After hearing his words, the hostages fell silent.
Ian couldn't understand what they were saying and was visibly annoyed. He prodded everyone even more aggressively with the butt of his gun, urging them to move faster.
They had to leave Silverwave Island before sunrise today and relocate to a safe place.
Captain Hans had said that once they had these weapon experts, they could dominate the Somali seas!
Becoming the boss of the Somali seas—that was Ian's dream!
Now, that dream was finally within reach!
Ian was ecstatic, wishing he could take the hostages straight to their secret base right now.
With these experts, who in the Somali seas could possibly challenge him?
Just as Ian was urging them forward, someone at the front suddenly shouted, "Not good! There's an ambush ahead! Sniper at ten o'clock!"
When Ian heard there was a sniper, he immediately signaled the group to stop. He crouched down and moved forward, staring toward ten o'clock. "It must be their people! Tell the boss, we need backup!"
On the other side, after Charles Yin fired that shot, he quickly changed his position and began to retreat slowly with the last line of defense.
He had originally planned to destroy the enemy's yacht, but now Charles Yin had changed his mind!
If those hostages really were weapon experts, maybe he could actually use them.
Earl Field also retreated with his men and said to Charles Yin, "You’re not thinking of making a move on those experts, are you?"
Charles Yin stroked his chin and replied, "You know I need my own armed force in Africa. These experts might just be useful to me."
Earl Field looked speechless at Charles Yin. "But do you really think now’s a good time to snatch people? We’re trapping them here, and I bet Hans will send people to block the big ship too."
Charles Yin nodded, looking regretful. "There’s nothing we can do. Retreat!"
Although Charles Yin felt regret, the lives of Cecilia Gu and the children were even more important!
Before Charles Yin and Earl Field quietly boarded the yacht, they planted a small signal tracker on Ian’s boat.
Ian had expected a fight, but after waiting a long time, the other side didn’t fire any more shots. Apart from a few warning shots, there was no movement at all.
When Ian sensed something was off outside and ran out to check, he found that except for his own boat, the shoreline was already completely deserted.
Ian wanted to curse out loud!
He’d been completely played for a fool!
They obviously knew who he was all along—they were just pretending not to!
He’d even thought about sneaking in to kidnap the women and children, hoping to use them to threaten Charles Yin and Earl Field.
Instead, as soon as he entered, he fell right into their trap—and lost some of his own men!
Now, he’d been tricked yet again.
But Ian didn’t dare tell Captain Hans—he was afraid of getting yelled at.
The hostages boarded the boat with Ian and his men, quickly leaving the shore and heading out to deep sea.
The hostages were forced into the middle of the boat, crouching there, shivering and completely drained of spirit.
One of the hostages who’d been beaten on shore couldn’t help but complain in Italian: "We’re so unlucky! We came here for academic exchange—why did we get kidnapped? These people are unbelievable! Even pirates should follow international conventions, right?"
No one else said a word.
The lead hostage glanced at him meaningfully, then closed his eyes.
Some people just never see reality for what it is.
No wonder they’re the ones who get punished.
Since they’d all been captured by this gang of pirates, the only thing to do was figure out how to escape, not waste time arguing about international law.
Most people wisely chose to keep quiet, but there were always a few who didn’t know when to stop and kept complaining.
Sure enough, after someone fired a shot, those few noisy ones finally shut up.
Ian looked at the hostages with satisfaction, sped up the boat, and headed straight for their base.
When no one was paying attention to the hostages, the lead hostage suddenly opened his eyes.
When he first boarded the boat, he’d already noticed there were more than two tracking devices on board.
Although Grandpa Mo wasn’t sure if the trackers belonged to the ones who’d just fought the kidnappers, he was certain their delayed retreat was to figure out who his group really was.
Once they’d identified everyone, they quietly left behind the tracker, which meant...
The other side was very likely a friend, not a foe.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Grandpa Mo quickly removed one tracker and tucked it behind his neck.
Then, acting as if nothing had happened, Grandpa Mo closed his eyes and continued to rest.
Cecilia Gu stood on the deck, finally waiting for Charles Yin and Earl Field to arrive!
As soon as they boarded, Charles Yin didn’t even have time to greet Cecilia Gu—he immediately called everyone to the conference room.
