"Menglong, this isn't easy to handle, even movies need a director, let alone these immersive escape rooms which can't be played without a script!"
"Yeah, we can't just let them improvise, can we? There has to be a theme and a main storyline, right?"
"That's easy to fix!" Zhang Menglong immediately started arranging with Hong Yi, "Hong Yi, do we have someone who specializes in writing murder mystery scripts or escape room scenarios?"
"This... Mr. Zhang, these are emerging industries, we don't have such talents yet, but we do have many scriptwriters and directors."
"No good! Specialization is key; making movies and writing scripts are somewhat different," Zhang Menglong said, "You help me post a reward now, gather a group of scriptwriters and writers for murder mysteries and escape rooms, and help me come up with a theme within two hours!"
"Mr. Zhang, that might be difficult."
"Two million per person in commission!"
"Then there should be no problem. Within two hours, I'll send you the details, but do you have any requirements for the theme?"
"Pirates, treasure hunting, adventure, the kind with two or three hundred NPCs!"
"But Mr. Zhang, it's hard to find actors for such a large-scale escape room theme, not to mention the mechanical props, and the time is too tight."
"No worries, I have ready-made NPCs and props here, you just help me with the scriptwriting."
"In that case, I'll get on it!"
"Just this few people," Zhang Menglong scanned the group of pirates, most of whom couldn't understand Huaxia language, only hearing Zhang Menglong murmuring there.
When they caught Zhang Menglong's gaze, the pirates all felt a bit intimidated.
"Not enough people, I need more pirates!" Zhang Menglong told the captain.
"But Mr. Zhang, where can we find more pirates?" Although they were instructed to meet all of Zhang Menglong's demands, this request seemed far-fetched. Did he think pirates could just be found so easily?
"That's something for them to answer!" Zhang Menglong looked towards Gorik, "Mr. Gorik, I now need some more pirates. I suppose you, as colleagues, would know where they hang out, right?"
At that time, after the crackdown by the United Nations, the Somali pirates were almost completely captured, but there were still many that slipped through the net, with at least twenty pirate groups still wanted internationally.
These pirate groups had as few as a dozen members, and as many as a hundred, but these pirates were very cautious, and their bases were often extremely secretive, so most of them were still at large.
However, there were actually special ways of connecting between pirates, as those in this line of work, whether it was arms or daily necessities, needed to trade, which served as the hub connecting pirates to each other.
"You want me to betray them?" Gorik turned his head to one side. Some of these pirate leaders were friends who had faced life and death together, they had great relationships, how could he possibly betray his friends?
"Kill or slash as you please, but try to get any information out of me? Don't even think about it!"
"Alright! You're tough! You have integrity!" Zhang Menglong directly told the captain, "Captain, give them all black stockings on board, and then start a live broadcast on the international version of TikTok!"
"But Mr. Zhang, we don't have any black..."
"Take this!" In everyone's astonished glances, Zhang Menglong directly pulled out a big bundle of black stockings from his backpack.
"Junior brother, you..."
"Senior brother! Wuhu!"
Lu Yiyao's senior sisters also looked at her.
"Zhang Menglong, you're looking for trouble!" Lu Yiyao fiercely pinched Zhang Menglong's waist.
In front of a ship full of burly soldiers, these pirates had no chance to resist at all, each one of them donning incredibly sexy black stockings, creating a truly gorgeous scene.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" Although Gorik was tight-lipped, his pirate underlings were not so principled.
"Speak, there's a reward if you do!"
"About 50 nautical miles from here there is an uninhabited island, where there is a bay, which we call Paradise Bay, and at least ten pirate gangs have long taken refuge there, this place is also the spot for our daily recreational life."
"Yes, Mr. Zhang, I've checked the location, there indeed is an uninhabited island there, and it's an area that shipping routes usually don't pass through, highly likely to be inhabited by numerous pirates."
"Go there and fetch me all those pirates, try to keep them alive, for if they die, I'll be short of actors," Zhang Menglong ordered.
"Yes!" Although that area of the sea is international waters, the three countries it falls under all owed Zhang Menglong money.
Upon hearing this news, not only did they welcome the idea, they even voluntarily sent a fleet to help Zhang Menglong capture those pirates!
"Mr. Zhang is ridding the world of nuisances; we should all fully cooperate!"
"If we don't help Mr. Zhang, we don't deserve to be human!"
"Mr. Zhang, we will definitely support you with all our might!"
"Mr. Zhang, everyone is full of praises for you!" claimed the official in charge of liaising, buttering him up, "Everyone thinks this is a good cause, and they even want to apply for a United Nations Peace Medal for you!"
"No, no, no, you've got it all wrong," Zhang Menglong spread his hands, "I just wanted to play an escape room game!"
"Mr. Zhang, I've just mentioned where those pirates are nesting, and you just mentioned a reward. I don't ask for anything else; can you let me go? I promise to turn over a new leaf!"
"Well, I've always been a man of my word," Zhang Menglong nodded, pulling out another pair of stockings from his backpack, "Someone, upgrade his black stockings to white stockings!"
"Hahahaha! What the hell! What kind of magical livestream is this?"
"Pirates dressed in black stockings? Are they real pirates? And there's one in white stockings too!"
"Wow, South Africa's first fleet, officially endorsed? They really know how to have fun, huh?"
"Nani? Four...Four nations in one?"
The pirates of Paradise Bay never imagined that just because a man from Huaxia suddenly fancied playing a pirate-themed escape game, their whole lair would be raided.
An aircraft carrier, seven destroyers, and twenty armed helicopters trapped them dead on that island.
They had planned to hunker down inside, believing that those people would not easily break in.
But who could have expected that these warships would start with a missile bombardment, followed by elite special forces from three countries, catching them completely off guard.
In the end, at the cost of only one minor injury, they captured 278 pirates.
When they heard that they had been captured only to accompany a Huaxia man in a game, tears of grievance immediately fell.
"Everyone, change into these!" Zhang Menglong ordered the pirates to strip off their military gear and put on Caribbean pirates-themed costumes.
The pirates cried out in grievance—they were already pirates, and now they had to switch into such ridiculous theatrical pirate costumes? Seriously, was that respectful?
But there was no choice, with the black muzzles of guns pointed at them, they could only comply; now, they were merely tools.
"Now, I will announce the rules!" Zhang Menglong took out the thick script and tossed it to one of the accompanying group, "All pirates must strictly act and talk according to their roles."
"In battle scenes, you must fully cooperate and not harm my friends, but at the same time, you are not allowed to go easy. You must make it look very realistic."
Zhang Menglong and his party, now dressed as explorers, started a treasure hunt in Paradise Bay, where the pirates nested!
"Damn it! I told you to cooperate properly! Why are you just standing there? Take this one away and shoot him!"
"Why are you being so fierce? You scared my junior sister! Take this one away and shoot him too!"
"You're a pirate; why are you smiling like a benevolent KFC uncle? Take this one away and shoot him too!"
Pirate: "I must have fucked up in my past life to choose to become a pirate!"