Chapter 1005: The King of Hell on the Sea

He Yuzhu had been chased the entire way by this gang of patrol boats like they were flies, and the wicked fire in his heart was practically about to erupt from his throat. He suddenly whipped his head around and shouted, "Lao Ma, come down and help me steer the boat! I'm going up to man the cannon and show them what's what!"

A flash of hesitation crossed Lao Ma's face, and he spoke with some reluctance: "Mr. Zhou, it's better if I do the shooting up there; I'm not bad at it either! You steer from down here..."

"I'm faster than you!" He Yuzhu threw the words back at him, not leaving him even a shred of courtesy.

Lao Ma felt somewhat unconvinced, his lips moved, but in the end, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and obediently scrambled down to take over the helm.

Before He Yuzhu went up to the gun platform, he threw down another sentence: "Remember, no matter what, don't let the cockpit glass face them directly! Use the side or the stern of the boat to face them, otherwise you'll be done for!"

Lao Ma nodded heavily, his palms already starting to sweat.

This boat was actually very easy to handle; it was basically semi-automatic steering, and as long as one kept the helm steady, it was fine. Although Lao Ma was nervous, he could still manage.

He Yuzhu scrambled up to the gun platform in a few steps and nimbly shouldered the rocket launcher.

He squinted one eye and called out in his mind in a low voice: "System, lock onto them for me this time! I want to wipe out their whole boatload of people with one shot!"

The system's tone revealed a hint of greed as it responded unhurriedly: "Host, if you want the most precise lock-on, it will consume a large amount of energy. Each shell requires a deduction of fifty jin of gold."

"Done! No problem!" He Yuzhu didn't even blink, making the decision on the spot. Fifty jin of gold in exchange for the lives of a boatload of fierce bandits—worth it!

Carrying the rocket launcher, he no longer had to struggle to aim; he just waited for the patrol boat charging at the very front to plunge into range, then decisively pulled the trigger.

"Boom—!"

With an earth-shattering explosion, the rocket, trailing a tail of fire, slammed squarely into the center of the deck. A fireball rose into the air, fragments scattered in all directions, and a wave of heat rushed toward him.

This gang of Somalia Youth Army men were all standing on the deck holding guns, with nowhere to hide. In this one blow, fifteen or sixteen were wiped out on the spot, and the remaining few were all wounded; the deck was filled with wailing.

He Yuzhu didn't even take a breath. With a flip of his hand, a second pre-loaded rocket launcher was already pulled out from his space. Aiming at the second patrol boat rushing up, he raised his hand and fired another shot.

"Boom—!"

It was practically a carbon copy of the previous shot, hitting the deck dead center and exploding into a blinding flash of fire near the cockpit.

After this shell exploded, there was basically no one left breathing normally. The cockpit was blown to pieces, and flames shot upward with a roar.

Yet, in the blink of an eye, the second patrol boat, with an incredibly violent speed, cleaved through the waves and charged straight toward the direction where He Yuzhu was! Five hundred meters—it was but a distance of a blink. The machine gun at the bow of the boat roared crazily, and bullets poured down like a rainstorm, causing the surrounding seawater to explode into white spray with "pupu" sounds.

Lao Ma's pupils shrank, and a chill instantly crept up his spine.

He knew clearly that although this observation room was equipped with bulletproof glass and two layers of protective steel frames, how long could it hold up against such dense strafing?

He took a sharp breath, the veins on his arms bulging, and he wrenched the helm hard.

But after all, he was not yet skilled in the operation, and under that turn, the entire boat tilted violently, almost capsizing into the sea. The deck was instantly in a state of chaos.

He Yuzhu, who was carrying the rocket launcher, stumbled violently under his feet, and his whole body tipped to the side.

With quick eyes and fast hands, he grabbed the iron handle on the cabin wall, barely stabilizing his figure.

After standing firm with difficulty, he gritted his teeth and leaned half his body out, ignoring the cold wind pouring into his collar. His gaze locked tightly onto the approaching enemy boat, and his finger decisively pulled the trigger—anyway, with the system there, he didn't have to worry about accuracy at all!

"Whoosh—!"

The rocket, trailing a dazzling tail flame, tore through the air and wedged itself fiercely into the center of the patrol boat's deck. Following that was a loud "Boom," fire shot into the sky, and shattered metal pieces and burning wreckage splashed everywhere.

Of the twenty-some people on the boat, a whole group fell on the spot; some were blown into the sea, some lay on the deck wailing incessantly, and the rest completely lost their will to fight.

