A plank bridge spanned between the two ships, and the waves were undulating, making the plank unstable, but the Easterner walked very steadily.
Zhou Xuan narrowed his eyes. This person was only around thirty years old, but he had clearly practiced martial arts. Judging from his aura, this person was quite powerful, even surpassing Fu Ying and Wei Xiaoyu in strength.
What Zhou Xuan found even stranger was that there was a picture in the backpack on the back of this Easterner, and he felt that the picture was very familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before.
Zhou Xuan had originally planned to cripple the enemy's ship and weapons, allowing him to escape safely and leave the thugs to fend for themselves. However, upon seeing the picture in the Asian man's backpack, Zhou Xuan suddenly changed his mind.
After racking his brains for a while, Zhou Xuan suddenly realized that the treasure map he had obtained from the pen holder last year from the gambler Zhang Sinian was the same one he had found. He had seen the treasure map in the ocean, but because it was so long ago, he hadn't paid it any more attention. He never imagined that now, he would find the same treasure map in the hands of a stranger on the vast ocean.
Volume 1, Chapter 471: The Murderous Blade and the Fiery Meteor (Part 2)
Chapter 471 The Deadly Blade and the Fiery Meteor
Zhou Xuan was very surprised. It wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't remembered it, but after remembering it and seeing that the people on this ship also had the same picture, he was quite surprised.
This person's painting is definitely not the one Zhou Xuan obtained. Although the picture is exactly the same, the paper is different. Moreover, this painting was made two hundred years ago, and now it has appeared in the hands of foreigners. Zhou Xuan felt that something was wrong.
In order to clarify the situation, Zhou Xuan did not take action at this time. Since the enemy's weapons and forces had been dealt with, they were not so scary. He would wait and see who these people came from and what they wanted to do.
The Eastern man walked onto the fishing boat, glanced at Fu Gui and the others kneeling in the middle, then looked at Zhou Xuan, Uncle Yu, and Lao Jiang who had been brought out, smiled slightly, and said, "Gentlemen, I'm sorry, but we need to requisition your boat."
The man spoke standard Chinese, but there was still a slight stiffness in his words. Zhou Xuan knew that this man, who looked like an East Asian, had not grown up in China. He might be of Chinese descent, or he might be from another East Asian country who had just studied Chinese.
Yu Jinshan, the captain, had no choice but to step forward and say, "Who are you? We are a Chinese fishing boat, not involved in any international matters. Please let us pass."
"Who are we?" the man chuckled. "That's hard to say, but you can call me Mr. M. Actually, we just need a boat to help us out. Once we've finished our business, we'll let you go. For your safety, I advise you to either comply or remain silent. That's for your own good."
The other side has a large number of people, all armed, and look fierce. They won't submit or remain silent. What else can you do?
In addition, several crew members had never seen or experienced such a scene before, and they were all trembling and dared not speak.
Yu Jinshan, with great difficulty, asked again, "What do you want us to do? We're just a fishing boat."
In Uncle Yu's opinion, they were just a fishing boat. If the other party wanted them to transport smuggled goods or traffic drugs, they would have to think carefully, otherwise they might be caught by anti-drug and anti-smuggling police from other countries.
Mr. M smiled faintly and said, "You don't need to guess anything. Just do as I say." As he spoke, he took off his backpack, opened it, took out a piece of paper, unfolded it, and spread it on the deck, saying, "You... come and take a look. Which sea area is the circled area?"
He was referring to Yu Jinshan and Lao Jiang. It was clear that they were the two older men on the ship, and Yu Jinshan was the captain, so he must have more experience and knowledge than the others. That's why he called them both forward to look at the map.
This is a map of the sea drawn with an ink pen. There is a circle drawn in one place, which must be a key point. Yu Jinshan has been fishing for decades and knows the East China Sea area very well. He also knows a lot about the more distant coastal areas. As soon as he saw this map, he knew where it was. He immediately said, "The circled area is the deep sea area of the Pacific Ocean east of the East China Sea. That area is a narrow channel with a depth of more than a thousand meters, or even deeper. It is known as the Devil's Sea in the Pacific Ocean. Countless ships have sunk in that area since ancient times. I wonder if this is the place you are talking about on your map?"
Mr. M was taken aback, then chuckled and said, "What a coincidence, you actually know this place. Well then, please... hehe, you're the captain, right? Please, Captain, come aboard our ship and rest there first, let's get to this place first."
After saying that, he said a few more words that were hard to understand, but four of the armed foreigners were left on the ship, while the rest followed Mr. M and escorted Yu Jinshan back to the cargo ship.
Once they returned to the cargo ship, the people on the other ship retracted the gangway and set sail. The man on the fishing boat, who was armed, took out a walkie-talkie, tuned it to the frequency, said a few words to the people on the other ship, and then handed it to Lao Jiang.
