The drums of Great Qin's war have been beaten.

Li Yuan's large battalion of Chinese troops moved to Constantinople, indicating that his goal would no longer be in Asia, but would advance into the heart of Europe.

Crete.

The cradle of civilization in the south of the Greek peninsula, the collapsed temples on the islands, and the mutilated statues of gods are all testaments to the past of a once glorious civilization.

From the Iberian Peninsula in the westernmost part of the Mediterranean Sea to the port of Haifa in the easternmost part of the Mediterranean, there were no less than seven or eight ports for merchant ships to dock, and the port of Crete was the closest place to the destination, and it was also the most active area for pirates due to the complex island situation in the Aegean Sea.

Peloponnese Strait.

Under the gentle breeze, a merchant fleet of the Greek Federation was sailing from west to east, the red star and moon flag high on the mast was ringing, and the fat Greek merchant and honorary president of the Lycion Academy, Dicar, stood on the deck of the ship, constantly looking at the sea in the distance.

In this world, no one can control the fate of others, even if there is great luck, it is only a meteor. Once, Dikar received knowledge of geometric pi from his teacher Alexotle; Once, he also learned from his classmate Gemisius that delved into the infinite ocean of theory, but in the end, this talented student of Lucion College still chose to become a successful businessman.

"Aris, do you see anything?" Dicar looked up and asked the sailor who had climbed the mast to look out unconfidently. Everything was too peaceful, and it made him nervous.

In the Mediterranean, pirates are like schools of flying fish, and Dikar is not worried about the natives who are begging for a living in the Aegean Sea, they will at most attack and injure the caravan in the slightest, but if the skeletal pirate fleet appears that is ruthless, grabbing goods and ships. That's a disaster.

"Captain, no, nothing was found, oh no, a group of dark shadows were spotted in front of the left, and they were approaching this way-!" On the mast, the dwarf sailor exclaimed.

"What? Black shadows, is it a pirate fleet, turn quickly, turn around! Dikar was shocked. This time, his merchant ships were carrying wine from the Iberian Peninsula, and these fine wines made from the Haute Haode grape were very marketable in the East, and their prices could rise seven or eight times.

The dream of making a fortune made Dikar desperate, but if the pirates were allowed to rob again, Dikar would lose most of his wealth and net worth.

Amid the shouts of Dicar, on deck and at the stern of the rudder, the sailors gasped for breath one by one. Staring at nervous and blank eyes, he used all his strength to steer the heavy merchant ship.

"Oh, I'm dazzled, Captain. It's a flock of seabirds, damn it, they deceived me. While he was in the midst of a hurry, the lookout on the mast suddenly exclaimed again.

"Seabirds. Fuck me, Aris, don't come down, you kid. I'm going to smash your bird. On the deck, a tall, panting man roared at the sky.

It was not only the strong man who wanted to beat Aris hard, almost all the sailors vented their anger on the thin lookout, the sea voyage was no better than the land, after several days of struggle, almost all the sailors were in a state of extreme physical exhaustion, in this physical condition, if they were overtired, they were likely to suffer from sepsis, and at that time even the gods could not save them.

The noisy chaos lasted for a long time, and Aris, who had been scolded for a long time, clung to the mast tightly, and refused to come down, and his eyes were even more fixed on his feet, for fear that his hand would fall and be caught by the sailors.

Dikar breathed a long sigh of relief, this was only half a day's way from Crete, and as long as the peaceful year passed, he would be able to make a fortune.

Scarcity is expensive.

In the difficult situation of the pirate blockade of the Mediterranean, the price of Iberian wine in the East has multiplied, and such business opportunities are like opium for money-hungry merchants like Dikar.

――。

On the left side of Crete, the island of Ikamiya.

Greer's pirate fleet had been anchored here for seven days, and after the storm had passed, Grell had been directing the skeleton fleet eastward, and the uninhabited island of Ikamiya was the ideal place for them to rest.

"Boss, ten ori in front of you, you find a caravan with twelve large ships and a deep draft, this is a big deal." Pisius, who was in charge of inquiring about the situation, ran into the cabin excitedly and shouted loudly.

"Do you see clearly? Which merchant alliance's fleet is it? Grell asked quietly, picking his teeth.

"Greeks? The elephant flag is the dead fat man of Dikar, and this time we have made a fortune? Pisius said in surprise that anyone who knew a little about the situation in the Mediterranean region could say with certainty that whoever was the richest Greek man was the fat man Dikar.

"Dikar, I heard that he has been quite close to the Qin people recently, Pisius, you take a few ships to go around from afar to see if there is an ambush of the Qin people?" Greel's heart moved, and he commanded.

"Boss, the Qin people are a worm at sea, they are only afraid of hiding in the port of Troy now, I don't think it's so troublesome, just kill it and rob Dikar's caravan." Pisius said disapprovingly.

"What nonsense, what did Lao Tzu tell you to do, what did you say, don't talk nonsense?" Grell said angrily, for him, the anger is not whether there is an ambush of the Qin people, but the disobedience of Pisius, this thin man, he has gone sideways without beating him a few times, and it seems that he will continue to beat him next time.

"Okay, I'll go and find out." Pisius replied helplessly, in this pirate fleet, Grell is a well-deserved leader, and although Pisius has no position, with his relationship with Crassus's brother-in-law, no one can ignore his influence on the fleet.

On the sea, the waves are calm.

Today, it is rare to have a sunny and good weather, which is a good day for the freshly picked olive fruit estates, but for the sea ships that need the blessing of the wind, there is no sail, only relying on the artificial pulp to promote, the speed of the fleet is really frustrating.

Pisius's boat quickly circled the large merchant ship, circled the surrounding islands, and then quickly returned to the temporary anchorage of the Iqamiya pirate ship.

"Boss, after a closer look, we haven't found any other fleet, we can attack?" Pisius confidently admonished.

Grell glanced coldly at the thin man in front of him, and said for a long time: "What's the hurry, it's not night yet, let's do it at night, and we can get up without much effort." ”

Pisius was dumbfounded by Greer's rebuttal, and said dejectedly: "What the big boss said is that the small ones are not well considered. ”

The life of pirates, day and night upside down, they generally sleep during the day, drink and gamble at night to play with women, of course, on the island of Ikamia, women are rare items, the only few black slave girls are also forbidden by Greer, and the other pirates can only watch and swallow their saliva.

Greer's decision to shift the time of the robbery to the evening was precisely due to the fact that the pirate's schedule was reversed, and the visibility was so poor that the sailors on the merchant ship were extremely weak after a long day of fatigue, and it was easy to capture the merchant ship once the pirates boarded the ship.

――。

The praying mantis catches the cicada, and the yellow finch is behind.

While the pirate leader Greer was excited about the robbery of Dikar's merchant ships, in the corner of the bay in the back of Crete, Gan Yong and his new fleet of Great Qin were quietly dormant in this bay, they were like bats in the night, listening intently to the strange sounds coming from the sea.

"General Gan, in the right front of the Dikar merchant fleet, a suspicious sampan boat was found, and no flag was found, looking at their appearance, it doesn't look like a nearby fishing boat?"

"Shall we strike now, in case it gets late, and it will be bad if the pirates hijack the merchant ships?"

"No, wait a little longer. Pirates don't go out in broad daylight, they're pretty good, so we'll have to be patient. ”

Gan Yong suppressed the anxiety of his subordinates, and he had to wait for the best time to attack. (To be continued......)