Chapter 1662: Reef Island

"All other fishing boats, cease operations immediately, secure your nets, and converge here."

Ye Yaodong spoke into the internal channel of the fishing ground while staring at the sea surface, his eyes bulging out of his head.

Two gray-white ghost patrol boats, like two vicious sharks, circled his two vessels; the gibberish blaring from their loudspeakers made his brain ache.

"Damn their grandmothers..."

"Boss, boss, calling the boss, this is Boat No. 3. The ghost army's patrol ships are chasing us. What should we do?"

"This is Boat No. 4. We just approached and saw them. They have two boats: one patrol ship and one that looks like a transport vessel. The transport is loaded with various types of stone and steel. We don't know what they're up to, but it seems people are moving things back and forth on the reef island."

Ye Yaodong slapped the control console, making the microphone buzz. "Are they starting trouble? There's definitely something fishy! Hold on for now. Forget the fishing nets, forget the cargo. Treat them like dogs and keep leading them on. I'll gather the fleet. Be careful; they have high-pressure water cannons. Don't let them fire the high-pressure water cannons. Increase your throttle and keep running circles around them."

"Received!"

With his order to abandon the nets and the cargo, the captains felt relieved and could now boldly give up their catch.

It made a world of difference whether the boss was present or not.

Just moments ago, with nets dragging in the water, the fishing boats couldn't pick up speed, appearing clumsy and helpless; now, by abandoning everything, they could move with agility.

Freed from the constraint of the nets, the two boats moved significantly faster across the sea. They didn't need to worry too much; the worst-case scenario was the boat being destroyed and them falling into the ocean.

Several of their own boats were nearby. If a boat was destroyed, the boss would take responsibility; if they fell into the sea, they could be fished out.

The ghost ships wouldn't dare do anything to them, after all, they were in Huaguo's territorial waters. With other fishing boats working nearby, if they were seen attacking our country's fishing vessels, it would cause diplomatic strife between the two nations and leave them in the wrong internationally.

So, at most, they only dared to drive them away, chasing the two boats with their patrol ship and threatening them with gibberish to leave.

Watching the two boats lead the patrol ship around with relative ease, Ye Yaodong felt his mind relax slightly; unless it was a critical moment, the patrol ship wouldn't dare fire the high-pressure water cannon.

After contacting the two fishing boats, he ordered the others to converge first, then immediately shouted on the public channel.

"DYD! All Huaguo vessels operating near DYD! Anyone who hears this, give Laozi a response! This is Ye Yaodong from 'Min Yuanyang No. 1'! Coordinates: Fishing Ground 123. Those damn Japanese patrol boats are chasing our ships! Any Huaguo people, come quickly! I currently have nine fishing boats here."

His own seven boats, plus the two belonging to his eldest and second brothers.

The deep sea is different from the near shore; if there were problems, one could use shortwave to contact the coastal station to request rescue and support.

Ye Yaodong wanted to contact the navy's patrol warships at sea, but the internal channels of warships were definitely classified. The fisheries administration also had dedicated radio channels used for commanding and dispatching fisheries administration vessels and receiving reports; fishing boats couldn't just contact them at will.

He could only shout on the public channel, hoping a warship was monitoring it at this moment.

As soon as his voice fell, the usually quiet public channel began to echo with responses.

"This is the captain of the Min Donghai fishing boat. I am at Fishing Ground 121. Two boats will be there shortly..."

"This is the captain of the Zhe Ping'an fishing boat. I am at Fishing Ground 120. On my way..."

"This is a fishing boat from the Zhoushan City Fisheries Company. I am at Fishing Ground 120... There are currently seven or eight other boats in nearby fishing grounds..."

"I am..."

"Damn those little Japanese bastards... Laozi will be there soon..."

"We are going too..."

One call met a hundred responses. The channel, usually quiet with only an occasional word or two, immediately exploded like a pot of boiling water.

Hearing the responses one by one, Ye Yaodong grew excited and reported the specific coordinates of Fishing Ground 123 again.

While he was busy making contacts, the captain was simultaneously using the walkie-talkie to communicate with their own few boats, urging the fishing vessels to come quickly, while also communicating with the two boats being chased.

Those two boats seemed to have gained experience in running away and realized that the enemy wouldn't dare attack them at will.

"Damn those little Japanese bastards' mothers! They are just chasing us; whoever doesn't run is the one they chase."

"I think they have something up their sleeves; they are just driving us away, not letting us get close to that reef island."

"Yes, just now when we ran far away, they stopped chasing. But as soon as we circled back and tried to approach that reef island, they came chasing us again, shouting gibberish at us."

"I think so too. That reef island must be problematic."

Ye Yaodong, distracted by the words coming through the walkie-talkie, waved to the captain. "Hand me the walkie-talkie."

The captain quickly handed it over to him.

"Hello, hello, this is Ye Yaodong. Thank you both for scouting. Are there only two foreign fishing boats around that reef island? One patrol ship is chasing you, and is the other boat unloading cargo?"

"Yes. I just approached a bit. It seems they are unloading cargo. They have set up an iron plate or something, and people are walking back and forth, but we can't clearly see what they are unloading."

