Egypt, Suez Canal.

The noonday sun scorched the water's surface, and on the sparkling canal, cargo ships lined up end to end, slowly moving like a long iron dragon.

This is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Every day, numerous merchant ships enter the Red Sea from the Mediterranean Sea through this passage, heading to Asia, the Atlantic Ocean.

At the end of the canal, a cargo ship flying the Panama flag, named "Desert Fox," was slowly advancing.

This is a medium-sized container ship, with a deadweight of 80,000 tons, carrying over two thousand standard containers, dozens of which are filled with weapons and ammunition.

This ship will first stop at Hong Kong Island in China before heading to its final destination.

In the cockpit, An Zai, with his buzz cut, curiously stared at the navigation map on the screen and asked the captain, "Are we about to enter the territory of Somali pirates? I've heard it's quite thrilling here, isn't it?"

The black captain, with a cigar in his mouth, glanced at An Zai's curious face and flashed a big white smile, "Indeed, in the past few years, merchant ships passing through the Red Sea had to be prepared for being robbed by them."

"Now, with Egyptian military patrol boats on both sides of the canal and the international escort fleet, their days have become much harder, and they dare not appear casually."

Hearing the wistful tone of the captain, An Zai couldn't help but doubt the guy's stance.

"Don't worry, those guys are also clients of Mr. Harris. Even if we run into them, they won't rob us," the black captain pouted his thick sexy lips and added another sentence.

An Zai gave him a thumbs up, "Niubi!"

While they were talking, the intercom on the console suddenly transmitted a crew member's shout: "Captain! A speedboat is approaching from the east!"

Before the captain could respond, another anxious voice came through the intercom: "Captain! Three speedboats from the west! Two nautical miles off the port side!"

The captain habitually smoked his cigar, snorting with dismissive laughter, "These young sailors are more timid than women." Then he turned his head and looked at the first mate beside him, "First Mate, go negotiate, give them two boxes of wine, and tell them whose ship this is!"

The first mate showed no sign of panic, evidently not his first time handling such an incident. He shrugged and headed for the elevator, "Alright, those bastards, we don't even have enough wine for ourselves."

Hearing this made An Zai a bit excited. He turned to greet Old Bai, who was on duty with him, "I'm going to take a look at what these Somali pirates look like."

Old Bai, sitting in his recliner reading a newspaper, waved his hand casually.

Though this was the merchant ship arranged by Qi Yun, it was still abroad, so Chen Wei seemed to remain vigilant, making appropriate arrangements after boarding.

An Zai and Old Bai were responsible for standing guard at the control station to keep abreast of any emergencies, while Chen Wei and the other three were in the room below, guarding the batch of goods.

The first mate and An Zai took the elevator to the third floor. After passing through a narrow passage, they emerged onto the deck of the cargo ship.

The sea breeze carried a strong smell of salt as it swept over. On the left side, three speedboats had already drawn near, with several others fast approaching from behind.

These speedboats had black flags; the pirates on board wore headscarves, leaving only their eyes visible, holding outdated AK47s, their gun barrels glinting under the sun.

A young sailor, apparently inexperienced with such a scene, shivered as he asked the first mate, "Should we prepare the high-pressure water guns?"

Typically, cargo ships passing through pirate-infested waters would pre-install iron bar nets and set up high-pressure water guns on the railing to prevent pirates from boarding.

Some ships carrying high-value cargo even hire specialized security, armed guards.

However, such security is very expensive, costing 500,000 to 600,000 USD per person, with three to four security personnel assigned to each vessel for two to three days until the ship passes through dangerous waters.

This means the cost just for hiring security could nearly reach two million USD, more than the fee for a cargo ship to pass through the Suez Canal.

So, the number of ships hiring security is quite limited. Typically, captains organize their crew to make defensive arrangements in advance.

But this ship's captain evidently hadn't taken these small-time Kalamai pirates seriously, so no preparations had been made beforehand.

The first mate made a relaxed wave at the sailor's query and instructed, "Go get two cases of wine over here."

The sailor was somewhat perplexed but quickly complied, jogging off towards the cabin.

The speed of large cargo ships is slow, around eight to ten knots on a normal route, so in this blink of an eye, those speedboats had already come alongside the cargo ship.

An Zai leaned on the railing; he could even see the chest hair of the guy nicknamed "Blackie" below.

The first mate also leaned out halfway, a perfunctory smile on his face, holding a megaphone and shouting to those below, "Friends! Please tell your boss, this is Mr. Harris's ship!"

"Please do not approach to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. I will lower two cases of wine to you!"

However, the pirates below gave no response.

Not only that, but on a nearby speedboat, a pirate stood up, holding a grapnel launcher, aimed at the ship's railing, and pressed the trigger.

"Shoo—clack!"

The grapnel gun's steel claw shot out with a sharp whistling sound, biting precisely onto the ship's railing, and the rope instantly tightened.

The pirates on the speedboat burst into cheers. The leading pirate waved his hand, and a few figures wrapped in headscarves immediately grabbed the rope and climbed up swiftly like monkeys, evidently very skilled.

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