Chapter 39 Are You a Hero?

  In China, regardless of the dynasty, anything that can cause large-scale harm is called a prohibited item. Not only guns and ammunition are included in this category, but even kitchen knives and fruit knives were eventually added to the list. This cannot help but make one admire the politicians' foresight in preventing such incidents from happening in advance. Just imagine how terrifying it would be if someone were to commit murder on the street with a three-inch-long fruit knife.

  So when Bai Yang's factory appeared as a regular and legal business entity, none of the teams under his jurisdiction had firearms.

  It was also because of this that when these pirates and lake bandits came to invade, Zhang Lei and his men could only pick up purely manual crossbows and flying knives.

  These people on the small boat arrived at Zhang Lei's side, and everyone was mobilized to stand on the bow of the ship and shoot arrows at the people below. It was a task that didn't require any technical expertise, although the situation looked even more dire, in reality it accelerated the pirates' death.

  It's just a pity that Zhang Lei and their ship were only slightly larger than ordinary cargo ships, not like warships with decks high enough to make people look up. So it was still quite easy to get on board, after killing a few people, someone had already climbed onto the deck.

  Just last year, before landing in Guangzhou, Zhang Lei had also experienced something similar, and that time, the situation seemed even more critical. Zhang Lei already had considerable experience, and just as Jiang Yuyang was about to come over to protect him, he even pulled out a crossbow and shot an unlucky devil who had just poked his head out on the deck in the left eye. As the bright red blood suddenly spurted out, Zhang Lei, who would faint at the sight of red during his wife's period, surprisingly didn't have much of a reaction, and he himself felt that this was truly remarkable progress.

  Like Zhang Lei and his fate, pirate ships also began to appear around them. However, these ships were not equipped with advanced weapons like the hand crossbows used by Zhang Lei and his crew, so most of them were brutally slaughtered. Watching those sailors or whatever jumping down in a panic, Zhang Lei felt sorry for them.

  "Brothers, don't be afraid, this is inland, what else can these guys come up with? Kill! One is enough to break even, two and we'll make a profit!" With the last flying knife on his body taking out a pirate, Jiang Yuyang picked up a nearby wooden sword and shouted to boost morale.

  Zhang Lei also said: "Right, what are we afraid of? We are the hot-blooded men of Xujiayuan, how can we be afraid of such a scene? They come one by one, we kill one by one. If they come two by two, we will kill them in pairs! When we return, I'll give each person a big red envelope with 10 taels of silver!"

  "Kill!"

  "It's all over..."

  The dual stimulation of blood and money caused these energetic young people to burst out with unprecedented fighting power, shouting and striving to board the cargo ship as real pirates.

  Zhang Lei, who was about the same age as them, didn't care about Jiang Yuyang's request to hide in the cabin. He would take aim with his crossbow and cause some trouble for the pirates whenever he got a chance.

  During this time of desperate resistance, the surroundings were also not calm. On the contrary, all the goods on those ships had already belonged to the pirates.

  The person previously called Awen stood on a merchant ship loaded with gold and silver products with Lao Da, looking at Zhang Lei's side. After a while, the captain said: "What kind of people are they? Why are these people so fierce?"

  "Boss, look at all those boxes in there, I'm afraid they're filled with gold and silver treasures, that's why they're fighting so desperately. Hehe, if we can snatch them all away, today's gain will be huge, even if a few brothers die, it'll be worth it." Ah Wen said gleefully, in his eyes, the matches Zhang Lei and others were transporting instantly turned into gold and silver.

  "Haha, you're right. With this money, we can... go and call someone to come up, we must take down this ship. Damn it, they killed so many of my brothers, later we'll kill all these people and have them accompany our brothers in death!" The pirate leader said viciously.

  Ah Wen immediately went to the back to gather more men. After a while, when these people boarded the ship again, it was much easier than before. In just a few moments, they climbed onto the deck, instantly putting immense pressure on Zhang Lei and his group. The originally small number of people had already lost five or six.

  "Haha, you're all just a bunch of young guys, no wonder you're not afraid to die! Come on, come on, Wen Ye has arrived. Bring out all the goods and then go die, haha..." The skull-like Ah Wen abandoned his completely inaccurate fire lance and replaced it with a red-tasseled long spear. This weapon, which had an overwhelming advantage in length, went back and forth among the crowd, invincible. Don't look at his slender build, he's actually quite skilled at fighting.

  As soon as this man arrived, he immediately disrupted the battle situation. Moreover, with their joining, Zhang Lei's side gradually showed signs of defeat, and people fell down from time to time. Perhaps in others' eyes, it was already a foregone conclusion that the people on this ship would be slaughtered.

