Chapter 113 Encountering A Whaling s.h.i.+p
In the past, the longest distance that the electric eel had traveled was from Russia to Myanmar which was more than 1,000 nautical miles. This time, however, it was a challenge for the electric eel to cross half of the earth.
Chen Fan was ready to let the electric eel swim out of the East China Sea, then pa.s.s through the Philippine sea, through Guam and then into the Pacific Ocean.
It was already dark, and most of the fish in the sea had been at rest. Only a few small figures occasionally pa.s.sed by the electric eel.
The electric eel swam in the sea like a giant snake with its forelegs gripping the 30-meter alloy spear.
The electric eel conserved its energy by using the small amount of light from the moon and stars that shone on the water"s surface instead of using its voltage energy to probe the route. Long-distance voyages were boring, especially when the novice driver had become an experienced one. When the electric eel was new, it was like buying an F- 22 fighter jet that was exciting to fly. But when time pa.s.sed, the excitement was long gone.
Along the way, Chen Fan would pull back his mind from the eel and let it swim freely on its own for a while. Later on he would s.h.i.+ft his mind back to the eel to adjust its direction and keep it on course. Since the electric eel didn"t have a soul, it could swim, but, it wasn"t able to control its own direction.
...
At seven o"clock in the morning, the electric eel arrived at the j.a.panese island of Akas.h.i.+ which was about five hundred and thirty miles from Zhongyun city.
It was bizarre to Chen Fan that the j.a.panese had learned and developed their language from many Mandarin characters, but had discarded the most profound essence of those characters. The language sounded weird and "non-mainstream" to him. Even the name of the islands sounded so weird.
After eating, the electric eel searched for half a day on the bottom of three hundred meters of water and found a groove under a huge rock that could contain it.
Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to release 800 volts of current to sense the surrounding environment. He then switched his mind back to his body and slept.
In the afternoon, when Chen Fan was dreaming, a piercing mobile ringtone rang, pulling Chen Fan out of his sleep.
"h.e.l.lo. Who is this?" Chen Fan"s eyes narrowed.
"Is this Mr. Chen?" The beautiful voice of a girl gently woke Chen Fan from his sleep. "I am Xia Qingqing from Zhongtian s.h.i.+pyard. The s.h.i.+p you ordered has been finished, and I was wondering if you could come here to attend the launching ceremony?"
"Launching ceremony..." Chen Fan rubbed his eyes, looked at the watch on his wrist and said, "What time is it?"
"At half-past three, will that be okay? If not, we can arrange it according to your time!"
"Well, I"ll be there at about three o"clock!" It was 1:30 in the afternoon, and he should be able to arrive after lunch.
Hanging up the phone, Chen Fan dialed w.a.n.g Bing"s number and asked him to come over and take him to the s.h.i.+pyard.
"Ten- thousand ton s.h.i.+p…" Chen Fan got out of bed and stood in the suns.h.i.+ne at the window. As long as he kept the electric eel at a high rate of money making speed, before long, he would be able to catch up to Ma Rongtao, and subsequently become Zhongyun city"s richest man.
After bathing and changing his clothes, w.a.n.g Bing had arrived at the Bolan Garden.
"Boss, where are we going?"
"First find a restaurant to solve my hunger issue, then go to the Zhongtian s.h.i.+pyard where we went last time. The big s.h.i.+p I ordered will be launched. We are going to the ceremony!" Chen Fan tidied his clothes in front of the rear view mirror.
"So soon?" w.a.n.g Bing stepped on the throttle and drove the car out of the garage.
"Yes, technology is the first productivity!" Chen Fan stroked his chin and the corners of his mouth twitched.
When he found a decent restaurant on the side of the road where he filled his stomach, Chen Fan burped in satisfaction and then leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
...
Not knowing how much time pa.s.sed, Chen Fan was shaken awake by w.a.n.g Bing. "Boss, we have arrived at Zhongtian s.h.i.+pyard!"
"Oh!" Chen Fan opened his eyes and looked around. Then he looked at the time. It was 3pm sharp.
"h.e.l.lo, is this Miss Xia?" Getting out of the car and stretching his muscles, Chen Fan dialed the number of Xia Qingqing.
"Yes, is this Mr. Chen?"
"Well, I"m in front of the office building!"
"I"ll be there soon. Please wait for a few minutes!"
