On the sea, the torpedo speedboat advanced rapidly. Okajima Rokuro stood at the stern, looking at the merchant ship that was getting farther and farther from him, and shouted in frustration, "Why did it turn out like this, what on earth is going on?"
Then he turned back to look at Aiden and shouted again, "Mr. Aiden, say something!"
Aiden leaned easily against the wall, leisurely watching the seagulls in the sky, completely ignoring the shouting Okajima Rokuro.
"Relax a bit, Okajima. It's not every day ordinary people get to ride a torpedo boat!" After a while, Aiden finally spoke. The speed of the torpedo boat was fast, and the sea breeze made him feel very comfortable.
"I don't want this opportunity! I'm just a working man! I just want to work seriously, then find a gentle woman to marry and have children with, and live the rest of my life honestly." Okajima Rokuro shouted angrily. But he knew, all of this would become a fantasy, because the thing that could have possibly gotten him a promotion and raise was stolen, it's now in Revy's hands.
Revy looked at the disc she found from Okajima Rokuro's bag, then handed it to Dutch, "This should be it."
Dutch took the disc, returned to the cabin's cockpit, picked up the transmitter, and called out through the already connected channel, "This is the Black Lagoon Company, calling Balalaika. Black Lagoon Company calling Balalaika, can you hear me?"
"The signal's very good, Dutch." On the other end of the communication, a tall and elegant lady sat at a desk, one hand propping her chin, the other holding the phone, "Got the prey?"
"Of course. Although there was a little hiccup in the middle, overall it went smoothly." Dutch said.
"As expected of the Black Lagoon Company, your work is really efficient." The lady chuckled softly. "Then let's carry out the delivery at the agreed time and place."
"No problem." Dutch nodded and ended the communication.
After the torpedo speedboat had sped away from that sea area, its speed gradually slowed down, only maintaining a small amount of power, letting the boat drift slowly along the ocean current to save expensive fuel.
In the cabin's resting room, Dutch was loudly complaining to Revy.
"Revy, I don't mean to criticize you, but what exactly are you planning to do by bringing them along?"
Revy was sitting arrogantly on a box of wine, her tone particularly irritable, "Dutch, you just don't understand. For this big operation, the commission was only 20,000."
She raised two fingers at Dutch, "Only 20,000! After subtracting fuel costs for the speedboat, how much can we earn? I just want to earn some ransom as extra income. Is that wrong? He's an employee of Asahi Heavy Industries, he must be worth a lot."
"Revy, your thinking is too naive." From a small compartment in the resting room, Benny, who was operating a computer, poked his head out and said, "Kidnapping isn't a legitimate business, that'll lower the status of our company."
"Do you want to die, Benny?" Revy growled angrily.
"No, I don't." Benny shrank his head back in and continued his work.
"Alright, Revy, Benny's not wrong." Dutch calmed Revy down and continued, "Besides, even if we want ransom, who's going to negotiate with Japan? You? And do you know their phone number? Taking it further, even if they agree to pay ransom, we don't have an available bank account. What, we're going to send someone over to collect cash?"
Dutch's words made Revy furious. She stood up, kicked away the wooden box full of empty bottles in front of her, pulled out her gun and aimed it at Okajima Rokuro, who was locked in the corner, and shouted through clenched teeth, "Fine, I get it. I'll kill him right now and toss him into the sea, okay?"
"No! Don't kill me!" Okajima Rokuro raised his head buried in his knees, pitifully pleading.
"Hmph, what a coward. Still dare call yourself a man?" Revy waved her gun wildly, but in the end did not pull the trigger. After cursing in disdain, she sat back down.
Seeing Revy calm down, Dutch breathed a sigh of relief. He took out a cigarette to ease his nerves, but unintentionally noticed Aiden, who had already lit a cigarette and was calmly smoking.
He thought for a moment, then sat beside Revy and whispered, "That guy named Okajima, forget it. He's from Asahi Heavy Industries after all. But why did you bring him on board too? We don't know anything about his background."
Revy didn't respond. In fact, she didn't know herself either. After thinking a bit, she waved her hand hard and said, "I feel like he's worth more."
"Really? I don't think so." Dutch glanced at Aiden's outfit. It was just ordinary clothing.
"That's because you're a man. Sometimes women's intuition is very accurate." Revy glared at him.
"Fine, maybe you're right." Dutch shook his head, not wanting to continue the conversation. He stood up and walked over to Aiden and Okajima Rokuro.
Looking at the two, Dutch hesitated for a moment, thought again, and finally said to Okajima Rokuro, who was still relieved to be alive, "Hey, unlucky guy, let's go have a cigarette to calm your nerves."
Not waiting for Okajima Rokuro's response, he grabbed his collar and pulled him out of the cabin.
