After arriving at the airport, Lin Yi sat in the waiting area, awaiting his flight.

Meanwhile, he was still sorting out domestic affairs in his mind.

The matters over with the first group were almost arranged. They all had experience, so many things didn’t require his attention, and he was relieved to leave the investigations to them.

Liang Jinming had Li Chuhan on his side, so he didn’t need Lin Yi either.

The only remaining concern was Xu Wen.

Just recently, he had negotiated a divorce with Wang Guodong, the outcome was a great victory, but that didn’t mean Wang Guodong would accept it willingly.

As an ordinary person, if he tried any tricks behind Xu Wen’s back, it would be unbearable for her.

Ring ring ring—

At that moment, Lin Yi’s phone rang. It was a call from Xiao Bing.

"Lin Bro, everything you arranged for me has been completed. Surveillance has been installed at both places, ensuring a 360-degree coverage without blind spots."

"That’s good."

After hearing Xiao Bing’s report, Lin Yi hung up the phone.

The last issue was taken care of, so he had no more concerns.

Soon, there was an announcement to board.

Lin Yi made some simple preparations and headed to the boarding gate to queue.

The local airport didn’t have direct flights, requiring him to fly to a city called Addis Ababa and then transfer to Djibouti.

By the time he got off the plane, it had been 17 hours.

As one of the poorest places in the world, there were only a few buildings there.

Yet, it had its own uniqueness, even becoming famous worldwide.

Many countries had set up bases there, making it reputedly one of the safest nations globally.

Moreover, it had a rare deep-water port, strategically guarding the world’s most crucial shipping route, the Mandela Strait.

Almost everyone involved in sea travel knew about this place.

Due to its small land area and lack of natural resources, it relied entirely on tourism and hygiene, making it a good choice for visitors.

After landing, Lin Yi hailed a cab to the local Sheraton Hotel and checked in.

After settling down, Lin Yi began thinking about his next steps.

Before undertaking this mission, Lin Yi kept a low profile.

If he exposed his identity to inquire about these matters from the corporation’s headquarters, he could obviously gather a lot of valuable information.

But at the same time, his movements would be further exposed.

This was a personal matter for him, so he had to keep it discreet.

If those with ill intentions found out, he wouldn’t have a suitable explanation for this issue.

In addition, due to his special identity, if he couldn’t provide a suitable reason for certain things, it would become a handle others could use against him.

Although he could claim to be performing a special task for the Central Guards Brigade, it wouldn’t be easy to explain to Liang Xianghe and Liu Hong.

This was another reason Lin Yi chose to handle things discreetly.

Besides, Lin Yi also exchanged over a hundred thousand in cash, just in case.

The position of the cargo ship was already confirmed, and Lin Yi roughly understood why it was docked there.

They were preparing to do some refueling before continuing their voyage.

However, upon setting sail, they encountered pirates, forcing them to return.

Given the current situation, as long as he could handle the pirates, the task would be considered complete.

The mission seemed simple, but thinking about it in detail, it was not so easy to manage.

Even though the vicinity of the port was relatively safe, there were large numbers of pirates in the surrounding seas year-round, as numerous as carp crossing the river, impossible to eliminate completely.

Even if he had the capability to handle pirates, he couldn’t cope with that many.

So, it was a challenge, requiring precise information to address, or else it would be problematic.

After sorting through all the matters at hand, Lin Yi went to the hotel front desk to rent a car and head to the port.

Following the navigation address, Lin Yi drove to the port.

The cargo ship’s position was conspicuous, and it didn’t take much effort to find it.

Fortunately, there weren’t many people around the ship; it was relatively deserted.

After getting out of the car, Lin Yi took a couple of bundles of money and, when no one was paying attention, boarded the cargo ship.

Lin Yi was familiar with such cargo ships.

During previous missions, he had often boarded similar vessels.

In front of the massive containers, humans seemed insignificant.

Based on Lin Yi’s knowledge of cargo ships, under normal circumstances, there wouldn’t be a shortage of people on board.

But now, having been forced to stop for repairs here, it seemed most of the crew were out for some free time, leaving few people behind.

"Who are you!"

While Lin Yi was observing conditions on the ship, suddenly, he heard someone speaking from behind.

Turning around, he saw a shirtless middle-aged man.

With a cigarette in his mouth, dark skin, a black short sleeve slung over his shoulder, and squinting in the blazing sun, he seemed only able to see through a sliver of an opening.

"Don’t worry, I’m one of us," Lin Yi said with a smile, trying to ease the other’s guard.

"What do you mean, ’one of us’? I’ve never seen you on the ship."

As both were Yan Country people, the middle-aged man didn’t show much wariness.

He only wanted to clarify Lin Yi’s identity to send him off.

Lin Yi walked over to the middle-aged man, took a bundle of money from his pocket, and handed it to him.

The latter was taken aback, not understanding Lin Yi’s intentions.

"Brother, I want to ask about the situation on board."

As an experienced sailor, the middle-aged man knew that such dirty money was quite risky.

"Don’t ask me about those messy things. Here, take your money, I don’t want it."

Lin Yi glanced at him, smiling, "You seem not to trust me."

Then he took out his work ID.

But the ID wasn’t his official one; it showed him as a courier.

"Oh? From the same company?"

"Yes."

Officially, they were colleagues from the same company, but meeting in a foreign land, there wasn’t much camaraderie.

There was a big difference between a sailor and a regular courier, and neither considered the other "one of their own."

It was only nominally so.

Lin Yi took out another stack of money, handing twenty thousand yuan to the middle-aged man.

"I mean no harm, so don’t worry. I just want to understand the situation on the ship. That shouldn’t be too secretive, right?"

Sailors generally had reasonable pay, so a mere 10,000 yuan might not allure them, but twenty thousand yuan was quite substantial.

Moreover, Lin Yi had revealed his identity, so there was temporarily no need to worry about much else.

The middle-aged man nodded at the bundles of money in his hand, looking at Lin Yi.

"What do you want to know?"

"I want to ask about the situation of this ship, and when it plans to set sail?"

"The leaders are negotiating. Once the talks are settled, they can set sail."

"Negotiating?"

"The situation here, as you might not know, is rather bizarre."

It was evident that the middle-aged man no longer considered Lin Yi an outsider and was much warmer after receiving the money.

He fished out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it with the previous smoke’s butt, and offered one to Lin Yi as well.

Even though he usually didn’t smoke, Lin Yi accepted one to foster rapport.

"Let me tell you, the pirates around here operate like companies, quite organized. To navigate through, you need to pay them, or you’ll get robbed halfway," the middle-aged man said, mumbling and grumbling:

"Moreover, these people are particularly good at assessing situations. When they see our vessel, they demand outrageous sums. If we don’t pay, they’re sure to raid us, which is why we’re stuck here."

In truth, Lin Yi was well aware of what the middle-aged man narrated; he just pretended not to.

"How did you manage to navigate before?"

"There was escort service before, guiding us safely through. But now, they’re on a break, resting. At least a two-month wait is needed, hitting such an awkward time, leaving our ship unable to proceed."