358: Chapter Three Hundred and Fifty-Six: Something Major Has Happened.
358: Chapter Three Hundred and Fifty-Six: Something Major Has Happened.
Time flew by, and with months passing in the monotonous environment of the transfer ship, the sensation of boredom blurred the sense of time.
Gao Yang’s related affairs all fell into proper order, with the Maritime Security Company operating quite well.
Aside from minor conflicts with a British security company on two occasions, there was nothing else noteworthy.
Jiang Yun and Zhou Zhou stayed in Bosaso, and while Gao Yang thought Jiang Yun’s focus would be on the security company, he didn’t expect Jiang Yun to entrust the main responsibilities to Li Pengfei, while he and Zhou Zhou took on the task of training the Skull Gang’s army.
Jiang Yun explained that the Skull Gang held significant importance, representing Somalia’s future in the long term.
Another major reason was that Jiang Yun was the only professional instructor among them, having trained others like Li Jinfang and Li Pengfei.
Hence, it made sense for Jiang Yun to take charge of the Skull Gang’s training, and of course, Zhou Zhou, nicknamed “Three Cannons,” would handle the artillery training.
The only thing that really worried Gao Yang was the Akuri tribe in South Sudan.
Shortly after returning to the Gulf of Aden, he had made another trip to South Sudan, and this time, all members of the Satan Mercenary Corps went with him.
They each flew in a small aircraft, scouring the skies for any huts that seemed to be part of a primitive tribal settlement.
Despite a week-long effort, they found nothing.
In October, Gao Yang, determined to locate the Akuri tribe, returned to the Sudanese Grasslands.
This time, not only did the whole Satan Mercenary Corps mobilize, but Li Pengfei and the others also pulled together all available personnel, and Kolm’s group sprang into action as well.
Twenty-six small aircraft were deployed in what was a large-scale search operation lasting twenty days, but they only found two primitive tribes.
After landing and inspecting them, Gao Yang determined neither was the Akuri tribe he sought.
They had nearly combed through the northern grasslands of South Sudan, but the Akuri tribe might as well have vanished off the face of the Earth, eluding Gao Yang’s search.
With the resources Gao Yang had deployed, if the Akuri tribe was still on the grasslands, they should have been found.
Therefore, there were only two possibilities: either the Akuri tribe had perished, or they had migrated southward into the rainforest.
Gao Yang didn’t want to believe that the Akuri tribe had been wiped out.
He felt sure they must have moved into the rainforest, where tall trees provided cover, making aerial searches futile.
Even if the tribe hadn’t penetrated deep into the rainforest and had simply settled on the edge where the grasslands met the forest, the small huts would be hard to spot from above through the dense canopy.
Now that the situation in South Sudan had stabilized somewhat, Gao Yang planned to use the relative calm to conduct a land-based search by car soon, with many people and vehicles spread across a wide area.
December 2012 had arrived, and Christmas, the most important holiday for Westerners, was approaching.
However, this time, Gao Yang didn’t plan on going to the United States again.
There was plenty to do on the transfer ship, especially with those British men seeming to be looking for trouble.
If a conflict arose, Gao Yang and his crew, whether in battle or brawl, would be the main force.
Gao Yang often talked on the phone with Yelena, sharing their longing for each other.
Although Yelena was somewhat disappointed to hear that Gao Yang wouldn’t be with her for Christmas, she never interfered with his work.
As the winter break approached, Yelena called Gao Yang.
Catherine had invited her to join a long-term environmental activity organized by an animal protection group, taking them to the Southern Ice Sea.
Yelena herself was interested in going, but she wanted to know if Gao Yang agreed to her joining Catherine on the trip.
Gao Yang always supported whatever Yelena wanted to do, believing it was good for her to see more of the world.
So, he encouraged Yelena to go with Catherine and experience the vastness of the world.
In fact, if he hadn’t been so busy himself, he would have liked to join them.
December 20th arrived, and the northern hemisphere was blanketed with ice and snow, while the Gulf of Aden near the equator remained hot.
Christmas was drawing near, and the Sicilian Princess was already being decorated with festive flair.
But without the ice and snow, Gao Yang felt that somehow the Christmas atmosphere was lacking.
Gao Yang and Bob were sitting at the stern on comfortable loungers, fishing with rods in hand.
An umbrella shielded Gao Yang from the sun, while Bob refused to use one, choosing to sunbathe in just a pair of shorts.
Bob had always wanted to tan to a wheat color, but his fatty skin only reddened in the sun, and after almost half a year, he still hadn’t achieved the healthy wheat color he desired.
It appeared to be another lazy afternoon.
Though fishing, Gao Yang was so distracted he was about to doze off when suddenly a loud “bang” startled him awake.
