Chapter 2: Escaping Death (Please Collect)

  The best way to deal with rascals is to be more rascal than they are.

  It was clear that the pirates on the other side had not expected this ship to be so bold, and they actually played a trick of striking first. Of course, they were not willing to show weakness either. Before long, sparks also flew from their side. The two sides immediately engaged in a fierce battle.

  "Bang......"

  "Bang......"

  Bang...

  A burst of gunfire erupted, with cries and screams rising and falling in succession. Some bullets hit the ship's side, sending splinters flying everywhere, some even hitting people in the face, causing searing pain.

  The big guns below seemed to be of no use at this time, the two ships were moving too fast relative to each other. Before the sailors could load the gunpowder into the barrel, the two ships had already collided. Several shells fired into the air and fell into the water, splashing up huge waves.

  The violent shaking made Zhang Lei fall to the ground again. Zhang Lei simply used his hands and feet, crawling outwards.

  "Draw your cutlasses." Just then, Zhang Zhanfu's voice came clearly, the captain and sailors abandoned their fire lances and didn't use them. One by one, they drew out sailor knives and short swords, preparing to engage in a "deck battle" with the pirates. This action made Zhang Lei pause, and he cursed inwardly.

  "Why use a gun without firing? Even if the shooting efficiency is low, can't you just fire three shots?"

  At this time, the starry night sky set off a group of black shadows. The intruders shouted and swarmed up to the foredeck, raised their pistols and fired into the crowd. As soon as they met, two sailors on the stern were shot dead. The people on both sides are thoroughly engaged in close combat.

  Suddenly, a fire lance was kicked to a place not far from Zhang Lei's side by someone. Zhang Lei swiftly picked up the fire lance and hid inside the cabin.

  In a country where private ownership of firearms is strictly prohibited, it's extremely difficult for ordinary people to get their hands on one. Zhang Lei still remembers his only encounter with a gun was during military training in high school.

  "Here, keep watch and don't let anyone in." Zhang Lei tossed the fire spear to Kayler, then climbed out again.

  The deck was in a mess, those pirates came fiercely, the sailors on the "Nanning" were suppressed and beaten before, but it can be seen that they are now evenly matched. Looking at these sailors who retreated in an orderly manner like troops, Zhang Lei was somewhat puzzled, this "Nanning" didn't seem simple.

  "Bang..."

  A blood-stained knife fell at his feet, interrupting his thoughts. A black-clad figure charged towards him. Zhang Lei rolled to the side with a lazy donkey roll, grabbed the knife in passing, and the pirate's big knife chopped onto the deck, directly splitting a one-inch thick plank into two pieces.

  He came at him with a second knife, and Zhang Lei flipped over, kneeling on one knee, grasping the hilt of his sword with both hands, blocking the attack. However, the force was too far apart, and the broad back of the knife pressed down on his shoulder, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. Clenching his jaws, Zhang Lei used his legs to push himself up from a kneeling position, then kicked out at his opponent's abdomen with one foot, retreating two steps before finally neutralizing this attack. But before he could even catch his breath, the third knife came at him again.

  Zhang Lei was just about to use his lazy donkey rolling technique, but he heard a "bang" and saw a blood hole appear on the pirate's chest. The pirate fell to the ground motionless. Zhang Lei turned around and saw Kayler calmly reloading his gun.

  "Thanks a lot." Zhang Lei turned his head and said, then quickly crawled over to the pirate who had been shot dead, pulled out the fire-rope gun from his body, and lit the fuse on the nearby torch.

  Fighting and retreating, he coordinated with Kayle behind him, taking down several pirates in a row. He tossed the fuse gun without gunpowder into the cabin and said quietly, "This thing is much more useful than a big knife."

  Suddenly, someone shouted loudly: "The ship is taking on water! The ship is taking on water!"

  It was just that the pirate ship had collided with it earlier, causing the hull to tilt severely, and there were multiple damages on the side of the ship. After such a fierce battle, there were holes everywhere on the ship. Once there was a leak somewhere, the weight of the ship would put greater pressure on the seawater, and the wooden boards would be crushed directly. Now, the entire ship had already begun to sink.

  "My god, not again! I just got pulled up and now I'm sinking again." Zhang Lei looked around in discontent, and in the dark surroundings, a vague outline appeared in the distance, with occasional flashes of starlight.

  Those pirates were still rampant on the ship, taking away anything of value without fear of death. However, because Zhang Zhanfu led his men in a desperate resistance, they never managed to get close to the cabin.

  Seawater spread to the deck, and the entire ground became slippery. The fresh red blood mixed with seawater after being washed away, like a muddy swamp, and everyone's running slowed down.

  "Get on board and leave!" someone shouted loudly from the pirate ship. The pirates, upon hearing this, immediately gave up their looting and retreated while fighting. In no time at all, they had scattered in all directions. On the "Nanning", a series of groans rose and fell as those who were injured lay submerged in the salty and bitter seawater, the salt seeping into their wounds making even the strongest men unbearable.

