"Did you bring any grenades up?" This question was directed at Song Changhui.

"No." Even if there were, it wouldn't be used here.

Although they had entered the high seas, the pirates were in the area between the territorial waters and the high seas of another country. Half of their large ship was in the high seas and half in the territorial waters of the Eight Banners. If they used grenades to attract patrolling warships, and the other side then retaliated, wouldn't that be a possibility of provoking a war?

"Lower the small boat, let's go over and board!"

"What?!" Xie Huan and Song Changhui exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

"Hmm?" Yuan Zhuan looked at the two of them, the threat in his eyes almost tangible, causing them to swallow their objections that were about to spill out.

"If something goes wrong, we will all be held accountable."

Yuan Zhuan: Another kind of retreat as a means of advancement.

“We don’t have time to waste here. The people we’re looking for are getting weaker and weaker. We must find them and rescue them within four hours. And we are currently 200 nautical miles away from their location.” Even at its maximum speed, the ship can only travel 35 knots per hour.

If she hadn't been here today, their mission would have undoubtedly failed, and they might not even have survived.

These pirates came with guns and cannons, and opened fire without saying a word. Clearly, they had no intention of letting them leave alive.

This group of pirates clearly had a backup plan.

The system detected that three more ships were speeding towards them from 35 nautical miles away.

"How did you know?" Song Changhui asked, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Whether you believe it or not is up to you. I'm going on a mission now, so none of you should come with me." This is to avoid indecisiveness and holding her back.

Having said all he needed to say, Yuan Zhuan decided not to waste any more time talking to anyone. He led his men onto the small boat, moving so fast that Song Changhui had no time to stop them.

"Xie Huan, what's wrong with Zheng Ji from your team? Why did you drag the boat out! She's obviously acting on impulse, didn't you see that?" Song Changhui roared angrily.

Knowing it was a dead end, they still let people go! What a bastard!!

He thought Xie Huan shared the same idea, but it was just a fleeting glance, and Xie Huan's men took it upon themselves to set sail. He would never believe it was done without Xie Huan's permission.

"Song Changhui, you're still as indecisive as ever!" Xie Huan looked at the sea and coldly uttered these words. If it weren't for his personality, how could he have missed so many promotion opportunities, yet he still believed it was due to the unfairness of fate?

"Xie Huan!!" Song Changhui was furious and embarrassed.

Zheng Ji climbed onto the fishing boat and heard Song Changhui yelling at their captain, which made him frown slightly.

Captain Song Changhui has a very mild personality and always hesitates before doing anything. If he weren't so strong in individual combat, his superiors wouldn't have sent him out. To avoid any mistakes, he was only assigned to assist, and the main point was to prevent him from making any decisions.

A hint of impatience flashed in Xie Huan's eyes as he turned to make further arrangements.

Furious, her face flushed red, she was ignored by Xie Huan. Apart from gritting her teeth and enduring it, she dared not make any other moves. With a wave of her hand, she signaled the others to prepare to provide backup, but her bloodshot eyes were still glaring in the direction of Xie Huan.

"Captain, Captain Song is still glaring at you." Zheng Ji had never liked Song Changhui. He always liked to compare himself to their captain, but he could never win, and he would often get angry.

"Ignore him, he's just bored."

Yuan Zhuan was unaware of the little incident on the ship. At this moment, she was already riding the waves and rushing towards the tall ship opposite.

"Boss, shall we come back?" The fishing boat has been set up with a talisman array, and the soldiers also have defensive talismans on them. If the pirates are wiped out, these soldiers should be safe.

"I'm not going back." With all those burdens around, I can't do whatever I want.

Indeed, Yuan Zhuan was prepared to part ways after his decision was questioned multiple times after boarding the ship; but before that, he had to ensure their safety.

"The gasoline on this small boat probably won't last very long," Qi Ming thought to himself.

Xie Huan watched as the small boat got closer and closer to the pirate ship, but the pirates seemed not to see it and kept firing at them.

The illogical thing made Xie Huan's eyes widen, and he reached out, "Give me the sniper rifle."

"Yes." Zheng Ji replied quickly.

Loading, aiming, and firing—it only took three seconds—and the man waving the flag on the pirate ship had already been shot in the head.

"Beautiful!" came cheers from the fishing boat.

Everyone drew their weapons and began to fight back, doing everything they could to bring the small boat closer.

"Boss, they fought back."

Yuan Zhuan didn't speak, but made a gesture, and everyone tacitly fell silent, then turned the boat to a blind spot.

"Guards are on guard!" Hu Jun warned.

As Yuan Zhuan raised his hand, several streams of Yin energy dissipated, slithering away like snakes and quickly obscuring the guards' vision.

"Get on the boat!"

