Chapter 139: Diana Mendoza

The interrogation began.

The one brought in was a sturdy man in his thirties, with a dark complexion and rough hands and feet. He looked like an old sea dog who had spent many years at sea. Based on his clothing and the silver money on his person, he was likely a leader of some rank.

As soon as he was asked about his origins, the man began to shout, “Insolent fools! Insolent fools! Boss Zhu will deal with you sooner or later!”

Seeing Dugu Qiuhun sharpening his blade on the side, the man sneered.

“What are you doing with that knife? Bring on the whips and branding irons. If I so much as frown, I’m not one of Boss Zhu’s worthy men!”

Dugu was furious and picked up his electric baton.

“Not so fast,” Ran Yao stopped Dugu, calmly opening his notebook.

“Name?”

“I won’t change my name whether I’m walking or sitting. I am Han Yiping!”

“Sex?”

“Where is your hometown?”

“How many relatives do you have?”

“When did you first become a pirate?”

“How many years have you been at it?”

“What is your gang leader’s name?”

…

“What is your boss’s name?”

“Where is your hometown?”

“Sex?”

“When did you first become a pirate?”

…

“When did you first become a pirate?”

“Your gang leader’s name?”

“Sex?”

“When did you first become a pirate?”

“Where is your hometown?”

…

“You say you’re from Nan’an, Fujian?”

“The first seven times, you clearly said you were from Minhou, Fujian!”

“Where are you from, really?!”

“What’s your gang leader’s name?!”

“Speak!”

“Turn on the light!”

“Say your name!”

…

After four hours of non-stop, round-robin interrogation, Han Yiping’s lips were finally pried open. The 25th time he was asked “Who is your gang leader?”, he finally uttered the name “Liu Xiang.”

Even after being caught on this point, he still tried to deny it, but under the continuous bombardment of questions, he finally had a complete mental breakdown.

Once a person yields and confesses, they will tell the whole truth. Han Yiping quickly revealed everything he knew.

In terms of rank, he was just a “squad” leader in Liu Xiang’s large gang, a “manager” of sorts, not part of Liu Xiang’s inner circle. However, because his men were particularly fierce fighters and had always contributed greatly in clashes with government forces and other pirate gangs, he was held in high regard. The commander of this operation on Liu Xiang’s side was a woman.

“A woman?”

“A foreign girl,” Han Yiping gestured, saying this woman was well-known among the various maritime groups. She had her own Western-style fast boat, always acted alone, was ruthless and cunning, and had close ties with the Franks in Macau. She used to work for Zheng Zhilong and was highly valued at one point, but then she suddenly washed her hands of the business for over half a year.

The Liu Xiang group had received news of the transmigrators’ occupation of Lingao as early as October, but Lingao was a poor place and traditionally Zhu Cailao’s territory, so Liu Xiang had shown no interest in them.

The proposal to seize the fast boats had indeed come from someone in Zhu Cailao’s group. When they defected to their new leader, they had revealed everything, including the news and observations Shi Shisi had brought back.

Zhu Cailao did indeed intend to cooperate with the transmigrators. This was precisely why Liu Xiang had orchestrated this whole affair, attempting to kill two birds with one stone: seize the “iron fast boats” and prevent Zhu Cailao from collaborating with the Transmigration group. To this end, he not only recruited a large number of unaffiliated, scattered pirates under Zhu Cailao’s name but also sent some pirates who had previously served under Zhu Cailao to participate in the operation.

“Wasn’t Liu Xiang afraid that if you were captured, you would confess?”

“He just said that if we were captured, we should insist we were Zhu Cailao’s men. Zhu Cailao has a grudge against you, so you would definitely believe it,” Han Yiping answered listlessly. “And not many people involved actually know Boss Liu.”

“What about that big Western ship?”

“I don’t know about that. Our contact with the Western ship was all handled through that foreign girl.”

“What’s her name?”

“Li something-ya?”

Ran Yao frowned, remembering something. He had an excellent memory and immediately realized this person must be the woman who had kidnapped Wen Zong back then.

“Dark, curly hair, brownish eyes?”

“Yes, yes, that’s right. That foreign girl is quite pretty—” Han the pirate swallowed hard.

That’s her, for sure, Ran Yao thought. It’s a small world. However, he hadn’t seen any women among the bodies or prisoners.

“Where is she?”

“On the big Western ship. She probably escaped. That foreign girl is very clever.”

Ran Yao asked many more questions about the Liu Xiang group’s strength, base of operations, the names of their main leaders, and so on. Han Yiping answered everything he knew. What he didn’t know, he couldn’t say, and Ran Yao didn’t press him. Based on his experience, this was all the information he could squeeze out of Han Yiping.

He interrogated a few more people, but got nothing of value. Then he started on the few men from India. They chattered away in a language no one understood. Later, it occurred to him that since they worked for the Spanish, they should speak Spanish. He quickly sent for someone who understood Spanish to translate.

“There’s no one who understands Spanish,” Xiao Zishan replied after checking the personnel files.

“No way! We’re going to be dealing with the Spanish in the future.”

“We have people who speak English, French, Japanese, German, Italian, Russian, and Korean. Hell, we even have someone who knows Latin, but no one knows Spanish.”

“Isn’t that ridiculous? We even have someone who knows Korean, but no one knows Spanish? Not even as a second foreign language?”

“Really, there’s no one. I can’t even find the word ‘Spanish’ in my search here.”

