More than a dozen pirates set fire everywhere. More than ten places on the island were on fire, and five or six ships in the harbor were set ablaze. In the middle of the night, there were flames everywhere. It was like the end of the world.
Because of the importance of this matter, more than a dozen elite thugs of the Zhou Family refused to put out the fire. They were worried that someone would take advantage of the situation and steal the treasures on the merchant ship. However, as the fishing ship next door caught fire, these thugs of the Zhou Family could not remain calm. If the fire on the fishing ship continued to spread, it was entirely possible that the fire would burn the merchant ship. This was a consequence they could not bear. They knew very well how much treasure was on the merchant ship behind them. If they lost it, it would mean that all the wealth the Zhou Family had accumulated over the past three years would go down the drain.
"You two stay here. The rest of you, come with me to help."
Seeing the fire on the fishing ship spreading, more than a dozen thugs of the Zhou Family finally lost their calm. They left two of them to continue guarding the merchant ship while the rest went to help put out the fire.
The pirate leader of Seagull Island was waiting for this opportunity. He had already made sufficient preparations in the fishing ship not far away. As long as these masters left, he could quickly take action and seize the merchant ship. Although they had never driven a merchant ship before, there was not much difference between a merchant ship and a fishing ship. It was nothing more than using sails and oars as power. The brothers all knew how to sail and oar, so it would not be difficult to drive the merchant ship away.
At this moment, what the pirate leader was most worried about was not whether the merchant ship had left, but whether there were still thugs hiding inside the merchant ship, and how many thugs were hiding. Although his subordinates had secretly entered the merchant ship to investigate, there were many cabins on the merchant ship, and it was impossible to check all the cabins. It was inevitable that some of them would be missed. If there were a large number of thugs in the missing cabins, then they would really kick an iron plate.
"Boss, what are you waiting for? There are only two of them left."
A young pirate said.
The pirate leader frowned and said, "Don't worry, don't worry. Wait a little longer. Let's see if there are still people on the ship. With such a big fire, if there are still people on the ship, they will definitely be alarmed."
The more critical the moment was, the more the pirate leader was worried about his gains and losses. He was worried that there would be a large number of elite thugs from the Zhou Family inside the merchant ship. He was afraid that he and his subordinates would suffer losses.
At this time, only a third of the brothers were sent out to set the ship on fire. At this moment, there were more than 30 pirates gathered around him. In addition to a few brothers who were left behind to help set the ship on fire, there were more than 30 brothers who could launch a surprise attack. If they were caught off guard, they could completely seize the merchant ship in one fell swoop and then drive it away.
However, even if they drove the merchant ship away, they still had to prevent the Zhou Clan from chasing after them. Therefore, the best way was to burn all the ships that could chase after them so that the Zhou Clan would not be able to chase after them.
Fire broke out in many places, and the fire spread very seriously. This caused a lot of losses to the Zhou family, especially the few warehouses that were burned down. There were a lot of valuables inside. With so many valuables lost, even a big family like the Zhou family felt some heartache.
.................
. "The head of the Zhou Family looked at the flames around him and roared with a pained expression.
The housekeeper hurried over and said, "Family Head, there are too many places on fire this time. All the servants went to put out the fire, but they can't save all of them in a short time. We can only save the most important ones first."
"How could this be? Who on earth wants to go against the Zhou Family? Who is so bold?"
The head of the Zhou Family said with a frown.
"Family Head, could it be those people who made trouble during the day? By the way, I didn't see them when we were putting out the fire just now. It seems that it really could be those people."
The housekeeper suddenly understood something and his face was full of shock.
"What? These damn people! How dare they! Go and find them. Don't leave any of them alive."
The head of the Zhou Family was angry.
Just as the housekeeper was about to say something, a servant ran in immediately.
"Family Head, it's not good. Half of the ships in the port are on fire. The fire is very big."
The servant said.
The head of the Zhou Family seemed to have realized something and hurriedly said, "Merchant ships, three years of accumulation! Quick, don't worry about anything else. Hurry up and protect the merchant ship. "
The housekeeper naturally understood everything. When he heard that the fishing ships in the port were on fire, he was naturally very anxious and understood everything.
"Family Head is right. This old servant will go now."
The housekeeper hurriedly ran out.
