Chapter 6: Betting Life to Seize the Ship

Captain Yamamoto laughed heartily and said, "The harvest is tremendous; we have hunted two blue whales! The whale meat and whale oil are countless. Hurry and have someone bring them down."

The Japanese soldiers on the ship heard this and quickly put away their guns, stepping down from the vessel. Lin Fei shouted loudly, "Old Liu, Old Yu, move!" Liu Daming and Yu Xier immediately lifted their legs to head towards the ship, but several Japanese soldiers raised their guns to block them. Lin Fei pressed down hard on the girl's eyes, and the girl screamed in agony, "My eyes, my eyes!"

Lin Fei gritted his teeth and said: "Then you may order to fire, she is the general's daughter, a noble young lady, your fiancée, and we are merely insignificant Chinese prisoners of war. Let us see whose life is worth more."

Matsuda was momentarily speechless, and the atmosphere was incredibly quiet. For Aoki Ryo, what lay before him was a dilemma. If he listened to Lin Fei and allowed the prisoner of war to escape, he would lose both his position and future; however, if he killed Lin Fei and the prisoner of war, he would still be unable to protect the general's daughter's life or even her eyes. The general would surely vent his anger on him, and he would still lose his position and future.

Aoki Yoshikazu was terrified upon seeing Chiyo Mika being taken hostage, his soul nearly leaving his body. He had no time to ponder why Lin Fei could speak Japanese. He hurried a few steps forward to stand in front of Lin Fei, pointing at him and tremblingly asked: "What do you want to do?"

The ship secured the floating platform, lowered the gangway, and the captain, along with the crew, disembarked. Aoki Ryo approached and said, "Captain Yamamoto, how was the harvest this time?"

In three seconds, almost in the blink of an eye, the Japanese soldiers had no time to fire their guns and could only instinctively raise their weapons, attempting to block Lin Fei with the bayonets. Lin Fei was well-prepared; he watched as the bayonet was raised, deflected it with his arm, and then charged at the Japanese soldier. The soldier was no match for Lin Fei's impact and fell to the side with a cry of agony.

Aoki Yoshikazu nodded slightly, waved to the soldiers, and two squads of soldiers ran up the gangway, forming two lines from the deck to the cargo hold, leaving a path in the middle. They then lowered their guns, pointing them at the path in the center. Aoki Yoshikazu shouted in Chinese to the prisoners of war: "Get on the ship and move the goods"

Chiyo Mikako arrived with four maids behind that row of soldiers. Aoki Ryo pointed at the group of prisoners of war and said, "Hurry up and make them stand up, it's time to unload the cargo." The Japanese soldiers shouted at the prisoners of war to get up.

Lin Fei replied: "I understand Japanese and have listened to their conversation"

Li Mingbai and other infantry prisoners of war were closest to the ship, and he was the first to walk up. He carried one long box after another down and then placed the boxes on the dock to the side. The boxes were very heavy, and when they were set down on the ground, they made a loud noise. The captain of the ship shouted, "Be gentle, be gentle!" The Japanese soldiers were also scolding, and the scene became extremely noisy.

With only twenty meters remaining, Lin Fei reached Chiyo Mikasa in just two seconds. He wrapped his left arm around her neck and pressed his right fingers against her eyes, startling the young girl into a scream, while the four maids collapsed in fear on the ground

At that moment, a delicate voice could be heard coming from a distance: "Qingmu-kun"

Aoki Yoshikazu smiled and said, "Matsuda-kun, I have already gotten engaged to Miss Chiyo Mikasa, and I will no longer be going to the kabuki theater"

Aoki Yoshikazu angrily said: "Shut up, if something happens to Miss Yoshika, how are we going to explain it to the general?"

Aoki Yoshikazu pondered for a long time and finally said to the Japanese soldiers: "Follow my orders, all disembark!"

Lin Fei dragged the girl to the edge of the gangway, ascending the steps one by one. Upon seeing Lin Fei attempting to take the girl away, Aoki Ryo and the others, disregarding the possibility that Lin Fei might gouge out the girl's eyes, pointed at Lin Fei and shouted angrily: "Catch him, don't let him board the ship"

At that moment, a soldier ran up to Lieutenant Aoki and said loudly, "Lieutenant Aoki, the ship has entered the harbor and is expected to arrive at the dock in ten minutes."

Liu Daming said: "Of course I understand! Old Lin, why are you asking this?"

In just seven seconds, the Japanese soldiers finally reacted, raising their guns to point at Lin Fei and the captured soldiers. The sound of gun bolts being pulled echoed across the dock. Lin Fei shouted in Japanese, "Aoki Ryohe, let the prisoners board the ship, or I will gouge out her eyes!"

Aoki Yoshikazu said: "If you hurt her, none of you will live!"

Aoki Yoshikazu put away his smile and said seriously: "Miyako does not like me looking at other women, and I have promised Miyako that I will not go to places like the kabuki theater anymore"

Aoki Yoshikazu furrowed his brow, his face filled with difficulty. At that moment, the officer named Matsuda stepped forward and said: "Aoki-kun, we cannot release the prisoners of war! Give the order to fire."

Yu Xier said softly: "The construction of steam engines is largely similar, so there will definitely be no problem once they are started"

Soon, Japanese soldiers arrived and divided the prisoners of war into ten small groups, each guarded by someone. The group left the POW camp and walked towards the dock, quickly arriving at a certain pier. The Japanese soldiers shouted at them to sit on the ground, then stood around chatting idly. Aoki Ryo happened to be standing next to Lin Fei, chatting with another officer. Lin Fei perked up his ears to listen, and he heard the officer laughingly say, "Aoki-kun, a new kabuki theater has opened in Nagasaki, aren't you coming with us?"

