20demayo Chapter 253 Locking on the Target
Chapter 253 Locking on the Target
Chapter 253 Locking on the Target
"Jun, look ahead."
At this moment, Suraj is standing in the lookout tower of the Wisdom Tree.
He pointed to the coastline ahead and handed the lookout tube in his hand to his deputy, Ah Jun.
Ah Jun took the binoculars and stared at the distance carefully for a long time before nodding and saying:
"That's right, that's the Federation's 'Mountain-Swallowing Leopard' class warship."
"The question is, why is it stopped here?"
As Suraj spoke, he tapped the railing with his fingers in turn.
"It should be in Newgate City, not on the wild coast to the south."
At this moment, Ah Jun suddenly lowered the binoculars and looked at Sulajie:
"Sir, we spotted a 'Mountain-Swallowing Leopard' in Tongue Harbor!"
Suraj nodded: "That's what I think too—it seems we've been following this ship all along."
"What is their purpose?"
"I don't know," Suraj shook his head, "but I have a feeling that this ship doesn't seem to have come from the New Great Sect."
"Why?" Ah Jun asked.
"The Federation people prefer to do things in a standardized way. They don't like impromptu risks and prefer to follow a set procedure. Sending a warship around to carry out some kind of covert mission is definitely not their style."
"That makes sense—" Ah Jun nodded, "Then who does this boat belong to?"
"I don't know," Suraj said, "but we can figure it out."
"Sir, what do you intend to do?"
"They shouldn't have spotted us yet, which is a good opportunity to launch a surprise attack," Suraj said.
However, Ah Jun looked troubled.
Suraj immediately noticed and asked:
"What's wrong?"
"My lord, I'm worried that this might be a misjudgment on our part, and that ship really was sent by New Gate City?"
"Hmph," Suraj chuckled lightly, "Swabawa has always been oppressed by the Federation. Seeing their ships, we have the right to punish them!"
"That's true," Ah Jun said, "but don't forget, we came here with a mission, and we can't let a moment of impulse delay our original plan."
"My lord, I fear that a rash attack would expose our identities. If someone recognizes us and spreads the news to Newgate City, or even the Federation, not only will our mission fail, but it could also put our lord in a disadvantageous position."
Suraj chimed in, "I know that, which is why we don't just rush straight in. That ship doesn't seem to be setting sail anytime soon."
"We'll first sail the boat to a more distant location, then go ashore, slowly approach, and launch the attack from the shore when it gets dark."
Ah Jun said, "I don't see anything clever about this plan."
"If that really is a Federation ship, they would definitely suspect what kind of ship it is if they were attacked by a ship at sea."
"But if the attack came from land, they could only suspect that it was done by the green-eyed people. And at night, they would probably have a hard time distinguishing the color of the attacker's eyes."
After speaking, Ah Jun began to ponder the plan.
He quickly came to a conclusion:
"Nevertheless, it's still a risky undertaking. My lord, you don't know the strength of the troops on that ship." "Then how about this," Suraj said, "we'll just try to capture one person and ask them what's going on. That should be much easier."
Ah Jun frowned: "Sir, do you really have to do this?"
"We are about to set foot on the New World," Suraj said. "In order for our operations to proceed more smoothly, we need intelligence. And the people on that ship, I guess they know something about the New World."
Ah Jun was silent for a moment, then bowed to Sulajie:
"If you wish to do this, I will certainly cooperate, but I must say that this operation is somewhat risky."
"Of course I understand that we need to keep a low profile and remain stable, but if we don't learn to be flexible, then our mission will most likely be aborted halfway."
Suraj said,
"After all, we are heading to an unfamiliar continent, and we cannot predict what challenges await us."
Just like... he thought to himself... not knowing what the final outcome would be, they didn't continue the conversation.
Suraj's orders were quickly relayed on the Wisdom Tree.
The ship suddenly turned sharply south to avoid being spotted by the ship ahead.
