"Still too young. When encountering such things, just pay the money. Now that it's gotten to this point, what if they don't listen to you? Are you really going to send troops to fight them?"
"Heh heh, young people don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. And the boss of Tianyu Group? If I were to handle it, this matter would definitely be dealt with beautifully. They can't even handle such a small matter."
"Old man, you talk too much. If you're so awesome, why aren't you the boss of Tianyu Group?"
"Heh heh, they have backing, that's all. Those who understand, understand. It's normal for you young people not to understand."
"To be honest, I also think this is inappropriate. Originally, there was still room for maneuver. Both sides could have talked it over privately, paid some money to resolve the issue as a way to avert disaster. Now, with this, it's like putting both sides on the spot."
"Yeah, if the pirates listened and sent the people and goods back, then how would they do business in the future? Next time they hijack another ship, and the robbed party also issues a statement like Tianyu Group, how will they handle it? They can't possibly release the people."
"If they really don't release them, then the pressure will come to Tianyu Group. They just won't give you face, treating your words as farts. What will you do? Are you really going to send violent agencies to snatch them back? Does Su Yi have that kind of strength?"
"Don't say that, he really does. Look at those exoskeletons and Power Armor. You wouldn't think a bunch of pirates could beat those things, would you?"
"What exoskeletons, what Power Armor, they're just pure propaganda to scam money, untested in actual combat. Only an idiot would believe it."
"Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter. Anyway, I know that many countries have already placed orders for Sentinel-1 exoskeletons. They want more advanced exoskeletons and Power Armor, but Tianyu Group doesn't sell them."
"Let's wait and see. I even have a feeling that Tianyu Group might actually be able to directly solve Suo Country's pirate problem."
"Are you serious, buddy? You're dreaming. It's impossible to solve it; that's determined by their national conditions."
"..."
"The rampant piracy in Suo Country is indeed an inevitable result."
In the chairman's office on the top floor of the group headquarters building, Su Yi was explaining the origin of these pirates to Yue Ling.
"Their location is too good; they guard the entrance to the Macro Sea, a vital shipping lane between the East and West."
"And they are dirt poor."
"In front of them is a golden waterway connecting the whole world, yet they are dirt poor. What can they do? Rob, of course."
"Occupying such a good place, they shouldn't be poor if they conducted normal business, right?" Yue Ling asked, looking at the location on the map.
"Their internal situation is a mess, fighting constantly without stopping. It's called a country, but it's actually an anarchic, chaotic region. It would be strange if they weren't poor."
"You said before that most of the wars and chaos in this world have the shadow of the White-headed Eagle behind them. So, Suo Country becoming like this is also their doing?"
In Yue Ling's mind, the White-headed Eagle Empire on Blue Star had already become the image of a mid-level villain, doing all sorts of evil.
Naturally, when these things were mentioned now, they couldn't help but bring it up.
"It's somewhat related, but not the fundamental reason," Su Yi said with a smile.
"The White-headed Eagle only showed kindness once in its life, wanting to do a good deed without any profit motive, and that was here."
"And then?"
"And then? Black Hawk Down, of course. We can watch it together sometime; the movie is quite good."
"The reason this place became so chaotic probably goes back to an earlier period, when the dominant force in the world order wasn't the White-headed Eagle, but John Bull over there. As colonizers, these morally bankrupt guys drew borders randomly all over the world, leaving behind a pile of disputed areas, so much so that many small countries are still constantly fighting wars because of them."
"Suo Country was once considered a small overlord in the Black Continent, but it got into a war with its neighboring country over a border issue, resulting in both sides suffering heavy losses, the official government collapsing, and turning into the current state of anarchy."
"The whole thing is black humor. That disputed area was originally a desolate place that neither side cared about. But then one day, an Ou Zhou (Europe) energy company suddenly appeared, saying there was oil there, and then they started fighting."
Su Yi shrugged. The level of absurdity in the Black Continent was appalling.
It was truly hard to define who was responsible for Suo Country becoming this way.
In the end, it could only be traced back to John Bull's reckless border drawing.
Yue Ling blinked, somewhat unable to understand the thought process of Blue Star people. After a brief pause, she decided to change the subject:
"So, how do you plan to resolve this? Do you need me to step in?"
"No need for that. There are so many people in that country; we can't kill them all. The effect I want is to deter them, and at the same time, deter the people behind them who told them to steal my things."
"If you step in, they won't even understand what's happening, and it won't have a deterrent effect."
By the floor-to-ceiling window, Su Yi glanced at his watch.
"Half an hour left. Just wait and see."
...
Half an hour flashed by, and the pirates in Suo Country naturally didn't release anyone.
Just as the netizens said, if they released people so easily, how would their robbery business continue in the future?
Therefore, even if there was no one instructing them from behind, they wouldn't release anyone this time.
Seemingly in response to Tianyu Group's full-of-threats announcement, the leader of the pirate group that robbed the merchant ship even specifically filmed a video and uploaded it online.
In the video, the dark-skinned pirate, wearing a worn-out military uniform from an unknown country, held a sharp military knife.
Behind him were about ten captured crew members.
He moved the knife back and forth across the necks of these crew members, and finally, facing the camera, he ranted angrily in an incomprehensible language, with English subtitles thoughtfully provided below.
The general meaning was:
Every three hours, he would kill one hostage. If Tianyu Group wanted to rescue these hostages, they had to transfer one billion dollar to their designated account every three hours, with no upper limit. If they wanted to retrieve both the people and the merchant ship, the boss of Tianyu Group, Su Yi, had to come in person to pick them up.
Finally, the guy grinned obscenely and said that Tianyu Group's CEO, Yue Ling, was very beautiful, and if Su Yi didn't dare to go, they could also release the people if Yue Ling went instead.
Provocation!
Any normal person watching the video would know that these pirates had no intention of negotiating properly. This was a blatant provocation.
One billion dollar every three hours, that's not just a hundred thousand.
Even kidnapping the White-headed Eagle president wouldn't be worth that much!
Not to mention the outrageous demands of Su Yi coming in person and the insults directed at Yue Ling.
Any fool would know that these people had no intention of bargaining.
Su Yi, however, didn't feel angry after watching the video. He just got a set of Power Armor, put it on, and had Yue Ling take a photo of him to send out.
"Wait, I'm coming."
...