Chapter 348 - 323 Pirate

Manhattan’s skyline gradually shrank in view.

The towering skyscrapers turned into distant silhouettes, their lights dimly twinkling in the dying glow of the sunset.

Seagulls accompanied the ship as it sailed, the waves gently slapping against its hull.

The coastline slowly vanished, the vast sea embracing the vessel.

Ding—

The Super Dream ended.

This was V’s second Super Dream experience, recorded by the sailors who departed the port one after another. It was also a world she had never truly experienced before.

Although there were still some issues with the port of New York, such as the stench from the industrialized port and the noise of large machinery operating, etc.

But those were toned down by the Super Dream editor Lille, creating almost no negative impact on V, who lived in Night City.

On the contrary, sailing away from those things towards the sea gave her a sense of having left behind that tumultuous society.

[V: The coast? Setting sail? Those houses look kind of strange. Where did you get this stuff?]

[Lille: You should be glad there’s something to watch.]

V took off the Super Dream headband, savoring the sensation of the voyage.

Heading into the unknown always brought exhilaration, especially for restless young people like her.

Moreover... born in the 2050s, the sea was a battlefield to them, a vast battlefield laden with the wreckage of machinery and organisms.

Beneath the calm waters lurked excessive radiation and dangerous unmanned vessels, ready to strike down any organic ship at any time.

This piqued her curiosity about the sea even more.

[V: Is there more? What about the rest? Bring it out quickly.]

[Lille: That’s all for now.]

Although these clips couldn’t compare to the Super Dream experiences V had seen before, Lille could see that V was indeed hooked by the lure of exploration and curiosity.

[V: That’s it?]

[Lille: For now. What about those two mercenaries and Jimmy?]

[V: Tsk, they said they’d only talk to you.]

[Lille: Then keep them locked up, and contact Regina to see if she knows what’s going on.]

[V: Alright, get the rest of the discs done quickly.]

Unfortunately, the rest would have to wait until Frank’s batch reached shore before they could be edited.

Whether V could see more oceanic Super Dream experiences depended on how well Frank and his team fought.

Lille sat at the central console, gazing at the real-time map on the wall—

Several days had gone by, and the company’s revenue and size had doubled and redoubled. The whole world was watching the multitude of Super Corporations under Lille’s banner, with the limited shares becoming hot commodities on the stock market.

But what Lille was most concerned about wasn’t those steadily advancing industries.

A few days ago, the Wakandan Royal Guard’s military vessel—or more accurately, the patrol ship—finally made contact with Frank.

The cargo ship would continue towards Tanzania, while Frank and his group would alter course to meet the smaller boat.

Africa’s poor communication infrastructure caused intermittent reception.

On the map, the Somali Sea region lit up.

...

[Lille: Frank, there’s a change in the mission.]

[A United Nations cargo ship will be passing through the Somali Sea coastline, heading south in a few days. The cargo it carries is of great importance.]

[I need you to switch ships and use the vessel provided by Wakanda to patrol northward. Find that ship, then transport the cargo and the people aboard to Tanzania.]

[It’s a small cargo ship, unladen, very fast, with blue paint, 87 meters long...]

[They have an identification code. The details are in the attachment.]

"Never thought I’d one day be on an African’s ship..."

Kurt was Frank’s comrade-in-arms, who lost a leg in a certain war, now wearing a Prosthetics from an international genetic cooperation company, returning to the battlefield.

He was a medical soldier; his Exoskeleton was only equipped with primary and secondary firearms, with more slots carrying emergency medical supplies and equipment.

He pulled out the training chip from the brain-machine interface and stretched his body a little.

Frank took the chip and placed it in a box specially designated for training chips.

"The world is changing, Kurt, isn’t this much better than engaging in illegal activities in a third-world country?"

"The way you phrase it, nothing could be worse than that."

The commercial freighter maintained its course towards the port of Tanzania, while Frank and the others dispersed onto several vessels of the African Union’s "military ships."

Although they were called military vessels, they were actually patrol boats over 80 meters in length that lacked heavy firepower but boasted high speed and long-range capabilities.

Poor countries were struggling even to carry out nearshore missions, the difference between them and the Mei Country navy was like that between modern humans and cavemen.

Outdated models, obsolete equipment, but with all this, they had already defeated most of the world’s countries—

Because the Wakanda Royal Guard was very orderly, and the ships were quite clean and tidy.

Very spirited.

After completing the special training for the day, Frank returned to the captain’s cabin to continue working on the communications.

[Frank: This is Theseus Escort One, routine communication.]

[Crackle...]

[T’Challa: Recei... received.]

[Frank: Looks like the signal is good today, any news?]

[T’Challa: Nothing for now, but you have entered the Somali Sea.]

[Frank: There won’t be pirates and terrorists, right?]

[T’Challa: Hard to say, many terrorists have their eyes on Mei Country’s merchant ships lately, but they won’t attack our ships.]

[T’Challa: You might have already seen those terrorists, but their ships are too small, they don’t catch your eye.]

[Frank: Why’s that?]

[T’Challa: They know it’s a Wakandan ship, that’s enough.]

It is evident in this world that Wakanda still has quite a significant influence in Africa.

After all, it is a willing provider of major food resources.

Indeed, Frank had seen a number of seemingly idle small boats these past few days; if terrorists passed by quietly, he couldn’t confirm whether they were terrorists.

Even now, he could see a couple of boats with erratic navigation off in the distance.

[Frank: Feeling on the terrorists’ whitelist is kind of... peculiar.]

[T’Challa: I can’t directly appear on the ship, so this is a little help we can offer.]

[T’Challa: My people will move as close to you as possible in the nearest city. If there’s trouble, head straight for shore.]

[Frank: Copy crac—]

[Crackle...]

High-frequency communications were suddenly interfered with, emitting a piercing noise.

The people in the captain’s cabin were shocked— there was a signal.

[Unknown Signal: Mayday—crackle—mayday—]

[Unknown Signal: We are—United Nations expedition—crackle—]

[Unknown Signal: Requesting assistance—]

[Tap tap tap...tap—crackle]

The signal was very poor, but after every speech, there was a rhythmic tapping noise!

Although the intermittent signal made it difficult to identify the complete tapping rhythm, Frank immediately realized it seemed to be a code!

Frank quickly left the captain’s cabin and issued orders through the combat intranet linked by a wireless Cyber Modulator:

[Frank: Target spotted, prepare for combat.]

Just as Frank stepped out of the captain’s cabin and looked out the window, he witnessed a miraculous scene—

On the sea surface, those two wavering ships suddenly changed course, vigorously heading towards the source of the signal!

They were indeed pirates!