This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 304: Big Trouble

Chapter 304: Chapter 304: Big Trouble

"Why did the ship stop?" Laura looked around, puzzled.

Nathan was also unsure of the situation. He leaned over the ship’s railing to peer into the sea below, trying to figure out what was happening.

Chen Ke stood with his arms crossed, motionless, but his eyes slowly turned blue. He swiftly scanned the ship’s body and took in the surrounding scenery as well. Seagulls flew by in the sky from time to time, the sea was shimmering, and the sun was still scorching. He noticed nothing unusual.

Chen Ke stomped his foot, his shoe clacking on the deck, which reassured him somewhat.

"What are you doing?" Nathan noticed Chen Ke’s unusual behavior and asked curiously.

Chen Ke smiled and shrugged. "Nothing much, just checking if we are still here."

"So, you’ve come to a conclusion, Mr. Chen Ke?" Laura said, hands on her hips, her face bearing a somewhat mocking expression.

"That’s right," Chen Ke nodded.

"I wish that would put you at ease, but I’d rather go directly to ask Conrad what is the matter," Laura said, walking past Chen Ke towards the direction of the bridge.

"That’s just how she is, only trusting what she sees," Nathan said with a resigned smile.

Chen Ke didn’t respond but just chuckled along and followed Nathan toward the bridge.

In the command room at the front of the second floor of the bridge, Conrad was not surprised by the trio’s visit and, unusually, his demeanor was quite mild, less harsh than before.

The helmsman remained silent, the ship’s engine stopped, drifting with the currents.

"Do you mean we’ve been targeted by the Administration Bureau?" Nathan asked.

"I’m afraid so. Our ship’s radio just received a contact from the Administration Bureau. It is their patrol ship. They want us to stay put and wait for their inspection," replied Conrad, holding a cup of coffee in his left hand.

"Why are they so paranoid? It’s just a fishing boat," Laura was puzzled.

Conrad glanced at the other crew members, said nothing, and took a sip of his coffee.

But Chen Ke knew very well, this wasn’t any fishing boat but a Holy Relics smuggling ship. This sudden inspection by the Administration’s patrol was probably because they had been watching Conrad for a long time...

"That’s right, it is just an ordinary fishing boat, so we’ll just wait here and see what they want. However, your plan might be delayed by an hour or two; I hope you don’t mind," Conrad said, looking at Chen Ke.

"Hope there won’t be any trouble. You can handle this, right Captain Conrad?" Chen Ke said with his arms crossed, noncommittally.

Conrad of course knew what Chen Ke was aware of regarding his being a smuggler of sea Holy Relics.

"There’s nothing much to worry about then, just letting them come aboard for a look, shouldn’t take too long, right?" Nathan tried to lighten the mood with a laugh.

"Just as we speak of them, here they come. Look," Laura pointed toward the horizon outside the window.

There appeared a ship about the same size as a fishing vessel approaching from the southeast direction towards the Endurance. The ship was all white with a twin-barreled gun mounted at the bow, and several people in orange uniforms stood on the deck.

Conrad pursed his lips, turned, and walked out the door. Chen Ke, Nathan, and Laura followed him and the other crew members to the deck to await the Administration Bureau’s personnel boarding the ship.

The two ships docked within minutes, with the side of the Administration Bureau’s ship marked in a long string of English that roughly meant Administration Bureau Coastline Patrol. Their orange uniforms reminded Chen Ke of sanitation workers.

A few stepped carefully over the planks between the two ships and boarded the Endurance. The leader shook hands with Conrad symbolically and exchanged a few brief words.

Chen Ke noticed that these men had M16A4s hanging around their waists, bare guns without attachments, and from appearances, they seemed unmodified, factory-default rifles.

They also carried a handheld radar-like device on their belts, which he guessed was similar to what Priskin used, meant to detect spiritual elements in the human body to prevent Spiritual Ability Users from entering or leaving the country secretly.

However, Chen Ke was not sure if they were Spiritual Ability Users themselves.

There were six people from the Administration Bureau who came aboard, and they did not seem to be on high alert. It seemed to be just routine business, and Conrad should be able to handle it well.

"It’s a good day to go to sea, huh?" an agent from the Administration Bureau said, hands on hips, standing next to Conrad.

"Indeed, the seagulls are flying low; we just follow them, and we won’t worry about finding fish," Conrad replied.

"Would it be okay for us to have a look around the boat?" the agent asked.

"Of course, you know I can’t refuse you," Conrad spread his hands, then instructed some crew members to take the Administration Bureau agents into the cabin and shouted to Chen Ke and his group to wait in the cabin.

The group returned to their resting spot, and Chen Ke leaned against the door using his Spiritual Vision to observe the movements of these agents.

The six agents had a clear division of tasks: one stayed on the deck, using a communicator to contact others. Two were responsible for inspecting the crew’s rest area, and the remaining three followed Conrad downstairs to the fish hold.

The inspection of the boat by the Administration Bureau agents was not harsh. Contrary to Chen Ke’s expectations of them rummaging through everything, they only needed to use a handheld device to scan the cabin to complete their work.

However, it wasn’t that quick. The inspection was very thorough; they even scanned the pillows.

"What do you think they are looking for?" Laura came over and leaned on the cabin wall opposite Chen Ke.

"I don’t know, probably checking for smuggled goods," Chen Ke replied.

"Smuggled goods... I think that kind of thing should be left to the maritime patrol, the Administration Bureau’s patrols should have more important things to do," Laura was somewhat skeptical.

"That depends on what’s being smuggled," Nathan chimed in unexpectedly.

"What do you mean...?" Laura’s eyes widened.

"Those shiny little stones?" Chen Ke said, lowering his voice so the Administration Bureau agents wouldn’t hear.

"Stop kidding, this is just a fishing boat..." Laura was skeptical.

"Just wait and see, Laura; I have a feeling something is about to happen... I have this premonition," Nathan shook his head.

While they talked, Chen Ke’s eyes stayed fixed on the floor; his Spiritual Vision allowed him to see through the walls and floor, displaying the dozen or so people below in blue transparent outlines.

They were now in the fish hold, with three agents scanning the chamber. He noticed that several of the dozen or so people on the periphery had their hands behind their backs, seemingly holding guns.

"There’s no problem on our end," an agent in the crew’s resting area completed his task and spoke into the walkie-talkie.

The agent standing on the deck, judging from his body language, seemed to be chatting casually with a crew member; he appeared very relaxed.

Chen Ke looked down again.

The three agents in the fish hold were slowly making their way to the lower vacuum compartment, and their scanning motions slowed down.

One of the agents stood up, seemingly negotiating with someone next to him—Chen Ke guessed it was Conrad. The other two agents continued scanning the vacuum area and were about to reply on the walkie-talkie.

Of course, they never got the chance.

Several crew members suddenly approached the three agents from behind and repeatedly stabbed them in the lower back. There wasn’t a sound—those three agents were already dead.

Then, someone took out a cellphone and said something.

Chen Ke retracted his Spiritual Vision. Laura and Nathan were still arguing in front of him. He looked to his right; a Black crew member had just ended a phone call and gestured to the surrounding crew members.

"Nathan, you really are a harbinger of bad luck; looks like we’re really in big trouble," he interrupted their conversation in a low voice.

"What... what?" Nathan was puzzled.

But the next second, he understood.