Chapter 212 We Also Rob

Rana Singh watched as his servants and guards were thrown onto the shallows and struggled to swim ashore, while he himself was bound hand and foot and blindfolded. He kept shouting, "I have money, I can pay the ransom..." but no one answered him. This group of pirates was very strange; they were all masked and never uttered a word, only using absolute force to plunder.

In the end, Rana Singh was thrown into a dark cave. The cave wasn't big, but it was very dry. The daily meals that were delivered to him reassured Rana; as long as he was fed, it meant he was still useful, and only useful people had the right to live. He could just wait patiently; someone would eventually come to talk to him about the ransom.

News of the "ghost ship" appearing in the Strait of Malacca spread rapidly. The huge, agile, and fast oar-powered sailing ships, the masked pirate crew and samurai, and the eerie, silent robbery all caused great concern, especially among merchants traveling between the two sides of the strait.

Several development teams under the Da Yuan Development Administration approached Lin Yongqian, demanding that he eliminate this destabilizing factor threatening the region's security. However, Lin Yongqian replied, "If it doesn't concern you, don't cause any trouble." This defined the nature of the matter, meaning that as long as they didn't rob them, no one was allowed to cause trouble.

From then on, strange scenes frequently occurred on the sea from Malacca Port to Singapore and even all the way to Jakarta. Singapore's escort fleet and pirate ships known as "ghost ships" would intersect or even run parallel to each other, with neither paying attention to the other. The "ghost ships" would rob and kill people right in front of the escort ships, while the escort ships would pretend not to see and continue their routine training.

After two years of construction, Singapore is no longer the desolate place it once was. The beautiful council building has three floors, with the garrison infantry, navy, and development administration each occupying one floor. They do not interfere with each other normally, but only come together to discuss matters. Important matters are discussed in the council chamber, while other matters are discussed in the restaurant.

"Fatty Lin, were you behind those pirates?"

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Director Lin of the Development Administration swirled the wine in his hand and asked slowly and deliberately.

Wu Mingyi got angry looking at the pretentious fat man. Who doesn't know who? What's with the act of being a refined person? I know how many hairs are on your ass.

"You took away two of my brigades under a pretext, and they haven't been seen since. The robbed merchants are also gone. The pirates were wearing my great-ministerial armor and were very powerful. They were definitely not a rabble. You're the one who did this, and you still think you're innocent?"

Lin Yongqian glanced at the somewhat agitated Wu Mingyi and said calmly, "Do you think I'm short of money? As a colleague, you're making baseless accusations against me, are you trying to make me send a letter to the military to have someone come and investigate?"

Wu Mingyi nearly dropped his wine glass. Let the military investigate? Wouldn't that clearly show there's discord within Singapore?

The full name of the military headquarters is "Da Yuan Army Command". (This is a fragment of a sentence and doesn't translate directly.)

At the time, no one knew what this military department that the prince had set up was, but seeing that the veteran general Wu Shengze had become the head of the military department, everyone guessed that it must be a key department responsible for training and managing the prince's troops.

However, the military's functions far exceeded everyone's expectations. It was in charge of everything from the appointment and removal of commanding officers to the compensation of soldiers who died in battle.

But that's not the most important thing. The most deadly thing is that it has the power to supervise military discipline. The supervision rules were personally written by the prince. If you apply them, none of these rude and talkative soldiers will not be able to hold back their blood. If anyone provokes them, all your colleagues will spray you with filthy blood.

"Uncle Xiao, he has also harmed a lot of your people, why don't you say anything?" Wu Mingyi was silenced by Lin Yongqian and had no choice but to ask for help.

"Hmm? Nephew, what's wrong? Try this wine, it tastes really good. I have to say, the elves really know how to enjoy life, it's delicious!"

An elderly man with hair in his fifties kept his head down and ate and drank heavily while the two of them were talking, and pretended not to hear Wu Mingyi calling him.

Xiao Jing was a veteran in Qin Mo's retinue. As the Lion City Guard Fleet expanded, a person of sufficient weight and loyalty was needed to take charge. Qin Mo sent him to form the core of Lion City's management, together with Lin Yongqian and Wu Mingyi.

Wu Mingyi was stifled. When a merchant came to him to complain about being crushed by well-organized and skilled professional pirates, he immediately became furious.

"Damn it, you fat Lin, you use my men to make extra money without sharing any with me. Aren't you afraid of choking on your own?"

Today, Wu Mingyi invited the two of them to a restaurant for dinner. He originally thought that Fatty Lin would at least give him something in return, but he was completely defeated. He wanted to flip the table, but then he felt that they didn't have that much of a grudge. He thought about turning around and leaving, but he couldn't bear the embarrassment.

Seeing Wu Mingyi's predicament, Xiao Jingxian had no choice but to say, "Nephew, since he took away our men, let him explain to the military. It's none of our business. Let's focus on training our own soldiers!"

Xiao Jing, being an experienced and shrewd man, clearly understood the situation. While the three men in Lion City appeared to be on equal footing, both the infantry and the navy were actually serving the Development Administration. The two men's existence was merely to check and balance Lin Yongqian.

Seeing Xiao Jingxian's expression, Wu Mingyi had no choice but to give up. After Lin Yongqian left, he complained to Xiao Jingxian, "Uncle Xiao, why didn't you question him with me just now? This strait is in chaos, and it's not good for you as the commander of the fleet, is it?"

“Nephew of the Wu family, Lin Dalang has been a merchant for high-ranking officials for more than ten years. Has he ever embezzled a single penny? How many times would he dare to do something like pretending to be a pirate?”

"Could they really be the elite troops from the Majapahit side? Then we need to be wary of Uncle Xiao. I can't sell so much armored weaponry to Java; that would be raising a tiger to cause trouble!"

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