Reborn in Hollywood

Li Rui had someone put him and the sailors and musketeers onto a small boat, and then took out several letters—letters of pleas for mercy from the brigadier general and other officers to the governor—and stuffed them into the arms of the junior officer.

"Bring these along too."

The small warship swayed and drifted southward, growing smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared below the horizon.

Elizabeth stood beside Li Rui, watching the warship sail away.

"You left the brigadier general behind?"

Li Rui nodded.

"He'll be useful. Next time they come, let him stand in front and give a speech."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, thinking to herself, "Do you know what an insult this is to nobles?"

The remaining thirty-six Dutch warships remained silently anchored in the bay, their cannons pointed downwards, their decks deserted.

Li Rui turned around.

"Have someone take a count of how many people these boats can hold."

Two weeks later, news came from Batavia.

Hendrik Zwaldkron, the supreme ruler of the Dutch East India Company, flew into a rage in the council chamber.

He overturned the table in front of all the directors, declaring that he would fight that "bandit of the Singapore River" to the death.

Meanwhile, his messengers had already traveled by fast ship to India to seek help from the British East India Company.

When Li Rui heard the news, he was having a meeting with several Spanish captains in the newly built fortress.

"The British East India Company?"

One of the captains frowned. "They have hundreds of thousands of troops and hundreds of warships in India. If they get involved..."

Li Rui waved his hand.

"The British and Dutch weren't that close; they were just hoping to see the Dutch suffer a setback."

He paused, "However, reinforcements will still come. The British won't let this opportunity pass—not to help the Dutch, but to get a share of the spoils."

Elizabeth, standing nearby, couldn't help but ask.

"So what do you plan to do?"

At this moment, she seemed to have forgotten that she was British.

Li Rui looked out the window. On the distant sea, the ten sailing warships were slowly sailing back to port.

"Wait and see what they play," he said.

Before the Dutch and British arrived, Li Rui recruited a group of Chinese sailors for the first time.

The number of people was not large, around five hundred, and for the first time, the number of usable soldiers under his command reached a scale of one thousand.

There are plenty of weapons. Including the muskets brought from Trinidad and the Dutchmen captured earlier, Li Rui can arm an army of at least three thousand men.

In addition, he also incorporated 36 Dutch warships into his fleet. Together with the original seven Spanish galleons, Li Rui's forces had become a force to be reckoned with for miles around.

He had the prisoners build fortifications, dig trenches, and set traps around the stronghold, turning the entire stronghold into a huge fortress.

Prisoners are not going to be idle.

Li Rui set a rule: you only get to eat if you work.

If you don't work, you'll go hungry.

Every day before dawn, the Dutch prisoners were forced to get up and work—moving supplies, building fortifications, and cleaning the camp.

If anyone slacks off even slightly, the overseer will lash out with his whip.

The captured Dutch brigadier general initially maintained his composure, standing aside without lifting a finger.

Li Rui saw him, walked over, and stared at him for three seconds.

"the same as you."

The brigadier general's face turned a deep shade of liver.

"I am a nobleman! I am a brigadier general of the Dutch East India Company! How dare you—"

Li Rui turned and left.

"He won't get any food today."

The brigadier general had been hungry for a day and a night.

The next morning, he obediently picked up a shovel and worked alongside the ordinary soldiers.

Seeing this, the other officers no longer dared to act arrogantly and obediently joined the labor reform team.

Elizabeth stood on the watchtower, looking at the disheveled Dutchmen, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Your move is even more ruthless than killing them."

Li Rui chuckled coldly.

"Only the living have value; the dead are just a pile of rotten flesh."

As the days went by, the prisoners grew thinner and thinner, and the fortifications became stronger and stronger.

Three moats were dug around Lijiapo Port, each one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) deep.

The barricades were densely packed, and the musketeers repeatedly adjusted their positions to ensure that every inch of land was within firing range.

Li Rui stood on the watchtower, looking at the distant horizon.

He knew that the Dutch and British would be arriving soon.

One afternoon, a ship flying the French flag sailed into the harbor.

The envoy was a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed elegantly, wearing a wig, and exuding an aristocratic air.

He was brought before Li Rui, who sized up the young man who was said to be the king of the Singapore River, a barely perceptible hint of contempt on his lips.

"Mr. Li."

He spoke slowly in French, as if afraid Li Rui wouldn't understand, "I am a special envoy of the French East India Company, sent to discuss a deal with you."

Li Rui leaned back in his chair and responded in French.

"What kind of deal?"

The envoy leaned forward slightly.

"We've heard that you've had a conflict with the Dutch and the British. You should know very well the power of those two countries in the East; you can't possibly stop them with your small force."

Li Rui didn't say anything.

The envoy continued.

"If you are willing to pledge allegiance to King Louis XV of France, we can send troops to help you. Although the Netherlands and England are strong, we French are not to be trifled with in this sea area."

Li Rui laughed after hearing this.

"Loyalty to Louis XV?"

The envoy nodded.

"Yes! As long as you swear allegiance, you will be an important ally of France in the East, and we will send troops and ships to help you defend this territory."

