Several sailors stopped their movements and looked in the direction the voice came from, discovering that it was that Asian man they had met twice before.
"Hey, friend, I advise you not to meddle, just get lost," one of the sailors said.
But another sailor seemed excited. He was the one who had previously shown a meaningful look at Aiden in the dining room. He let go of his grip on Okajima Rokuro, walked toward Aiden and said, "That won't do. If he leaves, my fun will be gone."
The sailors beside him all laughed heartily upon hearing that.
Aiden also laughed, but his eyes were filled with anger. Looking at the sailor walking toward him, he turned around, then stepped sideways and kicked.
Bang!
That sailor flew through the air like he had been hit by a speeding truck, blood mist spraying from his mouth.
The remaining sailors were stunned by this scene, staring blankly at Aiden, swallowing hard.
Not even glancing at the sailor who couldn't get up from the ground, Aiden slowly walked toward the rest of them, raising his fists...
In less than ten seconds, the remaining sailors were all lying motionless on the ground. Of course, Aiden didn't use lethal force, just enough to make sure they'd be bedridden for the next few years.
Clapping his hands, Aiden finally felt relieved. He glanced at Okajima Rokuro sitting on the ground, staring at him in a daze, and asked, "How much longer are you going to sit here? If someone comes later, you won't be able to explain it clearly."
Only then did Okajima Rokuro come back to his senses. He hurriedly got up from the ground, hugged his bag, and followed Aiden away.
"Thank you."
On the way to the deck, Okajima Rokuro kept thanking Aiden, even repeatedly running ahead of him to bow deeply.
Aiden waved his hand, saying "you're welcome" out loud, but in his heart he was thinking, 'If you weren't the protagonist of Black Lagoon and those sailors weren't disgusting, I wouldn't have bothered with this mess.'
Of course, there was also one more important point. He had to find a chance to enter the plot. After all, the beginning of Black Lagoon's story in the anime starts with that bag the protagonist carries.
It wasn't until they got to the deck that Okajima Rokuro finally stopped bowing. Holding the bag, he followed behind Aiden, watching him stand by the railing and take out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He quickly took out a lighter, wanting to help him light one.
Aiden didn't refuse and even handed him a cigarette.
"Thank you." Okajima Rokuro took the cigarette and thanked him again, then asked, "By the way, my name is Okajima Rokuro, I'm Japanese. May I ask your name…"
"Aiden," Aiden said.
Okajima Rokuro's eyes immediately widened: "You… you're from Y country?"
"So what?" Aiden glanced at him.
"N-Nothing." Okajima Rokuro hurriedly shook his head, then said, "Um, may I ask where you're getting off?"
"Roanapur, I guess," Aiden said. Although the system said the ship's destination wasn't there, since he had met the protagonist already, naturally, he would disembark there too.
"Ah, what a pity, we're not going the same way," Okajima Rokuro seemed a little regretful. "I thought, if we were headed the same way, I'd treat you to a meal after getting off to properly thank you. But it seems now, I won't have that chance."
"That's not certain." Aiden smiled. "Maybe you'll get off there too."
"How could that be? I'm going somewhere else," Okajima Rokuro said, patting the briefcase he was carrying.
Aiden glanced at his bag and thought, 'As long as you're carrying that bag, we're definitely going to meet in Roanapur.'
But he wouldn't say that out loud. Looking at the clearly disappointed Okajima Rokuro, he patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry. I will eat that meal, absolutely."
Okajima Rokuro thought Aiden was comforting him. Just as he was about to speak, the cargo ship suddenly trembled, and he almost lost his balance.
"What happened?" Okajima Rokuro grabbed the railing and asked nervously.
Aiden didn't speak, just looked toward the side of the ship.
Following his gaze, Okajima Rokuro saw that at some unknown point, a torpedo speedboat had appeared next to the cargo ship. The tremor just now was caused by the speedboat entangling the ship's propeller with a fishing net.
"Is it a military ship?" Okajima Rokuro didn't recognize it as a torpedo speedboat, but saw weapons onboard, so he asked.
"How would I know?" Aiden could only respond this way.
"I see." Okajima Rokuro realized his question was stupid and awkwardly shut his mouth.
After a short tremor, the cargo ship came to a stop. Several sailors, led by the first mate, came to the deck to calm the frightened workers and passengers.
But just then, two hooked ropes were thrown up and hooked onto the railing. Then two people climbed up along the ropes.
