Li Huan's first stop on the island was Birak, the capital of Catandunes province, a coastal city on the southwestern tip of the island and the largest city on the island.

Birak is located on the northwest side of Kabgao Bay, but the city, which accounts for half of the island's population, has only two marinas, one for ferries and fishing boats, and the other for private yachts, said to have been built at the expense of a Filipino fishing tycoon. The fishing tycoon's hometown is in Birak, and the fishing tycoon was very poor in his early years, but later he worked hard to build a piece of the world, and then began to give back to his hometown, paying for the rebuilding of the dilapidated dock.

The yacht rented by Li Huan was docked on this private yacht marina, of course, the money that should be paid must be a little less, and it is expensive. But although this pier is expensive, it is expensive. Li Huan found a problem when he sailed into the port, that is, this private yacht marina was built in a bay surrounded by two mountain peaks, and the sea gate of the bay only had an entrance and exit about 20 meters wide, and there were obvious warning signs on both sides of this entrance, warning that wave piles had been put on the seabed. In other words, unless there is a tsunami or hurricane that can cause seawater inflow, the port is safe and sound.

Breakwaters, also known as upright breakwaters, are a form of construction that breakwaters. Positive waves will be completely or incompletely reflected in front of the straight wall embankment, forming a vertical wave. The height of the complete vertical wave is about twice the original wave height, and the wavelength remains unchanged; the crest and trough alternate at the surface of the wall and the first half wavelength of the wall, which is called the belly of the wave; and the water surface is almost unchanged at the first quarter wavelength of the wall, which is called the wave node. In this way, the straight wall will withstand the pressure and buoyancy of the vertical wave, so it is often constructed with reinforced concrete caissons or concrete blocks, and wooden cages can also be used when the waves are small, and recently there are also structures arranged with large pipe columns. The straight wall embankment is suitable for rock foundation or relatively dense foundation, the bottom of the wall is often paved with a layer of gravel foundation bed, the outer foundation bed surface of the embankment is laid with protective block stones as needed, and the inner side of the embankment can be used as a wharf. The elevation of the embankment crest can be reduced when the wave is allowed, and sometimes a chamfered top cover and a caisson with a wave chamber are used to reduce the standing wave pressure. The directional spectrum components of oblique waves or irregular waves are reflected in front of the straight wall to form three-way waves, and the peaks and valleys appear alternately in a checkerboard shape, and the influence of the straight wall segmentation needs to be considered to determine the combined pressure of the waves along the embankment line.

It's more expensive, and when it's really a last resort, this place is still a hideout.

was knocked on a bamboo pole, Li Huannian got off the boat, but as soon as he got off the boat, he was fascinated by the scenery here.

Beautiful, really beautiful, no wonder Yu Ting came all the way here to shoot, this island is the kind of place that people often say, it seems that even a piece of grass can tell a historical story.

Although Catandunes Island is a small island, it is recognized by many travelers as one of the most underrated islands in the entire Philippines. Because the island is still relatively pristine, it retains a lot of extremely pristine scenery. There is also a stone church on the island that is nearly 200 years old, which was built in 1830 and is made of mortar and coral limestone, and is known as the "Stone Church".

However, the church is not in Birak, but in another city, about seven kilometers east of Birak, where Yu Ting's film residence is currently stationed. Access to the mountains from this private marina is one must follow the Bato River, the main river on the island of Catandunes.

Of course, there is no shortage of scenery to see in Birak, as it is the best place to admire the famous Mayon volcano. When it comes to volcanoes, most people think of the shape of the cone, and in people's minds, only the standard cone volcano is the most beautiful. That's true, so most people think that Mt. Fuji in Japan is the most standard volcano.

But in fact, there is another active volcano in the Philippines that is more standard in shape than Mount Fuji, and this volcano is the famous Mayon Volcano.

Mayon Volcano is an active volcano, 2421 meters above sea level, although it is not as high as Mount Fuji, but this volcano has a near-perfect cone mountain shape, known as the "most perfect cone", is the world's most complete volcano, even Japan's Mount Fuji, compared with Mayon Volcano, it immediately became a crooked melon cracked date, and the two are not on the same level at all. Although Birak is nearly 70 kilometers away from Mayon Volcano in a straight line, there is no barrier between them except for Ragnoi Bay, so the best place to see Mayon Volcano is here. Every year, there are a lot of tourists who come to Birak to see the Mayon volcano, especially in the last two years, the Mayon volcano has entered an active period, and in January last year, a large amount of volcanic ash was spewed, so it attracts more tourists.

