He made up a reason for acquiring this ship under his na that was difficult to distinguish as true or false in a short ti. Since communication in this world isn’t very advanced, he could easily ntion the na of a distant friend, and these naval inspectors couldn’t possibly fly over imdiately to confront them. Moreover, he understood the rules quite well. Besides having elaborate disguises, he was also well-versed in this line of work’s unspoken rules. During the conversation, he stealthily slipped a luxurious golden insignia into the inspector’s hand without anyone noticing.
"Your Excellency Inspector, this is an exotic souvenir sent to by an old friend, but I don’t understand its artistic value. You’re experienced and knowledgeable, surely more fit to appreciate its charm..."
With his skillful maneuver, the expression of the inspector quickly softened from cold and hard. The inspector pinched the gold insignia vigorously with his fingers and swiftly pocketed it, then pretended to continue inspecting the docunts. Before long, he said:
"Hmm... the docunts seem fine, I’ll proceed with a physical inspection."
Though his words still bore an official tone, he began to walk around the ship’s deck and inspect so of the crew and cargo. However, it was clear to anyone observant that he was being rather perfunctory, essentially giving tacit approval to the ship’s legality.
Captain Parrot of the Sea Parrot vessel felt a mont of relief seeing this. He quietly approached Wang Zhifan, who was quietly acting as a crew mber nearby, and whispered:
"We’re pretty lucky. This inspector isn’t too rigid, let’s see how the other is."
"Do we have to deal with both of them? Aren’t they together?"
Wang Zhifan was puzzled upon hearing this, thinking that convincing just the docunt inspector would be enough to pass.
"They’re separate. We need both to approve before we can dock. The new governor of Princess Harbor is making things quite difficult, but don’t worry, I’ll handle the other one shortly."
Captain Parrot assured Wang Zhifan.
A few minutes later, while the previous inspector was still idly observing things on the deck, the other inspector ca back up from below deck. This one had conducted the inspection alone in the cabin, showing he was a ticulous and decisive person, which imdiately put pressure on Captain Parrot who was waiting to deal with him on deck.
"Your Excellency Inspector! There’s no way my ship has issues. I’ve been sailing the Princess Harbor route for years, we’re practically old friends..."
He hurried forward to engage with this ticulous inspector, ready to bribe him, but the situation was entirely different this ti—this inspector was incredibly stern!
"Remove what you have in your hand, or I’ll report your bribery!"
The inspector quickly scolded Captain Parrot, who was trying to hand him sothing of value, maintaining an entirely principled and impartial deanor.
But that wasn’t all. The inspector then said sothing that deeply unsettled Captain Parrot:
"I just checked your cabin and found many individuals with suspicious identities. I now have serious doubts about your ship’s legitimacy. Stop your ship here and await the port authority to take over and conduct a thorough investigation!"
After speaking, the inspector instantly moved towards the hooking ropes on the side of the ship, evidently intent on reporting back without delay.
"Damn... How did we encounter such an unyielding person?"
Captain Parrot suddenly felt the gravity of the situation. Although he had dealt with new types of inspectors from Princess Harbor in the past, facing one so uncompromising was a first for him. Such individuals could only be dealt with through violence and power, but this was a naval-controlled port, where using violence would be akin to suicide. Power might work, but it was with the inspector.
Moreover, this inspector’s rigid stance caused another unfavorable outco: the other inspector, who had been bribed, might also change his stance. He couldn’t single-handedly protect this ship, so if soone else seriously insisted that the ship had issues, he too would eventually change his attitude, otherwise, he couldn’t bear the responsibility if problems were discovered.
At the critical mont when the plan to disguise and enter port was about to collapse, Wang Zhifan, who was acting as a regular crew mber nearby, finally broke his silence. He hadn’t completely relied on Captain Parrot to sort everything out from the beginning. Now that there was a slip, it was ti for him to exert his influence and forcefully reverse the collapsing situation.
As for how he managed to do this, the process was not particularly complicated.
First, Wang Zhifan quickly caught up with the resolute inspector.
Second, he shouted loudly to him:
"Inspector! We are all innocent civilians! Allow to show you so detailed docunts, and you’ll understand!"
Third, without any explanation, he grabbed the inspector’s arm and led him to the captain’s room.
During this step, the stubborn inspector certainly wouldn’t comply obediently, but Wang Zhifan didn’t need to worry about that. He only needed to exert so control to render part of the inspector’s body immobile and mute, forcing him to be led away. Outsiders, not being very close, wouldn’t notice much amiss.
Fourth, after quickly dragging the rigid inspector into the captain’s room, ca the most crucial core step. However, this step actually took a very short ti. After about half a minute, the two of them erged from the captain’s room again, with the rigid inspector walking in front.
Upon exiting from the captain’s room, the inspector, who had previously wanted to detain the ship, now had a complete change of attitude. He turned around and said to Wang Zhifan, who followed:
"Hmm, I was mistaken earlier. There’s no issue with this ship; you may dock."
Having said this, without waiting for the young man following him to speak, he approached the other inspector who was walking towards them—the one who had been easily bribed by Captain Parrot. This inspector was coming over to clarify the situation for a final decision about the ship. Upon seeing him, the rigid inspector told him:
"I finished reviewing the docunts. There’s no issue with this ship; you can leave."
With that, he was the first to head towards the hooking ropes at the ship’s side. The other inspector, seeing such a quick change of attitude, was imdiately puzzled. However, realizing the situation was being handled this way allowed him so relief. After all, he had already received the benefit, so there was no point wasting more ti here. He promptly got into the small boat and left.
This entire process could be described as bizarre, leaving Captain Parrot on deck, who witnessed the scene, sowhat perplexed. He didn’t understand what Wang Zhifan had done in the captain’s room to convince the uncompromising inspector so rapidly to allow them to dock.
Driven by curiosity, he couldn’t help but head towards Wang Zhifan, still standing by the captain’s room door, wanting to inquire about the specifics.
However, Wang Zhifan rely shook his head without speaking, blocking the door to the captain’s room.
"Sir, how did you convince that person?"
Even after being declined, Captain Parrot couldn’t suppress his curiosity and continued to ask.
Yet Wang Zhifan still didn’t answer him, continuing to guard the entrance to the captain’s room, until a while later, when Wang Zhifan suddenly entered the captain’s room, and his voice finally echoed inside.
"It’s finally settled. I can try this new identity later."
He was seen holding an ordinary wooden mask in his hand as he stood beside a cabinet containing the rock-solid corpse of a certain port inspector.
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