Bloodmoon Gang

A few burly men came out of the mess area after hearing the small commotion in the small alleyway.

"What is going on here?"

"It's nothing much. Just someone forgetting to take the captive back to the holding room after finishing his business. I'm taking the captive back now."

The scruffy man explained.

After sweeping Albion a look, the burly men nodded, "I see. Go on then."

Their observant gazes made Albion uncomfortable, but he silently sighed and endured it. He did not blame himself for making himself too handsome, but them for having ill-intentions.

Normal straight men do not have this kind of interest. Why are they like this? Is there not a single woman on board?

'If I find out none you are affiliated to any forces of the Four Horsemen, I'm going f*ck you all up!'

Albion silently swore.

…

In a spare storage room for miscellaneous items in the lower deck, a group of young and veteran crewmates was cuddled up in captivity.

Although the room was not a freezer, it was below the waterline and next to the freezer holds, making the spare storage room rather cold.

With no heater, blankets, or heavy winter clothing, the captive men could only use each other's body warmth to fight the cold for survival.

Nevertheless, many were paled face and beginning to show signs of hypothermia. The cold had sapped their strength and made them weak.

"Hang in there, everyone. There shouldn't be much supplies on the ship left. They will be forced to steer the ship back to land before the food runs out. Once that happens, someone will save us." A person encouraged.

Everyone had bitter and helpless smiles.

"We aren't going to last much longer, captain. I'm afraid we will freeze to death before we make it back to shore. It's all that damn traitor's fault!" A senior crewmate said angrily, but his body was too weak for it to be seen. He breathed frosted air and shook with cold shivers.

"Haiz, what's the use of saying that now? Half the crew already defected to the enemy. Just stop talking and conserve your energy. You'll have a higher chance of surviving that way."

Another crewmate advised.

The doors to the cold storage room were soon opened before a naked young person was tossed inside to join them.

"Get inside and behave yourself! Next time you try to escape, it will be a bullet through your head!"

Bam!

The doors were slammed shut shortly after.

The group of captives was too weak to move. They could only direct their eyes to look at the newcomer. The unfamiliar face came as a surprise to them. They did not remember having such a person on board their ship.

"This little brother, who are you? Where have you come from? Where are your clothes? Quickly put something on, or you will freeze in here."

The captain asked.

"Believe me, I would like to wear something very much, but the problem is there is nothing to wear." Albion shook his head and responded wryly after a quick study of the room.

"Would believe me if I said I lost my clothes in the sea and came here riding on the top of an orca?"

He added.

"You're very funny, little brother. In a situation like this, I'm surprised that you still have the heart to crack jokes. I'm afraid that they must have roughed you up really good out there, right? Here, take this coat of mine to wear at least."

The captain said.

"Many thanks."

Albion accepted the coat.

Although the room's low temperature did not faze him in the least, he still took the coat to tie around his lower body and cover up his little brother.

He did bother to correct the misunderstanding and simply shrugged it off nonchalantly. No one was going to believe him even if he told the truth anyway.

"Captain, how can you just give away your own coat to this unknown runt? You are barely hanging on yourself." A crewmate said concernedly.

"That's right, captain. This person could be secretly sent by the Bloodmoon Gang to monitor us. We cannot trust him!" Another one added.

"Nonsense! Can't you all see that this little brother has been fully naked? Would they send a naked boy to monitor us?! Does that even make sense?!"

The captain angrily chided before coughing heavily.

"But… But we are in the middle of the sea! Where else could this kid have come from if he had not been hidden inside the ship along with those gangsters?"

A younger crewmate argued weakly.

The heated argument made everyone heave up and down painfully as they were short of breath.

"I was stripped bare and tossed to feed the fishes after my ship was taken over by pirates a few days ago. I'm not sure if the rest of my crew are still alive."

Albion made a random excuse to end their argument. Nevertheless, some believed it, while some did not.

"Shit, seriously? Us men of the sea don't have it easy, huh?"

"How can you believe his words so easily? Pirates, in this age? Seriously?"

"Well, our own ship got hijacked, did it not?"

"That is true, but…"

The group was divided in their opinions.

"Alright, that is enough." The captain said before coughing again. "It does not matter where this little brother has come from. What matters is that we are currently all trapped in the same situation and should be looking after each other."

"Haiz, what's the point of each other when we cannot even look after ourselves—" A pessimistic crewmate paused when he received several glares from his mates.

"Tell me about the situation. Maybe I can help. Who are you guys, and who were those people?" Albion inquired the captain, who he had the best impression of.

This person was quite selfless to be helping a complete stranger like him. Nevertheless, it was due to this selflessness that he had earned Albion's goodwill.

While awaiting an answer, he randomly picked up two empty tin cans on the ground and held them in his hands.

"We are from the Seymour Fishing Company, heading back to the Draco county from Armentia continent. The chairman of Seymour Fishing Company also happens to be my father. As for those men that are keeping us here, they are from the Bloodmoon Gang."

The captain explained.

He did not think much of Albion's casual action of picking up empty tin cans.

"The Bloodmoon Gang?"

Albion asked.

The Dark Emperor's memory had limited information of the various forces on the Asiana, Sahara, and Glacia continent.

"The Bloodmoon Gang is a fairly known powerful underworld group within the Draco county. It was by chance that we found out one of our high-ranking executives had been secretly cooperating with the Bloodmoon gang to smuggle items from overseas."

The captain sighed dejectedly.

Who would have thought that the one time they opened their rarely used spare freezer hold onboard their ship, there would be a bunch of people hiding inside?

"This Bloodmoon Gang, do they have any backing?" Albion further inquired.

Underworld groups could not carry out their illegal operations anywhere without any strong connections in this day and age.

The captain shook his head, but a crewmate spoke, "There were rumors that the boss of the Bloodmoon Gang was close to the young master of the Krebs family, but I am not sure if this true or not."

"Seriously? Where did you hear this from? The Krebs family has relations with both the government and the fishing business. I'm afraid this is long as simple as we thought it."

"Don't tell me the Krebs family had been secretly hatching a plan to use the Bloodmoon Gang to swallow our Seymour Fishing Company?"

The group immediately frowned at this possibility.

"Um…"

A person uttered doubtfully in a small voice, causing the others to turn to the young crew member curiously.

"What is it, Lil Sean? If you have something to say, just say it?"

The captain said.

"Um, not really related to the topic but definitely important. Hasn't anyone noticed that room temperature isn't as cold anymore?"

"Eh? It's true! How could this be?"

The group was only made aware after the question was raised. They widened their eyes in surprise as the captain turned to Albion suspiciously.

"Is this your doing, little brother?"

"Bingo!"

Albion smiled and showed the glowing red tin cans in his hand, emitting incredible temperature after being heated with Ashura Flames.

"Everyone can rest assured. Now that I understand the general situation, I will resolve the problem for everyone. It is the least I can do for this coat."

Albion said.

Before anyone could celebrate, the door to the storage room was slammed open as several men with guns rushed in.

"Big words, kiddo! I was wondering who the new face was. It turns out that you are a special ability-user! It was a good thing that I had arranged for this room to be secretly installed with a listening device!"