Empire of the Ring

The crew scoured the unidentified boats quickly.

Each speed boat was about 25 meters wide and had 25 people aboard each.

Usually, it was common for a refugee ship of this size to carry at least 50 to 80 people on board at the risk of sinking.

However, if only about 20 people were on board, it would be an organization dealing with rich refugees.

In fact, all people on board seemed to be an upper class at a glance.

After searching the ship, the crew seized two handguns and several blunt knives that looked like jungle knives. Jungle knives in the sea were a terrible combination although the pistol could be used by a captain for self-defense. But having tough knives like those did not make sense.

"Captain. I think they're the ones. All the bodies found on the island of Kasos have been cut off or decapitated."

"They're not sharp enough, but can they cut people's body?"

"There's nothing you can't do if you swing it like an ax. Looking at the knife, I don't think it'll break easily. Forensic scientists who examined the bones said there were signs of several strikes."

Lieutenant Sultan also remembered hearing about the condition of the bodies.

The act of stabbing a corpse was like a ritual that criminal organizations often committed for the solidarity of their members.

And the unusual thing was that most of the skeletons on Kasos Island were men and children.

"For now, give them water and food so they can rest assured. And lure the captains to our ship for a simple investigation."

"Their boats are full of food. I don't know if they'll receive our food."

"Throw me some water then. They already know we're not the Greek Navy, so they'll be less wary."

"We already threatened them with fires. Will it work?"

"Tell them we've mistaken them as pirate ships. We couldn't help it because they were sailing at 30 knots."

There were three crew members on each boat besides the captain, all of whom had strong physique and a vibe of backstreet gangsterism.

Relieved to hear that they were mistaken as pirate ships, the captains crossed over to the royal high-speed boat.

The Kazakh Navy was already rumored to treat the refugees exceptionally well, so they did not doubt it very much.

"I'm sorry for unintentionally firing warning shots. I am Sultan, the captain of the royal vessel 203 of the Royal Navy of Kazakhstan. I've heard that you're on your way to Greece with Syrian refugees."

"You took us by shock. How can you shoot a gun at us? We were just going at full speed not to be caught by other coast guards because Turkish and Greek coast guards had been kicking out refugees from their waters."

"Captains, ignoring the warship's order is also a mistake, too. I'm sorry again. We recently got a report that there are active pirates around this area. To make an excuse, your ships were fast enough to be misunderstood."

"We won't complain because we are also hiding from the coast guards, too. We'll pretend that this didn't happen. If you don't have anything special to look into, we'll be on our way."

"I have to leave some record that we've searched and inspected unidentified boats, so please write down some simple personal information here."

Then Captain Sultan slipped out some papers.

Then the speedboat captains pulled back.

"As you can see, we are Greek. Carrying refugees is illegal, so you cannot expose our identity. If the Greek government finds out, it'll be a headache. It's a kind of career, and if our names are released, we can't continue our business."

"There is nothing to notify the Greek government. Our regulations only require to know the information of all ships that comply with the inspection. If you fill out this form, it'll be very helpful when you pass through this area in the future. Because the Kazakh naval vessels share information, you won't be caught by the Kazakh Navy again."

"You really put me in trouble. Please consider our position a little bit. And we are Greeks. There is no reason to comply with the inspection of other countries' navies in Greek territorial waters. As you can see, there's no reason to answer your question since we are not pirates."

Lieutenant Sultan was also speechless when one of the captains protested in a loud voice.

If it went on like this, he would have to let them go even though they were obviously suspicious.

"Then there's nothing we can do. Then I'll ask you one more question and let you go. I'm curious about the use of the knives that look like jungle knives."

When asked by Lieutenant Sultan, a captain shamelessly answered that they were to fight against sharks around the area.

"There are so many sharks in this area that we carry them around for self-defense."

"Let me ask you one more question. Have you ever landed on Kasos Island?"

"The dock is so small that it's hard to moor the ship. Besides, why would we go to the uninhabited island?"

"You know about Kasos Island very well."

The captain flinched at Lieutenant Sultan's words.

He knew exactly that there was a small dock even though he said he had no reason to go to a deserted island.

"Every Greek sailor knows well about the nearby islands."

"But the unmanned lighthouse surveillance camera shows the same boat like this one being moored at the dock. Can you explain why you landed on the island?"

