Fatal Strike: Mercenary Road of Gunfire Ranger
Chapter 277 - 275: Siege, Stranding

Chapter 277: Chapter 275: Siege, Stranding

Amid a series of explosions and white flashes, Mountain Eagle shot out like a cheetah...

After sprinting a few steps, he vaulted over a fence with one hand, and upon landing, pulled a Hand Grenade from his chest and rolled it along the ground...

The Hand Grenade rolled for over ten meters and exploded beside a drinks bar, silencing two Pirates who were hiding in front of the bar.

The other four Pirates had not yet recovered from the devastation of the shock bomb when Mountain Eagle had reached their side. He rushed through the rising smoke of the grenade explosion and pulled the trigger at close range.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

The rapid-fire of the Benelli M2 was maximized in Mountain Eagle’s hands, the dazed Pirates didn’t even have the chance to react before they were riddled with holes like a hornet’s nest.

After succeeding, Mountain Eagle turned and slid the M2 into the side pocket of his backpack, then picked up the UMP45 and quickly moved forward along the edge of the pool...

The entire front section of the Central Courtyard descended into an unprecedented bombardment...

Daria’s six grenades, as well as a dozen or more Hand Grenades tossed down from the second floor, inflicted heavy casualties on the Pirates.

Eddie killed two irate Pirates who were in charge of guarding the hostages at the moment the attack commenced, and then displayed the composure and decisiveness characteristic of an old gun...

He stood up and moved to the location with the widest firing range, continually taking precise shots at the confused Pirates.

When he saw Mountain Eagle, also successful, raising his gun to advance, Eddie nodded slightly and kept a distance of about 5 meters from Mountain Eagle; the two formed a crossfire and moved forward along the corridor in front of the restaurant door, stepping to the rhythm of the exploding grenades...

By then, Daria had also completed her task; she caught up with Mountain Eagle with large strides, maintaining about 5 meters to his right...

From above, the trio moved unpredictably like an out-of-control second hand, sometimes clockwise, sometimes counterclockwise, but continually maintaining continuous firepower to sweep through the Pirates.

As the Killing Bee and her machine gunners Measles took up positions on the second floor, their firepower peaked.

With four additional people from the Security Company, the eight of them opened fire from various angles at the same time, leaving no place for the Pirates below to hide.

The darkness gave Mountain Eagle and his team a huge advantage; the shock bombs and Hand Grenades shattered the Pirates’ will to resist.

Thus, the remaining Pirates, less affected by the shock bombs, didn’t even manage a decent counterattack and were herded by a hail of bullets from all sides into an open-air restaurant in the northeast corner, in accordance with Mountain Eagle’s ’plan’...

"Go, go, go, Daria check the hostages, Killing Bee lockdown the northeast corner..."

After giving the orders, Daria decisively switched places with Eddie and then sprinted forward.

Upon reaching the restaurant where the hostages were gathered, Daria first fired a shot at the ceiling, then shouted loudly, "Stay down, don’t move, raise your hand if you’re injured..."

Mountain Eagle dared not leave the circular corridor in front of the restaurant, for there were still four ’Blind Shooters’ on the second floor.

As he moved, he took care of several Pirates that were clearly still alive in the central area, confirming with Golden Cicada that there were no more living Pirates in the central location before saying into the radio, "Cease fire, cease fire...

Captain, turn on the lights..."

Seconds later, the interior lights of the cruise ship flickered, and then the lights surrounding the Skywell suddenly turned on.

The Pirates who had hidden in the northeast corner restaurant, still not recovered from the blinding flash of the shock bombs, saw a bright flash again followed by several ’clang’ sounds...

"Hand Grenades, get down..."

A few Pirates who had been blown up before, not caring that they were completely blinded, tried desperately to throw themselves deeper into the restaurant to avoid the fatal explosion.

Following several explosions, a large amount of dark smoke poured out of the northeast corner restaurant.

Mountain Eagle watched as one guy flew headfirst into the bar counter of the restaurant to test its hardness, then, with a twisted neck, landed in a strange angle. He quickly approached the restaurant, gun in hand, finishing off any lucky survivors with precise shots.

Then, watched by several on the second floor, Mountain Eagle rushed onto the corridor where the eastern side restaurant and shops were adjacent, taking down a few staggering individuals attempting to flee.

Two Pirates with obvious leg injuries rushed to the eastern side of the ship’s railing. Hearing the deathly footsteps behind them, they exchanged a glance, roared, and jumped from nearly twenty meters high.

Mountain Eagle, who had chased to the edge of the ship, looked down only to see two splashes being sucked under the ship...

Admiring the Pirates’ courage and swimming skills, Mountain Eagle turned and went back to the incapacitated Pirates, binding their hands behind their backs.

Observing that two of the guys were bleeding profusely from leg injuries, Mountain Eagle also applied tourniquets on them.

The dead were merely combat achievements, but these few were tangible credits; they were also pieces of the puzzle to unravel these bizarre events.

...

While Mountain Eagle and his team were busy below deck, in a luxurious suite on the fourth level of the cruise ship, an ordinary-looking island country man, not even one meter seventy tall and dressed in a white sailor’s uniform, bowed slightly to a round-faced Chinese man...

Then, as the round-faced Chinese man was lost in thought, the island country man suddenly pulled a dagger and stepped forward, stabbing it into the round-faced man’s chest.

Watching the round-faced man fall to the ground with a look of unwillingness in his eyes, the island country man turned and walked over to the couch...

