Zhuang Rui had just stepped out of the monitoring room when, as he passed Huangfu Yun's door, the guy suddenly pulled open the door and grabbed Zhuang Rui.
The series of explosions had already woken up many people on the ship, although a few drunkards were still fast asleep.
From the balcony of the fifth-floor guest room, you can see exactly what's happening on the sea. Huangfu Yun, who had been hiding behind the curtains, watched a real-life gunfight movie and is now incredibly excited.
"Hey, can you let me go first? It's all over now. A bunch of pirates tried to hijack our ship, but Peng Fei and the others fought them off. I don't know the specifics, I'll go down and ask later..."
Zhuang Rui was busy going back to his room to see his wife and children, and he also had things to deal with down there. He didn't have time to waste with Huangfu Yun.
"I'll go too. I think there are still a few prisoners on deck?"
Hearing that the matter was over, Huangfu Yun's courage grew. Over the years, he had often heard news about Somali and Malacca pirates, and now that he could see these legendary figures up close, Huangfu Yun was very curious.
"Come on, there are some situations you're better off not attending. Stay home and keep Yunman company..."
Zhuang Rui shook his head. He had no intention of keeping these captured pirates alive. If you don't kill a snake, it will bite you back. Zhuang Rui now has children and doesn't want to leave any potential trouble for himself.
"Zhuang Rui, you..."
Huangfu Yun was an extremely shrewd man. Hearing Zhuang Rui's words and seeing the sinister look on his face, he immediately understood Zhuang Rui's intentions and couldn't help but gasp.
Whether in China or the United States, society is still regulated by law. Huangfu Yun is considered to be from the upper class. Although he has seen a lot of the dark side, he has not seen much about the dead.
"Alright, Brother Huangfu, let Yunman come out and chat with Xuanbing in my room. Don't go down to the fifth floor. I'll let you know when I've resolved this matter..."
Zhuang Rui patted Huangfu Yun on the shoulder. Having experienced life and death, he was much less concerned about the lives of others. If Zhuang Rui hadn't spent those two months on the deserted island, he probably wouldn't have had the intention to kill.
"Then... be careful..."
Huangfu Yun didn't say much, and turned back to his room to call Yun Man.
Huangfu Yun, being a law student, naturally knew that in cases of murder on the high seas, only the country to which the ship belongs had the right to adjudicate. This ship belonged to Panama, and since the pirates had no aggrieved parties, no one would go to Panama to sue Zhuang Rui after their deaths.
Therefore, from a legal perspective, even if Zhuang Rui personally killed those pirates, he would not bear any legal responsibility.
"Honey, are you alright?"
Upon seeing Zhuang Rui enter with Huangfu Yun and his wife, Qin Xuanbing disregarded the presence of outsiders and rushed to Zhuang Rui's side, scrutinizing him from head to toe, as if afraid that Zhuang Rui had been harmed.
"I told you it was nothing. You guys are watching TV here, and I'm watching action movies in the monitoring room too..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and casually picked up the remote to turn the TV volume down a bit.
"Daddy's bad, watch...watch TV..."
Zhuang Rui hadn't expected that his actions would anger his two children, who were engrossed in watching the show. The little ones frowned at Zhuang Rui with displeasure.
"Alright, you two can continue reading..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and handed the remote control to Qin Xuanbing, saying, "Call Zhang Qian over later too. She doesn't need to go out; I'll call you later..."
Peng Fei had already told Zhang Qian not to go out, but Zhuang Rui was worried that Zhang Qian would be scared if she stayed in the room alone, so he specifically told Qin Xuanbing to do the same.
"Why...are you still going out?"
When Qin Xuanbing saw Zhuang Rui open the door to leave, she couldn't help but feel nervous again.
"Hey, I already said everything's fine. All the pirates have been caught, so as the ship's owner, it's my job to take care of things..."
Zhuang Rui smiled and pushed his wife back into the room. Looking up, he saw that Jin Gang was standing sneakily by the door.
"Come on, stop pretending to be pitiful, you'd better behave in a bit..."
Zhuang Rui gave King Kong a disapproving look, but then an idea flashed through his mind: this time, he'd let King Kong come along. ...
"Boss, Zhuang, BOSS, darling, what happened? I, the captain, am under house arrest! Your security guards won't let me out..."
Zhuang Rui had just gone down to the first floor when he received a call from Clyde. It seemed that this guy had been pushed to the limit, even calling out "darling" in a desperate way. Zhuang Rui was horrified, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
Although Clyde had drunk quite a bit yesterday, as a captain who had been tested by alcohol, he was still awakened by the gunshots and explosions this morning. Of course, by the time he woke up, the matter had already come to an end.
Having spent decades at sea, Clyde had also encountered pirates before, so his first thought was that he had run into pirates. Generally speaking, pirates would not harm people; they were only after money, not lives.
Clyde was a responsible man, and he immediately wanted to go out and negotiate with the pirates as the captain. However, he did not expect that the entire third floor had been sealed off by Zhuang Rui's men, so he hurriedly dialed Zhuang Rui's cell phone.
