Chapter 194 The Negotiation

An hour ago, west side of Cannabis Island.

At this time, Clamsells was leading Feng Bujue and Gu Xiaoling, hurrying toward a hiding place set up by the production team for the staff (at this time, Hai Mei Long had not yet revealed the information to Max, so these hiding places were still safe for the time being).

"Let me sort this out... So, there are still eighteen staff members on the island, divided into six groups, hiding in six different hiding places." Gu Xiaoling repeated the information Clamsells had told her on the way, organizing the current situation in her mind. "Each group has a walkie-talkie; you have two, one is your own, and one is the pirate's; also... Cap has set up a temporary encrypted frequency for you, so you can communicate without being detected by the pirates."

"That's right, that's basically the situation." Clamsells continued, "The hiding place I'm taking you to now has more supplies, and Cap and Bu Bo are there too."

"By the way... Since Cap has the ability to set up communication, can he call for outside rescue?" Feng Bujue asked.

"He's already tried, and the conclusion is no..." Clamsells replied, "The pirates' submarines are equipped with a rather advanced long-range communication jamming device, which physically blocks long-range communication between this place and the outside world. In Cap's words, 'This is not a problem that can be solved with technology unless you get me a pulse cannon.'"

"Okay..." Jue Ge nodded.

"Oh, one more thing..." Clamsells added, "According to the prisoner I captured, there's an original opium mine on the island, which is Graybeard's secret base. The entrance is covered by holographic images, and the door is locked with d.e.A technology..." He pondered, "I estimate... there will be large computer equipment inside that base. As long as we can get in and let Cap sit in front of the computer, there's still a chance."

"d.e.A..." Feng Bujue repeated, his eyes changing slightly, and asked suspiciously, "dynamic_encryption_algorithm?"

"Well... to be honest, I don't know. Even the pirate couldn't explain it clearly... but Cap seems to have mentioned those three words you mentioned." Clamsells replied, "Oh, you can ask him yourself..." As he spoke, his pace slowed down. "Look, the hiding place is just ahead, we're here."

As the three spoke, they arrived in front of a small waterfall several meters high.

Clamsells took the lead and rushed in without hesitation.

"Heh... a Water Curtain Cave." Feng Bujue smiled, took a deep breath, and followed closely behind. His mentality was really good, and in this situation of being trapped on a deserted island with dangers lurking everywhere, he still had the leisure to make fun of the scenery in front of him.

"Sigh... I finally managed to dry my clothes last night..." Gu Xiaoling sighed, adjusted slightly, and followed in.

After the three entered the hiding place one after another, they saw three members of the "Wilderness Poisoning" production team, as well as Bill Cap and Justin Bu Bo.

At this time, Bu Bo and the staff were sorting out the equipment, while Cap was sitting in the corner, tinkering with an electronic instrument with a bunch of substandard, crude tools.

"Hey, guys, how's it going?" Clamsells asked as he came in.

"Mr. Cap seems to need to prepare for a while." One of the staff members looked up and replied, "We have a lot of messy things here, but there are limited metal products, and he says most of them are useless."

Another staff member said, "Actually, in my opinion, the most useful thing right now..." He hefted the pistol in his hand (taken from the pirates), "is this..."

"Ha!" The third staff member gave a dry laugh, "You've watched too many movies, haven't you? You don't want to... take a gun, rush onto the boat, kill all the pirates, and successfully rescue the hostages, do you?"

"Hey! It's not impossible." The staff member replied seriously.

"Yeah... in some parallel universe, maybe you just need to wear a white cotton vest and be barefoot to handle this." The third staff member laughed, "But here, you'd better learn some basics first..." He reached out and took the pistol from the other party's hand, pulling up the safety, "For example... put on the safety before playing with it, to avoid accidental discharge."

"Alright, everyone... stop thinking about such outrageous things." Clamsells said, "John is right, this is not a movie. We have to recognize the actual situation, we are production crew members, not professional killers. Just one pirate, one gun, could take all of our lives... let alone the fact that there are more than sixty of them."

"Heh..." Feng Bujue heard this and laughed in his heart, "It's okay for you to say this to us, but to put yourself in the scope of 'us'... isn't that a bit too modest..."

"I agree." Bu Bo heard Clamsells' words and expressed his agreement, "We have absolutely no chance of winning head-on. Even if we ignore the lives of the hostages and act using the advantage of knowing the enemy's position while they don't know ours... the chances are still slim. At the moment... contacting the outside world is the most reliable approach."

"That's true, but..." Feng Bujue seized the opportunity and poured cold water on them, "Have you considered... what if we still can't contact the outside world after entering that pirate base?"

"Oh?" Bu Bo was also quite clever, and he heard a hint of conspiracy in Jue Ge's tone, "It sounds like you already have a plan?"

"That's right..." Feng Bujue smiled, "To deal with that genius child Max (the information Clamsells had gathered was more than what Gu Xiaoling knew, and he had already told Jue Ge and the others about it on the way)... the most suitable trick is—crossing the sea under camouflage."