Just then, he heard Bob angrily shouting, “Damn Rabbit, can’t you find somewhere else to shoot!”
Gao Yang looked aside and saw Cui Bo sprawled at the stern, smirking at him and Bob.
Ever since Cui Bo got his Barrett, he had to fire a few rounds every day.
But Cui Bo, the buffoon, never cared about timing or seemed to intentionally cause loud disturbances, startling others.
Gao Yang was livid, yelling at Cui Bo, “Idiot!
Would it kill you to shout a warning before shooting?”
After his outburst, Gao Yang turned to Bob and said, “Tell Jack to stop modifying guns for Rabbit.”
Bob charged at Cui Bo, brandishing his fist and said, “Rabbit, I know you’ve been contacting Jack to order a custom-made rifle, but forget about it now, you jerk.”
Gao Yang had finally found Cui Bo’s Achilles’ heel.
Hearing Gao Yang and Bob’s words, Cui Bo’s face turned pale, his sleazy smile immediately vanished, and he said in panic, “Brother Yang, Bob, please don’t, stop this, okay?
I know I was wrong.
I swear I won’t bother you while you’re fishing anymore, I promise, brother, give me a chance.”
Gao Yang, snorting in derision, was about to tease Cui Bo some more, when he saw Frey sprinting over from the deck.
Seeing Frey’s anxious expression, Gao Yang stood up from his lounge chair.
Frey raced to Gao Yang at top speed, but upon reaching him, although he was visibly flustered and tense, he just stood there catching his breath.
Gao Yang urged him anxiously, “What happened?”
Seeing that something was wrong, Cui Bo, now holding a rifle and standing next to Gao Yang with Bob, looked at Frey’s distressed face, which seemed lost for words, and urged him impatiently, “What’s the matter, spit it out!”
Frey, with an expression on his face that looked like he was on the verge of tears, finally blurted out anxiously, “Boss, Yelena, something happened to Yelena.”
Gao Yang had trouble believing his ears.
He touched his ears and said in astonishment, “What did you say?”
Frey took a breath and said hurriedly, “Boss, something happened to Yelena.
I just saw it on the TV in the restaurant.
She fell into the sea.
I definitely didn’t see it wrong, nor hear it wrong.
I saw it on TV.
It’s definitely Yelena.
She’s in danger right now.
Boss, I haven’t told Big Dog yet, try not to get too worked up.”
Gao Yang grabbed Frey by the shoulders, his voice trembling, “Explain clearly, what happened to Yelena!”
Frey swallowed hard, looking at Gao Yang with concern, and said urgently, “Boss, something happened to Yelena.
You, you should check the TV.
You might still be able to see it.”
Gao Yang dropped the fishing rod to the ground and bolted toward the restaurant.
Frey and the other two followed closely behind, running to the restaurant.
The ship had a satellite antenna that allowed real-time viewing of television programs, and the restaurant’s television was currently broadcasting CNC’s news channel.
A few people were having a meal in the restaurant.
Gao Yang immediately yelled, “Which channel was showing the news just now?”
One person stood up and said, “This channel right here, it hasn’t been changed.”
Just then, Frey and the others had also run over.
Without time to ask anything more, Gao Yang grabbed the remote and started switching through American channels until, when he reached an NBC news segment, Frey shouted, “This is it, don’t change it.”
On the TV screen, a large ship appeared, using a high-pressure water cannon to spray downwards.
At the end of the jet stream, there was a small boat with people frantically throwing things up towards the large ship.
The small boat was throwing objects at the large ship, and the people on the large ship were also throwing objects down at the people on the small boat when suddenly, a dark object was thrown from the tall ship and hit someone on the head.
The video was taken from a fast boat close by; the frame was shaky and not very clear.
However, when the TV showed a slow-motion replay of a person wearing a red life jacket and helmet, with long hair visible, being hit, Gao Yang saw very clearly that it was Yelena.
There was no mistake—it was Yelena.
The slow-motion footage made it clear that Yelena was struck in the head by a hook and then plunged into the sea.
Following that, the two people beside Yelena dove in after her.
Three people fell into the sea from the fast boat, which quickly sped away.
However, when the boat realized someone was overboard, it turned around and came back, attempting to rescue the three in the water.
It was at this point that the high-pressure stream from the large ship’s water cannon fell straight onto the fast boat, capsizing it rapidly.
There was panic aboard the filming boat as they approached Yelena in the water, but soon the high-pressure water cannon aimed its stream at the recording boat and the screen filled with water spray.
The camera then switched to an aerial view.
At this moment, someone off-screen could be heard screaming frantically, “Good God, someone’s in the water, someone’s injured in the water!
Those Japanese are preventing the rescue, hurry, save them, no, no, this is murder, stop those Japanese!” (To be continued.
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