Chapter 969: Racing for Speed

He Yuzhu's eyes turned sharp. He quickly pulled three smoke grenades from his space, flicked the pull rings open with his thumbs, and tossed them deep into the cabin doorway with a swing of his arm.

In an instant, white smoke billowed and filled the enclosed space. Within mere seconds, violent, uncontrollable coughing erupted from inside, each bout more urgent than the last.

He neatly fastened his Gas Mask, hunched his back, and moved like a hunting leopard sprinting close to the ground, advancing at high speed with the aid of his system's Scanning vision.

Just past the first corner, he saw a soldier clutching his mouth and nose with both hands, his Rifle lying abandoned at his feet; the man had already been reduced to a helpless state, tears and mucus streaming down his face from the choking smoke.

He Yuzhu lunged forward, his mind stirred—the man vanished on the spot, instantly collected into his space.

He continued to push deeper to search, soon discovering three soldiers huddled in front of a ventilation duct, gasping desperately for air.

He flipped his left hand, a Pistol already resting in his palm. He raised his arm, pulled the trigger, and three short, crisp gunshots rang out; the three bodies collapsed in response. After searching the entire cabin, he found no more survivors.

Only then did he relax slightly and walk quickly to the cabin wall to open a small window for ventilation—the delegation still had to come in and sit here later; he couldn't let them board the ship smelling of gunpowder.

Yet, just as he was focused on mopping up and clearing the battlefield, a black shadow quietly slipped out from an emergency door on the side of the command cabin—Captain Huai Te.

This old fox had spent twenty years idling on this ship; he knew every loose rivet and every hollow deck plate like the back of his hand, a living, breathing human navigation system.

He sprinted over thirty meters along the emergency corridor, kicked open the side watertight door with a violent stomp, vaulted over the chest-high railing, and plunged into the shallow water by the pier with a splash.

Water sprayed everywhere, yet it startled no one—on the shore, the delegation's security personnel were busy clearing out the remaining cargo soldiers, and no one noticed that the burly captain had slipped away without a sound.

Old Huai Te's swimming skills were astonishingly good. Despite his large build, he moved like a loach in the water. In the blink of an eye, he darted to a Fishing Boat docked at the edge of the island, scrambled aboard in a few quick movements, and yanked the starter cord twice.

The old Diesel Engine suddenly spat out a cloud of black smoke and, with a "put-put-put" sound, broke through the water's surface and sped wildly out toward the Bay.

On deck, He Yuzhu straightened up and removed his mask, taking a quick look—the M Country soldiers had all fallen, and Captain Fu was leading men to drag the bodies to the shore to be piled up.

Director Li trotted over, his forehead covered in sweat: "Factory Director He, who knows how to sail this ship?"

He Yuzhu tilted his head to look at Captain Sun and asked: "Captain, I heard you can fly planes. If you can fly a plane, other contraptions shouldn't be a problem, right? I'll leave the sailing to you."

Captain Sun shook his head with a bitter smile: "Who spread that nonsense... Let me go see what kind of antique this is first."

Saying this, He Yuzhu led him and Deputy Captain Li into the cockpit.

The interior was unexpectedly tidy, the instrument panel polished until it shone, and the indicator lights on the silver panel pulsed with a ghostly glow, a stark contrast to the mottled, aged exterior of the ship.

Captain Sun looked around, frowned for a long while, and finally spread his hands helplessly: "To sail this thing, you need over a dozen people. I can't handle it alone."

Upon hearing this, Director Li's heart instantly went cold, and he subconsciously turned to look at Bureau Chief Zhang, who had followed them in: "Didn't you serve in the navy? Do you know how?"

Bureau Chief Zhang shook his head firmly: "I was a gunner, I don't know how to sail a ship."

Captain Sun added an explanation: "This is a cargo-converted ship with a single propeller and dual rudders. To start, move forward or backward, or turn, you need the helmsman, the engine telegraph operator, and the lookout to coordinate just to get it out of the pier... Even if I used all my strength, I couldn't move it alone."

He Yuzhu was silent for two seconds, then suddenly smiled: "Lao Li, don't worry. I actually know how to sail. I asked Lao Sun just now because I wanted to find a relief hand; otherwise, if I stare at the helm for twenty-four hours alone, I won't be able to hold up."

As soon as Captain Sun heard this, he immediately replied: "Lao He, you teach me. I learn things fast, I guarantee I can take your shift in two days."

The tight string in Director Li's heart finally relaxed, and he let out a long breath: "Factory Director He, you should have said so earlier! Look at my mouth, I was so anxious I even got blisters!"

"Lao Li, set your mind at ease," He Yuzhu patted his shoulder, "I'm a lucky man; I always manage to turn danger into safety."

Bureau Chief Zhang, however, remained deep in thought: "Factory Director He, I'm afraid the enemy might send more planes. We need to hurry and set sail. Once we reach the high seas, it won't be so easy for planes to catch us."

"Well said!" He Yuzhu nodded, "Lao Zhang, drive those trucks into the cargo hold. Also, fix the Missile Launcher to the deck for me. If enemy planes really come later, I'll shoot them down."

