After Lu Yuan finished speaking, he gestured to Xi Wen, who quickly untied the rope, and the two of them took small oars and slowly rowed forward.
The wind on the sea was erratic, sometimes coming from the east and sometimes from the west, catching everyone off guard. The two men, holding small oars, felt particularly strained because they had to constantly adjust the position of the small boat to prevent it from being blown away by the wind.
After a long while, they finally arrived. Lu Yuan chose the boat closest to them and looked up at it. He found that there was no movement on it. Although the boat was mottled, there were obvious signs that it had been polished. It seemed that it had been abandoned here recently.
Lu Yuan and Xi Wen exchanged a glance, then the two of them took the rope from the small boat and tied it directly to the iron chain on the other ship. Then Xi Wen took out a long rope from the bag on his back, swung it twice in the air, and threw it high into the air.
A hook was attached to the top of the chain, and with a "bang," it hooked onto the ship's side. Xiwen tugged at it a few times and felt that it was already secured. He nodded to Lu Yuan.
So the two of them climbed onto the ship by clinging to the chains, one after the other.
Once aboard, it was still eerily quiet, without a single person in sight. Lu Yuan gently pulled Xiwen, who was trying to walk forward, saying, "Be careful, something might be going on here!"
Worried that something might happen, Lu Yuan took out a pistol from his waist and gripped it tightly in his hand, slowly moving towards the cabin.
Although Lu Yuan tried his best to suppress the sound of his footsteps, the metal deck under his feet made a clanging sound from time to time, as if it were striking their hearts.
Before long, the two had reached the cabin. Lu Yuanchao waved to the front, then gripped his gun tightly and pointed it at the cabin door. Xiwen took a deep breath, then gently grasped the doorknob and pressed it down.
With a "click," the hatch opened, and Lu Yuan, holding a flashlight in his left hand and shining it forward below his right, walked straight inside while gripping a pistol in his right hand.
This method was taught to him by Zhou Tong, and it is mainly used to detect some unknown rooms in order to prevent accidents and kill the opponent as soon as possible.
However, when Lu Yuan looked around the room, he found that the captain's quarters were empty. Apart from some messy books and unburnt wood lying on the ground, there was nothing else.
Lu Yuan was somewhat surprised, and then the two of them went to the second room again, only to find the same thing. They opened several rooms, but none of them were open, and Lu Yuan's heart clenched tightly.
"This is really weird. There's no one here. It's not right that such a boat has just been left here!"
Xiwen nodded slightly, seemingly swallowing hard: "I hope nothing's wrong!"
So the two of them went down to the cabin below the deck again, and gently lifted the iron plate to enter the cabin. Suddenly, there was a commotion inside, and Lu Yuan quickly covered the iron plate back up.
"Someone's there!"
A flicker of fear crossed Xiwen's eyes. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He swallowed hard again and crouched down beside him, holding a gun in his hand.
Lu Yuan lay down in front of the metal sheet and gently tapped it.
Is anyone there?
There was no movement below.
Then Lu Yuan knocked again: "I see you. If there's anyone here, just say so. We're just looking for something, we mean no harm!"
After a long while, a commotion came from below, followed by a man's voice: "What are you doing here?"
Lu Yuan was taken aback: "We were just passing by and wanted to ask what happened here? I saw so many ships abandoned here!"
The people below, hearing that Lu Yuan's voice didn't sound like he was there to do anything bad, boldly said, "Don't do anything! I'll come out right now, please don't do anything!"
Lu Yuan reassured them repeatedly before they slowly poked their heads out. There were three people in total, all dressed in rags and looking timid and hesitant. It seemed that something was on fire in the lower part of the cabin.
They seemed to be covering up the flames, but now that Lu Yuan didn't seem to have any ill intentions, they opened the iron lid with the flames on it again. A strong smell of excrement and urine wafted from the bottom of the cabin, making Lu Yuan cover his mouth and nose.
"Can you tell us what's going on here? I see a lot of boats being lost over here!"
The other person seemed to have thought of something, a hint of lingering fear flashing in their eyes.
Are you going to Taipingzhou?
Lu Yuan nodded. There was no need to hide this from the other party, since the radio station had been restored and Taipingzhou was no longer a secret. Everyone was heading to Taipingzhou, so telling others was fine.
"Sigh, I'm telling you, you'd better not go. It's too dangerous up there, there are pirates!"
Lu Yuan was stunned for a moment: "What? Pirates?"
"Yes, there are indeed pirates. They are patrolling back and forth in that area of the sea. These ships have all been robbed. A few of us escaped their search by hiding in the engine room, which is why we survived. The rest of us were captured and are probably already their food!"
Lu Yuan's heart sank. He never expected that just when he was about to leave Taiping, he would encounter pirates, and a bunch of man-eating pirates at that.
"Why don't these people go to the underground fortress? Why are they blocking the road here like pirates?"
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