Chapter 383 - 358: Targeted by Pirates! The Pirates Want to Retire

Chapter 383: Chapter 358: Targeted by Pirates! The Pirates Want to Retire

"Let’s go take a look at the Boya District and see how they’re doing," Lu Feng said to Baguda and Yasna after they had toured the area.

They both nodded.

Since they were already there, it was only natural to have a look.

Baguda wanted to see how capable they were and whether they had done a good job. After all, he was the one who recommended them, and he didn’t want to lose face.

Yasna, on the other hand, wanted to see if they were managing the Boya District to the best of their ability.

Even though he completely trusted the Xuanfeng Alliance, he still had a special attachment to his hometown.

Furthermore, with the press conference being held on that super-cruise ship, the security had to be top-notch.

After all, the attendees were all international celebrities. If anything were to happen, no matter how good their product was, the Xuanfeng Alliance’s reputation would be ruined.

It wasn’t just Lu Feng and his group looking at the scenic beach; many of the overweight visitors who had come for the Xuanfeng Alliance event had already poured into the area.

After all, this was the site of the press conference.

Chen Lu was one such person.

The moment she arrived at the Xuanfeng Alliance grounds, she came straight here.

Before her trip, she had looked up information on this beach resort. According to the files, the beach was completely desolate.

Before Boya joined the Xuanfeng Alliance, they hadn’t developed this area at all.

Many experts had questioned whether it was appropriate for the Xuanfeng Alliance to hold the press conference here.

But now that she was here, she felt those experts were full of it. ’What’s so inappropriate about this?’ The beach resort was gorgeous, every bit as good as the ones back home. In fact, with its superior natural environment, it was clearly even better.

Chen Lu crossed the beach to the temporary port and boarded the Xuanfeng Alliance’s ultra-luxurious cruise ship.

A world-class super-cruiser like this was far beyond what any resort back home could offer.

Her family was well-off, but she was still utterly stunned when she boarded the ship.

It was so luxurious it felt less like a cruise ship and more like a high-rise building.

Buffets, lounges, pools, a gym, an internet cafe, shops, an infirmary, a dance hall, bars, a shopping center...

And at its heart was a lavish banquet hall with a capacity for over 5,000 people, plus eighteen decks.

Who could even imagine how breathtaking such a super-cruiser could be?

This was truly beyond anything any resort back home could offer.

The decor was opulent, the accommodations were on par with a five-star hotel, and there was even a massive amusement park.

’Unreal.’

The key thing was, video screens announced that once a certain number of guests were aboard, the ship would embark on a sea cruise.

You could lounge in your cabin and gaze out at the vast ocean, or even go play in the ship’s open-air water park.

It was an irresistible prospect.

Chen Lu looked at the receipt in her hand—3,000 Dragon Country coins for a single night—and thought it was absolutely worth it.

Tourists couldn’t enter the ship’s luxurious banquet hall, as staff were still setting up the venue for the press conference.

This caught the attention of all the tourists on board, who rushed over to crowd the railings and watch.

Rings of onlookers, deck after deck of overweight visitors, put immense pressure on the staff setting up the venue.

Yet even in this atmosphere, the conference hall was quickly set up.

This signaled that the launch of the Xuanfeng Alliance’s nutritional supplement was about to begin.

Meanwhile, far out from Boya Harbor, the small boat reappeared on the water. Its occupants periodically raised binoculars to watch the ultra-luxurious cruise ship in the distance.

One of them was on the phone, reporting, "Leader Nex, rest assured. We’re keeping a close watch. Everything looks normal up there for now. Understood. I’ll report immediately if anything changes. After all, this operation determines whether we all get to retire."

Just as there are bandits on land, there are pirates at sea. And in this particular region, whispers circulated about a terrifying crew: the Sar Pirate Organization.

These pirates were rumored to be remnants of the old Soli Pirates. They’d become internationally wanted after hijacking a well-known merchant vessel, collecting the ransom, and then killing the hostage. A naval fleet led by the Beautiful Country had cornered and crushed them, but one faction escaped. They no longer dared to sail the major oceans.

The hostage they’d killed was none other than a magnate from a Beautiful Country consortium. It was an act of unbelievable audacity.

One had to admit, however, that the escaped faction was highly capable. They gave the Beautiful Country’s navy such a hard time that the navy, worn down by the pursuit, eventually had to drop it.

Later, this group of pirates renamed themselves the Sar Pirate Organization and became even more mysterious.

Furthermore, they only targeted merchant ships from the Beautiful Country and its allies who had participated in the attack, while giving a wide berth to ships from nations like Dragon Country.

But who would have thought they would now set their sights on the Xuanfeng Alliance?

Nex, however, was a pirate with his own sense of purpose. He had become a pirate purely by chance.

Framed by his enemies, he was forced to flee to sea, where he had the misfortune of running into a band of vicious pirates.

And through a twist of fate, he ended up creating the infamous Soli Pirates.

But that hadn’t been his intention. He had his own code. It was just that too many men joined later. The crew grew arrogant, and he lost control.

So, he deliberately yielded his command to an unlucky fool and secretly orchestrated that world-shaking incident—the murder of the magnate from the Beautiful Country consortium.

The man never would have guessed who slit his throat: the very same "insignificant" naval lieutenant commander he had once tried to crush.

The magnate’s wealth had made it easy to frame him. No one in the military believed his story; they even helped trample him underfoot to curry favor with the powerful man.

The man’s corporate empire was simply too powerful.

In the end, the Soli Pirates he’d put in the spotlight took the fall. Those arrogant fools became the scapegoats.

He himself was never exposed. He escaped with the men who were still loyal to him.

He knew the navy’s methods inside and out, and with a few simple tricks, he ran circles around them. He would often tell his men that if he had the same weaponry, he’d annihilate the navy and make them pay a far steeper price.

Unfortunately, the massive gap in equipment meant he could only talk about such things with his men, who dismissed it as idle boasting.

He felt an obligation to the men who had followed him. He had to lead them to a better life, one that didn’t rely on piracy.

After weeding out the damn fools, the men who remained were not only formidable fighters, but also men who, given the choice, would rather not be pirates.

That’s why this operation was so critical. If they succeeded, they would all have enough ransom money to retire. Then they could find some small nation willing to bicker over extradition rights, become naturalized citizens, and live out their days in peace...

As this thought concluded, Nex’s gaze swept over the pirates in the conference room before pointing to the illuminated screen. "Memorize the data on these people."

"Griss, Holden, Bob, Feir..."

"These bastards are all public figures from the Beautiful Country and the nations that hunted us. This time, we have the Xuanfeng Alliance to thank for gathering them all in one place and giving us this perfect opportunity."

"We take them, and only them. Don’t leave a single one behind, and don’t touch anyone else. Don’t even think about grabbing substitutes. Get these specific people and get out immediately. Anyone who violates these orders and jeopardizes our retirement... I’ll deal with them myself."

The others immediately nodded in agreement.

A burly, scarred man frowned. "Boss, my only concern is interference from the Xuanfeng Alliance. They’re bound to have heavy security."

Nex smiled. "I already have a way to handle them. A minor power from a small country like that? I have plenty of ways to deal with them."