Diamonds

Three months later.

Xie Qiuqi woke up as soon as the phone rang, as if he had been waiting for the call.

The shepherd's impatience can be felt through the phone: "The cargo has been intercepted again. These rampant pirates have already stopped the boat before entering the river. If this continues, this is the first time Now, how do you do business in the future?"

Xie Qiuqi turned over and got up, the cold air of early spring pressed on his shoulders.While getting dressed, he returned to the shepherd dog: "You guys come back first, and I will find a way. Ola told her not to deliver the goods yet."

The shepherd quickly took the line.Xie Qiuqi put down the phone and reached for the cigarette case.

One hand cut off his movements, Zheng Ke hugged his waist from behind, sleepy: "He was robbed again?"

Xie Qiuqi's brows were deeply frowned: "I haven't called Ola for the payment from last month until now. After finally convincing her to send another batch of goods, I can't always owe her money. If I still don't pay the payment, No matter how good the relationship is, people will turn their faces."

"Don't worry." Zheng Ke put his coat on him: "Anyway, I still owe it. There is no difference between a month and a month and a few days. Let's wait and see if there is any more news? Didn't it happen last time?" Send a blackmail letter over here."

Xie Qiuqi took over his mobile phone, and the blackmail letter was still stored in his mobile phone.

"I still have the same idea. If the other party just asks for money, it's easy to say. We can talk to them, but we just want to share a piece of the action. Since the waterway is in their hands, we should pay some tolls. If you go on a high speed, you have to pay What about the money?" Zheng Ke said.

Three out of six shipments of diamonds from Angola have been intercepted by pirates in the Gulf of Mexico over the past three months.Before the ship had time to enter the Mississippi River, it had already fallen into the belly of pirates.Xie Qiuqi couldn't get the diamonds, and both parties were not happy. Ola waited for him to pay, and Nicholas waited for him to pay for the goods. In the end, the relationship between the two sides became a little bit tense.This time the shepherd dog simply went to the coast to pick up the boat, but still failed to save the boat.

No one expected the crisis to come so quickly.The Gulf of Mexico belongs to the high seas, neither under the jurisdiction of the United States, nor has it the turn of Mexico to intervene. Over time, it has become a criminal paradise, where pirates are rampant and merchant ships are easily robbed.After these pirates hijack the ship, they will send a ransom letter to the owner, and people will take the ransom to redeem the ship.Xie Qiuqi received a similar blackmail letter last time, but the other party's asking price was too outrageous, and Xie Qiuqi always felt that paying the protection fee was not a long-term solution, so he ignored it.

Right now, if he can't get the diamonds again, Xie Qiuqi will run out of ammunition and food.

This is not the worst, if Ola terminates the cooperation because of his long-term arrears, then Xie Qiuqi will not have to do business anymore, even without suppliers, what will he do business with?

Maybe what Zheng Ke said is right. Since they want to use other people's waterways, it is not impossible to pay some tolls, which is better than not getting a single diamond.Proper compromise when it is time to compromise is the way to survive.

Xie Qiuqi gritted his teeth and replied to the sender of the blackmail letter.

Soon the other party sent a new message, asking them to meet on the high seas by boat in three days.

"I heard some news in the Gulf. This gang of pirates is organized and called 'Anonymous N'. It was first established by a pair of Mexican brothers. It was established in the early 21st century, and now it is very mature. It has developed into a huge organization of hundreds of people. They act in an orderly manner and are proficient in combat. The Gulf of Mexico seems to have become their private land, and all merchant ships passing here will be terrified." Xing Zhifei went with the shepherd dog and was responsible for collecting information.

The shepherd dog snorted: "What a strange name."

"The bandits are capable of doing this on this scale," Xie Qiuqi said.

Xing Zhifei continued: "There used to be a merchant ship with a very tough attitude. Not only was it unwilling to pay the ransom, but it also had conflicts with pirates. In the end, the captain's head was hung on the mast and dried into bacon. From this, 'Anonymous N' became famous This evil organization was finally officially issued a wanted order by the US government in 2007, defined as terrorists, and is the biggest factor threatening the stability and peace of the Gulf of Mexico. But so far, no one has been able to capture them.”