"You guys don't need to put out the fire. Throw away the buckets, pick up weapons and follow me to the port."
The housekeeper gathered the hired thugs along the way and asked them to throw away the buckets and find weapons to protect the merchant ships.
However, the housekeeper was too late. Just as they realized that something was wrong, the pirate leader had already taken action.
"Brothers, hurry up."
The pirate leader asked several of his brothers to jump into the sea during the chaos and secretly enter the merchant ships from the sea. They controlled the main positions of the merchant ships. After confirming that there was no danger on the ship, they sent a signal to the leader. Then, the leader led a large number of his brothers and suddenly rushed to the merchant ships from the shore. They killed two of the Zhou Family's hired thugs who couldn't react in time. Then, a group of people quickly entered the merchant ships under the surprise of many people who were putting out the fire. After that, the merchant ships smoothly sailed out of the port and left under everyone's astonished eyes.
Seeing that the merchant ships were driven away, the most nervous people were naturally the dozen or so hired thugs in charge of guarding the ships. They were scared silly when they saw this scene and didn't know what to do.
At the same time, the housekeeper also ran over with a group of hired thugs. Unfortunately, he was still a step too late.
Seeing that the merchant ships had already left, the housekeeper was furious. He looked at the hired thugs in charge of guarding the merchant ships and shouted angrily, "What are you doing? I asked you to watch the merchant ships. The ships ran away, but you guys are fine. Do you know what kind of consequences you have to bear?"
The dozen or so hired thugs were immediately frightened.
"Housekeeper, we didn't want to do that either! At that time, the fire was too big. We were also afraid that the fire would set the merchant ships on fire, so we went to the fishing boats next door to put out the fire. When we found that the merchant ships had been driven away, it was already too late. "
The leader of the hired thugs said nervously.
"Excuses, all excuses. What are you waiting for? Hurry up and find a boat to chase after them! If you can't get the merchant ships back, don't come back. "
The housekeeper said angrily. After a pause, he looked at the hired thugs around him and shouted, "And you guys, go find a boat and chase after them together. No matter how much it costs, we must get the merchant ships back."
The hired thugs had no choice but to obey the housekeeper's orders. They went to find a fishing boat that could still be used and prepared to chase after the merchant ships that had escaped.
At this time, most of the pirates responsible for setting the fire had already evacuated to a fishing boat, but there were still a few who had not returned. The pirates responsible for receiving them naturally couldn't leave just like that. They had to wait for all their brothers to return before they could set sail. However, they might not have this opportunity. More than a dozen hired thugs had already arrived. They wanted to use this fishing boat to chase after the merchant ships.
"What should we do? The bastards of the Zhou Family are coming. If we don't set sail now, we won't be able to leave."
"There are still two brothers who haven't returned yet. We can't leave yet. "
"Don't worry about them. It's good enough that we can protect ourselves now. If we wait any longer, we will lose our lives."
It was clear that there were less than ten of them, while the Zhou Clan's thugs who were rushing over had more than ten people. Their numbers were greater than theirs, and their strength was also stronger than theirs. If they didn't leave now, perhaps they wouldn't have the chance to leave anymore.
"Retreat, retreat! We can't wait any longer. We can't wait any longer. "
When seven or eight pirates were faced with a life-and-death situation, they had no other choice but to leave quickly. Even if they abandoned their companions, there was no other way. People were selfish. Not to mention that these pirates were not very moral. It was absolutely impossible to expect them to ignore their own lives for their friends.
"Stop, stop, bastards."
"It's them. They set the fire. Don't let them go."
More than a dozen of the Zhou Family's hired thugs immediately recognized these pirates and began to chase them.
Although most of the large and medium-sized ships were set on fire at this time, there were many small fishing boats. The pirates had limited manpower, so it was impossible for them to set all the ships on fire. The Zhou Family's hired thugs chased after the escaping pirates with the help of the small fishing boats. Of course, their main target was the merchant ship that left. The Zhou Family's three years of accumulation was the most important.
When the two pirates who set the fire ran to the shore and found that the ship that was supposed to pick them up had left, they immediately jumped in anger. They would die if they stayed here. Although there was no writing on their faces, others might not be able to see through their identities. In this chaotic environment, no one could see through their identities. However, this was not a long-term solution. As long as the fire was completely extinguished and the chaos in the port ended, the Zhou Family would definitely start to reorganize and clean up. At that time, their identities would definitely be exposed. Needless to say, the fate that awaited the two of them was naturally a dead end.
