Fatal Strike: Mercenary Road of Gunfire Ranger
Chapter 278 - 276: Bomb

Chapter 278: Chapter 276: Bomb

It’s wave after wave, just when the pirates boarding the ship were wiped out, it’s unclear if there are other undercover agents inside the cruise ship, then another wave of pirates arrived.

And this time, the guys who came were obviously better armed.

Watching four closed speedboats approaching the cruise ship at high speed, Mountain Eagle couldn’t help but urge a few times until Measles arrived with the PKM machine gun, then he felt slightly more relieved.

"Don’t worry, as long as the captain doesn’t surrender, they can’t board."

The experienced Eddie stayed next to the rope ladder at the bow, looking at the four speedboats already close to a kilometer range from the cruise ship, frowning and saying: "These aren’t the usual boats used by pirates, too high-end!"

Mountain Eagle took the AKM that Daria handed him, adding a bit of range to himself for some psychological comfort.

Hearing Eddie’s words, Mountain Eagle helplessly said: "What does this mean? Am I supposed to be grateful that the pirates hold me in such high regard?"

Eddie tied up the coiled rope ladder with several ropes, then walked over to Mountain Eagle and said, "No, I mean, pirates don’t need this kind of boat. It’s inconvenient and too costly!"

While Eddie spoke, Mountain Eagle watched those speeding speedboats...

Watching two pirates, each holding an RPG inside those speedboats, targeting the cruise ship, Mountain Eagle cursed and raised his AKM to fire.

The moment Mountain Eagle fired, others also pulled their triggers...

But facing the speedboats charging at 80 kilometers per hour on the sea, the bullets from their old seized guns really weren’t accurate.

Aside from the bullets from Measles’ PKM hitting the side of one speedboat, startling the people on it, everyone else’s shots missed without exception.

Mountain Eagle’s action angered the pirates, they slightly altered their course, and as the speedboat swept past the side of the cruise ship, about 300 meters apart, those carrying RPGs fired.

"Watch out..."

"Boom boom boom boom..."

In movies, the trajectory of rocket projectiles you see are all special effects.

They’re deceiving, in reality, when an RPG is launched, you can only see the shooter’s body shaking a bit, then the explosion happens at the target.

Firing rockets from a speeding speedboat, accuracy is filled with a mystical sense, but you can’t underestimate it because the cruise ship’s huge size makes it an easy target for the pirates.

Amidst Mountain Eagle’s roaring, 6 of the 8 rockets struck the first and second levels, and 2 hit the hull.

Honestly, the explosion power of RPGs is not large, and they didn’t hit particularly accurately, but the blast was a bit too terrifying for the people on the ship...

Those outside like Mountain Eagle could feel the disturbance inside the cruise ship, then as a rocket ignited a room on the second level, the chaos inside intensified.

Beneath the bow where Mountain Eagle was located, he held his head watching explosions at the midsection of the side, then resolutely stood up, raised his gun, and fired a volley at the departing speedboats.

The distance was a bit far, the bullets didn’t hit the target, Mountain Eagle shook his head in dissatisfaction and looked at Eddie saying, "What do these pirates really want?"

Eddie looked at the burning room on the second floor, clutching the radio urging the captain to arrange for firefighting, then turned to Mountain Eagle and said, "They know they can’t board, so they’re threatening the captain to surrender.

Mountain Eagle, the cruise ship is extremely expensive to construct, and the captain can’t bear the loss of lives.

According to the unwritten rules, pirates want ransom, so as long as the captain surrenders, they won’t kill indiscriminately.

If the captain refuses to surrender, causing the pirates to attack the cruise ship and resulting in significant damage and casualties, the insurance company won’t cover it."

As Eddie spoke, the four speedboats circled from the stern and sped up for another sprint from the other side...

RPG shooters reloaded and fired the moment the speedboats swept past the sides of the cruise ship.

This time half of the rockets hit the hull, the other half hit the upper rooms.

Another series of explosions, coupled with a high-level room catching a big fire, unrest on the cruise ship began to spread.

At this point, Mountain Eagle was at a loss...

If those pirates came nearby attempting to board, he could still fight back.

But they were simply rocket-firing and hit-and-run kind, he didn’t have anti-material weapons or anything like anti-tank missiles, genuinely without a way.

Using Crow to drop Hand Granades from low altitude might be successful, but it wasn’t decisive; the grenades couldn’t possibly sink the nearly thirty-meter-long speedboats, more likely to infuriate the opponents instead.

Just as Mountain Eagle was unsure of what to do, the captain’s voice came through the headset...

"Officer, there’s unrest inside the cruise ship, our crew is somewhat unable to control it, I’m going to send a signal to negotiate and stall the pirates, please urge the rescue team.

If they can hurry over, we still have a chance."

Mountain Eagle knew the captain was still holding on, but if Tai Meng arrived too late, the situation might change.

The cruise ship carried over four thousand people; once the pirates continue attacking and causing fires and disturbances, it’s very likely there would be a riot.

