He was so persuasive that he actually practiced extraordinary

Just then, the warship's alarm suddenly sounded, and the soldiers in the command room rushed over: "Captain Zhang, Captain Yang, Captain Zhou wants you to go to the command room immediately, there's an emergency!"

The two men exchanged a glance and rushed to the command room. As soon as they entered, they saw an image of an unidentified warship on the large screen. Captain Zhou pointed to the screen and said, "Satellite confirmation: this is the USS Freedom frigate from Country M. It just sent us a signal, demanding that we stop the rescue operation on the USS Peace, citing 'safety concerns for US citizens' as the reason."

"That's utter nonsense!" Zhang Beixing slammed his fist on the table in anger. "'Peace' is a Chinese merchant ship, and the crew are all Chinese citizens. What right does the US have to interfere?"

Yang Rui frowned as well: "They're trying to take this opportunity to expand their influence in the Red Sea. They might even be the ones supporting the pirates."

Captain Zhou's face was serious: "'Freedom' is approaching us, less than fifty nautical miles away, and a conflict could occur at any time. Headquarters has just issued an order allowing us to take self-defense measures if necessary, but to avoid direct fire as much as possible."

"What about the rescue mission?" He Chenguang asked. "The 'Peace' will arrive at the pirate stronghold in another hour."

After a moment's thought, Zhang Beixing proposed a plan: "Captain Zhou, you lead the warships to contain the 'Freedom,' while Yang Rui and I will lead two teams to quietly approach the 'Peace' in speedboats to carry out a rescue mission. As long as we can control the merchant ship within half an hour, the 'Freedom' will have no reason to interfere."

Captain Zhou hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded: "Okay, but you must be careful. I will send two helicopters to provide air cover for you."

Half an hour later, four speedboats set off from the stern of the warship, speeding toward the "Peace". Zhang Beixing stood on the first speedboat, the sea breeze howling and blowing his special operations uniform. He picked up the walkie-talkie: "Attention everyone, maintain speed. When we are ten nautical miles away from the 'Peace', turn off the engines and approach by rowing to avoid being spotted by the pirates."

"Roger!" the team members responded in unison. He Chenguang checked the sniper rifle, while Li Erniu gripped his rifle tightly, his eyes warily observing the surrounding sea.

When the speedboat was still five nautical miles away from the "Peace", Xu Tianlong suddenly shouted: "Captain, I detected a strong metallic reaction on the 'Peace'. It should be explosives, and there are quite a lot of them, mainly concentrated in the lower cabins and the edges of the deck!"

Zhang Beixing's expression changed: "The pirates want to blow up the ship? No way, we have to speed up!" Just as he finished speaking, the "Freedom" in the distance suddenly fired two signal flares. Immediately afterwards, three pirate speedboats sailed out from near the "Peace" and headed in their direction.

"Damn it, we've been discovered!" Yang Rui shouted. "Sea Serpent Commando, prepare for battle! Underwater infiltration teams, move out immediately!"

Five members of the Sea Serpent Commando team donned their diving gear and jumped into the sea. Zhang Beixing led the Red Cell team, accelerating their speedboat to maximum speed and charging towards the pirate speedboat. He Chenguang set up his sniper rifle and fired a single shot, hitting the pirate speedboat's engine. The speedboat instantly lost power and spun around on the surface of the sea.

"Great!" Li Erniu shouted excitedly, picked up the machine gun and opened fire on another pirate speedboat. The pirates took cover on both sides of the speedboat and returned fire, the bullets splashing water as they hit the sea.

Zhang Beixing drew his pistol and accurately shot a pirate in the arm, who screamed and fell into the sea. Just then, a loud explosion suddenly came from the "Peace"—the explosives in the lower decks had detonated, the deck began to tilt, and the crew's cries for help came from the top deck.

"We must board the 'Peace' immediately!" Zhang Beixing picked up the walkie-talkie. "Kaifei, you pilot the helicopter close to the deck of the 'Peace' and get Erniu and me on board; He Chenguang, you provide cover for us on the speedboat; Xu Tianlong, find the remaining explosives as soon as possible and dismantle them!"

Song Kaifei piloted the helicopter, slowly approaching the deck of the "Peace" ship. Zhang Beixing and Li Erniu grabbed the ropes and quickly slid down onto the deck. As soon as they landed, three pirates rushed towards them. Zhang Beixing dodged the pirate's knife and subdued him with a backhand, while Li Erniu used the butt of his rifle to knock down the other two pirates.