Only after confirming that it would not be discovered by that ship did the Wisdom Tree continue its journey toward the coast of the New World.
They successfully reached the shore.
Suraj immediately ordered the formation of three teams.
The first team remained on the ship to prevent their landing from being discovered by someone who could then launch a surprise attack.
Send another team to investigate the surrounding terrain to determine if there are any potential hazards.
Suraj and Ah Jun will personally lead the last team on foot to the location where the "Mountain-Swallowing Leopard" fighter jet was previously docked, to carry out the plan they had agreed upon.
Once the order was given, everyone began to carry it out.
Suraj, along with his small team, immediately set off on their journey.
Before nightfall, Suraj finally arrived near the target location.
They hid in the woods, secretly checking the area around the boat.
Afterwards, Suraj concluded:
"This group was much more undisciplined than we had imagined, which gave us many opportunities."
Ah Jun nodded: "Now we just need to wait for nightfall and find someone to take our hit."
"Jun, take two people and go plan the retreat route," Suraj said. "This is a temporary operation, and to avoid exposure as much as possible, all our actions must be swift and clean."
"Yes, sir."
After bowing, Ahjun Singh immediately took two people and set about as Suraj had instructed.
He, meanwhile, led the rest of his men to search for a suitable location to make their move.
As darkness fell quickly, Suraj and his group were fully prepared.
All the men were lying in ambush in various locations. Once someone approached alone, they would decisively take them down.
However, time flew by, and no one came near.
Suraj couldn't help but feel worried; if things continued like this, their attempt would likely end in failure.
Even so, Suraj had no choice but to accept it.
His bottom line is that they must not be discovered.
Soon, it was already late at night.
The campfires on the shore have all gone out by now.
Seeing this, Suraj decided to order a temporary return to the Wisdom Tree for the night.
Just then, Suraj noticed someone had entered the woods.
He immediately held his breath, and so did the others.
Those were two men, probably sailors from the ship.
They stopped under a tree, and suddenly one of them pinned the other against the trunk.
Seeing this, Suraj couldn't help but exchange a glance with Ah Jun beside him, and the two smiled knowingly.
Ah Jun raised his chin, and Suraj immediately understood what he meant, so he nodded to him.
Then, Ah Jun got up, crouched down and walked towards another group of people, waving to them.
In the blink of an eye, Ah Jun had led everyone to quietly approach the two men who were busy at work.
Suddenly, Ah Jun clenched his raised hands tightly.
Everyone rushed forward and quickly subdued the two men.
And they immediately gagged them, so that they didn't make any unnecessary noise.
Suraj immediately waved and then led everyone to begin the evacuation according to the pre-planned route.
The two men were already bound hand and foot and carried by four of Suraj's soldiers.
After they had moved a sufficient distance away, Ah Jun finally spoke:
"There's one more than I expected, sir."
"There's nothing we can do about it. It might be the only chance," Suraj said. "I can't just capture one and let the other return to the ship with the intelligence. It'll only add one more person, and the outcome won't change much."
Moreover, this makes it easier for them to extract information and verify facts.
Therefore, Suraj dared not hope for a better outcome.
When they returned to the Wisdom Tree, it was already very late; in a little while, it would probably be dawn.
Suraj ordered everyone to board the ship and set sail immediately.
The most urgent task is to change locations to prevent anyone from tracking them down and discovering their boat.
After the ship had moved a certain distance, Suraj began to interrogate the two men.
The fact that they spoke standard Royal English from the very first word is a testament to this.
This immediately convinced Suraj that he was absolutely right! That ship was indeed not assigned by New Gate City!
The two men had no backbone either; they answered all of Suraj's questions without reservation.
He then learned that the ship belonged to a merchant.
And this businessman seemed to have only bought the ship recently.
Suraj was quite certain that the "Mountain-Swallowing Leopard" type warship was not on the Federation's list of commercial ships.
In other words, it must have been an accident-damaged ship, which is why it could have appeared on the market and been bought by a merchant.