“Clyde, something unpleasant happened. We were attacked by pirates, but thanks to the efforts of our security personnel, the situation has been brought under control… They are currently searching the ship for any remaining pirates, so you and all the crew members must stay in your rooms and not come out…”
Zhuang Rui spoke in a completely commanding tone, leaving no room for negotiation, because he couldn't let Clyde see that there were still survivors, otherwise it would be a very troublesome matter in the future.
Clyde paused for a moment after hearing Zhuang Rui's words, but then shouted, "Oh, Zhuang, you can't do this! I'm the captain, I'm entitled to know the whole story, I have to get down here..."
After thinking for a moment, Zhuang Rui said, "Alright, Mr. Clyde, I have something to tell you. Your first mate, Mr. Jack, has been confirmed to have dealings with pirates, and this pirate attack was caused by your first mate... Now I suspect there are other pirates on board, including you, Clyde. Everyone is a suspect, so no one except security personnel can leave their rooms. Now... do you understand?"
The report on this incident still needs to be written by Clyde, so Zhuang Rui used Jack's excuse to keep Clyde in the room. Otherwise, given Clyde's status as captain, he would indeed be qualified to participate in the incident.
"Jack?"
Clyde was stunned by this, then said, "Boss, are you mistaken? Jack may like to drink and gamble, but he's still a responsible sailor..."
“Clyde, you might be right. He may be a competent sailor, but he’s also a greedy fellow. Don’t worry, you’ll see Jack after we’ve searched the ship…”
After Zhuang Rui finished speaking, he didn't listen to Clyde's explanation to Jack anymore. He hung up the phone and hurriedly walked to a room on the first floor.
There are not enough security personnel on the ship. Although several floors where people live have been sealed off, it will inevitably arouse suspicion over time. Therefore, Zhuang Rui must find out the truth of this incident as soon as possible and deal with those guys.
Of course, the loss of that torpedo shell still needs to be claimed, and the repair of those bullet holes on the deck and hull will also cost money.
Chapter 944 Aftermath (Part 2)
A light mist still lingered over the sea in the early morning, but the night sky was already a pale blue. In what seemed like an instant, a red glow appeared where the sky met the sea, and the glow slowly expanded, growing brighter and brighter.
A tiny, fiery red dot appeared where the sea met the sky. The sun seemed to be carrying a heavy burden, slowly and laboriously rising step by step. Finally, it broke through the clouds and jumped completely out of the sea, its color a lovely red.
In an instant, this deep red round object suddenly emitted a dazzling light that hurt the eyes, and the clouds next to it also suddenly became radiant. This was not the first time Zhuang Rui had seen such a sight, but every time he saw the sunrise over the sea, he would still be completely captivated. The sun's tenacious vitality and unstoppable power would make everyone feel an unparalleled impact on their hearts.
"King Kong, let's go. I didn't expect you to know how to appreciate the sunrise..."
Zhuang Rui chuckled and patted Jin Gang on the shoulder before turning back to the rear cabin. They had already wasted seven or eight minutes watching the sunrise, and now it was time to deal with the prisoners.
What Zhuang Rui didn't know was that five or six nautical miles away from them, several speedboats were heading into the distance from different directions, and everything that was happening in the night was being watched by the people on the speedboats.
Of course, they only saw the frigate catch fire and explode; they didn't see details such as the launch of torpedoes.
These people were all scouts from various pirate organizations at sea. Liu Minghui's eagerness to kill Zhuang Rui and hijack the ship had long been noticed by these pirate organizations, and they might have even wanted Liu Minghui to lead the charge.
However, no matter how imaginative these pirates were, they could not have predicted that the final result would be the complete annihilation of Liu Minghui and his men, with their ship destroyed and all men killed.
It should be noted that although Liu Minghui's pirate organization was only a rising star in Malacca, its firepower and warships were among the top three. This outcome made those pirate organizations that did not act rashly feel fortunate.
Although the methods used by the merchant ship were unknown, these pirate organizations all considered it an untouchable force. The impact of this battle was something Zhuang Rui hadn't anticipated. ...
Upon seeing Zhuang Rui enter, Li Zhen quickly went to greet him, saying, "Brother Zhuang, everyone's here, not a single one ran away, except for Liu Minghui..."
Zhuang Rui waved his hand, interrupting Li Zhen. He knew better than anyone how Liu Minghui died, and asked, "I understand. Are any of our brothers injured?"
When Zhuang Rui came in and immediately asked about their safety, the security personnel standing at the door with guns straightened their backs even more and looked at Zhuang Rui with more respect.
Putting aside the generous treatment Zhuang Rui gave them, at least in this matter, he showed them the most important respect and care, which warmed the hearts of the people scattered around the room.
Peng Fei leaned closer and said, "One of our brothers got grazed on the arm by a stray bullet, but it's nothing serious, he'll be fine after a couple of days of rest..."