Zheng Ke was curious about the legendary figure he met: "Do you have a picture or a description of its appearance?"

"Very few people have seen them, probably because they want to keep a low profile and not attract attention," Xing Zhifei shook his head: "It is said that the US military has gone to the Gulf of Mexico to suppress bandits, and Major Alfred Cumming, who is in charge of specific missions, has rich experience. The first time he entered and exited the Gulf of Aden to suppress Somali pirates, he achieved outstanding results. In this case, the pirates are still hiding, doesn’t it mean they are seeking their own death? Moreover, the leader does not need to be dispatched to hijack the ship. It is enough to command the people below. I don't know which corner to hide in."

The shepherd dog said: "Then it's definitely not the two brothers who met this time, probably their subordinates. Thank you, I think it's better to meet me to talk about it."

Xie Qiuqi murmured: "That must be seen. Usually how do they share profits with merchant ships?"

Xing Zhifei shook his head: "They seldom cooperate with outsiders, that is to say, it's useless to offer to pay protection fees, they just want a ransom."

"Is there such a thing?" Zheng Ke was very curious: "Even if the other party comes up with a lot of money, do you ignore it?"

Xing Zhifei gave him an analysis: probably because earning ransom is more profitable and less troublesome.Think about it, the ransom for a ship can range from a few million dollars to tens of millions of dollars if there are more crew hostages hijacked.Hijacking a ship is enough for several years.How much does a ship charge for protection fees?I also have to worry about whether I will be betrayed by others. One case is that if I steal the chicken, I will lose money. "

Xie Qiuqi thought for a while: "Old Xing, you stay here, I will go meet them with Del and Zheng Ke."

The three of them arrived on the open sea as promised. It was dark and foggy, and the sea was covered with a white curtain, and the lonely boat shuttled like a shadow play.

A scruffy transport tug emerged from the fog and slowly approached their speedboat.I saw a group of pirates standing on the edge of the boat with heavy machine guns in their hands, staring at the boat with a dozen pairs of eyes, like a row of spotlights.

Some pirates first searched four people and removed all weapons from their bodies before allowing them to board the ship.When they got to the boat, there were thin monkey-like pirates to guide them.They spoke English with a Mexican dialect, and Xie Qiuqi guessed that most of these people were Mexicans.When passing the stern, you can see the modified movable hydraulic steel plate on the rear deck.

"I thought they'd put one of those big, majestic flags on the boat with an 'N' or something," said the Collie quietly.

Zheng Ke laughed: "It's not the seventeenth century anymore, I've seen too much "Pirates of the Caribbean". Flying flags will only attract the attention of warships."

The cabin is brightly lit.A small, ugly man was sitting on a chair. He was a dwarf with a three-headed body. The legs of the chair were longer than his legs. Someone might have lifted him up, or He jumped up to sit on it.At first glance, Xie Qiuqi thought it was a child sitting there, secretly startled.

Two tall and mighty pirates stood behind the dwarf, with submachine guns in their hands, and a bullet chain on each of them, like a thick wall, which made the Tu Xingsun in front of him even more special.

"Welcome." Tu Xingsun made a deep voice, the mature tone was incompatible with the child-like figure.

Xie Qiuqi chose the front chair and sat down: "Hello."

Tu Xingsun shook hands with him: "Harlan Mosley, I am the captain of this boat."

"Xie Qiuqi." Xie Qiuqi introduced: "The two are my colleagues, Zheng Ke and Del Bongo."

"Asians." Tu Xingsun said angrily, "I don't remember the names of Asians, it's too difficult to pronounce."

Xie Qiuqi didn't care: "You return the ship and the goods to us, and there is no need for us to meet again."

Tu Xingsun smiled, as if he was an interesting person.

"Have you brought the ransom?" Tu Xingsun patted the table, "It's 6000 million dollars, not a penny less."

Xie Qiuqi shook his head: "The whole ship plus the cargo is not worth 6000 million US dollars. This asking price is too high."

"Then why are you here?" Tu Xingsun shook his head: "No money, no boat, no goods. It's as simple as that."