After answering, Chen Fan hung up the phone.
Five minutes later, an ivory white, Aston Martin, four-seat GT car was parked in front of Chen Fan.
"Boss...beautiful lady, beautiful lady!" w.a.n.g Bing, who was standing next to Chen Fan quickly put his hand over his mouth and quietly whispered when he saw Xia Qingqing in a white Milan style dress.
Cough
Chen Fan smiled and m.u.f.fled himself twice.
"Gentlemen! The red silk, the flags, and the firecrackers are all ready," Xia Qingqing said with a smile. "Just waiting for your boss to sign it, and then launch it!"
"When are we going?"
"Now, I"ll lead the way!" Xia Qingqing pointed to the red hanging tower in a distance. "On the other side at the number 3 s.h.i.+pyard."
Chen Fan and w.a.n.g Bing followed the Aston Martin in the BMW. w.a.n.g Bing was delighted. "Boss, this little lady is beautiful and is comparable to the girl, Wu Ruoyu, who lives in your neighborhood!"
"What"s good about beauty? If I ask her now to be my wife, will she promise?" Chen Fan looked at him. "Just drive the car!"
Led by the car in front, the black BMW turned left and right several times, and through the window, Chen Fan could finally see the 120-meter long, black painted, bulk carrier s.h.i.+p.
"It"s big." Chen Fan leaned onto the window and muttered to himself, staring at the huge shadow.
This was only ten thousand tons. What would it be like if it was 100,000, 200,000, or even 300,000 tons? Chen Fan couldn"t imagine!
The s.h.i.+p"s bow was wrapped with colorful flags. A bouquet of bright red silk was hanging right under the bow of the s.h.i.+p just like a girl who was about to leave the house.
But this "girl"s" size was a little scary!
When he got out of the car he saw rows of workers in blue overalls and more than a dozen leaders dressed in black suits standing alongside the s.h.i.+p. As for the other side, there were a dozen people wearing yellow silk with drums on their waists.
"Come, let us all welcome Mr. Chen!" Xia Qingqing ran to the front of the orange stage and became a temporary emcee for the ceremony!
Flip-flop! Flip-flop!
Practice makes perfect. The clap made by these employees was neat and loud. It was similar to the soldiers!
"Hi, everybody. Hi!" Chen Fan smiled awkwardly. He had never encountered this kind of treatment before. He used to clap for the princ.i.p.al at the school"s opening ceremony. The sudden change made him nervous and excited.
"Now, we"ll ask Mr. Chen to give a few speeches. Everybody...again...applause!" The sound of Xia Qingqing was like a naughty little lark singing.
"Mr. Chen" Xia Qingqing came up to Chen Fan, smiling like a blooming flower. "Please!"
He braved rebuff as he went up on the stage. Chen Fan"s heart beat like a drum. He quickly tried to figure out what to say while his brain worked as fast as a piston engine!
Cough
Chen Fan couldn"t help it and cleared his throat. Maybe it was because he watched all the news reporters do so when they began their speech.
"This...Co…Everyone, thank you for your hard work!"
Chen Fan changed the word from "comrades" to "everyone".
Click!
Xia Qingqing held a digital camera and took Chen Fan"s picture!
"Thank you for your hard work during these twenty days. With your industrious hands you all built this great s.h.i.+p..." There was a pause, and Chen Fan"s mind was blank, and he did not know what to continue with!
"Thank you!"
Chen Fan had to repeat the sentence again, then nodded his head and came down from the podium.
"Thank you, Mr. Chen, and next, the s.h.i.+p launching ceremony will begin!" Xia Qingqing went forward and helped Chen Fan add the most important words.
Dongqiang! Dongdong qiang! Crack!
Ten meters of firecrackers were lit and burned, accompanied by drums.
Xia Qingqing took the small ax tied with a piece of red silk, leaped to Chen Fan"s side and pointed to the thin wire that was tied to wood and asked Chen Fan to chop it.
Bang!
Chen Fan struck the stake with the ax.
Swish…
Once the thin wire that was connected to the drive shaft was cut off, the whole chain transmission system was started. The hull broke into a deep sound which was covered by the crackling of the firecrackers. Then under the lead of the ground wheel, and along the guide rail which was brushed with oil, it slowly slid into the sea.
Bang...
