Chapter 1269: Loud Waves
Curry was a sailor who had served 3 years and 27 days on the “Oseberg” cargo s.h.i.+p.
This cargo s.h.i.+p, named after the “Oseberg” s.h.i.+p in the Norwegian Pirate s.h.i.+p Museum, was deployed on the Baltic trade routes since it was launched four years ago.
Every time they went to sea, the crew members would joke about the waves in the Baltic Sea. However, what he didn’t expect was that after so many years of sailing on the calm Baltic Sea, this time they were really hit by the waves…
“Stop moving.”
He wanted to move his numb calf, but before he could move his toe, he was kicked in the back.
When Curry saw the shadow of the rifle reflected on the deck, he didn’t dare to say a word.
Even though he shared the same name as Stephen Curry, he didn’t have any amazing reflexes or big muscles. He was just an ordinary person, and he only dared to lower his head reluctantly, fearing that the wicked people behind would shoot him and feed him to the fish.
Standing behind him at the moment was a group of men who called themselves pirates of the 21st century, hunting on the calm Baltic Sea.
Judging by the skin color and tone of these people, it was obvious that they were from East Africa. What confused Curry was how they flew all the way to the north of Europe?!
Pirates should have disappeared two hundred years ago.
After kicking the hostage, the dark-skinned man with a mask on his face walked to the deck guardrail. He walked behind a man with binoculars in his hand and asked, “Boss, how long will it take?”
“The Aurora Borealis has a maximum speed of 27 knots, and our speed is 40 knots. It will take half an hour for us to catch up to them.”
Black man: “Will we crash into them?”
“Yes.” The man put down the binoculars in his hand and looked at the skyline. Abrahan narrowed his vulture-like eyes, took off his sungla.s.ses, and put them on his s.h.i.+rt collar.
He was Marach’s most powerful subordinate, and he had done many terrible robberies in the seas. Because of Marach’s trust in his ability and loyalty, he a.s.signed him as head of this task.
Abrahan did not want to disappoint his leader. He was determined to complete this mission!
The dark-skinned man hesitated and couldn’t help but speak.
“But—”
“The leader arranged a fis.h.i.+ng boat nearby to meet us. We only need to take an escape boat and quickly escape from this area after cras.h.i.+ng with the cruise s.h.i.+p.”
This plan sounded perfect. As long as the whole operation was disguised as a tragic cargo s.h.i.+p collision, no one would see the several bullet holes on the cruise s.h.i.+p that sunk into the Baltic Sea.
If it didn’t crash, he would board the s.h.i.+p with his men and then install the thermite explosive. There was no need to keep any hostages. Even if the nearest patrol came to support, it would take them three hours. The entire operation could be completed within an hour.
However…
Would everything really go so smoothly?
Even though he had such concerns in his heart, the dark-skinned man did not dare to ask more, for fear that the fierce man would punish him.
For people like them, cowardice and death were the same.
If he showed fear, a dead vulture would fly down from the sky without hesitation and pierce his skull…
…
On the decks of Aurora Borealis.
Because of the sirens, people looked horrified, looking around with confusion in their eyes.
The businessmen who were chatting with each other put down the gla.s.ses of champagnes in their hands. A lady in a dress grabbed her partner’s arm. The waiters who served the wine and the meal also had the same expression on their faces.
“What is going on?”
“Did someone accidentally set it off?”
“This is a cruise s.h.i.+p carrying the royal family. How can anyone make such a low-level mistake! It’s really shameful!”
A man in a crew uniform came to the deck and spoke in a loud voice.
“Don’t be nervous, everyone, there might be some strong wind and waves ahead. Please go back to your room and wait for the alarm to be lifted. We will notify you when afternoon tea continues.”
However, this loud voice did not immediately control the situation, it made the situation on the deck even more chaotic. Confused people looked around nervously, hoping to find out what happened.
Some people were even flirting at a time like this.
“James, is there an iceberg ahead?”
“Don’t worry, my beautiful darling, if we run into an iceberg, I’ll use my love for you to melt it…”
As soon as the alarm went off, w.a.n.g Peng put his right hand into his pocket calmly. He stood with his back facing Lu Zhou and his eyes narrowed.
The security guards scattered nearby also took action one after another. They evacuated the nearby crowd and alerted them of the possible dangers.