Looking at the woman on the couch, holding her mouth over two children to keep them from screaming, while pleading with her eyes, the island country man grinned, then suddenly pressed his hand on the woman’s face and cut her throat with a knife...

Turning sideways to avoid the spurting blood, and watching the two children about three years old look at him with a lifeless gaze, the island country man grabbed both children, covering their mouths and noses with his hands...

Half a minute later, the struggling children were motionless.

The man from the island country tossed the child onto the floor, admired his handiwork once more, then strode out of the luxurious suite with a light step.

Passing the outer room, he gazed at the four suit-clad bodyguards sitting on the ground, looking at him but unable to take any action. A pleased smile appeared on the island man’s face as he methodically slit the throats of each one.

When the man from the island country reached the doorway, he donned a pair of cheap plastic masks, then respectfully backed out of the room with a bow and closed the door behind him.

He then bent his body, turned to the right, and quickly left the area, avoiding the overhead surveillance.

...

Mountain Eagle didn’t know what had happened upstairs, but after taking control of the first floor, he proactively contacted the captain...

"All the pirates on the first floor have been dealt with. We need all the crew to get moving. Some need to gather the bodies and weapons at the fore of the ship, others to work with security personnel to check the internal situation of the cruise ship."

While speaking, Mountain Eagle watched several armed security injured coming up to the second floor. Clutching the radio, he said, "We need a doctor here, bring a doctor over..."

The captain was very cooperative on the other end. He decisively used the radio to instruct all crew and staff to gather on the first floor, then after hesitating for a moment, he said, "Officer, thank you for saving us, but we’re facing a problem now..."

Mountain Eagle, feeling somewhat headache, pinched his nose bridge and said, "What happened now?"

The captain spoke with a bitter tone, "The first officer has locked the autopilot system of the cruise ship and damaged the control panel and rudder. We are currently speeding towards Phuket at 20 knots...

We just fixed the navigation system. Technicians are frantically trying to repair the steering system to switch to manual driving mode."

Mountain Eagle didn’t quite understand navigation. Frowning, he asked, "What’s the problem?"

The captain said helplessly, "The navigation system we just fixed is showing that we’ll soon be passing through a reef area. If we can’t repair the rudder in time, then we’ll..."

Images from the famous movie Titanic flashed through Mountain Eagle’s mind. Looking up at the magnificent cruise ship skywell, he couldn’t believe it and said, "We’re going to sink?"

Saying so, Mountain Eagle shouted, "Stop the engines, drop anchor, turn off the engines..."

The captain spoke bitterly, "I’ve already sent someone to do that. You’ll feel the vibrations soon, but...

Officer, we need Thailand to arrange enough boats for rescue, or else..."

Hearing this, Mountain Eagle vigorously rubbed his face, then took out a satellite phone to call Tessa...

"Mountain, how are you all, are you alright?"

Hearing Tessa first ask about his own well-being, Mountain Eagle felt slightly better...

He walked to the side of the ship, striding towards the foredeck while helplessly saying, "I’m fine, the pirates are all dead.

But an insider aboard sabotaged the steering system. I’m not clear on the specific situation. All I know is we are heading into a reef area."

Tessa was stunned for a moment, and then cried out in alarm, "My God, there are more than four thousand passengers and crew on board..."

Mountain Eagle sighed and said, "That’s why you need to get your cousin to hurry. I don’t know much about sailing, and I don’t know what will happen if the cruise ship hits the reefs.

I think the faster the rescue arrives, the better the outcome will be."

As Mountain Eagle was speaking, the sound of the anchor chain’s friction came from the front of the ship...

"Ka-ka-ka-ka..."

The intense sound of friction lasted nearly a minute, then Mountain Eagle only felt the massive ship tremble slightly. Then, he noticeably felt the ship tilt a bit, and the direction started to shift.

This phenomenon allowed Mountain Eagle to breathe a slight sigh of relief. Just as he was about to continue speaking, he suddenly felt a clear vibration from beneath his feet, followed by a noticeable shaking of the ship...

The slightest movement of such a sea giant could make one’s skin crawl.

The rapid, intense shaking and dull sounds that lasted for a few seconds markedly accelerated Mountain Eagle’s heartbeat.

Tessa on the other end of the phone also heard the commotion and cried out in terror, "Mountain, what’s happening, what’s happening?"

Mountain Eagle rushed to the bow to look down, then said uncertainly, "It seems like we’ve stopped..."

Just as Mountain Eagle finished speaking, the captain spoke over the radio, "Officer, the watertight compartments at the bottom are taking on water. We’ve run aground.

The ship’s engine is stopping, and our backup power won’t last very long. I’m about to shut off the air conditioning system to save power. We need rescue to arrive promptly..."

Hearing it was only running aground, Mountain Eagle heaved a sigh of relief...

He said to Tessa on the phone, "Arrange rescue boats, the Diamond Queen has run aground."

Saying this, Mountain Eagle frowned and looked out to the distant sea. He switched to Crow’s perspective and saw 4 large speedboats swiftly approaching the cruise ship...

"Tessa, where’s your cousin?"

Tessa paused for a moment on the phone, then said, "Tai Meng is 30 nautical miles away from you..."

Hearing this, Mountain Eagle ran quickly back towards the cabin, shouting loudly, "Tessa, tell your cousin to speed up, it looks like more pirates are coming..."

Saying this, Mountain Eagle clutched the radio and called out, "Everyone grab weapons and head to the starboard side, more pirates are coming..."