In other words, even if we confirm it's him, so what? Can we catch him? Thinking of this, Ma Xiaoniu's dark face regained its luster, he laughed heartily, and turned to walk into his own yard.
Uncle Ma sighed under the tree. He was a wise old man; if he couldn't see it when it was so obvious, wouldn't he be a fool? But he was just a decrepit old man in his sixties or seventies, and there was nothing he could do but worry.
After closing his front door, Ma Xiaoniu sat at the bluestone table under the jujube tree and logged into the Demon Forum.
The forum was bustling with activity, with all sorts of posts springing up like mushrooms after rain, only to be instantly suppressed. Open the case submission area.
"Help! The factory is haunted, and the workers are too scared to come to work."
"Help! My wife hanged herself; the cause is unknown."
"Help! My child is lost! I'm begging you on my knees!"
"Help! I reported corruption and was retaliated against by my boss."
"Help! My wife cheated on me, and my assets were stolen."
"Help! I've been raped and threatened by my boss."
"Help! I'm reporting a manufacturer whose products have been threatened."
"Help! Unscrupulous media outlets are spreading rumors; reporting to the police has yielded no results."
"Help! My cattle and sheep have all disappeared, leaving no trace."
"Help! Cargo ship has encountered pirates, urgent assistance needed!"
"Help! Trapped by cannibals in the Amazon."
...
The cargo ship encountered pirates? Ma Xiaoniu quickly replied to the message, and after half an hour, the other party finally replied. Opening the message, he saw only coordinates in the post. It seemed the situation on the other side was extremely urgent, otherwise they wouldn't have replied so slowly. Ma Xiaoniu retrieved the demon mask from his bedroom, put it on, silently recited the coordinates, and his figure tore through the void, disappearing from sight.
...
On the Pacific Ocean, a hurricane howled, and towering waves crashed against the Fu Shun merchant ship, weighing tens of thousands of tons. It bobbed up and down like a withered leaf, the sheer magnitude of the falls terrifying. But this wasn't the most worrying part. The most alarming sight was the dozen or so speedboats surrounding the ship, each carrying a dozen or so men. These men were dark-skinned, with fierce eyes, and each carried a machine gun. Heavy machine guns were also mounted on the bows of the speedboats, and they were now firing wildly, bullets raining down on the ship's deck. The merchant ship was naturally armed, but compared to the heavily armed pirates, they were far inferior. Dozens of crew members remained hidden in the hold, afraid to show their faces. Only a few guards occasionally fired a few shots.
Putting down his phone, Zhou Jian's face was pale. Looking out the cockpit window at the towering black waves, his expression mirrored his current mood. He had already appealed to the military for help, and also to the legendary "Demon." Now it was a matter of who could act faster. He actually leaned towards the military, given their capability for long-range ocean rescue. As for the Demon, the rumors online were quite bizarre—sometimes it was a god, sometimes a demon—Zhou Jian didn't really believe it. However, how he desperately wished the Demon were truly a god; then they could be saved!
"Rat-a-tat-tat..." A burst of machine gun fire rang out as a guard stumbled down the spiral staircase, his face filled with terror: "Captain, the pirates have launched a full-scale attack! We... we can't hold out any longer!"
Zhou Jian felt as if all his strength had vanished. He slumped into a chair, his face pale, his hands gripping the armrests tightly with bulging veins, his eyes filled with despair. If the pirates seized the merchant ship, the goods and property would be secondary; everyone's lives would likely be in grave danger.
"The ship! Captain! What...what do we do?" The first mate, Du Xiang, was deathly pale, his voice trembling. (Note: The last sentence about transcoding is unrelated and appears to be a separate comment.)
===Chapter Forty-Seven===
"What to do, what to do, haha," Zhou Jian laughed sadly, reached into his pocket and pulled out a pistol, looking around: "If the pirates take over the ship, we have no way to survive. Rather than that, we might as well fight! Now, those who want to live, pick up your weapons and charge out with me!"
After saying this, he rushed to the deck first. The dozens of crew members in the bridge also hardened their hearts. Since they were going to die anyway, they might as well fight to the death! Only a few of them had guns. The others searched for weapons. Some grabbed the chairs next to them, some got a steel pipe from somewhere, and some took machetes. They all shouted and rushed to the deck.
Soon after, intense gunfire erupted on the deck again, but the weapons were inadequate, and as bullets dwindled, the gunfire gradually subsided and eventually ceased.
"Bang!" A ladder with a grappling hook was thrown onto the deck. Zhou Jian and the others were about to rush over and destroy it when a burst of bullets came flying. They had no choice but to find cover. Soon, a dark-skinned pirate with bloodshot eyes climbed onto the deck, yelling incoherently and spraying bullets in all directions with a machine gun. Bullets flew everywhere, blood splattered, and several crew members screamed in pain, clearly hit. Then, several more pirates climbed up, also opening fire with their machine guns. More and more pirates came up until finally, all the pirates had climbed onto the deck.
