novelhk Chapter 5 Pirate Finance
Chapter 5 Pirate Finance
Hiding under the desk, Su Xuan curled up tightly, enduring the remaining shockwave.
You get what you pay for.
Su Xuan, who was squatting under the desk, said with relief that he was fortunate to have spent money to hire top-tier players.
If it were any other ordinary player with slightly less skillful aim, they would be riddled with bullets by the pirates.
"Kill those two right now!"
The pirate captain stepped out of the cockpit and roared as he looked at the entrance to the stairwell leading to the rooftop.
This attack on the oil tanker by Somali pirates was their worst loss ever.
Before the pirates could fully control the tanker, they had already lost more than half of their personnel and more than 20 boats used for assault.
There's no turning back now that the arrow has been released; the pirates are determined to take down this tough nut, even if it means gritting their teeth.
The pirates, their minds no longer on the locked office, rushed to the rooftop entrance, guns in hand, and opened fire.
Feeling safe, Su Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.
The two players on the rooftop completely enraged the pirates, and he was finally safe, just one door away from them.
"The main strategy is to delay and protect the boss, slowly dragging it out until dawn."
Eggplant watched the sparks erupting from the rooftop entrance and used the radio to notify the other players.
"Be careful, the pirates on deck must not let another one get to the bridge."
"Be careful to conserve bullets."
"Surround all the pirates with a net and strive to annihilate them all."
Players on deck exchanging gunfire with the pirates form a net of bullets, slowly advancing and encircling the remaining pirates.
2000 rounds of ammunition were not enough for the players to use overnight.
Gunfire continued intermittently throughout the night.
……
Somali waters.
Pirate mothership.
"The losses are so severe."
When the pirate captain Kader heard the message from the small boat he had sent out, he looked on in disbelief.
A 10-man mercenary squad caused the pirates to lose more than 20 boats, not counting casualties.
"It's true, they were able to hit our boats every time they were on the rough seas."
When the pirates returned with the news and their leader didn't believe them, they produced a video they had recorded.
The pirate leader took the phone and opened the video.
The video opens with a shot of players piloting machine gunboats that have been plundering pirates, wreaking havoc as they go.
The player's machine gun boat nimbly outmaneuvered the pursuing pirates, making it seem like a dog walk. The machine gun fires bullets that occasionally hit the pirates, and even the pursuing pirates didn't notice that their fleet was dwindling.
Player vehicle squads can completely eliminate enemies while in motion.
It wasn't until the player piloted the machine gunboat to the stern of the oil tanker, where the sound of machine gun fire from the stern woke up the pursuing pirates.
The pirates immediately distanced themselves, engaging in a long-range gunfight, and dared not pursue further.
The video was filmed in several parts, and there were also players standing by the deck railing firing.
The bullets accurately struck the pirate's dinghy from 300 meters away. The pirate, unable to dodge in time, was killed by the player from a distance while standing on the dinghy.
Some pirates stood up and fired AK-1s at each other, but as soon as they fired their first shot, the player's next bullet hit them in the chest.
The pirate shot in the chest fell to the ground in disbelief, as did his pirate leader, Kader, whose eyes were also filled with disbelief.
"This is a mercenary; his marksmanship is both accurate and fast."
In the video, apart from the two rescuers who wore different outfits, all the other players were dressed in dragon costumes, and Kadel looked like a regular soldier.
After watching the two videos, pirate leader Kader took out his satellite phone and made a call.
"Send over two more mother ships."
Kader issued the instructions via satellite phone.
The pirate leader will not stop his actions just because the player is unstoppable.
After so many years of development, Somali pirates have formed an economic pillar, and their piracy has evolved from simple plundering into a form of pirate finance.
The bullets and rockets fired by the pirates were more like stocks.
Somali pirates used to need a mother ship, a number of speedboats, and guns and ammunition. Where did they get all these supplies?
A pirate voyage requires a huge initial investment, and they wanted to borrow money from a bank, but Somalia didn't even have a bank.
In the early stages, the pirates used a shareholding system to attract several powerful warlords and merchants to invest their initial capital.
In Haradere, a Somali pirate stronghold, a woman's dead husband left her no money, only a rocket.
The woman then handed the rocket to the pirates who were going out to sea, thus becoming part of their catch.
As a result, the pirates successfully hijacked a deep-sea fishing vessel, demanding a ransom of four million US dollars, while the woman who invested in the vessel with rocket-propelled grenades received a dividend of seventy thousand US dollars.
This incredible payout ignited the entire Somalia, drawing people to Haradere and into this pirate financial industry.
Ordinary people can also participate in this pirate operation and get a share of the spoils.
We share the risks and the benefits.
Furthermore, the pirates successfully hijacked cargo ships, obtaining two ransoms of tens of millions of US dollars, and even attracted overseas investment. Perhaps some of the pirates' financial backers are located in a financial building in some country.
With the pirate financial system in place, when pirates encountered a counterattack at sea, casualties were not mourned, but rather included in the operational losses.
Then the pirate leader, Kader, dialed the number again using the satellite phone.
"Due to your resistance, you have caused serious losses to our personnel and ships. The ransom, which was originally ten million, is now twenty million."
Pirate leader Kader made a satellite phone call to the shipowner and said.
Somali pirates have grown to their current scale that the stock exchange will not shut down or investors will withdraw their funds simply because people have died or ships have sunk. Instead, the system will be recalculated.
To cover the increased costs, the pirates raised the ransom, passing the burden onto the party paying the bill.
The ship owner on the other end of the satellite phone remained silent when the pirates announced twenty million US dollars.
beep...
The shipowner hung up on the pirate leader, Kader.
The deal negotiations have stalled.
"Gather them, I'll go myself tomorrow morning."
Pirate leader Kader gripped the satellite phone in his hand.
……
Cruise ship cabin.
The captain's satellite phone rang.
"Hey, boss."
The captain answered the phone call from the shipowner.
"How many pirates did Su Xuan and his men kill?"
"Boss, you have no idea how fierce they are. They've caused pirates to lose 20 boats in the daytime alone."
"The pirates have come up again in the middle of the night, and the gunfire is constant. I estimate that the pirates have suffered at least seventy casualties."
The captain gave the shipowner a brief report on the situation.
The captain had been hiding in the engine room, and could only speculate about the situation of the battle at night.
"I called the US fleet again, and their warships will arrive tomorrow, at least before sunset."
"Tell Su Xuan that he will be rewarded with one thousand US dollars for killing a pirate and five thousand US dollars for destroying a boat. If he can hold out until the warships arrive, I will give him an extra one million US dollars afterwards, plus a reward of ten thousand US dollars for each of the personnel who participated in the battle."
The shipowner gave instructions to the captain over the phone.
The pirates' demand for a ransom of 20 million was a typical exorbitant amount, which angered the shipowner, and the insurance company was not going to be foolish enough to pay out 20 million.
Therefore, the shipowner contacted the cargo owner and the insurance company for preliminary discussions.
They would rather spend an extra one or two million US dollars on Su Xuan's mercenary team than easily compromise with the pirates.
On the contrary, if Su Xuan kills more pirates, it will also allow the shipowners to vent their anger.
……