197: Chapter 197 They hit and ran! The whole world is guessing who did it!

In Sanya, inside a late-night hotel suite, the red dots on the screen in front of Lin Zhou, representing the mercenary speedboats, had all gone out.

"Report, Lord. Operation 'Scavenger' is complete. The targets have all been eliminated. Identity confirmed: they were mercenaries disguised by the Blackwater Company."

"We are currently conducting the final battlefield cleanup, recovering all shell casings and debris, and performing deep-sea sinking procedures on the enemy shipwrecks. We expect that in thirty minutes, there will be no traces left of us in this sea area. There are no live fish in the net."

Lei Peng's voice came through the satellite communication, steady in tone, but every word carried the murderous aura of someone who had just stepped back from a slaughter.

Lin Zhou leaned back against the chair, his chest rising and falling as he slowly exhaled the foul air from his lungs. This anticipated ambush had resulted in zero casualties for his side, while the enemy was completely sunk; it could be called a perfect conclusion.

"Well done. Clean up the scene, wipe away all traces, and sail according to the original plan." Lin Zhou gave the final order. "Keep this matter within our own internal circle; do not publicize it."

"Understood."

After hanging up the communication, Jack, who was nearby, rolled his wheelchair forward. "Lord, we have achieved such a great victory, why not announce it? This would be enough to deter all potential enemies."

Lin Zhou shook his head, stood up, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the ink-colored sea outside.

"It is not the right time yet. We just fought a beautiful land battle in Sudan, and the whole world knows we are not to be trifled with. If we immediately follow that up by annihilating an elite mercenary force at sea and appear too aggressive, it will only invite unnecessary vigilance and hostility."

He paused, then continued to explain. "Let them guess. A mysterious armed merchant ship had a crushing battle with pirates at sea. As long as we do not admit it, no one will suspect us. This bit of empty fame is not important to us."

Jack chewed on these words, nodded, and did not pursue the matter further. He understood that the Lord's chessboard was much larger than what he could see.

Just as Lin Zhou had expected, as soon as the sun rose the next day, the entire international maritime news circle was ignited by a piece of news.

Several blurry videos and photos, taken from a distance by crew members of nearby merchant ships using mobile phones, began to go viral on the internet.

In the videos, the Strait of Malacca under the cover of night was ablaze with fire. Although the details were unclear, the dense trails of tracer bullets, the exhaust plumes of flying missiles, and finally that hair-raising "cloud" of drones were all clearly visible.

One of the clips vaguely captured a container placed at the very top unfolding, with a multi-barreled rapid-fire cannon extending from it and spewing out a metal storm; the scene was horrifying.

"Jane's Defence Weekly" published an article immediately: "Container Warfare Modules Open a New Chapter in Naval Warfare!"

Reuters was more direct: "Breaking! Fierce Naval Battle Erupts in the Strait of Malacca; Over a Dozen Speedboats Suspected to Be Annihilated, Identity of Mysterious Armed Merchant Ship Remains a Mystery!"

In the news, military experts were arguing endlessly over the blurry video footage.

"Look at this firing density; it's a military-grade close-in weapon system! My god, they stuffed it into a container! This means any cargo ship can theoretically transform into an arsenal ship! This is a disruptive combat concept!"

"I am more focused on that open container in the video; the structure is too ingenious. It is not just a weapon, but a complete combat unit, containing fire-control radar, ammunition, and an independent energy system. This is not a simple modification; this is a systematic, top-tier military product!"

"What's even more terrifying are those drones! Those aren't ordinary aerial photography drones; that is an organized, tactical attack swarm! There must be a powerful country or organization supporting this behind the scenes!"

For a time, speculation about the "digital freedom" was rampant. Some guessed it was the "white glove" for a major power secretly testing new weapons, while others guessed it was a private fleet organized by some super-rich individual. But no matter how they guessed, no one could link it to that Cyber Freedom Republic, which had just established itself in the desert of Africa and didn't even have a navy.

On the other side, the initiator, Sterling, stared at the news reports on the screen, his jaw muscles tight. On his desk, the phone rang incessantly, full of questioning and accusations.

Just as he was overwhelmed, an encrypted call came in. It was Davis from the Blackstone Group.

"Sterling, my dear friend, I heard you lost a pretty good team in the Strait of Malacca?" Davis's voice came through, every word carrying undisguised mockery.

Sterling said nothing, his teeth chattering as he gritted them.

"I warned you long ago not to use these unprofessional little tricks to provoke a sovereign state, no matter how small it is." Davis said slowly.

"When a country is not short of money, crushing you so-called elite mercenaries takes no more effort than crushing a few cockroaches. What is your intelligence department doing? They didn't even know the other ship had a 'container-based CIWS'?"

"Davis!" Sterling finally couldn't hold back and roared.

"Don't roar at me, Sterling. I'm just kindly reminding you to put away your clever little tricks."

"You used to run rampant in various small countries and succeeded every time because your opponents were too weak. A new country like the Cyber Freedom Republic clearly has major powers supporting it, intentionally or unintentionally, behind the scenes. Why on earth did you think you could win?"

"Face reality! If you aren't sure you can annihilate the country directly, then honestly follow the rules!"

The call was hung up decisively. Sterling sat slumped in his office, looking at the mess all over the floor, his whole person losing all spirit.

Finally, he picked up the phone and dialed out.

"It's me. Stop all plans targeting the Cyber Freedom Republic immediately, and put all resources into reverse engineering and marketing campaigns!"

Meanwhile, Lin Zhou had already packed his luggage.

"Jack, inform Qin Yue and the others that I am returning to Beijing tomorrow."

"Lord, your vacation..."

"Is over." Lin Zhou's expression returned to its usual calm. "There is a pile of things waiting for me to handle at home. It is said that our official website's mailbox has already been stuffed full; if I don't go back, Qin Yue and the others will blow up my communication device."