Li Huan put an off-road motorcycle on his yacht, and after walking along the Bato River for a while, Li Huan came to a fjord corner, and the volcano immediately appeared in front of him - although Li Huan belonged to the well-informed type, he couldn't help but be attracted when he saw the near-perfect cone volcano on the west side of Ragnoy Bay from a distance. Today's weather is not very good, and it is said that this approaching tropical storm has developed into a severe tropical storm, and it is rapidly approaching the Philippines from the Pacific Ocean to the east with a huge amount of water vapor. However, the severe tropical storm is still some distance away from the Philippines, but the intensity of the severe tropical storm is increasing, so its outer cloud system is already beginning to show signs over Catandunes Island.

Li Huan stopped the car, let the sub-machine rise, and left a few photos from all angles. Although it is far away, Mayon Volcano is right by the sea, and the most important thing is that the height of this volcano is more than 2,400 meters, which is even taller against the sea level, and there is no obstruction to allow people to see this beautiful volcano in its entirety.

In the classification of volcanology, Mayon Volcano is a compound volcano, and the symmetrical cones are the result of the accumulation of multiple eruptions of volcanic ash and lava flows. Mayon is one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines, having erupted 50 times in the last 400 years. Geologically, the Philippines is located at the junction of the Eurasian plate and the Philippine plate, because of plate compression, the heavier oceanic plate pushes the lighter continental plate upward, and the strong pressure and high heat in the pushing process cause the plate to melt and produce magma. As a result, the Philippines has as many as 22 active volcanoes, all of which are located in the Pacific Rim of Volcanic Belt.

Mayon Volcano is an active stratovolcano and is known as the "most perfect volcanic cone" in the world.

Its perfectly symmetrical cone is the result of multiple eruptions and accumulation of volcanic ash and lava.

If he hadn't seen this volcano with his own eyes, Li Huan wouldn't have known that such a beautiful volcano was hidden here. If only this volcano erupted at the right time, then the special effects can't be completed, an epic scene......

"No wonder Sister Ting came here with the crew to film, this place is definitely a natural treasure for filming pirate films. Li Huan looked at the scenery in front of him, and did not forget to draw a frame with his hand, and then sighed: " Tell me, if our crew can withstand a hurricane, and then happen to encounter a volcanic eruption, what a spectacular scenery it will be, I'm sure, this shot is not the end, but it is absolutely unprecedented, the real volcanic eruption scene is not something that Hollywood's group of weak chickens can do, when the volcanic ash that covers the sky and the sun rises into the sky, and the ground is full of the smell of slaughter, not to mention the rest, this scene alone is worth the ticket price. And the culture of the Philippines is indeed suitable for making pirate movies, and the Philippines is probably the most rampant sea area in history for pirates, right?"

That's right, when Li Huan saw the volcano, he sighed that Yu Ting chose the right place, both in terms of environment and history, it is an excellent place to shoot pirate movies. Moreover, if there is any place in this world that is a paradise for pirates, it is the Philippines - in this matter, the Filipinos are second, no one dares to admit the first, even those Caribbean pirates in Hollywood blockbusters, if you want to divide them according to the strength of the time, they are all weak chickens.

When Western pirates were still driving "one" pirate ship "fighting alone", the pirates in the Philippines already had a fleet, and in terms of grade, they threw off the Western literary pirates for more than a dozen streets, and the pirate culture here was not a joke.

The Strait of Malacca, connected

The narrow waterways of the Pacific and Indian oceans, home to busy shipping, bloody conflicts, horrific histories, and treasures hidden under the sea.

The treacherous waters separating Malaysia and Indonesia are 885 kilometres long and less than 2.8 kilometres wide at its narrowest point. According to Stanford University's Journal of International Relations, the Strait is "one of the most important shipping routes in the world, accounting for one-third of world trade and half of oil traffic...... The strait is also one of the most dangerous shipping routes in the world.

There is no greater danger to maritime shipping than piracy, and when people think of piracy, people often think of Somali stragglers, but in fact, Malacca is the place that has always been plagued by piracy.

Not to mention that at that time, even in modern times, the pirates of the Philippines were second to none.

When the word "pirate" is mentioned, many people may immediately think of treasures, or the captain with a hook in one hand, a black cloth in one eye, and a skull flag. If you think about it any more, you will remember the Somali pirates who are churning the world. In fact, in the vicinity of our country, there has always been a long-established pirate formation. It is recorded during Zheng He's voyage to the West that the Ming army used force against the sea robbers in that place. They still exist today, and they are quite a headache for the locals, they are the Southeast Asian pirates - the bandit group of seas entrenched in the Philippines, a thousand island country, that causes headaches for everyone.

