao. There were already dozens of them right here, so what about the rest down below...?" The two men exchanged a glance, staring at the dense network of chains connected to the ship. If their deductions were correct and the rest contained weapons, there were enough here to launch a coup d'état. What, then, was the real objective of that biologist, Colby?

"Let's pull up another one and see!" To verify his hypothesis, Chen Cao closed the lid of the chest, stood up, grabbed one of the chains, and pulled hard. Hua Fo was equally cooperative; eager to confirm his own guess, he joined Chen Cao in hauling on another chain. After exerting a tremendous amount of effort, with a heavy splash, a second chest, one meter square in size, broke the surface.

"What the hell, another chest!" Even though Hua Fo knew how idiotic it sounded, he couldn't help blurting it out.

Chen Cao didn't pause. He dragged the chest over, and together with Hua Fo, hauled it onto the corridor. Without a moment's delay, he drew his dagger and popped it open with a sharp snap.

Hand grenades, fragmentation grenades, and packs of orange-yellow bullets.

Chen Cao looked for a moment, then gazed at Hua Fo. Before Chen Cao could even speak, Hua Fo immediately replied, "I know, we can't stay here any longer!"

Nodding, Chen Cao said, "It seems this place has become a miniature arsenal, and the owners will definitely come back for these supplies. If we stay here, it's no different from sitting ducks waiting to die!"

Hua Fo nodded in agreement. "Don't forget we came here for a fortune; we need to find a way out of here fast!"

A tacit understanding was instantly reached between the two: they had to flee this ghost place immediately. Unwittingly, it seemed they had stumbled right into an enemy arms depot. Judging by the pristine maintenance condition of the ship's cabins, this warship was regularly serviced by someone. Moreover, since a munitions depot was of such vital importance, the opposing party must place immense value on it. Given their lavish scale, they were surely a formidable mercenary organization. If those mercenaries arrived, would this band of weary, battered survivors be waiting around just to die? Naturally—even though there were plenty of weapons here, the outcome would be the same.

The two men strenuously dragged the weapons and ammunition back into the cabin where Stanley and Lu Tianming were stationed, leaving Stanley behind to guard the munitions. He and Hua Fo now needed to devise a foolproof plan.

Ascending to the third-tier cabin, Karissa and Lucia had already fallen asleep. Hearing the footsteps, Uki immediately came forward holding a makeshift spear fashioned from iron railings and asked, "Chen, how did it go? Did you see the divine beast?" Then, seemingly delighted, he cried out, "Oh, thank goodness, you're both safe! You have no idea how worried I was!"

Chen Cao's face remained utterly expressionless, serving as his only reply to Uki. He stripped off his wet clothes and sat down by the fire to dry them. Hua Fo took a seat beside him, staring at the flickering, nascent flames without uttering a single word.