As for Aiden, Dutch didn't even ask, because he didn't dare let that man leave Revy's sight. That would be too dangerous, even though Aiden's hands were cuffed with metal handcuffs, he didn't want to take that risk.
After Dutch took Okajima Rokuro up to the deck, Revy suddenly moved the wooden box she had kicked earlier in front of Aiden, sat on it like a king, and stared coldly at him.
———
Time passed quickly, and it was already deep night.
At this moment, the torpedo boat finally stopped, docking at an abandoned shipyard.
Revy jumped off the boat first. Behind her followed Aiden, who was curiously looking around.
"So this is Roanapur?"
"You know this place?" Dutch asked as he jumped down after them.
"Heard of it. Rumor says this place is a paradise for gangsters and mercenaries, a lawless zone." Aiden replied.
"That's right, it truly is a lawless zone." Revy turned back and said, "So you better be careful. Don't do anything to piss us off, or I'll kill you."
"Don't worry, I'll be careful." Aiden nodded nonchalantly.
"Mr. Dutch, where are we going?" Okajima Rokuro jumped down from the deck following Dutch. Although his mood had calmed a lot thanks to Dutch's comfort, hearing Aiden and Revy's conversation still made him feel uneasy.
"To a place to drink." Answering him was Benny. With a cigarette in his mouth and hands in his pockets, he walked past Okajima Rokuro.
"D... drink?" Okajima Rokuro was dumbfounded, "But we're hostages!"
"But hostages also have the right to drink." Aiden walked up beside him, nudged him with his elbow, "There might even be some exciting performances to go with it!"
Roanapur, the most chaotic city in Siam. Calling it the City of Sin in the world of Black Lagoon wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Here, gangsters and assassins occupy every corner of the city. Law has almost no power here. It's just like a scrap of paper.
So here, fights are normal, and gunfights are even more common. But likewise, this is the freest place in the world, so free that even your life isn't guaranteed.
On the way to the bar, Aiden curiously observed his surroundings. Everywhere he looked, there were scantily clad, heavily made-up prostitutes soliciting on the street; drunkards collapsed on the ground still chugging from bottles; dazed junkies tormented by substances; and... the most common, gang members.
"It's so chaotic!" Behind Aiden, Okajima Rokuro exclaimed. The unique scenery here really scared him. He couldn't imagine such an unregulated city existed.
"There's basically no order here." He added.
"That's why it's called a paradise for gangsters and mercenaries." Aiden said without turning his head, "Smuggling, drug trafficking, arms trading, gambling, and sex trades, all those things that are illegal in normal countries are legal here."
"Well, that's not accurate. Since there's no law here, there's no such thing as legal or illegal. Also, let me remind you, even though this place is chaotic, it's not without order. Lawless and disorder are two different things."
"Why do you say that?" Okajima Rokuro asked.
"You want to know?" Aiden looked back at him.
"Of course." Okajima Rokuro nodded.
"Look over there." Aiden motioned toward the nearby gang members gathered in small groups and said, "Know who they are?"
"Gangsters, right? We have them in Japan too." Okajima replied. Gangsters weren't a rare sight in Japan either.
"Yes, they are gangsters, but they also have another identity." Aiden continued.
"What identity?" Okajima asked.
Aiden smiled but said nothing, just pointed to the roadside. Something was happening.
A prostitute, only covered by a bath towel, ran out of a house on the roadside. She looked around the street, ran to the gangsters nearby, said a few words, and the gang members rushed into the house. Not long after, they dragged out a customer and beat him up hard in front of the prostitute. Then they searched the customer, took his wallet, and threw it to the prostitute.
"See that? That's their other identity, managers. Or rather, one type of managers of this city." Aiden said.
"Th-That's incredible… They're like acting as the police!" Okajima Rokuro was shocked.
"Actually, you're not wrong. In some aspects, they are fulfilling the role of police." Aiden turned back, caught up to Revy and the others, and continued, "If you switch the illegal industries to legal ones, and switch those gangsters' roles to official ones, you'll see, they're incredibly similar."
Okajima fell silent. He didn't know what to say, his worldview was shaken.
Fortunately, the feeling didn't last long. As Dutch and the others stopped walking, they arrived at their destination.
Yellow Flag!
The Yellow Flag Bar.
The most unfortunate bar in all of Roanapur—no, in the entire world of Black Lagoon—without a doubt.
Revy and the others were regulars here. The guard at the door greeted them and helped open the door.
Following them in, Aiden instantly frowned. The bar was way too noisy. The air inside was filled with all kinds of smells, making him sneeze.
"First time here?" Revy looked at him with amusement.
Aiden shook his head, "No, but every time I come to this kind of place, I can't get used to it. Usually, when I want to drink, I look for a quiet place."
"That's too boring." Benny on the side said, "Drinking requires atmosphere."
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