“It’s not safe here, we should go back to the room.”
Lu Zhou looked at w.a.n.g Peng and asked, “What happened?”
w.a.n.g Peng raised his left hand and pressed on his wireless headset. He spoke with a serious expression.
“It’s not clear yet… We are still confirming the situation.”
The waves under the cruise s.h.i.+p suddenly became turbulent, with waves reaching several meters high.
The people standing on the edge screamed and backed away. The shaking made the wine gla.s.ses fall to the ground. Everything was in chaos.
Lu Zhou squinted his eyes and looked at the sea not far away.
He could feel the turbulent shaking from his feet. The waves weren’t getting bigger. Instead, the cruise s.h.i.+p was accelerating.
A colleague of w.a.n.g Peng confirmed the situation from the captain’s room. w.a.n.g Peng reached out and clicked on his wireless headset. He then spoke to Lu Zhou.
“A cargo s.h.i.+p has deviated from course and is heading straight toward us. The captain is trying to send a contact signal to the cargo s.h.i.+p, but no response has been received so far. They increased the speed of the s.h.i.+p to its maximum… They want to catch up with us.”
“Maybe they want to race us.”
“That would be the best, but the situation is obviously not that simple…”
“In that case, we should go to the captain’s room.”
w.a.n.g Peng: “My colleague is already there.”
Lu Zhou: “Then… let’s go too.”
w.a.n.g Peng nodded. He led Lu Zhou across the boat and walked toward the captain’s cabin in midst of the shaking and turbulent waves.
Finally, they arrived at the destination.
w.a.n.g Peng stepped forward and opened the hatch, stepping into the captain’s cabin first.
“What’s the situation? Did we make contact?”
“Not yet.” The staff in charge of communications was holding a phone with an awkward look. He said with an uneasy look on his face, “We tried to change the course, but they also changed the course immediately… There is no doubt they are heading for us.”
“This is not looking good!”
Continuing to wait like this was not an option.
Without hesitating, Lu Zhou took out the holographic gla.s.ses from his pocket and put it on the bridge of his nose.
“Xiao Ai, connect to the orbit satellites… I need aerial photos of the nearby sea area.”
Xiao Ai: [Received! Connecting (๑•̀ᄇ•́)و✧]
w.a.n.g Peng was looking at him with a strange expression. Lu Zhou paused. He then smiled and pointed his index finger to his gla.s.ses.
“AR gla.s.ses… It’s more convenient than phones.”
On the other hand, in outer s.p.a.ce.
A Star Sky Technology meteorological observation satellite departed from its original orbit and moved to the area over Northern Europe, under the force of a plasma thruster.
A clear aerial image soon appeared in Lu Zhou’s field of vision. After several zooms, the image was locked on the cargo s.h.i.+p.
The moment he saw the cargo s.h.i.+p’s deck, Lu Zhou’s pupils shrank.
After a while, he looked at w.a.n.g Peng and said, “I am afraid we have encountered some pirates.”
After he finished speaking in Chinese, he repeated this sentence in English.
The captain’s cabin immediately fell into a wave of panic.
“Pirates?” The bodyguard of the Royal Guard glanced at Lu Zhou and asked with a weird look, “Are you sure?”
This was the Baltic Sea, near developed countries. There should be no such thing as pirates.
Pirates usually operated in third world countries.
Lu Zhou, who knew that this guy would probably be useless, turned his attention to w.a.n.g Peng.
“I have sent the picture to your phone.”
w.a.n.g Peng immediately took out his phone and unlocked the screen.
The moment he saw the aerial pictures, his eyes suddenly sharpened.
Hostages and pirates were on the deck of the cargo s.h.i.+p. Not only did they have no intention of hiding at all, but they also tied the hostages to the guardrails of the s.h.i.+p.
Their plans were obvious.
They were using the hostages as a threat and wanted to launch a full-on attack on them.
Lu Zhou: “Should we negotiate with the other side?”
Even though it was difficult, there should be a way to solve this.
“No need.”
w.a.n.g Peng pulled out a satellite phone that looked like a little smartphone. He pressed the physical b.u.t.tons and entered a pa.s.sword. He typed a message and pressed the send b.u.t.ton.
After this, he put away the phone and looked outside the cabin window.
“Our people are already on the way.”