Huayu97: Starting with Wu Song Fighting the Tiger

In just ten minutes, more than 300 strong sailors, waiters and cooks arrived on the deck, followed closely by more than 20 martial arts masters from Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland. Everyone was holding a handy weapon. Although their expressions were still tense, they had lost their previous panic and instead exuded a fighting spirit of fighting with their backs against the wall.

These people, who have been making a living for many years, have a tenacious spirit that refuses to give up. Now that someone has taken the lead and someone has pointed out a way out, the fighting spirit in their bones has been instantly ignited.

Liu Xiang and Huang Kun immediately divided the tasks, directing everyone to spread out along the entire ship's side. Ten sailors and two martial arts instructors were stationed at each boarding ladder, forming a layered defense. Everyone lay prone on the deck, their bodies pressed against the cold deck, their hands tightly gripping their weapons, their eyes fixed on the approaching fishing boats and the boarding ladders that had already reached the ship's side.

It quietly gathered in the darkness of night; the panic and fear of the past had long been replaced by this resolute fighting spirit.

Liu Xiang didn't turn around, her gaze still fixed on the first boarding ladder to reach the ship's side. Her voice was calm yet firm: "Hold the ship, or we'll survive. Once they're on board, the martial arts masters will focus on the boarding ramp, taking down the leader first. The sailors and waiters will cover, forming a complete encirclement. Don't give them any openings to board! Remember, be quick, accurate, and ruthless. Don't give them a chance to fight back!"

"Don't worry! Everything is arranged!" Huang Kun nodded emphatically, his eyes full of confidence. He raised his hand to make a shushing gesture to everyone, and then the deck became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Only the sound of the waves and the shouts of pirates in the distance remained. The atmosphere was extremely tense, and a great battle was about to break out.

Meanwhile, the pirates on the sea, seeing no movement on the cruise ship's deck for a long time and not even a sound of resistance, assumed that the people on board had been terrified by the earlier gunfire and became even more arrogant and domineering. Three more boarding ladders were erected, and more than a dozen ruthless bandits roared and scrambled up the ladders on all fours, their movements rough and urgent, all eager to make a name for themselves!

The leader, a burly bandit carrying a half-meter-long machete, had already poked his head out. His face was covered with a black cloth, revealing only a pair of fierce eyes. Seeing no movement, a sinister smile curled at the corner of his mouth. He raised his machete high, about to leap onto the deck, when Liu Xiang's eyes suddenly sharpened, and her aura instantly erupted. She shouted in a low, resounding voice, "Attack!"

At that moment, chaos erupted on the deck! The men, who had been holding back their energy, sprang up from the deck as if they had been injected with adrenaline, wielding their weapons with ferocious speed, aiming straight for the group of ruthless bandits on the boarding ladder.

The first burly man to show his face had barely raised his machete when he was attacked from both sides by two martial arts instructors. The Hung Kuen master from the Hong Kong and Kowloon Martial Arts School, holding a solid wooden mop handle as thick as a forearm, seized an opening and slammed it into the man's stomach with enough force to knock a cow off balance.

The big man let out a loud "Aww," as if the acid in his stomach was about to be squeezed out. He plummeted down like a sack of flour, but his feet were still hooked on the boarding ladder. He couldn't go up or down, and could only dangle his legs in mid-air.

The northern martial arts master next to him was even more ruthless. He held a wide-bladed kitchen knife used for slicing noodles and smashed the back of the blade against the back of the big man's neck with a "clang." The force was precise and vicious. The big man didn't even utter a second groan before his eyes rolled back, his hand slipped, and he fell into the sea with a "plop." He didn't even make a splash. It was a case of evil getting its just deserts.

The bandits on the boarding ladder were completely dumbfounded. They thought they were there to retrieve the ship's treasures, but they had run into a tough opponent. Those in front fell down, while those behind were still desperately trying to climb up, crammed onto the narrow ladder, unable to move like a string of candied hawthorns. The sailors seized the opportunity and took turns slashing down with their wrenches and oars.

Some of them grabbed the anchor chains on the deck and smashed them down the ladder gaps, making the bandits cry out in agony. Their screams, mixed with the sound of the waves, were even more noisy than the gunshots from before.

Liu Xiang didn't crowd around guarding the boarding ladder. He stood tall and straight like a pine tree. When he was observing earlier, he spotted a bald, fierce bandit standing at the bow of the small boat, holding a whistle in his hand. He guessed that the bandit was the leader in charge of directing boarding.

Suddenly, Liu Xiang found a galvanized steel pipe more than two meters long in his hand. This steel pipe was used by the crew to repair the line. It was heavy, but Liu Xiang held it in his hand as if it were a thin bamboo stick. With a flick of his wrist, the steel pipe made a whooshing sound as it hit the bald leader's whistling hand.

With a sharp "crack," the whistle in the bald leader's hand fell to the ground, his wrist broken. He writhed in pain on the small boat, shouting incomprehensible gibberish that sounded somewhat like a Vietnamese dialect. Without their leader, the thugs instantly descended into chaos. Those on the boarding ladder panicked; some tried to retreat, others tried to force their way through. In the ensuing scuffle, seven or eight more men fell into the sea and became fish food.

The rest huddled in the middle of the ladder, unable to move forward or backward, becoming easy targets.

Huang Kun's eyes widened in disbelief. He had admired Liu Xiang's analysis of the situation earlier, and now, seeing Liu Xiang's incredible skills, he was even more astonished. Without delay, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Brothers, give it your all! These bastards have lost their backbone! They've even taken down the ladder!"

However, they successfully launched a surprise attack from the rear wing, and many people have already boarded the cruise ship.

The battle on deck lasted for half an hour. Most of the pirates were either dead or wounded, or fell into the sea. The remaining twenty or so were not giving up. Taking advantage of the chaos on deck, which prevented them from taking care of all the pirates, they sneaked into the cabins inside the cruise ship through the ventilation openings.

Liu Xiang was the first to notice something was wrong. He knocked down the last bandit trying to climb onto the ship's side, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dark figure darting around the ventilation shaft. He immediately shouted to Huang Kun, "Captain Huang, there are still some who escaped! They've already crawled into the cabin!"

Huang Kun's heart tightened, and the breath he had just breathed out came rushing back up. He immediately pointed to a crew member and said in a deep voice, "Mr. Liu, shall I take a few men to search?"

"Let's go in together. The armed men on the fishing boats won't dare approach for now. We can handle them on the deck, but the cabin structure is complicated, and they have machetes. You don't have enough manpower." Liu Xiang shouldered a steel pipe, his expression still calm. "The rest of you, don't let your guard down. Carefully guard the gunwales and keep an eye on the fishing boats on the sea. If they dare to get any closer, attack them immediately!"

The bandits, having failed to board the ship, returned to their fishing boat, where they were so angry they were jumping up and down, but they dared not approach any further.

Those remaining on deck immediately took on their respective duties: some cleaned up the battlefield, others guarded the ship's side, and the two security guards who had been injured were carried to the rest room by the chef. The head chef in the kitchen even found some strong liquor to disinfect them, and although the two guards grimaced in pain, they didn't utter a sound.

At this moment, Liu Xiang and Huang Kun led their men into the cabin.

Meanwhile, the staff quarters on the lower deck of the cruise ship and the nearby VIP cabins were already in complete chaos.