Chapter 554 - 60: Havier’s Shock
"What are you doing!"
The first to be disarmed was the hot-tempered Havier.
He couldn’t tolerate this lowly "Wild Monkey" that was just groveling on the ground to make such an insulting move towards him.
Seeing Lisoben’s dirty, pitch-black hands grabbing his weapon, Havier wished he could give this offender a hard slap to the ground.
But with Sunday watching him, no matter how angry he was, he had to suppress his inner impulse.
...
Even the biggest troublemaker, Havier, didn’t dare to resist, so naturally, the other sailors had no objections.
Being pointed at with guns by enemies hidden somewhere unknown, even though they were used to being arrogant at sea, they had to lower their heads and reign in their bad tempers for now—
No one wanted to risk their life.
...
Watching the Spanish sailors get their hands tied with belts, struggling to hold up their pants, and obediently line up, Sunday was quite surprised.
He had anticipated being ambushed and encountering fierce resistance, but he never expected things to proceed so smoothly.
"It seems people from the ’Civilized World’ are indeed smarter than the indigenous ones.
At least they don’t fight battles with no hope of victory, nor would they brandish weapons against a far stronger opponent."
Sunday thought.
But then, another question popped into his mind—
If one day their island were faced with an unbeatable enemy, would he lay down his weapons and surrender?
In the blink of an eye, Sunday came up with his answer—
He would rather die in battle than surrender like this.
From the moment he was saved by the Leader, he had completely entrusted his life to the Leader.
He had died once before, so he no longer feared death; he only feared that his death would be meaningless.
...
Once he ensured control over all the Spanish sailors, Sunday finally let out a sigh of relief.
Two objectives for landing on the island.
First, to defeat the Indigenous Warriors, capture the Tribe Leader, and select suitable tribe members to bring back to the island.
This task was relatively simple.
Firearms against Long Spears, a well-trained team facing a horde of rabble, prepared attacks against hurried defenses, they couldn’t possibly lose, the only point of concern was to avoid casualties.
The second objective was somewhat challenging.
Similarly, with intent against obliviousness, their opponents were the Spaniards, a group with rich maritime and battle experience.
This group also possessed firearms, even though the matchlock guns’ performance was far inferior to Chen Family rifles, they were still formidable deadly weapons; fighting them required extreme caution.
If the Spaniards had any daring and insisted on fighting to the end, Sunday couldn’t guarantee all sailors wouldn’t be injured.
Before taking action, Sunday had considered many possibilities, including the worst outcomes.
He never expected to encounter the Spaniards in the dense forest in advance, setting up an ambush and capturing all the Spanish sailors in one stroke.
This unexpected result, though incredible to him, was undoubtedly the best outcome.
...
Pooling the captured matchlock guns together and looking at the grimacing, grotesquely hideous Tribe Leader, Sunday didn’t talk to him again, merely raised his arm to beckon.
It was a signal to the other sailors, indicating the situation here was resolved and they needed to come over to assist.
While waiting for the sailors to arrive, Sunday removed the cold weapons from the Spanish sailors, including Long Sabers and Daggers. Then he also found shooting essentials like the gunpowder bottle and Lead Bullet Bag from the sailors’ pockets.
Without these, matchlock guns were just fire pokers, even in the hands of the Spaniards, they wouldn’t possess that terrifying lethality.
...
Reduced to the fish on the chopping board, the Spanish sailors showed a high tolerance towards their much stronger opponents.
Earlier, when Lisoben merely touched the gun in Havier’s hand, he wanted to kick him down. Now, with Sunday rummaging through his body, not only taking away the gunpowder bottle and Lead Bullet Bag but also his treasured premium tobacco, he dared not show any intent of resistance.
Their instinct to bully the weak and fear the strong seemed ingrained in these sailors; they clearly knew who could be offended without consequence and who would lead to their demise.
...
After capturing the Spanish sailors, Sunday divided the sailors into two teams of ten each.
One team was responsible for escorting the captured prisoners, excluding the Tribe Leader.
Once the Spaniards reached the ship, they would be confined in a room prepared for them in advance. Compared to the Indigenous prisoners, their cell was more spacious and cleaner, complete with sofas for resting.
The preferential treatment wasn’t because Chen Zhou thought more highly of them, but because he wanted to find out the location of the island’s treasure and the true capabilities of these Spaniards.
First a sweet date, then gradually apply pressure, intimation, or even torture.
Chen Zhou hoped the Spaniards would be sensible and not refuse the toast only to drink punishment wine.
Living on the island for many years, managing a host of indigenous people, his mentality had long changed from when he first started challenges.
Many cruel methods he once knew but was reluctant to use, now he could delegate to his subordinates.
Information that he previously couldn’t extract from brown-haired folks, now might not remain unyielding.
...
As for the other team, it was led personally by Sunday. They would take the captured Tribe Leader through the entire tribe to spread the news.