A pirate with a full beard waved his hand, and the machine gun fire immediately stopped. His bloodshot eyes swept around the area, his mouth twisted into a wide grin, and he burst into a loud, incoherent laugh, followed by a series of incoherent shouts.
Zhou Jian hid behind cover, his brow furrowed, not understanding what the other person was saying. A man crawled over and said to Zhou Jian, "The ship, the captain, yes, they said we have to surrender, or they'll kill us without mercy." The man's voice trembled, and his lips were purple; he was clearly terrified.
"No! We can't surrender! How can we trust the pirates?" Zhou Jian made his decision quickly, his tone firm. In fact, there was another reason he refused to surrender: the demon. Perhaps the demon could arrive in time?
Du Xiang, standing nearby, had a fluctuating expression. Suddenly, he glanced at the crew member standing beside him and shoved him away. Everyone except Du Xiang was stunned. The crew member who was pushed away was so frightened that he wet himself and collapsed to the ground with a thud, a strong stench of semen filling the air. Zhou Jian was furious and growled in a low voice, "Du Xiang! What are you doing?!" Du Xiang's eyes flickered, but he didn't answer, only listening intently.
Just then, the pirate leader outside roared again. Zhou Jian looked at the crew member next to him and asked, "Xiao Wang, what did they say?"
"Yes, they said they meant what they said, and if we surrendered, they wouldn't kill us." Xiao Wang's eyes lit up.
Zhou Jian frowned. Could the enemy really be surrendering and not being killed? This didn't seem like pirate behavior. But the first mate, Du Xiang, couldn't wait any longer. He jumped to his feet, raised his hands, and stepped forward, shouting, "Surrender! I surrender!"
As Du Xiang left, other crew members followed suit, leaving only four or five people in the bunker. These four or five people slowly moved to Zhou Jian's side, and one of them whispered, "Captain, should we go out?"
Zhou Jian glanced at them; these four or five men were his brothers who had followed him from the countryside. After he became successful, he had almost ignored them, but now only they stood by his side. Zhou Jian was deeply moved and was about to lead them out when suddenly, a rapid burst of machine gun fire erupted. Dozens of crew members who had gone out screamed as they fell to the ground, instantly turning the deck blood red.
Zhou Jian shuddered, his body instantly retreating back into cover as he was about to stand up, his face turning extremely grim. The other four or five men also wore expressions of despair; it seemed they were truly doomed today.
The sea breeze continued to rage, and the turbid waves surged. The bloodstains on the deck had been washed away by the waves, and the deck was smooth and bright again. Zhou Jian and his men were hiding in their bunker, unsure of what to do, when they suddenly heard several gunshots from the deck, followed by a series of whooshing sounds. In just a moment, the deck fell silent again.
"Come out! They are dead," a faint voice echoed from the deck.
The other four or five people looked at Zhou Jian, whose brows were furrowed. Finally, he gritted his teeth and slowly poked his head out. He saw many corpses lying haphazardly on the deck, including crew members and pirates. In the open space among the corpses stood a man, his hands behind his back, the demon mask on his face looking particularly ferocious.
"A demon!" Zhou Jian's voice was filled with fear mixed with surprise!
Ma Xiaoniu turned his head and nodded at Zhou Jian.
"It really is a demon!" Zhou Jian was overjoyed; they were finally saved! And most importantly, it was the most unbelievable person who saved them! The other five also stood up, their faces filled with astonishment and excitement upon seeing the demon. Zhou Jian quickly walked to Ma Xiaoniu's side and knelt down with a thud: "Thank you, demon, for saving our lives!" The other five also knelt down, kowtowing to thank Ma Xiaoniu.
Ma Xiaoniu told them to get up, then looked around and, finding nothing else, went straight to the pirate corpse next to him, pulled out the Demon Seal, slapped a logo on it, took a few more photos, and disappeared into the bewildered eyes of Zhou Jian and the others.
...
Zhou Jian and the others were dumbfounded. Why did the demon's last few movements feel so out of place? Something seemed wrong. But no matter what, they were saved, weren't they? Zhou Jian collapsed to the ground with a thud and burst into tears. He wasn't crying about his career, but about his worldview. He had witnessed the demon disappear into thin air, and all the scientific knowledge he had learned shattered and scattered at that moment.
The most painful thing is when a person's worldview is shattered. It means that all your previous time has been wasted.
...
Ma Xiaoniu returned home, checked his watch, and saw it was already one o'clock in the afternoon. He carefully removed the demon mask and hid it away, just about to rest for a bit, when there was a loud knocking on the door outside the yard.