Li Rui stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to him.

What if I say no?

The envoy's smile froze for a second.

"Mr. Li, you need to think this through—"

"I've thought it through very clearly."

Li Rui turned around and looked at him.

"I have already pledged allegiance to one person."

The envoy was taken aback.

"Who?"

"King Felipe V of Spain."

The envoy's expression changed.

Felipe V – the first monarch of the Bourbon dynasty and grandson of Louis XIV.

Although Spain is currently weak, in terms of lineage and status, it is in no way inferior to Louis XV.

"You...you've pledged allegiance to Spain?"

Li Rui nodded.

"My ship, my men, all came from Spain. Do you think I would betray Spain for France?"

The envoy opened his mouth, but could not utter a word.

Li Rui walked back to his seat and sat down again.

"Go back and tell your governor that I appreciate his kindness, but I will handle my own affairs."

The envoy's face flushed red and then turned pale. Finally, he stood up and glared fiercely at Li Rui.

"You'll regret this! When the Dutch and British attack, you'll be begging us to save you."

Li Rui picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"see a visitor out."

The special envoy turned and left.

Elizabeth stepped out from behind the screen and watched the French envoy's carriage drive away.

"You're making more and more enemies."

Li Rui put down his teacup.

"So what if we offend them? I never intended to be friends with them anyway."

In the days that followed, Li Rui ordered increased patrols to keep a close watch on the sea.

He knew that the Dutch and British wouldn't keep him waiting long.

Two months later, the scouts reported back.

A large number of ships, at least sixty, flying Dutch and British flags, were spotted on the southern sea and heading towards Lijiapo Port.

Li Rui stood on the watchtower and raised his binoculars.

On the sea surface, masts stood like a forest, a dark, imposing sight.

The Dutch tricolor and the British Union Jack fluttered in the wind.

He counted them—sixty-two.

It's almost double the number from last time.

"Sir!" a Spanish captain rushed up, "What do we do?"

Li Rui put down his binoculars.

"Proceed according to plan."

As night fell, the Dutch and British forces anchored outside the port of Lijiapo.

Instead of landing rashly, they sent out several small boats to scout around the port.

Only after confirming there were no ambushes did they begin lowering the landing craft.

The first group to land were a thousand well-equipped and highly trained Dutch musketeers.

They quickly formed ranks on the beach and then advanced inland.

Next came two thousand British musketeers, in neat formation and high morale.

Li Rui stood behind the trench of the first line of defense, his Force perception fully activated, taking in the entire battlefield situation.

Then, he saw that person.

A man in a black robe stood aboard the flagship of a British warship.

He was in his thirties, pale-faced, with a sinister look in his eyes and a faint, cold smile on his lips.

Lord Beckett.

Chairman of the British East India Company.

The mastermind behind Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3.

Li Rui felt a surge of joy.

I didn't expect this guy to come in person.

That's good, saves me the trouble of looking for him later.

He waved.

"Let's do it."

Nearly a hundred squads, which had been lying in ambush in the jungle, launched their attack simultaneously.

Gunfire erupted from all directions, throwing the Dutch-British allied forces into chaos.

They didn't know where the enemy was, or how many there were; all they knew was that people were constantly falling.

Li Rui's tactic was simple—hit and run.

Each squad consists of only a dozen or so people. They fire a round of shots and then move to a new location, never staying still.

The allied forces wanted to pursue, but couldn't catch up; they wanted to counterattack, but couldn't find a target.

After an hour, the allied forces had suffered over a hundred casualties, and hadn't even caught a glimpse of the enemy.

The Dutch commander was so angry his face turned green.

"Damn it! Come out and fight me head-on if you dare!"

His response was another volley of gunfire.

Li Rui did not participate in these guerrilla warfare operations.

He lay in ambush behind a reef near the port, waiting for nightfall.

As night fell, the allied forces halted their advance and set up camp on the beach.

They deployed a large number of troops to guard the camp to prevent a night attack.

But they didn't expect that the real threat wasn't outside, but inside.

Li Rui changed into black night clothes, submerged into the sea, and quietly made his way to the British flagship.

With his Force perception fully activated, every guard on the ship was clearly visible in his mind.

He evaded the patrol, climbed up the deck along the anchor chain, and silently landed behind a pile of barrels.

Lord Beckett's cabin was at the stern, with four guards standing at the door.

Li Rui waited for a while, and when the patrol team passed by, he suddenly moved.

With a Force lock on their throats, the four guards fell to the ground simultaneously, without uttering a sound.

Li Rui pushed open the door and slipped inside.

An oil lamp was lit in the cabin, and Lord Beckett sat behind a table, looking at a nautical chart.

Hearing the noise, he looked up, saw Li Rui, and was stunned for a moment.

Then he laughed.

"So you're that robber from the Singapore River?"

Li Rui didn't say anything, and walked towards him step by step.

Beckett remained calm and reached into the drawer.

"I know you're a good fighter; you captured the Dutch brigadier and killed their envoy. But you forgot one thing—"

He suddenly pulled open the drawer, inside was a brass bell.