Five minutes later, as if a meteorite had descended from the sky, and with a huge cras.h.i.+ng sound, the s.h.i.+p slipped into the vast sea.
"The new s.h.i.+p will have to be adjusted for a few days before delivery." Xia Qingqing approached with a smile.
"Well!" Chen Fan nodded. "Later, I will take a detour to the bank and remit the remaining balance payment!"
"Haha" Xia Qingqing"s smile was brighter than a flower.
The boat was launched, and the ceremony was announced. Chen Fan declined a dinner invitation from a plump man and got in the car and asked w.a.n.g Bing to turn around and head to the bank.
"I"ll give you a task!" In the back seat, Chen Fan stretched his legs and said, "Over the next few days, you go and look around the talent market, or the labor service center, or intermediary company, to help me employ a captain, chief engineer, and whatever positions are needed by the s.h.i.+p! When you have done this job I"ll pay you twenty thousand!"
Chen Fan threw out a large bait.
"No problem, I"ll make sure to get the job done!" w.a.n.g Bing hit his chest in confidence.
"Well!" Chen Fan replied.
After going to the bank to remit the money, more than 40 minutes later, w.a.n.g Bing, drove the black BMW to the Bolan Garden.
Back at home, Chen Fan played on the computer for a while, then lay down and s.h.i.+fted his mind to the electric eel.
The electric eel opened its eyes and stopped the release of the voltage, and quietly found a fish group, had a meal, then continued its journey holding the spear.
j.a.pan is a very developed country in the fis.h.i.+ng industry. Most of the people who live in the coastal areas, fish for a living. After only swimming for a few minutes, Chen Fan encountered 20 fis.h.i.+ng boats that were trawling.
"If you dare to touch me, I will let you all serve the water devil!" Another fis.h.i.+ng boat pa.s.sed over it. Chen Fan was full of anger.
But the electric eel"s speed was so impressive that it swam for more than an hour. When it was fifty miles from the island, it could encounter any fis.h.i.+ng boat.
The voyage was always so boring that even the gorgeous world under the sea could not attract the attention of Chen Fan anymore.
One day pa.s.sed...
The next day, when the sun rose up in the sky and drove away the night, Chen Fan was sleepy. After he settled the electric eel, he withdrew his mind and went to sleep.
After a long night of swimming, the electric eel had reached its position at more than 400 nautical miles ahead of Guam. Yes, Guam, located at the southern tip of the Mariana Islands, was the military base of the United States that occupied one-fourth of the island in Guam!
Guam...
It was an invisible yoke that strangled the country"s navy in the Atlantic, and many people could only shake their heads when they heard the name.
"Evil Guam..."
When he woke up in the afternoon, Chen Fan observed the size of the green bean on the map and shook his head bitterly.
Coming out from under the huge coral reef, Chen Fan was ready to feed the electric eel. After checking around, Chen Fan found that at three hundred meters deep in the distance, there were a few killer whales playing in the quiet sea, with black and white spotted patterns similar to those of a panda.
"Delicious!" Chen Fan was happy. He had always heard that whales with long, thin mouths, and sharp teeth, were great. They not only ate penguins and seals for lunch but sometimes they attacked other whales; even great white sharks.
Today, Chen Fan noticed that the whale was cute and beautiful; not as ugly as the great white shark.
He was prepared to attack to satisfy the electric eel"s need for food when all of a sudden...
A great s.h.i.+p, which he had no idea where it came from, sailed above the electric eel. A steel fork which was dragged by a rope, pierced into the back of one of the orcas with a thundering noise from the bow of the s.h.i.+p,
"Ang... " The helpless killer whale burst forth with a mournful cry as it struggled on the surface of the water and turned the waters around it red with blood!
"A j.a.panese whaling s.h.i.+p?" Chen Fan was furious. As a standard hot-blooded youth, he had no good feeling for those j.a.panese, let alone his food was s.n.a.t.c.hed by them.
But the anger of Chen Fan became confusion...
Because...
Another white s.h.i.+p came out of nowhere, moving past the electric eel. It was evidently smaller than the whale-s.h.i.+p and had set up three water cannons which shot at the j.a.panese whaling s.h.i.+p!
"It"s hilarious...I love it!" Chen Fan was happy now. He controlled the electric eel to secretly lurk in the distance and through the seawater he anxiously waited to witness the war!