Chapter 3

...

In the islands near Vietnam, there is a secret pirate hideout that has eluded the authorities for a very long time now. They have been operating in the South China Sea for decades and have employed the use of modern technology and long-range radars.

Unlike small-time pirates, they are a huge organization calling themselves the 'Sea Wolf'. They operate in the many major oceans of the world. One of their branches is the one located near the waters of Vietnam.

The 'Sea Wolf' is a pirate group that could also be considered mercenaries that would stop at nothing to do their task. They are feared by the many that always spend their days in the sea.

At this time, a group of ten pirates has just raided a yacht and looted it, and after that they burned the yacht, killing its passengers in the process. Out of the ten of them, seven were left as 3 died in that raid. They are currently escaping from the scene of the crime and are going to return to their hideout. However, they suddenly pick up something from their long-range radar. There is a boat nearby. And that boat is laying on their path towards their secret hideout.

"Captain… there is another vessel. I think it is a small fishing vessel… Do we have to bother with it?" one of the pirates asked while looking through the binoculars in his hands.

"Are you stupid? Of course, we should silence any witnesses. According to our contract, we have to eliminate any possible witnesses. I don't know the reason, but once this gets out on the news then our heads will roll." The pirate captain said with a sneer.

"Hai! Captain!" the pirates shouted.

The pirates are using a really fast ship that is camouflaging as a local fishing boat. And because of their speed, they are able to soon reach the small fishing vessel.

Although the fishing vessel is bigger than the pirate ship, this did not deter the pirate from approaching it.

"Those inside the fishing vessel ship… come out and surrender! If not, then we will sink your ship!" the pirate captain shouted in Vietnamese through the speakerphone.

The pirate crew showed a slight sneer on their faces. They would always say this, but in truth, whether the crew surrenders or not, they would still be killed by them.

However, there was no response from the fishing vessel.

The fishing vessel has already stopped before they arrive and this has already baffled the pirates. But of course, they just thought that the crew of this fishing vessel are too afraid to die that they decided to just stop and hide in their ship.

"Use English…" the pirate captain commanded as he handed the speakerphone to the pirate next to him.

"Give money… or… die!..." the pirate who grabbed the speakerphone shouted with a proud smirk on his face.

This made the rest of his companions chuckled.

…

Meanwhile, in the fishing vessel, the rest of the crew members along with the captain are already hiding inside the fish storage of the vessel.

Before the pirate ship had arrived, they have already decided to defend themselves. They knew that they would not survive this encounter if they are out there at the deck, and they knew that they could only fight for a chance of survival. But in order to be able to fight, they needed to use the ship like their fortress.

Of course, this is not feasible. But what can they do?

As they hole up inside the fish storage location of the fishing vessel, they already armed themselves with hooks and knives while waiting for the inevitable.

Suddenly, the captain noticed something.

"Where… where is Yun Rong?" he asked.

The rest of the crew members looks around and then shrugged. They too did not see her. In fact, they actually saw her following them from behind a while ago.

"She was just behind me…" the last person said with a confused expression on his face.

"Where did that little lass go? What do you think she is planning to do? She was the one who convinced us to hide in this place…"

"Don't tell me she has…"

An idea came to their minds as the six men look at each other. They did not know why Yun Rong suggested hiding in this place, but looking at this situation, it seems that she suggested it to either save their lives or sacrifice them so that she could escape.

For some reason, they feel confused and worried about her at the same time also afraid…

If she really did have the idea to save them, then they would really be thankful towards her. But if she is to sacrifice them for her safety, then they could only lament their luck for being used by her.

No one said anything, but these are the two things that are already running in their minds.

…

Meanwhile, a few feet underwater below the boats, a small white figure is slowly swimming towards the pirate ship. Yun Rong has already made a plan to help those six men who had saved her life. She was grateful towards them and she wanted to at least do this so that she could pay them back for saving her.

When she saw the pirate ship coming for them, a plan was almost immediately formed in her subconscious mind which she acted upon.

Because of their kindness, she decided to do the second option. And that is to kill.

In these few days, she felt closer to them. They gave her some clothes, but she did not wear them as her suit would just copy those clothes and that is what she would usually wear.

And then learned more about the boxes that the crew fished out from the waters.

Those boxes contain many manuals of some sort which are written in a language she seems to be very familiar with. The others could not understand what is written on them, but it seems that she could.

She spends her time reading the manuals and soon realized what it was. Those are sets of instructions about some kind of a ship that could travel through space and many more. As she reads she became more curious about it and also about herself. But she still could not find any indication about her identity from those books.

She then learned about the suit she is wearing from those manuals. She already knew about it so she just read through it for reference.

She learned a lot of things from the manuals and after she finished reading them all, she burns them according to what the manual instructed.

