Reborn in 1993, Dark Sea

Uncle Xiao started the two silent engines, increasing the speed of the fishing boat by at least double. It then bypassed Xian Port and the Rhodes Islands, heading towards the Turtle Islands, a haven of evil hidden in the sea and a gathering place for pirates and bandits.

As before, they traveled during the day and scouted at night, exploring all the small islands they passed along the way.

Xu Tianyou spent most of his time at the lookout tower. Once he spotted a boat in the distance, he would immediately remind Uncle Xiao Hei to slow down. After all, if a fishing boat like that went too fast, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.

Uncle Xiao Hei is getting old and it's hard for him to keep up with this high-intensity operation. Fortunately, Yan Hongchuan is also doing a good job, and with him taking over, Uncle Xiao Hei's job is much easier.

An Xiaohai spent most of his time looking at maps, constantly comparing the information he had gathered from the field surveys over the past few days with the information stored in his mind.

Xie Dan seemed to be doing nothing, but every now and then he would come over and exchange a glance with An Xiaohai.

Although Xu Tianyou sensed something, he didn't ask anything and pretended not to see anything.

"If I were the Flying Bird Gang, where would I choose to base?...

An Xiaohai looked up into the distance. It was very far from the land. There was no land in sight on the horizon. All he could see was the sea. Even the birds in the sky had disappeared.

An Xiaohai sat at the bow of the boat like a statue. After a while, he exhaled and picked up a pencil to draw a circle on the Rhodes Islands.

"Boss!" Xie Dan came over again. His eyes were a little red, and it was obvious that he hadn't rested well.

"Is there anything unusual?"

"No," Xie Dan shook her head and said softly, "There are no fluctuations on the signal detector."

"Okay, that's good. Hang in there for one more day. Once we reach the Turtle Islands, we won't have to keep an eye on things anymore."

"Yes, boss."

Xie Dan nodded slightly and returned to the cabin, while An Xiaohai turned his gaze back to the front.

Xie Dan was in charge of observing the signal detector. As long as someone on the ship was using a satellite phone, the detection would inevitably fluctuate.

This was of course to guard against Uncle Xiao Hei, since they had only known each other for a short time and he had to be careful. Even though Uncle Xiao Hei had already been tested by Xu Tianyou, An Xiaohai still dared not let his guard down.

This is not China; we are surrounded by enemies and fraught with danger. One wrong move and everyone on board will die.

We must be careful!

The voyage went exceptionally smoothly these past few days. We didn't encounter a single ship along the way, and the small fishing boat maintained a high speed. As the evening glow filled the sky, the silhouettes of some mountains finally appeared on the horizon ahead.

That must be the Turtle Islands.

------

The harbor of the Turtle Islands was densely packed with ships, their sails standing tall as far as the eye could see.

Perhaps due to the depth of the water, no large ships were seen.

The port opening is nearly a kilometer long. It may have been to indicate the water depth, or it may have been to facilitate toll collection and control the power of the port. Two long seawalls were built along the edge of the port, narrowing the opening and leaving only a gap of one or two hundred meters for ships to pass through. Two tall concrete watchtowers were also built on both sides of the opening.

Behind the port area are densely packed buildings that stretch all the way to the foot of two high mountains on the island. The port and the buildings are brightly lit and look spectacular.

Halfway up the mountain near the buildings, you can vaguely see a reinforced concrete fortification, from which lights are also emanating.

The harbor is the center of the entire archipelago, with countless islands scattered outside the harbor, and waterways connecting all directions.

Uncle Xiao Hei's expression was extremely solemn. He carefully navigated the fishing boat while pointing out the sentry posts scattered around the area to An Xiaohai.

After sailing around for a while, when it was completely dark, Uncle Xiao Hei finally stopped the boat at the edge of a small island. It was more like a few large reefs jutting out of the sea than a small island.

However, the fishing boats are well hidden among these reefs, which not only block the view from all directions, but also allow the fishermen to see into the harbor through the gaps between the reefs.

"Uncle Xiao Hei, what's wrong?" An Xiaohai noticed that Uncle Xiao Hei's face had become unusually gloomy since they entered the Turtle Islands area.

Previously, due to the tense situation, An Xiaohai hadn't found an opportunity to ask. Now that things have settled down, it's time to ask, since Uncle Xiao Hei is the one who drives the boat.

Uncle Xiao Hei gritted his teeth and lowered his head: "Xiao Hai, do you see those ships with pink flags flying in the harbor?"