The shipping lanes from Southeast Asia to East Asia have long been harassed by pirates, so the Philippines, where many pirate dens are concentrated, has been fiercely attacked by the international community. Under many pressures, in 2014 the Philippines decided to carry out a high-intensity encirclement and suppression of pirate groups in the country. After a long period of hard work, 2016 finally paid off. Cases of armed robbery at sea in the region decreased by 58 per cent year-on-year. But what I didn't expect was that just a year later, Southeast Asian pirates were active again. Throughout the year, 59 people were kidnapped by pirates, 7 of whom were executed and 9 imprisoned, the largest of whom was Abu Saf.

Abu has been "starting a business" since 1991, and after more than ten years of development, it has gradually become a pirate group that cannot be ignored. In 2014, they were responsible for several high-impact hijackings** – they even captured a town and declared the founding of the country.

This brazen siege of the city and land was echoed by hundreds of extremist militants in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Of course, it also triggered a four-month shootout with Philippine government forces. This is unprecedented in the history of piracy in Southeast Asia, where a city of 180,000 people has never been captured by pirates. In October 2017, after paying the price of nearly 1,000 casualties, the Philippine government recaptured the war-torn county. It was only then that people began to realize the impact of the pre-existing piracy violations.

For centuries, the problem of piracy has been like a maggot on the tarsal bones, and the seas have never been at peace. Coupled with the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and Indonesia's declining economy, poverty has led more people to take risks and join overt and covert pirate groups.

Of course, it was the fishermen who were the most converted pirates, who knew how to sail and were familiar with the weaknesses and laws of maritime defense, and after overfishing and pollution made fishing more difficult, some local fishermen had to throw away their nets, take up arms, and hijack crews and boats, and they lived on ransom.

While the number of small-scale crimes is high and is mainly carried out by poor surrounding residents, the IMB believes that a small number of criminal groups based in Indonesia and Malaysia, which are responsible for large-scale hijackings**, have caused significant losses, although they have not done much. At the same time, some fear that pirate groups may become militarized and form strong armed groups that will have an immeasurable impact on international shipping.

A 2014 report painted a picture of the dark "normality" in the region, calling the Strait of Malacca "the most dangerous sea in the world." It details a case of robbery at sea, where an oil tanker called Orapin 4 was hijacked when it left Singapore and headed for Borneo, where $1.9 million worth of fuel was robbed.

A group of 10 armed pirates, who climbed aboard, quickly took control of the crew and locked them below deck, the group of criminals, who were clearly not novices, scribbled the name of the tanker's stern to spell it "Rapi". As a result, the surrounding ships were unable to recognize the Orapin 4, let alone detect that the robbery was taking place, and the pirates had enough time to transfer more than 3,700 tons of fuel to another ship.

Somali pirates, by contrast, are simply a bunch of pediatrics.

However, Southeast Asian pirates, especially Filipino groups, have been able to exist for hundreds of years for several reasons.

For starters, the Straits of Malacca region is the world's busiest ocean traffic route, with about 100,000 ships passing through it every year, transporting US$40 billion worth of cargo and 18 million passengers. The Malacca region is responsible for nearly one-third of the world's trade. The unique geography of this place makes it easy for pirates to breed because of the many narrow choke points in this place. And the tens of thousands of islands in the region provide a place of protection for these people. Indonesia and the Philippines alone have nearly 22,000 archipelagos.

It's just that piracy is rampant, and the governments are not worried about it. Because of the uneven distribution of oil and gas resources and unclear territorial boundaries, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries have put their naval forces on competing with their neighbors for oil fields, and they are not willing to care about those pirates who are difficult to catch. These factors "smoothly" created the objective conditions for the survival of the pirate forces. The piracy of Southeast Asia is a source of discomfort for the whole world, after all, most of the large ships that pass through here are destined for other countries and regions.

Citigroup and NATO have carried out several special anti-piracy operations here, but the results were mediocre.

Later, several large international insurance companies designated the Malacca region as a war danger zone, and all ships that passed through it had to pay high insurance premiums. It is estimated that no one would have thought that a few broken ships and a dozen guns could skyrocket the cost of international shipping. Later, pirates in Somalia also achieved this "achievement". Under the joint pressure of the international community, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia cooperated again in 2017. After all, no one wants to have such a shameful thing as the county being captured by pirates. Together, the three countries have established a naval patrol to enforce the law together. The three countries have also cooperated before, but the establishment is a coordinated patrol, that is: I watch you work in your territory, and I work in my territory and you are less involved. Due to the lack of mutual trust, the coordination of patrols has not been implemented.

