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As for the two lightly injured men who were sent back to report, it was unclear if they had fled home or if no one was interested in rescuing their captured leader. It seemed the matter had been dropped.

Since last night, neither the more advanced Reaper drones sent to take over, nor the PMC personnel equipped with night vision devices worth tens of thousands of dollars, who had kept watch all night, had noticed any signs of anyone spying in the rainforest.

No one attempted to contact them to negotiate the exchange of hostages either.

It appeared that the anti-government forces on the island, whether it was the "Abu Sayyaf" group or any other extremist terrorist organization, had been scared off by the highway ambush.

There was no direct route from the abandoned mine to the seaside, so the convoy moved slowly. However, everyone's spirits were high, as hope of escaping alive was now within reach.

Compared to the PMC, who previously had to obtain real-time battlefield information from Predator drones through costly satellite data services priced at thousands of dollars per minute, the SEALs remained within the U.S. military's information command chain.

The most advanced Reaper drones had already been deployed before the SEALs arrived, replacing the outdated equipment used by the PMC. In an unknown command center, someone was constantly monitoring the live images on the screen 24 hours a day.

The advanced multispectral imaging system and synthetic aperture radar equipped on the drones were capable of effectively monitoring the tropical rainforest in clear weather.

Unless they encountered someone who could dig tunnels or disguise themselves as trees, the SEALs would receive early warnings immediately.

Therefore, for the passengers squeezed in the back of the pickup trucks, the bumpy roads and the vines and branches whipping their faces and bodies were the greatest threats.

The two all-terrain vehicles driven by the SEALs, responsible for leading the way, got stuck in mud pits several times. Fortunately, the vehicles were light enough to be easily pulled out.

The short distance of less than 10 kilometers took nearly 40 minutes, but the convoy finally reached the seaside safely.

Given that the beach was open and exposed, the convoy stopped in the forested area between the rainforest and the beach, waiting for the Navy's response.

"We have company."

The SEALs reported a piece of news that seemed not very promising, but Jack didn't see any signs of distress on Jason Hayes' face, instead, there was a peculiar look.

"Huh?" Jack was stunned. They had been safe all the way, and he hadn't sensed anything unusual. Could the drones have discovered something?

"Follow me." Jason Hayes gestured for him to come along.

Since this wasn't a port or a pier, the destroyer "Milius" couldn't come ashore and had to anchor far out at sea, away from the reefs.

The two men went to the beach, and Jack took the binoculars handed to him and looked at the small silhouette of a boat on the distant sea.

Then someone couldn't help but exclaim.

"My God, I've heard of Somali pirates attacking warships, but I didn't expect there to be such 'brave warriors' among Southeast Asian pirates too."

The guided missile destroyer "Milius," numbered DDG69, is the 19th ship of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, with a displacement of over 9,200 tons, built in 1995.

For a person, 25 years is the prime of life, belonging to the age of high vitality, but this obviously doesn't refer to staying up all night.

However, for a destroyer, the usual technical lifespan is around 30 years, so 25 years is considered quite old.

But even if the "Milius" was seen as a 70-year-old elderly, it was still a fully armed elderly, and could hardly be threatened by two old fishing boats with a displacement of less than 500 tons and several machine gun-mounted small boats.

What Jack saw was indeed this comical scene. Two shabby fishing boats, belonging to an unknown faction, were charging towards a destroyer with nearly 10,000 tons of displacement, billowing black smoke.

Surrounding the fishing boats were more than a dozen small boats, following together, which appeared somewhat spectacular at first glance.

"What are they trying to do? Are they attempting to capture an Aegis destroyer?"

Hearing Jack's question, Jason Hayes didn't know how to respond for a moment.

As the pirates approached, the "Milius" finally showed some reaction.

In Jack's binoculars, the 5-inch main gun mounted at the bow of the ship, which didn't look imposing at all, quickly rotated its turret, aiming at the approaching fishing boats.

The 5-inch naval gun has a caliber of 127 millimeters, exactly ten times the caliber of the Barrett Jack had used before, and back in World War II, it would be considered a small naval gun, not even as thick as an ordinary girl's thigh.

However, the firing rate and power of modern naval guns are obviously incomparable to those of World War II, as evidenced now.

"Bang!"

A huge gunshot echoed from afar, and the nearest fishing boat to the destroyer instantly exploded in a burst of black smoke. This was followed by two more rapid shots.

After three rapid shots, the entire upper structure of the fishing boat bloomed like a trumpet flower.

Since the distance between the two sides was at least three or four nautical miles from the shore, Jack couldn't see clearly through the binoculars whether the people falling into the water were thrown by the explosion or jumped in themselves. It seemed there weren't many survivors on board.

As the main gun fired, the 25-millimeter autocannon on the side of the ship also began spitting flames, presumably targeting the small boats.

Less than a minute after the first fishing boat exploded, the other fishing boat was also hit by three rapid shots from the destroyer's main gun.

This boat was even more unfortunate. Possibly hit below the waterline, it capsized within five minutes.

Thus ended the farcical sea battle.

When the passengers of Pioneer Flight 119 were transferred to the "Milius" via rubber boats mounted with mini Gatling guns, the choppy sea was littered with debris and oil slicks, with no bodies in sight.

The one-armed leader of the "Abu Sayyaf" group, Radulan Sahiron, had died on the beach, with the PMC team leader Schebek ending his suffering with a pistol shot.

The "Milius" took more than ten hours to transport the passengers to the U.S. military base on Palawan Island, where everyone was hospitalized, including the four girls they had rescued.

The tropical jungle was harsh, and many people developed various tropical diseases, with some even getting infected by ticks.

After enduring three days of intermittent blood draws, X-rays, and various examinations, Jack and Jess were finally able to bid farewell to everyone and board a military plane back to Los Angeles.

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