Governors Island is still cool in May, although the weather is slowly getting hotter, but because of the dense vegetation on the island, the temperature changes are not obvious, except for the only road and the beach around the island, the rest of the island is almost entirely covered by grass, and the grass grows huge trees that are not common in the New York area, many of which are more than 100 years old, as if the ancient trees of the entire New York area are concentrated on Governors Island.

Since about a month ago, ferrymen who sail between the East and Hudson rivers have not honked their horns as they sail through the waters around Governors Island.

It must be emphasized that no one is required to do this, but in order to create a quiet environment for Li Mu's wife, everyone seems to have acquiesced to this rule, although it will cause some inconvenience to everyone.

"Listen, Mr. Captain, remember to be quiet when passing through the waters around Governors Island, and I even suggest that we should stay as far away as possible from Governors Island, so that we can also get a close look at the Statue of Liberty, which was given to us by the French last year, and I heard that it is a hundred meters high—" Tommy Jackson, a New York Customs officer, boarded the "Victory Ray" from England, and reminded him seemingly intentionally or unintentionally, as he skillfully checked the ship's cargo.

"Why be quiet, is there any particular reason?" Captain Daniel Pitman didn't quite understand that it wasn't his first time in New York, but this was the first time this year, so he didn't know about this "unspoken rule" that only appeared this month.

"Nothing special, just a suggestion—" Tommy blinked and looked at Daniel sincerely, not looking like a prank.

"Strange suggestion, can't I also whistle if there are ships in my lane? I've never heard of such a rule. It sounds like Daniel doesn't want to comply, but the British of this age are as annoying as the Americans of the 21st century, who are proud and conceited because of the strength of their country, and tend to treat the rules as nothing, which is a privilege in their own eyes, but they don't know that in the eyes of others, it is very rude.

"Well, Mr. Daniel, that's just a suggestion, if you don't want to, then you don't have to take it to heart, here's the tax list for your ship, a total of 1,850 dollars, you can also choose to pay in pounds, but you have to refer to our exchange rate." Tommy strictly followed the statutes, and the results of the calculations were not what Daniel expected.

It is normal for British ships to enter New York Customs to pay taxes, but what is not normal is that Tommy seems to be too serious this time, according to past experience, a ship like the "Victory Ray", even if it is fully loaded, only needs to pay about $1,500.

Damn Yankee, I hope you'll fall overboard when you get off the ship - Daniel scolded in his heart, but his face was full of smiles, and he returned the tax payment slip to Tommy, and through the thin paper, he could vaguely see that there seemed to be a faint touch of green underneath: "Mr. Tommy, I think you must be mistaken, this ship shouldn't pay so much tax." ”

Well, for ocean-going merchant ships, appropriate bribes are necessary, which, in Daniel's experience, should save Daniel even more expenses.

Speaking of which, in the New York era of Tweed's administration, bribery was very common, and since Arthur came to power, this kind of thing has been rare, unless it is the customs staff who deliberately make things difficult, thinking of this, Daniel's heart sank, and he immediately began to reflect on whether he had done something wrong-

No, not at all, Daniel is very sure, then he is deliberately making excuses to ask for bribes, Daniel decides to memorize Tommy's badge and report this unruly guy when he goes ashore.

"Oh, Mr. Daniel, I wonder if you've dropped something?" Tommy took the slip as usual, and accidentally dropped the hundred-dollar bill on the ground.

"No, it's not mine, it's yours." Daniel confirmed it with the firmness of an oath to God.

"Then I was so careless." Tommy smiled and folded the money and put it away, Daniel glanced at Tommy's wallet, and sure enough, it was a man's pretend.

"Okay, Mr. Daniel, I think I did make a mistake, it's $1,650 in total, and it's going to be okay this time." Tommy did the math again, subtracting $200 from Daniel.

$200, sounds good, but it's still a little more than expected, but it's not unacceptable, the $100 still works, for Franklin's sake, Daniel decided to let Tommy go this time, otherwise if Daniel goes to report, it will have to make up the tax, maybe the insatiable guys at customs will also impose a punitive fine on Daniel, which may be as high as thousands of dollars, if that is the case, it will be a tragedy, and this is not without precedent.

Yankees, they are all hateful.

When Daniel's mind was cranky, the "Victory Ray" had entered the New York Bay area, which was the busiest shipping lane in New York, with Governors Island on the left and the Statue of Liberty on the right.

As a British ship, Daniel has always believed that he has the right to defy all rules, so when a ship is approaching on-demand, Daniel habitually wants to blow the whistle in greeting.

"Captain, it's better not to honk." First mate Leander seemed to know something.

"Why?" Daniel's hand has been placed on the whistle ring, as long as the handle is pulled, the whistle connected to the steam engine will sound loudly, in the past, Daniel's favorite whistle sound, hearing the whistle, Daniel seems to hear his mother calling.

"Mr. Ream on Governor's Island, his wife is pregnant, and she is currently at home with a baby, so she can't be frightened, so—" Leander's expression was a little distorted, and although the reason was a bit absurd, it was not unfounded.

"Reem, that lucky Oriental boy? Funny right! Daniel's expression almost collapsed, and he pulled the handle hard.

"Captain!" Leander's voice was a step slower.

Woo –

The steamer's whistle, which used the steam engine as the sound source, burst into a loud noise, and in the quiet and busy shipping lane, the whistle sounded almost throughout the New York Bay, and Daniel closed his eyes in revulsion for a moment, but his ears did not wait for the response he deserved.

Greetings are reciprocal, and in general, if the "Victory Ray" takes the initiative to sound the whistle, then the opposing ship will also respond politely, which is a tradition for captains, similar to people's daily greetings.

