Chapter Thirty-Seven: Pirates

  A small steamer, only a few hundred tons in size, was slowly making its way through the stormy sea, this type of small steamship can almost be said to be the most common merchant ship on the South China Sea now, after all those giant ships of several thousand or even tens of thousands of tons are not something that small businessmen can afford.

  The ship owner, Ye Anping, was worried and kept looking back, even the dozen or so sailors on the ship were all tense, with a few holding thick **nine-shot Mauser rifles.

  "Hurry up and hide in the cabin, what are you doing getting into the commotion!" He looked at his daughter Ye Zi, who suddenly appeared from behind him with a Colt revolver.

  Taiwan is not the mainland, especially for those who run overseas like them. The women in their families are basically capable of being men, and they don't learn from those bookworms at home, so naturally they wouldn't come up with something as bizarre as foot binding.

  Ye Zi pouted, and before she could say anything, she saw a dozen or so sailboats suddenly emerging from the stormy sea in the distance.

  "Pirates!" a sailor shouted, and all the armed sailors quickly prepared for battle. Even those without firearms brought out long spears, large knives, and other weapons, with one guy even carrying a bow and arrow.

  "Don't you dare come out, you have to follow me. Remember, no matter what, don't fall into their hands." Ye Anping shouted at his daughter in hatred. He only had this one daughter, and the family business would be handed over to her in the future, so he brought her along to get familiar with the sea.

  This ship was specifically running the Saigon route, transporting camphor and tea from Taiwan, and coal oil and some Western luxury goods back from Saigon. Although the competition was fierce, it could still be maintained, but encountering sea pirates would make everything go down the drain. This trip obviously didn't have good luck. If they were Chinese pirates, they might be able to talk things over and pay a protection fee to get rid of them. To be honest, Ye Anping had been doing this for so long that he naturally couldn't avoid having some connections with the pirates, but these Luzon monkeys didn't have any such connections.

  A small steamer loaded with goods, couldn't outrun these fast little sailboats. Before long, both sides had closed in to within a few hundred meters of each other. The black monkeys on the opposite side were like wild dogs, brandishing their cold and hot hybrid weapons, howling as they charged forward. More than a dozen boats, with over 200 people, surrounded them from three sides. As soon as they closed in to within 300 meters, chaotic gunfire erupted, and an careless sailor let out a blood-curdling scream as he fell.

  "Fire!" Ye Anping didn't have time to care about anything else, he aimed his nine-shot Mauser at a pirate and fired. On the undulating sea, it was all up to luck for an amateur shooter like him to hit the target, but two shots in a row missed.

  The pirates opposite returned fire with a more intense barrage, at least fifty long guns, although their marksmanship was equally poor, but the sheer number of them was enough to overwhelm Ye Anping's six Mausers. Soon another sailor on the small steamer was hit by gunfire, and although they also took down one pirate, it had no impact on the overall situation. The small steamer, spewing thick smoke as it desperately accelerated, was still about to be overtaken.

  "Bring over two buckets of coal oil." Ye Zi suddenly shouted at a sailor.

  The sailor was stunned for a moment but quickly ran to the cargo hold and carried out a 50-kilogram barrel of kerosene.

  "Push it down!" Ye Zi shouted immediately after.

  Ye Anping suddenly came to, grabbed the oil barrel and looked at the pirate ship's direction behind him before throwing it down. Then he saw his daughter raise her hand and fire a burst of shots. Sparks flew from the floating oil barrel on the sea surface. At the same time, several other gunmen also reacted and aimed their targets at the oil barrel. After a burst of gunfire, a flash of flames suddenly appeared on the sea surface, followed by a loud explosion. A huge fireball suddenly exploded, engulfing a pirate ship that happened to be passing by in flames. The pirates on board who were covered in flames jumped into the sea one after another, screaming in agony.

  "Come on, bring a few more barrels!" Ye Anping shouted excitedly.

  A barrel of coal oil was quickly brought out and thrown down like a water thunder, followed by a burst of gunfire. Soon another pirate ship that had been dodging and hiding was hit. Unfortunately, this also enraged the pirates, who soon discovered that such tactics were useless against the pirate ships that were flanking on both sides. The remaining pirate ships immediately split into two routes, avoiding the stern of the small fireboat and coming from both sides to encircle it.

  Ye Anping was also stunned at this time.

  "Open the oil barrels and pour them down when they get close." Ye Zi was obviously more ruthless than her old man, and at this time, the sailors were already very convinced of their eighteen-year-old young lady. A bucket of coal oil with its lid open was placed on both sides of the deck, and then two large buckets of fiery red carbon blocks were also placed on the deck from the furnace. Everyone crouched on the deck, waiting carefully.

  Before long the first pirate ship drew alongside the little steamer, a grappling iron was thrown out and caught hold of the vessel's side, and immediately those bloodshot-eyed pirates began to play their old tricks.

  "Spill the oil!" Ye Zi shouted, and with a wave of her hand, she knocked over the oil barrel in front of her. The coal oil poured down from above onto the pirate ship below, and then she pushed the barrel away.

