Chapter 213 Tolls
ps: What is scarier than going to the dentist to fix your teeth? Four teeth need to be repaired at once! What's scarier than having to repair four teeth at the same time? I suddenly discovered that it was not just four teeth that needed to be repaired, but five teeth! I finished repairing two teeth today, and I have to continue repairing them tomorrow, two days at a time, a total of four times. I have to spend a full month with the dentist, and I have nothing to say.
Originally I just wanted to complain, but suddenly I felt that it would be a pity not to use such a tragic thing to gain sympathy and ask for votes, so I endured toothache, covered my face and rolled on the floor to ask for votes, asking for all kinds of votes... .
"If you can, please don't kill them. I don't want to see blood. Just scare them away."
After hearing the captain's request, Gao Yang climbed up on the deck and shouted down: "Listen, we are on this ship, you should stop thinking about getting rich. I don't want to cause you any trouble, but you have to Understand your situation and get out of here quickly, otherwise, we will no longer be warning shots.”
The pirate ship following the tanker did not respond. Gao Yang was worried that the pirate could not hear his shouts. However, pirates also had radios that monitored public frequencies for maritime communication. As long as the walkie-talkies were tuned to the public frequency, they could contact the pirates.
Gao Yang said to the captain lying next to him: "Set your walkie-talkie to a frequency that allows you to contact the pirates."
The captain lay next to Gao Yang and said nervously: "These pirates are unusual. It turns out that no pirates do this. The pirates just want to rob the people and the ship and then demand a ransom. And the pirates who only ask for a hundred thousand dollars, I can't Never heard of it."
Gao Yang smiled. Said: "Maybe these pirates will change their profession. They plan to set up a mobile toll station on the sea here. Whenever a ship passes by, they will only collect tolls. If I tell you, doing this can make money much faster than being a pirate. gone."
After making a joke with the captain, Gao Yang picked up the walkie-talkie and said loudly: "Listen to me and get out of here right away. I don't have the patience to play games with you anymore. If it weren't for the captain of this ship who didn't want to If I take your lives, you are all dead now."
After finishing speaking, Gao Yang let go of the walkie-talkie and said in a deep voice: "Rabbit, give him some color."
Cui Bo aimed at the pirate who was waving the skull in his hand. After a crisp gunshot, a hole was made in the skull fixed on the stick. The sudden sound of the gunshot startled the pirates. The pirates standing on the bow immediately lay down in the cabin, and the pirates who raised their guns at the tanker immediately opened fire. The bullets clanked against the ship's planks, and a series of sparks erupted.
Gao Yang and the others lay down on the deck without having to worry about being hit by bullets. Gao Yang ignored the bullets fired by the pirates.
He grabbed the walkie-talkie again and said with disdain: "The last warning shot, I'll give you thirty seconds. If you don't retreat when the time is up, your heads will be blown."
Gao Yang saw the man waving a skull shouting something loudly. The pirates on the speedboat quickly stopped shooting. At this time, the voice of the pirate who initially shouted to them came from the walkie-talkie in Gao Yang's hand.
"Listen, you people don't understand the situation. We are not pirates. We are a skeleton gang. We do not hijack ships. Regardless of whether you have armed guards or not, we do not hijack ships. We just showed that we have captured this ship. ability, but we still only charge tolls, understand? As long as you pay the tolls, we will ensure your safety. In this sea area, there will never be any more trouble for you by pirates. You have seen our strength. , we have driven away the pirates in this area, and there are no more pirates in this area, whether on land or at sea, so you only need to pay a sum of money to ensure safety."
Gao Yang couldn't believe his ears. He couldn't laugh or cry and said to the people around him: "No way, these pirates are really planning to collect tolls. Does this make me right? But after all, these pirates I finally figured it out. It’s much faster to collect tolls than to steal money.”
Seeing no reaction on the tanker, the pirate, no, we can't say it is a pirate now, it should be said to be a toll collector. He continued: "Captain, you can hear me. Now listen to me, our charges are very reasonable." , the charge is based on the ton level, 10,000 tons, 10,000 US dollars, but this is a business, right? If you think my price is too high, then we can negotiate a price that both parties are satisfied with, 10,000 US dollars, the minimum For ten thousand dollars you can safely pass through this sea.”
After hesitating for a moment, the captain said to Gao Yang: "Please give me the walkie-talkie. I really want to say a few words to him."
The walkie-talkie belonged to the captain, and Gao Yang had no reason not to give it to him. In Gao Yang's incredible eyes, the captain took the walkie-talkie and said in a deep voice: "Hello, I am the captain of this ship. Regarding the charging issue you mentioned, I don't have any The right makes the decision, and I think ten thousand dollars is too high. If it is one thousand dollars, I think our business can be completed. Of course, this will have to be next time, and how can I confirm that you can do what you say? "
The man waving the skull smiled happily and said: "One thousand dollars is impossible, too little, but five thousand dollars is a good number, but since it is the first time, we can choose not to charge and let you free Passing through this sea area, just remember to pay next time, and this time just treat it as a notice before charging. Also, you will soon know whether what I said is true, my boss is not lying. He will make all the ships on this route no longer worry about pirates, as long as you are willing to pay, good luck, and see you next time."