Lin Fei cast a glance at the girl in the distance and said, "She is the daughter of the general, the fiancée of Aoki Ryohei. Taking her hostage is our only opportunity"

Liu Daming exclaimed, "Are you out of your mind? There are little devils everywhere, how can we seize it?"

Lin Fei lowered his voice and said, "Seize this whaling ship and escape from Japan"

At this moment, a Japanese soldier noticed that Lin Fei had been speaking and came over to scold him, "Be quiet!"

Aoki Yoshikazu gritted his teeth and angrily said, "Let them board the ship!" The Japanese soldiers reluctantly put away their guns, and Liu Daming led the group of prisoners onto the whaling ship, causing the captain of the whaling ship to cry out in despair, "That is my ship!"

Lin Fei shouted: "Let the prisoners of war board the ship"

Lin Fei was deep in thought when the ship approached the dock. Since the dock here is not large, the ship did not anchor but instead tied its mooring lines to a buoy in the water. The buoy is a mooring tool used by vessels, with a heavy iron block at its lower end fixed to the seabed, and a buoyant body above it. The buoy has rings on it, allowing the vessel to secure its mooring lines to the buoy's rings to come to a stop

Liu Daming was even more surprised: "When did you learn Japanese, you little rascal"

Liu Daming exclaimed, "How do you know she is the general's daughter?"

Chiyo Mikako softly said: "Mikako wants to see Aoki-kun, and also wants to go to the park with Aoki-kun to see the flowers..." After speaking, she gently lowered her head, her face adorned with an indescribable shyness

Lin Fei gazed into the distance, and before long, he spotted a mast appearing on the horizon where the sea meets the sky. Gradually, the mast grew taller, and the sails hanging from it became visible, followed by a chimney emitting smoke. In this era, some ships utilized both sails and steam engines simultaneously. Before long, a large ship came into view before everyone.

Lin Fei took the opportunity to quietly say to Yu Xier in Chinese, "You are the chief engineer of the Zhiyuan ship, can you start the steam engine of this whaling ship?"

Lin Feichong smiled at the Japanese soldier, suddenly delivering a knife-hand strike to his neck. The Japanese soldier let out a muffled groan and collapsed to the ground. At that moment, as the Japanese soldier created an opening, Lin Fei charged forward, heading straight for Chiyo Yoshika. Chiyo Yoshika was approximately fifty meters away from Lin Fei, with a row of Japanese soldiers armed with rifles standing thirty meters in between. Given Lin Fei's physical condition, he would only need three seconds to cover the thirty meters.

The officer laughed heartily and said, "Once engaged, can one no longer go to the kabuki theater? It's not like going to a brothel. Miss Chiyo Mikasa is none other than the daughter of General Chiyo, right? You wouldn't become a 'henpecked husband,' would you!"

Lin Fei pressed against the girl's eyes, dragging her step by step towards the ship, surrounded by the bayonets of Japanese soldiers. Lin Fei sneered, "Come on, let my worthless life exchange for the general's precious daughter's eyes!" Aoki Ryohei shouted from the side, "Everyone be careful, do not harm the general's daughter!"

Aoki Yoshikazu hurriedly said: "Let her go quickly!"

Aoki Yoshikazu nodded and turned to Chiyo Yoshika, saying: "Yoshika, we are about to unload the cargo. You should go behind the soldiers who are separating the prisoners of war from the civilians. Be careful of any disrespectful behavior from these prisoners of war"

Lin Fei said to Liu Daming beside him: "You are the torpedo officer of the Zhiyuan ship, and you are responsible for the torpedo boat of the Zhiyuan ship. You should know how to steer and how to navigate the ship away from the dock right?"

Lin Fei shouted: "Withdraw your people from the ship and let our people board!"

Lin Fei secretly glanced in the direction of the sound and saw a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old approaching, accompanied by four maids. She was wearing a light pink kimono, her long black hair cascading over her shoulders, and her delicate features exuded an indescribable charm. As Lin Fei was lost in thought, the soldier guarding him harshly shouted in Chinese: "Lower your head!"

Lin Fei hurriedly lowered his head, at that moment, he heard Qing Mu Liang laughing and saying: "Mei Xiang, how did you come here?"

The ship slowly approached the dock, and a special device at the bow caught Lin Fei's attention. The device resembled a turret, but instead of a cannon, it housed a thick harpoon, which had barbs at its front. Lin Fei thought to himself: "This turret must be used for launching harpoons. Given the size of the harpoon, it is certainly intended for hunting large fish such as whales. The Japanese have a tradition of whaling, so this ship must be a whaling vessel"

Lin Fei did not explain, but said: "You all have a plan, listen to me." After taking a deep breath, Liu Daming noticed that he was about to take action and hurriedly said: "She is more than fifty steps away from us, with two layers of enemy guards in between. How are you going to take her hostage?"

Lin Fei pressed down on the girl's eyes with his fingers, and the girl cried out in pain, exclaiming, "Please, don't gouge out my eyes"

As they spoke, the crowd stood in a line in the courtyard. Aoki Ryo raised his voice and said: "Today, I will take you to pledge loyalty to the Empire. If anything goes wrong..." As he spoke, Aoki Ryo cracked the whip against the ground, producing a sharp "crack," and then shouted: "You all know what comes next"