  "Fire!" With her old man's command, a ladle of burning coals was poured down by the sailor in charge, and amidst the drizzle, flames suddenly rose up from the side of the ship. The pirates who had just climbed halfway were immediately engulfed in the blaze, followed by a string of desperate wails.

  Even a sailor who dodged too late had his face scorched by the flames that suddenly rose from below, covering his eyes and screaming as he rolled around on the deck. Of course, no one was taking care of him now; at this time, who could still take care of others?

  This move was too ruthless, the pirates who were approaching obviously hesitated, they only thought of getting rich, but didn't expect to bite a porcupine and get their mouths pierced before even tasting the meat.

  However, these pirates were used to living on the edge of their knives and after a brief moment of hesitation, they continued to surround them. Moreover, they had also learned from their previous mistakes, with several cunning ones climbing up the mast to shoot down at the ship from above.

  This way, the people on the small fire wheel were completely discouraged, and soon two sailors were shot one after another. As for the oil barrels, no one dared to touch them anymore. If these pirates weren't after the cargo on the ship, they might have concentrated their fire on the oil barrels by now, and the ship would probably be finished.

  "Kid, I'll send you off first!" Looking at the pirates who had already appeared on the ship's side, Ye Anping gritted his teeth and pointed the gun at his own daughter. Having run a ship for a lifetime, he naturally knew what would happen to women if they fell into the hands of these guys.

  Ye Zi didn't look at his old man, but instead stared blankly at the back, a huge black bat suddenly drilled out of the dark cloud layer.

  "What's that?" she shrieked like a fool.

  Ye Anping was also stunned, looking at the monster that was rapidly approaching on the surface of the sea, and his finger, which had already hooked the trigger, suddenly relaxed.

  At this moment, a faint flame suddenly appeared on the black monster's body, followed by a dense whistling sound that broke through the air. In an instant, more than a dozen pirate ships gathered on both sides were engulfed in countless explosions of fireballs. Even several cannonballs hit the small steamer, scaring Ye Anping to quickly press his daughter down. Then he watched as two pirates who had just climbed onto the ship simultaneously had half their bodies turn into a bloody mist and disappear. A huge fireball exploded in mid-air on the right side of the ship.

  The explosion didn't last long, and soon it stopped. Ye Anping and his daughter cautiously lifted their heads to look at the pirate ships and pirates below, but they had already disappeared. The sea surface was filled with countless burning wooden debris, broken sails, and even fragmented human bodies drifting in the blood-red water. The only thing that remained relatively intact was the two halves of the deck.

  Ye Zi, although very strong and fierce, was after all just a young girl. Looking at the scene in front of her, she couldn't help but turn pale and rush to the side of the boat to vomit. As a result, she bent down and vomited even more violently, and the side of the boat was covered with bloody and mutilated human remains, like rotten mud stuck to the hull.

  "Little beauty, is this how you welcome your savior?" A loud, hoarse voice suddenly rang out in the silence. Ye Zijin, who had been spitting out leaves, struggled to lift her head and saw a huge black bat facing her, with a fake foreign devil gazing at her with a gloating expression.

  Ye Zijiang wanted to speak, but looking at him curling up his fingers and covering his nose with a handkerchief, he couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea in his stomach, and he lowered his head and vomited again.

  He and Caiyi played an outdoor game, as a result, unfortunately, Yang, who had not yet recovered from his cold, was very hurt by the rejection of this slender girl, and turned to talk to the middle-aged man next to her.

  However, Ye Anping's dialect made it almost impossible for him to understand a single sentence. Fortunately, at this moment, Cai Yimei came out of the cabin and communicated with these people without any difficulty. After saying a few words, she suddenly smiled and said: "Sir, he understands French."

  It's easier now, Yang Feng immediately started talking to Ye Anping in French, and soon learned that they were a Taiwanese merchant ship returning to Dagou Port, unfortunately encountered pirates along the way. As for this point, Ye Anping naturally thanked Yang Feng a thousand times.

  "It's nothing big, just a small favor, and it so happens that I was also planning to go to Dagougang, we can just go together." Yang Feng said this under the puzzled gaze of Cai Yimei, they were originally planning to go to Hong Kong.

  But looking at the little girl squatting on the deck, vomiting so hard she's almost fainting, and thinking about her master's personality, Caiyi couldn't help but laugh.

  However, she really misunderstood Yang Feng on this point. Although Yang Da Boss claimed to be a color evil spirit, he was not interested in a girl who was vomiting at the time. He suddenly thought that it would be good to run to Taiwan ahead of schedule to set up a base. In such a remote place, as long as you sell through local officials, I estimate that even if you rent out a piece of land, there won't be too much trouble.

  At that time, the Taiwan Governor was like Rao Yongning, who had a long-standing relationship with Xue Fucheng. First, he used his connection with Old Xue to get things going, and then he slipped in tens of thousands of silver dollars to set up a training base for the Anbula Company and build a dock for the Yang Shipping Company. It was probably just a matter of saying one word.