Manhunt #5

"Knife of a Thousand Cuts" by Gardner F. Fox follows Inspector Ronald Kirk's investigation into a fisherman's disappearance connected to a mysterious cloth and fishhook. Kirk and his fiancée Connie Gregg uncover a sinister plot involving a man named Fox who plans to transform a girl into a water-dwelling creature through surgical alteration of her lungs and gills. The story escalates to a pirate-themed adventure where Jason Reel and Nev Ran battle over a spacecraft and treasure in Dead Man Cave, with the Petrel—a legendary figure commanding the northern territories—revealed to hold ultimate power over the conflict.