Carefully, Charles Yin inserted a memory card the size of a button into the reader. The projector on the wall started up, displaying and processing the photos they’d just secretly taken.
When the image paused on the lead elder, Charles Yin immediately stopped the slideshow.
Earl Field turned to Charles Yin. "Is there a problem?"
Charles Yin stared at the photo for a long time before answering, "A problem? It’s more than that. If we solve this, even Cici’s marriage contract could be canceled smoothly."
Earl Field looked at Charles Yin in surprise.
Charles Yin was just as shocked. "Grandpa Mo—how could he be among the hostages?"
Earl Field didn’t catch on right away. "What did you say?"
Charles Yin pointed at the lead hostage. "Do you know who he is? Commander of the Eastshire Military District, current head of the Mo Family—General Mo! Max Mo’s grandfather! This is serious! I can’t believe he’s among the hostages. With his status, how could he be captured so easily? Something’s off! I need to call Max Mo right now and get to the bottom of this."
This chapter isn’t over yet~ Please click next page to keep reading the exciting story!
After saying this, Charles Yin immediately switched to the internal line and used his satellite phone to call Max Mo.
Charles Yin didn’t waste words and went straight to the point: "Has something happened to Grandpa Mo?"
Before Max Mo could deny it, Charles Yin dropped a bombshell: "I just saw him on Silverwave Island. He’s been kidnapped by Captain Hans from Somalia! Right now, Hans is probably blocking my way! If you want me to rescue him, you’d better tell me everything!"
Max Mo hadn’t expected Charles Yin to run into Grandpa Mo, and immediately said anxiously, "You really saw him on Silverwave Island? Damn! So he was moved there—no wonder we couldn’t find him in Germany!"
Charles Yin continued, "It’s safe to talk here. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Max Mo sighed. "Alright, since you’ve found him, of course I want your help. Here’s the situation. My grandfather went to Germany on behalf of the domestic military to attend a weapons exchange conference. The conference was just a cover—the real goal was to bring an important expert back to China. But halfway through, something went wrong. Word got out, and someone started targeting that expert, hoping to capture all the experts attending. My grandfather could’ve gotten away, but that expert was too important to us. There wasn’t anyone suitable to go undercover, and it seemed those people thought my grandfather was one of the weapon experts too. So, when he last contacted us, he said he’d use the situation to his advantage, blend in, and try to figure out who they were—and protect the expert if possible."
"Reckless," Charles Yin said, growing agitated. "He’s not young anymore! How could you let him go personally?"
Max Mo sighed again. "Yeah, we thought it was reckless too, but we couldn’t help it. The enemy moved too fast; our people couldn’t react in time. My grandfather is stubborn—he always says a general should die on the battlefield, not in bed. He’s almost eighty and doesn’t know how much time he has left. So, he ignored the guards’ advice and went undercover without hesitation. But for days, there was no news. Charles Yin, thank you for telling me all this. If you can rescue my grandfather, I’ll agree to any condition you name."
Charles Yin chuckled. "You said it."
"Yes, I promise," Max Mo replied wearily.
He hadn’t rested in days, but no matter how hard he investigated, he hadn’t found a single clue.
The pirates moved too quickly, and their retreat route was so unpredictable that Grandpa Mo never had a chance to leave any clues.
If Charles Yin hadn’t brought news today, Max Mo would’ve gone crazy!
After hanging up, thanks to Charles Yin’s news, Max Mo finally had a lead. He pulled up the satellite map, locked onto Silverwave Island, and redirected all rescue teams toward the South Pacific.
But transferring from Northern Europe to the South Pacific would still take time.
That window was enough for Hans and his crew to relocate again.
All Max Mo could do was put his hopes in Charles Yin and his team for now.
Max Mo had already guessed what price Charles Yin might pay to rescue his grandfather.
But he had no choice.
Charles Yin had just hung up when someone knocked on the door. "Mr. Yin, our boat is blocked!"
"Already?" Charles Yin frowned. "Get ready to fight."
"Yes, sir!" came the quick reply from outside.
Earl Field frowned, carefully reviewing all the surveillance photos. He tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Are you really going to attempt a rescue? You know, we don’t have many people skilled in naval combat."