"yes!!"

The target this time is the gold hidden inside the ship's hold.

"Host, target location locked, inside the secret door of the third compartment of the ship."

"They've gone up." Through the binoculars, Song Changhui clearly saw Yuan Zhuan and his group's movements.

But why did those people seem not to have noticed them?

To turn a blind eye?

Puzzled, Yuan Zhuan and his four companions vanished without a trace.

"Get ready to provide backup."

"yes!"

Yuan Zhuan turned around and went into the underground cabin alone.

As soon as he entered, a damp, fishy stench spread to his nose, and Yuan Zhuan quickly set up a barrier to block out the smell.

There was an indicator light at the corner of the stairs, and the lighting was dim and not good, but it was enough to see where you were going.

Following the system's instructions, Yuan Zhuan walked towards the target location, weaving through the tin-roofed warehouses that resembled individual cubicles. Because of the low ceiling, even though she was only about 1.5 meters tall, she had to slightly lower her head to avoid bumping her head against the warehouse ceiling.

Just as Yuan Zhuan was about to continue forward after another turn, he heard someone knocking on the door—or rather, on the warehouse door.

There are people down there!

"System, are there people being held captive down there?"

There was a moment of silence in the system. "Yes, there are 21 children, 5 boys and the rest are girls."

"Why didn't you say so?" Yuan Zhuan asked in shock.

This group of people is also involved in human trafficking!

He deserves to die!

"You didn't ask either."

Yuan Zhuanqi gritted his teeth, "You just wait!"

We finally arrived at our destination, which was secured by a heavy bolt and a fingerprint lock.

Yuan Zhuan turned on his portable flashlight and looked carefully. Yin Sha shot out from his fingertips, and with a soft beep, the fingerprint lock that was flashing green light went out.

And just like that, Yuan Zhuan reached out and grabbed it, and the fingerprint lock's lifespan came to an end.

The hatch was opened with ease, and the inside was pitch black.

A flashlight, as bright as an incandescent bulb, suddenly switched on, illuminating the entire storage compartment.

The sight before him made Yuan Zhuan's eyes sparkle with excitement, almost like the shape of European coins.

In the nearly one hundred square meter warehouse, two-thirds of the area was filled with crates stacked to the ceiling, and the remaining space consisted of open wooden crates, layer upon layer, filled with gold bars, jade artifacts, and many other gold and silver jewels, reflecting a luxurious luster under the lights. Also piled together were some paintings, porcelain, and even... well...

Guns! Mortars!

The interior of this hold was bizarrely designed. Compared to the outside height of about 1.5 meters, it was almost 3 meters high, and the supplies stored inside were breathtaking! My heart was pounding with excitement. How many cargo ships must have been robbed to accumulate so much wealth?! Indeed, to make a fortune, you have to rob!

Yuan Zhuan opened the lids of several of the top wooden boxes, and his mouth almost watered.

Fine wines, luxury watches, gold bars... they're all money, all money!

Slurp...

With a wave of its claws, the system backpack started making a series of jingling sounds as one system slot after another was filled. Most of the supplies in the warehouse were gone, until the last system slot was filled, leaving a third of the boxes still empty, all of which contained Euros.

For the impoverished Yuan Zhuan, seeing money he couldn't take with him felt like being torn to pieces; his heart was shattered.

"System, can we exchange for slots?" If that doesn't work, she can disassemble the gun, take only a part of it, and take the bullets and shells with her. That's not out of the question.

"2,000 gold coins per slot, and you can exchange for ten more." The system had clearly arranged the more than 20,000 gold coins.

"You wish!" Yuan Zhuan rolled his eyes, exchanged five, and ten thousand gold coins vanished just like that.

The ding-dong sound rang out again.

Yuan Zhuan grinned, baring his teeth, and almost dug up the ground to check it thoroughly to make sure he didn't miss anything.

"System, aren't there three more ships behind? Investigate them for me and see if they have this many treasures too. I'll give you two more merit points in return, how about it?" Having just joined the ranks of the wealthy, for some reason, his voice started to become lewd.

system:……

"No!"

"System, we're from the same country!! Those assets were stolen, they're ill-gotten gains. We need to distinguish right from wrong and help them spend them, that would be the best course of action!" Yuan Zhuan thought the system was unwilling to help and began to tempt them.

"No!! The ships behind it aren't even a third the size of this one. The cabins are just big enough for people to squeeze together and sleep in." They're so small, how could they possibly hold treasure?

Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhuan curled his lip in regret.

What a pity, why isn't there a cabin?

"System, tell me, did they only steal all this stuff this time? Is there a huge treasure trove hidden where they're hiding? Yeah, their lair must have a treasure trove; they couldn't possibly take everything with them after looting..." *slurp*

My mouth is watering.

system:……

Pirate: You actually wanted to raid my place?! Thank you, haha!