At dawn, the sea was shrouded in thick fog, and the heavy machine guns on the enemy frigates were firing haphazardly at any lights. This kind of inaccurate shooting was the most troublesome, making it difficult to take effective evasive action.
The injured guy was really unlucky. He had a good hiding spot, a blind spot for the shooters, but he was unlucky and was hit by a ricocheting bullet that hit the side of the ship.
"Once we get back to Macau, each of the brothers on board will receive a bonus of 100,000, and the injured one will receive 200,000. Peng Fei, remember to distribute the money then..."
Zhuang Rui nodded, and what he said next made the eyes of the security personnel light up. When they looked at Zhuang Rui again, their gazes were filled not only with respect but also with a hint of gratitude.
Most of the retired personnel that Zhuang Rui obtained from the special forces division, which was previously commanded by Ouyang Lei, came from rural backgrounds and were not well-off. They were willing to risk their lives for such a generous boss.
"Brother Zhuang, thank you. On behalf of all the brothers, thank you..."
To Zhuang Rui's surprise, after Zhuang Rui said those words, Li Zhen, contrary to his usual playful demeanor, put away his smile and gave Zhuang Rui a serious salute.
There are many injustices in this world. Some people risk their lives in unknown fields, but often fail to ensure the safety of their families.
Li Zhen's situation is like this. His father passed away a few years ago, and his mother is seriously ill and bedridden. The little salary he received while in the army was not enough to pay for his mother's medical treatment, so he chose to transfer to Zhuang Rui's place.
Although Li Zhen seems a bit carefree, he is very disciplined in his work. The more than ten million US dollars that Zhuang Rui gave him were all used for the cruise ship renovation, and he did not take a single penny more than necessary.
Moreover, Zhuang Rui had never mentioned his family's difficulties, so Zhuang Rui's reward of 100,000 yuan to each of them was a relief for Li Zhen's urgent needs.
"Alright, enough with the formalities. Have you interrogated those prisoners yet?"
Zhuang Rui waved his hand. He was a little unaccustomed to being stared at with such respect. His thoughts were simple: these people were also born of parents and had followed him through thick and thin, so he couldn't treat them unfairly.
Zhuang Rui had no idea that by simply paying some money, he would gain a group of loyal subordinates, and even Li Zhen began to take Zhuang Rui seriously again.
In fact, these soldiers are relatively simple-minded. Giving them enough respect and a little bit of benefit will allow Zhuang Rui to control a fairly powerful armed force.
"Ask Peng Fei, he's an expert at this. That kid can remind people of bedwetting when he was three years old..."
After hearing Zhuang Rui's words, Li Zhen returned to his original state. Some people are grateful in their hearts but don't say it out loud.
"Brother Zhuang, we've interrogated the people we captured earlier, but we haven't had time to interrogate the two we caught later. Let me tell you about the situation... They were indeed organized by Liu Minghui. They've committed three crimes at sea before, and this is our fourth. They previously hijacked a yacht and two oil tankers, and killed everyone on the last oil tanker..."
These pirates weren't particularly stubborn, and Peng Fei managed to pry them open with very little effort. However, Huo Jiang was like a dead pig that wasn't afraid of boiling water, and didn't utter a single word from beginning to end.
"Damn it, why didn't Datu come along..."
Upon hearing that it was that Malaysian tycoon who was eyeing his ship, Zhuang Rui snorted coldly. As for Liu Minghui, he was dead and his debts were settled, and he had died such a tragic death that Zhuang Rui no longer felt any hatred towards him.
"Brother Zhuang, what should we do with these people?"
When Peng Fei struck them with the clubs, he was very careful. None of the six men died; they were all tied up, gagged, and thrown into a nearby room.
These people are difficult to deal with because they committed the crime on the high seas, so it's impossible to hand them over to any specific country for trial. Moreover, these eight people alone represent six different nationalities.
Another major reason is that if he were to hand the weapon over to Interpol, they would definitely trace the source of his defensive weapon, which would be a very troublesome matter for Zhuang Rui.
After pacing around the room a few times with his head down, Zhuang Rui said with some difficulty, "Leave the last two behind. As for the rest, you can handle them..."
It wasn't that Zhuang Rui was being pretentious; it was just that so many lives had been lost with just a single sentence, and he felt a strange, indescribable feeling in his heart.
There's a sense of exhilaration, a touch of bewilderment and unease, but more than anything, it's a feeling of having everything under control. Perhaps this is why people in ancient times loved power?
"Brother Zhuang, each of them has several lives on their hands, they deserve to die..."
Peng Fei knew Zhuang Rui well. After hearing his order, he offered Zhuang Rui some words of advice, which made Zhuang Rui's expression much better.
"Go ahead, don't use any guns. Make sure the cleanup is done cleanly, so no one gets watching..."
Zhuang Rui let out a long sigh of relief. He had tried to kill the snake but ended up getting bitten instead. He didn't want to leave any future trouble for himself. These people were just as Peng Fei had said, all of them were desperate criminals. They wouldn't be grateful for him letting them live.