An Xiaohai nodded. Of course he saw them. The ships were very eye-catching. Not only were the flags on the ships pink, but many of them also had mermaid patterns painted on their hulls.

"That's a ship belonging to the Mermaid Gang. The Mermaid Gang is involved in human trafficking. They lure and kidnap people from Southeast Asian countries and bring them here for auction."

Young and middle-aged men were sold to do hard labor, while the elderly and children were sold to medical institutions for experiments or to harvest organs. Women were kept and abused until they were unrecognizable as human before being sold off.

Those ships with mermaids painted on their hulls were their mobile brothels.

An Xiaohai put down his night-vision binoculars, his brow furrowed. There were indeed a large number of people surrounding the mermaid gang's ships in the harbor: "Sold to do hard labor? Does this still exist?"

"Yes!" It wasn't Uncle Xiao Hei who answered An Xiaohai, but Yan Hong: "We've seized these kinds of ships before. Selling young adults to do hard labor is very rare in our country, but that doesn't mean it's the same in other countries."

Many places require a large number of laborers, such as some private mines and drug plantations in Africa and South America, where the demand for labor is very high.

For them, these purchased laborers are just consumables that can be used without any regard for their lives or deaths.

"If they're dead, they're dead. Just throw them somewhere."

Uncle Xiao Hei glanced at Yan Hong, then turned to An Xiaohai: "See those ships with a blue flag hanging at their sterns?"

"I see it," An Xiaohai said, nodding after observing through the binoculars for a while.

"That's a boat belonging to the Dapeng Gang. The Dapeng Gang specializes in the drug trade."

"knew!"

The number of ships belonging to the Dapeng Gang in the port was no less than that of the Mermaid Gang. It's just that the Dapeng Gang's ships were larger and more scattered, and their hulls were not decorated much, so they didn't look as eye-catching.

"What about the other boats? Whose are they? I saw some small fishing boats, are they really fishing boats?" An Xiaohai asked after observing for a while.

"Those small fishing boats are indeed fishing boats, they are local fishing boats."

These local fishermen were no better; most of them were family members of the bandits. The original fishermen who lived here had long been killed by these bandits.

These robbers brought their families here so they could escape punishment and have these people provide for and serve them—a win-win situation.

This place is isolated overseas, lawless, and ordinary fishermen from other places don't dare to come here at all; they can't even avoid it.

The other ships belong to the nearby maritime forces. Xiao Hai, look, those ships with blue dragons painted on their sides are the ships of the Dragon Travel Association. They are engaged in smuggling.

The flag with a large clam on it belongs to Huazhuhe's ship. These people openly claim to be pirates, but I suspect that many of them are actually soldiers.

The vast majority of the other ships were there to do business.

You can find everything here: drugs, guns and ammunition, women, slaves... you name it. There are also many casinos and nightclubs in the harbor over there. If you have money, you can buy almost anything here.

Buying it is one thing, but whether you can actually take it home depends on your skills.

"What's that place over there?" An Xiaohai asked, pointing to a spot in the eastern corner of the harbor, where several huge jars could be vaguely seen standing on the shore.

"That's the gas station here, controlled by Huazhuhe."

"Is that fortification halfway up the mountain the one you mentioned that was left behind by the Japanese?"

"Yes, it is said that the fortifications built by the Japanese here are the most solid fortifications among all the islands in the vicinity, and the internal structure is also the largest and most complex. The Americans spent a considerable amount of money to occupy this place back then."

Most of the fortifications on the island were destroyed, leaving only the giant bunker halfway up the mountain. With a machine gun mounted there, most of the beach could be controlled.

I heard that there's a staircase inside the bunker that leads directly to the foot of the mountain.

Call ~

An Xiaohai let out a long breath: "Uncle Xiao Hei, I want to ask you a question."

Uncle Xiao Hei also breathed a sigh of relief: "Go ahead and ask."

"Uncle Xiao Hei, is the person you're trying to save here?"

"No!"

To An Xiaohai's surprise, Uncle Xiao Hei shook his head: "I know her too well. She has such a strong personality, she won't let anyone humiliate her. She'd rather die than let anyone insult her, just like her mother..."

After Uncle Xiao Hei finished speaking, he turned his head to look at the dark sea behind him.

"I understand!" An Xiaohai nodded through gritted teeth. "So that means I don't need to worry about killing everyone in the entire bay, right?"

"What did you say?!" Uncle Xiao Hei turned around abruptly, his pupils shrinking in the darkness!