"Was there any surveillance cameras on the uninhabited island?"

Startled, the captain was asking a question he should not have asked.

If he had not landed on the island, why would it matter if there was a camera or not?

"You didn't know there were cameras. The Greek government has installed some to protect the lighthouse in case the Turkish Coast Guard intrudes into its territorial waters."

When Sultan's words were over, the captains were very upset.

The look on their faces clearly showed that they had landed on the island of Kasos.

The captains of the speed boats were hesitant and were unable to make any more excuses, so Sultan gave orders to his guards.

"Bring over all the remaining crews on the boats. If they resist, you can fire shots."

"Yes, sir. We'll implement it immediately."

***

The rest of the members also came out intimidated by the royal guards.

The captain and crew were both members of a Greek criminal group specializing in human trafficking and organ trafficking.

There were countless organizations that went back and forth between Greece and Syria to do business against rich refugees. Their crimes against refugees included extortion of money, human trafficking, and organ trafficking.

The reason why they brought refugees to the island without letting them drown in the water was to sell women into brothels and get organs from men and children.

In short, they were human scums, but there was no way to deal with them.

What could the Kazakh royal family do about a Greek crime ring? It was a domestic matter.

The Royal Navy was forced to hand them over to the Greek police in order to wipe out the weak organizations in Greece.

Whether the rotten Greek police would properly investigate the case was questionable, and it was evident that they would not be punished severely as they deserved, but the Kazakh royal family had no choice but to watch.

What was fortunate was that the media had made headlines over the issue, preventing criminal organizations from doing this to refugees for the time being.

Lieutenant Sultan wanted to deal with them himself, but there was no way. The only thing he could do to vent his anger was to beat the criminals before sending them away.

The Greek press was also condemning the shameless conduct of criminal gangs day after day.

The press was also on the Greek criminals and government's side but since it was socially controversial, it was just treating it as a big deal.

"This is all a show, isn't it?"

Youngho said as he was watching the news on TV.

"Are you kidding? It's not only yesterday or today's matter. They won't even blink for such crimes. Human trafficking and organ trafficking in the Balkans and southern Europe can never be eradicated. At least the refugees heard the rumor, so they wouldn't just board any ship. It will slow down for a while, but I'm worried about how long it will last. There are rumors that Syrian crime organizations are also linked to Greece. They're going to find another way to resume their business."

"Some Kurds must have been victimized by them. I'm a little sad that we had let them go nicely."

"We've done the work, but only the Greek police are showing off. I'm sure only the higher-ups of the crime rings will be released and only the subordinates will rot in their cells. Should we spread some rumors in Syria, too?"

"They won't care about such rumors in the middle of a civil war. Instead, strengthening maritime patrols and completing naval bases quickly is a shortcut to prevent such crimes. If necessary, I'd like to buy the whole archipelago of Kasos. What do you think?"

"If we do that, it's like we're taking control of the southeast Mediterranean. But will the Greek government agree?"

"We should try. Why don't we use the press that's on the show now? If we bribe the press, playing with the public opinion won't be hard."

It would not be burdensome for the Greek government since it would be selling islands.

Rather, it would have a chance to use the Kazakh royal family to quell Turkish provocations.

The Greek government with its current economic standing, it was impossible to effectively manage the Kasos Islands 300 kilometers from the mainland anyway.

As proof, the Greek government had no idea what was going on in the Kasos Island. It was a shame.

This was also why Turkey raised the territorial issue of the islands in the Aegean and the Mediterranean Seas.

The islands, which were in the Greek territorial waters, were remote from mainland Greece, but they were just around the corner on the coast of Turkey.

Since there were so many such islands, endless territorial issues were holding the two countries back.

"If Greece can't handle it, we will take over instead. If we take over this area, Greece won't have any more territorial issues with Turkey and we get to prevent crimes."

"Will Greece give in so easily?"

"It's been neglectful of the islands and look what happened now. What an international disgrace this is. Can this happen in a normal country?"

When the world learned that Greek crime rings committed horrible crimes against refugees, tourists visiting Greece were on the decline.

Of course, there was no guarantee that a crime committed against refugees would not be committed against tourists.

"All right. I'll go to Greece at once and discuss it."