  "He's finally gone." The pirate ship slowly sailed away from "Nanning", and everyone let out a sigh of relief.

  This incident happened so suddenly that from the discovery of pirates to the pirate ship collision was less than half a minute. I didn't expect those pirate ships to come directly and collide with us. Everyone was in a hurry to resist, and there was no way to form an effective defensive combat force, so the casualties were a bit heavy.

  The sound of the thunder had stopped, and Zhang Lei saw that the uninjured sailors were helping their companions to bandage their wounds in an orderly manner. He also walked into the cabin and saw Kayler kneeling on the ground, his hands clasped together in prayer for the dead. Zhang Lei sat down beside him and patted his shoulder, saying: "Thanks a lot just now."

  "Hmm..."

  Kai Le hadn't even had time to speak when he heard a whistling sound tearing through the night sky. Before anyone could understand what was happening, the already unstable "Nanning" began shaking violently again. With a loud crash, wood splinters flew everywhere and seawater rushed in with a gurgling sound. Zhang Lei immediately stood up, and someone ran in to say: "Those despicable foreigners have fired their big cannons and hit our ship's hold. Now there are leaks everywhere."

  "Where's the captain?" Zhang Lei hastily asked. "Quickly lower the lifeboat, this ship is probably unable to make it to shore, we'll take the lifeboat."

  The man said: "The captain was killed by cannon fire."

  Zhang Lei was shocked, just about to speak, another cannonball came, after a loud noise, with a "crash" sound, the mast that had experienced wind and snow finally could not bear the weight, wrapped around the dirty and broken sailcloth, like a dark cloud pressed down...

  "It's going to sink, it's going to sink..."

  "Where's the dinghy? Hurry up and put it down..."

  "It's just farting, it was broken long ago..."

  "Nanning" suffered heavy losses, and it was already a hopeless situation. The ship was in an uproar, everyone was rushing about in panic, Zhang Zhanfu, the person in charge, had been killed, and without anyone to command them, everything fell into chaos.

  Zhang Lei took a look at these foreigners and said: "Prepare to jump into the sea and escape."

  Kailer looked somewhat seasoned, but his apprentice was much worse off. His originally pale face had lost all color, even his lips were bloodless, and he clung tightly to Kailer's body, shivering with cold after being soaked by the sea water.

  "William, get up, look at you like that, God will save us." Keller stood up, grasped the apprentice's arm with one hand, and still refused to put down his own box of books.

  Zhang Lei smiled and didn't say anything. For a devout believer, telling him about atheism is as difficult as persuading an emperor to abstain from women.

  "Hmm..."

  "Bang......"

  Shells were falling around them one after another. The surrounding water surface was like a boiling cauldron. "Nanning" was like an insignificant leaf, and in the face of the powerful shells, there was no way to resist.

  Just less than twenty yards from the shore, the "Nanning" suddenly stopped, and those pirate ships had already gone far away more than a minute ago.

  "We've run aground, now we must abandon ship and escape," Zhang Lei said, while the splashing sound outside indicated that someone was already putting his words into action.

  The water-soaked book trunk seemed even heavier, Kailer struggled to drag it forward, Zhang Lei was somewhat exasperated and shouted: "What time is it now, what's the point of bringing these things? Survival is paramount." He casually rummaged through the book trunk and pulled out a brick-thick Bible, suddenly speechless.

  With great difficulty, he had managed to lighten the load a bit, and now the seawater had risen to waist level. Under the canvas, Zhang Lei carefully felt his way out, taking a long time to reach the side of the boat. He suddenly remembered the doubts he had about the origin of this ship not long ago, and with a flicker of thought, he slipped into the captain's quarters. What made him disappointed was that it was empty inside. Just as he was about to leave, he saw a package wrapped in oilcloth, so he picked it up and hugged it tightly.

  The visibility of the seawater at night was almost zero, and everyone was swimming forward relying on their own experience and feeling. After about an hour or so, Zhang Lei finally reached the shore. He poked his head out of the water to take a look, but couldn't see anyone. Looking at the dirty clothes stuck to his body, he decided to find a larger rock to spend the night on for now.

  After a while

  The calm water surface suddenly burst forth with many bubbles, and then two people swam over. As they drew near, Zhang Lei was delighted to discover that it was indeed Kailer and William. He quickly went to greet them, but what left him speechless was that Kailer still had his book with him, and he had no idea how he had managed to swim such a long distance with it.

  "It seems we are destined to be together. Given the situation tonight, I'm afraid we won't make it into town. Let's rest here for the night and head in tomorrow morning." Zhang Lei took a deep breath of the salty sea air and sighed, "It feels great to be on land."

  William lay on a large stone that had been smoothed by the sea water and said, "We finally arrived."