Yet He Yuzhu didn't even blink. With nimble movements, he reached back and took a pre-loaded rocket from his space, pulling the trigger again.

"Boom—!"

The second rocket hit precisely, directly blowing up the patrol boat's cockpit. Flames and thick smoke instantly swallowed the entire boat.

The third patrol boat had originally been charging with all its might, but upon seeing the miserable state of the first two, it was scared out of its wits on the spot. It turned around and fled, leaving a trail of white water behind it, wishing it could stomp the accelerator through the bottom of the boat.

How could He Yuzhu let them slip away? He threw the rocket launcher to the side, grabbed the ship's cannon with both hands, squinted his eyes, aimed at the fleeing patrol boat, and slammed the firing button.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat—!"

A burst of shells poured over like raindrops. Dozens of shells slammed into the hull all at once, flipping the boat on the spot. The bottom of the boat faced the sky, spinning on the sea surface, and the propeller was still spinning uselessly in the air.

He Yuzhu still wasn't satisfied. He turned the muzzle and bombarded the two patrol boats that were already decimated. The sounds of shells hitting the water and explosions merged into one, and the sea surface was filled with fire. In less than a minute, he had blown the three patrol boats into smithereens. Only a few clusters of black smoke and floating wreckage remained on the sea, and not even a single intact piece of deck could be found.

Only then did He Yuzhu stop and nimbly jump back into the cockpit.

Lao Ma was completely stunned, his mouth open wide enough to fit a fist. It took him a long time to recover, and he stammered: "Mr., Mr. Zhou... how, how did you do that? This is too awesome!"

He Yuzhu brushed the dust off his hands and chuckled, his tone carrying a hint of pride: "To tell you the truth, I started tinkering with this stuff back during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and I even suggested many of the improvements myself."

Upon hearing this, Lao Ma's eyes widened, and he immediately gave a thumbs-up, sighing sincerely: "I knew it! No wonder your cannon-firing skills are like they have eyes!"

He Yuzhu waved his hand, looking nonchalant: "Heh, it's a small matter, just a small matter."

But despite his light words, He Yuzhu was clear in his heart—he was truly annoyed by being pestered by this gang of black men.

Being surrounded and intercepted time and again, wasting gold and ammunition was a small matter, but the key was that if he were the least bit careless and lost even one brother on his side, it would truly be a case of losing the wife and the soldiers, a loss that outweighed the gain.

He gritted his teeth, his gaze locked firmly on the horizon ahead, his hands gripping the helm, speeding all the way, not daring to slow down in the slightest.

Fortunately, after more than an hour, the outline of the pier finally appeared ahead.

Because this was a pier controlled by the Temporary Government, after docking and revealing his identity, the people there were quite straightforward. They accepted the few hundred US dollars He Yuzhu handed over and didn't even ask any extra questions, directly waving him through.

He Yuzhu didn't delay much and let the members of the delegation disperse—after all, everyone had places to stay in the capital, and he didn't intend to drop them off one by one.

Once everyone had left, he drove the boat out a distance by himself, parked it by the seaside, looked left and right to make sure there was no one else, flipped his wrist, and directly stored the entire patrol boat into his space.

Immediately following that, he released his bulletproof off-road vehicle from his space, stepped on the gas, and headed straight back to the hotel where he was staying.

Not long after he entered, Deputy Minister Sun knocked on his door in a hurry, the anxiety on his face almost overflowing: "Mr. Zhou, how did the hostage situation go?"

He Yuzhu unhurriedly poured him a cup of tea first, then spoke: "They've all been rescued. I let them go home separately first."

Deputy Minister Sun froze for a moment, then suddenly slapped He Yuzhu on the shoulder, his voice filled with uncontrollable excitement: "That's great! To tell you the truth, I had no confidence in this operation at all. I thought if we could save one or two, it would be a blessing, but I never expected you to bring everyone back safe and sound!"

He Yuzhu waved his hand and grinned: "Heh, it was just a coincidence, good luck. But it really wasn't peaceful on the way; we ran into quite a bit of trouble and almost didn't make it back."

Upon hearing this, the joy on Deputy Minister Sun's face suddenly vanished. He leaned in two steps and lowered his voice: "Do you know? Domestic just sent an urgent piece of intelligence—there's an epidemic over in Ermao. It's said to be very dangerous; once a person is infected, it can be fatal in just a few hours."

He Yuzhu was clear in his heart that it was nine times out of ten a leak from that Laboratory. But he remained calm on the surface, pretending to be bewildered as he frowned: "Ermao? That place is quite far from us; how could it affect us?"