  "Boss, it seems we can't hold on for much longer. I'll get the brothers to cover you and make a break for it," Jiang Yuyang said anxiously to Zhang Lei, his clothes torn in multiple places, with a large patch of bright red blood on his chest, unclear whether it was his or the pirate's.

  "I'd never abandon my brothers and leave first," Zhang Lei said resolutely. "Today's misfortune is indeed ours, but if we're going to die, we'll all go together. I couldn't bear to leave any of you behind. Do you think I want to be haunted by nightmares for the rest of my life?"

  Jiang Yuyang said with a sob, "I'm telling you, Boss Zhang, it's not like that..."

  "These past few months, your contributions to the village are plain for everyone to see. That's why everyone is looking forward to you leading us to wealth and prosperity. Your life is precious, unlike ours. Even if I, Old Seven, beg of you, won't you agree? You leave, we'll deal with this rabble. In 18 years, come back and follow me again. Da Zhi, Xiao Tian, you two are in charge of taking Zhang Boss away. If anything happens to him, I'll drag you both down to hell."

  Those two who were named are the youngest in this group, but they are also the most seriously injured. The reason they have survived so far is that most of their wounds are not in vital areas.

  "Boss Zhang, let's go. If we die, we die. But you're different, anyone with eyes can see that you have a great future ahead of you."

  It can be seen that the two young men usually listen to Jiang Yuyang's words, and they dragged Zhang Lei to the side of the boat, one on each side.

  Just at this moment, a large number of ships suddenly appeared on the horizon, surrounding the waters and rapidly approaching here.

  Upon seeing this, the pirate leader's face suddenly changed, and he loudly shouted: "Damn it, the government actually came so quickly, this is simply too unreasonable, in the past they didn't appear until we were long gone, this isn't right!"

  "Yes, what do we do now? If we hold on for a little while longer, we can take over that ship." Another person next to him was also very puzzled. Why did the government, which had been cooperating with them in secret, suddenly change its mind today? This really made people wonder.

  "Let's wait and see, maybe it's not the authorities after all. They wouldn't have so much free time to bother me. The goods on that ship in front are almost within reach, I can still make a break for it once I get them." The pirate captain was still hoping for a miracle.

  But as they got closer, they realized their mistake. The people standing on the boats were solemn-faced soldiers in uniform, and there were no less than a hundred of them.

  "Damn it, it's actually true! What's going on with the government? Why didn't I receive any prior notice?" he asked.

  The man next to him said: "The new county magistrate has just taken office, and our people haven't had time to go and make contact, so..."

  "Damn it, hurry up and inform someone, let's go, let's go, otherwise when they surround us, we'll all be done for."

  "What about them? Should we go and call them?" Someone pointed at Zhang Lei's cargo ship.

  "Never mind, let's go, they can have their own luck."

  ……

  Under his command, the pirates who had hijacked several ships began to speed away from the waters, leaving only Zhang Lei and their ship still engaged in fierce battle.

  Zhang Lei was being carried by two people towards the edge of the boat, and Zhang Lei simply couldn't struggle free from them. However, seeing a ship approaching in the distance, he suddenly became excited: "Look, look, it must be here to rescue us. I told you, if we just hold on a bit longer, someone will definitely come, after all this is an inland lake area, how could they let them behave so recklessly?"

  After hearing Zhang Lei's words, Dazhi and Xiaotian also stopped. Zhang Lei continued: "Alright, we don't need to jump down either. Let's hurry over to help out. Hold on for a while, when the government troops arrive, we guarantee that we can defeat them thoroughly."

  "That... go back and fight them?" Da Zhi said in confusion.

  He and Xiao Tian exchanged a glance, out of concern for others, the two seemed to have reached an agreement, in unison they said to Zhang Lei: "Boss Zhang, you'd better stay here, otherwise, we can't guarantee your safety, and we'll have no choice but to offend you."

  Zhang Lei nodded, since the officers and soldiers had already arrived, it wouldn't make a big difference if he was there or not, so he didn't go to join in the commotion. He just stood there where he was.

  It wasn't long before the official ship arrived in the vicinity, with the lead ship being a small-scale warship that looked more majestic than Zhang Lei's small merchant ship. On the bow of the ship stood two people, a man and a woman. The man was robust and imposing, wearing night-traveling clothes, but without a mask. The woman beside him was none other than Xu Min.

  Seeing a familiar face, Zhang Lei also felt at ease and said to Xu Min: "Miss Xu, since ancient times heroes have rescued beauties, but I didn't expect that today it would be the other way around, and you'd have to come and rescue me."

  Xu Min covered her mouth and smiled lightly: "You're still talking nonsense, I'm a beauty now, so are you a hero?"

  Starting point welcomes readers to visit, the latest, fastest and most popular serialized works are all on the starting point of original!