Chapter 148 - 63: Predicting Your Prediction
Compared to the first batch of coins, obtaining the second batch of treasures comes with extremely high risks and enormous rewards.
But in the face of the allure of wealth worth tens of millions, apart from billionaires who can view money as mere numbers, no one can remain rational.
Thoughts raced through Chen Zhou's mind in a mere moment, conjuring several wicked ways to kill and steal the treasures.
For example, burying a barrel of explosives under the beach in advance, inviting the sailors on the ship onto the beach, seizing the opportunity to leave, ignite the fuse, and blow them all to the sky, thus obtaining a ship full of treasures.
Or providing the rescued crew on the ship with fine wine and food, quietly adding poison that seals the throat upon contact with blood.
Chen Zhou had even decided what poison to use.
When picking up seaweed on the beach, he often saw stranded pufferfish.
If he picked them up and gently rubbed them, they'd puff up angrily, erecting their short external spikes, glaring with an intimidating stance to scare attackers.
As one of the most toxic creatures on Earth, the viscera and blood of pufferfish contain deadly poison.
If he collected a bottle of pufferfish blood and mixed it into the wine, having the sailors drink it would surely send them to King Yama.
However, upon careful consideration, these methods seemed useful but were entirely unsound, riddled with flaws.
Not to mention he didn't understand 17th-century Spanish or English, even if he could communicate with the sailors through body language, it's impossible to gather them together, keep them still, and wait for him to light the fuse.
As for the banquet idea, its success probability was even lower.
The Spanish Raider Ship had wine and food, and carried countless treasures; asking them to go to the island for a picnic and consume wine provided by a stranger is sheer fantasy.
Unless he could completely gain their trust in a short time, neither plan could be realized.
Sighing, Chen Zhou felt that dealing with a group of the living was still too difficult.
Rather than risking dealing with these bandits, it would be better to find a special terrain that only crashes the side or bow of the ship, not affecting the aft part, killing everyone but leaving the treasures.
This plan seemed more reliable than the explosive plan and poisoned wine plan.
The problem is that he's clueless about nautical knowledge—guiding the ship safely to the harbor or guiding it to hit the reef head-on might have some hope.
Having the whole ship crash into specific parts, without damaging the stern, that's quite a bit of a challenge.
...
Pulling the quilt, closing the book, Chen Zhou's mind seemed to see those boxes of glittering gold and silver treasures, longing to immediately devise a reliable method to get them.
Thinking about having to wait twenty-five years to encounter them, it was like being doused with cold water—his spirits dampened, a bit weary.
"Take your time to ponder, there's plenty of time.
If it really doesn't work, I'll domesticate a group of Cannibal Tribes, teach them to use firearms, have them charge into battle on my behalf, pile up the sailors with a human wave tactic."
"As long as that Spanish ship stays on this deserted island, there's a way to deal with them."
Phew~
With a breath, he blew out the oil lamp, placed the book beside him, preparing to sleep.
However, having just captured such crucial information, his heart was surging and he couldn't fall asleep, his mind full of murder and arson.
He felt no pity for those Raiders possibly hit by a storm.
If the Cannibal Tribes were uncivilized, tool-less beasts,
then these pirates crossing oceans to plunder wealth were cunning beasts with intelligence, able to use weapons.
Chen Zhou remembered reading an article from the BBC, roughly discussing the impact of 15th-century Europe's colonial plundering in South America.
Those Raiders not only stole various treasures from the locals, trafficked indigenous peoples, moved centuries-old artifacts back to their own countries, but also brought European viruses to the area, including smallpox and other diseases.
Statistics in the report showed that after the colonial activities ended, the total population of the indigenous peoples in South America sharply decreased by ninety percent, with the remaining ten percent either hiding in the depths of the Amazon Rainforest away from the world as Primitive People, or becoming slaves, oppressed and ruled by high-and-mighty ethnic-cleansing enemies.
The treasures loaded on the Spanish Raider Ship were all stained with blood, and the sailors were debt-laden robbers and Raiders.
Killing them would leave Chen Zhou with no guilt.
The main problem troubling him now is—how to get rid of them?
Thinking about this problem, unconsciously, Chen Zhou closed his eyes, began snoring.
...
Too much sleep during the day, making it hard for the night's sleep to last long.
In the middle of the night, Chen Zhou suddenly awoke.
In the dark, he found the water cup on the bedside table and took a big gulp, his face full of regret.
Before waking, he dreamt of commanding over two hundred well-trained Cannibal Tribes, in a battle with a stranded Raider ship.
A hundred Tribes clad in Vine Armor and holding spears charging in the front, a hundred Tribes drawing bows and arrows providing long-range support, and several trebuchets occupying high ground for heavy firepower strikes, suppressing sailors on the ship who couldn't raise their heads, suffering heavy casualties.
Upon seeing the tide of battle turn against them, the Raiders, cowardly and fearing hardship, hoisted a white flag to surrender.
Seeing this, Chen Zhou intended to lure them down and capture them all, thereby reaping the ship's treasures.
Unexpectedly, just at the most thrilling moment, this beautiful dream ended, and his billion-plus vanished as well.