According to both men, the ship's captain was named Leo Gibson, a young businessman.
Two days ago, he went deep into the New World with a man nicknamed "Know-It-All".
Suraj asked the two men what Leo and Know-It-All were up to.
But they got no answers, and their captain didn't tell the crew anything.
They didn't even know what kind of business the captain was trying to do by sailing across the entire Sea of Despair. However, the two men did provide some useful information: there were eight green-eyed people on board their ship.
By the time the interrogation ended, it was already dawn.
Despite not having slept all night, Suraj still showed no sign of closing his eyes.
Suraj called Ah Jun into the captain's cabin and then asked:
What do you think?
"It shouldn't be a coincidence," Ah Jun replied.
While resting in Tongue Harbor, Suraj was entertained by the count lord there.
It was there that Suraj first tasted something called "spice".
Suraj immediately realized that spices had unparalleled commercial value.
If one can control him, it will surely bring enormous wealth to Swabawa and His Holiness.
This could be an opportunity for the country to become wealthy!
According to Count Gabriel, the source of the spices they possessed seemed to be related to several green-eyed people.
And on that ship that sailed from Tongue Harbor all the way to the New World, there happened to be several green-eyed people on board.
Ah Jun is right, that shouldn't be a coincidence.
Suraj guessed that the merchant named Leo probably had access to the spice trade.
If Suraj could find him at this moment, he might be able to take his place and control the spice trade routes!
Since leaving his homeland, Suraj's eyes had never been so firm and clear as they were now!
He told Ah Jun, "We must find that Leo and 'Know-It-All'."
"That's definitely worth a try," Ah Jun nodded in agreement, "but the problem is, we don't have any leads at all right now. Those two don't know where their captain is."
"But at least we know where they landed," Suraj said. "At least we know where to start the search."
"In that case, we should act quickly. According to those two men, Leo and the know-it-all..."
It's been less than three days since I set off with the green-eyed man.
"But we can't rush things," Suraj said. "This is the New World, the territory of the Green-Eyed People, and we are undoubtedly their enemies. We might be attacked. Therefore, we must proceed cautiously and steadily."
Only then can we be absolutely certain of success.
Ah Jun frowned upon hearing this: "If that's the case, why is that Leo able to get so close to the green-eyed man?"
"We can only find out the answer to this mystery by venturing deep into this land of opportunity," Suraj said. "But it also proves that the nature of our operation is 'infiltration'."
"That's true, sir. Do you have any thoughts on this?"
"The failure of an infiltration begins the moment it is discovered," Suraj tapped his fingers on the table. "Therefore, we must avoid being discovered, which requires us not to send too many people."
"Well, besides, the ship needs someone to guard it. So, sir, how many people do you wish to take?"
"You, me, and three more people. One skilled in reconnaissance, one skilled in shooting, and we need someone who knows how to survive in the wild."
"I will make the arrangements, sir," Ah Jun bowed to Suraj. "Shall we act now?"
"First, find a relatively secluded and safe place to hide the boat."
Suraj stood up from his chair and paced around the captain's cabin.
"Then, we immediately set off from the shore, returned to the landing point of the ship, and ventured into the mainland from that area."
"Yes, sir—and also, what should we do with those two prisoners?"
Suraj only considered for two seconds: "Kill him, throw him into the sea."
Those two people already knew about the ship and Suraj's group, and they risked revealing their whereabouts.
Therefore, these two cannot be kept.
Suraj acted for the sake of His Lord and His country, and he was willing to bear countless blood debts for it. Ah Jun's expression was equally indifferent. All the members on this ship shared the same firm belief.
After Ah Jun left the room, Sulajie began to think about what he needed to bring for this mission.
Suraj went to the bedside first and picked up a book that was placed next to the pillow.
The book is titled "On Self-Cultivation".
The librarian who gave him the book told him that it might be helpful.
He has already read part of it.
Suraj thought the administrator was right.