"Leave it to me!" Bureau Chief Zhang trotted away.

He Yuzhu walked to the main helm, deftly connected the main power, and flipped the autopilot mode to manual.

He turned back to look at Director Li: "We leave in ten minutes, traveling through the night. Have the entire delegation board the ship; I'm closing the cabin doors in ten minutes."

Captain Sun stared at his fluid, practiced movements and sighed in genuine admiration: "Factory Director He, you really have talent."

"I studied mechanical design originally; these structures aren't difficult for me," He Yuzhu said nonchalantly.

Ten-plus minutes later, the departure bell rang out suddenly, and the cabin doors closed one by one.

He Yuzhu activated his system's Scanning, gripped the ship's wheel firmly with both hands, and used the two pedals at his feet to control the left and right rudder angles respectively.

A low, powerful roar of the Diesel Engine reverberated, the propeller churned the choppy waves by the pier, and the old landing ship slowly started, sliding steadily into the deep-water channel.

While fine-tuning the wheel to maintain the heading, he quickly scanned the tachometer, inclinometer, and rudder angle indicator—all parameters were clear at a glance.

Soon, the old ship picked up speed, cutting through the sea surface and racing toward the open ocean.

Outside the cabin, the sea wind howled, the ship's flag whipped and snapped, and He Yuzhu pushed the speed to the maximum.

On deck, the Missile Launcher was lashed tight with cables; in the cargo hold, the supply trucks were locked in place one after another; the delegation members sat in a row against the cabin wall, hands gripping the handrails tightly. No one spoke; only the low hum of machinery and the dull thud of waves hitting the hull echoed in the night.

In the cockpit, He Yuzhu steered the course while patiently breaking down the key points of operation; Captain Sun, Deputy Captain Li, and the mechanic, Engineer Zhao, all pricked up their ears to memorize them.

However, less than fifty nautical miles out, the roar of Fighter Jet engines faintly rolled through the night sky, moving from far to near, growing increasingly heavy.

He Yuzhu's eyes darkened. He turned to Captain Sun and said: "Captain, trouble has come knocking. It's likely the people at the pier sent word back to M Country." As he spoke, his fingers moved rapidly, switching off every light on the landing ship that could be turned off—the cabin instantly plunged into total darkness.

"I have to go to the deck to operate that Avenger missile vehicle. Captain, help me hold the course."

Captain Sun immediately sat upright and placed his hands on the wheel: "Go ahead, I can hold it steady here, don't worry."

He shouted to Deputy Captain Li in the co-pilot seat without looking back: "Xiao Li, come over and give me a hand!"

Deputy Captain Li responded and walked over to sit beside him.

He Yuzhu took the stairs two at a time to reach the deck, vaulted into the driver's seat of the Missile Launcher, and powered it up and activated the Radar in one smooth motion.

The clouds ahead split open, and two F16s dove out like vultures, the missiles hanging under their wings gleaming with a cold, metallic luster in the moonlight.

"Damn it, they're trying to bomb the ship," He Yuzhu cursed through gritted teeth, "I gave you a little color, and now you're climbing all over me?"

Little did he know, half an hour ago, after Captain Huai Te sailed out, the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.

He had run off alone and abandoned the entire ship; if he were held accountable later, ten lives wouldn't be enough to pay for it.

After hesitating for a long time, he pulled out his Satellite Phone—fortunately, it hadn't gotten wet.

"Headquarters! Headquarters! Something big has happened! Someone hijacked my landing ship and ran off!"

After being transferred several times, the call reached General William.

William was furious upon hearing the news and immediately ordered two F16s that were originally searching for a passenger plane to turn around and head straight for Heng De Sen airport.

Headquarters reacted extremely quickly, not wasting half a second, and immediately had the flight leader John and his wingman fly to the nearby sea area to intercept.

John and Fei Li Pu had been searching in opposite directions, which was why they hadn't found them; it was only after John changed course on his way back that he locked onto the ship's silhouette on the sea.

"Fei Li Pu, I found them!" John's voice could not suppress his excitement, "This time I'm going to avenge Joe and Kuli! The bastards, I'll blow them all up!"

"Captain, don't get too close—what if they are equipped with anti-aircraft fire?" Fei Li Pu cautiously reminded him.

"Bullshit! That piece-of-junk ship is full of antique gun barrels, who could they possibly hit?" John scoffed, not taking it to heart at all.

Yet he never expected that He Yuzhu was currently squinting his eyes, his fire-control Radar having already quietly locked onto the two Fighter Jets.

By conventional logic, this kind of old Missile Launcher on a Warship would find it very difficult to lock onto high-speed Fighter Jets, but John was too arrogant, and afraid of accidentally bombing other Supply Ships, he dared not fire easily; he stubbornly flew into the range of the missile vehicle before deciding to drop his bombs, which gave He Yuzhu his chance.

And from powering on, to locking on, to firing, He Yuzhu was as fast as an instinctive reaction.

"Come on, grandson." He Yuzhu curled the corner of his mouth, his thumb pressing hard on the launch button, "Grandpa will play with you."