"You, you, aren't you afraid of the Duke's Mansion's fishing boats?"
The old boatman tried to put pressure on the other party with his dozens of meters long fishing boats.
The Duke's Mansion's fishing boats were like gods in this sea area. Although they bore the name of fishing boats and engaged in the fishing trade, those ships were behemoths!
Even without weapons, their steel hulls were absolutely lethal to ordinary wooden boats – a mere graze would cause damage, and a collision would mean sinking.
"Hahahaha, you don't need to worry about that. Hurry up and switch to the small boats and get out of here, don't force us to use force!"
"Such good cargo ships, if they get stained with blood, their value will drop! Read books."
Wu Yefan, who was called the Sea King by those people, impatiently urged the old boatman.
"What to do, what to do, what should I do~~~"
The old boatman was extremely nervous, and cold sweat constantly seeped from his back. He looked at the bandits on the three ships opposite him, muttering to themselves.
But this was clearly a death trap. Who knew if these people would really let them go if they abandoned the large ships and escaped in the small ones, as they said.
He couldn't help but beat his chest. Damn it, he should have rented the Duke's Mansion's caravan in Dengzhou!
With three consecutive punches, he suddenly felt something, and a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes.
He reached into his怀 and pulled out a stack of yellow cloth, which he casually unfurled. It was a Sun-Moon Five-Star Flag!
This was given to him by a merchant caravan from the south whom he met in Dengzhou. That caravan was on its way back, and they were acquainted with the old boatman, so they insisted on giving him the flag.
They said that with this, no one in Bisha City would dare to cause trouble.
It was only twenty nautical miles to Bisha City, and he wondered if this flag would be useful.
Whether it was useful or not, he decided to try. He quickly called a few boatmen and had them hoist the flag to the top of the mast.
Upon seeing the Sun-Moon Five-Star Flag, Wu Yefan sneered dismissively: "Hahahaha, do you think raising such a broken flag will ensure your safety?"
"Let me tell you, today, even if the King of Heaven himself came, you won't be able to protect these two ships of treasure!"
"Give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, hurry up and get off the boat and scram!~"
After speaking, he turned to his subordinates and said.
"Come, light the incense and launch the boats!"
"Yes, Great Leader!"
A few underlings ran to the stern of the ship, untied a ten-meter-long small boat, and one of them jumped into the boat, rowing towards the two merchant ships.
There were at least dozens of people on the two merchant ships, and with only one small boat, it was clear that most people would not have a chance to escape.
The old boatman looked at the Sun-Moon Five-Star Flag with some disappointment. Had his fellow countrymen been deceived?
Time passed bit by bit.
The incense stick on the pirate ship burned out quickly. Wu Yefan took the axe from his shoulder and planted it on the deck.
The deck instantly let out a "dong" sound. KanshuWu.ξà
"Since you don't listen to advice, don't blame me for not leaving you alive!"
"Get closer and board!"
"Yes, Great Leader!"
The underlings excitedly ran to their positions, some grabbing weapons, some manning the sails, and others preparing grappling hooks.
The pirate ships quickly approached within three zhang of the merchant ships. But at this moment, a thunderous roar came from the distance. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.
They saw three strangely shaped ships rapidly approaching them. Their speed exceeded everyone's imagination.
"Gre-great-great Leader, wh-what are those things?"
"Ar-are those ships? Wh-why can they go so fast!"
"Gre-great Leader, wh-what should we do?"
A group of underlings suddenly felt a bit panicked and hurriedly stuttered their questions to Wu Yefan.
On the hovercraft, Wang Xuance, who had just said goodbye to the dolphins and had not yet reached full speed, ran to Li Shimin and Fang Er.
"Your Majesty, Duke, we've spotted several merchant ships ahead, one of which is flying the Sun-Moon Five-Star Flag!"
Li Shimin's eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up and looked at him: "The Sun-Moon Five-Star Flag?"
Wang Xuance nodded heavily: "It is indeed the Sun-Moon Five-Star Flag!"
"Head over there, I want to see who is so sensible!"
Li Shimin was very pleased. It had only been a little over half a month since the academy opened its doors, and someone was already sailing under the banner of the Sun-Moon Five-Star Flag.
"What is this? This is the will of the people!"
Wang Xuance immediately took out his walkie-talkie and contacted the cockpit to change course and head towards the merchant ships.
At the speed of the hovercraft, it only took three to five minutes to reach the vicinity of the merchant ships.
Li Shimin, Fang Er, Li Xiaogong, and others stood outside the cabin and looked at the merchant ships through their telescopes. They happened to see Wu Yefan and his men preparing to board.
"Your Majesty, the situation is not right!"
Li Xiaogong felt something was amiss with just one glance, because these ships were clearly not of the same group!
The group with weapons was clearly about to commit violence!
"Kid, use that booming voice of yours to ask what's going on."
Li Shimin frowned and looked at Fang Er.
"Yes!"
Fang Er turned back into the cockpit, picked up the microphone, and began to shout.
"Boats ahead, listen up! This is Da Tang's waters! Order you to identify yourselves immediately! Otherwise, you will all be captured!"
"Boats ahead, listen up! This is Da Tang's waters! Order you to identify yourselves immediately! Otherwise, you will all be captured!"
"Boats ahead listen up! This is Da Tang sea~~"
Fang Er stopped the last sentence midway, cursing inwardly. He had watched too many Hollywood movies and figured no one would understand English now, right?
Li Shimin, outside the cabin, glanced at him questioningly and asked Li Xiaogong, "What bird language did Fang kid just speak?"
Li Xiaogong shrugged: "Your subordinate also didn't understand~"
Looking at the others, they all wore confused expressions.
Meanwhile, the old boatman on the merchant ship, hearing the thunderous shouts, immediately became excited.
The feeling of escaping from a desperate situation caused his adrenaline to surge.
"Come, to the mast! Identify yourselves to the approaching ship!"
"Yes!"
Two sailors, as agile as monkeys, climbed up the mast and pulled out a small red flag from their clothes, waving it continuously at the hovercraft.
Li Ji on the hovercraft saw this and quickly reminded Li Xiaogong to look at the merchant ship.
Among them, only Li Xiaogong had served in the navy, and might be able to understand the meaning of the flag signals.
Flag signaling was not a modern invention; it had a very ancient history.
After all, when sailing overseas, one could never be sure who they would encounter, so they would usually maintain a safe distance and communicate with flags.
After looking, Li Xiaogong's face instantly turned red with anger. He put down his telescope and said to everyone, "Damn it! It's pirates committing violence!"
"That ship flying the Sun-Moon Five-Star Flag, and another similar ship, are merchant ships from the south."
After a moment of silence, everyone collectively cursed.
"Damn them, they're tired of living!"
"Let's kick their asses!"
Li Shimin took the lead and walked towards the cabin, with everyone following closely.
Upon reaching the bridge and explaining the situation to Fang Er, Li Shimin issued an order for them to be killed without mercy.
Fang Er grabbed the microphone and shouted to all parts of the ship: "Everyone, prepare for battle!"