…………

Time returned to the present, 9:50 AM, the Dolphin's captain's cabin.

"Okay, let Uncle tell you what we're trying to do..." Feng Bujue paused for a second, and calmly began to explain, "First, we will use the computer in this drug factory to reconnect all the cameras on the island, restoring video surveillance of the entire island. Then, the eighteen staff members and the five of us here will act simultaneously, cleaning up the total of twenty-eight pirates currently active on the island..." Step by step, he clearly laid out the tactics, "Next, we will take their weapons and build a defensive line on the beach, limiting your activity range to the coast. Finally, we will launch a surprise attack on the submarine and the yacht under the cover of night, wiping you out in one fell swoop."

Looking at Jue Ge's expression and listening to his explanation, Max's face changed from doubt to surprise, from surprise to anger, and then he laughed out of extreme anger.

After a while, he first looked at Hai Mei Long behind him: "Heh... Mr. Hai Mei Long, I seem to understand what you meant by 'abnormal'." He paused, then turned back to Jue Ge and said, "Mr. Carbon, I don't know what kind of mentality you have that made you say those words just now, but after listening to them, I really have two questions..."

"What are they?" Feng Bujue raised his eyebrows, as if waiting for the other party to ask.

"First, how stupid and arrogant does a person have to be to voluntarily tell the other party the details of their personnel configuration?" Max provoked.

"What's wrong with telling you?" Feng Bujue retorted, "Didn't you already know before I said these words?" He sneered, "Heh... If you haven't found out our personnel configuration from a certain hostage by now, then you're extremely stupid, right?"

"You bastard..." Max frowned and cursed angrily. He only looked seven or eight parts like his old man Graybeard when he put on this expression.

"Hey! Watch your wording, young man." Unexpectedly, Graybeard looked at his son seriously and said, "You can't swear before you're fourteen, remember?"

"Um... sorry." Max immediately calmed down, apologized, and looked at the main screen, "Hmph... it seems you're very good at provoking people, Mr. Carbon, even children..."

"You flatter me." Feng Bujue replied shamelessly, as if the other party was praising him.

"Then... my second question..." Max got back to the point and continued, "Even if your plan is an unpreventable overt conspiracy, how can you guarantee... that the implementation process will go as smoothly as you say?" He smiled, "Whether it's strength or chips, my side has the absolute advantage. For example... I can now open the public channel and use the lives of the hostages to threaten those staff members on the island... the Kangaroo Squad, the Koala Squad, the Olive Squad, etc..." He consciously revealed some of the information he knew, trying to make the other party waver, "... What will their reaction be after being threatened? Will they fight to the end with you, or will they come out and surrender? If they don't surrender, will their actions be affected by psychological pressure?" He shook his head, "Hmph... Mr. Carbon, if you're really smart and not just pretending to be smart, you should understand... even if we take a step back, our people are professional pirates whose main business is robbery and drug trafficking, while your people... are just a group of people making television programs. Even if I don't do anything, how confident are you in your plan?"

Clap—clap—clap—

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!" Feng Bujue waved his hands greatly, applauding Max, "As expected, you calculated everything clearly before talking to me, full of confidence, fearless." He licked his lips, "Your analysis is very correct, you have strength and you have chips. The gap in strength can perhaps be made up for through the surveillance network and my on-site command, but I can't do anything about chips... after all, you have so many hostages in your hands, and the people on my side have some friendships with the colleagues on the ship, and it's impossible not to be swayed by your threats."

His words were praising Max, but as he spoke, Max's heart seemed to be sinking in the cold ocean... a faint unease became clearer and clearer in these short ten seconds, eventually turning into...

"But!" Feng Bujue used a "But" to change the subject, "After I entered this cave, I realized... that in terms of 'chips,' we are not at a disadvantage..."

Finally, a fanatic smile floated on Jue Ge's face, even though he was in Stephen Carbon's body, the temperament revealed by this smile was still creepy: "Let me put it this way... Max, you can kill all the hostages on that ship, I don't care at all. But... can you accept the reality that I will destroy this mine?"

Before he finished speaking, Max's body stiffened, and Graybeard's face showed horror.

"Hmph... finally noticed?" Feng Bujue continued, "Your chips are worthless to me, but my chips are a true 'treasure' to you." He grinned, "Every time you kill a hostage, I'll destroy a batch of your inventory. Once the inventory is destroyed, I'll start destroying the raw ore. I want to see... who can last longer..."

"Enough!" Graybeard couldn't bear it anymore, he waved his hook in front of the screen, "Carbon! What do you want? Just say it!"

"Heh... that's right." Feng Bujue said, "Many things in this world... are just a deal, aren't they?" He shook his head and wagged his head, saying with a smug look, "Don't worry, this will be a deal that satisfies both parties. The ending will inevitably be that everyone gets what they want, and everyone is happy..."