The system is currently in a state of self-isolation.

Yuan Zhuan didn't receive a response, so he didn't linger. He turned around and went out, finding the hatch where the child was locked, as the system had indicated.

Creak...

The moment the hatch was opened, a stench hit him, almost breaking through Yuan Zhuan's shield.

A commotion broke out inside. To avoid hurting his eyes with the light, Yuan Zhuan shone the light at his feet, but it was still enough to see the situation inside clearly. The room, which was more than ten square meters, was crammed with children. They were huddled together, their bodies and heads hunched over, as if they had been greatly frightened. Some of the girls were already sobbing softly.

Judging from their backs, they should all be children under ten years old, but the youngest one is probably not too young, around six or seven years old.

Children this age already have memories; the chances of them being adopted are extremely low. What are they going to do with them? And where are they going to send them?

Yuan Zhuan frowned. "Are any of you from China?"

so……

The children huddled together, no one speaking, but some of the bolder ones had already begun to steal glances.

"Don't be afraid. This ship will soon be in the hands of soldiers from China, and they will take you back to your country. I'll ask you one more time: are any of you from China? If you are Chinese children, stand up now, and I'll take you away."

After speaking, Yuan Zhuan's gaze swept over the children's thin, bony bodies. No one spoke, and no one stood up.

It seems that there isn't any left.

Yuan Zhuan breathed a sigh of relief and took out a large bag of meat buns from her backpack, which was actually her system backpack. "Take one of these buns each. Don't fight over them. Someone will come to rescue you soon." After saying that, she remembered that the child couldn't understand her, clicked her tongue, and then placed the buns in a slightly cleaner spot.

Just as Yuan Zhuan turned around, he said, "Sister, I am Chinese, and so are my good friends. There are five of us."

As soon as the Chinese words were spoken, Yuan Zhuan's heart sank. Sure enough... when he turned around, the five boys were all Chinese.

"Give me your name, age, and home address. No proxy reporting allowed!"

“My name is…” The five children quickly gave the information that Yuan Zhuan wanted to know.

Once it was confirmed that they were all speaking the local Chinese language, Yuan Zhuan said, "Come with me."

"Kill them all, leave no one alive!" On the ship, the small paper figure stuck to Qi Ming's shoulder conveyed Yuan Zhuan's words.

Even though he was mentally prepared, Qi Ming was still so frightened that he shuddered violently and almost grabbed the little paper figure.

"The boss gave the order: kill them all."

"yes!"

The four men twirled their daggers, each stroke a beautiful display of skill.

With the talisman close to their bodies, the four men rushed out from all four sides, killing swiftly and decisively, each stabbing the other in the temple with a single blow.

In Yuan Zhuan's words, even if their throats are cut, they'll still be twitching for a long time. For these bastards, living a few more seconds is a waste of Earth's resources.

When the pirates realized something was wrong and turned around, they saw sharp blades appear out of nowhere in their temples, piercing and pulling out, spurting out jets of blood!

Over and over again, one after another!!!

"Aaaaaaah... Satan! It's Satan!!!"

"No, no, no!! Serpent Demon, Serpent Demon!!"

Bang bang bang...

bounce bounce bounce...

Driven to a mental breakdown by the shock, the pirates opened fire, aiming at the very spots where someone had just fallen, scattering bullets as if they were free.

On the fishing boat at the other end, holding up binoculars, Song Changhui nearly popped his eyes out of their sockets, muttering incoherently, "This is unscientific, this is unscientific..." We had nothing there, and a person was killed by a blade that appeared out of thin air? A person? Or a ghost?

Xie Huan stared dumbfounded at the dozens of pirates opposite him through his binoculars. In the blink of an eye, most of them were dead or wounded, and the rest were screaming and indiscriminately firing machine guns at their backs like madmen.

The soldiers on the fishing boat appeared on the deck and stood scattered. "My goodness, they've started killing each other on the other side."

"Why do I feel like this isn't just infighting? It's like seeing a ghost! That knife, look, that knife, it's a dagger!! It appeared out of thin air, holy crap!!!"

"No, no, no, this isn't scientific, it's not scientific!! There's something wrong with my eyes!!"

"Could this be one of Yuan Zhuan's tricks?" Some of the more astute individuals noticed something amiss.

"Dude, I think you've hit the nail on the head."

"What you said is the truth. Look, they've appeared. That's Qi Ming, and four other team members, all brought by Yuan Zhuan this time. My goodness..."

As the last pirate fell, Yuan Zhuan appeared at the bow of the ship with his men, gesturing in this direction. At the same time, the pirate ship reversed course and disappeared completely into international waters.