Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

With ample funds and manpower, all affairs on the island proceeded smoothly. Whether it was the workshops, the shipyards, or the overall transformation of the entire Dongluo Island, everything was in full swing.

As the days went by, the Four Seas Gang's strength gradually increased. Just when Lin Hao thought he could smoothly wait for the new recruits to be trained and the warships to be completed, an unexpected accident occurred.

"What did you say? Say it again," Lin Hao said, frowning.

The person opposite him was Lin Ba. He had been assigned to work in the inner hall by Lin Hao.

Lin Ba cupped his hands to Lin Hao and said, "Reporting to Young Master, the Hall Master led a group to Dalian Island a few days ago to purchase a batch of key supplies. According to the plan, he should have returned to the island yesterday, but there has been no news since."

"Could it be that we've encountered a storm?" Lin Hao frowned.

Lin Ba slowly shook his head, then said with a heavy expression, "I've had people inquire, and there haven't been any hurricanes in the south recently. Moreover, the waterway from here to Dalian Island runs entirely along the coastline, so even if there were a hurricane, we could dock nearby. In case of an accident, this would be enough time to send us a message by land. But as of today, there's still no news."

After listening to Lin Ba's explanation, Lin Hao realized the seriousness of the situation. The head of the inner hall was Lin De. Defection was impossible. Including yesterday, it had been two days. No matter what had happened, given the short distance, even by land, news should have reached them. No news meant the worst possible outcome.

"Send men to search south along the land route. Also, send another small boat to Dalian Island to gather information. Inform Lin San to cancel the recent soldiers' rest day and immediately distribute weapons for live-fire training. Furthermore, notify the nearby fishermen to spread their fishing boats further out and report any news immediately." Lin Hao issued several orders in succession. But he still felt it wasn't enough, because he sensed something was wrong with this situation.

Without hesitation, Lin Hao immediately sent someone to summon his father and third uncle for discussion.

The two men immediately frowned deeply, realizing that this was probably no ordinary matter. Lin De was no weak scholar. And although his ship didn't have many guards, they were not someone that ordinary pirates could easily defeat. Moreover, the other party was traveling on the same bird ship that Lin Hao had used to go to Dalian Island last time.

After the Four Seas Gang thoroughly cleared out that bird ship, its speed was extremely outstanding among all bird ships, and ordinary ships could not catch up with it.

"So Hao'er, what do you think this will be like?" Lin Chengzong asked, frowning.

Lin Hao twirled the pen in his hand, his mind racing as he recalled the journey to Dalian Island.

"I don't know either, anything is possible. It's possible that something happened on Dalian Island, or that they encountered a once-in-a-lifetime hurricane and were swept into the deep sea. Alternatively, they might have run into the imperial navy. However, these are all too coincidental. I'm more inclined to believe that Uncle De and his men were attacked by pirates, and that there must have been quite a few ships involved to prevent their escape."

"Damn it, what kind of pirates have the guts to rob my Lin family's ship? Hao'er, in my opinion, we should just gather our fleet and sweep along the south, wiping out all the pirates." Lin Chengfeng had a fiery temper, and when he heard Lin Hao say this, he couldn't hold back any longer.

"Don't worry, Uncle. My previous guesses were all the worst-case scenarios. It's also possible that Uncle De and the others just took a longer route to avoid trouble. Maybe they'll be back tomorrow," Lin Hao comforted his uncle with a smile.

But even he himself didn't believe that, after all, it was only so far from Dalian Island, and no matter how far he took the detour, it couldn't possibly take two days.

Lin Chengzong sighed, "So what should we do now? Hao'er, you should make a decision as soon as possible."

"Father, please move all the cannons that the workshop has recently produced onto the ships. Move those heavy cannons, weighing over a thousand catties each, to the stockade walls first, just in case." Although these cannons were produced before, they were mostly used to train artillerymen at the training ground on the back mountain. Now that Dong'ao Island may be in danger, there is no time to train them slowly.

