Huayu97: Starting with Wu Song Fighting the Tiger

As soon as the elevator doors opened, a strong smell of engine oil mixed with a faint smell of blood hit the door. The main lighting in the corridor on the second basement level had been completely turned off, with only the emergency lights on the walls emitting a dim yellow light that illuminated the crisscrossing pipes on both sides—some as thick as a person's waist, others as thin as an arm, some covered with gray-white insulation, and others with shiny metal surfaces.

Water dripped continuously from the pipe joint, hitting the concrete floor with a "drip, drip" sound that was particularly jarring in the deathly silent corridor, as if striking one's heart.

The engine room, hidden deep within the second basement level and separated by three heavy iron doors, is the core area of ​​the entire cruise ship. Normally, only maintenance personnel and crew on duty are allowed inside. Huang Kun tiptoed forward, walking close to the wall. The brass padlock on the first door had already been opened and was hanging on the latch.

He could see that the tables and chairs in the duty room were overturned, the enamel teacups were smashed to pieces, and tea leaves and water stains were scattered all over the floor, making the whole room a mess.

Huang Kun gripped the rubber bullet gun tightly in his right hand and walked further in. He saw two crew members guarding the engine room lying on the ground with obvious blunt force injuries on their foreheads, pale faces, and no breath. A thick hemp rope was wrapped around their necks, indicating that they had been caught off guard and attacked.

"Damn it!" Huang Kun cursed under his breath, and walked faster toward the second iron gate. This gate was an electronic combination lock, but the lock cylinder had been forcibly pried open. The metal shell was twisted and deformed, exposing the wiring inside. It seemed that the other party had come prepared and must have professional lock-picking tools.

Pushing open the door, one finds a narrow passage ten meters long. The walls on both sides are covered with a dense array of dials and switches. Red and green indicator lights flicker, and many pointers are off-target, pointing towards dangerous areas. Several severed wires lie scattered on the floor of the passage, their copper wires exposed, still flickering with faint sparks and even crackling.

Huang Kun walked forward on the power lines. The third iron gate was wide open, leading to the core area of ​​the power room. Just as he reached the door, the clanging of metal and the snapping of wire cutters cutting wires rang out, extremely jarring at that moment.

This was Huang Kun's first time here. Looking up, he saw that the power room was over a hundred square meters.

The ceiling is five meters high, and two giant diesel engines stand in the center like small mountains, their silver-gray metal casings gleaming with a cold, hard light.

It is covered with a dense network of pipes and valves, like a giant net.

To the left of the engine is a heavy-duty gearbox, and to the right are several large cooling units, constantly emitting wisps of cool air.

The drive shaft extends from the engine, passes through the thick bulkhead, and connects to the propeller at the stern. This is the core of the entire cruise ship's power system. If it is damaged and stops, the cruise ship will be completely incapacitated.

Repair tools such as wrenches, screwdrivers, and jacks were piled on the iron rack in the corner and were now scattered all over the ground.

Seven or eight men dressed in black short-sleeved shirts were surrounding the diesel engine. Each of them was covered with a black cloth, only revealing their fierce eyes. They were holding machetes, steel pipes, and wire cutters, and were frantically destroying the engine's wiring and valves. Their movements were rough and reckless, as if they wanted to dismantle the entire power compartment.

"Stop!" Huang Kun shouted, breaking the noise in the cabin. He raised his hand and pulled the trigger. The rubber bullet whistled through the air and hit a man who was hacking at fuel lines with a machete in the back. The man winced in pain, turned around, his eyes filled with ferocity, and charged at Huang Kun, brandishing his machete and letting out a vicious roar.

The other men also stopped and looked at Huang Kun. Huang Kun quickly counted them; there were eight in total, each wielding a weapon, with burly figures and a chilling aura in their eyes. They were clearly not ordinary thieves.

Huang Kun positioned himself with his back against the cooling unit, securing a favorable position that prevented his opponent from launching a sneak attack from behind.

The thugs clearly didn't want to waste time. After exchanging glances, they charged at Huang Kun and his men, weapons in hand. The man at the front was tall and burly, wielding a steel pipe that whistled through the air as he swung it straight at Huang Kun's face. Huang Kun nimbly dodged to the side, the pipe slamming into the cooling unit behind him with a dull thud that made his eardrums tingle.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, he raised his foot and kicked the man hard in the knee. With a soft "crack," the man screamed and fell to his knees. Huang Kun then raised his hand and shot him in the back. The rubber bullet was quite powerful, knocking him to the ground, leaving him powerless to fight back.

But the remaining bandits had already surrounded him, the sound of machetes slicing through the air constantly ringing in his ears. Huang Kun could only nimbly dodge while looking for an opportunity to fire. Rubber bullets, though not fatal, could cause intense pain and temporarily incapacitate the attacker. In the midst of the struggle, one of the bandits circled behind Huang Kun and swung his machete at his arm.

Huang Kun couldn't dodge in time, and a long gash was slashed across his arm. A searing pain instantly spread, and blood seeped out, staining his dark blue security uniform red. The blood dripped down his arm and onto the ground, blooming into a flower of blood.

Huang Kun gritted his teeth, not daring to be distracted for a moment. He knew that if he retreated now, the engine room would be completely destroyed, and everyone on the ship would be in danger. Enduring the pain, he fired a shot into the bandit's leg with a backhand motion. The man fell to the ground in pain, and Huang Kun seized the opportunity to strike him unconscious with his baton. Just as Huang Kun was barely holding on and about to be surrounded by the bandits, hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor.

The other seven team members rushed in, each carrying a rubber bullet gun, and two others holding batons. They shouted and charged at the criminals, instantly breaking the stalemate.

Relying on their superior numbers, the situation immediately reversed. The bandits were surrounded by the security guards, and rubber bullets rained down on them. Some were hit in the chest, others in the legs, howling in pain. The bandits were forced to retreat step by step, putting up a desperate resistance. Seeing no way to escape, one bandit even tried to circle around to the fuel tank, clearly intending to fight to the death, cutting open the fuel tank and taking everyone with him.

Huang Kun reacted swiftly, instantly discerning the attacker's intentions. He raised his hand and fired a precise shot into the attacker's wrist. The machete in the attacker's hand clattered to the ground, and blood gushed from his wrist. Team member A-Jie immediately rushed forward and struck the attacker hard on the back of the neck with his baton. The attacker didn't even utter a sound before passing out.

Seeing their companions being subdued one after another, the remaining bandits' resistance grew weaker and weaker, and they also suffered many injuries, making their movements gradually slow down.

Huang Kun and his team seized the opportunity to rush forward, using the high-strength nylon cable ties they carried to tie the hands of the eight bandits behind their backs, tear off the black cloths covering their faces, revealing their fierce and menacing faces.

Within half an hour, all eight thugs were subdued, lying sprawled on the ground, groaning and moaning, their earlier arrogance completely gone. Huang Kun had them checked; besides machetes, steel pipes, and wire cutters, they had no other weapons, which relieved Huang Kun slightly.