Black Ashes

After Albion headed to the top deck and a bunch of gunshots, screams, and yelling were soon heard before everything went silent shortly after.

Moments later, he returned to the lower deck with a bag filled with firearms, a few battered gangsters, and a group of traitorous crewmates, who surrendered to the Bloodmoon Gang.

The rest of the gangsters became a pile of corpses, Albion tossed overboard to become food for the fishes.

"Keep walking in a straight line and follow the person in front of you. I am actually quite a timid person. If I see you try anything funny, my hand might slip and accidentally kill you, okay?"

Albion spoke to the group.

They immediately shivered with fear as they quickly recalled how brutal and savage Albion murdered the resisting gangsters.

They have seen strong men fight before, but they have never seen someone punched hard that their head exploded. It was rather gory and traumatic, even for the gangsters like them who were deeply involved in criminal activities and killing.

They gave up all forms of resistance and followed Albion silently with absolute obedience. Obey him and they might live, but disobey him and they will definitely die.

That was the impression Albion had inadvertently instilled into them when he killed a few disobedient thugs who refused to surrender nicely when asked.

All of them soon entered the spare storage room after.

"Little brother, you're back. That's great." The captain said.

Although the captain knew nothing would happen to Albion, given the person's strength, it was still more assuring to see the person.

"This is…"

"I think you know them better than I do. These people should have been part of your crew, and these are some of the bigger fishes of that whatever gang I caught. The smaller fishes have been let back into the sea. I'll let you decide what to do with them. You probably won't be needing these, but take them for self-protection just in case they misbehave."

Albion handed over the bag of firearms he collected before adding, "I'll be taking these people with me for some questioning. That won't be a problem, right?"

"Not at all. In fact, it will be best if you can kill them all after you are done with them. Now that one of their bosses is killed, The Bloodmoon Gang will be offended for sure. As for these men, I thank you for not killing the crew. If you killed them all, we have a little problem." The captain said.

Such words coming from the captain made Albion slightly taken aback before he shook his head. Even the nicest of men can be scary once you get on their bad side.

"C'mon, you need to give me some credit. I might not be very bright, but I at least possess enough awareness to know that a ship this big will need quite a few people to sail it."

Albion shrugged.

"That… I did not mean it that way. Please don't take any offense." The captain said nervously.

"Don't worry about it. More importantly, I'm not sure where we are heading, but it is not a good idea to leave the ship unattended for too long."

"Right, this little brother is completely right."

"I'm sure you all don't want to keep staying in this cold room. Take everyone to the top deck. We'll figure out what to do with these men there." The captain said to the crew.

"Yes, captain!"

The crew answered.

"Well, get on it! And get someone to clean up that mess." The captain urged and pointed to a bloody mess pinned on the walls.

"No need for that. I will clean it up later. Just take everyone out." Albion said casually.

The captain wanted to object, but Albion stopped him and added, "Don't worry about it. Do not forget that I have a pyrokinetic ability. It'll be gone in a jiffy once it's burned."

Although Albion said that, no one had yet to see him conjure flames.

They have only seen him heat two empty cans with his palms. His Ashura Flame was too conspicuous with its black color for him to show it to anyone.

"Alright."

The captain acquiesced before finding it awkward that they had not properly introduced.

He slapped his forehead in realization and said, "Oh, where were my manners? My name is Seymour Klein. I wonder how I should address my benefactor?"

"You can call me, Albion. Albion Black is my name." Albion said while giving Seymour Klein a strange look. "I thought Seymour was your family name?"

"So, it is Young Master Albion." The Captain nodded and explained, "My family is of mixed ethnicity and has been deeply rooted in the Draco county for the past three generations. As such, we have decided to follow the country's etiquette of addressing with our family name first."

"I see. I will call you Mr. Klein then. There is something I would like to discuss with Mr. Klein later after I am done here."

Albion nodded.

Being an oriental person in his past life, he knew multiple oriental countries practiced such etiquette, though he never learned the exact reason why.

Perhaps they emphasized one's group and affiliation rather than individuality back in ancient times and carried on the values to the present era.

"Very well. There is also something I wish to discuss with Young Master Albion. Feel free to find me in the wheelhouse on the top deck after you are done."

"Alright."

Albion nodded.

After Seymour Klein left, Albion glanced at the five remaining gangsters in the storage room.

"Well, I'm sure everyone has been listening thus far, so I'm sure everyone knows they are going to die. I also do not want to make it a habit of keeping my enemies alive only for them to bite me back later, so just answer my questions obediently, and I will grant you a painless death."

The statement immediately plunged the gangsters into despair.

"If we knew you were so strong, we would never have offended you!"

"Please spare me! I don't want to die!"

"I don't wish to be your enemy! I swear I will never think about revenge!"

They pleaded pathetically.

"So, if I were weak, you wouldn't care if you offend me or not? Since you entered this sort of business, you should have been prepared to be killed one day. I do not want to repeat twice, so start answering my questions."

Albion broke the arm of the loudest tatted thug and ignored his wails before commencing his questioning.

"Who is the boss of the Bloodmoon Gang? What kind of backing does your gang have? Where is your main headquarters located? What kind of activities does your gang commit? Have you heard of the Four Horseman? What is your…"

After asking a series of questions, Albion got all his answers one way or another and left the storage room roughly half an hour later.

Nothing was left behind in the storage room. There was no corpse, no blood, nothing, just over a dozen piles of black ashes.