Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 646 A Strange Ship

Chapter 646: Chapter 646 A Strange Ship

After Lin Xi, Su Hui, Gu Fan, Ouyang Jin, and the boss boarded the unfamiliar cargo ship, they were faced with a horrifying sight. Numerous patches of fresh blood stained the ship, with crew members slumped on the deck, lying in blood pools.

Gu Fan’s conjecture was that pirates had taken these crew members captive and transported them all onto the deck before executing them.

After exploring almost the entirety of the ship, no living people were found. They also discovered that a safety cabin door had been blown open, presumably by the pirates, to capture the crew member hiding within.

Su Hui shook her head in disbelief: "My God, since when have pirates started using such powerful explosives."

Gu Fan also found it strange: "Could this not have been done by pirates? Typically, pirates would take the crew hostage and demand a ransom. But this time, it seems no survivors were left."

This line of thinking was not only followed by Gu Fan, but also by Lin Xi, Su Hui, and the boss.

They then reached the cockpit, realising that the ship was moving aimlessly without anyone steering it.

To understand what had happened, they headed towards the surveillance room to look at the security footage. It turned out that most of the records were intact, however, some had been erased.

Looking at the surveillance video, it did indeed appear that the assailants were pirates from within the Triangle Sea Area, their movements, gait, and unprofessional handling of weapons were consistent with the pirates Gu Fan had previously encountered.

In Gu Fan and Su Hui’s impressions, the pirates were a ragtag group without any training, knowing only how to charge with heavy weaponry. But now they knew how to eliminate surveillance traces. But why would these pirates erase part of the surveillance footage?

"I don’t think it was done by the pirates," Lin Xi speculated. Gu Fan nodded, "Yes, the techniques used don’t match that of a pirate. Instead, it seems as if someone intentionally tried to erase everything on this ship."

Su Hui joined in: "The ship must have been in the periphery of the Triangle Sea Area when the incident occurred. It certainly wasn’t Lisa’s doing, and she wouldn’t waste manpower like this."

The boss furrowed his brow: "What if it was a fearsome new enemy?"

"I’ve been thinking the same thing. Let’s continue exploring, there may still be survivors." After saying this, Gu Fan led the way to other areas. They found a broken device in a corridor.

Su Hui immediately recognized the device as a thermal imager, capable of detecting humans based on body heat, meaning you could be located no matter where you hid.

"My God, even this type of device was used. Who on earth are these people? Why did they ruthlessly slaughter everyone?" Gu Fan was puzzled whereas Lin Xi raised another question: "We should be asking who this ship offended so badly that their enemies resorted to such extreme measures."

"Alright, it’s not our fault we weren’t able to help. We did our best, but arrived too late. That’s not our fault either. This matter ends here. We need to focus on our own tasks." After speaking, Gu Fan looked at the blood-soaked crew members on the deck, sighing. Who could commit such a horrific act?

The boss proposed: "Let’s make a guess. The ship’s location system is still turned on. The people outside must already know this ship is in the center of the Triangle Sea Area. As soon as they lose the signal of this ship, how will they analyze the situation of the ship?"

Lin Xi replied immediately: "If I were the people outside, I would assume that the ship had encountered pirates, given that the Triangle Sea Area has frequent pirate activities. Maybe that’s what happened to this ship?"

Su Hui, however, disagreed: "That’s correct. After this ship met with disaster, the surveillance footage would have been sent back. From the surveillance footage, it really looks like the work of some local pirates. Many people would think the ship’s misfortune was due to pirates. But what if the circumstances surrounding this ship were special?"

"What do you mean?" Lin Xi and the boss were somewhat puzzled.

Gu Fan replied: "What Su Hui means is this - if I were in charge of the company behind this ship and I knew that it had encountered trouble in the Triangle Sea Area, I would assume it had been robbed by pirates. Such cases are too common. However, after so much time has passed, not one pirate has contacted them, demanding a ransom in exchange for hostages or materials. Are there many cases like this? Additionally, upon analyzing, they would realize that this is not the complete surveillance footage and begin to suspect that something is off."

Understanding finally dawned on Lin Xi: "Oh, I see. To this day, there are no cases where pirates have robbed and not demanded a ransom. This is also the most suspicious part."

The boss agreed: "If there was something special on this ship, and the company behind the ship was also aware of this fact, then after ruling out pirate activity, they could guess that someone might have targeted this special item on the ship, and set up the pirates as a scapegoat."

"The assailants made it seem like pirates had attacked the ship and to make it more convincing, they let real pirates handle the job. The erased part of the footage could be those who really commanded the pirates." After Gu Fan finished speaking, the images of Qiao Ya, Dong Ni, and Su Lei surfaced in his mind.

Naturally, Su Hui and Lin Xi also had the same thought. If anyone was conspiring with the pirates, these three were the prime suspects. But why? What great hatred existed between the organization behind Qiao Ya and this ship that led to a total massacre?

Suddenly, Gu Fan had an epiphany: "I understand now. If I were Qiao Ya and had decided to let the pirates handle this, I would ensure it appeared natural and not indulge in unusual practices like massacring without asking for ransom. Perhaps someone accidentally revealed their identity and was discovered, leading to the partial erasure of the surveillance footage and a killing spree to silence anyone who could possibly talk."

Su Hui and Lin Xi also remembered that when they were captured by the pirates, Qiao Ya indeed planned to have Gu Fan, Su Hui, and Lin Xi all eliminated, since Gu Fan had seen Qiao Ya and knew he had contact with the pirates.

The thought sent a chill down Lin Xi’s spine. She instinctively rubbed her arm. If it weren’t for Su Hui shooting Qiao Ya in the buttocks just in time, Lin Xi’s wounds would have been more than just a bullet in her arm.

All of these were Gu Fan’s speculations. As to whether Qiao Ya and his associates had commanded the pirates, Gu Fan didn’t plan on delving deeper, considering the two parties might never cross paths again.

However, just to be safe, Gu Fan decided to look for things related to the background of this ship. He had a premonition that they needed to be wary of Qiao Ya, who might just show up uninvited someday.