Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

"Young Master, please make sure we can participate in this operation, otherwise we will feel uneasy."

Just as the entire village was making preparations in full swing, Lin Kaishan and two others approached Lin Hao and desperately tried to persuade him to join the war.

Lin Hao smiled and shook his head, saying, "Nephew Kaishan, you've only been on the island for a few days. You should complete your basic training first. We can handle these things ourselves."

Yes, according to seniority, Lin Kaishan should call Lin Hao Uncle. Who told the old man to have Lin Chengzong and others so late in life?

"Young Master, please take us with you. We grew up in the mines and our adaptability to darkness is far beyond that of ordinary people. Taking us will definitely be of help," Wang Fang pleaded.

"Yes, young master, we have not accomplished anything, and we are ashamed to accept the money. Please give us a chance," another person, Lin Rulong, pleaded.

The three were leaders among the Yiwu soldiers. Lin Hao stared at them for a moment, seeing the determination on their faces, and then finally said, "Since you've made up your minds, then fine. Go down and each of you choose 10 people to train with us now."

Having received Lin Hao's promise, the three of them immediately agreed loudly and then excitedly went down to prepare.

"Alright, this is a good opportunity to put the much-hyped Yiwu soldiers to the test and see how they really are."

Private entry is now prohibited on the entire Dongluo Island, and all villagers who are working have been notified to come back in five days.

Targeted training is in full swing on the island. Lin Hao and his men spend all day in the back mountains of Dongluo Island, constantly practicing how to deal with various complex situations. Meanwhile, artillery fire is raging on the island, with all the cannons undergoing intensive training.

Lin Chengfeng also led the remaining ships in continuous formation training.

And so the training continued day after day until the third day arrived.

On the afternoon of the third day, at Dalian Island.

All the ships on Dongluo Island set out to escort 13,000 taels of silver directly to Dalian Island.

Just over a quarter of an hour after the silver was unloaded, a large number of ships appeared to be sailing from the north.

"Pirates! Pirates are coming!" The people on the island were thrown into chaos. More than twenty ships appeared in the distance, and more importantly, blue flags were flying high on their masts.

Everyone in this sea area knows that Li Jiu of Nangantang Island flies the blue flag.

Chaos erupted in the mountain stronghold on Dalian Island. However, after a short while, seeing the enemy ships anchored in the distance and only a small boat arriving, the group felt slightly relieved. They then realized that this was a no-man's-land recognized by pirates, and no pirates had been running rampant here for a long time.

The small boat arrived at the dock, and Li Kui jumped off the boat and immediately saw Lin Shier and the others waiting nearby.

"Where's the money?" Li Kui asked Lin Shier.

Lin Shier kicked the box next to him, then opened it, revealing countless gleaming silver coins: "The silver is right here. Where are the people we want?"

Looking at the silver in the box in front of him, Li Kui's hands and feet trembled uncontrollably, and his breathing became heavy involuntarily.

He then waved his hand behind him, and immediately more than a dozen people disembarked from the ship, including Lind and the other sailors.

"One hand delivers the people, the other hand delivers the goods. You send one person over to inspect the goods, then release the gang leader and the others, and the silver is yours." Lin Shier kicked the box and said to Li Kui.

Li Kui pointed to a person, who then ran to Lin Twelve and the others, excitedly checking the purity of the silver and whether the bottom of the box also contained silver. After checking, the person nodded to Li Kui.

"Let them go!" Li Kui shouted.

Lin Twelve and his group remained on high alert throughout, fearing that the other party might cause some trouble. Fortunately, the handover went exceptionally smoothly, presumably because the other party believed that Lin De and his companions' value was completely disproportionate to the money they were paid.

Upon receiving the person, Lin Shier immediately led everyone back to their own boat.

Li Kui ignored them and immediately stepped forward to caress the silver in the box.

After watching intently for a long time, Li Kui finally sighed and said, "Load the silver onto the ship and let's go back."

As soon as the pirates arrived, the people who had been watching near the docks had already retreated far away, only daring to peek out from behind houses and walls.

At that moment, as those chests of silver were carried ashore and the lids were lifted—

Under the sunlight, the silver light was dazzling.

The crowd fell silent for a moment, then erupted in a roar.

"By Mazu above..."

Some people instinctively clasped their hands together, their voices trembling.

"This...this must be worth several thousand taels, right?"

An elderly man with gray hair and beard next to him stared wide-eyed and swallowed hard.

"Several thousand taels? You're dreaming! When I was young, I used to be a guarantor for salt merchants; that chest alone was worth at least five hundred taels. Look at this row—"

He pointed with a trembling finger to the silver chests piled up on the shore.

"That's at least tens of thousands of taels! Maybe even more!"

