Seven days later, the Aden Bay.
After the cargo ship "Man Tianxing" entered this body of water, the atmosphere on board imdiately started to feel off.
All of the crew began increasing the number of people on duty and piled up so sandbags and the like on the sides of the ship. They also started checking the lifeboats and other equipnt, busying themselves considerably.
When Captain Edmond ca to find Song Heping in his cabin, the latter was playing poker with Jiang Feng, Mohamd, and a few others.
Since it was more than a ten-day journey from Illiguo to Asab Port in Eritrea, Song Heping had bought two decks of cards to pass the long hours at sea.
Jiang Feng had reported to the company on the day Song Heping was released from the CIA. After the SA-9 missiles were delivered to Umm Qasr Port in preparation for departure, Song Heping instructed Ferrari to drive Jiang Feng, Mohamd, and Hazi to Umm to et up with him.
This ti, he needed to take two engineers with him to Eritrea. When the ti ca to deliver the goods, it was expected that the Salafi Ard forces would want to inspect them, and perhaps they would even need soone to teach them how to use the equipnt.
The best course of action was to bring two engineers along, and Jiang Feng was chosen because all the other team mbers were tied up with a great deal of work and couldn't leave. Jiang Feng, the newest addition to the team, had to accompany him.
There were, admittedly, so personal reasons behind this decision.
Jiang Feng was a retired serviceman, just like him, but this guy was a retired Marine, and the sense of kinship was unparalleled.
It had been nearly two years since Song Heping had returned to his country, let alone had any contact with the military. When he had encountered Chris Chen, he felt an imdiate connection, so when he saw Jiang Feng's resu, he hired him without a second thought.
Initially, Jiang Feng was quite reserved when he t Song Heping, but after all, they both had military backgrounds and plenty to talk about. In no ti at all, they had beco fast friends.
Song Heping carried thirty thousand US Dollars in cash on him because Ferrari had ntioned that it was a good idea to have extra cash in Africa, for greenbacks were the lifesavers and the passports to getting through troubleso situations.
Over the past few days, they had nothing much to do, so they played poker and the card ga Thirteen in the cabin. Mohamd and Hazi learned how to play after a couple days and soon got the hang of it.
Whether Song Heping was deliberately going easy or just had bad luck, Jiang Feng won nearly two thousand US Dollars, while Mohamd and Hazi each won just over a thousand. They were all delighted with their winnings.
At first, Mohamd and Hazi were scared pale when they heard about the business trip to Africa. Now, with cash in hand and considering the generous company travel allowance, they were all smiles, casting their fears to the wind.
"Boss Song."
Captain Edmond glanced around the cabin and said in a low voice, "We've entered the waters of Aden Bay."
Seeing his solemn expression, Song Heping rembered he had promised to voluntarily provide him with escort services, so he dropped his cards and said to Jiang Feng, "Let's go, it's our turn to work."
In recent years, the Aden Bay had been restless with many pirates robbing passing rchant ships. It was said these were pirate groups coming from Somalia, using small, fast boats and relying on speed to catch up to larger vessels. Ard with submachine guns, machine guns, and RPG launchers, they would board the ships by hooking ladders over the sides and after robbing the vessel's valuables, they sotis would even take the crew and ship hostage back to Somalia to demand a hefty ransom from the shipowners.
Therefore, rchant ships in this area would hire PMC security personnel to board and escort them upon entering the Aden Bay, if conditions permitted.
However, the cost of such security was very high, and so shipping company owners were unwilling to spend the money, instead choosing to gamble on the chance of not encountering pirates.
This ti, as "Man Tianxing" was carrying cargo for Song Heping and knowing that he was the owner of a Defense Company, the shipping company made an additional request for Song Heping to escort them after the ship entered the Aden Bay.
Song Heping had Ferrari help Jiang Feng procure his favorite PKM machine gun from the armory, while he himself casually brought an AKM assault rifle on board.
Bringing Jiang Feng along this ti was also to see whether he was as capable as he boasted he was.
"Alright! Old squad leader, just watch !"