“What am I supposed to do now?” Ran Yao put down the phone and said helplessly. Suddenly, Dugu Qiuhun’s eyes lit up. He remembered the Latin bombshell on the North American yacht from earlier that day. He’d heard the Qian brothers say she was of Venezuelan descent. Dugu Qiuhun’s impression of Venezuela consisted of two things: beauty pageant queens and Hugo Chávez, who was often in the news.

“Don’t they all speak Spanish in Latin American countries?”

“Right, some speak Portuguese too—” At this moment, Ran Yao also remembered: wasn’t there an American-Venezuelan woman with temporary ID card number 008?

He picked up the phone and called Xiao Zishan. “I need to transfer someone here. Please process the paperwork as soon as possible.”

“Who is it? Someone who speaks Spanish?”

“Diana Mendoza.”

Diana Mendoza had always thought of herself as the unluckiest person alive. Zhou Weisen always boasted that she had been seduced by his charm, but in reality, Diana had just been drunk at that bar in Hawaii and was hoping to hitch a free ride on a yacht to enjoy the sea breeze. She never expected to be kidnapped by these Chinese men. And as if being kidnapped wasn’t enough, after more than a month of turmoil, she found herself in a barbaric place and was told she was in the 17th century!

Of course, Diana Mendoza didn’t believe his nonsense. After slapping the babbling Ph.D. in biology a few times, she stormed into the cockpit. The GPS, radar, and satellite phone, which she had been strictly forbidden to touch before, were now hers to play with. Obviously, she couldn’t get any of the results she was hoping for.

After a long period of struggling and crying, she was finally exhausted. With some gentle persuasion from the Qian brothers’ wives, she gradually came to understand her situation—without Zhou Weisen, she wouldn’t even be able to eat. Like all women in similar circumstances, Diana Mendoza completely resigned herself to her fate. Zhou Weisen, naturally, didn’t hold back. Taking advantage of the beauty’s fear and helplessness in a strange environment, he easily made Diana Mendoza his woman.

For the Executive Committee, the resolution of Zhou Weisen’s emotional and physical needs was certainly a welcome development. But Xiao Zishan really couldn’t figure out what use this Latin girl, who had studied English language and literature, could possibly be—she couldn’t even speak Chinese. Xiao Zishan had no choice but to list her as a “dependent,” a status only enjoyed by the children brought by a few of the transmigrators. Using her as a Spanish translator this time was a perfect use of her talents; she spoke both English and Spanish very well.

When this tall, beautiful, Indo-European mixed-race beauty appeared in the office, the eyes of the several men present lit up. No wonder they say Venezuela is a country of beauties. She was a stunner who seemed to combine the best features of the yellow, white, and black races. Zhou Weisen, you beast!

The problem was that although her Chinese had improved greatly in recent months and she could handle simple daily conversations, she still couldn’t manage complex explanations. So, she had to be provided with an English translator.

It turned out that the Indians’ Spanish was a tragedy. Even Diana Mendoza couldn’t understand what they were saying. After a long struggle, it was finally determined that they were sailors, recruited in Manila by a Spanish gentleman named Sidoña to work on the ship. They knew nothing else, not even where they were now.

“What use are these Indians to us?” Dugu Qiuhun asked. In his opinion, they should behead a few pirates to intimidate the rest.

“We can make curry. I actually quite like it,” Ran Yao said. “If they’re sailors, they’ll be useful eventually.”

Finally, it was the Spaniards’ turn. When the two Spanish prisoners saw that besides the few Orientals in the room, there was a beautiful compatriot who could speak Spanish, their jaws nearly hit the floor.

The two Spaniards had been recruited in Manila. One was a sailor, the other a common soldier. They came from the Captaincy General of Panama in Spanish America and had come to the Captaincy General of the Philippines to try their luck.

From them, Ran Yao finally learned how the Spanish galleon had joined the battle. He also learned the commander’s name: Aragones de Sidoña, a Spanish “gentleman” commissioned to recruit and command a Spanish galleon for trade or plunder along the Chinese coast, and if possible, to establish a trading foothold with the help of local Chinese pirates.

Aragones himself could not afford such an expedition, so this venture was organized like a joint-stock company. The Spanish governor of Manila and some officials and plantation owners were the investors. The outfitting of the galleon, recruitment of personnel, and purchase of supplies and weapons were shared among them according to their shares. As the commander, Aragones de Sidoña was entitled to one-fifth of the total profits. If he could secure a coastal stronghold, he would receive an additional bonus.

As for the soldiers and sailors participating in the expedition, they received no military pay or wages, but they were collectively entitled to one-fifth of the total profits, distributed according to rank.

“This is a damn robbery gang, pure and simple,” Dugu Qiuhun said angrily after hearing this. “Ask them how many Chinese ships they’ve robbed! How many Chinese people they’ve killed!”

Ran Yao wasn’t interested in that. He was more concerned about the ship’s capabilities.

According to their confession, the Countess Scarborough had a total of 400 people, including soldiers, sailors, a doctor, gunners, craftsmen, and servants. Some were Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese, Indian, black, and mixed-race, while the rest were all locally recruited Malay natives.

Truly international. No wonder Yu E’shui had said that sailors of this era were a grand assembly of scum from all nations. Besides this motley crew, the Countess Scarborough also carried a lot of supplies, including trade goods, a large quantity of firearms and gunpowder—some of which had already been sold to Liu Xiang—and the necessary tools and materials for building a fort. They didn’t carry much food and water, as they mainly operated along the coastline and could replenish their supplies on shore at any time. After allying with the local pirate leader, Old Liu Xiang, replenishing these supplies became even easier. It was said that their next step was to attack a Chinese pirate called “Yiguan.”