Obviously, Captain Lorraine did not know the inside story, but the company was well aware of the dangers of the trip, so it only took half of the deposit for the two shipments he gave him, and let him settle the rest after returning to Batavia.

For Captain Lorraine, this condition was very tempting to him, because he could get a fifteen percent commission on trade alone, and the commission for a single business was equivalent to half a year's net profit of the fleet.

Of course, he also knows that there is no such cheap thing in the world, and if there is, there must be some kind of unknown huge risk behind it.

However, this business is indeed too tempting, the company gave him a batch of trade goods worth 15,000 taels of silver, the settlement price is set very reasonable, there is a certain margin for mark-up, for him, a small business of the sea, only half of the capital, and then as long as he can safely arrive at Xin'an Port and finish the business with the Australians, he can get considerable commissions and profits.

What's more, the cargo capacity of the Kirk sailboat is still free, and he can still carry it to do some business of his own.

Of course, Captain Lorraine did not know the meaning behind this business, he was only told by one of the company's secretaries that he wanted to break through the Portuguese blockade and sea blockade, and directly contact the Australians face to face.

Because according to the report of the intelligence agent from Macao, the Australians seem to be only interested in two major types of goods: one is the type of raw materials or semi-finished goods, such as ores, iron and other metals, sulfur, saltpeter, red mercury, etc., and the other is European firearms, such as Dutch flintlock pistols, but this trade is only a temptation, so they will not risk those expensive flintlock pistols.

Captain Lorraine sailed from Batavia in early April, and under normal circumstances, it would take three to five days at most to sail day and night to reach Sin'an in his fast Kirk.

But he also knew that it was impossible, because during this alternating tropical dry and wet season, hurricanes are frequent near the island of Timor, which is not really a big deal, and the main danger is still from people and not from nature.

Sailing southeast from Java through a chain of islands, the native nobles of the indigenous kingdom saw these merchant ships as mobile storehouses of wealth, especially small merchant fleets like him who had to enter a bay to escape a hurricane.

If he was lucky enough to survive the storm and pirates, and finally reached the vicinity of Timor Island after a lot of hardship, then his fleet would also be intercepted by the Portuguese Navy, and Captain Lorraine heard that the company's recent involvement in the civil war on the island of Timor seemed to have overwhelmed the Portuguese, seriously offending the Portuguese, and worsening the bilateral relations that were already on the verge of danger.

Therefore, he must deal with it carefully, and must not let his fleet fall into the hands of the Portuguese Navy, otherwise, he will not be able to get close to the Australians, and he will not be able to do business, maybe the goods will be confiscated, and his own business will not be able to continue, so his career may also be smashed on this business.

As it turned out, Captain Lorraine's judgment was correct, his fleet encountered a hurricane not long after going to sea, but Captain Lorraine tried his best to drive the ship into the deep sea at great risk, and resolutely did not go to the nearby bay to take refuge, relying on superb sailing skills and extraordinary courage, the fleet actually floated safely on the sea after the storm, but in order to find another ship lost in the storm, he searched the sea for three days, and was lucky, The two ships finally met at a pre-agreed safe haven in the north-west of Timor Island.

So the fleet set sail again.

However, the fleet was still in the waters off the Portu Oecussi, which was controlled by the Portuguese, and fortunately, Captain Lorraine, relying on the excellent steering performance of the Kirk sailboats, managed to escape the encirclement of three small Portuguese Caravi galleons, and finally reached the sea about 100 nautical miles west of Dili City.

There, Captain Lorraine encountered the interception of the Portuguese Navy led by the Princess Casa, because the wind was unfavorable, Captain Lorraine had to return to the high seas and wait for the opportunity, and finally the opportunity finally came, on a stormy night, he led the fleet to venture into the waters off the north coast of Timor Island, and saw the legendary Xin'an City in the telescope in the early morning of the next day, but on the sea that had been calm, the Princess Casa reappeared!

For Captain Lorraine, retreating to the open seas at this point would be a wasted effort, so the brave captain decided to take another risk, knowing that there was a safe zone off the coast of every port, usually half a league or a league, in which foreign ships had no right to carry out law enforcement actions, and now he could only count on a little gentlemanliness and chivalry on the part of the Portuguese navy not to attack ships that had entered the safe zone of other countries' ports.

So he ordered half of the supplies to be discarded, to lighten the load of the ship, and to speed up the ship to the coastline of Sinanseong......

However, this scene is so thrilling, when Captain Lorraine's fleet forcibly broke into the distance of two leagues of the coastline of Sin'an, the Casa Princess was about to catch up with her, according to common sense, at this moment, the safe zone is still a mile away, but the time and distance restrictions have made it impossible for the fleet to enter the safe zone before being caught up by the other party!

Captain Lorraine was in despair at this point, knowing that he might fail and end his career......

However, a miracle happened, the Princess Casa turned the slipway and left! What's going on? At this time, Captain Lorraine did not think much of it, he only hurriedly urged the crew to continue to abandon the supplies and speed towards the coast......

Later, he learned that the departure of the Princess Casa was not discovered by the other party's conscience, but that the location of his fleet had already entered the safe zone at that time.

Because in the agreement between the Australians and the Portuguese, it was stipulated that the offshore safety zone of the port of Xin'an was six nautical miles, that is, a distance of about two leagues, Captain Lorraine did not notice why the Australians used the Englishman's maritime survey standard to calculate the distance, but there is no doubt that the safety zone off the port of Xin'an was determined to be two leagues.

Well, the Portuguese, who have no other witness at sea, are still chasing the ships of other countries within two leagues, and these abominable people still say that we Protestants are infidels who have betrayed God! It's shameless! Captain Lorraine, who knew about the situation, later cried out with hatred in his heart.

Due to the urgency of the incident, Captain Lorraine did not find the wooden pier far away from the mouth of the river, so he directly let the ship run aground on the sand on the coast of Sin'an City, and then Captain Lorraine experienced the most unforgettable time of his life.

He soon encountered a group of heavily armed soldiers, one of whom was led by a handsome Australian, and in the course of his negotiations with Captain Lorraine, he learned that this young man named Wei Hong was the head of the mercenary regiment of Sin'an City and the vice-governor, both titles that he could understand.

Surprisingly, the Australians did not come on board to collect taxes, nor did anyone ask him for bribes, and he and his crew were allowed to move freely within the wooden walls of Xin'an City, and of course you can go outside the wooden walls, as long as you are not afraid of the robbers of the natives.