One man and one woman, both carrying guns. Okajima Rokuro, upon seeing them, thought they were pirates and was so scared he immediately raised his hands, which in turn caught their attention.
The black man asked the tattooed woman beside him, "Revy, look, is it him?"
The woman named Revy took out a photo, glanced at it, and nodded, "Dutch, that's him."
"Looks like our luck's good. Saves us the trouble of looking," the black man named Dutch grinned and then pulled out the revolver at his waist and fired into the sky.
Bang!
After the gunshot, the workers and passengers, who were just calming down, became panicked again.
But very quickly, Dutch pacified them by knocking out a few people with his fists.
"This has nothing to do with you, so please be good and stay where you are," Dutch shouted fiercely.
Now, everyone quieted down, standing still, afraid to anger him.
Seeing this, Dutch nodded in satisfaction, then walked up to Okajima Rokuro holding the revolver, grabbed his tie, and yanked him up.
"Kid, if you don't want to suffer, give me your bag," Dutch demanded.
Of course, Okajima Rokuro refused. The briefcase contained important documents from his company. He shook his head at once.
"Looks like I'll have to use violence," Dutch grinned and was about to hit him with the butt of his revolver.
However, just as his arm was raised, Aiden stopped him.
"Hey, just snatch it. No need to hit him," Aiden said, grabbing his arm.
Dutch paused, turned to look at Aiden, narrowed his eyes and asked, "You want to stick up for him, kid?"
"Of course," Aiden replied with a smile.
"After all, I've already stood up for him once. Doing it again makes no difference," Aiden, of course, wouldn't say that he had his own motives.
He continued, "You should know it's not easy to stand up for someone. Being a good person comes at a cost," Dutch sneered.
"Of course I know," Aiden said. "But in our country, there's an old saying: If you're going to be a good person, be one to the end. I don't want to stop halfway."
"Good, that's a very philosophical saying." Dutch nodded, then turned to the woman behind him and said, "Revy, keep an eye on those cowards. I want to have a good chat with this kind good guy."
Revy understood what her partner meant, nodded, and raised her Beretta 92F, firing a shot into the air. She shouted, "Before this little talk ends, I hope you all stay right where you are. Otherwise, I don't mind adding a small twist to our conversation."
Actually, the terrified crew didn't even need that threat. Heads down, bodies trembling, not daring to look that way.
"Alright, the little lambs are behaving. Time for the big tiger to move," Revy, satisfied, crossed her arms and signaled to start.
"Mr. Aiden, you'd better not go. T-they have guns," Okajima Rokuro glanced at Dutch's large revolver and, never having seen such a scene, was nervous.
Aiden smiled at him, lifted his shirt, and in Okajima Rokuro's terrified gaze, revealed the Samurai Edge pistol gifted to him by Jill.
"Don't worry, I have one too." With that, he stepped past Okajima Rokuro and slowly walked to the empty space at the front of the ship, facing Dutch.
"Kid, looks like you're not ordinary either!" Aiden's move was bold and Dutch saw everything clearly, his eyes growing serious.
"Just a nobody making a living with some tricks," Aiden said, slowly stretching his body, but his eyes occasionally drifted toward Revy.
It wasn't because he was attracted to her, but because to him, that woman felt even more dangerous than Dutch.
After all, this was the woman who was on par with maid captain Roberta.
Seeing Aiden warming up, Dutch moved slightly as well, his exaggerated muscles bulging, then assumed a Krav Maga stance.
Aiden had not only seen this martial art before, he had also learned it. So he mirrored the stance.
Dutch's dark face turned gloomy. Aiden's action had successfully provoked him.
"I was going to go easy, but now, kid, I've decided, I'm going to beat you half to death," Dutch said coldly. Then he stepped forward with his left foot and viciously kicked Aiden's knee with his right.
This move wasn't Krav Maga. It was a typical hand-to-hand combat move used by special forces in the Vietnam War.
But Dutch really had fought in the Vietnam War, so it didn't surprise Aiden.
Facing the powerful kick, Aiden simply stepped back to dodge it. But Dutch was surprisingly agile, switching moves faster than his bear-like size suggested. After missing the kick, he stepped forward, grabbed Aiden's shoulders, and raised his left knee to slam into Aiden's abdomen.
Aiden's eyes sharpened, and he quickly brought his hands together in front of his stomach, pressing against Dutch's knee.
Smack!
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