Sudden Call

"What's taking them so long? It should have only taken them a minute or two to switch on the lights." Said the thug leader with a frown. "Something is definitely wrong."

"Should we go back and look for them, boss?" A thug suggested, but he did not look too keen on the idea.

The thug leader shook his head and said, "No. If something happened to them, it is already too late to save them. We need to quickly head to the freezer hold and check if the goods are still there. If something happened to the goods, Boss Benedict would not be happy. Those goods are worth more than all our lives combined."

The remaining 8 thugs quickly made their way down to the lowest deck and reached the large freezer hold's location.

"There is no one here, and the freezer door is sealed shut. Release your safety buttons and keep your guards up. We are going to open the freezer hold now." Said the thug leader.

Freezer hold 2 was shortly opened, and the freezing cold air inside began to escape outside of it. The thug leader shined his torchlight inside but could not see much due to the large crates obstructing his view of the entire freezer hold.

"Half of you keep guard outside. The other half, follow me in." The thug leader ordered and took the lead inside the freezer hold.

"Yes, boss."

The thugs quickly decided amongst themselves. Three followed the boss inside, and four kept guard outside. They stood in a straight line with some distance between them and observed the surroundings with vigilance.

"What do guys think happened to the other two? Do you think they are dead?" One of the four thugs asked.

"Probably. Something felt wrong the moment I stepped on this ship. I think we are being hunted by someone or something."

"We've committed a lot of wrongdoings that weigh on our conscience in this line of business. When we stepped on others to improve our own life, we should be prepared to be killed one day. But I don't think I will ever be ready once the time comes."

"What the hell, man. Don't say such an ominous thing here. It is so dark that I am getting spooked out. It feels like there is a pair of eyes watching me from the darkness." A perceptive thug said with a slight shiver.

Some distance away, Albion hid in the darkness and watched the four thugs conversed. Thanks to Yaksha's Blessings, he had no problem seeing in the dark.

Even so, he could still see them clearly even if he did not have it. The four thugs were like four fireflies flapping in the darkness with the torchlights in their hands. It was hard not to see them.

Albion moved away quietly when a thug shine his torchlight over to scout the area. After not seeing anything, the thug said, "You are just paranoid, but I don't blame you. It is normal for humans to fear the darkness."

"As you should be." Whispered suddenly by an unfamiliar voice very close to them, and caused the four thugs to be immediately startled and alarmed.

But before they could react, Albion held the classic boning knife in his hand firmly and slit all their throats in a single linear stroke.

Having their throats slit, the four thugs were robbed of their voices and could not utter a sound. They never knew death was so close to them and died unprepared.

Albion erased their bodies with the Ashura Flames like he had done with the previous two thugs and removed all traces of existence, or rather removing all evidence. That way, even if the police came, they would not find anything.

The Ashura Flame was burned with incredible temperature. But unlike normal flames, it did not emit any light.

Even so, the people inside were immediately alerted when they heard multiple bodies, torchlights, and firearms dropping to the ground.

"Something happened outside!" Said the thug leader. As the highest strongest person in the group, he had the sharpest hearing.

"Could it be that we are not alone? Are the guys outside dead now?"

"Are you hearing yourself? Of course, we are not alone, but now we ARE alone. Everyone else should be dead."

The thug leader was not stupid. By now, he realized that someone was silently following them and hunting them down one by one.

"Gather around and cover each other's back. You all watch your own directions. This person moved silently in the night and hunted our people stealthily. He could be a high-level assassin sent by someone to finish us off here." The thug leader ordered and began analyzing the situation.

"An assassin? But who would hire one to kill us here? Did the Seymour family realize our secret business and hired one to stop us? Or did Mr. Reiner double-cross us?"

"Who knows? Maybe it could also be a rival gang interfering in our business, but that is not important. What is important is getting out of here alive to deliver the news back to the big boss. Our business here has been compromised, and the goods that were supposed to be delivered have all disappeared." Said the thug leader.

"What do we do if the person doesn't come inside? Are we supposed to stay inside this freezer hold and freeze to death?" A thug questioned.

The thug leader frowned in thought. The problem is that they do not know if the enemy had already entered the freezer hold or not.

However, the thug did ask a good question. They could not stay in the freezer hold forever. They did need to leave!

"Stay in the formation and watch your direction. If you see something, shout immediately. We will move towards the exit like this." The thug leader instructed.

Nevertheless, their efforts were futile in Albion's eyes as he silently watched from atop a wooden crate in the darkness.

Everything was just a game of cat and mouse to him. If it were not because he wanted to kill them all without letting them fire a single shot, he would have killed them all more straightforwardly and not need to resort to stealthy tricks.

As the remaining group of four thugs inched closer and closer to exit, Albion casually picked up a can of processed fish from the crate and tossed it in another direction.

Ding~!

The canned fish hit the metal floor and made a sudden metallic ring, causing all the thugs to instinctively turn to the source of the sound instantly.

The torchlights shined on the canned fish rolling on the ground, and they immediately felt a chill in their hearts.

Albion had made his way around the other side and snuck behind them. He ended their lives by decapitation.

After all the bodies were reduced to black ashes, he went back to collect all the metallic tools brought them elsewhere to be smelted into a bit lump of steel before tossing it into the waters. The ammunition was emptied of their gunpowder and dumped into the sea soon after.

From the execution to the cleanup, Albion had followed everything accordingly to the experience found in the Dark Emperor's memories, albeit barely. Nevertheless, it was more than enough to deal with a few low-level opponents.

He hates to admit it, but he must continuously rely on the Dark Emperor's memories and experience if he wanted to live comfortably in this alternate world.

"Although I already know this, it seems that killing other humans won't give me any EXP, huh?" Albion mused while standing on the deck.

[This is a countermeasure the system designed to allow for the self-destructing human race to survive.]

Goldfinger inputted.

"So where does their EXP go?" Asked Albion.

[…]

Goldfinger did not answer.

Nevertheless, Albion could guess. The system does not solely assist humans for nothing. It became apparent to Albion that the system has a deeper purpose that his not privy to him.

Since Goldfinger will most likely not answer, he did not bother asking the question.

Ring, ring!

The Brick phone in Albion's pocket suddenly vibrated and rang. He took it out and pressed the green button before hearing a young girl's cry, "Papa, save me!"