Then Lin Hao turned to his third uncle, Lin Chengfeng: "Third Uncle, I will select a group of men suitable to be sailors from the trained soldiers later. In addition, you will also be provided with gunners. You should organize all the remaining ships, train them uniformly, and be ready for combat at any time."

"No problem, just watch, I've been wanting to make a big splash for a long time." Lin Chengfeng immediately rubbed his hands together and said.

"So, Hao'er, who is our target?" Lin Chengzong asked, stroking his chin.

"I don't know yet, but since they've done it, they'll inevitably slip up. We'll wait for our scouts to return, then we'll see who dares to mess with our Four Seas Gang." Lin Hao's eyes were cold. Just because they haven't shown their teeth doesn't mean they're pushovers. He might like to develop his strength, that's true, but that doesn't mean he has no temper.

Another day passed, and it wasn't until noon the next day that Lin Twelve rushed in. Lin Twelve whispered a few words in Lin Hao's ear.

Upon hearing this, Lin Hao's brows furrowed even more deeply, and he said incredulously, "Why are they provoking us now? Wasn't it supposed to be at the end of the year?"

Indeed, Lin Twelve brought news, revealing the truth behind Lin De and the others' disappearance. Just as Lin Hao had suspected, Lin De's ship was ambushed and captured by pirates. Now, Lin De, along with some of the survivors, has been taken to the pirates' lair.

The pirate who made the move was none other than Li Jiu, a pirate from Nangantang Island.

The message came from an informant planted by the Four Seas Gang on Nangantang Island. According to the informant, the day before yesterday, Li Jiu personally led several ships to ambush Lin De and his group on their only route, and then surrounded them from all sides, making it impossible for Lin De's ships to escape.

This was precisely what puzzled Lin Hao. He had received clear information from Li Jiu that the other side planned to wait until the ships from the South Seas returned before the New Year before making their move. Why, then, did they suddenly act ahead of schedule? Didn't they understand the principle of alerting the enemy?

In fact, in order to guard against a sudden attack, Lin Hao set up a monitoring point in Dongjiao Town and deployed a large number of fishermen to keep watch in the direction of Gantang Island. However, Lin Hao really did not expect that the other party would not attack Dongluo Island, but instead attack the boats sent out by Dongluo Island.

This tactic of alerting the enemy left Lin Hao very puzzled. What was the other party thinking? Was they trying to make him on guard?

"Young Master, these pirates' ideas change every day, and it's hard to predict them with common sense. But now that we know who our opponent is, why don't we just go and kill them?" Lin Twelve waved his hand and made a throat-slitting gesture.

Lin Hao rolled his eyes at the other person, annoyed. Why were all the people he'd trained such murderous tendencies? Always shouting for violence.

He reached out and smacked the man hard on the head. "Can't you use your brain for once? What do you mean we should just charge straight in? We only have five small, dilapidated boats at most, the largest of which is no more than 300 liao. And most of the crew are novices. On the other hand, they probably have at least ten Fujian ships with a capacity of over 500 liao each. If we charge in, is that killing them? That's just sending ourselves to their deaths!"

Despite his lack of historical fame, Li Jiu was far more capable than figures like Yuan Jin and Li Zhong, who are currently causing trouble in the waters off Fujian.

However, Li Jiu and his men were well-versed in the rules of dealing with the government. They could rob maritime merchants, but they never carried out large-scale plundering ashore, avoiding large towns and at most raiding small fishing villages. Because of this, the imperial court generally didn't bother to even glance at them. Yet, their strength was undeniably formidable.

Moreover, the Zhang family of Funing stands behind them. Their ships are not weak either. If I rashly rush over like this, I won't even be worthy of being a match for them. I won't even see their stronghold before being overwhelmed by their ships.

"That Li Jiu must have lost his mind. Why didn't you just wait for me to finish developing before I came and wiped you out? Instead, you had to provoke me prematurely. Looks like I can't let you live through the New Year."