Chapter 21: Boarding the Ship

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Thanks to Gu Shi Mai Xiang for the tip. I went out today and just got back, so the upload is late. My apologies.

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The next day, the Imperial transport ship arrived on schedule to collect the prisoners. Lei Bin and his team had long since made all the necessary preparations, proceeding according to plan.

Lei Bin continued to disguise himself as the local commander to complete the boarding process. They had to seize control of the transport ship quickly after it landed, ensuring no distress signals could be sent out.

With the help of Xing Meng, and by taking them by surprise, they stood a very good chance of success.

Long Teng, leading the Golden Eagle troops, had conducted several simulated suicide attack drills and was confident they could sink two warships.

Two hours later, a deep rumbling sound echoed from the sky as a massive transport ship, over five hundred meters long, arrived above the camp.

The transport ship sent a signal to the base requesting confirmation. Xing Meng provided a flawless response, and soon, the transport ship descended from the air.

Lei Bin had been waiting near the landing site. As soon as the ship's hatch opened and the Imperial soldiers stepped out, Lei Bin walked forward with a faint smile, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, brothers."

Lei Bin was still wearing a colonel’s rank, while the officer who stepped off was only a captain, accompanied by several soldiers. They immediately offered Lei Bin a standard military salute.

Lei Bin reached out and draped an arm around the captain, asking, "Brother, are you the commander in charge of this transport mission?"

The captain, unaccustomed to such enthusiasm from a senior officer, felt a bit awkward. "No, sir. The officer in command of this transport ship is Major Torres."

"Oh? And where is Major Torres? I have some private business to discuss with him," Lei Bin said with a smile, pulling out a thick stack of Imperial currency and pressing it into the captain's hand.

The captain was flattered but understood that Lei Bin likely had some illicit business to attend to, so he accepted it calmly. "Major Torres is in the dispatch cabin and cannot come down, but I can take you to see him, sir."

Without delay, the captain led Lei Bin onto the massive landing deck and into the bowels of the ship.

"This is the structural schematic of the transport ship," Xing Meng immediately calculated and projected the layout into Lei Bin's mind as soon as they stepped onto the deck.

Lei Bin nodded secretly and continued walking inward, maintaining his composure.

After navigating several corridors and making a few turns, they arrived in front of a cabin door. The captain said, "Sir, this is where Major Torres is located."

With that, the captain knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a deep, resonant male voice called from inside.

"Major, a major from the camp has some private business to discuss with you," the captain replied.

"Oh? Private business?" The voice inside immediately became very interested. A prisoner camp was a place where one could make a tidy profit; since it was "private business," he could guess what it was about.

The door creaked open, revealing a somewhat weathered face. The man was in his thirties, wearing an Imperial uniform. He was quite tall and burly, and he looked slightly startled when he saw Lei Bin.

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This was because Lei Bin looked quite young, yet held the rank of major, which suggested he must have significant backing.

Immediately, a fawning smile appeared on Major Torres's face. "Major, may I ask what you need? I am Major Torres, commander of this transport ship. Because I had to manage the ship's cargo bay arrangements, I wasn't able to come down to greet you and the other colleagues."

Lei Bin smiled slightly. "Major Torres, you are too kind. My name is Lei Bin, and I am from the Hamasa star system of the Empire."

Lei Bin subtly hinted at his "special" background.

"Oh? So you are from the Lei family? No wonder you are so young and accomplished," Torres said, slightly surprised, his smile becoming even more sycophantic.

In the Imperial Hamasa star system, there was an extremely large family with the surname Lei. While not as famous as the Federal Lei family, they were still an incredibly powerful force.

For Lei Bin to claim he was from Hamasa meant he was implying he belonged to that Lei family. Naturally, anyone would take notice.

"You are too kind. I came to visit you today because there are some things I need to discuss with you personally," Lei Bin said with a smile.

"In that case, please, Major Lei Bin, come inside." Torres immediately ushered Lei Bin into his command cabin. Originally, Torres had received orders to complete this prisoner transport as quickly as possible.

That was the reason he hadn't left the ship earlier; he knew the Federal fleet was coming and that the prisoners needed to be moved immediately.

However, given Lei Bin's appearance, he couldn't afford to be disrespectful. He had to hear what Lei Bin had to say, and besides, there was likely a great profit to be made in this.