Old Jiang took it with trembling hands, and said in a trembling voice, "I...I don't...I can't speak...your bird language...what...what do you want me to say?"
After speaking, he realized that what he said was impolite. He glanced at the man with the gun with some fear. Fortunately, the four men could not hear what he was saying. They just kept an eye on them with their guns and did not show any unusual behavior.
Old Jiang wanted to ask another question, but didn't know how to bring it up. Fortunately, Mr. M's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "Who's the co-pilot on your side? Let him take the boat. As long as you follow orders, I guarantee you'll be fine."
Guan Lin was the other person besides Uncle Yu to steer the boat, so it was obviously his turn. The lead thug tilted his gun, mumbled something, and Guan Lin, his face pale, quickly stood up and said, "I...I'll steer the boat."
The leading man brandished his gun and sent one of his men to follow Guan Lin. The two of them went into the cockpit.
Zhou Xuan slowly sat down on the deck. The three thugs were a distance of three or four meters from them. If they suddenly resisted, it would be impossible to subdue them all at this distance. So he was not worried. Moreover, it was clear that the six people on the deck did not dare to resist.
Zhou Xuan was not afraid to resist, but he suddenly became curious about this Mr. M. The matter of the treasure map reminded him of the map he had obtained from Zhang Sinian. What exactly was on this map?
The other party's cargo ship had already set sail eastward. Zhou Xuan's supernatural ability had already detected the other party's ship. Mr. M was having Yu Jinshan tell him about the terrain and direction, and then he was instructing the person navigating the ship to go in that direction.
Yu Jinshan, alone on the other ship, was naturally terrified and couldn't help but say again, "You'd better let me go. My crew and I are just ordinary fishermen. We don't know anything else, and we have no money or power. You..."
After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Even if you're going to kidnap us, just name your price. As long as it's not excessive, we'll pay whatever we can afford."
Mr. M chuckled, "Hehe, Captain, to tell you the truth, I won't kidnap you, nor will I shoot you afterwards. But I can also tell you frankly that everyone on this ship is a mercenary force. Some are veterans, some are assassins—in short, they're all experienced and ruthless. I'm telling you this to be frank with you, and it's for your own good. As long as you follow my instructions, I'll release you afterwards, and I'll even give you a reward."
Yu Jinshan's face turned deathly pale, and he said with a distressed expression, "We don't want any reward, we just want you to let us go."
"Hehe," Mr. M chuckled, then continued, "We're here to salvage a shipwreck. Once the ship is salvaged, I can guarantee you one or two antiques from the ship. The value of these antiques is immeasurable; in your words, they're priceless treasures. So don't worry, this is more than you'd earn in a year or two of salvaging the ship. Therefore, you have absolutely no need to be hostile towards us. Although these mercenaries are all ruthless and capable, they won't do anything without pay. Rest assured, your worth is far less than the reward I'm giving them."
Uncle Yu was somewhat relieved, but it was impossible for him not to be afraid, nor could he completely believe what this person said. For now, he had no choice but to do as he was told. He was at the mercy of the man.
"I hope we can cooperate well, Captain. Let's get to know each other again. For convenience, please call me Mao Feng," Mr. M said with a smile, extending his hand to Yu Jinshan.
Yu Jinshan had no choice but to shake his hand again and say, "My name is Yu Jinshan."
Presumably, this Mao Feng's name is fake; it's impossible for him to reveal his real name.
Mao Feng seemed to understand what Yu Jinshan meant, and immediately smiled and said, "Mr. Yu, a name is just a title, a code name. I'm not Chinese, but I studied Chinese before and gave myself a Chinese name, Mao Feng."
Oh, I see. So what's the difference between that and a pseudonym? It's like those students in China who give themselves foreign names, they don't register or record it, they just have fun with it, who would know?
Mao Feng then said, "Mr. Yu, the name Jinshan is good. It's both imposing and auspicious. Jinshan, Jinshan, a mountain piled up with gold, hehehe."
Yu Jinshan chuckled dryly, having no interest in joking with him.
Zhou Xuan detected these things on the fishing boat and was considering whether to subdue them all, destroy the cargo ship, rescue Uncle Yu, and return home. However, he also wanted to follow Mao Feng to continue exploring and find out what kind of treasure he wanted to find. Was it just to find a shipwreck and retrieve the antiques on board?
Perhaps that's the case, but if it's just about finding antiques on the shipwreck, Zhou Xuan has no interest in going any further. Money and valuables no longer hold any appeal for him; what he's really looking for is the thrill of treasure hunting.
While missing Yingying and her family, perhaps the intense thrill of adventure can lessen the longing.
On the other ship, Mao Feng said to Yu Jinshan, "Captain Yu, take a good rest. My helmsman will follow your designated direction and will call you when we reach our destination."
Mao Feng chuckled as he left the room where Yu Jinshan was being held. Two armed men were guarding the door. After Mao Feng left, the two men closed and locked the door.