"Captain, this way!" Xu Tianlong pointed out the direction through the walkie-talkie. "The storage room is on the top floor. I've already hacked the surveillance cameras. You can go up the stairs on the right."

The two ran up the stairs, encountering several pirates along the way, but they quickly dealt with them. When they reached the top-floor storage room, they saw more than a dozen crew members tied to chairs, and a pirate threatening the captain with a knife.

"Put down the knife!" Zhang Beixing shouted. The pirate turned around, saw him, and immediately put the knife to the captain's neck: "Don't come any closer, or I'll kill him!"

Li Erniu quietly circled behind the pirate and, taking advantage of the pirate's inattention, snatched the knife. Zhang Beixing seized the opportunity to rush forward and subdue the pirate, pinning him to the ground. The crew members breathed a sigh of relief, and the captain excitedly grasped Zhang Beixing's hand: "Thank you, comrades of the People's Liberation Army!"

"No need to thank me, we'll take you away now." Zhang Beixing untied the crew members' ropes and was about to lead them downstairs when he heard Xu Tianlong's anxious voice: "Captain, something bad has happened! There are three explosives in the lower deck, they're going to explode in five minutes, and I can't defuse them remotely!"

Zhang Beixing's expression changed: "You guys go to the deck with Erniu first, I'll go defuse the explosives!"

"Captain, it's too dangerous!" Li Erniu grabbed him. "I'll go with you!"

"No, you have to protect the crew as they board the helicopter." Zhang Beixing broke free from his hand. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon." With that, he ran towards the lower deck.

The lower deck was pitch black, filled with the acrid smell of gunpowder. Zhang Beixing turned on his flashlight and, following Xu Tianlong's directions, found three timed explosives in a corner of the deck. The timer showed three minutes remaining. He took a deep breath, pulled out his tools, and began to disarm them, his fingers trembling slightly with nervousness—this was his first time disarming timed explosives, and the slightest mistake could detonate them.

"Captain, be careful. The explosive wiring is complicated. The red wire is the detonator, and the blue wire is the power supply. Cut the blue wire first." Xu Tianlong's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

Following his instructions, Zhang Beixing cut the blue wire, and the timer stopped at one and a half minutes. He breathed a sigh of relief and was about to disarm the other two explosives when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw Luo Xing!

"Why are you here?" Zhang Beixing asked in surprise.

Luo Xing held a gun in his hand, his expression complicated: "Yang Rui asked me to help you, after all, this is a joint mission." He walked to another explosive device, skillfully took out his tools, and began to disarm it. "I learned bomb disposal in the Sea Serpent Commando Team, I have more experience than you."

Looking at his focused profile, Zhang Beixing's impression of him changed somewhat. Working together, the two quickly disarmed the remaining two explosives. When the last wire was cut, they both breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground. "I lost the previous competition," Luo Xing suddenly said, his tone tinged with apology. "I shouldn't have looked down on Lu Jun; you guys are indeed very capable."

Zhang Beixing smiled and said, "It's all for the mission. Let's not dwell on the past. Let's go back."

The two stood up and walked towards the deck. Upon reaching the deck, they saw that all the crew members had already boarded the helicopter, and He Chenguang and the Sea Serpent Commando members were clearing out the remaining pirates. In the distance, the "Freedom" ship, seeing that the rescue mission was complete, had no choice but to turn around and leave; Captain Zhou's warship was sailing towards them.

"Captain Zhang, you've succeeded!" Captain Zhou Haijun walked onto the deck and excitedly patted Zhang Beixing on the shoulder. "Headquarters has received the news and will award you a commendation!"

Zhang Beixing smiled and shook his head: "This is what we should do, and it's all thanks to the cooperation of the Sea Serpent Commando." He looked at Yang Rui and Luo Xing, and the two nodded at him, their previous hostility disappearing.

Just when everyone thought the mission was successfully completed, Xu Tianlong suddenly ran over: "Captain, I found an encrypted message in the 'Peace' communication log, sent to a military base in the United States. The message reads, 'Cargo has been transferred, awaiting further instructions.'"

Zhang Beixing and Yang Rui exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes. "Cargo? What cargo?" Captain Zhou Haijun frowned. "Could there be something on the 'Peace' that we don't know about?"

Xu Tianlong continued, "I'm currently deciphering more of the encrypted information and should soon find out what the 'cargo' is. I've also discovered that there's a stealth submarine near the pirate base, which is very likely used to transfer the 'cargo'."