Subsequently, Brunei, Singapore and Thailand also joined the cooperation. Jointly build a database of violent elements at sea and share information on relevant armed groups and movements. Given the general lack of trust among Southeast Asian countries, this cooperation can be said to be very valuable.

However, with the exception of Singapore, several other countries have limited financial resources, so the cooperation agenda is often shelved for various reasons, and the problem cannot be solved fundamentally.

The Philippines has learned the hard way and has taken the lead in some of the actions on its own. For example, checkpoints are set up in dangerous waters, all individual vessels are required to undergo real-name authentication, and the modification of small boats is strictly prohibited. This is because the vehicles used by the local pirates are converted from their own fishing boats. Unlike fishing boats, pirate ships have lengthened hulls, removed some accessories to reduce weight, and added several outboard motors to the stern. The Philippine move curbed the development of piracy at its roots, if violated. Politics. The government has stipulated that they will face fines and imprisonment. The measures have yielded some initial results, which have curbed the activity of pirates to a certain extent. After all, the drama of "pirate siege" is too humiliating for the Philippines.

At the same time, some countries in the world have also donated money to help for the safety of their own shipping, and they are quite generous in terms of software and hardware. Since 2017, the Japanese government has donated 11 sets of monitoring equipment to the Philippines, including search radar, radio communication equipment and monitoring systems. In the southern part of the Philippines, where piracy is rampant, only 20 radar stations were planned at first, and the equipment was delayed and the plan became a paper document. Since the capture of Marawi City by the Abu Group, the number of planned radar stations has suddenly increased to 30, and all of them have been installed.

However, the joint actions of these countries did not have any effect, and finally ended up in Philippine President Dute

At Erte's insistence, China participated in a joint maritime security exercise in 2017 – and since then, the pirate emboldening has finally been suppressed.

In addition to piracy, the Philippines is also rich in legends of various "ghost ships".

"All the officers, including the captain, died, they were lying on the bridge, probably all the crew died...... I'm dying too. “

It was the last distress message from the Dutch ship Ulu Medan, which mysteriously disappeared while sailing the Straits of Malacca in 1948, chillingly, when the weather was clear and there was no wind or waves. Soon after, a nearby ship called the Silver Star received a distress message and managed to locate and board the missing Dutch ship. The crew saw a nightmarish scene: the entire ship was littered with corpses, including a dog, all with horrified expressions on their faces.

The corpse's eyeballs burst out of its sockets, its mouth was wide open as if it was still screaming, its arms were spread as if it were about to reach out to grab something, and strangely enough, the cause of death of the crew was unknown, none of them showed any signs of trauma. However, the strangeness continued, the ship was towed back to port, and then an inexplicable fire broke out, and the ship sank after an explosion.

So far, information about the ship is getting more and more obscure, and there are doubts about whether it ever existed. More than 60 years have passed, and the Dutch ship has become one of the most controversial maritime legends in history.

What happened on board, if it did exist, certainly had a plausible answer. Although some historians believe that the whole thing is just a fictional legend and never happened, because the Silver Star did not record the rescue operation in detail. However, many people believe that there is a conspiracy in which several countries work together to cover up a mystery that needs to be solved. Some scientists believe that the whole thing is as simple as the dissolution of combustible ice, causing toxic gases to emerge from cracks in the ocean floor, just enough to engulf passing SSs, causing a catastrophe. While this argument seems most plausible, it is not the same as the CIA investigation.

A high-profile "top secret" document on the case did not pass the secrecy period until 2013, and the CIA had to release it to the public, in which the investigative agents bluntly stated that the matter may involve "unknown things".

"I am sure that the Ulu Medan can solve many aircraft accidents and unresolved maritime problems. ”

To this day, there are still many unanswered questions about the ship, and it seems unlikely that people will know exactly what happened. But one thing is for sure, the Strait of Malacca, which was not an easy place, was the deadliest body of water in the world. So if there is any place that is the most suitable place to shoot a pirate movie, it must be the Strait of Malacca in the Philippines, Yu Ting was right to choose this place, even the weather and scenery are very cooperative......

It would be even more perfect if that volcano erupted.

Li Huan was admiring this wonder of the world, but Xiao Fei's regular reminder came.

"Don't sigh, you have to hurry up, I just retrieved the latest news, the severe tropical storm has developed into a hurricane an hour ago, and it is moving at an increased speed, and it is accelerating towards Catandunes Island, which is expected to make landfall here in seventy-two hours. So, if you're going to find someone, you've got to speed it up. ”

"My grass, it's really formed, then we've got to hurry. Li Huan slapped his thigh.

