Chapter 130 The Ship

Seven o'clock in the morning, the Dolphin cruise ship, the captain's cabin.

"Captain." Before Hai Mei-long even entered the cabin, he walked to the captain's side and cut to the chase, "Something's happened on the island, and I'd like you to take a look."

The captain of the Dolphin, Joseph Campbell, was a seasoned veteran of nearly sixty years.

Seeing Hai Mei-long's visit, Joseph's expression didn't change much; he simply replied calmly, "What is it? Someone finally seriously injured… needing a helicopter?" He tried to guess.

"Not exactly," Hai Mei-long replied. "Please take a look at this…" As he spoke, he picked up the tablet he carried and brought up a video. "This is footage we shot an hour ago."

The video that Hai Mei-long showed was naturally the scene of Lie Nong being abducted by the pirates. The video wasn't very long, only a few minutes in total, because Lie Nong hardly resisted before being dragged away by the group.

"Hmm…" Captain Joseph pondered for a long while after watching it. "You're showing me this… what does it mean?"

"Of course, I'm asking for your opinion," Hai Mei-long said. "What do you think those people are?"

"I don't know." Joseph didn't even bother to answer the question, stating directly, "But I know what to do next…" He paused, turning his head to look Hai Mei-long directly in the eyes. "You and your boys must immediately stop filming and withdraw from the island. As for me… I'm calling the Coast Guard now."

"Wait!" Seeing the other man reach for the intercom, Hai Mei-long quickly grabbed Joseph's elbow, trying to dissuade him. "Is that really necessary?" he said in a low voice. "Joseph, you have to think this through… the production costs of our program are very high, and we're already halfway through filming. Do you know what reshoots mean?"

"That's none of my concern," Joseph replied firmly. "You paid to hire me to ensure that everyone on this ship comes and goes safely. I took the payment, so naturally I have to do my job properly." He shook off Hai Mei-long's hand. "Don't talk to me about production costs or filming schedules… all I know is that right now, not far from us, there's a group of unidentified armed individuals, and they've already kidnapped a passenger from our ship." He pointed to the console next to him. "The worst part is… I didn't see anything on the radar. That means either those people appeared out of thin air, or they came on some kind of vehicle with anti-reconnaissance capabilities." He took half a step forward, glaring at Hai Mei-long and lowering his voice. "Civilian ships can't carry that kind of equipment, and their clothing doesn't look like that of regular soldiers, so… they're either pirates, drug lords, or both." Saying this, he mimicked Hai Mei-long's tone from just now and asked, "Do you know what being targeted by this group means?"

Hearing the captain's words, Hai Mei-long's expression shifted several times, but, of course, he still didn't show any panic.

Dozens of seconds later, Hai Mei-long seemed to have made some kind of decision, replying, "Alright… Joseph, I think you're right, notify the Coast Guard then." As he spoke, he had already turned to walk out of the cabin. "I'll be responsible for contacting and recalling the staff and contestants on the island…"

Boom—

His words were interrupted by a loud bang.

Along with the sound, the entire ship shook violently.

"What's going on?" Captain Joseph's shout rang out immediately. The old captain nearly fell to the ground in the impact, but luckily he reacted quickly, grabbing the edge of the console and only falling to one knee.

"Captain! The hull has been hit! The second engine is damaged, and the rear compartment is taking on water!" A crew member who had been sitting at the console scrambled back into his seat, looking at the screen and shouting.

"Seal off the rear compartment! Call for rescue, quick!" the captain roared.

"What's going on? Joseph?" Hai Mei-long (who had been standing at the door when the impact occurred, holding onto the door frame so he didn't fall) asked, "What was that?"

"Who the hell knows!" Joseph, with one hand pressing down on his captain's hat and the other supporting himself, stood up. "Maybe we were hit by some kind of large marine creature, maybe…"

Screech— oooo—

At this moment, a dull, loud sound of metal grinding suddenly came from the stern of the ship, drowning out the captain's words.

"Damn it!" Hai Mei-long cursed under his breath, then dashed out the door, running along the deck towards the source of the sound.

In the process, the metal grinding sound never stopped, and… as the sound grew louder, the ship began to gradually tilt, with the stern becoming higher and higher…

However, Hai Mei-long's physical fitness was surprisingly good. Even though he was walking "uphill," he quickly reached the stern and witnessed firsthand…

"Oh! God!" The sight before him shocked even Hai Mei-long.