According to what she knows, the suit has already recorded the things on the manual so she is not worried if ever she forgets anything.

Yun Rong soon reached the pirate ship. She looks up from beneath the ocean surface and noticed that the pirates are still looking at the fishing vessel on the other side of their boat while saying words that she did not understand. She quickly rose out of the water and cautiously gets on the boat without anyone noticing her.

Upon looking around, she already found her first target. It is the person inside the boat's bridge.

She carefully creeps towards the bridge, and when she is already behind him, her eyes suddenly change. It was like she switched to a different person.

Her expression is now devoid of emotions. She suddenly grabs the kitchen knife from her side and stabs it directly on the man's back while covering his mouth.

The knife penetrated his body with ease as it punctured his heart. The stab force is just enough that she did not even hit his rib cage in the front.

She did not let the man fall to the ground abruptly, as she carefully lays him down. She then curiously grabs the handgun on his side and pointed it towards the farthest person.

She squeezes the trigger, but nothing happened. She showed a slightly confused expression on her face while looking at the handgun. She knew that this is a weapon, but it seems that she did not know how it works.

She has no time to be learning about these types of weapons, as she could tell that the pirates are already becoming impatient.

She suddenly grabs the combat knife on the man's side while also pulling out her kitchen knife from his back. Then, she did not hesitate to go out of the bridge and throw the two knives towards the farthest people amongst the seven armed men.

Splash! Splash!

Two knives were thrown and two lives were taken. The two people staggered and fell to the water with shocked expressions on their faces.

Her movements are nimble and quick as she arrives at the side of the person nearest to her. With a sudden kick on the rifle, she forms her hand into a blade and strikes that person's neck choking him instantly.

Before that man could even fall, her hand has already grabbed the knife hanging on his side as she dashed to the next person. She threw the knife at the other guy which is already about to shot his gun at her as it struck his hand.

While doing this, she tackles the guy in front of her hitting the person behind him as they stumble.

Then without stopping, while lying on the pirate's stomach she lifted her body up slightly and hits the guy with her elbow directly on his jaw. The powerful blow immediately knocks the guy out cold.

But the person behind him was still able to draw his handgun and tried to shoot. But Yun Rong has already parried the gun which enables her to shift the trajectory making the bullet missing her by a hair's breadth.

Bang!

She rolled while already grabbing and twisting the guy's arm. She then hit that guy with her knee which also knocked him unconscious.

She is now able to grab the handgun, as she immediately pointed it at the last remaining conscious person, who is trying to put her in his sight with a trembling and bleeding hand.

Then, their eyes met, and then…

Bang!

…

Two gunshots were fired in the air, and the people inside the fishing vessel are already shaking in fear. How could they not be afraid when those pirates have guns and they only have kitchen knives and fish hooks?

But then, a long time has passed, and they soon heard some footsteps from the deck of their ship. They knew that someone has boarded the ship. It seems that the footsteps are busy doing something which made them feel anxious but they decided to stay quiet.

Then the crew heard some footsteps going down the stairs and this made them shiver in fear. Their hearts are already in their throat as they did not know what to do. They just hid in the corner and hope that the wall is thick enough to hide their bodies.

Suddenly…

Ka-boom!

A loud explosion shook the small fishing vessel slightly which made the rest of them jump in terror.

"Did… Did they blast the bridge?" asked Mister Ji.

"No… I think… I think that sound came from outside…" the captain said with a frown.

While they are trying to feel what is happening outside, they soon heard the familiar voice of Yun Rong.

"Guys… the pirates are now gone…" she just called towards them calmly.

The rest of the crew looks at each other in disbelief.

They are a bit hesitant but then realized that since Yun Rong, a small woman is out there, then it might be already fine, right?

The captain was the first to climb up and saw the figure of Yun Rong sitting on the lower bunk bed in the cabin while reading.

"Where… where are the pirates?" the captain asked in confusion while looking at her.

Her clothes are not wet and she did not have any wounds on her. This made the captain heave a sigh of relief.

Yun Rong did not reply, instead, she continues reading the book in her hand.

But the captain did not notice that her hand is a bit shaking. Deep in her heart, different emotions are showing. She felt weird at what she just did, but she also felt repulsed by it. However, for some unknown reason, her feeling suddenly subsided and calmness returns to her heart.

Soon, the rest of the crew came out and they all carefully walk to the deck of the ship. From afar, they saw a slowly sinking ship which made them look at it with befuddlement. They could not connect the dots on what just happened, and how that happened to the other ship.

But their eyes landed on the young woman who is nonchalantly reading a book about fishes. They could not help but feel respect and adoration towards the young woman.

They now knew that she did not sacrifice them, instead, she saved them…