Although the scenery here is very good, and that perfect cone is probably the rarest natural miracle on this earth, Li Huan can't stay long, because he knows the priorities of things. Hurricanes in the Western Pacific are no joke, and if they make landfall, they can cause far more damage than a hydrogen bomb, and hurricanes are considered to be the worst natural disasters of all.

Whoever underestimates a hurricane, the hurricane can bring him memories that will be unforgettable for a lifetime. In addition, the western Pacific Ocean in summer and autumn is the season of frequent hurricanes, and in these months of the year, hurricanes often cause huge losses to countries along the western Pacific coast, from Japan to the coast of China to the Philippines, which are the countries that suffer the most from hurricanes.

If a simple hurricane is easy to say, but if a hurricane and astronomical tide are superimposed, it is easy to cause a large-scale storm surge, which is not much less powerful than a tsunami, which is definitely an extreme natural disaster that can destroy many people's homes. Li Huan knew very well the power of the hurricane, so after he took a few photos at the end, he twisted the accelerator and rushed towards the camp where Yu Ting's crew was. Their camp is a little closer to the mainland, that place can escape the hurricane a little, if it is on the coastline, if the hurricane comes, then even Li Huan only has the ability to protect himself, don't think about saving people, and ordinary people have no way to think about facing hurricanes. This has been confirmed in the Ural Mountains, in the face of the power of nature, such as avalanches, even if Li Huan does his best, at most he can only stabilize himself and pull a few people. And if the power of an avalanche is compared to a hurricane, it is basically the difference between a small artillery battle and a super bomb, and it cannot be said to be the same.

So Li Huan actually planned to rent a helicopter, but considering the hurricane, he decided to sail over to be safe. After all, the boat can be parked in a sheltered harbor at the pier, but where can the helicopter stop? Besides, a hurricane is approaching, the whole territory is under low pressure, and the convection in the sky is extremely strong, so this is not a good time to take an airplane.

Li Huan rode an off-road motorcycle alone, along the ring road, and quickly approached the camp where Yu Ting's crew was stationed.

The ring road, which has only been built for a few years, runs seven kilometres east from Birac to Batow, where it splits in two, one continuing along the coastline and the other heading north along the valley of the Bato River to the city of Panganiban on the northern tip of the island. Although the road from Birac to Bato is not long, the scenery is extremely beautiful, because this road is by the sea, especially in the middle of the two cities, the north of the road is three or four hundred meters of mountains, and the south of the distance of twenty or thirty meters is the Pacific Ocean, the road is on this side of an area less than fifty meters wide, so that people can really experience the feeling of a mountain and a sea. However, the road is quite easy to walk, except for the city of Birak after about ten minutes, and then you come to Bato, which is located on the west side of the mouth of the Bato River.

Bato is located at the mouth of the Bato River, but the city does not have a port terminal, so neither yachts nor ferries can reach it directly, they have to pass through Birac. However, the two cities are not far apart, especially after the construction of the ring road, the connection between the two places has become even closer. Bartow is also a tourist city, because the famous stone church is located in the city of Bartow, and because of the beautiful scenery of Bartow, many wealthy people have built private villas on the hills near the city. On the road heading north, a small asphalt road can be seen branching off from the road, then up the hillside, and finally disappearing into the lush woods. Such small roads are private roads built by wealthy families, and at the end of the road must be a group or a group of luxurious villas. The gap between the rich and the poor in the Philippines can also be vividly reflected in this private road.

Li Huan was speeding on the highway on his bike, and soon he felt that something was wrong. The Philippines is located in the tropics, and the climate is sunny all year round, and at three or four o'clock in the afternoon, it is when the sun is fierce. At this time, if you don't find a cool spot, your skin will get sunburned for up to half an hour. And Li Huan was galloping on the road at this time, not only did he not feel stuffy, but a trace of moisture had risen in the air - and he could even feel a trace of coolness.

Li Huan subconsciously looked up at the sky, and the original blue color of the sky was gone, replaced by clouds with lead ash. Li Huan's heart was cold, the calf was finished, it seemed that the hurricane was coming in advance? If you can see the stage when the hurricane is about to be generated from here, it means that the impact of this hurricane far exceeds the weather forecast? Are the current weather forecasts all-eating? But think about Li Huan immediately answered this question to himself, yes, the current weather forecast is becoming more and more inaccurate, not only the current weather forecast, but even when he was in elementary school, every time he went out to see the weather forecast in the spring and autumn outings, there was no accurate.

But judging from here, Li Huan can confirm that this hurricane will definitely be ahead of schedule!