Many of the cruise’s passengers are elderly, and should they face issues, not to mention the captain, even the cruise company behind him wouldn’t be able to handle the consequences.

Accordingly, if the captain chooses to surrender, the lives and safety of the tourists would then become the pirates’ responsibility.

The responsibility for surrendering is smaller; not surrendering carries a bigger responsibility. This is the somewhat ironic and helpless situation when encountering pirates at sea.

Lone heroes in movies just don’t exist in reality!

Unless the ship owner didn’t purchase insurance, any action you take that leads to the ship owner not being able to claim insurance will get you sued.

In 2009, that famous incident of the airplane landing on the Hudson River, the pilot saved 155 passengers but ended up being sued and tangled in various messy hearings for several years, causing Captain Sarlenberg to announce his retirement the following year.

And that was under circumstances where no one died!

Mountain Eagle was very clear, if he, representing the Thai police, hadn’t boarded the ship, the captain would have definitely chosen to surrender immediately.

Now, all he could do was cooperate with the captain to stabilize the internal situation and then stall for time together.

As long as the Thai Coast Guard arrives, the situation would turn around.

Just as Mountain Eagle finished talking with the captain, those four speedboats turned around and charged again...

This time they didn’t fire 8 rounds simultaneously, but one of them skimmed past the side of the cruise ship, launching two RPGs that hit the upper structure of the ship.

The explosion instinctively made Mountain Eagle shrink his neck, watching the pirates on the distant speedboat arrogantly waving their fists. He rotated his neck with displeasure and said, "Eddie, go to the top deck; you are from AXA Insurance’s risk management department, the captain will listen to you."

As he spoke, Mountain Eagle looked at Killing Bee and said, "Killing Bee, accompany Eddie, you must stabilize the situation in the cockpit. We don’t know if there are any pirates among the crew, we absolutely can’t have problems now."

Eddie patted Mountain Eagle’s shoulder and said, "With this incident, the captain is definitely doomed, he knows it too, but I can help him to minimize the cost; he’ll listen to me!

Be careful down here. There’s no perfect way to handle this.

Your position is unique; don’t let trouble find you; it’s more appropriate for the armed security to take action if there’s a problem."

Mountain Eagle solemnly nodded his head, and after watching Eddie and Killing Bee leave, he said to Big Mouth and the others, "We go to Skywell; leave the pirates’ bodies for now, we must collect all remaining weapons."

Then, looking at the armed security in uniform black combat uniforms, Mountain Eagle said: "You are responsible for assisting the crew in suppressing the disturbances; you must not cause chaos, understand?"

The four armed security looked at each other hesitantly, then said somewhat awkwardly, "Officer, our boss wants to have a talk with you, he’s over there at the Skywell..."

Mountain Eagle could probably understand the concerns of the armed security, so he nodded, turned to Measles and said, "You stay by the railing and keep an eye on those pirates, take them down if they attempt to approach...

The Thai Coast Guard will arrive soon, we must hold on; otherwise, it would be for nothing!"

Seeing Measles solemnly nodding while holding the machine gun, Mountain Eagle took out a satellite phone, dialing while heading inside the cruise ship...

Tessa quickly answered the call, preempting Mountain Eagle’s question by saying, "Tai Meng and his team are accelerating; they will be here soon, just hold on a bit longer..."

Pausing, Tessa then said, "The Asafiye Organization has released a statement claiming they have hijacked the Diamond Queen Cruise Ship, demanding that Taigore releases the trapped terrorists and also demanding the cruise company pay a $100 million ransom."

Mountain Eagle’s forward step paused; he signaled Big Mouth and the others to enter the cabin first, and after finding a bench outside to sit down and pinching the bridge of his nose in thought for a while, he said in a low voice, "Something’s not right...

The pirates who’ve arrived are well-equipped, but they can’t board the ship.

Even if the captain is willing to negotiate, on what basis would the cruise ship be used as a bargaining chip right now?"

Tessa anxiously said, "I don’t know, Taigore is under a lot of pressure right now!

Not only are our own people putting pressure on him, but the UK and US are also pressuring him."

Suddenly pausing in her speech, Tessa communicated briefly with someone next to her, then her tone suddenly raised, urgently saying to Mountain Eagle, "A representative from the Asafiye Organization sent a message to the cruise company...

They said that four bombs have been planted on the cruise ship, and if we don’t give them a clear response within ten minutes, they will detonate one bomb.

The time is almost up..."

"Boom..."

Mountain Eagle looked up toward the building above the bow, an explosion occurred in a room on the 5th floor, the blast sending a thick plume of smoke from the balcony creating a smoke column several meters long...

As Mountain Eagle watched the dense smoke interact with the moist air, drifting downward, he stretched out his hand and then realized something...

The explosion made a loud noise, but its actual power was very small.

This was definitely not an explosion caused by explosives, and if the cruise ship indeed had bombs, why would the pirates bother to board the ship?

"Tessa, the bombs were improvised using cleaning supplies from inside the cruise ship..."

"Mountain, who in power would dare to take that gamble?"