The two of them didn't want to die. Therefore, their only way out was to escape. They also jumped onto a small fishing boat, then quickly left the port and chased after the medium-sized fishing boat in front of them.
At this time, although the pirate leader had left with the merchant ship, unfortunately, the wind was not strong at this time, so they could only paddle away. The size of the merchant ship was not small, and there were only more than thirty of them. The pressure of driving the merchant ship away by paddling was not small. More than thirty people were already exhausted. Moreover, they still needed to stay behind to pick up people, be responsible for guarding, controlling, and so on.
This was a large merchant ship. Every time it transported treasures back, there would be at least two hundred people on board. Among them, there were eighty paddlers. They were divided into two shifts, and there were also a hundred elite thugs. In other words, to control all the power of the merchant ship, at least forty people were needed. At this time, there were only more than thirty pirates on board, and some of them had to split off to do other things. There were only more than twenty pirates who were actually paddling. Without the help of a sail, one could imagine the speed of the ship.
"Boss, we can't go on like this! The ship is too slow. They will catch up. "
A pirate looked at the large and small fishing boats chasing behind them and said nervously.
The pirate leader was also very nervous. He also saw the fishing boats chasing behind them. There were more than twenty fishing boats, large and small, and hundreds of Zhou Family's thugs and servants chasing after them. If all of these people caught up, his brothers would definitely not be able to resist. Those useless servants naturally didn't scare them, but those Zhou Family's elite thugs made them very afraid. The reason they were bullied these days was because they really couldn't beat them. Those Zhou Family's guards were very skilled. In a one-on-one situation, they could completely beat most of their brothers.
There were more than thirty of them, and at most one-third of them could reach the level of the Zhou Family's thugs. Their overall level was indeed not as good as the other party, so when they saw the other party chasing after them, they were naturally a little afraid.
These Zhou Family's thugs were trained every day and were well-equipped. On the other hand, these pirates never trained at all. Their discipline was also very poor. They were simply a motley crew.
"Brother, there's no other way. We have completely offended the Zhou Family. We have no other way but to escape. Even if they catch up with us, it will be very difficult for them to form a united force. Five or six of our brothers are on high ground. We may be able to hold them off."
The pirate leader said.
"Boss, there are tens of thousands of arrows in the cabin. What about the Tang dynasty's crossbows? It's enough for us to defend ourselves. "
A pirate said.
"Tens of thousands of arrows? And the Tang dynasty's crossbows? The Zhou Family is really bold! They actually dare to equip themselves with crossbows. How many do they have? "
The pirate leader said in surprise.
According to the laws of the Tang dynasty, ordinary people were allowed to own weapons, but they were not allowed to own any kind of weapons. The elite were not allowed to own weapons, otherwise, it would be a capital offense. For example, the Mo sword and the crossbow were forbidden for ordinary people to own.
"Boss, there are 30 Tang dynasty's crossbows. I don't know where they came from. They won't collude with the military, right? If so, I'm afraid that they will reveal our hiding place and let the military encircle us. "
"What's there to be afraid of? We're still the Zhou Family's pirates. Aren't they afraid that we'll expose the Zhou Family? "
"Boss, if the Zhou Family is colluding with the military, they won't be afraid of us exposing them. Let's not go back to Seagull Island. We'd better find another way out!"
"It's easy to say. We don't have any other territory except Seagull Island. It's useless to think about this now. Let's think about how to get rid of the pursuers first!"
"Boss, with these crossbows and enough arrows, we can completely stop them. At least we can kill more people. They won't dare to continue chasing us."
"Brother, you're right. With the crossbows in hand, we don't have to be afraid of the pursuers."
"No wonder the Zhou Family isn't worried that someone will rob their merchant ship on the way. It turns out that they have such powerful weapons on board. 30 Tang dynasty's crossbows and tens of thousands of arrows. Ordinary pirates won't be able to take them all. There are so many cabins on this ship. It won't be a problem to deploy more than 100 hired thugs. They can completely stop the pirates from boarding the ship and robbing us!"
The pirate leader and his trusted subordinates discussed.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