At this moment, the rear of the cruise ship had been torn open with a huge gash, and clumps of semi-solid green substance were constantly pouring out. When the substance came into contact with the seawater, it expanded violently and then quickly solidified into a solid metal…

The amazing thing was that this metal showed no signs of sinking in the seawater. It floated strongly on the surface of the sea and pushed the stern of the Dolphin upward, causing the entire ship to tilt.

"Metal slurry torpedo…" Hai Mei-long immediately regained his composure and identified the substance. The next second, he grabbed the railing, stretched his neck, and began to scan the sea intently.

About ten seconds later, what he was looking for appeared…

A submarine with a skull logo on its hull slowly surfaced from the sea, breaking through the waves from the side of the Dolphin and closing to within two hundred meters in the blink of an eye.

"Damn it! It really is pirates…" When Hai Mei-long saw the silhouette of the submarine, he knew the situation was bad. He immediately turned and ran, rushing back towards the captain's cabin.

"Joseph! There are pirates! They're here!" Hai Mei-long practically shouted as he entered the captain's cabin.

"James…" Looking at Hai Mei-long, who stumbled into the cabin, Captain Joseph announced a piece of bad news with a deathly pale face. "Our communication signals are being blocked."

"What!" Hai Mei-long exclaimed.

"The pirates' ship must have a remote signal jamming device. We… can't contact the Coast Guard…" Joseph took off his hat. "We may not even be able to send out a distress signal."

"Quick, abandon ship, Joseph! Let's escape to the island first!" Hai Mei-long stepped forward and said.

"It's useless, look." Joseph said, reaching out and pressing a few buttons on the console, bringing up the image from the bow camera. "Look… they foresaw the reactions we might have. As soon as the torpedo hit, more than a dozen pirates who were hiding underwater stormed ashore and occupied the beach… in broad daylight, we can't get past those armed thugs."

Glug—

Now, even Hai Mei-long, whose will was as strong as iron and who was always in control of everything, slumped heavily into the chair, showing a look of despair.

"Haaah—" Captain Joseph sighed deeply. "Maybe this is fate." He shook his head slightly. "I was planning to retire after this trip, but I didn't expect… hehe…" He flagrantly set a death flag and continued to Hai Mei-long, "Don't worry too much, James, you're all important people, they won't kill you casually. Pirates… they just want ransom. When the time comes, the government will definitely come to rescue…"

"Hey!" Suddenly, something flashed in Hai Mei-long's mind. He suddenly shouted, interrupting Joseph's words, "Joseph, you said the remote signals are being blocked, what about short-range signals?" He quickly continued, "Like… communications between here and the island?"

Joseph frowned and glanced sideways, thought for a moment, and replied, "Hmm… that… should still work…"

Before he finished speaking, Hai Mei-long jumped up from the chair, grabbed the intercom on the console, and turned to a crew member a few meters away, "Switch me to the regional all-frequency channel! Quick!"

The crew member was at a loss, but Captain Joseph quickly gave him an affirmative look, "Do as he says."

So, five seconds later, Hai Mei-long's voice rang out in all the communication devices in the area…

"Attention to everyone who hears this message! This is an emergency! I am James Francis Hai Mei-long, and I am speaking to you from the Dolphin cruise ship! Our cruise ship is currently under attack by a group of pirates! Repeat! Under attack by pirates! Everyone who hears my voice, if you are still on the island, please hide yourselves! And try to call for help from the outside world! I will try to destroy the monitoring equipment on the ship as much as possible to prevent you from being tracked by the pirates!"

Hai Mei-long repeated these words twice in a fast, loud, and clear voice, then handed the intercom to Captain Joseph. "Continue broadcasting, Joseph, don't stop until someone breaks in."

"Understood." Joseph took the intercom and immediately put it to his mouth, starting to repeat Hai Mei-long's words.

Hai Mei-long himself rushed out of the captain's cabin and ran towards the monitoring cabin…

…………

On the other side, inside the pirate submarine.

"There seems to be a pretty smart guy on their ship, too…" Max listened to the broadcast, smiling coldly. "Heh… as a director, this guy is quite capable. You could say he is calm and collected in the face of danger, and his command is well-organized…"

"Son." At this time, Graybeard spoke. "You don't know this…" For some reason, his tone and expression were particularly cold at this time. "This 'Hai Mei-long'… is much more powerful than you think…"