Zheng Ke was worried that Xie Qiuqi's words were too harsh, so he interjected: "We want to pay you a part of the cargo on the ship as tolls. We can guarantee that as long as our ships borrow expensive roads in the future, each ship will receive a 5.00% profit ratio." Paying you tolls is a small gesture of gratitude. If you think it’s okay, we’re happy to cooperate with you.”

Tu Xingsun's strange eyes fell on Zheng Ke, and he burst out laughing.The faces of the three were stiffened by his smile.

"Is he still a child? You bring a child to do business?" Tu Xingsun shook his head and said, "Let me tell you, baby, we don't want diamonds, we want cash. CASH! Can't you understand English? ? Ivory, diamonds, drugs, oil... I have seen a lot of things. 80.00% of the things that pass by this road are smuggling ships. You can get all kinds of goods that you can't imagine. .That winter was really rich."

The pirate behind him also let out a rude laugh, as if Zheng Ke's existence was a joke.

"6000 million, US dollars, not a penny less." Tu Xingsun decided: "Pay the money, take the boat and goods and leave. Otherwise, we have nothing to talk about. I don't need any tolls, I don't Love dealing with you yellow monkeys."

This was so rampant that the shepherd couldn't help but retort: ​​"What kind of racism are you doing, a dwarf? We haven't discriminated against you yet!"

As soon as the words fell, a room of bodyguards pointed their guns at the four people in unison.

The shepherd dog was not afraid, and stood up to protect Xie Qiuqi and Zheng Ke behind him: "What? You are not happy after saying a few words? Do you want Dad to bring you two candies and eat something sweet, baby? Don't talk about me Didn't remind you, you won't get money if you kill us, and if you don't get money, you won't be able to deal with your boss. You two brutal leaders, am I right? Guess they will Hang your head on the mast for bacon?"

Tu Xingsun scolded angrily: "You bold monkey!"

The shepherd dog satirized him: "I'm too brave to say it's bad, but it must be bigger than your bottom. Listen carefully, dwarf, tell your boss to come over and talk to our boss! Don't put a child here to scare people."

A voice came: "He has no boss, he is the leader of the pirates, the founder of 'Anonymous N'."

The shepherd's expression changed.Even Tu Xingsun's expression changed.

Xie Qiuqi walked to the front calmly: "I don't know your name, but you must not be Harlan Mosley, maybe he is one of your subordinates, you borrowed his name and pretended to be your own subordinate Come to this talk. Have to say, the idea is very interesting, maybe you play a game like this a lot to test if your opponent can guess who you really are. Is it that the sea is so boring that you only play this kind of game Boredom?"

Tu Xingsun showed a strange smile: "Are you mistaken? Do you think the founder of the notorious pirate organization is a dwarf? Where did you come up with such a whimsical idea? Even if you are playing a guessing game, you always have to tell the evidence and clues?"

"You just said that you are the captain of this ship. This ship is a 'mother ship', as can be seen from the movable hydraulic steel plate on the rear deck. For long-distance combat, a mother ship usually leads several speedboats to cooperate.Most mother ships are transformed from tugboats or cargo ships, carrying a certain amount of gasoline, water and material reserves, and can be used in longer-distance sea areas. When it is necessary to fight, put down the speedboat from the mother ship to surround the merchant ship. The speedboat moves more quickly, and the mother ship acts as the command center. You are the captain of a mother ship, which means that you are very high in this organization." Xie Qiuqi was methodical. say.

Tu Xingsun tilted his head: "You seem to know pirates and ships very well."

"I grew up by the sea, and the time spent at sea is no shorter than yours."

"That doesn't mean I'm the founder of 'Anonymous N'?"

"Your organization is called 'Anonymous N', which is quite a grand name. The abbreviation of 'anonymous' is 'ano', and the synonym of 'N' in English is 'en', combining the two words Put it all together and it becomes 'enano', which means dwarf. The word is borrowed from Spanish, but yes, Mexico speaks Spanish, and you are Mexican. The name of this organization is actually 'dwarf' , because its founders are a pair of dwarf brothers, I guess right? It’s really hard for you guys to design this boring word game.”

For a while, no one spoke.

The doll-like dwarf on the chair showed a vicious smile: "Oh, finally a wise man came."

The author says:

Enter the second copy: Gulf of Mexico Bandit Suppression.