Jiang Feng had enlisted two years later than Song Heping, and according to the old rules of the military, he had to address Song Heping as "Old Squad Leader."
The group grabbed their weapons and left the cabin, heading to the deck.
In Jiang Feng's hands, the PKM machine gun was as light as a toy gun, not feeling the least bit heavy.
Before hiring, Song Heping saw on Jiang Feng's resu that he claid to be skilled with the PKM machine gun during assaults, and considered him to be sowhat boastful. Now, it seed that his concerns were unnecessary. The man had amazing strength and stamina. Although he only stood at 1.8 ters, shorter and less bulky than White Bear and Disaster Star, carrying the PKM machine gun with a magazine weighing over twenty pounds didn't seem to slow him down much.
After climbing onto the deck, Song Heping and Jiang Feng took a round along the ship's rail to inspect the anti-piracy asures.
The crew of the "Man Tianxing" were all seasoned sailors who had been navigating these waters for more than a day or two, so they were quite experienced.
But this ship had never encountered pirates, making it one of the luckier vessels.
Therefore, the crew was pretty relaxed. After going through the motions with the anti-piracy asures, they gathered in small groups to shoot the breeze and chat. Seeing Song Heping and Jiang Feng ard and patrolling, they even snickered to themselves, feeling that Captain Edmond was making a mountain out of a molehill.
"The situation in these waters has been quite dire lately."
Edmond had his worries.
"Just a week ago, two cargo ships here were hijacked, four sailors were killed, and the ships were taken to Somalia."
Song Heping saw concern in Edmond's eyes, so he reassured him, "Don't worry, with the two of us here, we'll ensure your safe arrival at Aden Port."
Before passing through the Mandela Strait to reach Asab Port in Eritrea, the "Man Tianxing" needed to dock at Yen Aden Port for unloading.
Although Song Heping was confident, Edmond had his doubts about whether Song Heping was just boasting.
Other PMC companies provided escorts for ships with at least 4-8 personnel, depending on the size of the vessel.
Even with security personnel in escort, there were instances of failure; success wasn't guaranteed.
Edmond felt quite uneasy seeing Song Heping with only two n, a rifle, and a machine gun.
Song Heping didn't bother explaining or persuading Edmond, knowing so things could only be proven with strength. He ordered Edmond, "Have your crew start standing watch in three shifts, from now on. Set up lookout posts at the bow, stern, and the pilothouse. Starting today, until we reach Aden Port, my man and I will sleep in the pilot house. If anything happens, you all take shelter there and be ready to enter the safe room. Leave the rest to us."
"Alright. Then everything is in Boss Song's hands." Edmond was more than relieved, happy to leave the dangerous work to soone else, even if it ant handing over the ship to Song Heping.
"I'll arrange it right away."
Once Captain Edmond had left, Song Heping said to Jiang Feng, "Pack more ammo in your tactical pack. We need sustained firepower."
"Don't worry, old squad leader!" Jiang Feng said confidently, "Where I'm in charge, I guarantee one pirate boat cos, one boat goes down. Back when I was with EO company, I used a PKM machine gun to take down half a rebel platoon by myself."
Song Heping sized him up with a laugh, "With such fighting skills, how could EO company afford to let you go?"
"Fighting." Jiang Feng didn't avoid the subject, "I knocked out three teeth of my black team leader."
"Why did you assault your superior?"
"He was asking for it," Jiang Feng retorted, "He called a 'yellow monkey' and a 'weakling,' so I challenged him to an arm-wrestling match. He lost, didn't accept it, tried to get physical, and I couldn't hold back. I gave him a left hook that knocked him out cold."
Song Heping couldn't help but burst into laughter, giving a thumbs-up, "Well done. If you had lost, I'd have fired you on the spot."
As they were talking, they suddenly heard rapid whistling.
It was the warning signal for spotting pirates; a lookout had sighted pirates.
"Attacking as we enter Aden Bay?" Song Heping was startled, thinking how bold pirates had beco these days.
"Three speedboats rapidly approaching on the port side, suspected pirate group!"
Captain Edmond's slightly panicked voice ca over the ship's broadcast system.
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