What surprised Daniel even more was that when Daniel picked up the binoculars and wanted to see clearly who the rude guy on the other side was, through the clear lens, Daniel accidentally found that the captain of the other party was pointing at Daniel in the bridge, and he was still cursing in his mouth, and through the mouth shape, Daniel immediately saw what the guy was "scolding" - you damn bastard!

Damn bastard?

You guy who doesn't even know basic manners is a damn bastard, Daniel felt the blood pouring all over his body into his head, and pulled the handle four times in a row while returning his middle finger to the other party.

Woo, woo, woo, woo –

According to Daniel, this rhythm is very much like a four-letter word starting with an "f", which best expresses Daniel's mood right now.

I have to say that sometimes many things are indeed magical, and the owner of the other party seems to have really understood, without gesturing his middle finger or jumping to scold, just looking at himself with a kind of pity, and he is also in the mood to say something with a smile with the person next to him.

Commiseration?

What's going on here?

"Mr. Captain, we are in big trouble this time, I think we had better contact Mr. Hollier as soon as possible, otherwise, I'm afraid we will be in big trouble." Leander's expression was close to collapse, and Leander never expected that the usually steady Captain Daniel would suddenly be as impulsive as if he had taken the wrong medicine, probably because Leandel had mentioned Reem just now, and this name was precisely one of the last things Daniel wanted to hear.

As an Oriental, Li Mu has achieved great success in the United States, perhaps because of jealousy, perhaps because of a conflict of interest, or because of other reasons, there will definitely be many people who are dissatisfied with this, and unfortunately, as far as Leander knows, Daniel is such a person.

Hollier is a businessman, I heard that he is a relative of a city councilor, runs a commercial company in New York, this company has a very strange business, specializing in solving business problems for people, and is well-known in the industry, Daniel and Leander are both from England, and they have dealt with Hollier because of their business before.

"You're overreacting, my first mate, we're all fathers, we all have children, and when your wife is pregnant, will the captains be quiet because of that? It's ridiculous, if you want me to say, these Americans just have nothing to do, they just want to find more reasons, and then come to us to extort more money-" Daniel doesn't think that Li Mu's wife is expensive enough to do this, and the Queen of England doesn't have such a big pomp, let alone a businessman, don't think that living on Governor's Island means that you are the Governor, and the Governor needs to be humble.

"Mr. Captain, I've been reminded of this by at least three people since we arrived in American waters, and I don't think it's funny, although I know it sounds a little funny, but what if—it's true?" Leander sighed as if the Victory Ray had hit the rocks.

"Really? Could it be that Oriental kid can cover the sky in New York? If you want me to say, it is the Americans who have spoiled him, and it is no wonder that this country is either a liar or a thief from top to bottom, and they all deserve to hell. The more Daniel said, the more he went too far, the blow was too wide, and Leander didn't dare to take it.

Just as Daniel denounced the Americans for dying, Leander keenly noticed that a group of people suddenly appeared on the small dock of Governor's Island, which was still empty just now, this group of people were all wearing black uniforms, most of them had spears in their hands, and a leading person pointed at the "Victory Ray", and then took the lead in jumping onto an armed gunboat docked on the dock.

Yes, there are armed gunboats moored on the docks of Governor's Island, and there is more than one, although the tonnage of these ships is obviously not large enough, and it is far from the "Victory Ray", but the black hole in the bow of the gun still clearly indicates their identity, it seems to be a 75mm naval rapid-fire gun produced by Horse Weapons, although the caliber of this rapid-fire gun is not too large, and the lethality is limited, but it is still no problem to deal with the "Victory Ray", only one shot is needed at the horizontal hull, and there is no need for a special armor-piercing shell," The Victory Ray "will also not be able to eat and walk around."

After more than a dozen big men jumped onto the gunboat, the gunboat slowly started, made a small circle on the dock, and then sailed straight towards the "Victory Ray".

"Damn, are you going to kill yourself? Please, don't find me if you commit suicide. Daniel also noticed the strange course of the gunboat, and for a moment he was in a hurry, shouting and pulling the whistle continuously.

Woo, woo, woo, woo –

Leander closed his eyes in pain, Daniel seemed to be smart, but he inadvertently made a big mistake, if the first whistle was a subconscious act, then the current act is deliberately making noise.

Tom –

There were still more than 100 meters to go, and the gunboat made a deft turn, walking side by side with the "Victory Ray", followed by a wave of machine gun bullets, all hitting the channel in front of the "Victory Ray", it was obvious that this was a warning to stop the ship, if the "Victory Ray" was indifferent, then no one could guarantee where the machine gun shooters on the gunboat would shoot the next shot.

"Damn, this is the fairway, how do I stop?" Daniel scolded as he subconsciously slowed down his speed, and the gunboat did not fire again, and waved a flag for the "Victory Ray" to follow.

"What to do? Go with them? "Daniel is finally out of order, the guy who is setting up the gunboat is obviously not a soldier, if you want to follow this gang, God knows what awaits Daniel and them in the future, so they can't stop.

But there is no way to keep it, people have to bow their heads under the eaves, and you can't see a single coast guard ship shuttling back and forth in the waterway in the past, which is abnormal, extremely abnormal, but unfortunately Daniel didn't find out about it until now.

"Let's go, look at their costumes are from the Springfield Security Company, I hope they won't be difficult for us." Leander gave up struggling, this is New York, Li Mu's territory, and you can really do whatever you want with money.

To Leander's surprise, the gunboat sailed directly into the dock of the Coast Guard, and as soon as the "Victory Ray" stopped, more than a dozen big men jumped on board, all of them were bald, with all kinds of tattoos on their faces, and they could be seen through their shirts with all kinds of tattoos, almost without a "bastard" tattoo on their faces.