23: The long-awaited warship

The tunnel was cold and damp, the ground covered in slippery moss. Every step felt like treading on oil, threatening a face-plant at any moment.

Lin Feng couldn't care about anything else. He sprinted frantically through the pitch-black darkness, his flashlight beam swaying violently with his run, casting chaotic shadows against the rock walls.

Wang Dalong followed behind, nearly out of breath, his lungs burning like fire.

"Brother Feng! Brother Feng, wait for me! Those bastards have guns! We're empty-handed—chasing them is just asking for death!"

Lin Feng was deaf to his words, his pace not faltering for a second.

His mind was filled with the image of Captain Kidd's eyes at the very end—that unwilling bitterness and rage of being betrayed by the whole world felt like it was about to explode from his own chest!

He wasn't angry because of the stolen Golden Mural.

He was seeking justice for a soul that had been wrongfully killed three hundred years ago!

Why was that mural so important? What exactly were those mysterious people trying to do?

With a loud splash!

The icy seawater instantly enveloped his body, cooling Lin Feng's overheated brain slightly.

He struggled out of the underwater tunnel opening and surfaced. Wiping the seawater from his face, he looked up toward the summit.

"They escaped by boat! Quick! Up the mountain!"

The two of them scrambled up the cliff like madmen, using both hands and feet.

By the time they stood panting atop the peak of Snake Bone Island again, the sun was hanging on the western horizon, its golden light dyeing half the sky and the entire sea crimson.

The sea breeze blew through their soaked clothes, stripping away their body heat and making them shiver uncontrollably.

With trembling hands, Wang Dalong raised the still-streaming device, locking the lens onto the distant sea.

In the frame, a piercing white spray of water was carving a straight line across the golden surface of the ocean.

It was an all-black speedboat, like a black arrow shot from a bow, speeding toward the edge of the horizon at an astonishing velocity.

"Damn it!"

Wang Dalong slammed his fist against a nearby rock in fury, instantly scraping the skin off his knuckles as blood flowed.

"They got away! We just let those sons of bitches get away!"

The audience in the livestream chat also exploded. Although the signal was intermittent, the footage of the speedboat fleeing had been clearly captured.

[Shit! They really fucking got away! We watched them leave with our own eyes!]

[This makes me so mad! That Golden Mural must be some kind of key item, and it was just snatched away like that!]

[Brother Feng, don't lose your head! As long as you're okay! A gentleman's revenge is never too late!]

[Who the hell are these people? Committing armed robbery in front of tens of millions of people in a livestream—they're completely lawless!]

Lin Feng didn't say a word. He just stared in the direction where the speedboat had disappeared, etching its silhouette and course deep into his mind.

He knew this wasn't over.

Between him and those mysterious people, this grudge was officially settled today.

While Wang Dalong was still cursing at the sea, Lin Feng's movements suddenly froze.

He slowly raised his arm, pointing in a completely different direction.

"Fatty, look. What's that?"

Wang Dalong blinked and followed his finger. At first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

At the edge of the horizon, on the sea that had been empty at noon, three massive black dots had appeared at some point.

Those three black dots were growing larger at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Their silhouettes gradually became clearer.

Those were ships!

No!

They were warships!

Wang Dalong's eyes nearly popped out of his head. The livestream device in his hand wobbled, almost slipping as he desperately pushed the lens zoom to its limit.

"Holy... Holy shit! Is this... is this a carrier strike group?! Where did they come from?!"

The viewers in the livestream also went completely wild.

If the previous treasure hunt and gunfight were at the level of a Hollywood blockbuster...

Then this scene was a genuine display of national power, a spectacle that only appeared in war movies!

[Am I blind? Those are warships, right? They're definitely warships! Three of them!]

[Good God! What are they doing? Deploying three destroyers just to catch pirates? This is way too much overkill!]

[Something's wrong! Look, brothers! Their directions are off! They're coming from three different directions! They aren't together!]

[Damn! This plot is insane! Whose hornet's nest did Brother Feng poke?]

Under the shocked gaze of countless people, the three grey steel giants stopped simultaneously about five nautical miles from Snake Bone Island.

From three directions, they formed a stable equilateral triangle, completely blockading Snake Bone Island and all its surrounding waters!

The massive hulls were like three mobile steel mountains. That silent pressure made it difficult for Wang Dalong even to breathe.

A thought suddenly struck Lin Feng, sending a chill down his spine.

Jack and his crew didn't run so fast because they were afraid of the two of them... they were afraid of these things!

Then, through the telephoto function of the lens, Wang Dalong saw a scene that made his scalp tingle.

On the masts of those three warships, three completely different national flags were flying!

One was the red, white, and blue Union Jack—Britain!

One was the blue, white, and red Tricolor—France!

And the other was the red, white, and blue horizontal striped flag—the Netherlands!

These three old European powers, which still held overseas territories in the Caribbean, had unexpectedly and simultaneously dispatched their naval fleets to gather at this godforsaken Snake Bone Island!

"Feng... Brother Feng..."

Wang Dalong's voice was shaking, the color drained from his face, and his lips were pale.

"This... this is... big trouble..."

Lin Feng's heart also sank bit by bit.

He looked down at the desolate island beneath his feet, then up at the three predatory behemoths in the distance.

He suddenly realized that what he had found might not be a treasure at all.

But a super powder keg capable of igniting the entire Caribbean region!

Since ancient times, the ownership of treasure has never been decided by the discoverer.

It was decided by the range of the cannons!

On the sea, the three warships seemed to be conducting some tense negotiations via radio; no one moved first.

This eerie standoff lasted for a full ten minutes.

Finally, there was movement on the destroyer flying the British Union Jack.

A speedboat was lowered, cutting through the waves and leaving a white wake as it headed straight for the shore of Snake Bone Island.

The other two warships remained in place, making no reaction.

Clearly, this silent contest between the three navies had reached a temporary conclusion.