Zhang Beixing's eyes were grave: "It seems this mission is far more complicated than we imagined. Captain Zhou, I request permission to remain in the Red Sea to investigate the truth about the 'cargo' and the location of the stealth submarine."

Captain Zhou Haijun nodded: "I will apply to headquarters for you to rest and adjust first. We will formulate the next plan after we receive the news."

Xu Tianlong sat in front of the computer in the command room of the "Oceanship," his fingers flying across the keyboard, the code on the screen scrolling like flowing water. Zhang Beixing, Yang Rui, and Captain Zhou Haijun surrounded him, their eyes fixed on the screen, the atmosphere so tense they could hear each other's breathing.

"Hasn't it been cracked yet?" Captain Zhou Haijun couldn't help but ask, his tone tinged with anxiety.

Xu Tianlong wiped the sweat from his forehead and shook his head, saying, "This encrypted message is highly sophisticated, using the latest military encryption algorithm from the United States. I need more time. However, I have already detected a faint signal from the stealth submarine. It is currently located twenty nautical miles southeast of the pirate stronghold, in a submerged state, and is probably waiting for the 'cargo' to be transferred."

Zhang Beixing frowned: "What exactly are the 'goods'? If they are just ordinary smuggled goods, the United States would not need to go to such lengths, even sending frigates and stealth submarines to get involved."

Yang Rui suddenly spoke up: "Could it be weapons? There have always been armed groups smuggling arms in the Red Sea region, and the United States may be secretly supporting these groups to disrupt the regional situation."

“That’s possible,” Captain Zhou nodded. “However, we can’t rule out other important materials, such as rare metals or sensitive technical data. Whatever it is, we must find out the truth and not let the US’s conspiracy succeed.”

Just then, Xu Tianlong suddenly shouted, "It's cracked! Look!"

Everyone immediately crowded around the screen, where the encrypted message read: "'Polaris' has been delivered to the designated location and requests 'Nightingale' for assistance. The estimated transfer time is 10 PM tonight."

"'Polaris'? 'Nightingale'?" Zhang Beixing looked at the screen in confusion. "These should be the code names for 'cargo' and the stealth submarine. It seems that the code name for 'cargo' is 'Polaris', and the stealth submarine is 'Nightingale'."

Yang Rui's eyes darkened: "I feel like I've heard the code name 'Polaris' somewhere before. When the Sea Serpent Commando Team was on a mission before, they intercepted a secret document from the United States that mentioned the 'Polaris Project,' but the specific details were not explained. All that was known was that it was a research and development project involving high-tech weapons."

"High-tech weapon?" Captain Zhou's face was serious. "If 'Polaris' is indeed a high-tech weapon, the consequences of it falling into the hands of forces supported by the United States would be unimaginable. We must find the whereabouts of 'Polaris' before 10 p.m. tonight and prevent the submarine from moving."

After a moment's thought, Zhang Beixing proposed a plan: "Captain Zhou, I suggest sending a small team to infiltrate the pirate stronghold and locate 'Polaris'; at the same time, Yang Rui will lead the Sea Serpent Commando Team to approach the 'Nightingale' submarine in an underwater probe to monitor its movements. Once we discover that it is preparing to move 'Polaris,' we will take immediate action."

Yang Rui nodded: "This plan is feasible. However, the pirate stronghold is definitely heavily defended, so the infiltration team must proceed with caution."

“I will lead the Red Cell team to the pirate stronghold.” Zhang Beixing volunteered. “He Chenguang, Li Erniu, and Wang Yanbing will come with me. Xu Tianlong will stay on the warship to monitor submarine signals and support us. Song Kaifei will pilot the helicopter to pick us up from the airspace above the stronghold.”

Captain Zhou Haijun nodded in agreement: "Okay, let's proceed with this plan. You must be careful and send a signal immediately if you encounter any danger. I will send reinforcements to meet you."

As dusk fell, Zhang Beixing led three men in a speedboat toward the pirate stronghold. The pirate stronghold was a desolate island, covered with barbed wire and watchtowers, where several pirates were patrolling with guns in hand.

"Captain, the island's defenses are even tighter than we imagined." He Chenguang observed the situation on the island through binoculars. "There are heavy machine guns on the watchtowers, and there's a sentry post every fifty meters. It's very difficult to sneak in quietly."

Zhang Beixing looked at the island, thought for a moment, and said, "We can wait until dark and use the cover of night to climb up the cliff behind the island. The terrain there is steep, and the pirates should not expect us to sneak in from there."

As night fell, the four quietly approached the cliff behind the island. (End of Chapter)