After saying goodbye to the captain on the intercom, the toll collectors on the speedboat and holding rifles left. Gao Yang looked at the captain in astonishment and said, "I would like to take the liberty to ask, are you really planning to surrender to the pirates in the future?" money?"
After thinking about it for a while, the captain shrugged and said: "This question has to be asked to the captain, not me, but if I have a choice, why not? If a small amount of money can be exchanged for safe passage through this dangerous sea, I would be happy. Of course. It depends on whether the shipowner thinks it is appropriate to hire you or to pay tolls to the pirates. With all due respect, if all Somali pirates plan to do this, it seems that you will be unemployed."
Gao Yang shrugged and said, "I'm not worried about losing my job, I just find it incredible."
The captain smiled and said: "Anyway, thank you very much for everything you have done today. Otherwise, we will be unlucky, and my boss will have to pay a large ransom. It is already dark now." It's time, and it's dinner time. You don't have to stay on the deck all the time. We have radar and can detect pirates in time if they get close. So you can go into the cabin to have dinner and then take a nap until you are about to arrive at the transfer ship. , I will inform you again."
Gao Jian did feel a little hungry. And after a day of sea breeze, he also wanted to go into the cabin to take a rest. As for pirates, there is really no need to worry too much. There are radars on merchant ships, and they can detect any ship approaching. As for Gao Yang and the others, staying on the deck during the day is just boring.
As escorts on the ship, the merchant ship would of course be responsible for Gao Yang's food and accommodation. When Gao Yang and the others returned to the cabin, the meals were ready, but the meals on the ship were all done in batches. There was no one else around when Gao Yang and the others were eating.
Basically, the cooks on all merchant ships are pretty good at cooking. Gao Yang and the others can eat delicious meals no matter which ship they are performing tasks in these days, and they have different flavors from different countries. This alone makes Gao Yang They were very satisfied. After drinking and eating, Cui Bo burped and said with emotion: "Maybe our mission at sea is really short-lived. If the pirates have changed careers, how can we rely on fighting pirates?" Why don't armed guards have to do it too, this is called dead lips and teeth cold."
Although Gao Yang felt that what Cui Bo said was unlikely to come true, if he thought about it carefully, this situation might actually be possible. The only question was whether the pirates could successfully transform.
Nowadays, the income of being a pirate is not as good as it used to be. Although merchant ships are still robbed occasionally. In the past, you could rob a ship every three to five months, but now you may not be able to rob one every few months. The fleets on the main routes are not easy to rob. Fleets escorted by warships cannot be robbed, and even if there are no warships escorting, merchant ships that are not too far away from the warship still cannot be robbed. If they are close to the warship, as long as they cannot wait for the merchant ship in a short time, they will soon be There will be a helicopter coming.
In fact, the role of warships is still secondary. The main reason why pirates' business is not good is that they are caused by them. When there are too many pirates, a large number of armed maritime guards emerge as the times require. It is armed forces like Gao Yang and others that The guards almost cut off all the pirates' hope of making a fortune by robbing the ship.
Gao Yang was not worried about losing his job. After smiling, he said in a deep voice: "Let those British guys worry. Without the pirates, they will be the first to cry. In recent years, those British people have made a lot of money relying on Somali pirates." gone."
As soon as Gao Yang finished speaking, Bruce said calmly: "Don't worry, what these pirates are doing won't last long. Now the army doesn't care about pirates, and the armed guards won't fight them with real swords and guns. But if these pirates If they plan to change their profession and use low fees instead of hijacking ships and collecting ransoms, then they will be really dangerous. If nothing else, those armed guards will kill the pirates who have changed their profession first. If you don’t believe it, just wait and see. Those Brits would surely go after pirates who threatened their business."
Gao Yang smiled and said: "Believe it, why don't you believe it? We have an old saying in China that you should respect yourself when you threaten the bandits. What does it mean? Only with bandits or enemies can the importance of the army be highlighted. Therefore, the stronger the enemy, the stronger the army will be." The stronger the fight, but no matter how strong the army is, it cannot wipe out the enemy. Otherwise, what is the purpose of beating the enemy's army when there is no enemy?
In addition to the saying "respect yourself by coercing the enemy," there is also a Chinese saying that "respect yourself by raising the enemy." If there are no enemies, then just cultivate a group of enemies. If you always have strong enemies, you can continue to exist. So I also think that if the pirates in Somalia really dare to change their profession, the British will get rid of the naive ideas of these pirates and let all the pirates know that they don’t want to be pirates. If there are really no people who want to be pirates, maybe Maybe those Brits will make another batch of pirates. "(To be continued...)