Sure enough, as soon as they entered, Lei Bin went straight to the point. "Major Torres, there are no outsiders here, so I will speak plainly. Time is of the essence, and we still have prisoners to transport."

Torres’s eyes flickered as he listened to Lei Bin, then he nodded. "Major Lei Bin, please speak your mind."

Lei Bin smiled. "It's like this, Major Torres. My arrival at this prisoner camp was under orders from my family to privately transport a batch of prisoners and some other items back with me. I hope you can make things convenient for us."

"Just as I thought," Torres mused to himself, though he appeared to hesitate for a moment.

Seeing Torres's expression, Lei Bin stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder. "Major Torres, after this is done, we won't treat you poorly. How does ten million in service fees sound?"

"Ten million?" Torres's eyes lit up at the figure. Ten million was no small sum for a major without a background like him.

"Well? Are you satisfied, Major Torres?" Lei Bin wore a crafty grin, looking every bit the part of a human trafficker.

"Haha, Major Lei Bin and I hit it off immediately. Your business is my business. Very well, leave it to me. I will arrange for them to be placed in a special cargo bay, which will allow us to bypass the upper echelons' inspections. However, it won't be enough with just me; if someone from above insists on a search, I will need you to step in, Brother Lei." Torres agreed without hesitation.

Such things were common in the Empire. He only had to cooperate to earn ten million—why wouldn't he?

If it were anyone else, this would carry some risk, but with Lei Bin backed by a powerful family, what was there to fear?

In any case, if something went wrong, the Lei family would take the fall. He was just a small pawn.

"Good, Major Torres is indeed a man of his word. In that case, I will begin arranging for my prisoners to board," Lei Bin said with a smile.

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"Very well. I will arrange for your prisoners to be placed in this bay—it's usually used for ammunition storage and is currently empty. It can hold five hundred people; will that be enough?" Torres pulled up a structural diagram of the ship and showed it to Lei Bin.

"No problem," Lei Bin said with a smile. "It's settled then. I will start the boarding process now. You can continue with your dispatch duties, Major Torres."

"Understood." A smile spread across Torres's face; he couldn't have asked for a better collaboration.

Lei Bin left the cabin and went back down to the ship to start moving the prisoners.

The moment he stepped off the ship, a triumphant smile crossed Lei Bin's face. Now that Torres trusted him completely, seizing the ship would be much easier.

War is all about deception; trickery always yields better results.

"Attention, everyone! Begin boarding!" Standing on the massive deck, Lei Bin waved a hand. The people, who had long been lined up, began to walk onto the ship one by one.

As the officers and soldiers of the Golden Eagle unit passed by, Lei Bin gave them a look of profound respect. Soldiers who could sacrifice themselves to save others were true soldiers indeed.

Initially, Lei Bin had wanted the Golden Eagle troops to wear Imperial uniforms to sneak aboard, but Long Teng and his men were too proud to wear the enemy's colors, so Lei Bin had to drop the idea.

Towards the end, some of the "disguised" prisoners and soldiers carried large crates onto the transport ship. Inside these crates were the flight armor and explosives the Golden Eagle unit needed for their suicide mission.

These items had to be prepared in advance and kept hidden from inspection, which was exactly why Lei Bin had spent time building a rapport with Torres.

When the goods reached the inspection point, Lei Bin waved his hand and said with a sidelong glance, "These are important strategic supplies. No need to inspect them."

The Imperial soldiers on the transport ship looked to Torres for confirmation. Torres quickly signaled that no inspection was necessary.

Thus, the explosives and flight armor were brought aboard.

Once everyone was on board, the massive deck hatch of the transport ship closed. Lei Bin led Lou Lan and the others toward Torres's cabin.

"Major Torres, everyone is on board. We can depart now," Lei Bin said with a smile upon entering the cabin.

"Oh, that's excellent. By the way, Major Lei Bin, have those commanders from before been taken care of? I should go and report to them shortly." The "commanders" Torres referred to were the ones who had been playing around at the camp—the very men whose "family jewels" Lei Bin had crushed.

Lei Bin had already tied them up and hidden them in crates among the prisoners. These prisoners were, in fact, real prisoners—Imperial soldiers from the camp whom Lei Bin had gagged, bound, and sedated to ensure there would be no mishaps during boarding.

Since they were transporting prisoners, there had to be some real ones, even if they happened to be from their own Empire.

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