"Stay safe. If the other fishing boat chases you, run. If they stop, then continue leading them on, maintaining the rhythm. I have already contacted nearby fishing boats. Dozens have responded and will be here shortly."

"Received."

Ye Yaodong handed the walkie-talkie back to the captain to continue contacting them via their fishing boat's internal channel, while the VHF on his own ship remained on the public channel to maintain contact with the other fishing boats coming to support.

Meanwhile, he planned to maneuver the fishing boat to get close to the reef island to see exactly what the trickery was.

Just now, the two fishing boats were tying up that patrol ship and leading that foreign fishing boat away from the reef island. Taking this opportunity, he could get close for a look.

With so many fishing boats nearby, and many more on their way, he wasn't too worried about safety. Although they were a patrol ship and they were ordinary fishing boats, they had numbers on their side!

The country is currently in the initial stage of rapid development; maritime defense power is weak. It looks like it will have to rely on us fishermen.

Ye Yaodong shouted on the public channel, "Comrades, I am Ye Yaodong from the Min Yuanyang. My two boats are currently tying up the enemy's patrol ship. They discovered that a cargo ship is still stationed on the nearby reef island..."

He reported the information just detected by the fishing boats to everyone.

"While the enemy still has one boat unloading and cannot move, I plan to get close now to see what exactly they are doing near the reef island."

The captain interjected with a report: "Dongzi, Dongyu has heard the information on the public channel and is currently on its way back."

Ye Yaodong nodded.

Someone in the channel responded, "... Thank you for your hard work... You take the lead for now, we will be there soon..."

"We are only 20 nautical miles away..."

"I have gathered five or six boats nearby and am on my way..."

Everyone responded in a cacophony, united in indignation, hurling various curses and dragging out the enemy's ancestors from thousands of years ago to scold.

Ye Yaodong responded to the channel with his mouth while maneuvering the fishing boat with his hands, accelerating towards the reef island.

The fishing nets on the boat had already been fully retracted during the earlier communication, so now he could charge forward without any worries about his rear.

The captain held the walkie-talkie and shouted to their own internal fishing boats: "After the other fishing boats finish collecting their cargo, gather together and wait at sea for the supporting fishing boats to arrive first. Boat No. 1 is currently approaching the reef island to scout the situation. Boats No. 3 and No. 4, continue leading the ghost vessels, tie up that ship, and let us pass first to find out the truth."

"Boat 3 received."

"Boat 4 received."

The other fishing boat must have kept its radar active the whole time; no matter how low he turned down the engine noise, it was useless.

As long as he got slightly closer, he would have been detected long ago—he didn't need to hide that his own boat was heading toward the reef.

What he most needed to do now was to push the engine to full power, cut the distance short, and rush through while the patrol boat was distracted by the two fishing boats and hadn't reacted yet.

Then, when the patrol boat turned back, he'd pull farther away and engage in hit-and-run tactics.

As the fishing boat drew nearer to the reef, he held his breath, slowed his breathing, and felt his heart thudding thump-thump.

In the air, besides the salty brine, there was a faint hint of… a cold, industrial smell, mixing cement and metal?

The distance shrank bit by bit; the reef's outline grew clearer, no longer a blurry shadow through the binoculars.

"Cousin, you take the wheel—hand me the binoculars."

He wanted to see for himself—what exactly was there near this reef?

"Alright, the patrol boat seems to have woken up—it's charging straight toward us."

"No problem. No matter how fast it speeds toward the reef, we'll just take one look and leave, leading it on."

So what if it's a patrol boat? He only had one. Their fishing boats were many—they could send them out one by one, leading the patrol boat on.

The captain steered the fishing boat, plotting a course that would let him clearly see the fishing vessel moored beside the reef, while avoiding the patrol boat racing toward them.

He felt his blood boiling, his face flushed hot; as the fishing boat neared the reef, his heartbeat quickened, and he dared not even inhale.

Too thrilling!

When the fishing boat drew close and rounded to a side angle, everyone in the cabin sucked in a sharp breath!

"Fuck! Shit!" Ye Yaodong gasped, eyes wide with shock, cursing loudly.

There, atop the barren black reef where only seabirds should have perched, stood a square, two-story-high platform hastily built from concrete blocks and scaffolding!

Several figures in work uniforms, wearing yellow hard hats, moved about like ants on top.

Beside the platform, steel rebar, cement bags, and wooden planks were scattered haphazardly.

The dark red, flat-bottomed barge moored beside the reef had its bow wide open, revealing a pitch-black cargo hold.

A crude crane, modified from a ship's derrick, was lifting bundles of thick, waterproof-cloth-wrapped cylindrical components from the hold and carefully transferring them onto the reef top!

Ps: Sorry for the late update—I overestimated myself. Haha, my surname is Hua; I've always written "Hua Country" and feel a sense of pride. Last night, my head was fuzzy and I wrote this scene—it shouldn't have been written at all. Now that I've written it, I can't go too deep, so I'll just keep it simple; I only meant to write about a lighthouse. (This passage is free.)