Chapter 220 Oh no, I've become a pirate!
Just then, the radar officer at the front of the Bridge shrank back and weakly asked, "Ahem, um—Captain, the radar shows there are no other airships within a hundred kilometers—"
Dola's expression froze instantly; she had really embarrassed herself.
She forgot that this wasn't her rusty pirate ship, but the Goliath Battleship equipped with the most advanced electronic control system and radar. Habits formed over the years couldn't be changed overnight, and her first thought when encountering anything was to be wary of ambushes.
She glared fiercely at the radar officer – "You dared to talk back!"
The radar officer immediately lowered his head and pretended to get busy; this dashboard was truly a dashboard.
"Actually, I already expected this. Those deployments were just to keep you on your guard at all times, understand?"
"Now lift the radio silence and ask them who they are."
Dola tried her best to maintain her captain's dignity and spoke in a serious tone.
The communications soldier, suppressing a laugh, started the radio to send an inquiry signal. A message came back shortly after. Dola took the telegram, glanced at it, and her expression turned somewhat surprised.
"Wow, what a big fish! It's actually an airship from the O'Hara Conglomerate?"
She pointed to the map and explained it to Pazu and Sheeta (and actually Mu En ) who clearly didn't understand this concept.
" The O'Hara Conglomerate is headquartered in the New Continent, but it also has vast overseas industries in the Eastern Ocean and the Victoria Empire, mainly dealing in arms, steam engine technology, and minerals, making it a truly world-class consortium."
At this point, Dola's golden eyes gleamed with a money-grubbing light; her old habit had kicked in again.
"Sir, those conglomerates carry extraordinary supplies when they travel. If we can intercept this ship, we might be able to seize a lot of valuable goods, and then demand a hefty ransom from the conglomerates. What do you think—"
Mu En pondered for a moment. He wasn't thinking about supplies or ransom; those things were meaningless to him. It was just that the name O'Hara Conglomerate sounded somewhat familiar to him.
It's certain that this name didn't appear in the original Castle in the Sky manga. Could it just be a coincidence that it was the same as a name he had heard before?
He then nodded. "Then let's rescue them and find out what happened first."
The rescue operation went very smoothly. Goliath arrived above the airship, adjusted to the same speed as it, and the massive grappling hooks at the bottom of the lower deck precisely fired dozens of hooks that firmly gripped the airship's keel. Once the steel cables were tightened, the commercial airship was completely secured beneath Goliath.
Subsequently, the elevator in the lower cargo hold was opened and placed directly on the maintenance platform on top of the other party's airbags.
Sweating profusely, Simon climbed from inside the airship to the upper keel, then crawled out through the maintenance passage. The strong wind made it hard for him to open his eyes, but he still kept giving instructions to those behind him.
"Young Miss, stay close to me and don't mention your identity to anyone else. If they ask, just say you're my niece who's traveling with me—Young Miss?"
Scarlett reluctantly replied, "Yes, yes, I know, to prevent those robbers from demanding ransom from Grandpa—what a bunch of barbarians."
Her lips were pouting, and her face was full of displeasure. In her opinion, this trip was indeed extremely frustrating.
It's all the fault of that broken airship and that captain who was blown away by the gale. He couldn't even spot such a huge Storm, which almost caused them to perish in the sea of clouds. If the Storm clouds hadn't suddenly slowed down, they wouldn't have had a chance to escape.
To make matters worse, the distress signal didn't attract any other merchant ships, but instead drew the attention of the infamous Goliath Battleship!
Over the years, under the guise of protecting shipping lanes, several powerful warlords from the Northern Kingdom, including Mouro, have engaged in numerous acts of outright robbery. Otherwise, who would those grappling hooks and locks on the Goliath, specifically designed to prevent airships from escaping, be for?
"Stay close to me and don't make a sound," Simon warned again before braving the howling wind to reach the elevator and begin negotiating with the officers of the Goliath.
Sure enough, the bearded soldier in uniform immediately said, "For safety reasons, all cargo on board needs to be temporarily entrusted to our custody."
Simon cursed inwardly, but could only force a smile, "I understand, I understand, it's all for safety. We'll arrange for some people to move the goods up right away."
He turned and waved to O'Hara Conglomerate men, who silently returned to the lower levels to begin moving goods.
Fortunately, this ship was really just a tourist ship to inspect industries in various places, and it did not carry any particularly valuable bulk cargo. At most, it had a few boxes of jewelry and precious metal samples, which were intended to be used to "pave the way" in the Northern Kingdom.
The most important thing is for people to leave safely, rather than for goods.
Soon, members of the O'Hara Conglomerate began boarding the Goliath, an airship that the consortium had been leasing long-term. There were fewer than fifty employees and a few senior members on board.
Simon led everyone up to Goliath, only to find it somewhat crowded.
In addition to the various living supplies and resupply items already provided by the other side, a pulse jet used to replace the fighter jets underneath occupied a large area.
Even more strangely, the rear of the cargo hold was covered with black cloth that hung from the ceiling to the floor, effectively dividing the thousands of square meters of warehouse into two halves.
The conglomerate members, all dressed in matching dark black suits, stood neatly in the center of the cargo hold, each with a look of relief on their faces.
Whether it's Goliath or whatever, survival is more important than anything else.
Simon straightened his wind-blown suit, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and tried to look presentable. He knew he would soon meet the "main character."
Sure enough, a young woman with a stunning figure and long pink hair strode over, and all the soldiers who were sorting through the captured supplies respectfully made way for her.
Simon noticed that this "commander" was not wearing a military uniform, but rather a dark blue tight-fitting flight suit and high-top leather boots, and he walked with a roguish air.
Simon racked his brain, trying to recall which general or famous commander in the Northern Kingdom looked like this.
But to maintain proper etiquette, he didn't ask any further questions. Instead, he habitually bent down, extended his right hand, and made a gesture of kissing the hand. "Respected lady, thank you very much for your assistance." Before he could finish speaking, the woman had already plopped down on the chair her subordinate had brought over, crossed her legs, and looked down at him.
Dola didn't even look at the frozen hand, but simply raised her chin. "Tell me in detail, what happened? Why did you encounter danger in a place like this? Who was on the ship?"
Simon awkwardly withdrew his hand, trying to maintain the smile on his face.
"Ahem, we are a business delegation from the O'Hara Conglomerate, on a business trip to the Northern Kingdom. Today we encountered a sudden Storm, and our airship was severely damaged. Fortunately, your team arrived in time; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
He paused, then cautiously added, "Thank you so much for your help, but we've just escaped danger and everyone is exhausted. Could you please arrange a few guest rooms for us to rest and recuperate? I will definitely give you a detailed report on the situation later."
you."
"No." Dola casually swung her toes, firmly refusing the request.
Simon was taken aback. "Why?"
"You haven't cleared your name of piracy yet. In this remote airspace, a damaged airship suddenly appears and sends out a distress signal. Who knows what kind of tricks you're up to?"
Simon's once meticulously combed hair was almost completely soaked with sweat.
pirate?
I?
Do you want to hear what you're saying? Before you speak, could you please have your men stop unloading supplies from our ship?
You guys moved it faster than our employees could move it themselves, who's the pirate here?!
"You're joking. We're really respectable businessmen. Or, at least let my niece go first." Halfway through his sentence, Simon subconsciously turned around to look for Scarlett.
Miss Scarlett has disappeared!