"Tens of thousands of taels?!"

The crowd gasped.

Some people stared so hard their eyes almost popped out.

"Which noble family has Li Jiu kidnapped? How dare he demand a ransom of over ten thousand taels?"

"Not some royalty or nobleman."

A middle-aged man lowered his voice and said, "Their ships often come to Dalian Island to make purchases. I've seen them several times... What's their name again... Right, the Four Seas Gang."

"The Four Seas Gang?"

The group looked at each other, completely unfamiliar with the topic.

"That's incredibly wealthy! Ten thousand taels for just a few people? Could it be that they captured the gang leader?"

A burly man with a fierce face sneered from the side.

"A gang leader worth ten thousand taels? Do you think this is a storyteller? If you really get caught, your men will be lucky if they don't sell you out, let alone offer you ransom? Dream on."

The crowd burst into laughter, but their eyes remained fixed on the pile of gleaming silver.

The laughter was tinged with shock and envy.

"The Four Seas Gang is truly willing to give up so much."

"Hehe, I happen to know some inside information," a tall, thin man squeezed into the crowd and said mysteriously.

The crowd immediately gathered around.

Tell me about it.

"As far as I know, Li Jiu arrested the head of the Sihai Gang's inner hall, and demanded 15,000 taels of silver right off the bat."

"What?!"

"Fifteen thousand taels?!"

"Are you bragging?"

"What kind of hall master is worth 15,000 taels? He's probably the gang leader's illegitimate son!"

Doubts arose.

The tall, thin man blushed.

"I swear to God! My uncle's second concubine's nephew's third maternal uncle's neighbor works for the Four Seas Gang. This news is absolutely true!"

"Your relative has taken a longer route than the sea route."

Some people in the crowd laughed and cursed.

But despite the laughter, everyone was secretly calculating.

Fifteen thousand taels.

What does that mean?

That's enough to buy several streets of shops in the prefectural city.

It's enough for a small family to live comfortably for ten generations.

It was enough to make someone go from being a peasant to becoming a local gentry.

The Four Seas Gang, on the other hand, brought it up without batting an eye.

Someone whispered:

"So rich, and they're just a gang?"

"The key point is that they actually paid money to ransom the person."

"yes……"

The crowd gradually quieted down.

Beyond the shock, there was an additional layer of complex meaning on his expression.

There was envy, awe, and a hidden longing.

Li Kui and the others carried the silver chest onto the pirate ship in the distance, and Li Jiu couldn't wait to go forward and examine it.

"Boss, a total of thirteen thousand taels, all of excellent quality," Li Kui stepped forward and bowed to report.

"Good! Good! You have all done a great job. Let's go back and celebrate!" Li Jiu waved his hand, and all the ships turned and headed northeast.

"We're leaving too, but be careful." After seeing the other party leave, Lin Chengfeng immediately ordered the boat to turn north.

However, after traveling north for just over fifteen minutes, the person on the lookout tower atop the mast shouted down, "Large number of ships flying blue flags spotted! It's Li Jiu! Li Jiu hasn't left; he's heading towards us!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Chengfeng's expression remained unchanged. He snorted coldly and said, "Hmph, just as Hao'er predicted, a leopard can't change its spots. Expecting these pirates to be trustworthy is really asking too much of them."

After a short while, a large number of sails appeared in the east, with a huge three-masted Fujian ship at the forefront, flying a large blue flag. This was the ship Li Jiu had previously traveled on.

Lin Chengfeng calmly assessed the distance between the two sides, then ordered, "Ignore them and head directly north."

Previously, in order to lull Lin Chengfeng and the others into a false sense of security, Li Jiu's fleet had sailed a great distance away, and was still some distance from them. Meanwhile, Lin Chengfeng and the others' ships were all fast vessels, and the larger ships in the enemy fleet would certainly not be able to catch up.

Just as Lin Chengfeng and the others had predicted, the two fleets chased each other. After a short while, the fast ships in Li Jiu's fleet took the lead and quickly approached Lin Chengfeng and the others, while the large Fujian ships in Li Jiu's fleet lagged behind.

The entire Li Jiu fleet was stretched into a long, loose formation, extending diagonally towards the vicinity of Lin Chengfeng and the others' ships.

Based on this trend, as long as the wind direction remains unchanged, Lin Chengfeng and the others will naturally be able to escape from the encirclement with great difficulty.

Behind them, Li Jiu's fast boats also realized the problem. The enemy ships were no weaker than their own and had already taken the lead, making it impossible to catch up. Just as they were considering whether to give up, a scene that left them speechless unfolded before their eyes.

Suddenly, the leading bird ship turned sharply to the right, then changed direction and charged directly at Li Jiu's fleet.