Chapter 59: Why Act So Tough While Scavenging on My Turf?

"That little brat runs really fast. How come I never realized how agile the lowly people from Liao Zhou are?"

"This is the last one we missed. Less talk, hurry up and search. The sooner we catch him, the sooner we get paid by the boss!"

In the ruins of the former port area, five tough-looking men in earth-colored shirts, armed with electric batons and riot shields, dismounted from their motorcycles and began searching the area.

Not far away, beneath a large concrete slab that was half-collapsed and held up by broken walls, a black-haired girl in a dirty gray dress, covered in dirt, was trembling in the small space, her eyes full of fear.

She had a pair of small black cat ears on her forehead.

As the footsteps grew closer, the little girl shrank back, desperately trying to hide further under the slab, but she was already cornered with no way to retreat.

Eventually, the men's legs appeared outside the large concrete slab.

"Keep searching with the flashlight. See if she's hiding in there."

The rough voice of one of the men made the girl's pale face show despair.

Just then, a young man's unfamiliar voice reached her ears:

"I see you're rummaging around my port area. Don't you think you're showing a lack of respect for the owner here?"

Hearing this, the girl's eyes lit up with hope.

Lin Lan, accompanied by Mainz and Zeppelin, walked through the ruins and coldly observed the five uninvited guests in his port area.

Their appearance startled the five men.

"The owner here? The commander? Ha, hahahaha... There is no commander here anymore! That bastard has already run off!"

A tall man with a scar over his left eye laughed as if he had heard a joke, then angrily shouted at Lin Lan.

The other four also raised their electric batons, their expressions hostile.

Seeing the man's reaction, Lin Lan frowned slightly.

This didn't seem like the usual attitude of ordinary citizens of the Olan United States towards a naval commander.

"I'm the new commander here. Whatever the previous commander did is irrelevant. From today on, this is my turf."

"And this port area is not a place you can just wander into. Do you understand?"

After Lin Lan's impatient and cold statement, Mainz unsheathed her sharp white naval sword and stepped forward.

The intense aura of killing made the five men instinctively take a step back.

After a deep look at Lin Lan and Mainz, the scarred man said with reluctant anger:

"Alright, you win. I hope you'll be just as tough when facing the Sirens. We're leaving!"

"But Zhang Ge, that little girl…"

"What? Do you want to challenge a ship girl?"

The scarred man retorted to the reluctant one. When he saw the person fall silent, he growled again:

"Leave."

With that, the five hurriedly returned to their motorcycles and rode off.

"A bunch of scavengers acting so tough on my turf... But then again, has scavenging become so professional in this world?"

Lin Lan muttered as he watched them disappear from view.

Seeing these scavengers in the desolate ruins reminded him of the old days when he saw groups on motorcycles and tricycles rummaging through construction sites.

If the scarred man from earlier knew what Lin Lan was thinking, he'd probably be furious.

Have you ever seen people scavenging with shields and electric batons?

Just as Lin Lan thought he had driven off the scavengers and was about to return, Zeppelin, with a harsh look, shouted at the thick concrete slab nearby:

"Little rat hiding underneath, come out and kneel before the owner of this place."

Startled by Zeppelin's command, Lin Lan quickly looked in the direction she was pointing.

He hadn't expected someone else to be hiding there.

"Ship girl sister, commander, please, please don't drive me away. Wuwuwu…"

Under Zeppelin's threat, a black-haired girl who looked about seven or eight crawled out from under the concrete slab.

Upon seeing the imposing Zeppelin, the girl was so frightened that she sat on the ground and began crying uncontrollably.

Seeing the cat ears on the girl's forehead, both Lin Lan and Zeppelin were momentarily stunned and said in unison:

"Liao Zhou person?"

"Shinano person?"

A few minutes later, the slim Liao Zhou girl was brought back to the transport ship by Lin Lan.

She sat on the edge of the dock, ravenously devouring the iron-blooded black bread.

Lin Lan sat on the sofa in the reception room, watching the seemingly starved Liao Zhou girl with cat ears outside the window, lost in thought.

On the way here, he had learned about this girl named Riko.

Riko's family lived in the nearby county, which was the same county Lin Lan planned to visit tomorrow, Lihu County.

Her parents had come from Liao Zhou to the Olan United States for work and ended up being trapped by the Sirens in Olan.

Although they couldn't return to their homeland, Riko's family had managed to live reasonably well in Lihu County through hard work.

Originally, the Olan locals and the Liao Zhou residents coexisted peacefully for years without any discrimination.

However, a month ago, rumors began circulating in Lihu County.

The rumor was that Liao Zhou people were colluding with the Sirens and that the more Liao Zhou people there were, the more likely Sirens would attack.

Lin Lan, who knew the true nature of the Sirens, dismissed this as nonsense.

Anyone who had studied a few months in the naval academy wouldn't take such claims seriously.

But in remote counties with limited information and hatred toward the Sirens, such rumors, if not controlled, could lead to great turmoil in a short time.

Just yesterday, Riko's family and other Liao Zhou families were forcibly gathered by strangers in yellow vests and were being taken somewhere unknown.

During the transport, Riko's parents and other Liao Zhou people resisted when the guards were distracted, allowing her and other Liao Zhou children to escape in the chaos.

Seeing Z23 bring the poor little cat-eared girl a glass of milk, Lin Lan couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

Why hadn't the local naval or maritime commercial authorities issued a refutation to these rumors?

Realizing this, Lin Lan slapped his forehead.

The area had been abandoned for so long before his arrival, indicating that it had been a while since the last commander's tenure.

Without the protection of a port commander and often threatened by the Sirens, the local naval department probably had no say in the matter.

Taking a sip of the steaming black coffee handed to him by Mainz, Lin Lan's thoughts began to clear.

The sudden change in Lihu County was likely another scheme by the Zhu Hai Commercial Association's conglomerate.

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